Continuing the Weblog

My resolution on 17th October, to have a disciplined approach to posting, did not last long, as I predicted.

I felt it was becoming too obsessed with my own obsession with Israeli bad behaviour, which wasn't my intention at all. There are plenty of other blogs that can do that much better than I.

This is supposed to be a blog about a quiet life on a tropical island (although I do give myself room for the occasional rant).

Child of Gaza

Child of Gaza, originally uploaded by smallislander.

I published this photo on Flickr on January 4th 2009, after a few days of the Hanukkah Massacre, Since then, it's had over 2000 views, which is quite something for a photo-sharing club.

The original photo is by Fady Adwan of Getty Images. I added only a title.

Child of Gaza

Child of Gaza, originally uploaded by smallislander.

I published this photo on Flickr on January 4th 2009, after a few days of the Hannukah Massacre, Since then, it's had over 2000 views, which is quite something for a photo-sharing club.

The original photo is by Fady Adwan of Getty Images. I added only a title.

Goldstone 2

On Friday October 16th, 2009 in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council finally endorsed the Goldstone Report, after an earlier Keystone Cops deliberation failed to do so. The panel investigated war crimes during the Gaza war earlier this year. Oddly though, the Council refused to include in its endorsement any reference to possible crimes of the Palestinians during that conflict, singling out only Israel for fault. Such one-sidedness provided Israel with further ammunition to claim the Council (and by extension, the Report) is one-sided and prejudiced against it. That caused Richard Goldstone to criticize the Council.
(Plagiarised from: http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/10/16/un-human-rights-council-endorses-goldstone-report/)

Don't forget that Goldstone is Jewish and a Zionist. As a professional judge, he put that aside, and reported on the facts.

This means that Goldstone's report may be taken seriously by many members of the UN. (Not, of course, by the US, which will veto any further progress or action, but by the 2nd and 3rd world nations, most of whom have got fed up with the US bossing them about, and actually don't give much of a chickenshit about Israel/Palestine ).

Israel is losing credibility by the day.

If the grinning snake who 'leads' Israel tries a bit harder; (and he doesn't' need to do too much
to roll over his senior financial (but junior political) partner, the US, on this and the Iran 'problem'), then he could very well over-step.

Goldstone 1

The report from Richard Goldstone's group (15-09-09) on the Hanukkah Massacre of Gaza in Dec-Jan 2009 was absolutely devastating to Israel's claim that it has the 'most moral army in the world'.

The report details, in straightforward international legal terms, more than 30+ war crimes, or crimes against humanity. (Those are internationally accepted legal terms, not mine)

Goldstone's report reinforced a number of reports after January 2009 that detailed, graphically, what devastation the 'most moral army in the world' wreaked on an essentially defenceless population, hemmed in, and not allowed to escape.

The full report is available at:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf

There are several facts about Goldstone himself that are worth noting:
- He is Jewish, and and a Zionist, and serves on the board of the Hebrew University. Hardly someone to accuse of 'anti-Semitism'.
- He has had a distinguished career as an international jurist, adjudicating in South Africa, plus war crimes in the Balkans, and Ruanda. He knows the difference between a war crime and a crime against humanity, which you and I may not.
- He himself insisted that his brief include investigations of Palestinian 'war crimes' as well. However, they turned out to be so minor that they pale into insignificance against Israel's premeditated attack on 1.5 million trapped civilians.

Read: http://ingaza.wordpress.com/ by Eva Bartlett, who was in Gaza throughout the 'war' and has been there in the aftermath, and is still struggling to do her good work 9 months later.
 
If you thought that invasion finished in January 2009, and that peace reigns, you're very much mistaken.

If you can. please donate some cash to keep her doing her good work.

Reset

I decided, just yesterday, at last, to revive this weblog. It's about time to stop being a passive recipient of news and blog reports, and become a bit more active.

I propose to start to write a new blog entry at 10am every morning (Taipei time). This, like most New Year resolutions, will probably die very quickly, but is part of a personal reset that might reintroduce some discipline into my life.

I read certain (mostly "political") private and newspaper reports and weblogs every morning to get a sense of the world's situation, and most of them don't reinforce any optimism about our future.

So, I will take a daily theme, and run on it. And try to be positive.

If I can't find a daily theme, I will talk about local life, nature, or whatever, on the small island of Siargao, on the far right hand side of the Philippines

Public 'Services'

Public 'Services'
Originally uploaded by smallislander

Our mayor cleaned out the karaoke bars along the boulevard, because their customers p*****d behind them, in the school yard.

Now, he's finished off the public loo building.

The local average wage here is P200 = $4 per day.

So exactly who is going to spend even 2.5% of his income on a s*** when he can go to the beach and do it for free?

And exactly what are 'other purposes'?

First Butterfly To Sit Still - Convergent Evolution?

First Butterfly To Sit Still - Convergent Evolution?
Originally uploaded by smallislander

This is almost the first butterfly I've been able to photo in my garden.

It's not very big, or very showy, but it is quite extraordinary in that i it seems to be trying very hard to resemble an Atlas Moth, with snakes head wing tips and wing edges looking like a particularly nasty caterpillar.

See:

Threat

I am desperately trying to think of a way of making some kind of income from a small island.

Journalism just might work, and sensational, nutty journalism even better, so I'm sending this picture around, to the usual suspects, with two quite different messages:

1) AL QAIDA MAY ATTACK US EAST COAST WITH GLIDERS

2) PENTAGON CONTRACTOR'S SUPER-FIGHTER BOONDOGGLE OVERSHOOTS BUDGET

Which will sell better?

Pole Dancer

Nemia Thinking She's a Pole Dancer, originally uploaded by smallislander.

Nemia, nicknamed Agha, is very typical of young girls from the Philippines provinces.

Yes, she is beautiful, and she works in Nine Bar, just down the road from me. And no, she is not for overnight rent , and Nine Bar is not a prostitution joint, thanks to Peter, Pontus, and Frida, who set it up as the most popular bar in GL.

Old Age and Rare Plants

Montane Forest XPDC, Cameron Highlands, originally uploaded by Prof KMS.

Prof KMS put this photo of a very rare Malaysian orchid up in Flickr recently.

It is actually a flower (Goniothalamus montanus (Annonaceae)), but it unfortunately reminded me of my age.

A Small Crime in Gaza

This is all that is left of a Gaza family's 14 year old son.

“The Israeli forces had been bombing hard so we’d evacuated the house, gone to Fakoura (UN school which had [already] been bombed with white phosphorous). The first 3 days at the school we had only the clothes we were wearing, no blankets, no food. At night in Fakoura it was so cold and windy, so when we heard on the radio that there would be a cease-fire between 8 am and 11 am, Abed asked if he could return home to grab a jacket. We all went with him,” Abu Abed explained, now holding the yellow bag.

“When we were in the house, the Israeli army starting bombing in the area,” said Umm Abed. “We were very frightened, we had thought the cease-fire meant we could return home safely. We quickly took whatever clothes and food we could and left the house. I thought Abed was ahead of us. At the school friends told us Abed hadn’t come back. They also said that a drone had fired a missile at our area. People were saying the missile had hit a child and shattered him to pieces. We didn’t know it was Abed.”
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/all-weve-got-left-of-him
blogged by a very brave lady in Gaza

I would like you to look at her weblog, and read her personal encounter reports. They are more telling than any amount of TV news, from either side.