5/192 equates to 2.6% a relatively small number which would ordinarily be deemed insignificant. However the 5 refers to the veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council who essentially promote their respective agendas at the expense of the other 187 members. For instance any UN resolution on Israel has seen the US always express the duality of abstain or veto.
While the presence of China, Russia and the US can be understood in terms of the influence they wield on the global stage, the influence of Britain and France on the global stage has declined quite considerably during the last 60 years. It therefore stands to reason that Britain and France's permanent seats should be merged to form one European seat, Africa should be allocated a veto-wielding permanent seat and one veto-wielding permanent seat should be created for Latin America.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
It only took NINETEEN years
It's time for a cultural, economic and sporting boycott
In 1968, the UN General Assembly proposed ending all cultural, economic and sporting connections with South Africa's apartheid government, but because of South Africa's strategic importance to the west given the fact that South Africa had the world's largest resources of uranium, a key ingredient in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and it was the height of the Cold War, economic sanctions against South Africa were not implemented until the late 1980s - there's a long list of western companies who put profit before morals and continued to trade with the ostracised regime.
South Africa's state sanctioned policy of separate development aka apartheid is no different to Israel's modern day treatment of the Palestinians. The ritual humiliations meted out to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is on par with the debasement experienced by black/coloured South Africans under apartheid. The Occupied Territories are the modern day equivalent of the Bantustans. The apartheid South African government was dismissive of international condemnation of its policies just as Israel is dismissive of any international criticism concerning the collective punishment of the citizens of Gaza - what Israel is subjecting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to is reminiscent of the treatment meted out to Jews in Europe during World War II.
If South Africa's apartheid government warranted a cultural, economic and sporting boycott, isn't today's Israel deserving of one too?
South Africa's state sanctioned policy of separate development aka apartheid is no different to Israel's modern day treatment of the Palestinians. The ritual humiliations meted out to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is on par with the debasement experienced by black/coloured South Africans under apartheid. The Occupied Territories are the modern day equivalent of the Bantustans. The apartheid South African government was dismissive of international condemnation of its policies just as Israel is dismissive of any international criticism concerning the collective punishment of the citizens of Gaza - what Israel is subjecting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to is reminiscent of the treatment meted out to Jews in Europe during World War II.
If South Africa's apartheid government warranted a cultural, economic and sporting boycott, isn't today's Israel deserving of one too?
Monday, 7 June 2010
He is ONLY 24!!
Yesterday I was here and at the Menorca stand a very youthful Rafa beamed from the posters on display. I had followed the match while window shopping and it was while I was enroute to the Technology section that Rafa clinched his 5th Coupe des Mousquetaires.
In the lead up to the final, I think Björn Borg was trying to gee up his fellow countryman when he predicted Robin would become the world no 1 - either that or his predictions are as way off as another former illustrious sports star because the Swede was truly diced and sliced!
ONE Australian Open, FIVE Coupe des Mousquetaires, THREE Davis Cups, EIGHTEEN Masters' titles, ONE Olympic GOLD and ONE Wimbledon title is not a bad haul for someone termed a clay court specialist. With better management of his physical ailments and with his mental focus no longer in doubt, I am emboldened to predict he will go on to claim a second Wimbledon title and win his first US Open.
Did I mention he's just 24?!
In the lead up to the final, I think Björn Borg was trying to gee up his fellow countryman when he predicted Robin would become the world no 1 - either that or his predictions are as way off as another former illustrious sports star because the Swede was truly diced and sliced!
ONE Australian Open, FIVE Coupe des Mousquetaires, THREE Davis Cups, EIGHTEEN Masters' titles, ONE Olympic GOLD and ONE Wimbledon title is not a bad haul for someone termed a clay court specialist. With better management of his physical ailments and with his mental focus no longer in doubt, I am emboldened to predict he will go on to claim a second Wimbledon title and win his first US Open.
Did I mention he's just 24?!
Sunday, 6 June 2010
It really IS this simple
In the never ending debate about the greatest football player EVER, it's normally whittled down to shootout between Diego Armando Maradona and Edson Arantes do Nascimento aka Pelé. It's time to settle this debate once and for all by answering the following questions:
If Pelé had replaced Maradona in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, would he have been able to inspire Argentina to win the first and finish runner-up in the second? Also, would Pelé have been able to inspire Napoli to their first Scudetto win in 1987 and their second in 1990?The 1970 Brazilian team is widely acknowledged to be the best ever team so one could reasonably suppose they would have won the World Cup whether Pelé was present or not - Pelé was the icing on the joga bonito cake. Without Maradona, Argentina and Napoli would not have won the prizes they did.
From England captain to discounted merchandise in 24 hours!!
How's this for a curveball? It was especially heartrending for him given his optimism that the worst was behind him. And as if he hadn't suffered enough, I was here yesterday and there was £5 off all merchandise bearing his likeness!!
One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, so step forward Captain Marvel. He'll be the first to admit that his performances in the shirt of his country are not as consistently good as those in the shirt of his club, but the country will expect him to turn on the swashbuckling style that gave rise to the Miracle of Istanbul legend or the destiny of the 2006 FA Cup.
Pressure doesn't come much bigger than this!!
One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, so step forward Captain Marvel. He'll be the first to admit that his performances in the shirt of his country are not as consistently good as those in the shirt of his club, but the country will expect him to turn on the swashbuckling style that gave rise to the Miracle of Istanbul legend or the destiny of the 2006 FA Cup.
Pressure doesn't come much bigger than this!!
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter
In the 1960s, Madiba was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and his nom de plume was the Black Pimpernel as he managed to evade the state agents of the apartheid South African government until he was betrayed and captured at Rivonia Farm. In 2010, Madiba is the most venerated man alive.
Gerry Adams', longtime spokesman for the IRA, the armed wing of Sinn Féin, Irish brogue was banned from British news' broadcasts until very recently - his words would be voiced by an actor. Following the St. Andrews Agreement, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness were elected to Stormont. Here, Gerry Adams details the extent of the negotiating required to bring about a peace settlement.
Which brings me to Khaled Meshal, Hamas' articulate leader (you can listen to him on Al-Jazeera). In the west, Hamas is portrayed as a terrorist organisation. Despite this, the Palestinian electorate gave Hamas political legitimacy by voting them into power in December 2005, in elections that according to international observers were free and fair. Hamas' election victory meant the sidelining of Fatah, which in the eyes of the Palestinian electorate wasn't doing much for their cause and was beset by allegations of corruption.
Hamas' election victory did not sit well with Israel, the EU and the US and efforts to undermine Hamas' political mandate intensified. This culminated in a decisive split between Hamas and Fatah which was portrayed as Hamas seizing power in Gaza in June 2007 - as Hamas had the Palestinian electorate's mandate to govern, I don't see why the events of 2007 should be portrayed as a Hamas coup by the pro-Israeli western media unless of course it's part of well orchestrated strategy to vilify Hamas at every opportunity.
The Israeli Operation Cast Lead, which ostensibly was launched to stop to the firing of rockets into Southern Israel, of December 2008 was yet another opportunity for the Israelis to try and kill as many Hamas members as possible - they failed on both accounts. The Israeli incursion into Gaza saw Gaza's already traumatised citizens subject to the kind of aerial bombardment that the so called good guys inflicted on the citizens of Dresden in World War II. The IDF used white phosphorous (whose usage is banned in densely populated areas - the blatant disregard for international norms and conventions is a recurring Israeli theme). The IDF's attempt to defend the wanton destruction of a UN warehouse stocked with supplies for the Palestinians was seen in another light after Israel paid compensation to the UN. Despite the IDF's considered incursion into Gaza, between 1166 and 1417 Palestinians were killed, including 318 children. No doubt Mark Regev, the Israeli government spinmeister-in-chief, could engineer an plausible explanation as to how those dead children threatened Israel's national security as he did when the IDF bombed the UN facility - a UN report criticising the IDF's conduct was summarily dismissed.
In contrast, 13 Israelis were killed.
Operation Cast Lead strenghtened Hamas politically and morally because they were able to provide material relief to the besegied Palestinians of Gaza, despite the arrest of some of their MPs and attempts on the lives of others. What's more there was an unprecedented chorus of international opinion condemning Israel's heavy handedness.
Russia and Turkey have seized the initiative in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and Dmitry Medvedev's face-to-face meeting with Khaled Meshal last month has sent a pointed message to Israel, the EU and the US that there can be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem without Hamas.
Gerry Adams', longtime spokesman for the IRA, the armed wing of Sinn Féin, Irish brogue was banned from British news' broadcasts until very recently - his words would be voiced by an actor. Following the St. Andrews Agreement, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness were elected to Stormont. Here, Gerry Adams details the extent of the negotiating required to bring about a peace settlement.
Which brings me to Khaled Meshal, Hamas' articulate leader (you can listen to him on Al-Jazeera). In the west, Hamas is portrayed as a terrorist organisation. Despite this, the Palestinian electorate gave Hamas political legitimacy by voting them into power in December 2005, in elections that according to international observers were free and fair. Hamas' election victory meant the sidelining of Fatah, which in the eyes of the Palestinian electorate wasn't doing much for their cause and was beset by allegations of corruption.
Hamas' election victory did not sit well with Israel, the EU and the US and efforts to undermine Hamas' political mandate intensified. This culminated in a decisive split between Hamas and Fatah which was portrayed as Hamas seizing power in Gaza in June 2007 - as Hamas had the Palestinian electorate's mandate to govern, I don't see why the events of 2007 should be portrayed as a Hamas coup by the pro-Israeli western media unless of course it's part of well orchestrated strategy to vilify Hamas at every opportunity.
The Israeli Operation Cast Lead, which ostensibly was launched to stop to the firing of rockets into Southern Israel, of December 2008 was yet another opportunity for the Israelis to try and kill as many Hamas members as possible - they failed on both accounts. The Israeli incursion into Gaza saw Gaza's already traumatised citizens subject to the kind of aerial bombardment that the so called good guys inflicted on the citizens of Dresden in World War II. The IDF used white phosphorous (whose usage is banned in densely populated areas - the blatant disregard for international norms and conventions is a recurring Israeli theme). The IDF's attempt to defend the wanton destruction of a UN warehouse stocked with supplies for the Palestinians was seen in another light after Israel paid compensation to the UN. Despite the IDF's considered incursion into Gaza, between 1166 and 1417 Palestinians were killed, including 318 children. No doubt Mark Regev, the Israeli government spinmeister-in-chief, could engineer an plausible explanation as to how those dead children threatened Israel's national security as he did when the IDF bombed the UN facility - a UN report criticising the IDF's conduct was summarily dismissed.
In contrast, 13 Israelis were killed.
Operation Cast Lead strenghtened Hamas politically and morally because they were able to provide material relief to the besegied Palestinians of Gaza, despite the arrest of some of their MPs and attempts on the lives of others. What's more there was an unprecedented chorus of international opinion condemning Israel's heavy handedness.
Russia and Turkey have seized the initiative in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and Dmitry Medvedev's face-to-face meeting with Khaled Meshal last month has sent a pointed message to Israel, the EU and the US that there can be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem without Hamas.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Feliz Compleaños
Sorry I'm a day late, but things got kind of hectic yesterday and I didn't get round to posting like I thought I would. Anyway, by all accounts you had a good day and I know that the icing on the proverbial cake would be a straight sets demolition of the Swede on Sunday to lift your 5th Coupe des Mousquetaires and emulate Björn Borg.
My prediction: Straight sets win for Rafa
PS: Congrats to V & S (doesn't quite have the same ring to it!!) on their doubles' success - they have now amassed 12 grand slam doubles' titles
My prediction: Straight sets win for Rafa
PS: Congrats to V & S (doesn't quite have the same ring to it!!) on their doubles' success - they have now amassed 12 grand slam doubles' titles
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