First, read this. Chew on it. It's possible that Arafat is a barrier to peace. Unlike others who definitely are though, his messages, at least those that make it to the United States (which might be a subset) don't seem to be generally pro-violence. However, just because someone isn't pro-violence doesn't mean their ends can be accomplished without it, and the same goes for Israel. One thing that does worry me about hopes for his removal is that it might not be about peace, but rather removing a major national symbol and focus for the Palestinians. We know that, at least in Israeli politics (I won't presume to comment on the character of the nation as a whole), there are a lot of people who have opinions in line with the idea of removal of Palestinians in general, in line with either the racist aspects of the religion or the racist aspects of the nationalism (although the two don't shake hands with each other, and there are nonracists in the middle). I wonder, perhaps, if there's a line of thinking that with Arafat killed or removed, the Palestinians will lose heart, and will be content with the current system there, which I consider to really suck for them. Yeah yeah, sure, people tell me that Israel is actually good for Palestinians... bullshit. Living in any country

• cough* that has laws heavily influenced or written for a religious or a

nationalist agenda is not going to be fun. When you see other outsiders have their homes bulldozed, are subjected to special security checks, have walls seperating you from the privileged ones, and have politicians talking of expelling you from the country, while the privileged ones have special laws making it easier for their race to come in, their religious superstitions controlling things, well, that really sucks. It's just another episode of someone abused turning into yet another monster, using the first to justify the second. And the problem with that is that it never ends. Again, we're not talking about the common Palestinian here, but Palestinian politics sucks too. Spilling innocent blood, teaching their kids that Jews are all out to get them, blood libel, it's like a cancer, and like a cancer, it spreads through the body, in this case the world. What would things be like if Israel had beeen established someplace less stupid, or if peace had happened by now? What kinds of tension, terrorism, and resentment simply wouldn't exist? How many great minds have been lost, worldwide, over this struggle that shouldn't've happened, and should've been resolved by now? And is there anything at all I can do to help fix it? Ask yourself that, dear reader, and if you come up with a solution, let the rest of us know.

Maybe the U.N. should step in, remove the state apparatus and establish order, controlling the education system, and get the races mixing and interacting at an early age, strangling zionism and palestinian nationalism, so this can be the last generation to suffer this. The generation as a border between barbarism and civilization... Maybe there's something else.

Comment capability will be coming RSN (Real Soon Now), so once you register, you'll actually be able to leave comments here, when it's done. Scary thought :)

On the topic of social problems, Dubin, someone I met online I'll call AF, and I had a nice long chat on AIM last night. Both of them are into psychology/social work, and the topics ranged between areas in their professions, social problems, and some other things. It was a good conversation..

Yesterday, on the way back, I swung by Giant Eagle to get some more Cat Litter, and was listening to music with my headphones, and reached down to scoop the basket up with my hand... and scooped it right into my head. I'm such an idiot -- I was bleeding from my forehead from a basket-induced wound. I wish I could've seen it though, it probably would've been very funny.

Oh, if you're a geek, there's some stuff for you too: Perl Design Pattern Commentary - Interesting. Grab the other 2 as well. Ford is switching to Linux, and as a result, Redhat's teaming up with a longtime competitor. Technical politics are heating up at work. Things might get very interesting soon, as there's a crossroads where not all us techies agree, and the management is unsure, that'll make a big difference. Sadly, for you, dear reader, I don't really think it'd be kosher to spread too much internal stuff to the world.