Verbal Diarleah (The Diary of Leah)

A talking Donald Rumsfeld doll!! Press a button and get some of his classic phrases such as

There are known knowns, there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns, that is to say there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns, there are things we do not know we don’t know, and each year we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns.

I believe what I said yesterday. I don’t know what I said, but I know what I think, and I assume that’s what I said.

They have President Bush and Clinton dolls too. Clinton’s says the classic “it depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is,’ is” Collect them all!

There is an article in the Washington Post today about Giuliani’s penchance for appointing close allies and friends to top administration posts despite their not being remotely qualified for them. They are qualified only in the sense that they are good friends and supporters of Giuliani. This all sounds just a bit too familiar to me and hopefully to others. Bush has spent his presidency appointing people who, in many ways, are unqualified for the jobs.

Take the former head of FEMA during the Katrina disaster Michael Brown; ‘Brownie’ to his friend the president. The man was originally in charge of horse shows! He was Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. That is surely plenty of qualification to run the federal disaster relief organisation!

One of Giuliani’s own people, Bernard Kerik, was put forward to be secretary of the Homeland Security Department. Bush supported him wholeheartedly only to later have Kerik remove his name while he faced corruption allegations. By the way, Kerik was apparently originally Giuliani’s chauffeur before becoming New York police commissioner.

The prime example of Giuliani’s cronyism was his appointment of Russell Harding appointed head of the Housing Development Corp whose only qualification was supporting Giuliani’s mayoral campaign. He had no college degree and was later convicted of embezzling $300,000 and sentenced to five years in prison for possessing child pornography. Fantastic credentials there, Rude.

So it appears to me that Giuliani would be a bit too much like Bush for my liking. Appointing supporters is the name of the game but you must also ensure that these supporters are well-qualified to do the jobs they are appointed to do. I’ve previously stated reasons why Giuliani would not be a good president; these are just some additions to the growing list.

Ok, I try so very hard to be tolerant and open-minded to many, many things but especially Islam. It is the religion du jour to criticise, humiliate and refer to its followers as terrorists no matter the lack of evidence to support such claims. I’m sorry, though, as I cannot stand idly by any longer while this is going on.

So, in Saudi Arabia (as many other Islamic countries) women cannot go out without a male relative as her guardian. That could be her brother, father, husband, etc. Basically she cannot have any male friends. This woman in Saudi Arabia is making news at the moment because she was raped by no less than SEVEN men and yet she, as the victim, is facing 200 lashes and six months in jail because she just happened to meet up with a male who was not her relative prior to the kidnapping and rape. This man too was kidnapped.

Ok, I reiterate my attempt at tolerance of many things but this I cannot stand! I am a female first and foremost and, in many ways, a feminist. I do not see why any woman should be unable to meet with a male who is unrelated to her nor do I see any reason why a rape victim should be punished for doing so. Hasn’t she been punished enough?? And don’t get me started on Sharia rape laws. Did you know a woman can be punished for being raped if there aren’t enough witnesses? That’s right, for a woman to report a rape and expect a conviction, rather than being accused of adultery and face prosecution herself, she must produce four witnesses to the rape. Because I know so many rapes that occur in the town square!

We let Saudi Arabia get away with so many human rights atrocities because they are such an oil-rich country. It boils my blood that no one stands up to them. Money talks and oil greases the lips. Thankfully this woman’s husband is standing up for her, claiming she is “a crushed human being.” Hillary Clinton has stood up and asked President Bush to condemn the verdict and try to sway the Saudi government. But knowing his relationship to the Saudi royal family, I’m sure that’s falling on deaf ears. God forbid he makes waves with one of the richest oil-producing countries in the world.

To sum up (before I rant and rave for much longer) I find this absolutely appalling. I make no bones about it that I do not understand many tenets of Sharia law and, as a western female, find many aspects horrifying. Might I also mention Saudi women are banned from driving? Lest we blame this whole fiasco on Islam and Sharia law, perhaps we should be directing the finger more at the Saudi judicial system. Perhaps I can soothe my open-minded conscience by blaming Saudi Arabia rather than Sharia law but in the end the Saudi judiciary is indeed based on it.

Thank God I live in a western democratic society where I do not have to worry about my being female affecting my status…except that I do. Lower pay, inflexible employers when dealing with childcare and the inability to make a choice about my body (abortion) are just a few of the hurdles that still affect women all over the world, even in ‘modern’ democratic societies. So we cannot blame Sharia law or Saudi Arabia entirely. Patriarchal society is to blame. Saudi Arabia just exhibits one of the most primitive of these. Call me a raging feminist lesbian whatever, I don’t care. I am woman, hear me roar.

Look in the top right of this website. See the 2008 US Presidential Election? Click on it! I think you’ll find it interesting.

Further outpouring of utter shite from Hugo Chavez’s mouth on his recent row with King Juan Carlos of Spain. He has now had the audacity to compare his suffering with that of Jesus Christ in the leadup to his crucifixion.

Should he accept the king’s injunction to shut up, “the stones of the people of Latin America would cry out”, said Chávez, paraphrasing a comment by Christ in Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion. The Venezuelan information ministry issued press releases identifying the relevant part of the Bible.

I ask you, seriously, how pompous, arrogant and so much of an ass can one man be? There is a certain Assembly Member here in City Hall in London who is rather pompous and arrogant but I can say for almost certain he would never compare himself with Christ. My mouth actually dropped wide open when I read this today.

The fun continues in Venezuela, however, as most of Chavez’s people are going without the basics: eggs, milk and sugar. Well done, Hugo. You’re comparing your wounded pride with Christ while your people starve. Those are some fantastic socialist principles, let me tell you.

Venezuelan President (aka dictator) Hugo Chavez was back in the news this weekend because (this is great) the King of Spain told him to shut up!! I laughed out loud when I read this. What is so incredibly infuriating and entertaining at the same time is the reason for the King’s outburst. Chavez had the audacity to call the former Spanish Prime Minister a fascist. Let’s just review the definition of fascism, shall we?

A governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

First I realise Chavez was democratically-elected but he has recently tried to push through legislation abolishing term limits and thereby giving him the ability to remain in office for life, just like a dictator. Second, I am not saying Chavez is racist but he definitely is nationalist. He recently announced that any foreigners caught speaking badly of the Venezuelan government could be forcibly thrown out of the country. As for suppressing opposition and criticism, just look at his recent backlash against critical media organisations. He shut down one of the television stations because they were too critical of him.

So, let’s look at the big picture here. Can we say HYPOCRITE?! Good on the King of Spain for standing up to him. It certainly made my weekend a bit cheerier.

It’s called Bush Derangement Syndrome. The main symptom is being “reduced…to frustrated, sputtering rage” at the mere mention of the Bush name. I’m so glad it’s only 14 1/2 months until I’m cured.

An article in the Guardian today on Giuliani’s quasi-lead in the Republican candidate pool. In the sidebox (or very bottom of the online article here) are some rather frightening bits of information I had, before now, been unaware of.

• His campaign team includes neo-conservatives such as Norman Podhoretz, who advocates bombing Iran “as soon as logistically possible”.
• Other foreign policy advisers include Daniel Pipes, who favours profiling Muslims at airports and reviewing Muslims working for the police and other law enforcement agencies.
• Mr Giuliani expressed support for electronic surveillance and “aggressive questioning”.
• Democrats and liberal journalists are keen to point to his record in New York, during which they claim he was vindictive in pursuing those who opposed him, grabbing extra executive powers, and implementing illiberal policies. (Am I the only one who notices a resemblance to our current dictator-in-chief on this particular point?)

Most striking is that Giuliani’s relative ease with the idea of bombing Iran to prevent their obtaining nuclear weapons is very likely the reasoning behind the shocking news this week that Pat Robertson is officially backing Giuliani. In addition to this the two men apparently share a similar view of Israel and the rest of the Middle East in that they want to support the former unquestionably and bomb the latter back into the stone age. Ok, so the last bit is my take on their view of the Middle East but I bet when it comes down to it I’m not far off.

The main point is be afraid, be very afraid. Forget Giuliani’s apparent ‘insanity‘ and look more closely at what he might do to the US if he were put in charge. It would possibly be four to eight more years of what we have currently, possibly even worse. I don’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, do not support Giuliani. He may seem likeable and, yes, he governed New York during a terrible time but that does not make him good president material as evidenced by the above.

I should just link to this blog and leave it all to them. Sadly they are far wittier than I can ever hope to be. This one in particular is rather good as was the one below with the Cheney Satan bumper sticker. God bless the Guardian.

I thought this coming Sunday would be four weeks since I gave up smoking but having looked at my handy-dandy spreadsheet, this past Sunday marked four full weeks without a cigarette. I did happen to buy myself a lovely pair of shoes on Saturday as a congratulatory gift. Hooray for me! I’ve also now saved £112.83, though I think it is definitely more but I have no way of really knowing. Good to have some sort of figure though and that isn’t a bad one. Nor is going four weeks without a cigarette.