Oh, Netanyahu...

You've been a busy boy.

Monday, the current Prime Minister of Israel met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the peace process in Israel/Palestine... Interesting. It seems like Netanyahu wants Egypt's help with a new crack at peace in the holy land (meant semi-sarcastically, trust me).

Thursday, he made a surprise trip to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II:

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu, said that the Israeli prime minister and the Jordanian monarch discussed bilateral issues and the peace process with the Palestinians. On the subject of Palestinian statehood, Mr. Regev said only that “the Prime Minister expressed his view that he is committed to moving forward and is committed to tangible steps that will benefit people on the ground.”

A statement issued by the royal palace after the meeting and quoted by news organizations said that the king had also asked Mr. Netanyahu to accept the Arab peace initiative, which offers Israel normal ties with the Arab world in return for a full withdrawal to its pre-1967 boundaries and a solution for the Palestinian refugees of 1948.

If that wasn't enough for the day, Netanyahu met with Pope Benedict XVI to ask for a denunciation of Iran from the Catholic Church.

In a closed 15-minute meeting in Nazareth, the northern Israeli city where tradition says Jesus lived, the pope and Mr. Netanyahu discussed “how to advance the terms of the peace process,” Father Lombardi said.

Mr. Netanyahu said he and the pope had discussed “the historic process of reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism.”

Father Lombardi said they had also discussed the continuing negotiations between the Vatican and the State of Israel over the Roman Catholic Church’s legal and taxation status in Israel.

Why is there a need to discuss the reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism? I guess I'm not important enough to say, but if there is a reason, it must be to try and figure out a way to bring about the same sort of phenomenon with the other monotheistic faith, Islam.

Throughout his visit to Jordan and Israel, Benedict has been calling attention to the plight of Christians in the region, whose numbers have been declining.

Unfortunately, Christians end up being grouped with Muslims as a minority in Israel. These same people who have experienced "reconciliation" with Judaism are forced into the most terrible parts of Israel/Palestine and are even made to use roads of a lesser quality because of their 'religious and ethnic inferiority.'

This upcoming Monday, Netanyahu visits DC in order to meet with President Obama. This is a major part of the Obama administration's stance on the conflict in the holy land - that there should be a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine:

The Obama administration has fired its own warning shots. It asked Congress to make minor changes in a bill to allow aid to flow to a Palestinian unity government that would include members backed by Hamas — a step away from a blanket refusal to deal with Hamas, which it labels a terrorist organization.

The changes ruffled lawmakers in Congress, who tweaked the wording to make it more restrictive. But the episode rattled Israeli officials, who recently waged a fierce military campaign against Hamas in Gaza to stem its rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns.

Adding to Israel’s qualms, a senior State Department official, Rose Gottemoeller, said at a recent conference in New York that the United States favored having Israel sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which would require it to declare and give up its nuclear arsenal.

We will see how well the talks go, but with the tension regarding Iran, it may be a trickier situation than the optimistic one many hope for. Netanyahu says, though, that Israel will not strike against Iran without Washington's approval. Let's hope they don't get it.

This Is Your Victory

I'm reminded of the famous Goonies line "This is our time, it's our time down here."

I don't know whether it was because I knew I got to see Theron or because I knew Obama was president-elect, but I was eager to wake up this morning, to greet the sun with a cheery smile and not one of those classic "five more minutes" routines.

I know, deep down in my heart, that this is what our country needs. Hopefully other people will realize that soon too.

For a fun audio slideshow, via CNN, click here.

Rock the Vote!

Vote. Do it. Everyone who's anyone is doing it. *peer pressure*



NOTE: If the video isn't done loading onto youtube, I am sorry. I have to run, so check back in a bit to see if it works then.

<3

I Have A Thing For Odd News

It's just too fun to not blog about.

Here's the weirdest news of all - David Spade is a dad. Not only that, no, but the mother is a Playboy Playmate?! Weird. The baby was born in late August. Hopefully, her doctor wasn't like this guy.

New Jersey is one crazy ass place. I think it's pretty sad that the youngest daughter has to raise all those kids now. But, thank g-d she wasn't home so that someone can take care of them.

This couple's will seems more like one that would've been left by an angry parent. However, I can see that the husband really never felt supported by his brother. I wonder what Robert thinks about all this now that his brother's dead and buried?

Oh! And breaking news! He Kexin, the little Chinese gymnast, is underage! Big surprise there. I doubt the Olympic Committee even cares right now, otherwise they'd have found out.

It always breaks my heart to see children treated poorly. That's a big part of why the following stories bother me.

An older couple in Arizona kept their grandson in a closet. Unlike Harry Potter, this young child was not allowed to attend school, play, have friends - anything. He was barely allowed out of the closet and barely given food. He weighs a mere 48 pounds at age nine.

You'd think if you were having a class sleepover that security would be pretty tight right? Or at least that the guardians on site would sleep in shifts in case the kids needed potty help or something. Unfortunately, this class down under didn't think about that. I want to know what the hell these guys were doing in the building, let alone waiting in the toilet. I think that they knew someone female was gonna have to use the bathroom during the night, and when it was a little girl that just made them happier. I hope that she is okay.

Weird News

I'm trying everything I can to avoid taking about Sarah Palin... and more importantly her pregnant, engaged seventeen year old. So enjoy these odd stories I found in the den of the enemy (aka Fox News).

Ever feel like you wanted to take your mother with you everywhere you go? What about your girlfriend's mom? Well, now you can! The new 'Mom in a suitcase' will help you to keep close and cuddily contact with your mommy (or a friend's) without being embarrassed by cheek kisses in front of others. Supplies are limited so call today!

For those moms out there constantly embarrassed by their children, there is also help. No longer do you have to worry about locking your daughter in the trunk, a la Casey Anthony, but you can rent a storage unit to hide them in too!

Speaking of trunks, this Brazilian man survived three whole days locked in a trunk.

And here's why you don't do drugs... or rather, why you don't approach homeless guys to ask for drugs and then invite them back to your apartment. And really, Saw? Couldn't he have picked a movie with a little more umph to it?

The Sex Files

David Duchovny really is a freaky m-f-er. Then again, I suppose that sex is a much better addiction than anything else he could be exposed to in Hollywood. Given his recent Showtime show Californication, however, it could be expected. It's still kinda weird to think of him as a sex addict though.

I guess McCain has picked a woman for his VP. I'm sure it's so that people will vote for him based on the "I wanted Clinton because I'm a feminist" situation. I wonder what her position is on drilling for oil in Alaska?

The classic cartoon move comes to life! Of course, it didn't turn out exactly right, but the baby is okay at least.

I'm not entirely sure how this kid was planning on using the heart or the eyelids for that matter, since I'm sure they both would've brought up a lot of questions. It makes me wonder if it's something that his former heart's owner planned on... similar to The Eye, which was a much better movie than I thought it'd be.

And, speaking of attempted murder, Steve Jobs' obituary was recently published in Bloomberg News. I guess they make pre-death obituaries in order to get the story out faster when the death occurs, and it accidentally got published. I wonder what they'll do when he actually dies now.

At least they got it fixed before death. This poor witch was executed and just recently was exonerated. I guess she was Europe's last executed "witch" but the last witch trials in Salem were held almost a year earlier. How very odd.

Oh, and to avoid losing your head like the witch, I wouldn't go to Mexico right now... or at least the Chichi Suarez and Buctzotz regions.

World War III?

Militarily, the United States is already stretched thin. We're in both Iraq and Afghanistan, with an invasion of Iran possible in the not-so-distant future. For the most part, our issues with North Korea have been resolved - or rather, it's not an issue at the moment. Add to that the millions of men and women stationed all around the world in strategic places (or just military bases) and it's even worse. Now imagine that Russia doesn't accept our demands regarding Georgia... or that Russia doesn't appreciate us choosing Georgia over them.

There is a cease-fire in effect, but we'll see how long that lasts.

According to Mikhail Gorbachev, Georgia surely started the conflict. But, according to the Georgian president, Russia started it, so who knows. Perspective is the name of the game.

I don't really have that much more to say on the subject. I don't know the history of either country that well, aside from during the wars of this century.