pappajacks

not to mention that allying yourself with israel against hizbollah would anger iran and syria (2 neighbouring countries) with armies 100 times stronger than lebanon's. there is no easy answer...it's not black or white.

well the other option is war and a 100% chance of destruction of your infrastructures and hundreds of civilians dead...and a decade to rebuild everything again.

lebanon hoped for the option where hizbollah and israel negotiate terms for an exchange of prisoners. hizbollah captured the soldiers in order to trade with israel for those in israeli prisons.

1) the lebanese army has been broken down from 2 decades of civil war. it's a weak army. 2) the US has 130,000 of its armed forces in Irak and yet they can't stop the destruction done by the insurgents. What do you expect the lebanese army to do against a well organized group financed by Iran and syria. 3) confronting hizbollah with israel would plunge lebanon in another war....just after it finished with 25 years of civil war. when you start rebuilding and trying to put your economy back on track...the last thing you want is to start another round of violence.

Pat Buchanan is now chiming in.... http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51116 Where are the Christians? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 18, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 Creators Syndicate Inc. When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his navy and air force on Lebanon, accusing that tiny nation of an "act of war," the last pillar of Bush's Middle East policy collapsed. First came capitulation on the Bush Doctrine, as Pyongyang and Tehran defied Bush's dictum: The world's worst regimes will not be allowed to acquire the world's worst weapons. Then came suspension of the democracy crusade as Islamic militants exploited free elections to advance to power and office in Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, Iraq and Iran. Now, Israel's rampage against a defenseless Lebanon – smashing airport runways, fuel tanks, power plants, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges, roads and the occasional refugee convoy – has exposed Bush's folly in subcontracting U.S. policy out to Tel Aviv, thus making Israel the custodian of our reputation and interests in the Middle East. The Lebanon that Israel, with Bush's blessing, is smashing up has a pro-American government, heretofore considered a shining example of his democracy crusade. Yet, asked in St. Petersburg if he would urge Israel to use restraint in its airstrikes, Bush sounded less like the leader of the Free World than some bellicose city councilman from Brooklyn Heights. What Israel is up to was described by its army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, when he threatened to "turn back the clock in Lebanon 20 years." Olmert seized upon Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers to unleash the IDF in a pre-planned attack to make the Lebanese people suffer until the Lebanese government disarms Hezbollah, a task the Israeli army could not accomplish in 18 years of occupation. Israel is doing the same to the Palestinians. To punish these people for the crime of electing Hamas, Olmert imposed an economic blockade of Gaza and the West Bank and withheld the $50 million in monthly tax and customs receipts due the Palestinians. Then, Israel instructed the United States to terminate all aid to the Palestinian Authority, though Bush himself had called for the elections and for the participation of Hamas. Our Crawford cowboy meekly complied. The predictable result: Fatah and Hamas fell to fratricidal fighting, and Hamas militants began launching Qassam rockets over the fence from Gaza into Israel. Hamas then tunneled into Israel, killed two soldiers, captured one, took him back into Gaza and demanded a prisoner exchange. Israel's response was to abduct half of the Palestinian cabinet and parliament and blow up a $50 million U.S.-insured power plant. That cut off electricity for half a million Palestinians. Their food spoiled, their water could not be purified, and their families sweltered in the summer heat of the Gaza desert. One family of seven was wiped out on a beach by what the IDF assures us was an errant artillery shell. Let it be said: Israel has a right to defend herself, a right to counter-attack against Hezbollah and Hamas, a right to clean out bases from which Katyusha or Qassam rockets are being fired and a right to occupy land from which attacks are mounted on her people. But what Israel is doing is imposing deliberate suffering on civilians, collective punishment on innocent people, to force them to do something they are powerless to do: disarm the gunmen among them. Such a policy violates international law and comports neither with our values nor our interests. It is un-American and un-Christian. But where are the Christians? Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to Lebanese Christians and Muslims? When al-Qaida captured two U.S. soldiers and barbarically butchered them, the U.S. Army did not smash power plants across the Sunni Triangle. Why then is Bush not only silent but openly supportive when Israelis do this? Democrats attack Bush for crimes of which he is not guilty, including Haditha and Abu Ghraib. Why are they, too, silent when Israel pursues a conscious policy of collective punishment of innocent peoples? Britain's diplomatic goal in two world wars was to bring the naive cousins in, to "pull their chestnuts out of the fire." Israel and her paid and pro-bono agents here appear determined to expand the Iraq war into Syria and Iran, and have America fight and finish all of Israel's enemies. That Tel Aviv is maneuvering us to fight its wars is understandable. That Americans are ignorant of, or complicit in this, is deplorable. Already, Bush is ranting about Syria being behind the Hezbollah capture of the Israeli soldiers. But where is the proof? Who is whispering in his ear? The same people who told him Iraq was maybe months away from an atom bomb, that an invasion would be a "cakewalk," that he would be Churchill, that U.S. troops would be greeted with candy and flowers, that democracy would break out across the region, that Palestinians and Israelis would then sit down and make peace? How much must America pay for the education of this man?

israel holds in its prisons many (palestinians say thousands, more conservative humanitarian groups say hundreds) prisoners that were never charged with a crime nor put on trial. Someone on my basketball team (a Christian Palestinian) told me that his aunt and her two children were captured by israeli forces during a raid 9 years ago. His aunt worked with foreign humanitarian groups condemning Israel's occupation and oppression of the palestinian people. She was Catholic (maronite) and not affiliated with any terrorist group. To this day, my friend has never heard from his aunt nor has she been charged with a crime or put in front of a trial. The goal of hizbollah by capturing the israeli soldiers was to negoatiate a trade for prisoners. Whether hizbollah wanted in return innocent women/children or former terrorists, I do not know. But what I do know is that not everyone held in israeli prisons are guilty.

I am very surprised that americans continue to give unconditional support to Israel. According to a research by American economist Thomas Stauffer in 2002, Israel has cost the US $1.6 trillion since 1973. And that's not counting all the secondary effects of giving Israel unconditional support, such as terrorist attacks on american soil and on americans abroad. israel has been an economic drain for the US. Would we support any other country in the world that costed us 2 trillion dollars since the 1970's, hate from close to a billion people and terrorist attacks on american soil? America has gained nothing from its association with israel since israel's creation in 1948. It has been an economic and diplomatic disaster for the States, probably the biggest of the States' history. israel has only given the States headache after headache, costly and deadly ones.

Most people fail to mention that many Christians living in the Middle east are not on Israel's side when it chooses to use military action and kill as many innocent civilians as the suicide bombers do. There was a show here in Canada interviewing Christians living in the middle east and a good number of them condemn the way Israel conducts its business in the middle east and even blame them for feuling more hate among the moderate muslims. The myth that only muslims dissaprove Israel's ways is just that...a myth.

This thread is so one sided......there's two sides to every story. Israel has also captured hundreds of prisoners... that were never charged with a crime nor put in front of a trial. Extremists on both sides (Zionists and islamists) are the ones that benefit with violence. It's the moderates (the silent majority) that lose with every conflict. With every act of terror (suicide bombers in Israel, military bombings on commercial airports in Lebanon), all it does is push the moderates on both sides more to the extreme. It takes two to dance, and both sides are as guilty (or innocent)....depends the way you see it. I am a Christian from lebanese descent. The family and friends I have who are still in Lebanon (all Christian) condemn uninimously what Israel has done. So it's not only "arab, muslim, terrorists" that dissaprove from Israel's antics today. Will the strategy of coercive force really solve the problem? This strategy will only turn fundamentalists more to the extreme and create another generation of hate. Given the fact that Muslims are reproducing faster than any other race....this is a dangerous game to play. We're turning in circles for decades now....because both sides are using the same antics. it's time to look at the bigger picture instead of using bandade solutions.

I saved some audio clips to my computer (My Documents) and was wondering how can I make others (members of a message board, not this one though) listen to the audio clips. Do I post a link of each clip in the post of the message board or do I create a page with all the clips I want others to hear?

so, has anyone found the video of HHH burying cena? the link posted earlier seems to freeze every 2 seconds.

Does anyone know what was Bill Clinton's popular support in the polls during his second term after the Lewinski scandal? What about Reagan? I'm curious to know in what range those two former presidents were in their second terms.

'Laughter therapy' doctor Patch Adams honoured in Peru, calls Bush 'fascist' LIMA, Peru (AP) - A U.S. doctor known for his signature use of "laughter therapy" and social activism used his acceptance speech for a health care award to blast President George W. Bush and materialism in society. Dr. Hunter (Patch) Adams, who was the inspiration for the 1998 movie starring Robin Williams, was awarded the first ever Excellence in Health Care Prize presented by the Lima-based Global Organization for Excellence in Health. The organization is sponsoring an international health care conference in Lima next week. Adams, 60, with a gray waist-length ponytail streaked blue, expressed "shame for our fascist president," referring to Bush, and told reporters that the only way global health will improve is if "we stop worshipping money." Adams expressed his disgust with war in Iraq, offering his sympathy for the "unfortunate soldiers who are serving corporations" there. "Excellence in health means devoting your life to ending poverty," said Adams who has worked as a physician for 35 years. "My work is to end violence, and to bring harmony to people," Adams said, repeatedly expressing his repulsion for society's preoccupation with "superficial" concerns, like "sports and Paris Hilton" hotel heiress and reality series star. "It's humiliating that a person who kicks a ball makes more money than a school teacher," Adams said. Adams was wrapping up a five-week trip to Peru - his third in the past three years - during which he travelled to the northern Amazon city of Iquitos, where he visited prisons, orphanages and AIDS clinics. "They had every reason to be sad and angry, yet people were instantly friendly, engaging and giving," said Adams who has visited many poverty-stricken or war-affected areas throughout the world.

The following is from the may Issue of MAXIM Magazine (on sale now) MM: What is it like in the ring wrestling with other women? Do you like it? TS: It's fun, it's always a challange getting in the ring and I enjoy getting physical with the women and just doing what I do and having fun. MM: Do you think that women are too much of sex symbols in WWE and do you feel comfortable with that? TS: Well , I think that we(the women) have the say in how far "it" goes. I think that all the women in the company have alot of talent and good looks and can defenitly use both. Personally my character latley has been focusing more on wrestling and winning and not so much on the sexual things but that is still fun. MM: What do you say about the men that only watch the women for the eye candy? TS: I think that they can easily decide what they want to watch for , but they should be tuning in for the wrestling too. There are women who don't wrestle as much as others and enjoy being in bikini contests and all that, but it is not a constant thing Personal/Body Questions: MM: Which do you wear the most: Underwear , Thong , G-string? TS: I usually wear a thong and black is my favourite. I feel very loose in them and very sexy. Although I have alot of pairs of underwear and many colours which are very sexy and very comfortable. I don't wear G-strings too often. MM: What is your bra size and which company do you wear the most? TS: My bra size is 36C , oh yah they're big so I need alot of support you know?! I wear alot of Victoria Secret, most of my bra's are from there and underwear too, they're very good! I also wear alot of underwear from La Senza. MM: How often do you shave? Do you ever have a bush? TS: Woah , ummmm i'd have to say I have a bush quite often. I guess i'll get around to shaving/trimming once or twice a month. When i'm busy it could get pretty hairy down there. MM: What is your favourite part of your body? TS: I would have to say my ass. I like my breasts too but I just love my ass , it has always been my favourite and most sexy body part. It's a great size and it's very smooth , probably from all the years of working out! MM: Do you walk around your house naked? TS: Actually I walk around my house naked alot. Especially when I come out of the shower I wont put on clothes for a long time. Also when im taking off my clothes to get into the shower or changing i'll stay naked for a while. I like being naked and I like body, sometimes when i'm in the mood I'll just randomly take my clothes off(strip) and watch tv or do the laundry naked. MM: How long do you spend in the shower and do you sing in the shower? TS: That depends on what i'm doing in there....hahaha! If it's just my hair then a good 10 minutes but if i'm shaving my legs/down there , then a little longer probably 15-20 minutes. About singing , sometimes when i'm in a really good mood I will defenitly sing. MM: How do you like it in bed? TS: Usually I like it nice and calm and I enjoy being in control. When I'm really into it/enjoying the sex I can moan pretty loudly, I can also go pretty long. MM:Thanks for doing this with us it was fun , all the best and good luck in WWE. TS: Yes, it was fun , my pleasure and thanks alot!

For some reason, I am unable to access the internet. Each time I double click on the IE icon, a blank page opens with the message "detecting proxy settings" on the bottom left corner of the page (where the word "Done" is suppost to be). I was told to go in internet options, then to connections then to LAN settings then to uncheck "automatically detect settings", which I did. Now each time I try to open IE, the same blank page appears, this time with no message on the bottom left corner. When I try to close the window, the message "this program is not responding" (with a picture of IE with a yellow exclamation point) appears. I have had this problem since Friday, after I downloaded the AVG anti-virus program and ran a virus scan on my computer. BTW, I have Windows XP. What can I do to solve this problem?

Horrible day on the markets for the US dollar yesterday and this morning. 1 euro is now worth 1.29 US, and the Canadian dollar continues to surge (now worth 83% of the US dollar). Traders expected a Bush reelection to have a negative impact on the US dollar. and so far they are right. How low can the dollar fall before we start doing something about it?

December 3rd Update: the euro dollar (and other currencies) continue to rise against the greenback. 1 euro is now worth $1.34 US.

Powell will have a best selling book in 2005. You read it here first.

http://www.bushrelativesforkerry.com/pages/1/index.htm they even have their own website now

http://slate.msn.com/id/2108392/

I just bought a new computer which includes a DVD writer. Will I be able to burn DVD movies and if so how do I do it?

The treasury secretary is the President's yes man. Not once has Snow criticized the economy since appointed. If you want a more honest opinion about the state of the economy and Bush's economic failure or success, Greenspan would be the man to turn too.

That's because Sledge and Rivera were in the lineup everyday after Everett's departure. Sledge-Wilkerson-Rivera, solid outfield going into 2005. Too bad it wont be in Montreal.

No. The only good deal Minaya made was acquiring Livan for Jim Brower. He traded grade A prospects Grady Sizemore, Brandon Philips and Cliff Lee for 3 months of Bartolo Colon. He then traded Colon in the off season for Rocky Biddle, El Duque (who never pitched an inning in an expos uniform) and Jeff Liefer (who was released 2 months after the trade). Also, he traded in 2002 Jason Bay (who is favorite to win rookie of the year this year) for Lou Collier (who was released a few weeks after being acquired). He traded Guillermo Mota for Matt Herges. He traded prospect Chris Young to the Rangers for catcher Einar Diaz, a career .250 hitter that makes 2.5 million. Not to mention that Minaya signed Carl Everett this winter as a free agent at 8 million for 2 years.