Klaatu Barada Nikto

Isaac Asimov wrote the three laws of robotics in I ROBOT.

1.) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2.) A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3.) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

The producers of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL ignored these edicts by granting the robot Gort the ability to destroy humanity for its sins against universal peace.

This week the powers of peace have been overwhelmed by the forces of war in the Middle East.

My friend Jorge wrote on facebook; Just to be clear, I think Israel has as much right to exist as the state of Palestine. I decry their bombing of Gaza, just as I do Palestinian attacks on Israel. I am not looking to ascribe blame in this convoluted scenario; I simply wish for innocent people and children to be spared. Naive as it may sound, I think all violent aggressors that cost innocent lives should be policed and boycotted by the UN and world-at-large over and above any political affiliations. If world-government accord enforced such stipulations, aggressors would have to cease or face sanctions and embargo. Of course that would leave much of the world, including the US, penalized. Enter Gort!

Klaatu barada nikto.

One friend posted; Its all so fucking stupid...after all this time what is the fucking point? And I entered the fray by writing; The point is that these two sides have grievances. Palestinian land was stolen by the Israelis to make up from their treatment at the hands of the Nazis. Peace cannot exist without truth." Jorge argued not without a passion for peace, "The new point is to cease returning to historical causes and justifications and to start unanimously denouncing all violent acts. Otherwise, we are caught in an endless cycle." I countered, "The historical causes must be addressed to sate the need for both justice and equality. The truth will out." Our mutual friend Merrill enjoined the discussion with the following entry. "Somebody in a forum I was arguing with about this said the reason Palestine was chosen to repatriate Jews was because they were part of the Ottoman Empire and sided with the Germans during the war. I don't see why that would not warrant the Jews to be settled in Germany though, but I always wondered why Palestine was chosen...why did they draw the short straw? This seems to be all about real estate, plain and simple. I have the impression that the Palestinians are like the American Indians, handshake deals, not keen on "owning" the land, so not able to negotiate rights later on when Israel wants to paper their way over ownership. In that way it is also a culture clash, a difference of relating to owning things. Very sad. Israel seems greedy." I agreed with Merrill by writing, "Someone cited that the Ottoman Empire sided with the Germans. That was in WWI, but the Arabs revolted against the Turks only to be screwed by the Filthy Brits and Frogs. Of course history is written by the victors and revised periodically to suit the purposes of repression. There were no palestinians at Dachau." And as Patricia Neal said in THE DAY EARTH STOOD STILL, "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto." There is no translation to this phrase, but Gort stopped his destruction of the planet. If only it were so easy for us, we could clap our hands like when we watched PETER PAN and say, "Klaatu barada nikto." It has to meant something

DoomsDay On Its Way

Last week Iran marked Defence Industry Day with the unveiling of a new accuracy of short-range defensive missiles with the range of 300 kilometers. The distance between Tehran and Jerusalem is 1561 km or 970 miles. The Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has several rockets capable of greater distances such as the Fajr-3, Shahab-3, and Ghadr-110, although military experts question whether the Iranians are overstating the capabilities of these weapons a la Saddam of Iraq. For days ago the Iranian president stated that Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to this statement by admitting that Israel is ready to strike at Iran, despite President Shimon Peres saying that Israel could not “go it alone” and should depend on the US when dealing with Iran and the head of the Labor Party said, “The entire Iran debate is reckless, truly reckless." Harratx reported that Israeli Defense officials have visit with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to discuss a possible Israeli attack on Iran. The 91 year-old rabbi is reputed to be against such an aggressive posture, but also told his followers over the radio, "You know what situation we're in, there are evil people, Iran, about to destroy us. ... We must pray before [the almighty] with all our heart." "Torah Torah Torah." The attack depends entirely on US support, for the Israeli Air Force cannot attack Iran without re-fueling from US tanker planes, but Netanyahu is pressing for action before the US election to force Obama from office and even called for the President to come to Israel to pledge his support for an assault on Iran. The Jerusalem Post quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who said on Monday that Israelis were "afraid of their own shadow (and are ) therefore trying to control this disappointing atmosphere by brouhaha and psychological warfare, but should know that propaganda will not resolve their problems." The Jerusalem Post came out against the attack; see url http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=281943 Smoke and mirrors can reflect whatever the illusionist wants to project to his audience, if the crowd are sufficiently prepared to accept a mirage. ps Mitt Romney has entered the fray by saying, “As I said recently when visiting Jerusalem, ‘We have seen the horrors of history. We will not stand by. We will not watch them play out again.” Torah torah torah indeed.

Just Like That

v=rhu-YgCyPz4 Those that don't remember history are doomed to not remember the past. Forget the part about mistakes, because many fools think that knowing the past permits the attempt to succeed where others have failed in a horrible fashion. On 6 October 1981 Egypt's Sadat was attending a ceremony celebrating his army's triumphant crossing of the Suez Canal in 1973. Foreign dignitaries in attendance. were diplomatic in not mentioning the debacle that followed that success. Sadat had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for signing a peace accord at the Camp David summit. His popularity was on the rise, so no one expected an assassination squad to jump out of a truck and hurl grenades into the VIP stands. Many thought that it was part of the entertainment, then the attack squad open fire with AK47s. Not a single shot was returned by Sadat's personal guard. The VP Mubarak had been wounded in the hand. Sadat had been hit in the neck. He died on the operating table and Mubarak went on to rule Egypt for almost thirty years. To this day he says that he had nothing to do with the assassination. "I was sitting next to him." And he was lucky to escape alive. The question remains; Was Egypt as lucky? To view the attack, go to this URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?