There is not a sadder conflict in the world than that between Israel and the long-oppressed Palestinian people, nor one more divisive. This is true whether, as now, there is ongoing bloodshed, almost all Palestinian blood, or when there has been relative calm and minimal violence.
It is sad because the oppression and the violence is so unnecessary, and incongruous. Despite the length of the conflict, it could begin to heal tomorrow if only the Israeli government would let it. But they will not, unless far more pressured by the US and others.
TRAVEL ANNOYANCES
Taking a week off and looking around the northern parts of Arizona is a mostly relaxing experience, but at the moment I am furious at the management of Quality Inn in Flagstaff. It is not about the construction and the noise, but about a deliberate and unacceptable act: they “filter” the wi-fi internet. Censorship of the kind one hears about in dictatorships does not belong in the United States. They are so deviously nefarious as to filter any proxy server sites that could normally avoid the blocking. Avoid staying in a Quality Inn. The company is being run by authoritarians intent on denying the freedom to read and view what they disapprove.
-cosmicrat July 26, 2014
