A new look for the old blog you loved

Friends, Family, Readers and others:

This Web log has moved to a much better format and log system. The new blog is called fdsBlog and you can access it at http://fds.weblogs.us and also our new magazine, The Digest of Opinions (http://opinions.weblogs.us). There will be columnists, editorials, life stories, features stories and free stuff. So go there.

It's new, improved, and it's yours.

How to save the U.N.

In recent days there have been umpteen discussions about the United Nations. This time it is about the U.N. Iraqi oil-for-food program; the Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan’s son, Kojo, was recently reported of having received $2,000 per month from that program.

The discussions have also been about whether the U.N. still has its cold war clout and charm. And the answer is no, but here are a few steps I feel will help the U.N. regain its lost glory:

* First, Annan needs to go - either by resignation or by firing. Just too many errors have been made by him and his cronies during the past year.

* Second, the Security Council is the foundation of the U.N. It is composed of permanent members, with veto power, and pro tem-members. (The veto is a very imperative power, as one permanent member can overrule a resolution single-handedly.) France, with just over 60 million people, has that power, but India, with 1 billion people, is left voiceless.

* And finally, the U.N. needs to rally its members to change the Geneva and the other “war” accords. We do not live in the 1940s. We live in a day and age of terrorism, where many of those rules do not apply. A terrorist is not a soldier, and that needs to be made clearer.

For the United States’ part: We need to remind the U.N. that America’s contributions amount to over 22 percent its total budget; that itself should be sufficient.

EDITORS’ NOTE: We are just a weekly publication, and will be soon moving to our new domain name. But becasue the tsunamis we were updating our news and editorials at a faster pace.

A friend, in what was a foe

Cox and Forkum published a cartoon, along with a small strip from the Associated Press wire (stating: “GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, Jan. 2 [AP] — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he wants to shield Palestinian militants from Israel and indicated he has no plans to crack down on gunmen after upcoming presidential elections.”) Albeit, that cartoon was extremely hilarious the news strip they base their article on is only a part of the entire article. Mahmud Abbas is the current Palestinian prime minister and, after Yassir Arafat’s death, he seems to be the most-fit contender for the position of the Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Mr. Abbas is considered a friend of the Israelis — and his childhood friend, from his days there, can attest for that. He is also a shrewd politician, knowing what to say and when to say it. He will bring Israel and Palestine together, like Mr. Arafat could not.

The Palestinians are holding general elections, and if Mr. Abbas goes against the crowd and says that he will obliterate all terrorist operations and be an Israeli puppet, our friend will not be elected. (The United States supports him, and do does this Weblog.)

There will be nothing better than having peace in the Middle East, and Mr. Abbas can bring that — which we certainly feel he will. We can only hope such a good man is elected (and peace is brought to the Middle East). He is a good friend, in a group of tens of thousands of foe.

Burns’s Cartoons

Due to a special arrangement with Thomas Burns, the extremely witty cartoonist for BuzzFlash.com, you will now see his cartoons on this Weblog. Mr. Burns’s cartoons are archived on his Web site at http://www.buzzflash.com/burns/archives.html. I am very grateful for that.

Here is his first cartoon:

THOMAS BURNS/BuzzFlash.com

Winners and Losers of 2004

The According to Life Weblog is not only for politics, but also general life. We, here at Accli, believe in saying it like it is. And have compiled a list of the year 2004’s winners and losers. We did extensive research before publishing the results:

Winner: Jessica Simpson
Loser: Ashley Simpson — for her faux pas on the Saturday Night Live stage; she was caught lip-sinking

Winner: Teri Hatcher, who went from Radio Shack commercials to doing TV’s best new series “Desperate Housewives”
Loser: Sarah Jessica Parker, who went from doing “Sex and the City” to doing commercials for the Gap

Winner: Kevin Federline, Britney Spears’s current hubby
Loser: Jason A. Alexander, Britney Spears’s 24-hour hubby

Winner: “Lost”; ABC
Loser: “The Real Gilligan’s Island”; TBS

Winner: “That’s hot”
Loser: “You’re fired” — have you ever met a man who says his own name more than other’s names? (He’s not just a loser, he is a Trump Loser, the most fantastic and luxurious kind of loser there is.)

Winner: The Googlers, Larry Page and Sergey Brein
Loser: The household and Kmart diva Martha Stewart, who will spend some of her new year in jail; also Mikhail Khodorkovsky who will probably spend all his new year in jail

Winner: Victor Yushenko and the Ukrainian people
Loser: Victor Yanukovich, ahh … he’s just a loser

Winner: Spiderman
Loser: Catwoman

That’s it here at the Winner and Loser department. Next week, anticipate our Darts and Laurel column. Till then, have a good one and don’t be shy to leave a few comments here and there.

Obama caught reading The Washington Times

A rightly informed liberal

Senator-elect Barack Obama of Illinois is the new media (and liberal) darling, with some people already touting the Democrat as a presidential candidate. This seems somewhat premature considering that Mr. Obama has yet to serve a single day in the Senate.

Still, no one can deny that Mr. Obama gave a bang-up keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. And Mr. Obama was equally impressive during a recent appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he was wise enough to pooh-pooh those who are already sizing him up for the presidency.

But there's one other reason for thinking that Mr. Obama may be more than your typical liberal politician: An "Inside Politics" reader says he spotted Mr. Obama at National Airport earlier this month intently perusing The Washington Times.

-- Greg Pierce, "Inside Politics" columnist

Always knew he was a unique liberal. Nothing wrong with reading The Washington Times, just that The Post is better.

Yanukovych resigns as Ukraine PM

The Associated Press reported that Victor Vanukovych, the prime minister of Ukraine, has resigned. Here is the story:

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has announced he will resign from his post, handing the opposition a symbolic victory, but also vowing to continue his fight for the presidency of this ex-Soviet republic.

This means that this is not only a victory for Victor Yushchenko, but also the people of Ukraine. Freedom is on the march, except in Russia (whom Yanukovych suported).

The day in cartoons

The day in cartoons:

I have requested the permission of Thomas Burns for his cartoons.

Jeb Bush to vist Tsunami-hit areas

President George W. Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, will visit the Tsunami-hit areas along with Secretary of State Colin Powel. This move comes after tough criticism of President Bush, by the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan, that the United States was slow and “stingy” in its response to the world’s biggest natural catastrophe.

Yesterday Mr. Bush announced a $35 million grant, but that number was increased to $350 earlier today. The death toll is also greatly increasing. Hopefully, Jeb Bush will take his expertise from the Florida hurricanes, and apply those principles in the Indian Ocean countries.

If he is able to “fix” the food and water problems there, clear all the corpses and restore life back to normal as soon as possible, ladies and gentlemen, we will have another Bush running for president — in 2008.

The U.S. uppes Tsunami relief

More help is on the way:

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec. 31 (AP) — The United States upped its tsunami relief aid tenfold to $350 million Friday as the world's ships and planes converged on devastated shores. Bottlenecks of supplies built up, fears of epidemics grew, and in an echo of 9/11's aftermath, people at a Thai resort scoured a bulletin board of 4,000 photos in search of the dead and missing.

This is amazing news. I thought President Bush was going to stop at $35 million, which was nothing, but $350 million is a lot, and this will surely help the disaster-hit nations in the Indian Ocean region. Mr. Bush needs to be thanked for this, he should also invest some ammount in helping the poor, under-developed, nations set-up a Tsunami warning system.

The prime minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has also established a special relief effort for India, with over 7,000 people dead (and scores of thousands more left homeless), here is more information:

December 28, 2004,
New Delhi

My Fellow Citizens,

You are all aware that an unprecedented natural calamity has wreaked death and destruction in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the States of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Pondichery and Tamil Nadu. Thousands of people have died in this disaster caused by a tsunami wave triggered by an earthquake. We have all seen pictures of agony, pain, trauma and of the dislocation of life and loss of property. We have also been witness to the tragedy in our neighbouring countries including the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.

The government will do whatever is required and expected of it to provide relief and assist in rehabilitation. I am sure each one of us will voluntarily extend help and support to the best of our ability. It is at times like these that the best in us comes out and the human spirit transcends all adversity.

I appeal to all citizens to strengthen the hands of our Government in dealing with this tragedy and donate generously to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Manmohan Singh.

Payment may be made by cheque or draft in the name of “The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund” and sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, South Block, New Delhi 110011. As per directions on the subject the nationalised banks are not to charge any commission on preparation of drafts favouring the PMNRF.

Contributions can also be made directly at the branches of all banks in the
country.

Donations can also be sent through Money Orders with no commission chargeable. Contributions to the PMNRF have been notified for 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income tax act.

If you would like to send it via the Red Cross, the link is in another post titled “Tsunami Victims.”

The New Year is here

Alas … the old year is almost over now; it is time for 2005. My New Year’s resolution is to focus more on the real things of life, and not the things that will never help one succeed in life — TV, video games and lots of other such things. For other people’s New Year’s resolutions visit http://www.technorati.com/2005resolutions.html.

Have you ever wondered what the passing of every year means? To us, humans, with our unnatural technologies: nothing. But January 1, marks the beginning of a vicious cycle of the seasons, which we very gladly change and amend as per our own necessities. Instead of watching the ball drop in Times Square, today just lie down in the park, on the beach or anywhere calm, and just think about what the old year taught you and what the New Year will bring.

P.S.: Just don’t forget it will be 2005 and not 2004 anymore, so don’t go January 1, 2004 (while writing dates).

F.S.; According to Life Web log, globeartis.blogspot.com

Tsunami Victims

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross through Amazon.com. Donations: almost $8,400,000+

J.L. Golson has a very fine array of videos on his blog. http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/2004/12/tsunami-video.html.

Such a fine article I found on the New York Times Web site, could not help but post the article here. Here is a link to their site, for the full article. (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/opinion/31herbert.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=.)

Our Planet, and Our Duty
By BOB HERBERT

One moment the kids were laughing and skylarking on the beach, yelling and chasing one another, sweating in the warm bright sun. The next moment they were gone.

The world is used to horror stories, but not on the stupefying scale of the macabre tales coming at us from the vast and disorienting zone of death in tsunami-stricken southern Asia. Einstein insisted that God does not play dice with the world, but that might be a difficult notion to sell to some of the agonized individuals who have seen everything they’ve lived for washed away in a pointless instant.

The death toll now is more than twice the number of American G.I.’s killed in all the years of the Vietnam War. Not just entire families, or extended families, but entire communities were consumed by waters that rose up without warning to destroy scores of thousands of people who were doing nothing but going about their ordinary lives.

On Tuesday The Times ran a big front-page picture taken in a makeshift morgue in southern India. It certainly captured the horror. It looked for all the world like a sandy playground covered with dead children.

Imagination pales beside the overwhelming reality of the tragedy. There were, for example, the grief-stricken throngs, clawing through mud and rubble, peering into the faces of the severely injured, wandering through piles of decaying corpses, in search of loved ones. ... (Continued on their site, link above.)

-- Bob Herbert, http://www.nytimes.com.