Hey everyone. A lot of things going on right now.
After last week's pro-occupation rally of about 500,000 people in Lebanon, sponsored by Hezbollah, there was another anti-occupation rally today, with Lebanon's leading TV station and some police estimating the crowd at one million. In a country of 3.5 million, that's a huge turnout against the Syrian occupation forces! AP story is here.

Then, there's the whole IRA debacle. If you didn't hear about the brutal murder of Robert McCartney in January, and the ensuing IRA coverup of the crime, you'd be surprised at the details. This Catholic guy was beaten to death so brutally, he lost an eye in the process. His friend had his throat slit, but survived. The IRA men involved in the murder cleaned up the bar where it happened, took the surveillance videotape, and told the 75 witnesses to shut up. But instead of accepting what had happened, McCartney's 5 sisters have put so much pressure on obtaining justice that the IRA has even offered to EXECUTE four of the men involved in the murder. That's what got my attention, that the IRA would have the ability to offer this concession, and that the IRA would think this was an acceptable outcome, shooting four of the men involved. The McCartney sisters will take the place of the IRA/Sinn Fein for the traditional dinner at the White House this week. On top of this, even Senator Ted Kennedy has cancelled his planned meeting with the Sinn Fein reps this week. This murder, along with the spectacular Belfast bank robbery last December, puts a real PR problem in hands of the IRA. Article here. For the first time that I can remember, some people have begun comparing the IRA to the Nazis. UPDATE: London Times article with the whole story here.

Finally, I think the Schiavo case is a bit more complicated than you make it seem, JP, when you said "Let's hope Mrs. Shiavo can die" a couple of weeks ago. First of all, there's the question of who has the right to make the decision to remove a feeding tube if the person never made his/her wishes known. In Terri Schiavo's case, her parents want her to live, and her husband wants her to die. I'm not sure I know who has a better claim on this decision-making process. On top of it all, her parents are willing to care for her; they don't want her to starve to death, which is what her husband is suggesting. If you have someone whose wishes are unclear, and you have family who are willing to take care of him/her, I personally would not go down the starvation route. The Miami Herald has the latest story here.

A lot going on!
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 3/14/2005 04:44:00 PM