I have ‘em.
I’d like to lose them, please.
The doldrums, not the carnivals.
Feel free to add links to the comments here. It might get me out of the doldrums.
04/30/2006
So this must be fine, then.
A smallish article in JP attracted my wandering attention:
Iranian artillery fired more than 180 shells into northern Iraq, targeting Kurdish rebel bases, the Iraqi government said Sunday. The shells landed near the Iraqi village of Haj Omran, which is about five kilometers (three miles) inside the Iraqi-Iranian border, Iraq’s Ministry of Defense said.
I have searched for other articles or a commentary on this one, but aside of the Kurdish source (also with reference to AP), couldn’t find any. No indignant peacemongers, no governments’ opinions, no NGO’s raising their strong, albeit reedy, voices in protest against the obviously unlawful and hardly friendly act by a sovereign nation toward its neighbor. Aside of Kamal Karkouki, deputy speaker of parliament for the Kurdish regional administration, that is.
The most intriguing question: where are all the human right groups in Iran and why don’t they follow suit of their Israeli and Palestinian colleagues? Hmm…
Cross-posted on SimplyJews
AP’s sloppy slugging
AP’s recent story titled Bahrain Sees Ties With Iran Eventually
has nothing to do with relations with Iran.
It’s about Bahrain’s relations with Israel and the Bahraini Ambassador’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions:
“We feel very unsafe. We are not sure that something like Chernobyl will not happen again,” Al Belooshi said. “We would like to see a more united front against Iran. The United States is leading the charge, and other countries should follow.”
The AP’s shown sloppy editorial control over headlines, stories, and photo captions. What’s next? Out-of-focus photography, or leaving the lenscap on?
Israel calls Iran out
Finally, a verbal barrage against Iran from the Israeli side. It’s about time they started gettting “Hitler” and “Ahmadinejad” in the same sentence. That bastard keeps on diminishing the Holocaust. Time to remind the world that it happened, and he wants to see it happen twice.
In a recent interview with German daily Bild Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched a scathing attack against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, referring to the Iranian president as a “psychopath” and comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
“He is a psychopath of the worst kind,” Olmert was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
“He speaks as Hitler did in his time of the extermination of the entire Jewish nation.”
Well, yes. And it’s about time more people started pointing this out. Loudly.
04/29/2006
It’s tough to be a cat
It’s a beautiful spring day, and as soon as I got home from synagogue (okay, after I got out of my good clothes and into my weekend attire), I let Tig out. I heard a cardinal cheeping and so decided to take the camera and see what I could see. Gracie sneaked out behind me, and before I knew it, we had a bunch of rare twofer shots (to come later). But more interesting than that is almost catching Gracie in her meerkat position. From time to time, when she is interested in something, or perhaps a little frightened of it, she will rise onto her hind legs, with her front paws hanging down, making her look for all the world like an orange and white meerkat. She evidently heard something suspicious while she was bathing herself, because this is what she looked like:
And because it’s just been that sort of day, here’s a picture of Tig looking greatly concerned. Now, you might think that he’s simply looking elegant for the camera, or staring lovingly at me. You would be wrong. Sheba, the Australian cattle dog, is lying down in the grass about twenty feet behind me as I snapped this picture. Tig’s eyes were all on her. Not me.
About a minute after I shot this, Tig came running inside, tail poofed out, preceded by Gracie (by about a second). I think Sheba must have moved. He’s inside now, resting from his efforts. Whew. Tough day for all of us. I subbed as storyteller for the Cookie Minyan (children under the age of six, read a story about a boy who had to find his Hebrew name) on a day I frankly wasn’t expecting to be at synagogue, and the cats — well, gee, it’s tough to be looked at by a dog. Who, by the way, wouldn’t harm a hair on their heads.
04/28/2006
How To Steal A Toy (by Nardo The Cat)
Nardo vs. The Yellow Mousey
So, Meryl, where’s Tig and Gracie?
More site news
It’s my day for it.
I found an option that I had previously overlooked. I am embarrassed to say that until yesterday, I did not know there was a “display by name” option in the blogroll. Now it is in alphabetical order. I hang my head in shame.
On another note, I found the php needed to make my category list on the right sidebar display alphabetically, and that tiny step forward in php will actually encourage me to play around a bit more.
I have also made the post author’s name bold, but it’s still not so easy to pick out from the header/post. I’ll work on making it bigger, I think.
Not used to the new dashboard yet, either.
Iran’s counterattack plans
Every so often, I read a story that gives me pause. While I have no doubt that Iran is planning to counterattack if the U.S. or Israel goes after its nukes, and while I think that it intends to use Hezbullah, PIJ, Hamas, and every other terrorist organization that it has fed money to these past two decades, there comes a point where I just have to say, “Y’know, this doesn’t sound quite right to me.”
The plan includes three steps, which Asharq al Awsat has examined in earlier reports. The source gave more details about how the plan will be implemented. He said, “Most of Iran’s visitors in the last four months, including the leaders of revolutionary groups in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the heads of Hezbollah cells in the Persian Gulf and Europe and North America were asked, when they met with the Iranian intelligence minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei and his aides: are you ready to defend the Islamic revolution and vilayat e faqih? If you agree to take part in the great jihad, what would you need to be ready for the great fight?
Okay, that part sounds about right. Can’t argue with that. But wait: “Open the gates of Hell” watch! (Palestinian terrorists are very fond of saying that Israel has “opened the gates of hell” after the IDF takes out palestinian terrorists. It is apparently a big expression in the Arab/Muslim world.)
Amongst the leaders who visited were the head of one of the Iraqi armed group who was very clear and honest. He said his men would transform Iraq into a hell for the Americans if Iran were attacked.
But here’s where my bullshit detector broke from the stress:
An estimated 80 members underwent private training last year on how to carry out suicide operations from the air (through the use of kite planes) and undersea operations using submarines.
That would explain those strange videos of the guys in wetsuits during the big Iranian demonstration last month.
While I do not doubt that Iran is going to counterattack, and while I do not doubt that they will launch attacks on Israel immediately, I’m thinking that their reach is not nearly as long as they claim it is. And if Iran were to launch terror attacks worldwide, how long before the world would declare war right back on Iran? These are acts of war being described, on nations that have not attacked Iran.
What about the last stage in the plan?
Here, the Iranian source hesitated before saying with worry; this stage might represent the beginning of a world war, given that extremists will seek to maximize civilian casualties by exploding germ and chemical bombs as well as dirty nuclear bombs across western and Arab cities.
So chalk this article up to propaganda with kernels of truth in it. And file it under “biting off more than you can chew.”
I cannot believe the Mullahs are that stupid. This has to be propaganda.
Benny Morris responds to Walt/Mearsheimer
VERY long post warning.
More and more of the people that Walt and Mearsheimer quoted in their travesty of a thesis are condemning that thesis, and accusing W-M of misusing their work.
Like Benny Morris, on whom they relied heavily:
Like many pro-Arab propagandists at work today, Mearsheimer and Walt often cite my own books, sometimes quoting directly from them, in apparent corroboration of their arguments. Yet their work is a travesty of the history that I have studied and written for the past two decades. Their work is riddled with shoddiness and defiled by mendacity. Were “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” an actual person, I would have to say that he did not have a single honest bone in his body.
I’m back! I’m back! Hooray, I’m back!
Hosting Matters had a major DOS attack centered from Saudi Arabia.
The jihadis that don’t like Aaron’s Rantblog took their hissy fit out on HM.
But I am now back.
You know what really sucks? That instead of being mad at the scumbags who think that not liking someone’s words and pictures gives them license to take down an entire hosting network, I was getting mad at Aaron for pissing off the jihadis.
Thankfully, I have come to my senses.
By the way, all this info is gleaned from between the lines. HM never identified Aaron’s blog.
“Fossil” fuels?
Okay, so I’m reading this article on “peak oil,” (a good read, by the way) and it’s full of numbers, including trillions and hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. And I recall reading that oil came from dinosaurs, so I quickly go to Wikipedia, which says that no, it’s mostly plant matter. But I’m thinking: Who the heck do they think they’re kidding? How freaking much plant matter would have to have been pushed down through the layers of the earth to become petroleum? I mean, let’s not forget the solid-to-liquid ratio, which would mean that for every barrel of oil, you’d have to have a whole lot more plant matter to create that liquid barrel.
I want a new theory, please, because I’m not buying this one.
Wait a minute! I’ve found one!
The hypothesis of abiogenic petroleum origin holds that petroleum is formed by non-biological processes deep in the earth’s crust and mantle.
It contradicts the more widely-held view that petroleum is a fossil fuel produced from the remains of ancient living organisms.
This hypothesis dates to the 19th century, when the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot and the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev proposed it, and was revived in the 1950s.
The modern scientific consensus on abiogenic petroleum is that there is evidence for it being possible to produce petrochemicals according to the mechanisms proposed in the hypothesis. Some direct evidence from certain locations can only be explained as abiogenic production of petroleum compounds. However, most modern geologists do not support the hypothesis that abiogenic sources of oil can account for the vast majority of petroleum deposits within the Earth.
A variation of the abiogenic theory includes alteration by microbes similar to those which form the basis of the ecology around deep hydrothermal vents. The deep biogenic petroleum theory proposes, mostly after the work of Thomas Gold, that the ‘’deep hot biosphere’’ may be the source of some petroleum products and biomarkers.
One prediction of most abiogenic theories is that other planets of the solar system or their moons have large petroleum oceans, either from hydrocarbons present at the formation of the solar system, or from subsequent chemical reactions.
Now that makes a heck of a lot more sense. I’m just not seein’ the dinosaur thing.
Let them eat bombs, part 2
The palestinians are feeling the money crunch.
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Buying on credit. Selling gold dowries. Giving up tobacco and other small pleasures.
With their salaries weeks overdue and savings depleted, Palestinian families are finding creative ways to survive the Hamas-led government’s deepening financial crisis. Even banks and utilities are helping out by allowing customers to overdraw accounts or pay bills late.
Experts warn that a dire economic crisis is looming.
“This month, no one paid me,” said Kifayeh al-Ashkar, 40, who cleans houses for government workers in Nablus. “The government can’t pay the salaries of its workers, and the workers can’t pay me.”
She said she now feeds her four children plain rice, and has been forced to beg for handouts of milk.
So, you think they’re gonna cut down on rockets?
The financial crunch follows the January legislative election victory of Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction. After the new government was sworn in last month, the Palestinian economy, already battered by five years of fighting with Israel, took a turn for the worse.
Western donors who accuse Hamas of supporting terrorism cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, and Israel suspended monthly payments of tax money it collects for the Palestinians.
Without these funds the government is broke and unable to pay its 165,000 salaried workers. No one got paid April 1, and the next pay day is less than a week away.
Two things. 1: “accused” of terrorism? Hamas effing brags about their terrorist attacks. 2: Where’d those extra 5,000 jobs come from? Two days ago, the number was 160,000. Who changed it? When? Why?
“Life has changed drastically. I don’t know how to manage,” said Elham Yassin, 48, a teacher in Asira, a village near Nablus.
Yassin, a mother of seven, earns $500 a month, while her husband, also a teacher, makes about $550. She said the family got a loan from her sister and is subsisting on bread, hummus, yogurt and other inexpensive staples.
“I don’t know where things are going. We don’t have any savings. I’m afraid for the future of my family,” she said.
The Palestinian Authority is the largest employer in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the loss of these salaries has rippled throughout society.
In other words, the pals are pretty used to sucking at the government teat, and now they’re going to have to learn to fend for themselves. Except that Israel doesn’t want them, because they blow up Israelis standing in line at a falafel stand. And Egypt doesn’t want them, because their Arab brethren loathe the palestinians almost as much as they loathe the Jews. So, once again: Think they’re going to cut back on the bombs and bullets during this financial crisis?
Hamas officials say the Palestinians would rather face starvation than give up their principles. “All of the Palestinians are standing together,” said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad. “The government has repeatedly affirmed that we are not going to compromise.”
But the people are growing weary.
Sami Abu Atta, 33, a driver for the Public Works Ministry in Gaza, said he has quit his pack-a-day smoking habit to save money. He also has put off clothing purchases for his five children, and has to turn down their requests for candy.
“I don’t know what to do. Even if I want to start working as a thief, there is no one to rob,” he said.
Please. Yasser Arafat robbed you blind for years; the least you can do is rob the PA to repay the favor. So. Think the money crunch is going to stop them from trying to murder Israelis?
One Palestinian was killed and several others were hurt, including one who sustained critical wounds, after the Air Force fired missiles at two vehicles carrying Islamic Jihad members in the Gaza Strip Thursday morning.
Several hours after the strike it turned out that the IDF was able to hit a vehicle modified by the Palestinians in order to be used
as a mobile Qassam rocket launcher. A military source told Ynet the Palestinians used the vehicle to fire rockets from the northern Gaza Strip to Israel before making their quick getaway.The vehicle allowed the Palestinians to fire rockets while in the car. Terrorists would arrive at an open area, fire the rocket, and escape back into area villages. Thursday’s strike marks the first time the army was able to hit such mobile launcher.
Guess not.
04/27/2006
Fun with spam
Been getting a lot of spam lately? Yeah, so has everyone. Another worm must be on the loose. But these latest are amusing. Like everyone else, I’ve been getting dozens of “undeliverable” emails. Here are just a few of the titles:
Undeliverable: commonly
Well, yeah.
Undeliverable: disgusted
Goes without saying, doesn’t it?
Undeliverable: ascetic smoking gun
Whoa! Dude! That’s deep!
Undeliverable: malevolence seem
Now you’re talking!
Molly Ivins can’t read
Molly Ivins has read about the criticism of the Walt-Mearsheimer paper, and apparently hasn’t read anything first-hand. Her criticism of the criticism:
For having the sheer effrontery to point out the painfully obvious — that there is an Israel lobby in the United States — Mearsheimer and Walt have been accused of being anti-Semitic, nutty and guilty of “kooky academic work.” Alan Dershowitz, who seems to be easily upset, went totally ballistic over the mild, academic, not to suggest pretty boring article by Mearsheimer and Walt, calling them “liars” and “bigots.”
It’s the party line, apparently. Don’t look at the criticism that details the numerous factual errors in the paper. Instead, mislead your readers and say that the critics are saying there is no Israel lobby.
It’s good to know, though, that Ivins thinks it’s perfectly okay to have a discussion about the Israel lobby. Because, you see, it’s not like anyone in America has ever mentioned AIPAC or the Israel lobby before. It’s not like a Democratic Congressman never accused Jews — I’m sorry, in W-M terms, “the Israel Lobby” — of being behind the Iraq war.
David Bernstein has already written about this false criticism, which is beginning to become the standard answer to W-M critics. I suspect that when W&M finally respond to their critics, that response will be peppered with the same lies and misinformation.
After starting out with that intellectually lazy premise, she gets worse.
It’s the sheer disproportion, the vehemence of the attacks on anyone perceived as criticizing Israel that makes them so odious. Mearsheimer and Walt are both widely respected political scientists — comparing their writing to “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is just silly.
Funny, I have the opposite reaction, particularly since Lynn B. did just that, and Walt and Mearsheimer come out stinking the stink of the Russian Czarists who forged the Protocols.
Here, she actually makes a bit of sense:
Several critics have pointed out some flaws in the Mearsheimer-Walt paper, including a too-broad use of the term “Israel lobby” — those of us who are pro-Israel differ widely — and having perhaps overemphasized the clout of the Israel lobby by ignoring the energy lobby.
But in the next breath, she loses it utterly.
It seems to me the root of the difficulty has been Israel’s inability first to admit the Palestinians have been treated unfairly and, second, to figure out what to do about it. Now here goes a big fat generalization, but I think many Jews are so accustomed (by reality) to thinking of themselves as victims, it is especially difficult for them to admit they have victimized others.
What. A. Load. Of. Crap. Has Molly ever heard of an organization called B’tselem? Has she ever read Ha’aretz? Or any left-leaning Israeli who has published a newspaper or magazine article, or indeed, entire books written by Israelis about the Israeli treatment of palestinians? Has she heard of the many Israeli court judgments ruling against Israel in favor of palestinians over land, laws, and — here’s the big one — the placement of the security fence? Is she that effing ignorant, or wilfully blind and stupid?
And gee, can you get any more condescending than this:
I think many Jews are so accustomed (by reality) to thinking of themselves as victims, it is especially difficult for them to admit they have victimized others.
But wait, because now she really puts her foot in it. Deeply.
But the Mearsheimer-Walt paper is not about the basic conflict, but its effect on American foreign policy, and it appears to me their arguments are unexceptional. Israel is the No. 1 recipient of American foreign aid, and it seems an easy case can be made that the United States has subjugated its own interests to those of Israel in the past.
Whether you agree or not, it is a discussion well worth having and one that should not be shut down before it can start by unfair accusations of “anti-Semitism.” In a very equal sense, none of this is academic. The Israel lobby was overwhelmingly in favor of starting the war with Iraq and is now among the leading hawks on Iran.
Way to echo the paper, Molly. May I see a cite or three? What’s that? Don’t have one? What? Using the generic “The Israel lobby” is enough? Going by the erroneous W-M paper is enough?
You are seeing exactly what I wrote about weeks ago: The paper got out there, and now everyone is using it as a justification for the arguments that used to be whispered in private. They were whispered in private because they bear the stink of anti-Semitism. Now, they’re trying to move to the mainstream, and tools like Ivins are helping them right along.
To the extent that our interests do differ from those of Israel, the matter needs to be discussed calmly and fairly. This is not about conspiracies or plots or fantasies or anti-Semitism — it’s about rational discussion of American interests. And, in my case, being pro-Israel. I’m looking forward to hearing from all you nutjobs again.
Funny, isn’t it, that none of the people who decry the strength of The Lobby ever consider, even briefly, that perhaps American support of Israel is given because, well, gee — it’s the right thing to do. And the public approves of it, in every poll ever taken. Politicians don’t go against polls.
But then, Academia and Big Journalism have one thing in common: They believe that they, not the American people, know what is Best For America. Molly Ivins certainly does. Look at how she describes her opponents: “nutjobs.”
Better that than a hack who can’t understand an issue without having someone else do all the footwork for her, I guess.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Wafa Amr of Reuters is notorious for being a mouthpiece of Palestinian propaganda, but their latest blurt to hit the wires contains a very rare admission:
The Hamas-led Palestinian government is weighing softening its stance toward Israel to ease isolation but not without concessions from the Jewish state and the international community, Hamas officials said on Thursday.
They said ideas such as a 2002 Arab peace initiative, U.N. resolutions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s national agenda — all of which include recognition of Israel — were on the table.
One expert on Hamas said any softening would not involve a shift in ideology, but be a way to try to get Western aid restored to the Palestinian Authority and heal a growing rift with President Mahmoud Abbas over government powers.
Read the bold sections a few times.
They’re not doing this to change their ultimate goals. They’re only doing it for the money and power.
I have no doubt that the weak-willed latent anti-Semites of the EU will cave in quickly to this change in propaganda by Hamas without changing its goals. I’m also pretty sure that President Bush and Condi Rice will end up caving in eventually, playing the Israeli Exception Card as they always have in their overall War On Terrorism.
But worldwide anti-Semitism is down
Anti-Semitism is down worldwide, except in Russia and the Ukraine, according to an Israeli study. But the overall number of anti-Semitic events was up, leading one to wonder how one can claim that anti-Semitism is down, except when you include certain countries individually. Like France. Except then you have to point out that the rate of violent anti-Semitic events in France has jumped this year, starting with the torture and murder of Ilan Halimi.
And in the past week, we have seen three stories that make me believe that anti-Semitism is not going down worldwide; in fact, it is heading back upward.
Sweden has pulled out of joint military exercises because Israel is taking part in them.
Indonesia refuses to play a World Federation cup tennis match in Israel, risking fines and banishnent for that refusal to play.
And on Tuesday, during a march against the Fascists who took over Italy before WWII, the marchers burned Israeli flags and chanted “Intifada.” The Vatican condemned it.
But still, a study of anti-Semitism worldwide says events are on a downward trend.
Pardon me if I am skeptical of the study’s claims. Actually, don’t. I don’t apologize for being skeptical.
When the world condemns Iran for its leaders’ anti-Israel rhetoric, then I will believe that anti-Semitism is on a downslide. I think it hasn’t yet peaked. Israel still exists, does it not? Jews still exist, do we not?
The upward trend will continue while those two facts are true.
Once more in the name of spin
Once more, the AP spins anti-Israel. Note the title of the article that will be picked up by hundreds of media outlets worldwide:
Palestinian Killed in Israeli Airstrike
They’re not even using the weasel-word “militant,” even though it appears in the lead.
DEIR EL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israeli aircraft fired missiles at two cars in Gaza packed with rockets on Thursday, killing one Islamic Jihad militant and critically wounding another, the Israeli army and Palestinian officials said.
The militants were on their way to fire a barrage of homemade rockets at Israeli targets, the military said. The militants belonged to a cell that was especially active in firing rockets, it added. One of the two cars targeted was hit, the army said.
Pillars of black and white smoke billowed from the destroyed vehicle as rescue workers removed burned and dismembered bodies from the car.
Check out the photo that goes with the article. Here’s the caption:
A vehicle allegedly used by Palestinian militants burns after it was hit in an Israeli missile strike, in Deir El Balah, south of Gaza City, Thursday, April 27, 2006. Israeli aircraft fired three missiles at targets in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, critically wounding two Palestinian militants, Palestinian health officials said.
What’s with the sudden need for “allegedly”? Oh, that’s right — let’s cast doubt that the Israelis hit the right target, even though the story contends that rescuers pulled body parts from the burning vehicle.
This next paragraph is confusing.
Israel has pledged to end the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, but is reluctant to launch an invasion into the coastal area it withdrew from in August. The homemade rockets are highly inaccurate, but at times have killed people and damaged buildings.
The “inaccurate” rockets have killed people. Israel is “reluctant to launch an invasion.” You’d almost think the AP was reaching for balance there, if you hadn’t been a regular reader of theirs for years.
The new Hamas-led government has said it will not arrest the militants launching the rockets or take other steps to halt the fire.
Well, that’s completely accurate and amazing unbiased. But this next has to be a mistranslation.
Islamic Jihad vowed to take revenge for Thursday’s missile strike.
“God willing our reprisal is coming and it is going to be like air shaking,” said spokesman Abu Ahmad. “We are going to shake the air under their feet. They had experienced us in Tel Aviv and more is coming.”
“Air” shaking? I think they mean “earth.” Because if they don’t, they’re even dumber than I thought. (And we are so disappointed not to have a “gates of hell” quote.)
Now let’s look at the difference between the next two paragraphs. Read them carefully. See the subtle, subtle bias.
Islamic Jihad, a small group with ties to Iran and Syria, claimed responsibility for last week’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed nine and wounded dozens.
During more than five years of fighting, Israel has killed dozens of militants in targeted airstrikes. The attacks also have killed or wounded dozens of civilians.
Notice how the victims of suicide bombings are numbers only, but the AP felt it necessary to add that civilians ahve been killed in airstrikes. A truly unbiased report would say something like, “Militant suicide attacks have killed or wounded hundreds of civilians.” Thousands, actually.
But we don’t expect balance from an AP article. Good thing, too.
04/26/2006
Very interesting missing article
This morning, I caught an article in Ha’aretz that quoted an unnamed U.S. official saying that America wouldn’t back the borders Olmert wants to withdraw to. As I was looking around Ha’aretz, the article disappeared before I could start writing about it. All that I can find now is something from Xinhua quoting the article.
JERUSALEM, April 26 (Xinhua) — The United States will not recognize a border created after a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank as Israel’s permanent frontier, Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported on Wednesday, citing its sources in Washington.
A number of the sources had said unofficially that they believed the U.S. administration would probably support such a withdrawal, but would not recognize it, said the report.
Ha’aretz quoted one U.S. official as predicting that the U.S. would agree to see the post-withdrawal line as a temporary border, “which would become permanent, obviously with slight changes, following future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Another source, a legal expert, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that any reasonable interpretation of international law cannot allow recognition of a border that was determined unilaterally.
Senior U.S. administration members said in unofficial conversations that Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not presented the administration with a detailed plan for the second withdrawal, said Ha’aretz.
So: Dead wrong, or too sensitive information to be released?
I’m on the side of the people saying “Dead wrong.” So far.
And it’s also possible that Ha’aretz’s kooky habit of changing URLs is what made it disappear on me.
Easy marks
(Via Backspin)
Hamas’ Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar left someone a really large tip in his hotel room in Kuwait…
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar has had $450,000 stolen from his hotel room during his current visit to Kuwait, the Itim news agency quoted the Kuwaiti media as saying Wednesday.
According to the report, al-Zahar had asked the Kuwaiti authorities to keep the theft under wraps, but the incident was confirmed by a security official at the hotel.
The foreign minister, a senior member of Hamas, is on a tour of Arab and Muslim countries to drum up funds after Israel suspended the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority and Western donors cut off aid to the Hamas-led government.
There is no honor among thieves and murders, it seems.
Also…
Itim also reported that an official at the Palestinian Finance Ministry has revealed that, despite its empty coffers, the PA has funded the trip for al-Zahar and his entourage.
Maybe if Israel drops travel restrictions on all of the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority members, they’ll bankrupt the bastards quicker?
News burnout
I have no desire to write about current events today.
I am tired of the news.
Someone else is going to have to pick up the slack, or we can just post cat pictures all day instead.
I am going to pick a random photo from the images directory and post it.
Oops, looks like I picked two. My bad.
Three cheers for teen labor
I had forgotten the wonders of inexpensive teenaged assistance in your labors.
I am the co-founder of my apartment complex’s Neighborhood Watch. We had a meeting a few weeks ago due to a wave of petty theft, and scheduled the next meeting for this Thursday. But I lost the notebook with the names and phone numbers of everyone who was supposed to help me put flyers on the doors of some 777 apartments in our complex.
Enter my next-door neighbor’s son, who is always asking me if he can’t sweep my porch for a couple of bucks. I hired him for ten bucks, found another kid while we were working and offered him three bucks to put flyers in his neighborhood, which enticed him to continue working with my neighbor’s son. I gave him a couple more bucks for his work, went out and bought the boys sodas, and retired to my apartment for the evening. My co-captain and her friend did some of the neighborhoods, and found two more boys willing to help out. Altogether, the fifteen bucks saved me about another hour or so of work that I hate.
Teen labor is a good thing. I think I’m going to hire William to clean my car next.
Horror, Helplessness and the Holocaust
Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has a moving personal recollection of learning about of the Holocaust, and how it affected her politically and spiritually.
For all the (regretably necessary) attention paid to anti-semitism and those who would harm the Jews through ignorance or malice, it is a quiet joy to know that there are people on our side, who see history and the world as we do, and who agree with us, Never Again.
Israel: Making some good moves
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has added a new, improved Arabic-language website, and it’s already paying dividends. Assuming that it doesn’t get blocked in Arab countries, it could be a valuable outreach and information tool to Arabs who get nothing but lies via their own media.
“This is the only official website in the Arabic language that includes such comprehensive information about Israel. There is no other
official website of this scope in Israel,” said Amira Oreo, who heads the Arab Media Division at the Ministry.Following the decision to upgrade the Arab-language website, many documents were uploaded, including documents dealing with Jewish and Israeli history, and information about the political system, women’s rights, economics, culture, as well as videos. All that in addition to current information about important events related to the Foreign Ministry.
“We also present Israel beyond the conflict, for example the Schneider Children Hospital that uses its advanced technology to treat Israeli and Arab children,” said Timora Shapira, the site’s content editor and technical director. “Along with innovations in the fields of science and medicine, we also have content about issues related to politics, such as Israel’s diplomatic ties with other countries, including Egypt and Jordan.”
Oron added: “We decided to also post articles written by liberal Arab intellectuals on the Internet that portray brave positions, even if they don’t necessarily match Israel’s views. It’s important for us to show that Arab writers also oppose terror and support dialogue, and when an Arab visitor to the site reads an editorial from an Arab writer, it receives greater validity.”
Good move. Very good move.
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04/25/2006
Public notice to my readers
I have no idea what “unconscious” plagiarism is, but I should like to make a few things clear right now.
- I am writing a “chick-lit” novel.
- I am not lifting passages from any other writer.
- It will have a much shorter title than that teenaged plagiarist did. So far, it is exactly two words long. (“Road Trip.”)
- I seriously doubt I will get a six-figure book contract out of the deal.
- I will probably put the first few chapters online. When they’re ready. We are far from that point right now.
Empty vaults in the West Bank
Remember all that money that’s been promised to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority by their so-called Arab brothers?
Palestinian Authority Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek said on Tuesday that $120 million promised to the PA by various countries in the Persian Gulf were not being transferred because the would-be donors feared the American response, Israel Radio reported.
The United States has previously threatened to halt the flow of money to countries that provided funds to the Hamas-led PA.
Uh huh. It’s fear of the American response. Yeah, right.
They’re more than happy to send secondhand weapons or provide room for training camps, but when it comes to the cash it’s been so much easier to let the EU and US pick up the tab.
So, how long before Queen Suha gets an AUTHORIZATION DENIED on her credit card in Paris?
Any way you play it, I still hate Monopoly
Monopoly is getting a modern-day makeover.
Monopoly, invented in 1935, is getting with the times.
I don’t care.
The game’s updated Here and Now edition, which is due out this fall, will replace Atlantic City landmarks with legendary streets, neighborhoods and national monuments.
I hate the game.
Until May 12, fans can vote on www.monopoly.com for their favorite landmarks from 22 cities — including New York’s Times Square, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach, Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
I always lose in Monopoly. My brother Dave always beat me. Always.
Among other changes, the railroads will be replaced by New York’s JFK airport, Chicago’s O’Hare, Los Angeles’ LAX and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson.
When I babysat for Sarah’s kids, Nate and Jake kicked my ass in Monopoly, Jr. After Sarah pulled herself up off the floor, where she had fallen because she couldn’t stop laughing when I told her her sons had beaten me, she pointed out that there is no strategy to Monopoly, Jr. There is only luck.
And still, I lost.
Property values will rise, money will be in higher denominations and “Community Chest” and “Chance” cards will reflect more modern scenarios.
When I was a kid, my brother would beg me to play Monopoly. I never wanted to play. I always lost. I knew he would win. So I made him a standard offer: I would play Monopoly only on the condition that afterwards, he would play “Careers” with me. That was a game that I always won. Always.
I’m sure a psychiatrist could have a lot of fun figuring out the whys and wherefores of this story, but may I just say:
I hate Monopoly. I don’t care if you you allow me to purchase Times Square, because I will never play the updated game, and I don’t own the classic game, and, well — I hate Monopoly.
Must-reads on Holocaust remembrance
David Bogner is back from his Pesach break and has an amazing story about a Holocaust survivor, Jewish ritual, and passing along knowledge that is a must-read.
Oceanguy posts a must-read poem about the Jews of Stolin, Poland, who were forced to dig their own graves before the Nazis murdered them.
In Ha’aretz, Bradley Burston tells his readers why he — and world Jewry — will never “get over” the Holocaust.
This story of Menachem Begin, a Holocaust survivor, and the chancellors of Germany is a must-read.
And to end on a different note, Westbankmama has a must-read post on what Jews today are doing to defend themselves from would-be murderers.
Lapid’s editorial in JPost
In this editorial, Tommy Lapid hears Europe’s call for appeasement and gives Europe the finger:
But we can’t forget. We lost Six Million of our people in the Holocaust.
Israel currently has six million Jews living in it. We will not be deterred by the threats of our enemies; nor will we listen to the advice of our friends. We will not rely on anyone else.
For us, that is the most important lesson of the Holocaust.
Read the rest, and think about it the next time Bush calls Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan “an ally in the War On Terror.”
We hate you Israel, oh yes we do…
Yesterday, I searched in vain for a mainstream media piece about Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today, I found plenty. And here’s what they all say:
Holocaust survivors grow poorer in Israel
Many Israeli Holocaust survivors live in poverty
The first is from AP, the second from Reuters.
Here’s one from Ynet:
Survivors still waiting for compensation
Thousands of Holocaust victims who have yet to receive compensation from Germany are living in Israel. The sums are not large and will not make them wealthy, but they will help Holocaust survivors end their lives with honor.Some of them live beneath the poverty line, and they hope that their legal suit against the Prosecutions Committee – an international organization connecting the Holocaust survivors and the German government – can help them out of their sad situation.
Both the Reuters and AP article put the blame for the survivors’ poverty on Israel. I put the blame for the survivors’ problems right where it belongs: On Europe. The EU should be paying for these people. The European nations are the reason they are ill. The European nations still owe these survivors a debt — a debt that cannot possibly be fully repaid — for what was done to them.
Blame Israel? Why, because she gave these people a haven? Israel has a social safety net that obviously needs improvement — but the money for these old men and women who experienced the greatest horror of the twentieth century should be coming from Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Austria, France, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Greece, Russia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Italy, and Norway.
Last night, at the name-reading ceremony, I discovered that there is a survivor in my own congregation. She was ten years old when she was put into the camps, and she survived four years there. She cried when she read the names of her family members who didn’t survive.
I don’t recall reading anything at all about the survivors’ stories in these AP and Reuters articles — only the fact that they are poor, and by implication, that that is Israel’s fault.
Some days, I loathe the media more than others. This is one of those days.
Mahmoud A. as a stand-up comedian
That funny Iranian bloke Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is certainly redefining the envelope of the stand-up comedy, boldly and vigorously fighting his way to the top of this crowded genre. His new solo show tentatively named by Haaretz Iranian president says Israel cannot continue to exist is receiving rave reviews.
Before we go to the program itself, it must be mentioned that Mahmoud decided to spruce up for the new show. Most probably he is using that Saddam’s tailor who is now out of a lucrative commission and is pining for new Names to add to his client list.
Of course, Mahmoud still looks like a village idiot, but this cannot be helped. At least he is a jacketed village idiot now. Now to the show itself.
In wide-ranging remarks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that Israel was an artificial state that could not continue to exist.
All states are artificial, Mahmoud. This is the second lesson a politician should learn, immediately after mastering that shit-eating grin you seem to perform with a certain flair.
“Some 60 years has passed since the end of World War II, why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved,” Ahmadinejad told a press conference.
That’s the way we, the Jooz, control the world, bro. It is called paying by installments. We have decided lots of years ago not to extract the full payment at once. That Shylock story is a good lesson: if you extract a vital organ, the rest of the body will not bring you money afterwards.
“Open the doors [of Europe] and let the Jews go back to their own countries,” the president said Monday. He added that Europeans should jettison their “anti-semitism” to enable Israelis to “return” to their continent, and “allow Palestinians to decide their own fate and live freely.”
We are real touched by your worry about the “anti-semitism” in Europe, Mahmoud. We believe that it is a passing phenomenon, and after another 50 or 100 million of your fellow Muslims move there, that scourge will be eradicated completely. Re the proposed move to Europe: as we have already agreed, we are ready to move to the place so far called Italy. But the locals, who were posted about that decision on time, keep dragging their feet. Their last reason for delaying their removal is that Fiat (that shitty brand most of them use) cars and trucks are not able to cross their borders, breaking down a few kilometers after the crossing. For crying out loud!
Ahmadinejad also hinted that Iran would consider withdrawing from the United Nations nuclear agency if membership produced no benefit. “What has more than 30 years of membership in the agency given us?” he asked rhetorically at a press conference.
Well, it kept you and your place from becoming so much molten glassy surface good only for cockroaches. It must count for something, ain’t it?
The last but not the least:
Ahmadinejad often gives long, rambling speeches but Monday was one of the rare occasions when he allowed foreign journalists to question him. He seemed to enjoy the encounter, making jokes and putting questions to the reporters.
Putting questions to the reporters is really bad technique. These folks do not know a question from shinola, and the resulting confusion really lowers the class. Avoid at all costs.
Now be a good fellow, listen to our advice and the next time we are in Tehran we might drop by to see your show. Or just drop something on your place, whatever comes first.
Cross-posted on SimplyJews