All around the Axis

From (North) Korean News:

I really envy the Korean youths who are under the leadership of Kim Jong Il. Adnan Arbash, chairman of the Revolutionary Youth Union of Syria, on a visit to Korea said this in an interview with KCNA on May 29 prior to his return home.

He noted that he was deeply moved to see the Korean people working hard to build a great prosperous powerful nation under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il.

The Korean people have built many monumental edifices of the Songun era in different parts of the country, bravely overcoming manifold difficulties though they were hard pressed for everything, he said, and went on:

The achievements made by them in socialist construction were attributable to the ever-victorious Songun politics of Kim Jong Il who is well versed in political, economic, military and all other fields and is leading the Korean army and people to victory.

The Youth Hero Motorway proudly built by Korean young people with bare hands is a brilliant fruition of the warm love and deep trust of Kim Jong Il who values and loves them most and puts them forward as a vanguard, a shock brigade in building a great prosperous powerful nation.

Remind me not to drive on that thing.

The Revolutionary Youth Union of Syria will in the future, too, extend full support and solidarity to the Korean people and youths in their vigorous efforts for building a great prosperous powerful socialist nation.

Doesn't that last phrase sound familiar?

Tags: North Korea, Kim Jong Il, Juche-coupes, Syria, Axis of Evil

Zionist Conspiracy Updates

Snoopy the Goon reaches a conspiratorial milestone.

BTB notes that they're on to us.

There is now a whole new site for Zionist Conspiracy Updates. (h/t: DB)

Our double-agent Chomsky begins a clever new operation to make anti-Zionists look bad.

Elder of Ziyon debuts the emblem of the International Zionist Web.

Rootless Cosmopolitan observes that "Zionist Hegemony Knows No Bounds"

An eye which sees, an ear which hears, and all your actions are written in a book

From Newsmax:

Citing concerns about terrorism, the attorney general and the FBI director have asked the nation's leading Internet service companies to keep customer information and other data for two years.

Companies have varying policies regarding what information is kept and for how long, but two years is much longer than the companies keep information now.

The information the Justice Department wants includes the Internet address assigned to a person when logging on to a service provider, according to CNN.

Tags: Internet, terrorism, privacy, FBI

IRNA: "Cuban people admire promotion of justice by late Imam Khomeini"

It's a beautiful day in this axis-hood, a beautiful day for an axis.

The member of Cuban Communist Party in charge of international relations Fernando Ramirez here Wednesday referred to the simplicity and sincere relations of the Founder of Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, with others and said the Cuban people admire his efforts to promote justice.

On the sidelines of a tour of the late Imam's residence, Hosseinieh Jamaran, he told IRNA that his visit to Iran is aimed at expanding bilateral friendly relations and renew Cuba's solidarity with Iran.

In a meeting with the Imam's grandson, Seyed Hassan Khomeini, Ramirez thanked him for being invited to attend the ceremony marking Imam Khomeini's demise anniversary and said, "It is an honor for me to attend it. I will try to be there."
Turning to the late Imam's attitude as a model for world nations, he said, "This is why all world people fight for justice and freedom."

Tags: Iran, Cuba, Ayatollah, inter-axis

IRIB: "Washington, the enemy of all Muslims"

File under barely newsworthy:

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that Washington is the enemy of all Muslims.

Speaking in an interview with IRNA, Haniyeh said that Washington makes every endeavor towards the failure of the Palestinian democratic government.

He said that American administration has stood against Islam and the Muslims and is under the influence of the Zionist lobby.

Tags: Haniyeh, Israel, Palestinians, Hamas

One of those BBC moments we all love

This is from a story about the expulsion from Israel of "British aid worker" Ayaz Ali. Notice the division of the following thought into two sentences. Was the second sentence an afterthought?

Hamas, which is the ruling Palestinian party, runs an extensive network of social services including kindergartens and clinics.

But it is considered by the Israeli government to be a terrorist organisation.

The BBC has trouble straightforwardly referring to an organization which has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide attacks on civilians as a terrorist group. But it is considered to be a competent, mainstream media organization.

Tags: Hamas, terrorism, journalism

You're gonna need an ocean of sustainable calamine lotion

From SeattlePI.com:

Another reason to worry about global warming: more and itchier poison ivy. The noxious vine grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, researchers report Monday . . .

Compared to poison ivy grown in usual atmospheric conditions, those exposed to the extra-high carbon dioxide grew about three times larger - and produced more allergenic form of urushiol, scientists from Duke and Harvard University reported.

Does that mean that global warming is good for other plants as well? Is that why they're called "greenhouse gasses"? Why didn't they do the study on tomatoes?

Tags: global warning, environmentalism, green house gasses, poison ivy

Linkim 5/29/06

Haveil Havalim 71 is up.

Steyn on the "Latino Jihad"

Jack lists "Things That Irritate Me About Bloggers"

NY's Funniest Rabbi administers a "J-Blogosphere Exam."

Cross-Currents tells what happens "When Anti-Semites Implode."

Joe Settler thanks Olmert.

Simply Jews descries "That blissful detachment" and also notes a "new philosphy" of "inter-gender communication."

Daled Amos presents "10 Links For Starting Off The Week."

Ezzie has a freshly minted round-up also.

Martin Kramer comments that Juan Cole "believes this fable."

Joschka Fischer, ex-member of the aptly-named "Putzgruppe," makes "The Case for Bargaining With Iran."

Sort of an Iranian Commander Keen

From AFP:

Video-gamers in Iran can now take on the military might of the United States -- and rescue a nuclear engineer kidnapped in neighboring Iraq, it was reported.

The game's plotline revolves around Saeed Kusha, a 30-year-old Iranian engineer abducted by Aerican troops in Iraq while on pilgrimage with his wife to the Shiite holy site of Karbala, the semi-official Fars agency said . . .

"Commander Bahman" is appointed head of a special task force to track down and free the engineer.

(Hat tip: Martin Kramer)

Tags: Iran, video games, nukes

Chabad-bashers trying to block mikveh construction?

The garbled reference to "two immersion pools" probably refers to a "bor al gabei bor" mikveh, but is the design of the mikveh even the real issue? From Ynetnews.com:

A seemingly simple argument over the construction of a mikveh (ritual bath) in the community of Elkana is set to reach the High Court, asking it to rule whether Chabad is part of Orthodox Judaism.

Hassidim from the Chabad movement in Elkana who seek to build a mikveh with two immersion pools faced opposition from the local religious
council, claiming also that this opposition is part of a growing trend in an attempt to force Chabad people to leave Elkana, a religious community 15 miles east of Tel Aviv.

At one point the article reports that according to the religious council "the Chabad movement is not part of the Jewish Orthodox group." Later the representative of the council is quoted saying "The local hassidim from Chabad are from a messianic cult and want to force the community to build the mikveh according to their specifications." The Chabad custom on mikva'ot has nothing to do with Moshiach politics. Things become murkier still in the next paragraph:

In response to Chabad's claims that the religious council does not consider them part of the Orthodox Judaism, Mintzer said: "We don't claim, we never did and we never will. Obviously they are kosher Jews, until they begin acting in a compulsive way, all the while refuting the authority of the community rabbi."

I wish journalists were better equipped to report stories such as this. I am a Chabadnik myself, by the way.

Tags: Chabad, mikveh, Elkana, journalism

IRIB: Ahmadinejad on the Holocaust

Ahmadinejad's latest pronouncements on the Holocaust have received a lot of recent Blog attention. Here is what the Iranian state-controlled press has to say:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes any killing of people, whether they are Muslims or Jews, Christians and followers of other Divine religions.

He made the remarks during an interview with the German journal Spiegel, adding that it is surprising that why from among tens of million of victims of the World War Two, only 6 millions are considered whose mass killing claims still face question marks.

Concerning Holocaust, Ahmadinejad said that Iran's views are clear about the issue, adding that an impartial international group must be formed to examine whether it had really occured.

He seems convinced that if only a public debate were held, IHR-style propaganda would carry the day. Knuckle-dragging moron.

Tags: Ahmadinejad, holocaust denial, Iran, slime-buckets

Hebrew Lesson from the Baltimore Sun

From an editorial by someone named Fred Schlomka:

The Hebrew term hafrada, which means "separation" or "apartheid," has entered the mainstream lexicon in Israel and determined much of the government's policies since the Oslo process began in 1993.

Besides the fact that "apartheid" literally means separation and that letists love to link Israel to South Africa, what is "Schlomka" implying? That Israelis consciously use the term "hafrada" with South African apartheid in mind? I could say that bomb belts are supposed to accomplish the separation or "apartheid" of limbs from bodies.

Tags: Israel, Terrorism, Apartheid canard, Hebrew

Ayatollah hires North Korean speechwriter

This is an article about a speech from "Islamic Revolution Leader, His Eminence Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khaemeni." Ready?

Recounting the remarkable conditions of the country regarding beacons of hope and strength of the Islamic Republic system mainly the system's initiating presence in international arena as well as the enemy's passiveness, the dominance of the original Islamic statute as well as the revival of values and slogans of the Islamic Revolution, the rare ongoing integrity in the county, great scientific achievements by the Iranian young talented people, and the expansion of strategic position of the Islamic system among world Muslims, the IR Leader pointed to enemy's desperate moves to overshadow current situation of the Islamic system including provocations to incite sectarian and religious tensions.

Juche sentence structure.

Ayatollah Khamenei touched on a number of strong points of the system as source of the exceptional conditions of the country, mainly the dominance of the original Islamic statute "which runs unlike what is expected from other revolutions, as the framework and platform (of every revolution) is usually expected to run down in the course of time, but the Iranian people and the elites of the nation demonstrated their true self by voting to the pure values and slogans of the Islamic Revolution, causing enemies, who at some time pinned hope in certain remarks and conducts, to hold onto a passive position."

There will be a quiz on this.

The IR Leader pointed to current unity and integrity in the country and three branches of government as another strong point of the system, adding that all along the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam (R.A.) and other prominent figures underlined maintaining of unity, however, at some time, dual governing was unfortunately promoted and enemies too promoted the same idea, but it is now integrity among nation, government and all officials that runs the situation.

Glad to hear it.

The IR Leader described the present conditions of America in the region, especially in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, and the failure of the "Great Middle East" plan based on the Zionist regime and the establishment of a Great Middle East based on the Islamic Republic of Iran along with other points of strength and stability of the Islamic System, as tokens of a sensitive juncture in terms of emergence of strong points.

What's that? Yes, I do expect you to read this slop!

Tags: Iran, Irangrish, Ayatollah, Juche-speak

More Boycott/Divestment

From CBC News:

The Ontario divison of Canada's largest union has voted to support an international campaign that is boycotting Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.

Delegates to the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario convention in Ottawa voted overwhelmingly Saturday to support the campaign until it sees Israel recognizing the Palestinians' right to self-determination. The Ontario group represents more than 200,000 workers . . .

CUPE also condemned what they called Israel's "apartheid wall," saying it is illegal under international law.

"Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa," said Katherine Nastovski, chairwoman of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee.

And, of course, the Palestinians were only offered, y'know, Bantustans at Taba.

(Hat tip: Judeoscope by way of LGF)

Tags: boycott, divestment, apartheid, leftism, Canada, Israel

And he invented the internet, too . . .

This is from a Seattle PI editorial about Al Gore, entitled "Serious man with a strong message":

I saw former Vice President Al Gore the other night at the Washington premier of his new film, "An Inconvenient Truth," at the National Geographic Theater. He's tanned. He's rested. He may even be ready, although he says he isn't going to run for office . . .

Ask any officeholder what it's like to lose. If they're honest, they will say it's a gut-wrenching blow to soul and body, akin to dying. Tough men lie in bed and cry. It's hard to give up the recognition, the aides whispering in your ear anxious to do your bidding, the limos cool in summer and warm in winter waiting at the curb.

Gore's loss may have been the hardest ever. Not only did he win the popular vote, but had a recount been properly conducted of all the Florida votes and not stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court, he might have won.

Although it does not seem that he would have.

While no one was watching, Gore picked himself up and returned to his passionate belief that we have to heal the world or else we'll destroy it. Of course, he risks ridicule. The tree-huggers in Birkenstocks have always been easy to mock. Former President George H. W. Bush warned in the '92 campaign that if Ozone Man were ever in charge, we'd be "up to our necks in owls and outta work."

Yet much of what Gore said in his 1993 book, "Earth in the Balance," has proven prophetic . . . .

More in the same vein if you want it.

Tags: Gore, Global Warning, Bush, recounts

Iran-Korea Friendship Week

Fron (North) Korea News:

A week event of Iran-Korea Friendship was held in Teheran from May 14 to 20. An opening ceremony was held on May 14.

On display at the venue of the opening ceremony were photos of President Kim Il Sung meeting and having talks with leader Seyed Ali Khamenei, photos of leader Kim Jong Il giving on-the-spot guidance to different fields, their famous works, books and photos showing proud achievements made by the Korean people.

Speakers at the ceremony said that the relations between Iran and the DPRK are special relations. The bilateral relations are boosted by the resistance of the two peoples against dominationists and plunderers, struggle slogans and action against dominationists of the world, indomitable spirit and objective to defend national dignity and independence to the end.

More inter-Axis stuff: "Fidel Castro Ruz on Boosting Cuba-Korea Relations"

Tags: Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Axis of Evil

We are the Caliphate Restoration Society

We are the Caliphate Restoration Society
We have a centrifuge that's causing you some anxiety
We are the Andalus Reclamation society
We love bomb belts and big explosions of piety

Protecting the Ummah from Danish cartoons
Enforcing the dress-code with all of our goons
For so many moons

We are the Infidel Subjugation Fraternity
Allah save Tony Judt and good old Uri Avnery
We are the jizya tax-collection cooperative
We saw Paradise Now and found it to be evocative

We are the PLF Appreciation Dominion
Allah save Robert Fisk and friends of Sami Al-Arian
We read Sayyid Kutb just to ward off insomnia
We love OBL and Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
We board airplanes with bombs in our body cavities
We love mangled flaps, pressureless cabins, and gravity

Protecting the Ummah from Danish cartoons
Enforcing the dress-code with all of our goons
For so many moons

Allah save Tony Judt!

Previous song parodies

Tags: song-parodies, Jihad, Caliphate, Qin'qs

IRIB: "Bush, Blair drowning in ocean of lies"

From Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

British politician George Galloway told a Cuban TV audience Friday that US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were "drowning in an ocean of lies" and should be sent to jail.

Appearing on the daily public-affairs program "Mesa Redonda," or "Roundtable," Galloway said the American and British leaders should be punished for their roles in the Iraq war.

"Tony Blair should be in jail right next to George Bush," he said. Those two "are drowning in an ocean of lies, in a wave of bloodshed."

The lawmaker, who formed the Respect party after he was thrown out of the Labor Party for urging British soldiers not to fight in Iraq, also appeared Wednesday on the program, alongside Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Galloway praised Castro as a "lion" of world politics and defended him against a Forbes magazine report naming him one of the world's wealthiest rulers.

Galloway continued praising Castro Friday, saying that unlike Bush, the Cuban leader could walk down any street in the world without fear.

"I hope the Cuban people know that Cuba has friends all over the world," he said.

Tags: Galloway, Castro, Bush, Blair

Unexploded Shell Games from the BBC

The original title is "Gazans killed dismantling shells." Notice that we have three sources for the events of the following incident, each with a different story.

Three Palestinians have been killed in Gaza after attempting to dismantle unexploded Israeli shells found outside their home, relatives say.

One of the shells went off when it was taken into the house, destroying the basement of the house and killing the three teenagers.

Let's see, there's an unexploded shell outside your house, so you take it into your house and bring it down into the basement.

Five other people were wounded in the explosion in Beit Lahiya.

Medics had previously said the deaths were caused when an Israeli artillery shell hit a house.

Palestinian medics?

Israel had denied firing artillery at the time and suggested explosives at the house may have gone off prematurely.

That seems the most likely possibility to me for an explosion that originated in a basement. The headline and presentation of the story don't suggest this at all. If the BBC reporter went through some sort of verification procedure or reasoning process to decide that the relatives' version is most likely, he should have included that in the article. Would the author of this even admit that he has privileged the relatives' version?

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, journalism, work accidents

Exchange between Tony Snow and Helen Thomas

From an MSNBC article entitled "Artful Dodging" which argues that Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary, is charming but evasive:

During Tuesday afternoon’s press briefing, [Helen] Thomas was grilling Snow on what role, if any, the United States was playing in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over a two-state peace deal. Snow told Thomas that Washington was operating “the same as it’s always been” and was working with Israel and “when possible” with the Palestinians.

“Then why is it bankrupting the Palestinians?” Thomas shot back.

Snow clutched the side of the podium. “The Palestinians are not being bankrupted, Helen,” Snow said, smiling. “Hamas is a terrorist organization. We do not give money to terrorist organizations.”

“They were democratically elected,” Thomas insisted.

“They were democratically elected, and they’re still a terrorist organization,” Snow replied.

“By your designation,” Thomas snapped.

“Yes, thank you very much, Helen,” Snow shot back.

The point of this anecdote in the article is the next bit (which I left out of the excerpt): what Snow went on to say to diffuse the tension. It is funny that the authors, Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey, don't seem to expect their readers to make anything of the sheer lunacy of Thomas's position.

Tags: Tony Snow, Helen Thomas, Israel, Palestinians, Hamas

IRIB: Hizbollah's "Glorious Victory"

This is also how they view the Gaza withdrawal:

The nation and government of Syria honored Wednesday the anniversary of the Lebanese popular Hizbollah party's glorious victory over the Zionist regime occupation army in southern Lebanon in May 25, 2000, Syrian Information Minister, Mohsen Bilal told IRIB.

Hezbollah backed by its own nation, Iran and Syria as well as the world's freedom-seeking people managed to force the Zionist regime, supported lavishly by Washington to escape the country, the minister noted.

Bilal praised Secretary General of Hizbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrollah for his persistance in war with the Zionits regime and slammed Zionists for still holding Syria's Golan heights, Lebanon's Shebaa farms and the Palestinian territories.

It's funny: if we didn't have MEMRI, there would always be IRIB.

Tags: Syria, Lebanon, Hizbolla, Israel, Iran, Palestinians

That Non-offer again

From a current BBC story:

Mr Abbas' Fatah recognises Israel, and wants a state in occupied territories with a capital in East Jerusalem, while Hamas does not recognise Israel.

The militant group officially calls for an Islamic state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

However, Hamas' Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, has said recently that Hamas would observe a long-term ceasefire if Israel withdrew to its pre-1967 borders.

What a great deal: less-than-peace in exchange for a massive withdrawal.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Abbas, Hamas, Fatah

IRIB: "Palestinians pound al-Majdal city"

From Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

Palestinian fighters pounded the occupied al-Majdal city by missiles, a port city dubbed by Zionist regime as Ashkelon after 1948 usurpation. Palestinian informed sources announced that the Palestine National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Abu Al Mostafa Brigades, the military wing of the People Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), successfully fired two missiles overnight at the occupied city.

In a joint statement, the two resistance movements acknowledged that the attack was a response to Zionist regime's policy of assassinatiuon and its pounding of the northern and eastern parts of the Palestinian settled areas.

The groups urged for other movements to conduct similar attacks.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Ashkelon, missles

Proposed California SUV Tax

When Gray Davis was recalled, I actually had some hope that California would snap out of it. Guess not. From the Website of the John and Ken radio show:

Assembly Bill 2791 would penalize SUV and minivan drivers in California

This bill establishes a program, developed and administered by the Air Resources Board (ARB), to provide discounts of up to $2,500 to buyers of new cars that emit relatively low amounts of greenhouse gases and air pollutants and to impose a surcharge of up $2,500 on buyers on new cars that emit relatively high volumes of these gases and pollutants. . .

This website has a pre-written letter for California residents to send to their Assembly Member or State Senator opposing the bill.

Tags: California, State Assembly, Assembly Bill 2791, SUV Tax

Rejoice, she shall not be elected!

From the New York Post:

In a surprise move yesterday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called for "most of the country" to return to a speed limit of 55 mph in an effort to slash fuel consumption.

"The 55-mile speed limit really does lower gas usage. And wherever it can be required, and the people will accept it, we ought to do it," Clinton said at the National Press Club.

There is something about Hillary that one can only describe as politically tone-deaf. People just don't want this. If they did want it, you would see more people in the slow lane driving at 55 mph. She will not be the next president, and that means no other Democrat will be either.

Tags: Hillary Clinton, speed limit, presidential election, Democrats

CAIR demands money for Hamastan

Although this news-release deals with the so-called "siege" of the Palestinians, the word "Hamas" does not appear anywhere in it:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. MUSLIMS SAY ‘SIEGE’ OF PALESTINIANS MUST END
CAIR: Restore humanitarian aid, talk to elected representatives

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/23/2006) – A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on the Bush administration to use Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit this week to the United States to address urgent issues that are harming America’s image and interests in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the current suffering caused by the Israeli and international “siege” imposed on the Palestinian people is a humanitarian disaster that will only deepen divisions and hostility in the region.

In its statement, the Washington-based group said:

“We urge President Bush to tell Mr. Olmert that the American people will not support unilateral actions such as settlement land grabs, Apartheid-style walls or denial of basic humanitarian needs that block progress toward a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Olmert should also be told that he cannot expect American taxpayers to continue financing Israel’s illegal and counterproductive actions, which impede the peace process.

Tags: CAIR, Israel, Palestinians, Hamas

Ahmadinejad: "Iran will respond harshly to mere ideas of aggression"

From IRNA:

Even the mere thought of staging an aggression violating the rights of the Iranian nation will receive a stiff response from the nation, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday.

"Enemies should know that they cannot inflict the slightest harm to Iranians from the outside and that is why they are trying to create discord among the people," said the president in his address before a huge crowd in this southern city.

A reference to the recent protests?

The president is currently in Khorramshahr city for a short visit to attend celebrations marking the anniversary of the city's liberation from Iraqi troops in 1982.

"Those who have failed to block Iranians from achieving progress through pressure, conspiracies and misuse of international organizations have now launched a strategy of fomenting discord and disillusion among Iranians in order to prevent them from realizing their goals and enforcing their rights," Ahmadinejad pointed out.

Saying Iranians "are on the eve of a great breakthrough," the president said "everyone has a responsibility to contribute to Iran's development and eventual rise as an advanced and powerful Islamic state."

He urged the nation to stay vigilant, and stressed that "our people have successfully conquered the highest peak of scientific progress with their resistance and unity."

"Unity, justice and hard work" have been major factors in the Iranian nation's achievement of its goals," he added.

Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad, students, protest, mind-reading

Linkim 5/23/06

Jewish Cube addresses a post "To Those Who Would Disparage My Secular Education."

Steyn on Bob Dylan's birthday.

Michelle Malkin illustrates "How Dems Store Their Bribes." (Actually from this blog.)

It's Jenin Week on Oprah!

Captain's Quarters examines "What The AP Discarded"

BTB has a long and informative post on H.R. 4681.

A Simple Jew offers "Recommendations From A Yid - Sifrey Chasidus."

Jonah Goldberg reviews "The Media's Imperfect Storm."

Divrei Chaim revisits "Skepticism and the j-blogosphere."

R. James Woolsey explains where Olmert's plan is leading.

Hamshachas Halinkim 5/24/06

Divrei Chaim fisks GH!

National Review: We need more Immigration!

The author, William P. Kucewicz, argues that "The debate about illegal Mexican migrants overlooks a much bigger problem, one that threatens the viability of such government insurance programs as Social Security and Medicare." He explains:

The problem stems from this post-World War II generation’s failure to procreate at a replacement rate. As a result, the ratio of working-aged Americans to those 65 and older is shrinking. For the first time in the nation’s history, the number of elderly is approaching the number of youngsters. Come 2030, for instance, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates there will be about 95.1 million persons 19 years of age and younger versus some 71.5 million persons 65 years and older.

The solution?

Here, a new Heritage Foundation analysis proves useful. It assesses the effects of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611), cosponsored by senators Chuck Hagel (R., Neb.) and Mel Martinez (R., Fla), based on a variety of scenarios. Taking the 20 percent maximum annual growth in “guest workers” permitted under the bill, the study reckons the net increase in immigrant workers would be about 60.7 million persons over the next two decades, excluding both dependents and the 19 million permanent-residence visas authorized under current law.

The estimated 60.7 million new guest workers under the Hagel-Martinez bill would still fall short of the 109.1 million people in the 20-to-64 age bracket needed by 2026 to maintain the current 4.7:1 ratio of working aged persons to Americans 65 and older. An additional 41 million people would be needed by 2026 to keep the worker-to-elder ratio at its current level. This could be achieved by increasing the number of permanent-residence visas authorized by law. Currently, around 950,000 visas are issued each year.

Interesting, no?

Tags: Immigration, Social Security, baby boomers, guest workers

Beinin sues Horowitz

From the Jewish News of Northern California:

[Joel] Beinin, an outspoken Middle Eastern history professor at Stanford and a prominent critic of Israel, filed a complaint last month against David Horowitz after the conservative firebrand published a booklet titled “Campus Support for Terrorism” with a photo of Beinin featured on the cover.

And while Beinin claims Horowitz has deliberately misrepresented his views to portray him as a terror supporter, that’s not what this suit is about. Beinin owns the rights to the photograph in question, and his complaint is for copyright infringement . . .

[Beinin] fingers Horowitz as one of the leading right-wing critics of academia and the field of Middle Eastern Studies, who is specifically leading a “McCarthyite” attack against anyone who espouses views contrary to the neocon line.

“He is most definitely part of a concerted effort to defame, delegitimize and discredit [professors] who disagree with the Bush administration and Bush administration policy. And I do disagree with Bush administration policy,” said Beinin.

Horowitz, not surprisingly, disagreed with that perspective. He’s already named Beinin in his earlier book “The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America,” and said that he is preparing a long article documenting “Joel Beinin’s support for terrorism.”

I found the following paragraph, quoting Beinin, especially interesting:

“I have both written and spoken many times on the record that I believe that attacks on unarmed civilians are morally unacceptable and politically unproductive. That sounds like someone who supports terrorism?” he asked.

Yes.

Tags: Beinin, Horowitz, terrorism, lawsuits

IRIB: "Western media exaggerate Gaza events"

From Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

A high-ranking Palestinian government official said that international media exaggerate the security situation in Gaza, adding that some western news agencies were making wild predictions in this regard.

Ahmed Yousuf, political advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniya, described the overall situation in Gaza as generally calm.

"These were isolated events initiated by some individuals. There is no confrontation between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza. The media is exaggerating," IRNA quoted Yousuf as telling a telephone interview from his home in Gaza, alluding to clashes between some members of Hamas and Fatah which claimed the lives of seven people in the past two months.

He accused the media of blowing small and isolated incidents out of proportion and creating a false impression that Palestine was on the verge of civil war.

"Whenever somebody fires a few rounds into the other, some western news agencies will report this as raging battles between Fatah and Hamas. What kind of professional journalism is this?" said Yousuf.

For a slightly different take . . . .

Tags: Hamas, Fatah, Israel, Palestinians, civil war

BBC story about Hamad capture

Here is an example of attempting to disguise facts as mere claims:

Israeli forces have captured the leader of Islamic group Hamas' military wing in the West Bank in a raid in Ramallah.

Israel accuses Ibrahim Hamad, 41, of masterminding a string of suicide bombings, including attacks on cafes and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Does this mean there is some doubt about Hamad's role in these attacks? The story, without qualification, refers to Hamad as the "leader" of the Hamas "military wing." What is being relegated to the category of a mere Israeli accusation? Hamas took credit for the Hebrew University attack. The point here is that maybe there was a co-mastermind?

The following is also of interest:

Shortly before the arrest, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told an Israeli newspaper that Hamas would observe a long-term ceasefire if Israel withdrew to its pre-1967 borders.

Are we going to be seeing constant references to this from now on? A "long-term ceasefire" is explicitly a phase of a war, a non-peace. Why is this being presented as anything more than a very meager sop to the panting Western press?

Tags: Israel, Hamas, Hamad, Haniyeh, BBC

More straws for graspers

From Ha'aretz:

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told Haaretz Monday that the Hamas government is prepared to agree to an extended cease-fire if Israel withdraws to the 1967 lines.

"If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, peace will prevail and we will implement a cease-fire [hudna] for many years," Haniyeh said during an interview in his south Gaza office. "Our government is prepared to maintain a long-term cease-fire with Israel."

Palestinian Transportation Minister Ziad Zaza described the hudna during the interview as "the cease-fire that will be renewed automatically each time."

A cease-fire is a temporary cessation of hostilities in the course of a war. Haniyeh's statement therefore amounts to a re-affirmation that the PA is at war with Israel. Under the ordinary morality of war, that means that unless the PA can prevail militarily, it is entitled to survival in return for surrender. Haniyeh's offer of a cease-fire in return for massive territorial concessions reflects the fact that Israel has been mysteriously drugged into almost complete paralysis. The drug is a compound of external pressure and internal leftism.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, PA, Haniyeh, hudna

Was one of them named Chomsky?

Rajai-Far's claim seems unlikely. From Ynetnews.com:

Thirty five Jews volunteered to carry out suicide attacks against Israel in the service of an Islamic terrorist organization, claimed the head of an Iranian terrorist organization, "The Committee for the Commemoration of the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign."

Members of the organization said that they planned to send the terrorists to Israel via Britain.

The Mahar news agency reported that the terror chief, Faruz Rajai-Far, told a Teheran conference that the organization's website registered 55,000 volunteers from all over the world to carry out suicide bombings. The volunteers, he claimed, included 35 Jews who don't live in Iran, as well as a number of Christians and other citizens. At the same time, the organization's website has been taken down, and cannot be viewed.

Is the "Mahar news agency" the same as Mehr? I couldn't find this story at Mehr's English website. At times like these I wish I could read Farsi. (Hat tip: Yeshivah World)

A related development.

Tags: Iran, Jews, suicide-bombers, terrorism, slime-buckets

Linkim 5/21/06

Haveil Havalim 70 is up.

Ynetnews.com: "Time to boycott the boycotters" (h/t: Martin Kramer)

There is a new politically-oriented group J-blog.

Steyn on immigration.

Erica's Blog launches some thoughts about "Kassam Rockets."

Divrei Chaim has a post about Ona'as Devarim. (Is that the name of a blog?)

Elder of Ziyon presents the "Mother of all work accidents watch."

According to the Guardian: "Abbas acts to halt slide into civil war in Gaza." That's nice.

Israel Matzav notes that "Hamas says that it is not interested in medicine and medical supplies."

Scrappleface on making English official.

Honest Reporting has an online quiz to test your knowledge about Hamas. (h/t: DTPW)

LA Jewish Journal: "Seeing Red Over Green’s Israel Policy"

Ynetnews.com: "Iran: Fund to 'demolish' Israel set up"

Ha'aretz: "Why 'Jews for Jesus' is evil"

Hamshachas Halinkim 5/22/06:

An imaginary letter to Ahmadinejad

Elder of Ziyon lists "Today's delusions by Jew-haters."

Palestinian Apologist Sentence of the Day

Would you believe this is talking about Hebron? From Islam Online by way of Palestinian Chronicles:

Palestinians and Jews used to live together in peace and harmony before the creation of Israel in 1948. Abu Haikal's grandfather ran a grocery shop with a Jewish partner and lit the homes of Jewish neighbors on the Shabbat, the weekly day of rest in Judaism . . . .

And when violence erupted in the city in 1929, Palestinians sought to shield the Jews from death.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Hebron, propaganda

Out of Kim's clutches

I post a lot of North Korean propaganda on this blog as a sort of grim joke. But the reality of North Korea is no joke. From the LA Times:

Six North Korean defectors — the first refugees the U.S. has admitted from the totalitarian nation — arrived in Southern California on Saturday bearing accounts of famine, sexual enslavement, torture and repression . . .

Chan Mi Shin, 20, spoke of foraging for grasses, the only food her family could find, to make broth and of being so hungry during the famine that killed millions that she started hallucinating that an accordion's keys were cookies and candies.

Tags: North, Korea, defectors, California

Speaking of holes in the bogroll . . .

Ynetnews.com: "Qassam hits Sderot school"

The upgrade to Katushyas is evidently not complete yet.

Two Qassam rockets landed Sunday morning in the western Negev. One rocket landed near Gevim Junction south of Sderot, and two women suffered shock as a result. Another Qassam landed inside a classroom at the "Hanativ Hayeshivati" School in town.

Luckily, at the time of the rocket's landing all students were at the school's synagogue for prayer service.

And what if they hadn't been? By any sane standards, Israel has the right to do anything necessary to stop this. Anything.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Qassams

Holes in the Blogroll

"Use of the riff only as an interlude between the vocal sections (which feature quite different parts) prevents it from becoming overly repetitive and creates excitement when it re-enters." --Wikipedia

[All resemblances between blogs mentioned in this song parody and real blogs
are purely coincidental. Aaron's CC is real, however.]

They all signed up with Blogger
Got a password and a by-line
To write posts about some Jew-stuff
If they were so inclined
A Chassid in a Streimel
Had the best blog around
Some well-known Rosh Yeshivah
Ordered him to shut down

Holes in the blogroll
Error 404
Holes in the blogroll . . .

I clicked the link for Ramblin' Yid
The page could not be found
Koach Line was plannin' to come back
But it did not rebound
Sometimes there's no new updates
But nothing gets erased
Bris Kid was outed by his Mom
It was a hopeless case

Holes in the blogroll
Error 404
Holes in the blogroll . . .

It ended up that the blogosphere
Seemed so empty, cold, and bare
But with the hampster dance gif thing back on line
We avoided despair . . .
We interrupt this nonsense
We're the Mahujadeen
You're time is runnin' out
Unless you make the Crescent scene

Allahu Akhbar
Death to you-know-who
Allahu Akhbar . . .







Previous song parodies.

Tags: song-parodies, blogging, J-blogging, blogs, J-blogs, argamon amok

Northern California Jewish News: "Conservative rabbis brainstorm in Berkeley on intermarriage"

Bad news:

The most recent statistics from Marin County show that 90 percent of children aged 2 to 5 in families that identify as Jewish have a non-Jewish parent.

So noted Chai Levy, assistant rabbi of Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon.

“The future of my congregation is, obviously, intermarried couples,” she said. “I have to think seriously about these people.”

That’s why Levy attended a conference last week sponsored by the Conservative movement’s Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, to learn more about an outreach initiative to make Conservative synagogues more welcoming to their non-Jewish members.

The conference was held at Berkeley’s Congregation Netivot Shalom, which is widely regarded as being at the forefront of this issue.

What is the basis for the notion that such congregations have a future? Who are the future spouses of those "90%"? What reason is there to think that they will be less inclined to intermarriage (or "intermarriage" for many of them) than their parents? And then what? Why should a person with only one Jew among his four grandparents "identify Jewish" at all?

Tags: Jews, intermarriage, Judaism

Islam Online: "Non-Muslim Dress Code 'Fabricated': Iranian Jew"

I'd say this story is almost dead:

Iran's only Jewish MP strongly denied reports that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear colored badges in public so as they can be identified . . . .

The Jewish lawmaker said he had been present in parliament when a bill to promote an Iranian and Islamic style of dress for women was voted.

"In the law, there is no mention of religious minorities," he added.

Tags: Iran, Jews, Judenfleck, yellow badge

Islam Online on the Rambam

From an article on Muslim Cordoba:

The Great Mosque of Cordoba stands as a symbolic testament of Muslim Cordoba (or Qurtuba in Arabic) which once contained 250,000 buildings and 3,000 mosques, palaces, and baths (Gedal). Cordoba was the birthplace of the Roman stoic Seneca, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and the Jewish physician and philosopher Maimonides (Abu 'Imran Musa ibn Maymun ibn 'Ubayd Allah).

That's a pretty cool way to refer to the Rambam. More here.

Tags: Rambam, Maimonides, Cordoba, Islam, Judaism

IRIB: "CIA, Zionists behind Iran killings"

From Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

Tehran's Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani on Friday held America, especially CIA, and Zionists responsible for recent cold blood killings southeast of Iran, saying enemy has targeted the country's border security, economy, universities and science.

"Our enemies which are the US and Zionists -- and of course Zionists give lessons to Americans too -- have targeted security on borders, economy, universities and science in Iran," said Ayatollah Kashani in his second sermon to multitudes of worshippers at this week's Friday prayers congregation at Tehran University campus.

"The whole thing is planned in the disgraceful organisation, the CIA, and based on the difference between Shiites and Sunnis. They want to pit Shiites and Sunnis against each other as they did in Iraq," said the major cleric.

Ayatollah Kashani was referring to a series of deadly attacks on Bam-Kerman road southeast of Iran last week, which claimed lives of a group of 12 civilians.

"The enemies had since triumph of the (1979 Islamic) Revolution (in Iran) overwhelmed the (Iranian) society and the world atmosphere with propaganda in the one-side road of the world media; the world people, however, do not have a mere belief in their claims because they (the enemies) are separate from their people."

"These idiots have not identified Shiites and Sunnis well; true, Shiites and Sunnis have differences inside but they share a common culture for protection of Quran and religion and they are all unitedin their basics," he added.

Tags: Iran, Zionist entity, Shi'ites, Sunnis, conspiracy

Everybody's gonna be jealous when they see my cool new Judenfleck!

Where your fleck to the dealership and get a discount on a Mazda 3! Everybody's fleckin'! (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

Update: This might have been a false alarm.

Update: Or not.

Tags: Iran, Judenfleck, Nazis, anti-Semitism

IRNA: "Israel wants to enslave Muslims by its nuclear arsenal: Expert"

As long as he's an expert--we wouldn't want to let just anybody comment:

An Arab strategic expert has warned that Israel's rabid efforts to maintain nuclear monopoly in the Middle East is aimed at keeping hundreds of millions of Muslims under the mercy of the Zionist state's nuclear weapons.

Abdul Sattar Qassem, a professor of political science and former candidate for President in the Palestinian Authority, said Israel wanted all Arabs and Muslims in this region to remain in a "perpetual state of strategic and military inferiority."
"This means they can invade, attack and occupy any rampage through any Arab or Muslim country in this region with impunity," he said while speaking during a symposium in Dura Tuesday, marking the 58th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, the forced usurpation of Palestine by Zionist Jews.

Qassem, a frequent critic of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo process, said it was imperative that Muslim states seek to create military and strategic parity with Israel.

"Such a parity or a semblance of parity is essential to prevent Israel from annihilating millions of Muslims."

"Just imagine if some crazy Jewish fundamentalists take power in Israel, would it be far-fetched to imagine the possibility that these racists would seek to attack neighboring states with nuclear bombs in order to fulfill their messianic aspirations."

Fundamentalists with nukes? Imagine worrying about that.

In the symposium, Qassem urged Palestinians and Palestinian political factions to consider the right of return of refugees a paramount issue.

"We must never ever compromise this right. We must never ever allow ethnic cleansing to win. We must never ever allow ourselves to be discouraged by the somber reality. Yes, we may not be able to realize the right of return now, but this doesn't mean that we should give it up."

Elsewhere in the Iranian press, an IRIB article entitled "Zionists shot at hungry Palestinians."

Tags: Israel, Palestinains, nukes, propaganda, Iran

Linkim: 5/17/06

Volokh Conspiracy discovers a disturbing definition of racism.

Elder of Ziyon explores "Tehran lies and Israeli morality."

Jack's post about blog names is now up to 80 comments.

Brussels Journal confronts "Tire Terror."

Meryl Yourish stages a Googlefight.

Indigo Jo denounces Ayaan Hirsi Ali as a "shrill Uncle Tom type."

Power Line lists Senators who "Voted Against the Fence."

IRNA: "Ahmadinejad, Castro discuss world developments"

Newsmax: Chavez aids terror

This isn't surprising:

Venezuela has sheltered groups with ties to Middle East terrorists and allows its weapons to reach Colombian guerrillas, a senior U.S. official said.

Those are among the reasons why the Bush administration announced on Monday that it banned Venezuela from purchasing U.S. weapons, saying it has failed to fully cooperate on counterterrorism, Thomas A. Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

"Cuban intelligence has effectively cloned itself inside Venezuelan intelligence to the point that [our] ability to cooperate and have a relationship with Venezuela on the intelligence side is very difficult," Shannon said. "We are worried about the kind of relationship [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] wants to have with Iran on the intelligence side," he added.

Tags: Chavez, Cuba, terrorism, Iran, Venezuela slime-buckets

Thanks, ACLU

This is such good news for Jews living in Southern California. Where should I send my check, ACLU?

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union are asking the FBI to reveal any surveillance of Muslims in Southern California since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the ACLU filed the request for documents Monday on behalf of six Islamic organizations and several individual Muslims

More here. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch)

Tags: ACLU, California, Jews, Jihad

Seattle P-I prints editorial by conspiracy kook?

LGF flags something like this at Daily Kos. Is this the new face of the left?

The [9/11] commission's conclusions and recommendations should be totally rejected. Its story is full of lies, distortions and omissions of fact. Following are two of the more than 40 reasons why the official story about what happened on 9/11 is untrue.

First, who were the hijackers? We do not know. None of those named appear on any of the passenger lists released by the airlines. Most important, six of the men named by the government are still alive and have never even been to the United States . . . .

Second, in the months after 9/11 all of the surviving New York City Fire Department personnel who were on the scene were interviewed. Those oral histories were recorded and withheld from the public until Aug. 15, 2005 . . . .

It turns out those oral histories reveal details about what was happening in the World Trade Center buildings that are completely inconsistent with the tale told by the commission. Dozens of firefighters and medics reported hearing, seeing and feeling explosives going off in the buildings that collapsed . . . . More disturbing, why was the pattern of those explosives identical in some important ways with the pattern used in a planned implosion (or controlled demolition of a building)? . . .

What is the commission covering up? Was 9/11, in fact, an inside job?

The editorial appears in "Most E-mailed" and "Most Printed" lists at SeattlePI.com. Update: The comment thread has an interesting mix of the sensible and the nutty.

Tags: 9/11, conspiracy theories

HaYom Yom, 18 Iyar, Lag BaOmer

From Chabad.org:

Lag Ba'Omer was one of the Mitteler Rebbe's particularly noteworthy festivals. He and the Chassidim would go out to the fields that day, and although he did not wash and break bread, he did partake of mashkeh (strong drink), which he was not allowed to do for health reasons. Many wonders were seen at that time, most of them involving the blessing of children for childless couples - and all year long people waited for Lag Ba'Omer.

The inclusion of this in HaYom Yom is evidently meant to suggest that we should feel the same way.

Tags: Lag BaOmer, Mittler Rebbe, Judaism, miracles, propitious times

IRIB: "Muslim police pursue divine rules"

Hug an Islamocop today:

Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said Monday the police in Islamic countries pursue divine rules in fulfilling their duties.

Inaugurating a conference of heads of police forces in Islamic countries, he said although Islamic states share many commonalties and enjoy capabilities at regional and international levels they have not been able to serve the interests of Islamic societies as well as they should.

Ethics and Islamic values would be a good means of dealing with abnormal behavior in societies, he said.

Tags: Iran, Islam, police

(North) Korean News: "U.S. Can Never Cover Up Its True Colors as Biological and Chemical War Criminal"

You think maybe they don't love us anymore?

The U.S. bellicose forces, not content with being the biggest possessor of biological and chemical weapons in the world, are continuously developing and producing new nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and openly using them in aggression and war against other countries in defiance of international law. Citing data, a signed article of Rodong Sinmun Saturday says:

The U.S. imperialists committed a germ and chemical warfare in a real earnest in the northern half of Korea during the last Korean War.

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff mapped out a plan for extensively using germ weapons in the actual war in the autumn of 1950. On this basis they committed a germ warfare against peaceable residents and cities of Korea in a wily way.

The germ warfare atrocities of the U.S. troops reached the extremes in 1952.

They dropped all sorts of germ bombs on 169 areas of the northern half of Korea 804 times in total from early January to March 1952. They dropped various articles containing poisonous insects and germs in at least 90 cities and counties 900 times in total from January to April 1952. Kinds of the germ weapons used by them during the war numbered more than 20.

They not only massively used germ weapons during the war but also brutally conducted tests on living bodies of POWs of our side. In 1951 they sent warships to a place near Wonsan, where they tested germ weapons on POWs almost every day, totaling 3,000 cases.

One of the most brutal crimes committed by the U.S. imperialists against Koreans during the war was that they massively used chemical weapons. They used many chemical weapons in 24 cities and counties in the northern half of Korea including Kangwon and Hwanghae Provinces and front areas from February 1951 to July 1953.

Napalm bombs were used in most cases.

They used depleted uranium shells and other weapons of mass destruction in the Vietnam war, Persian Gulfs war and in the subsequent wars, inflicting great casualties and sufferings upon a large number of people. They brutally killed peaceable people of Iraq with chemical weapons on charges of "terrorists".

The biological and chemical warfare committed by the U.S. imperialists, the most diabolic and cruel barbarians of modern type, can never be covered up.

The U.S. is the biggest possessor of biological and chemical weapons in the world. Nevertheless, the U.S. imperialists try to brand others as criminals, an indication of their peculiar shamelessness and brigandism.

The U.S. should stop unreasonable action of finding fault with others who are not problematic, honestly admit and open to the public its atrocious crimes of biological and chemical warfare and stand trial by history.

The current Korean News also features a new example of insanely repetitious Juche-speak. Can you spot all the sentences that contain the phrase "great powerful prosperous" or "single-minded unity"?

Tags: North Korea, propaganda, Vietnam, Juche-coupes

Paul Belien of Brussels Journal under attack

Paul Belien, whose Brussels Journal has been one of the best sites for following the Cartoon Jihad and similar topics, is now being accused of "inciting racial hatred," with public calls for prosecution. I don't know what the chances are that he will be prosecuted, but this is bad news for supporters of the war on terror. More here, here, and here.

Tags: Belian, Jihad, terror, Belgium, political correctness

More on the Presbyterians and Divestment

This looks like a positive development: "The Committee to End Divestment Now."

Tags: Divestment, Israel, Presbyterians,

After all, police play such a vital role in a police state . . .

From IRNA:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday the police should be a recipient of affection as well as a symbol of power.

Ahmadinejad's remarks were part of his speech to the first Conference of Islamic Countries' Police Chiefs in Isfahan.

"The police is an institution where affection is received and power exercised. That affection should be a consolation for those who have been wronged," said the president.

Tags: Ahmadinejad, Iran, police, affection

Linkim 5/14/06

Haveil Havalim 69 is up.

Jewish Cube advocates "Kicking the Fiddler Off the Roof."

Judeosphere explores the "Wimp Factor."

Martin Kramer has a new Sandbox post on Mearsheimer and Walt.

The J-Blogosphere now has an official blog.

Real Clear Politics describes "Condi's Boston College Coup," with more on the Steve Almond resignation.

Jihad Watch quotes Dr Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi that "Palestine is ‘property of Islam.’"

Steyn observes "To connect the dots, you have to see the dots."

Indigo Jo announces "A New A-list blog."

Joseph Hertzlinger examines "Part-human Rice," and he doesn't mean Condy.

Islamophobia Watch takes on Renoir. (h/t: DTPW)

Tags: Linkim, J-blogs, round-ups

Seattle PI: Ahmadinejad letter "hit the mark"

New (actually old) horizons in myopia:

It was bad enough for President Bush to be mailed a lecture on religiously ethical behavior from the loose-cannon president of Iran. So it must have been worse when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hit the mark.

Among the presumably rhetorical questions the Iranian leader posed to Bush were several the average American might also ask, such as, "Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world?"

The notion of first-strike pre-emptive war, the abuses at Abu Ghraib, "rendition" of captives for third-country interrogation and the jailing without charges of hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay may have many Americans wondering, as Ahmadinejad alleges, if the United States has failed to live up to its own stated values.

Ahmadinejad's letter clearly was meant for domestic consumption, to boost his status in Islam and among young people in his country. And perhaps the initial White House dismissal of the letter was for domestic consumption as well.

The antics and wild-eyed pronouncements of the source notwithstanding, this was the first official communication between Iranian and U.S. heads of state since 1979. Considering the fact that those two heads of state are currently at loggerheads -- if not crossed swords -- over Iran's nuclear policy, it might be a place from which to begin a more substantive dialogue.

Not according to the Iranians.

As abhorrent as the notion of Iran with nuclear weaponry may be, so is the notion of the United States moving to prevent it with military force.

If Bush slams the door, it's likely to stay shut.

Tina will like this one.

Tags: Ahmadinejad, Bush, myopia, Iran, doors

Arab News: "Shift in Hamas Stance"

New straws for graspers:

The document that has been hammered out by Palestinian activists in Israeli jails, including Hamas members, would implicitly recognize Israel. The proposals are a serious effort to extricate Palestinians from their economic crisis by way of a major shift in Hamas ideology which, in turn, might lead to a breakthrough in the search for peace.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was naturally quick to welcome the proposals. He is eager for a swift return to the negotiating table. The big surprise is the praise the proposals have received from Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar. Though they have fallen short of officially endorsing the document, the fact that neither denounced it outright is all the more reason to hope.

The proposals call for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War: the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. This is the very formula that Fatah has long accepted and Hamas has long opposed. Notably, the document also asserts that Palestinians have the right to attack Israelis in the West Bank, but that Israel itself should be off-limits to bombings and shootings. Thus, while resistance would be limited to the occupied territories, the proposals seem to exclude attacks on Israel itself. The document is not entirely Israeli-friendly. It also includes Palestinian demands which Israel rejects — the return of millions of Palestinian refugees to homes in what is now Israel and a complete withdrawal from all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The article admits:

While Hamas officials in Gaza and the West Bank were debating the document, the group’s top political leader, Syria-based Khaled Meshaal, told a conference in Qatar that Fatah and Hamas should unite behind a platform of “liberating Palestine, not recognizing Israel and adopting the path of jihad and resistance.”

If the Palestinians are prepared for peace, then let them turn to the pursuits of peace. Statements, documents, and declarations are all meaningless. They have spent years indoctrinating their children for war and it isn't going to change overnight, no matter what momentary betrayals of their own ideals they make in expectation of large sums of money. Let the buyer beware.

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Hamas, Meshaal, Abbas, Haniyeh

Nukes and Chaucer

The following appears in an SF Chronicle story about a nuclear waste disposal site that will have to last "10,000 years":

To future generations, warnings about Nelson's dump might seem as impenetrable as the 600-year-old "Canterbury Tales" are for all but a few scholars today.

Will the author (auctor?) of the Chaucer blog please write us a nuclear warning, so we can see how "impenetrable" it is?

Tags: Nukes, Chaucer, Middle English, Plutonium, nuclear waste

Zionist entity thwarts expression of indigenous national culture

From Ynetnews.com:

An Israeli navy top officer told Ynet: "in two weeks we managed to foil an attempt to smuggle one ton of standard explosives from Egypt to the Gaza Strip."

The officers' statement came after Sunday's morning second attempt to smuggle explosives to the Gaza Strip.

The impending Humanitarian Crisis looms even larger!

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Egypt, explosives

Daniel Pipes exchange with Mearsheimer and Walt

I refer you to Pipes' website, but the following is quotable:

Campus Watch is to Middle East studies as political analysis to politics, film criticism to movies, and consumer reports to manufacturing; we provide assessments for the public. Unlike politicians, actors, and business executives, who accept criticism with good grace, academics howl with umbrage at being judged.

(Hat tip: LGF)

English Department Adjunct resigns job over Rice speech

From the Boston Globe:

An open letter to William P. Leahy, SJ, president of Boston College.

DEAR Father Leahy,

I am writing to resign my post as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College.

I am doing so -- after five years at BC, and with tremendous regret -- as a direct result of your decision to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be the commencement speaker at this year's graduation.

Many members of the faculty and student body already have voiced their objection to the invitation, arguing that Rice's actions as secretary of state are inconsistent with the broader humanistic values of the university and the Catholic and Jesuit traditions from which those values derive.

But I am not writing this letter simply because of an objection to the war against Iraq. My concern is more fundamental. Simply put, Rice is a liar.

She has lied to the American people knowingly, repeatedly, often extravagantly over the past five years, in an effort to justify a pathologically misguided foreign policy.

The best part is that now a bunch of freshman will escape having to write papers about this. I wonder if Dr. Rice could do a speaking tour of multiple colleges.

Tags: English, Condoleezza Rice, Freshman Comp

The world trembles at the might of Songun!

You have probably guessed that this is going to be from (North) Korean News, but did you guess that the article is called "Weather Information Dissemination Room Opens"? I think not!

The Central Meteorological Institute under the Hydro-Meteorological Service of the DPRK started to operate a room for disseminating weather information through computers. It furnishes information on temperature and precipitation on the day, weekly maritime weather forecast and sand dust phenomenon. And it offers short-, middle- and long-term weather forecasts, and the average three-decade temperature, rainfall and sunshine ratio.

In particular, the room informs monthly and ten-day forecast of weather affecting the growth of crops and renders weather information including movement and altitude of clouds seen through satellite photograph to various sectors of the national economy.

Besides, it provides data on rare weather phenomena through multimedia "Collection of Korean Climate".

Through the room, one can read e-books and have consultation concerning the weather.

Let's see, a special room where one can use a computer to access information about the weather. Can anyone visit it? Is there just one for the whole country? Is there one for sports?

Tags: North Korea, weather, Juche-coupes

IRIB: "Oil for no one if Iran attacked"

Chavez is Ahmadinejad's kind of guy!

Visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said here on Thursday in case of a military attack against Iran, no country in the world would have access to crude oil.

Chavez made the remark at a press conference, adding, "as Iran's President Ahmadinejad has reiterated, if Tehran would come under attack, oil would get scarce for everyone."

He also said that the American President George W. Bush should be put to trial at the International Court of Justice for having launched genocide in Iraq.

The Venezuelan president added, "for all the horror it has created around the globe in the course of the past century, the United States' war machine should be dismantled, since under the current conditions it is a threat against the entire mankind, particularly against our children."

Chavez added, "the North American empire is the most cruel murderer regime that has ever come to power in world history and a serious threat for all nations."

He believes the death of the United States had better taken place in the course of the 21st century, because "otherwise the entire world would face the threat of annihilation."

The revolutionary Latin American president concluded his remarks, arguing, "although in terms of military power the United States ranks first in the world, but in the public opinion of the world nations it ranks rock bottom low, and many nations fell stronger in terms of logical reasoning than the United States."

That's the whole article.

Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad, Chavez, oil, slime-buckets

Pesach Sheni Links

Dawn of Redemption

Fancy Schmancy Anxiety Maven

Heichal Hanegina

Beyond Teshuva

Sichos in English

Chabad.org

Torah.org

Is it Clobberin' Time once more?

My guess is not quite, but the interim content had me laughing out loud. Mirror here.

Tags: Aaron's CC, Islamohackers, hamsters, hackers, Cyberjihad

(North) Korean News: "U.S., Kingpin of International Terrorism"

Sheehan-esque:

The history of the U.S. is that of crimes stained with plot-breeding and terrorism as well as that of aggression and plunder, says Rodong Sinmun Thursday in a signed article. It goes on:

The U.S. is styling itself an "international judge" to find fault with other countries, interfere in their internal affairs and threaten them. It makes no scruple to commit military aggression against them if necessary.

The U.S. imperialists are kingpin of international terrorism. They invaded Iraq, openly blustering that their major objective is to remove the Iraqi leadership.

In January 1961 first Prime Minister of Democratic Congo Lumumba was cruelly assassinated, for which the U.S. was chiefly to blame.

Former Chilean President Allende and many other state leaders and political figures fell victims to the U.S. terrorism.

The U.S. imperialists have orchestrated military coups aimed at changing leadership in anti-imperialist and independent countries. 23 military coups took place in Asia from the end of the Second World War to the middle of the 1960s and 20 in Africa from 1960 to 1968 and military coups in 20 Latin-American countries in the 1950s. Most of those countries where the military coups broke out were anti-imperialist and independent countries and countries which were trying to rid themselves of servility to the U.S., though belatedly. As a result of the military coups pro-U.S. military and dictatorial regimes were established.

The U.S. egged its henchmen to cook up military coups in strict secrecy or openly.

It has since viciously schemed to attain their hegemonic purpose through armed invasion, assassination, overthrow of governments and various forms of terrorist operations against Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.

It is not only a kingpin of terrorism but a terrorism-supporting state which actively encourages terrorism.

I hope you enjoyed reading that last sentence as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.

It fosters terrorism in targeted countries and then interferes in their internal affairs under the pretext of combating terrorism.

The U.S. high-handed military practices of putting pressure and sanctions upon those countries of no problem while deliberately linking them to terrorism under the plea of "anti-terrorism" only go to prove its brazen-faced and brigandish nature.

Tags: North Korea, terrorism, propaganda, repetition, Juche-coupes

Mr. Butts on the run in the Islamic Republic

From IRIB:

The Iranian parliament on Wednesday approved a motion banning smoking in public places and vehicles as well as government buildings.

Over the past couple of days, MPs approved 12 articles of the 20-article motion in different sessions in line with the government's comprehensive national anti-smoking plan.

Tags: Iran, smoking, smoking bans

IRIB: "Letter, a message from all Iranians"

From Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel here Wednesday said that President Ahmadinejad's letter to US President George W Bush conveyed a message from the Iranian nation.

Addressing an open session of Majlis, he said the letter also conveyed a message from all world nations and Muslims . . .

Haddad-Adel further said that the letter should not be taken as the start of a healing process of broken relations between the two countries.

Certain domestic and foreign circles have commented that by sending the letter the Iranian president had decided to end the 27-year break in relations between the two states, he pointed out, and stressed that the interpretation is not correct.

It was Washington that cut off ties with Iran, the speaker said, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not found any reason to mend relations in the past 27 years.

The letter thoroughly detailed Iran's reasons for not having any interest in reestablishing ties with the US, he added.

He said it talks about the great Muslim awakening and the fact that Muslim defiance of US and Western pressure has grown even stronger as shown in their demand for equal treatment in the international arena.

Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad letter