"the spirit of readily becoming human bullets and bombs and the spirit of blasting oneself"

You might think that this is an article that was already featured in a post, but no, that one referred to "the self-blasting spirit," not "the spirit of blasting oneself":

General Secretary Kim Jong Il inspected the Command of KPA Navy Combined Unit 587.

After receiving a salute, he went round the monument to President Kim Il Sung's on-site guidance and the room devoted to the history of the combined unit.

Noting that the combined unit has a long tradition of struggle as it has demonstrated the might of the KPA by fully displaying popular heroism in the defence of the country and socialist construction over the last more than six decades, he highly appreciated its feats.

He watched combat and technical equipment and training of seamen to learn in detail about the implementation of the training program for this year and the preparations for training next year.

He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the unit has successfully trained all the commanding officers and soldiers to be a-match-for-a hundred fighters possessed of high combat technique and capability by intensifying the combat and political training true to the WPK's policy of training. He highly appreciated the successes made by the unit in the training this year.

The seamen of the KPA have grown to be indomitable fighters who enshrine as their unshakable faith the spirit of devotedly defending the leader, the spirit of readily becoming human bullets and bombs and the spirit of blasting oneself, he said, adding: Our socialist country is impregnable as these invincible ranks have reliably defended its seas.

The latest Haveil Havalim is fully displaying popular heroism.

Aww--Castro brothers send hug to Ahmadinejad via Chavez

Here is a story to warm you up:

"We feel at home here and among our brothers ... we're going to be together until the end," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during a visit to Latin America on Wednesday.

Both leaders roundly denounced US "imperialism," and Chavez also called Israel "a murderous arm of the Yankee empire."

Chavez said he had just returned from an unannounced visit to Cuba, where he met with his mentor Fidel Castro as well as President Raul Castro. "They asked me to give you a hug for them," he told Ahmadinejad. [...]

Ahmadinejad must really appreciate that hug from the Castros, but undoubtedly what would really make him happy is the delivery of those S-300 missiles from Russia. According to IRIB Radio, Iran has received assurances that Russia still intends to deliver them:

Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Mahmood Reza Sajjadi in Moscow on Friday evening said that the Russian officials have told him they still honour a contract to deliver S-300 missiles to Iran.

According to IRNA, visiting "Argomenti" Daily in Moscow on Friday afternoon, Sajjadi said that the Russian officials have always talked about recognition of military and technical cooperation contract with Iran and declared their commitment to execute the contract.

He added that the Russian officials are also committed to complete Bushehr Power Plant and they hope that the power plant starts its activity in the shortest possible time. [...]

Things are not so cozy, however, between Iran and Norway:

Iran has denied Norway’s allegation that the Islamic Republic has confiscated the Nobel Peace Prize of Shirin Ebadi.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement on Thursday, “The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi’s bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief,” CNN reported.

It is surprising that Norwegian officials jump to conclusions without respecting international protocols and taking enough time to consider both sides of the issue, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Friday.

Mehmanparast said the issue involved tax evasion, and as in all countries, tax evasion is a crime in Iran and individuals face legal penalties should they commit such an act. [...]

The article, you'll note, does not actually say where the medal is. Iran's threats to withdraw from cooperating with the IAEA are getting a fair amount of press coverage. The Iranian press has a great deal about it, of course. Here is part of a Mehr article:

Iran officially announced that it will cease its voluntary cooperation with the IAEA after the agency’s Board of Governors adopted a resolution against Iran on Friday under pressure by Western countries.

Iran said the drafters of the anti-Iran resolution made a historic mistake and advised the West to discard its policy of confrontation with Tehran.

"To show its goodwill, the Islamic Republic of Iran has so far taken steps beyond its commitments, but this resolution will cause Iran to cooperate with the agency only within the framework of the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Friday. [...]

I don't think that Iran's nuclear ambitions are encountering too many obstacles from the West so far.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Ayatollah Khamenei on "renouncing the infidels"

Here is an excerpt from the Supreme Leader of Iran's recent message to Hajj pilgrims. What follows is the paranoid rant section, which is most of it:

[...] Nowadays, we clearly see that the hands of the ill-wishers of the world of Islam are busy more than the past driving wedges among Muslims, thus the Islamic Ummah is in need of integrity and unanimity more than ever before.

Today, the bloodstained claws of enemies are busy unleashing tragic scenes here and there across the Islamic lands; Palestine languishes under the wicked grip of Zionists and suffers a widening tribulation. The Al-Aqsa Mosque faces a grave threat; innocent people of Gaza, having already been subjected to an unprecedented genocide and still endure the harshest conditions; Afghanistan, under the boots of the occupiers, witnesses a new suffering on a daily basis; in Iraq instability has robbed people of their calm and their peace of mind; in Yemen fratricide has struck the Islamic Ummah with a fresh grief.

He appears to blame the West for recent events in Yemen.

Muslims worldwide should rather stop and think how and where these blind seditions, wars, blasts, assassination bids and massacres which have gripped Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been planned. Why was it that before the American-led Western troops arrived in this region in a peremptory and possessory manner, the regional nations had never been subjected to such a long list of sufferings?

The occupiers, on the one hand, brand any popular resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon or any other place as terroristic, and on the other hand, are organizing or masterminding a violent sectarian terrorism among the regional nations.

He appears to blame the West for Muslim sectarian struggles in general.

The Middle East and the North African region was once colonized and humiliated for more than a century by the Western governments of Britain and France and subsequently by America; their natural reserves were plundered, their free spirit was trodden upon and their nations were taken hostage by the greed of the aggressive aliens.

Yet, after an Islamic awakening coupled with a popular resistance movements made it impossible for them to proceed and following a re- emergence of the issue of martyrdom and ascension to God and on the path of God , as an exceptional factor in the scene of Islamic jihad, the aggressors, having been pushed to a defensive position, resorted to duplicitous methods after replacing their old approach with a new type of colonialism.

He stresses the role of martyrdom in Jihad.

Nonetheless, the multi-faced demon of colonialism has now fielded all its capacities to bring Islam to its knees, from military might, an iron fist and flagrant occupation to an evil chain of propagandas and a myriad of lie-spreading and rumor-mongering media centers, from the organization of networks to ruthlessly carry out assassination and homicide to promotion of promiscuity and the proliferation of narcotics targeting the morale and the morality of the youth, and, finally, from a thoroughgoing diplomatic assail on any hub of resistance to the provocation of sectarian snobbery, prejudice and enmity among brothers.

If affection, trust and empathy take the place of the enemy-desired mistrust and animosity among Muslim nations or Islamic sects, the conspiracy of the ill-wishers would be defeated for the most part and their sinister plots in seeking a growing dominance over the Islamic Ummah would be foiled.

The Hajj is one of those precious opportunities for this sublime goal.

Muslims will only be able to withstand the multi-faced demon and overcome it through cooperation with one another and reliance on their common foundations which are encapsulated in the Holy Koran and the practice of the Messenger. Islamic Iran, following the lessons of our great Imam Khomeini, has epitomized this fruitful resistance. The enemies have faced defeat in Islamic Iran.

Thirty years of plotting, conspiring and ill feeling, from staging a coup and imposing an eight-year war, to imposition sanctions and the freezing of assets, from the unleashing of psychological warfare and media confrontation to making efforts to hinder scientific growth and the acquisition of modern sciences including nuclear expertise by the Iranian nation, and even blatant provocations and interventions during the recent glorious and meaningful elections, all turned into scenes of setbacks, passiveness and confusion on the part of the enemy, re-evoking a verse in the Iranian mind: "Surely the guile of Satan is ever feeble" (The Women: 76).

Disapproving media coverage of their glorious election--the most horrible crime of all.

In all other areas of the world too, where people have countered the arrogant powers through a faith-inspired resistance, the faithful achieved victory while the tyrants ended up in scandal and retreat. The shining victory of the Lebanese in the 33-day war and the prideful and victorious jihad of the Gazans during the past three years stand as living evidence in this regard.

I emphatically recommend the fortunate pilgrims in general and especially the scholars and orators of the Islamic countries who have attended the Hajj gathering, as well as the leaders of Friday prayers in the noble sanctuaries, to recognize their your immediate duty, to expose the conspiracy of the enemies of Islam in the eyes of your audience, and to call the people to affection and unity, they should strictly avoid anything which may provoke a sense of mistrust among Muslims, and vent all cries at the arrogant and the enemies of the Islamic Ummah and the masterminds of all seditions headed by the Zionists and Americans, and in doing so, help materialize the practice of renouncing the infidels in word and in deed. [...]

We generally assume that heads of state who want to consolidate and extend their power are under certain constraints not shared by lone wackos and stateless terror networks although this one seems to have terror operatives doing his bidding in various places. As far as his worldview is concerned, Mr. Supreme Leader hardly seems less extreme than, say, Nidal Hasan. Shouldn't we do anything necessary to keep nukes out of this Ayatollah's specific hands?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Dissident Voice alerts us to the Beer Menace

The article is called "Monopolizing America: Big Beer Takes Over." What has them foaming at the mouth, but not from a good brewski? Monopolies, for one:

America is the world’s most profitable beer market, yet the U.S. has lost what was once a competitive industry. As recently as 2004, ten companies fought over world consumption; today Belgium-based InBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev) controls 25 percent of the world’s beer market. SABMiller, the second largest brewer with 15 percent of the market, is a London-based conglomerate that formed when South African Breweries acquired U.S.-owned Miller in 2002.

A "more troubling" problem is that beer is under-taxed--say it isn't so!

An even more troubling problem arises over taxes, especially with government facing reduced tax revenues. Federal alcohol excise taxes haven’t been raised since 1991 and, adjusted for inflation, have lost 40 percent of their value. State taxes are similar: Wisconsin hasn’t raised its alcohol tax to keep up with inflation since 1969 and has lost 83 percent of its value. Maryland’s alcohol excise tax was set in 1972 at 9 cents a gallon, but would be 38 cents a gallon if it were adjusted for inflation.

“Increasing taxes is the number one most effective way to reduce underage drinking and overall harm,” said Lebron. “The beer companies know that and are fighting it, despite the fact that alcohol harm in California alone amounts to $38 billion a year. In the U.S., it’s over $200 billion a year. Industries that cause harm, such as alcohol and tobacco, should be financially responsible for some portion of that harm.”

And there is no shortage of new applications for that reasoning.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Exactly how it this supposed to work?

Here are three paragraphs from a worthwhile but flawed essay from Maziar Bahari, a journalist who was held prisoner by Iran:

In Iran's triangle of power – the Guards, Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – the Guards are becoming stronger than the President and the Supreme Leader. Some are devoted to the ayatollah for religious reasons, but many of them use his status as a religious leader to legitimize their own actions. They also use Mr. Ahmadinejad, a former Guard, to increase their political power.

The Guards have arms and money. They are the country's biggest industrial contractors. They have front companies all over the region and in the West and are involved in smuggling goods into and out of Iran. They answer only to Ayatollah Khamenei.

So can the West, especially the United States, have a dialogue with these people? Yes. Because there is no other choice. The West has to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear program and the stability of Iraq and Afghanistan. Not talking to Tehran doesn't work: The hostile rhetoric and actions of the Bush administration against even the reformist government of former president Mohammad Khatami helped the hard-liners consolidate power. Only by engaging, even with a more radical regime, can the West force Tehran to measure the costs and benefits of dealing with the outside world.

That's a very funny usage of the word "force." Elsewhere Bahari argues that "a nuclear Iran should not be tolerated." And the mechanism for that intolerance?

The U.S. government should use all its resources, including President Barack Obama's charm, to persuade allies, especially China and Russia, to put in place smart sanctions that target Iran's nuclear program and do not affect ordinary Iranians.

Ah, I see, "charm" China and the regime which has already been paid to provide Iran with advanced anti-aircraft missiles into "smart sanctions"! The policy recommendations in this sort of piece never flow from the analysis. Rather, the analysis is intended to build up the writer's supply of credibility as a realistic thinker. He then, of course, proceeds to squander that credibility on glib but wishful thinking. It's a familiar pattern.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

IRIB Radio: "Students want Ahmadinejad to expel Saudi envoy"

In which we learn that "Saudi Arabia has become the perpetrator of the Zionist's colonialist plans":

Students protesting Riyadh's military assault on Yemeni Shias in front of the Iranian Foreign Ministry have called for the expulsion of the Saudi ambassador.

According to IRIB World Service, the university students, who were demonstrating for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, made the demand in a letter addressed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The letter referred to the anniversary of the 1987 killing of pilgrims.

The students who have gathered in Tehran from all over the country despite the cold weather in the capital plan to continue their sit-in until Wednesday.

One of the organizers of the event told IRNA that the students were there to show their anger at what they believed was a war planned by "Zionist" entities.

There's more than one?

Student spokesman Esmail Tahmouresi said "The Zionists have instigated many wars in places like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Gaza Strip to cover their own losses," adding, "In the war against Shia Muslims in northern Yemen Saudi Arabia has become the perpetrator of the Zionist's colonialist plans." [...]

Some of the latest Iranian press articles attacking Israel were actually about Israel to begin with. At Fars, for instance, a headline proclaims "Ahmadinejad: Israel Incapable of Attacking Iran":

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underlined on Tuesday that the Zionist regime is too weak to take military action against Iran.

Speaking in a press conference in Brasilia, Ahmadinejad responded to questions on the possibility of Israeli attack to Iran, and said, "Weapons, threats and attacks are means of the past and (such words) belong to those politicians who are lagging behind.

"Those you mentioned do not dare to do such a thing and are too small to take military action against Iran."

The Iranian president noted that the era of military invasions has come to an end "and today is the time for talks and thinking".

"Durable peace and friendship will be achieved in light of justice and those who want to rule the world will never attain their desirable results," he added. [...]

Wait till he finds out about the little device we've implanted in his heart valve! At IRIB we learn that "IRI, Bolivia urge justice-seekers to join hand":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran and Bolivia are standing together, adding that independent states should stand together for their own progress and for neutralization of imperialists' conspiracies.

The President following his private talks with Bolivian counterpart President Evo Morales and negotiations of the two countries high ranking delegations, said Iran and Bolivia are partners and allies adding that ground for taking big steps to promote relations is at hand.

"We will stand together and I am confident that victory belongs to us," the President said.

He stressed that although Tehran and La Paz are geographically very far, the two nations and governments are close to each other in their viewpoints. [...]

Now you know. Another IRIB article concerns something called a "'Quds in light of Savior' gathering in Mecca."

[...] The conference attended by Islamic scholars as well as representatives of Palestinian resistance groups emphasized on the Palestinian cause and the necessity of unity among Palestinian resistance groups till their final victory over Israel. [...]

The head of Iranian pilgrims said agreements such as Oslo were in effect a way out for the Zionist regime from total collapse. He added that the Zionist regime had always lived with the fear of martyrdom seeking operations on the side of resistance groups. [...]

Of course, Iran may show all sorts of admiration for martyrdom-seeking operations, but advanced military hardware is also useful for thwarting world arrogance plots. A number of current articles in the Iranian press concern those anti-aircraft missiles that Russia is not delivering on schedule. Not to worry, as we learn from Fars, "Iran Able to Replace S-300 with Other Air-Defense Systems":

An Iranian top military commander on Tuesday underlined that Tehran is able to replace the Russian-made anti-aircraft S-300 missiles with other air defense systems in case Russia shrugs off contract terms for the delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran.

"If they do not deliver S-300 defensive system to us, we have replacements and we can supply our operational requirements through innovative techniques and different designs," Deputy Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base for Coordination General Hassan Mansourian told reporters on the sidelines of countrywide military drills, codenamed "Modafean-e Aseman-e-Velayat 2." [...]

Will Iran get its Russian missiles to go along with the 20 percent enriched uranium it wants from the West? Stay tuned.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

"Leader of the Revolution Will Act to Repair Relations Between Sisterly Egypt and Algeria"

Who better to heal football rifts than Colonel Gadaffi? This story makes me intensely happy, but I wish someone would explain one thing to me: what's a "football much"?

Jana has learnt that the Leader of the Revolution, Chairman of the African Union is to act to heal the rift in the relationship between Egypt and Algeria caused by the fallout from the football much between the teams of the two countries.

However, the Secretary of the Arab League Amr Moussa has appealed to the Leader to intervene in the ongoing crisis given the good status that the Leader enjoys being the Chairman of the African Union and the status the Leader enjoys with both sides.

Kim's mother's exciting battlefield exploits

Of course she had battlefield exploits! You don't think she merely unknitted her woolen underwear to make gloves for the Great Leader, do you?

An anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk took part in a battle for defending the Chechangzi guerrilla zone on a day of October Juche 24 (1935) for the first time after her joining the Korean People's Revolutionary Army. In the battle, she displayed unparalleled bravery and boldness.

The Japanese imperialists hurled armed force more than 10,000 strong in the battle in an attempt to wipe out the guerrilla zone and the enemy's bombers indiscriminately pounded the zone without letup. The battle was too fierce for the guerrillas to transport ammunition and bombs from the back side of the height.

She, with an insight into the battle situation, went to the back side of the height along with several guerrillas, where she rushed toward the position, carrying two ammunition boxes on her back.

At the very moment a bomb blew up with a terrific explosion in front of them.

After a while the guerrillas came to senses and looked around. But she was not seen there.

She already reached the ridge of the height and called them there.

Then the guerrillas were greatly struck with admiration at the matchless bravery of her who unhesitatingly rushed toward the combat position through the bomb explosion.

The latest Haveil Havalim also valiantly rushes rushed toward the combat position through the bomb explosion.

Iran wants its "air defense" missiles and it wants them now

But Russia isn't delivering at the moment:

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Sunday that Iran is asking Russia to fulfill its commitments in delivering S-300 air defense missiles to Iran.

The S-300 system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 kilometers (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.

The truck-mounted S-300PMU1, known in the West as the SA-20, can shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft. It can fire at targets up to 150 km (90 miles) away and travel at more than two km per second.

Iran says Russia should have delivered the air defense system some six months ago and the delay is apparently the result of Western pressure.

They don't want you to think that this leaves them with any gaps in their defenses, however. According to Fars, "Commander Stresses Iran's Ability to Shoot Down Israel's F15, F16 Fighters":

A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) here on Sunday warned of Tehran's crushing response to any potential attack on the country, stating that Iran enjoys the required defensive capability to bring down Israel's advanced military aircrafts.

"Be sure that in case of any aggression, the Zionists' F15 and F16 aircrafts will be trapped by our air defense and will be destroyed," Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said.

"And if one of their aircraft manages to escape Iran's air defense - before it can land - the bases from which these aircraft have taken off will be struck by our destructive ground-to-ground missiles," the Commander said in a reaction to Israelis growing war rhetoric against Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

"The Zionists may initiate such a war, but undoubtedly its end will depend on our will," Hajizadeh noted. [...]

And they'll attack more than just "bases." A PressTV article proclaims "If attacked, Iran will target Tel Aviv":

A senior IRGC official warns that Iranian missiles will be on their marks to target the very heart of Tel Aviv in the event of a military attack on the Islamic Republic.

“If the enemy tries its luck and fires a missile into Iran, our ballistic missiles would zero in on Tel Aviv before the dust settles on the attack,” said Mojtaba Zolnour, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). [...]

It is interesting that none of this stresses what Western analysts stress: Iran's efforts to make the nuclear facilities themselves less vulnerable. The Fars article does quote an American think tank study that doubts that a military strike will do much, but without giving a reason why it wouldn't. I guess the home crowd doesn't want to hear that even if there is widespread destruction the nukes will be safe.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

I guess this explains the starvation

(North) Korean News regularly features stories about how party officials were inexpressibly moved by something the Great Leader or the Dear Leader or "Anti-Japanese Heroine Kim Jong Suk" (Kim's mother) did. Here an official is "full of admiration" at the "unimaginable scenery" of the Dear Leader's agricultural experiments in his private garden:

It was on a Sunday of June, Juche 53 (1964).

An official who visited the residence of General Secretary Kim Jong Il was perplexed by the unimaginable scenery of the garden.

There grew thick trees of economic value in the garden and grain crops, industrial crops, vegetables as well as fodder grass in patches.

Sowing soybean as the second crop after wheat in a patch, Kim Jong Il kindly invited the official to join in sowing with a hoe.

The leader said that as the after-crop beans sprout leaves not so much, the close planting would not have influence on the sunshine over the crops, indicating the plant-interval to him.

When the official said that it was likely to harvest two tons of soybean per hectare, the leader stated with confidence that he anticipated three tons, not two tons and he would reap 6.5 tons altogether in the first and second crops.

The official was full of admiration. The leader told the official that he had fixed various species of crops as double-cropping ones and done experimental cultivation for a few years, stressing that the reserves for increasing the grain production were double-cropping and close-planting.

The official keenly realized that the patches were not simple experimental ones but a breeding farm for the development of agriculture of the country.

A related (to my imperialist mind anyway) story announces "Russian Government's Food Donation to DPRK Completed."

Observation

The great irony of the Ft. Hood shooting is that it demonstrates the vital necessity, sometimes, of jumping to conclusions.

Can we invite the Neturei Karta to our Mosque?

Islam Online issues a ruling on this supremely important question:

Dialogue is always helpful and opens the doors for understanding and cooperation. However, when we choose representatives of any faith, we should try to choose those who represent the mainstream rather than those who say what we like to hear.

Many Jewish and Christian groups invite to their gatherings some Muslims who are critical of Islam and abuse Muslims. Thus, we criticize these groups and tell them that they should invite mainstream Muslims. Consequently We should do the same thing. We cannot have a real dialogue with any religion unless we try to converse with those who represent their main groups. From there, a real understanding and common ground can develop.

There is nothing wrong with meeting with the Rabbis of Neturei Karta, but you should bear in mind that they represent a very small Jewish group. But, again, you should not close the door on others.

It doesn't sound as if the NK are exactly sweeping them off their sandals.

"Media; a lever of int’l Zionism to dominate the world: Ahmadinejad"

That should be a colon after the word "Media," but I'm not fixing ISNA's punctuation for them.

The establishment and employment of media is the lever of the international Zionism to dominate the entire world, said Iran’s President.

During a meeting with members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the media which belong to the Zionism magnify the slightest issues in Asian countries to pressurize their governments but do not reflect plenty of the ugliest measures in the US and occupied territories of Palestine.

The media are bombarding humans mind, Ahmadinejad noted and called for OANA to communicate the message of friendship, peace and brotherhood to the world. [...]

What's so haram about peace, love, and understanding, eh? The Fars version of this story is entitled "President Warns Nations about Zionists' Media Plot to Destruct Culture." IRIB also has an article based on the same speech:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday evening expressed hope that the media of Asia and the Pacific region would overcome Zionist- and the Arrogance-held media in the next few years by appropriate understanding the international scene, resistance and interaction.

Once an "appropriate understanding" of "interaction" takes hold, all Zionist plots are doomed!

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

The Hungnam Fertilizer Complex Art Squad is back in the news!

It was 20 years ago today
The Great Leader taught the band to play
They never go out of style
'Cause they're supported by the rank and file
So let me introduce to you
The act that's Juche and Songun, too
Hungnam's Fertilizer Art Squad Band . . .

They're takin' it to the stage! As always, the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex is the official People's Fertilizer Complex of the Judeopundit Blog:

Senior party and state officials, the chairpersons of the friendly parties and officials of ministries and national institutions watched an art performance given by the art squads of the February 8 Vinalon Complex and the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex at the People's Palace of Culture on Tuesday.

Put on the stage were such colorful numbers as chorus "My Country Is Eternal Country of the Leader", band music and song "The Glow over Kangson", male solo "My Beloved Factory", singing in unison and story-telling "Hungnam Is Alive with Farm Fields", agitation with song "Are We Living like in Those Days" and drum-beating and song "Let Us Glorify Socialism on Songun Fleet Steed".

The performers sang high praises of the immortal exploits General Secretary Kim Jong Il has performed by wisely leading the grand drive for building a great prosperous and powerful nation through his day and night forced marches for field guidance after kindling the torch to bring about a new revolutionary surge. They also powerfully demonstrated the heroic stamina of the working class dashing ahead like the wind towards the morrow of a thriving nation under the Songun leadership of the party. [...]

The latest Haveil Havalim is kindling the torch to bring about a new revolutionary surge!

When chrono-fowl collide

The Large Hadron Collider keeps having the wrong sort of collisions. According to a Time article, the latest mishap may have happened when a "passing bird . . . dropped the chunk of bread on an electrical substation above the accelerator . . . " Just a bit of unwanted randomness? Not according to some scientists:

While most scientists would write off the event as a freak accident, two esteemed physicists have formulated a theory that suggests an alternative explanation: perhaps a time-traveling bird was sent from the future to sabotage the experiment. Bech Nielsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto, Japan, have published several papers over the past year arguing that the CERN experiment may be the latest in a series of physics research projects whose purposes are so unacceptable to the universe that they are doomed to fail, subverted by the future.

The article goes on to mention some objections to this theory, but in my inexpert opinion, the main problem is that nobody knows what the folks in the future might or might not find objectionable. It's all pure speculation. For all we know, the people in the future may have taken (will being ge-taken haven?) a vote, only narrowly avoiding a resolution to stop the creation of the latest Mattisyahu CD.

I'm picturing all this as actions taken by future people, no doubt missing the "complex mathematics" that this Time article is rendering as a big metaphor for the vast uneducated public. On the other hand:

Nielsen tells TIME, "you could explain it [simply] by saying that God, in inverted commas, or nature, hates the Higgs and tries to avoid them."

You have to wonder why the "inverted commas" are necessary. I often think physics is catching up with religion. That's one way to think about it.

If the Collider is indeed on a collision course with a mysterious vanishing, then someone may have anticipated all this years ago:



Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Adventures in auto-translation

EOZ is very good at sorting out these things. I just like to enjoy them as they are:

Warned Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in the occupied interior of the 'mythical scheme and deceive' to establish a ring of parks around the Talmudic Al Aqsa Mosque.

Will that keep the Talmudic Mosque from spreading?

Fars: "Ahmadinejad Hails West's 'Retreat' on Nuclear Issue"

"Retreat" is exactly right, isn't it?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the West has retreated in its nuclear dispute with Tehran, as it is no longer talking of suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment activities.

"We have now entered a stage of cooperation. At the moment, one of the key issues is Iran's participation in projects such as the international [nuclear] fuel bank or reactor and plant construction," Ahmadinejad said in a Wednesday night televised interview.

"There is no more talk of suspension. We have reached a stage where we are cooperating, on a high level, with other countries that have the technology through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he was quoted by press tv as saying.

The progress made on talks on the nuclear issue has upset Israel and several European states, as they wanted the so called 'nuclear challenge' to continue so that they could use it to spread propaganda against Iran, Ahmadinejad said.

"Israelis and a number of Western countries are angry about this. They are trying to prevent us from forming cooperation. They want the talks to break down and end in dispute."

Ahmadinejad's comments came after an Israeli military official repeated the regime's past threats against Tehran, saying Tel Aviv was readying all options to try to force Iran to halt its nuclear program. [...]

IRIB: "Hezbollah enjoys weapon of martyrdom"

Happy Martyr Day!

Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement enjoys a weapon better than missile arsenals and that is the will to sacrifice, a high-ranking official of the movement said on Tuesday.

Al-Minar TV network quoted Sheikh Nabil Kawooq as saying that Hezbollah enjoys martyrdom-seeking weapon which no one would be able to confront with.

Speaking at the occasion of "Martyr" day, representative of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon reiterated that the victory of Resistance is near.

He described Ahmad Qasir's martyrdom-seeking operation as one of the greatest and most significant operations during the history of combat against the Zionist regime.

Ahmad Qasir was a front runner in conducting martyrdom-seeking operations and gaining victory, Kawooq said adding Qasir opened the door to the eventual defeat of the Zionist enemy.

Ahmad Qasir conducted the first martyrdom-seeking operation in Nov. 11, 1982 against 'Israel' after driving a vehicle loaded with explosives into the Israeli military compound in the city of Soor.

Ahmadinejad: "The Zionist regime is like an out-of-date car"

Show me a country with a "Students' New Agency" and I'll show you "the world's biggest prison for journalists." Here Ahmadinejad "urges Obama to confront Zionists":

Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, urged his US counterpart to confront Zionists.

Referring to US President, Barack Obama's pledges for change, Ahmadinejad said in a press conference held in Turkey that the changes must happen in practice asserting, "Iran aids the US to create fundamental changes."

"Supporting the Zionist regime and befriending regional nations are not compatible, Obama must confront Zionists," he said.

"The Zionist regime is like an out-of-date car, the more time passes the more it harms Israel because the first issue in the region is Quds," he stated.

Also saying the era to use nuclear bombs is over, he noted, "those who stock pile nuclear bombs are foolish."

Mind changed

Megan McArdle, who blogs at the Atlantic, gained some current notoriety for writing about the Fort Hood massacre "there is absolutely no political lesson to be learned from this." Now she writes a follow-up:

. . . I have since changed my mind. That's because there's growing evidence that the army and the CIA knew he was a crazy fanatic who wanted to get in touch with Al Qaeda. It sort of seems like someone could have done something about that.

"It sort of seems like someone could have done something about that"?? We need very badly to figure out why nobody did.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Fort Hood gunman actually made previous massacre attempt, but his gun jammed

OK, that's not true, but this is.

"the spirit of becoming human bullets and bombs and the self-blasting spirit"

The Dear Leader visits a KPA unit and happily observes that all the soldiers there are willing to blow themselves up just for him:

After watching the servicepersons' training at the unit, he was greatly satisfied to see all the servicepersons grown to be a-match-for-a-hundred fighters fully prepared politically and ideologically and in military technique to firmly safeguard the socialist motherland. He set forth the tasks to be fulfilled by the unit to increase its combat capability in every way.

Our servicepersons have grown to be fighters strong in ideology and faith as all of them cherish the spirit of devotedly defending the leader, the spirit of becoming human bullets and bombs and the self-blasting spirit as their unshakable faith, he noted, adding that the revolutionary cause of the DPRK is sure to triumph as this great elite army is standing guard over the defence line of the country as firm as an invulnerable fortress.

The latest Haveil Havalim is fully prepared politically and ideologically.

On Goldstone's asymmetrical obtuseness

Moshe Halbertal, an Israeli philosophy professor who was involved in formulating the IDF ethics code, presents a serious analysis of the Goldstone report. In the opening paragraphs he rather scathingly notes that Goldstone can't bring himself to admit that Hamas practices asymmetrical warfare:

[...] This new form of struggle is now called “asymmetrical war.” It is defined by an attempt on the part of those groups to erase two basic features of war: the front and the uniform. Hamas militants fight without military uniforms, in ordinary and undistinguishing civilian garb, taking shelter among their own civilian population; and they attack Israeli civilians wherever they are, intentionally and indiscriminately. During the Gaza operation, for example, some Hamas militants embedded in the civilian population did not carry weapons while moving from one position to another. Arms and ammunition had been pre-positioned for them and stored in different houses.

In addressing this vexing issue, the Goldstone Report uses a rather strange formulation: “While reports reviewed by the Mission credibly indicate that members of the Palestinian armed groups were not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from the civilians, the Mission found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from the attack.” The reader of such a sentence might well wonder what its author means. Did Hamas militants not wear their uniforms because they were inconveniently at the laundry? What other reasons for wearing civilian clothes could they have had, if not for deliberately sheltering themselves among the civilians? [...]

Read the rest, needless to say. (h/t: Yaacov Lozowick)

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Atonal Purim Spiel Presented

The New York City Opera put on a work featuring Mordechai, Esther, Haman, and 12 of your favorite tones!

. . . the company opened its season Saturday night by reviving an atonal opera that it premiered back in 1993 — Hugo Weisgall's "Esther."

A bold move, but far from a foolhardy one. "Esther," based on the biblical story of the Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people from annihilation, is an impressive piece of work.

Its strength begins with a powerful English-language libretto by Charles Kondek, which retells the story in a series of short scenes spread over three acts. Within the acts, each scene melts into the next in cinematic style, creating a sense of headlong momentum toward catastrophe — or catastrophe narrowly averted. Kondek admirably avoids sentimentality in his treatment of Esther and the plight of the Jews, and there's a minimum of Cecil B. DeMille-like biblical pageantry.

Weisgall's music, though challenging for an audience accustomed to hearing conventional tunes and harmonies, is grand and ambitious. There are arias, duets, choruses — even a ballet. And Weisgall, in what would be the last opera he completed before his death in 1997, displays a striking ability to define characters by their musical accompaniment and vocal line.

Esther's progression from dreamy-eyed young girl to concubine and wife to Xerxes and finally to heroic savior of her people is charted in music filled with yearning and uncertainty. Vashti, the wife Xerxes banished because she refused to dance naked before his followers, sings to rhythms that pulsate with her sense of injustice and self-pity. And Haman and his wife, Zeresh, spin their evil plot against the Jews to music that is scherzo-like in its ebullience. [...]

From a Jewish-standpoint it wasn't very time-of-year appropriate, but nobody who cares probably went to see it anyway. And I'm glad to hear that Vashti projects "self-pity" rather than something that panders to the Vashti-cult.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

MPAC.ie: "Reclaiming Al Andalus Stone by Stone"

Thanks to Elder of Ziyon, I see that MPAC-UK has an Irish sister organization called MPAC.ie. They want to reclaim Al-Andalus, otherwise known as Spain:

In the 1400s the Muslim reign in Spain came to an abrupt and bloody end. For over 600yrs Islam had dominated the Spanish landscape, bringing to the west learning and sciences that made Medieval Europe look positively barbaric. Despite the inculcation of a largely egalitarian society based on Islamic mores, Christian kings in the north plotted a reconquest, one that would give rise to one of the darkest moments in European history – the Inquisition.

The last few hundred years of Muslim rule in Spain weren't that tolerant either.

Today the rich tapestry of Islamic art and architecture of Al Andalusia draws hundreds and thousands of tourists who marvel at the wonders of a bygone era. However, it is also of great interest to Muslims and the area has seen a surge of interest from European Muslims seeking to settle in a former Muslim homeland.

In recent years, schools and communities have been established and Muslim influence is gaining momentum. Recently a request was made to the Catholic Pope to allow Muslims to once again worship in the mosque of Cordoba. We lost this land over 600yrs ago, inshaAllah this new resurgence will see our reclaiming of our former homeland.

The wealthy among us can facilitate this by purchasing land and property in the area, and then making this available to Muslims seeking to reside in Islamic communities. Play your part in restoring our former glory.

Andalus was having trouble/What a sad sad story/Needed a new leader to restore its former glory . . .

For more information on what you do to facilitate this reclamation, contact MPACIE and info@mpac.ie.

Operators are standing by.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

MPAC-UK: "The planet earth is in real danger of being controlled by the Zionist thought-police"

Just when I start thinking they don't love me anymore, they post this:

The Zionist state is accelerating its Hasbara campaign, by forming “Internet Warfare Squads”, their sole remit: to post pro-Israel responses on websites worldwide. This assault on free speech and effectively muzzling any criticism of Israel is a tool which will be used in the public relations war, the Zionist thought police are only a click away.

Ynet news reports that the Israel Foreign Ministry intends to hire young people who speak at least one language and who study communication, political science, or law – or alternately, Israelis with military experience gained at units dealing with information analysis.

"Young people who speak at least one language"--wow, those are hard to come by!

A budget of $150,000 has been set aside to pay the bloggers who will serve the Zionist state. [...]

I could use some of that dough.

This anti-democratic initiative is typical of the Zionist state, one that flies in the face of their self proclamation of being the only democracy in the Middle East. Any attempt to plant talkbacks online must fail. Especially if the State is behind it. Not only because it’s easy to identify responses made on behalf of someone, but also because it’s anti-democratic. When the Israel Electric Company or other companies do it, it’s annoying. Yet when the State does it, it’s dangerous.

Impostors on behalf of the government are threatening free discourse even if they only wander through the virtual space. The Internet was meant to serve as an open platform for dialogue between people, rather than as a propaganda means.

Something worrisome is happening here lately. We see the accumulation of silencing attempts. The Nakba Law, the bill calling for a ban on protests outside the homes of politicians, Lieberman’s Loyalty Law, and the biometric information database.

The free speech hunting season is on. [...]

Never mind a Big Brother state.

This is far more dangerous.

The planet earth is in real danger of being controlled by the Zionist thought-police.

So what is MPAC-UK worried about? They have no thought to control.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Farrakhan having Gt day

Gt news!

The Leader of the Nation of Islam Lewis Farrakhan arrived in Gt Jamahiriya at the head of a delegation to attend the 5th session of the General Conference of the World Islamic People's Leadership which will open in Tripoli on Thursday.

Farrakhan was welcomed at the airport by the Secretary of the World Islamic Call Society in Canada.

"Iran Views US as No. 1 Enemy"

In which we learn that "We hate America day" is almost here:

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in a statement issued on Monday lashed out at the US for the numerous plots it has hatched against Iran's Islamic establishment since the onset of the Islamic Revolution in the country.

"The honorable nation of the Islamic Iran considers the US - the Great Satan - as the main contributor to problems in the Muslim world and source of plots and conspiracies against the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution," the IRGC statement said.

Pointing to the US-led soft war against Iran, the IRGC underlined that the Iranian nation will make its unwise and incapable enemies face with a tough defeat through their wide-scale and strong support for the Islamic establishment to be displayed in their wise and dedicated presence on the scene, including massive anti-US rallies on November 4.

The statement came two days before countrywide rallies in Iran to mark the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

Iranian students seized the United States' espionage center at its embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The two countries have had tense relations ever since.

November 4 has emerged as an anti-American day in Iran with thousands of Iranian students gathering annually outside the former US embassy complex in Tehran to shout slogans against the United States and Israel.

Elsewhere in the Iranian press we learn from ISNA, "US budget for soft war in Iran due to Zionism pressure":

Former Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said the US ratification of a 55-milion dollar budget for launching soft war in Iran is due to Zionism pressure on the US management and major decision-making.

He said these issues will destroy the influence of the motto of change by the US President Barack Obama.

After the eight-year war imposed on Iran, World Arrogance came up with the conclusion that it should invade Iranians' thoughts through media and internet instead of military attack, the Parliament Member said.

Invading Iranian thoughts! That has Zionist fingerprints all over it!

"There are a lot of hands in the US for making decisions which show Zionism's pressure on management and major decision-making in the country." [...]

The only thing that doesn't require stimulus.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Next year in Jerusalem!

Al-Ahram succumbs to the current Arab hysteria about the Temple Mount:

Government-backed Jewish religious extremists have stepped up their efforts to seize a foothold at Al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade in East Jerusalem, ostensibly in order to erect there a Jewish temple.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the three holiest Islamic sanctuaries. The other two are the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet Mohamed's Mosque in Medina in Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, 25 October crack Israeli soldiers stormed the Al-Aqsa site, firing rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades and tear gas canisters at Muslim worshipers. The troops also savagely beat Palestinian worshipers, including women and children. The paramilitary police, known as the Border Guard, also briefly shut off the Noble Sanctuary (the 141,000-square metre court housing Islamic holy places), barring Muslims from accessing the site.

More than 20 were injured, some badly, and dozens of others arrested. The Israeli occupation authorities also cut off electricity to the Old City of Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The new violation of the holy site by Israeli forces followed a call by Muslim leaders in Jerusalem alerting inhabitants to go to the mosque and maintain a presence there to repulse a fresh attempt by Jewish extremists to storm the Noble Sanctuary and seize a foothold to practise Jewish rituals. Jewish extremists, along with some government officials, hope that persistent provocations at the exclusively Islamic holy site will allow them to worship at the site and eventually build a Jewish temple.

Many Jews believe that the ancient Temple of Solomon stood where Al-Aqsa Mosque was built more than 1,300 years ago. Destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque and building a Jewish temple in its place is said by some extremists to be a condition for the second coming of Christ.

Hmm, I'd say they're a bit confused.

In recent days and weeks, Talmudic extremists placed a huge menorah -- a Jewish religious symbol -- opposite the Dome of the Rock Mosque.

The only reference I can find to a "huge menorah" placed "opposite the Dome of the Rock" is this article. Oh well.

Other extremists erected at the same place a model of the so-called Temple of Solomon. Israeli occupation authorities made no effort to stop the manifestly provocative acts.

Meanwhile, the religious Zionist camp in Israel, which spearheads anti-Islam provocations at Al-Aqsa esplanade, held a meeting in West Jerusalem during which Jews were urged to descend to the Islamic holy place and wrest it from the hands of the "goyem" (a derogatory epithet for non-Jews).

At the beginning of last week's Torah-portion, Hashem tells Avraham that He is going to make him a "goy gadol"--a "big goy."

The meeting was attended by several prominent rabbis affiliated with the settler movement, as well as several Knesset members and other extremist leaders.

Following the meeting, a statement issued called on Jews to maintain a presence at the "Temple Mount" to prevent Arabs from turning the site into "a theatre of violence". Participants urged Jews interested in "changing the status quo at the Temple Mount" to "work more and speak less" and to carry out their task "quietly and through subterfuge". [...]

No more huge menorahs, in other words . . .

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Dear Leader gives field-guidance at playground

He highly appreciated the Songun swing set:

General Secretary Kim Jong Il gave field guidance to the newly-built Mt. Myohyang Recreation Ground.

After being briefed about the ground before its guide map he toured the long tourist course extending from the entrance to Habiro to Manphok Ravine for hours to acquaint himself in detail about its construction.

This is the life! No more boring stints of giving invaluable field-guidance to dreary youth power stations and smelly old pig farms!

After feasting his eyes on the tourist route, pavilions, a flyover built in a peculiar style and resting places in perfect harmony with beautiful natural scenery, he expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the youth shock brigade members have spruced up Mt. Myohyang to be a wonderful recreation ground for the people.

Nothing like a little sprucing up from the youth shock brigade.

All the architectures including the flyover high up in the sky were designed in a peculiar way and the quality of their construction was ensured on the highest level, he remarked, adding that it is an admirable miracle that the province built such a wonderful recreation ground in a matter of six months with its own efforts. He extended thanks to the builders, highly appreciating their feats.

Nothing you can't do with scientific socialism and a militant do-or-die spirit!

The Mt. Myohyang Recreation Ground has been spruced up better as one of eternal value, enabling the Korean people to fully enjoy cultural recreation in the world famous mountain, he said, adding that the laudable feats of the builders who contributed to the happiness of the people and the country's prosperity with all their wisdom and enthusiasm will be handed down together with the history of the building of a thriving nation.

Still not thriving, are they?

Triumphant events are taking place one after another on all fronts to the delight and excitement of the people this year, a year of drastic changes in which everything goes well, he said, stating with pride that this is the stirring reality of the prospering country approaching close to the gate of a thriving nation. [...]

The latest Haveil Havalim is a triumphant event taking place on all fronts to the delight and excitement of the people.