Ban meets A-jad

Even though the People's Ministry of Blog-posting has announced yet another 300% increase in production, things are probably going to remain a bit slow. However, here's a nicely rancid development:

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday.

During the meeting, they discussed major regional and international issues.

Ki-moon arrived in the Iranian capital Wednesday to attend the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement to begin on Thursday.

The UN chief was welcomed at the airport by several senior Iranian officials.

It is said that Mr Ban is accompanied by Under-Secretary General Jeffrey Feltman, his top Advisor Angela Kane and his spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"Statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il Erected at Ministry of People's Armed Forces"

What a great day for all world progressive people!

Statues of Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were erected at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on the occasion of August 25 when Kim Jong Il started the Songun revolutionary leadership.

This is a great event which powerfully demonstrated the unshakable will of all service personnel and people to accomplish the cause of the sun generation after generation, holding the commanders of Mt. Paektu in high esteem forever, and translated into a reality the greatest desire of the service personnel of the Korean People's Army.

The statues depict Kim Il Sung with his hands on his waist and his face beaming with a broad smile and smiling Kim Jong Il visualizing a bright future of the new century and wishing Songun Korea eternal prosperity. [...]

Sorry, no picture with the article.

Ahmadinejad: "Zionists . . . have been inflicting very heavy damage and suffering on the whole humanity for over two thousand years especially during the past four centuries" (IRNA-Iran)

Ho hum, another day, another blast of A-jad Nazi blather:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that the Zionist regime is only a tool to dominate the Middle East.

The President made the remark while addressing the World Quds Day ceremonies, which are annually held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramdhan with an aim of expressing disgust at the Zionist regime and supporting, cause of the Palestinian nation and liberating the Holy Quds.

He said the very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the humankind and an affront to all world nations.

He added that the western countries tolerated any kind of insults to their own government but could not stand the slightest critical remarks to the Zionist regime and try to justify the killing of people by Zionists only because they are dependent on it.

The president believed that at the present juncture denying the existence of Israel and confronting Zionists really meant defending rights of all human beings and respecting the dignity of nations.

He said confronting Zionists will also pave the way for saving the whole humankind from exploitation, depravity and misery.

Ahmadinejad said the whole world has to be aware of the fact that saving the Zionist regime and safeguarding its existence is the collective commitment of all exploiting western governments.

The Iranian President further described the World Quds Day as an occasion for the unity of all human communities to wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity and said this corrupted minority is opposing all divine values in a well-organized and thorough manner.

He said Zionists, who think solely of power, wealth and dominance over others, have been inflicting very heavy damage and suffering on the whole humanity for over two thousand years especially during the past four centuries.

Saying that the two world wars were designed by Zionists and carried out by the US to retain dominance on other countries, the president further noted that Zionists have been administrating affairs in the US since the very beginning of its establishment.

President Ahmadinejad said creation of Israel originally aimed at uniting all governments which are under the Zionist influences.

The AP has an article noticing the bit about Israel's existence as an "insult to humanity." That prompted the Naked Capitalism blog to issue a complaining post entitled "Iran’s Words Mistranslated Again by Americans Trying to Start a War." It begins with the sentence "Most Americans confuse zionism and Judaism." The author should consult a blog or two about Naked Khomeinism before opening his mouth.

Hamas armed wing member dies "when a bomb he was guarding exploded accidently"

Do all Hamas bomb-storage sites have armed wing members "guarding" them? I wonder what they are being "guarded" from? Appropriation by armed wings of other "factions"? Anyway, congratulations to his family for a successful and relatively effortless martyrdom operation:

A member of the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement died when a bomb he was guarding exploded accidently, the Palestinian militant group said on Friday.

The victim, Majed Khalout, was killed when the bomb exploded as he was patrolling the site where it was stored, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. [...]

"Commander Asks for Establishment of Soft War Headquarters in All Iranian Bodies" (Fars News-Iran)

Any deficiency in ideological uniformity is, of course, the result of "enemies' plots" as the Supreme Leader has stressed on many occasions. So, essentially, this is a call for making the country more oppressive, thereby bringing great joy to the masses:

A senior commander of the Iranian Armed Forces underlined the necessity for nationwide preparedness to repel enemy threats against the country, saying that all state bodies should set up headquarters to fight back enemies' soft war against Iran.

Speaking on Tuesday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Basij and Defense Culture Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri pointed to the ongoing economic and cultural war against Iran, and said, "The current war conditions should be realized well and its aspects should be assessed and each of the country's authorities and directors should identify their defense zone and lines."

"We propose that each government organization and body establishes a soft war headquarters to do the necessary planning for confronting the enemies' plots as a serious and principal agenda," Jazzayeri noted.

Earlier this month, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari underlined that Basij (volunteer) forces play a key role in defusing enemies' soft plots against Iran.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei had also on many occasions warned about the enemies' soft-war plots to undermine Iran's resolve towards progress.

In November 2009, he underlined the necessity for proper measures to repel enemy's soft war against Iran.

"Today, the main priority of the country is to confront (enemy's) soft warfare which is aimed at creating doubt, discord and pessimism among the masses of the people," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large and fervent congregation of Basij (volunteer) forces at the time.

Basij forces come in "congregations," you see.

Type-Kugel Diabetes and the World Arrogance Diet

Are you in your mid forties or older? Are you "obese" according to BMI charts and government guidelines and so forth although you aren't generally considered "fat"? Do you snore really loudly? Does your Shul serve cholent and kugel after davening every Saturday morning and you end up actually eating lunch twice every Shabbos day? Have you exercised at all in the past--say--20 years? I hate to tell you this, Reb Yid, but if there were something on the stock market called diabetes futures, you would be a good investment. Maybe you were already diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes and now take metformin twice a day, and something for high blood pressure, and something for cholesterol. Do you realize that if you exercised and lost the weight it would all go away? Really.

Want to know what your problem is? Starch. That's it. The problem is not even "carbs" since fruit is basically carbs. (It isn't protein, right?) Have all the peaches, plums, pears, nectarines, cantaloupes, oranges, tangerines, apples, and strawberries you want. Cut out as much starch as you can and have whole grain versions of whatever starch you must eat. (I would also try to only have starch at one meal a day until the weight-loss really gets going.) Walk--just walk--at least a half hour a day. That's it. Call it the World Arrogance Diet. You can't contribute to the Zionist plot to rule the world if you have, chas veshalom, a heart attack.

(For other suggestions on what to eat and what not to eat, get a book on almost any low-carb diet. The South Beach Diet, the Eighteen Percent Solution [Weissman], and the Glycemic Index Diet [Gallop], and Atkins are all fine. If you do this correctly, you should never feel hungry.)

"Iranian MP: World Arrogance Plotting to Pressure Israel's Opponents" (Fars News-Iran)

And, of course, the subject is Syria:

A senior Iranian legislator warned that the world arrogant powers have hatched plots to put pressure on those countries which oppose the Zionist regime.

"We are witnessing that the world arrogance has put new plots on its agenda to maintain its dominance over the Middle-East which is one of the world's sensitive and strategic regions," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmayeel Kosari told FNA on Wednesday.

"The general goal behind the implementation of these plots is pressuring those countries which oppose the Zionist regime and also overthrowing independent governments," he added.

His remarks came amid the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar's support for the terrorists and rebel groups in Syria who have practically brought a UN peace initiative into failure to bring President Assad's government into collapse.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

Grey Lady whitewashes Ikhwan craziness

Try this sentence:

Mr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood Party, which has often voiced hostility toward Israel but was not speaking for the president, used its Web site to suggest that Israeli intelligence could be to blame.

Right, it was only suggested that Israel could be to blame--and it wasn't speaking for Mr. Moderate, mind you. How did the Times manage to leave out a clause stating that they have officially renounced the use of violence?

Spouter of Juche platitudes lauded by press agency as having "guided flight training"

Oh well, at least he is soaked in Rodong Sinmun editorials:

Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, guided flight training at Unit 1017 of the Air and Anti-Air Forces of the KPA honored with the title of O Jung Hup-led Seventh Regiment.

He was greeted on the spot by KPA Air Force General Ri Pyong Chol, commander of the air and anti-air forces of the KPA, and other commanding officers of the unit.

He received a salute before mounting the commanding post.

After receiving the report about the training program, he guided the flight training there.

At the balcony of the commanding post, he watched for a long time the training of pilots.

He praised the pilots for doing the training well, saying that the sky over the country will always be blue and safe thanks to the reliable pilots firmly defending the inviolable territorial air of the socialist country as an impregnable fortress.

He stressed the need to train them as death-defying corps in sky and able combat pilots capable of skillfully coping with modern warfare.

He met with the pilots who took part in the training and encouraged them.

He went to the runway and looked around planes.

The pilots and maintenance personnel should take good care of the planes, precious hardware in defending the socialist country, and ensure flight at a moment's notice, he said.

He expressed great expectation and belief that the servicepersons of the unit will put spurs to rounding off the combat preparedness to firmly safeguard the sky over the country. [...]

Yes, the sky will always be blue over North Korea . . .

"Egyptian troops strike hard in North Sinai after multiple attacks" (Ahram Online-Egypt)

More developments in Egypt:

Tension in Egypt's North Sinai have reached new heights after Egyptian security forces – from both the army and police – have engaged with masked gunmen in different areas in the early hours of Wednesday, shortly after unknown assailants had opened fire on three joint military-police checkpoints.

Many checkpoints, especially in the city of Arish, have witnessed fire exchange between both sides as Egyptian troops and helicopters are combing the eastern area of El-Halal Mountain, hunting down masked gunmen.

According to eyewitnesses quoted by Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news portal , many of the gunmen were killed and injured in the raids as several soldiers were allegedly injured too. Accurate tolls are yet to be revealed.

Other eyewitnesses also confirmed that Egyptian military jets have pounded several spots in the Sheikh Zuweid town while chasing the outlaws.

Earlier in the late hours of Tuesday, masked gunmen attacked three joint military-police checkpoints in North Sinai, two days after 16 border guards were killed by unidentified assailants in an incident that has left the Sinai Peninsula in a state of serious disarray.

A resident in Al-Arish City was accidently injured after being caught out in the fight as the gunmen attacked Al-Risa checkpoint and two others on the main road between Al-Arish and Rafah, the city that was at the center of Sunday's deadly attacks on Egyptian border guards. No deaths were reported at the time.

The fire exchange lasted until the early hours of Wednesday, before military and police armoured vehicles materialized in an attempt to contain the situation, eyewitnesses told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news portal.

It is the 29th attack on Al-Risa checkpoint since the 2011 uprising.

Sinai has sunk into a state of lawlessness since last year's 18-day uprising that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak.

The situation has taken a severe turn for the worse since Sunday, when a vicious attack by unknown assailants at the Egypt-Gaza border left 16 guards dead and seven injured.

Many parties have traded accusations over the deadly attack that took place near the Gaza strip, which is governed by Islamist faction Hamas. No one has claimed responsibility yet for the terrorist operation.

The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egypt President Mohamed Morsi hails, has accused Israel's intelligence agency Mossad of carrying out the attack to "hinder Egypt’s progress." [...]

Many Egyptians are not so enamored of Islamists at the moment.

Muslim Brotherhood as openly extreme as the Khomeinists

Here are the crazier parts of their English statement on the Rafah attack:

[...] Yesterday, a group of criminals and terrorists attacked an Egyptian security checkpoint in Rafah, killing nearly twenty of our brothers, our sons, and stole one car and one truck, and tried to crash their way into Israel.

Immediately, Israeli media linked these attackers to the people of Gaza. Nevertheless, this ‘operation’, at this particular time, aims to achieve several goals:

• Create a major border problem for Egypt in its current critical circumstances, to be added to the many internal problems plaguing the homeland after the collapse of a corrupt system that subverted the country’s interests for decades.

• Endeavor to prove the failure of the new Egyptian government, formed just three days ago.

• Attempt to disrupt the new President’s reform project.

• Drive a wedge between the Egyptian administration and the Egyptian people on the one hand, and between the Palestinian government and the people of Gaza on the other.

Evidently, this crime may well be the work of Israel’s Mossad, which has sought to abort the revolution ever since its launch, and which issued instructions to Israeli citizens in Sinai to leave immediately, just days ago. It is clearly noticeable that every time a warning like this is issued, a terrorist incident takes place in the Sinai.

This crime also draws our attention to the fact that our forces in the Sinai lack the personnel and the equipment to protect the region or guard our borders, which makes it imperative to review the terms of our accords with Israel. [...]

The statement "Evidently, this crime may well be the work of Israel’s Mossad" is deliberately worded, in its inept way, to give the Ikhwan a way to make the accusation and then deny it later if necessary. But, as pointed out in the previous post, the person responsible for the Ikhwanweb Twitter account tweeted "Israel is only one with the motives and capabilities to conduct this senseless attack." We probably have not seen the end of the fake moderation, however. Various Western media entities won't tire of it.

Ikhwanweb blames Israel for Rafah attack (on Twitter in English)

He/It was trying to do damage control for a while, but now the pretenses are gone:

@ztruth @rmschloss #Israel is only one with the motives and capabilities to conduct this senseless attack. if proven, it will pay the price

Ahmadinejad: "Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs" for 400 years! (IRNA-Iran)

We also learn that "in order to evolutionize the status of the world decision making is needed, the forces must get united, and their ultimate objective must be the annihilation of the Zionist regime." This is a crazier and more explicit dose than usual of Khomeinist genocidal insanity:

IRI president said here Wednesday world status, particularly that of Islamic countries like Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Turkey, and many other regional countries prove that entire humans are captives, and oppressed under hegemony of global oppression.

According to IRNA Wednesday night news team, the information website of the Presidential Office further quoted the IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad late Wednesday night as making the comment Wednesday night in a meeting with ambassadors and embassy staffs of Islamic countries in Tehran.

President Ahmadinejad began his address with congratulating his Muslim guests on the blessed occasion of the beginning of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan to them, the world Muslims, and the entire human community, considering Ramadan as a special divine blessing for the entire mankind, and a special and unique opportunity for them.

Focusing on the question: What’s to be done to solve the human society’s problems and totally uproot them? He reiterated, “It is quite obvious that the present day conditions of the world are quite messy and the management system in effect has faced defeat in providing the human beings’ basic needs, so that each year over 1,200 billion US dollars are spent for manufacturing weapons, most of which are exported; if these weapons were merely stockpiled, the weapon warehouses would have been fully packed within a single year, but using the weapons means committing crimes, occupation, massacre of people, and oppression.”

The president emphasized that the existence of a just system is a dire necessity and the management of the world power circles must be in the hands of just, qualified, pure from all vices, and popular human beings.

Ahmadinejad added, “It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs, and behind the scenes of the major power circles, in political, media, monetary, and banking organizations in the world, they have been the decision makers, to an extent that a big power with a huge economy and over 300 million population, the presidential election hopefuls must go kiss the feet of the Zionists to ensure their victory in the elections.”

He said, “If the people’s votes really counts in those countries, why then a candidate must go to kiss the feet of a clandestine Zionist minority, sacrificing the entire prestige, chanted mottoes, and values of their system before the Zionists, and justifying the entire criminal acts of that regime?”

Ahmadinejad said that Israel is the symbol of the globally ruling Zionism in the world, reiterating, “Among the western governments and politicians there are great differences of tastes and the political competitions are tough, but is supporting the Zionist regime, they are all united.”

The president pointed out that in order to evolutionize the status of the world decision making is needed, the forces must get united, and their ultimate objective must be the annihilation of the Zionist regime, emphasizing, “The Zionist regime is both the symbol of the hegemony of the Zionism over the world and the means in the hand of the oppressor powers for expansion of their hegemony in the region and in the world.”

Ahmadinejad pointed out that it is the right of the entire nations, without any discrimination, to be benefitted from justice, respect and freedom, and to be dear and prestigious, reiterating, “When such an event would occur in the Middle East, the situation would be overturned, and today we are witnesses to the presence of the enemies of mankind altogether to channel the righteous demands of the nations in a way to ensure that the Zionist regime would be saved!”

The IRI president emphasized, “NATO has no where and in no country been the harbinger of justice and peace in the world.”

He referred to the late Imam Khomeini’s initiative of naming the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as the International Qods Day, arguing, “The Qods Day is not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to be viewed as a key for solving the world problems; any freedom lover and justice seeker in the world must do its best for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the path for the establishment of justice and freedom in the world.”

The president referred to the protests and uprisings of the immigrants in the occupied lands, reiterating, “The Zionist that has resorting to lies and phony promises attracted a group into their lands fro around the world in order to expand their hegemony over the regional nations taking advantage of their presence are now mistreating them.”

Ahmadinejad added, “Zionism is the modern times plight of the human society and when we meet the European politicians they say speak transparently about everything, but they refrain from talking about the Zionist regime, which proves that Israel is the axis of unity of the world hegemonic powers.”

He referred to the approaching International Qods Day, pointing out that today from North Africa to the Middle East great developments are taking place, reiterating, “It is expected that this year the Qods Friday in entire countries, particularly in those where these developments have taken place, such as Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Sudan, would be held more glorious, at broader scale, and more spectacular than ever before.”

The president said, “In order to block the path for the growth and blossoming of the independent and justice seeking nations in the world, the enemies are unfortunately busy making moves aimed at creating sectarian, and tribal, and religious gaps among the Muslims, and this is while the Muslim nations are not only not the enemies and opponents of one another, but also the friends of the Christians and the followers of other religions.”

He added, “It is the self declared leaders and hegemonic powers that are at odds with each other and the enemies of one another, and are now trying to transfer that enmity and antagonist feeling to the other parts of the world, while the Muslim nations all move in the same direction towards worshiping God, and the apparent disputes among them are imposed by the Zionists.” [...]

The title of this little manifesto is "Ahmadinejad: Qods Day to liberate Palestine, solve entire world problems." I wonder how North Korea's problems are a Zionist plot.