Judeopundit

"Six americans . . . barred from leaving Egypt"

2012-01-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo's new military rulers stop "endangering American lives".

Among those hit by travel bans - one of those targeted called it "de facto detention" - is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organizations said.

The United States said Egypt should reverse them: "We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. [...]

Sound familiar?

"British expert says EU sanctions doomed to fail" (PressTV-Iran)

2012-01-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

That "British expert" is Yvonne Ridley!

British broadcaster and journalist Yvonne Ridley said western countries should take a lesson from their past sanctions against Iran and do not repeat their mistakes.

How much more do I need to quote?

"Lee Myung Bak's Appointment of Confrontation Maniac to Important Post at Chongwadae under Fire"

2012-01-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

"Diehard confrontation maniac"--hmmm, sounds like disapproval:

Traitor Lee Myung Bak recently appointed Kim Thae Hyo, diehard confrontation maniac as chief for Foreign Strategy Planning in Chongwadae.

Rodong Sinmun Monday observes in a bylined commentary in this regard: This is not for dialogue but a desperate effort of those obsessed with confrontation with fellow countrymen.

Kim Thae Hyo is a traitor without an equal as he took the lead in stoking confrontation with fellow countrymen as a confidant of Lee Myung Bak under the present conservative regime, the commentary says, and continues:

From the time when he was a secretary for Foreign Strategy in Chongwadae he frequently visited the U.S. to earnestly beg it to strongly pressurize the DPRK without having dialogue with it, saying that "there is nothing to benefit from dialogue with it."

It was none other than Kim Thae Hyo who gave a shot in the arm of Lee and advised him implicitly, uttering "it does not matter if his tenure of office expires without any dialogue with the north" and "he needs not to worry as he will be appreciated for having adhered to the principle". Kim is still blustering "south Korea should settle accounts with the north without fail," persistently talking about the warship "Cheonan" sinking case and Yonphyong Island shelling.

What matters is the sinister aim sought by the Lee group in repeatedly crying out for hypocritical "dialogue." The "dialogue" oft-repeated by the conservative group is aimed at creating the impression that it is interested in the improvement of the relations and shifting the responsibility for the escalated tension onto the DPRK at any cost.

With no rhetoric can the Lee group cover up its wicked intention to escalate the confrontation with compatriots. It is an intolerable insult and mockery of the DPRK to talk about "dialogue" with the dagger in his belt, far from making any apology for the crimes committed by the group during the mourning over the big loss to the nation.

The Lee group can never be a dialogue partner of the DPRK as these traitors can no longer be entitled to live with them under the same sky.

They would be well advised to stop talking about "dialogue" which will work on no one.

Ahmadinejad sings one of his biggest hits

2012-01-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Substandard English, even by IRNA standards:

[...] Concerning Holocaust and collapse of the Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad said that downfall of the regime does not need any atomic bomb and even a war, because this regime is based on cruelty and massacre so it will collapse automatically.

He stressed that the Zionist regime has no standing in the Middle East because none of the nations in the region have not accepted this regime and all are opposed to it.

On Holocaust, he said that if it is a historical reality, so why research about it is prohibited and the researchers are imprisoned? [...]

(h/t: IMRA)

LA Times language about Brotherhood and Salafis

2012-01-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

You have no doubt heard that these two groups now control, as the LA Times puts it, "nearly three quarters" of the seats in the Egyptian parliament. Here is some interesting language:

The relatively moderate Brotherhood and the puritanical Salafis will likely battle over how deeply Islam should shape the constitution and be ingrained in public life. Both parties have said social and economic challenges are the most pressing concerns, but the Salafis, who receive funding from Persian Gulf nations, are certain to push for an Egypt more rooted in sharia, or Islamic law.

This is an interesting example of how journalistic mannerisms protect extremists. The Brotherhood's General or Supreme Guide in Egypt sounds like this:

"Resistance is the only solution against the Zio-American arrogance and tyranny, and all we need is for the Arab and Muslim peoples to stand behind it and support it. The peoples know well who is [carrying out] resistance and who has sold out the [Palestinian] cause and bargained over it. We say to our brothers the mujahideen in Gaza: be patient, persist in [your jihad], and know that Allah is with you..."

Al-Qaeda is an example of a Salafi party.

(h/t: Isreallycool and Iraqi American Mojo)

Update: Speaking of media coverage of the Middle East, see this from Soccer Dad at Pajamas Media.

"World Public Praises Kim Jong Un as Great Man Born of Heaven"

2012-01-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

What better representative of the "world public" could there be than the Nigerian National Committee for the Study of the Juche Idea?

World public is praising the dear respected Kim Jong Un who is identical to the great men of Mt. Paektu in idea, leadership and traits.

The Switzerland-Korea Committee and the Swiss Group for the Study of the Juche Idea in an article posted on their Internet homepage said that General Kim Jong Un is possessed of all dispositions as a state leader and strategist.

Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un is a gifted Songun brilliant commander of Mt. Paektu type, the organizations added.

The chairman of the Nigerian National Committee for the Study of the Juche Idea praised Kim Jong Un as a man who most perfectly personified the temperament and traits as a modern statesman and strategist on the highest level. He has wisely led the KPA for years while making journeys of Songun together with General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the chairman said.

The Bangladeshi paper Blits in its article posted on its Internet homepage said that Kim Jong Un is fully possessed of Kim Jong Il's love for the people, adding that he is a tender-hearted father of the Korean people and the sun of the destiny whom they will follow to the end of this world.

The Indonesian paper Suara Karya stressed that Kim Jong Un is recognized as the youngest leader not only in Korea but in the the world.

The editorial board of the Russian paper Patriot Office in a statement said: Kim Jong Un set it as its mission to faithfully inherit and brilliantly accomplish the revolutionary cause of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He was always near Kim Jong Il on the forefront of the cause for the revolution and socialist construction.

The chairman of the C.C., Socialist Popular Party of Mexico, the rector of the Cotonou Institute of Journalism of Benin and the secretary general of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Guinea said that the future of Songun Korea is immensely rosy as it has Kim Jong Un as the supreme leader.

I'm sure they all used the exact phrase "immensely rosy."

"Obsession with safety is ruining our playgrounds" (LA Times)

2012-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

Come to think of it, current playground equipment is tamer than what I remember from my childhood:

Last fall, a state inspector strode into Great Beginnings preschool and declared the tree house and climbing structure too high. They would have to come down or be surrounded by extra padding.

The metal ladder to the playhouse, which had been there 30 years, could pinch the children, said Beverly Wright-Chrystal, a state child care licensing representative. Also, a log worn smooth by generations of boys and girls playing horsy and hide-and-go-seek would have to be sanded and painted because of a potential "splinter hazard," Wright-Chrystal determined.

Marian Stocking, who opened the Long Beach preschool in a converted house on 4th Street in 1978, had the offending equipment hauled away. Watching it go, some of the children cried out, "Tell those bad men to bring our log back." [...]

The workers were probably just doing their jobs, of course. The children should have cried out, "Tell the bad inspector lady not to come back here anymore!" or "Tell the bad government to make itself smaller!"

"unspeakable insolent words which can be used only by coldhearted guys"

2012-01-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

If you follow this blog much, I'm sure you have already guessed the country responsible for this:

One month has passed since General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the great father of the nation and loadstar of national reunification, passed away all of sudden to the sorrow of the service personnel and people of the DPRK.

In this period, the tears shed by all Koreans formed a veritable sea and their lamentation shook mountains and rivers.

The whole world shared sorrow with the Korean people over the demise of Kim Jong Il, a great guardian of justice. Personages of many countries expressed deep condolences over his demise irrespective of ideology, political view, nationality and religious belief.

However, it was only the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors that perpetrated thrice-cursed treasons during the mourning over the great loss to the nation.

What is more serious is that the group did not hesitate to insult the great father of the Korean nation.

It worked hard by all means and methods to prevent progressive forces and people from all walks life in south Korea from using the word "demise" in their messages of condolences. It also made public a statement peppered with unspeakable insolent words which can be used only by coldhearted guys.

It hurled the right-wing conservative organizations into areas along the front to scatter leaflets hurting the sacred dignity of the DPRK several times.

It cried out for "taking counter-action by separating people from the leadership of the north." Not content with this, the group imprudently shifted the "final blame" for "Cheonan" warship case and Yonphyong island shelling incident onto the supreme leadership of the DPRK. The group blustered it would never officially express condolences.

This is the most serious provocation to the DPRK.

The DPRK has already solemnly declared that it regards the insult to its supreme leadership as vital as life as the worst crime.

However, the south Korean puppet group staged military exercises, setting the supreme headquarters of the DPRK as targets. Not content with this, it committed such traitorous crime against ethics as insulting it during the mourning over the great loss to the Korean nation.

The DPRK will never pardon these crimes through generations.

The Lee group is a gang of worst political hooligans and depraved guys.

The group's serious insult to the supreme leadership of the DPRK resulted in completely severing the inter-Korean relations.

The resentment of the army and people of the DPRK at the group of traitors has run to the sky.

The group will not be able to escape the severest punishment.

"Envoy: Hamas Will Never Recognize Israel" (Fars News-Iran)

2012-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

Just in case you were wondering:

The Islamic Resistance Movement considers recognition of the Zionist regime of Israel as its strategic red line, a senior Hamas diplomat said on Wednesday.

"Hamas considers non-recognition of the Zionist regime as its strategic red line," the representative of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Tehran, Khaled al-Qoddoumi, said.

"Therefore no one has the right to review this issue. This cannot be put into debate and is among the firm principles of the Palestinian Islamic resistance," Qoddoumi underscored, addressing a conference on Islamic Awakening here in Tehran.

The Palestinian figure further underscored that resistance against Israel is a much more popular option than useless negotiations.

Earlier this month, a Hamas official said that the movement would never give up armed resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel, rejecting reports that the group has accepted to end its armed struggle against the Israeli regime.

"Hamas has not abandoned any method of resistance since the very first day of its establishment 24 years ago and it will continue the same path in future," Ismaeil al-Ashqar, who also represents Hamas in Palestine's parliament, told FNA at the time.

He made the remarks in response to the claims made by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani that Hamas has ended armed resistance.

"Hamas will never give up armed resistance," al-Ashqar underlined.

"the whole audience seethed with an atmosphere of intense loyalty"

2012-01-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Meet the new Kim, same as the old Kim. The "militant art agitation" is certainly the same, at any rate:

Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and army of the DPRK, appreciated a music and dance performance "We Will Hold Our Supreme Commander in High Esteem for All Ages" being staged before full house at the April 25 House of Culture. [...]

The audience paid silent tribute in humblest reverence to General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

The performance began with the immortal revolutionary hymn "Song of General Kim Jong Il".

Its repertoire included colorful numbers like brass band and mixed chorus "Comrade Kim Jong Il Is Our Supreme Commander", female solo and mixed pangchang of immortal masterpiece "Where Are You, Dear General?," male solo and male chorus "Song of Comradeship", male chorus "Leader, Just Give Us Your Order" and mixed chorus "Strength of Korea".

The performance reached its climax when the audience heard narrative poem "Korea, Tell Us" leading it to bear in mind once again how precious the arms bequeathed by Kim Jong Il as the biggest revolutionary heritage is.

When the songs "Footstep" and "We Will Defend General Kim Jong Un at the Risk of Our Lives" resounded forth, the whole audience seethed with an atmosphere of intense loyalty.

He expressed great satisfaction over the splendid performance firm in ideological principle and high in the spirit of the times and replete with militancy staged by creators and artistes of the People's Army. He highly appreciated their successful performance and extended thanks to them.

It is the performance which powerfully demonstrated the true revolutionary characteristics of the KPA by thoroughly embodying instructions of Kim Jong Il in art creative and productive activities and made a profound ideological representation of the firm readiness of the service personnel and people to carry on long journeys for the Songun revolution, holding high the red flag, he said, adding that Kim Jong Il would have been satisfied with the performance, if he had watched it.

Noting that the song "Yearning Is Boundless" is the one of the best new songs, he said with deep emotion that he could not keep back tears while listening to the song. [...]

He set forth the tasks of the art organizations of the KPA and gave precious instructions to carry them out.

The art organizations of the KPA should not lose the nature as the revolutionary and militant art units of the KPA in the art creative and productive activities in keeping with their mission, he noted, adding:

It is an important duty facing the art organizations of the KPA this year for the creators and artistes of the KPA to earnestly keep abreast of the stirring realities and conduct the frontline-style art agitation and performing activities.

He repeatedly said the performance today was successful, expressing great expectation and conviction that the creators and artistes of the KPA would more enthusiastically and loudly sing militant songs powerfully arousing the service personnel of the KPA and people to the drive to accomplish the WPK's cause of Songun revolution in the future, too.

There were evidently also unsuccessful performances in the DPRK.

"Chief Rabbinate: Häagen-Dazs No Longer Kosher" (Arutz 7)

2012-01-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

I hate news stories like this in which the journalists don't understand kashrus well enough to report the story clearly:

The Chief Rabbinate announced on Sunday that Häagen-Dazs ice cream will no longer be considered kosher and will be removed from store shelves.

According to Jewish dietary laws, dairy products that contain milk that was not produced by a Jew are forbidden unless a Jew oversaw the preparation process to ensure the milk from a kosher animal was not mixed with milk from a non-kosher animal.

This means the Rabbinut won't allow non-Cholov Yisroel products anymore?

"Fidel Castro: Iran Ready to Give Crushing Response to Aggressors" (Fars News-Iran)

2012-01-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

Fidel helps Iran rattle the sabre:

Leader of the Cuban Revolution and Former President Fidel Castro voiced pleasure in his recent fruitful meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Havana, and said Iranians are completely prepared to give a crushing response to any possible aggression against their country.

"In my meeting, the Iranian president was highly calm, unstressed and completely indifferent to the Yankees' threats," Castro said after meeting Ahmadinejad.

"He was certain of his nation's capability to confront any aggression and Iran's arms capability, weapons that most of them are produced by Iranians to give an unforgivable response to the aggressors," he added. [...]

In a related development, North Korea's official news agency reports "Venezuelan President Blasts U.S. Attitude towards Iranian President's Visit to His Country":

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exposed the nature of the United States which dislikes the development of relations between his country and Iran.

Speaking during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart on Monday, Chavez said that the U.S. was unhappy with Ahmadinejad's visit to Venezuela because Washington was scared of spread of Iran's ideas and ideals across the world.

He said hegemonic powers worried that the joint voices of Iran and Venezuela which echo freedom, honor and justice will shake the columns of their dominance.

The latest Haveil Havalim echoes freedom, honor, and justice.

Willis Carto and the Left

2012-01-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

Jewlicious currently has a good post, "Israel Firster: The White Supremacist Roots," which discusses the fact that current far-left Israel-bashing uses the term "Israel Firster," implying the dual-loyalty canard. Who originated this rhetoric? Evidently one can find examples in Willis Carto's Neo-Nazi Spotlight newspaper, which stopped publication in 2001 according to the Jewlicious post and which I once became familiar with as part of some research into anti-Semitism.

I would add some other accusations and patterns that have now apparently attained some respectability on the left that one used to find only in the literature of Neo-Nazis and other anti-Semitic extremists. One is dwelling on the U.S.S. Liberty incident. Another is attacking the holiday of Purim. Another is sneering references to the "chosen people." And all this is without bringing up the subject of Gilad Atzmon.

"IAEA inspectors abetted terrorists" (PressTV-Iran)

2012-01-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

Nicely paranoid:

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman says confidential information on the country's nuclear experts has been leaked to the terrorists by the so-called inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Certain individuals who came to Iran under the pretext of inspecting the country's nuclear facilities have identified Iranian scientists and given their names to the terrorist groups,” Ramin Mehmanparast said on Friday.

The Iranian official highlighted that Tehran would pursue the case in relevant international bodies.

The comments came in the wake of the assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan on January 11 when an unknown motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car near a college of Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran. [...]

Mehmanparast also said the assassination is the last-ditch effort of the enemies to stop Iran's scientific advancements, which is by no means untenable.

He went on to say that when “those who claim to champion human rights and combat terrorism” commit such crimes, “they bring shame upon themselves.”

The terrorist attack happened as some of the US presidential hopefuls openly called in November 2011for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran's nuclear program. [...]

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about Iran's nuclear facilities and scientists.

Follow that logic?

The Third Music Lesson

2012-01-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

Time for another installment in the Music Lesson series. As before, do not read this one until you have thoroughly digested the previous ones. You now are familiar with the half-step and the whole-step. Look at our keyboard diagram and imagine the sequence CDEFGABC numbered instead 12345678. The interval between C and E (or between 1 and 3) is called a "third." The interval between any other two notes skipping one note is also called a third. So E to G is a third and so is A to C.

If you try to apply what we learned previously, and you think about how these thirds break down, you will notice that the thirds we are now discussing come in two types. C to E is made up of 2 whole-steps. E to G is made up of a half-step and then a whole-step (because E to F is a half-step). C to E is an example of a "major third." E to G is an example of a "minor third." Starting to get too complicated? Perhaps it is time to reveal something really awesome to you about thirds which will make it all worthwhile. Ready? Chords are built out of thirds. I have not mentioned it yet, but thinking about intervals helps understand notes played one after the other and also notes played at the same time. That's it for now, but we are close to understanding basic chords.

Previous Posts in this Series:
A Music Lesson
Another Music Lesson

"Capitalist Society Is That of Immorality and Depravity" (Korean News)

2012-01-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Take that, Imperialists!

Capitalist society is falling deeper into quagmire of bankruptcy as all descriptions of immorality and depravity are rife.

Horrible incidents occurred one after another in the capitalist countries including the United States and Japan in recent months.

In December last year a dead body of a seven-year old girl was found in the garbage ground of an apartment building in Atlantic City of New Jersey State, the U.S. Traces proving that she was sexually assaulted and wounds caused by stab were reportedly found on her head and several other parts of her body.

Earlier in July, an 8-year old girl was also found dead in this country after she was kidnapped.

It was reported in mid December last year that a 25-year old woman in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, dragged her 3-year old son with dirty bag on his head, stunning the public.

A frolicsome child free from worries had to be a victim of violence beyond the imagination, even being badly treated by its parent--this is the true picture of corrupt capitalist society.

In capitalist society peace is hard to expect on the New Year due to crimes committed all the year.

At the dawn of the New Year people were seized with anxiety and panic at the gunshot.

In the vicinity of San Diego, California State of the U.S., an unidentified criminal broke into a flat and shot four people to death on the New Year.

A shooting in the UK on Jan. 2 left three people dead.

All the facts clearly show that capitalist society is a veritable hell, a rotten and ailing society.

Kim Jong Il may be gone, but Songun propaganda lives on.

"UN a tool of international Zionist power" (IRIB Radio-Iran)

2012-01-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

IRIB Radio has a longish anti-Semitic manifesto at the moment (including the above image). Here is part of it, including an explanation of the sinister Zionist plot behind the use of the term "apartheid" and Nation of Islam-derived propaganda that blames the Jews for slavery:

[...] The nucleus of the Zionist mindset, the energy source that drives those who think in this manner to behave like the inhuman monsters that they are is Jewish supremacism; the need to destroy all that it is not Jewish, the goyim, in order for "the Jewish people" to survive.

The developer of the neutron bomb, Samuel T. Cohen, was a Zionist with a strong Talmudic-Jewish upbringing, as was Robert J. Oppenheimer, the creator of the atom bomb. The supremacist need to destroy all non-Jewish peoples and cultures was close to the blackened hearts of the early leaders of the usurping Zionist entity, hence why Ben-Gurion, Dayan, Eshkol and Peres collectively came up with the "Samson Option," the military plan to unleash 'Israeli' nukes upon the world if any nation or every nation attempted to confront Zionist power.

The polar opposite of this thuggish outlook on existence, is the Islamic Revolutionary Republic of Iran, a nation whose Persian history is rooted in the very essence of creation. The finest poets, artists, mathematicians, scientists and theologians that the world has ever known originate from this great land. [...]

The term "apartheid" is an attempt to make international Zionism seem like it is innocuous or closely related with previous colonial endeavors when in reality, it is something far worse and far uglier. Apartheid is simply one facet of the Zionist regime that it is criminally and disgustingly occupying holy al-Quds and the rest of historic Palestine, as is colonization, and most importantly, they are only temporary.

The true goal of Zionism is to wipe out all non-Jewish peoples in vast parts of Egypt, including most of its north, all of Sinai and Cairo, all of Jordan, all of Kuwait, a gargantuan portion of Saudi Arabia, all of Lebanon, all of Syria, all of Cyprus, an elephantine part of Turkey up to Lake Van and finally, part of Iraq south of the Euphrates River. The expulsion and/or mass murder of these peoples would lead to the creation of the Zionist dream known as Greater Israel. So branding this usurping dragon of an entity simply as an "apartheid state" is not only incomplete, it is deceptive. And this disingenuous injection of language into the vocabularies of Palestine's supporters is also meant to deflect the attention from the root cause of this 63-year occupation: the Talmudic ideology that gave birth to Zionism, which is an amalgamation of terrorism, racism, barbarism, supremacism, expansionism and imperialism. [...]

There is no doubt that the United States, the 'golem' of the international Zionist Power Configuration and Jewish banking interests, is the world leader in terrorism. The US is in no moral position to condemn any government or group in the world until it fesses up to its own blood-soaked history. 100 million Native Americans exterminated. 150 million Africans, many of them Muslims, murdered in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which was dominated by Spanish Jews like Aaron Lopez who had an entire fleet of slave ships and financing from the Rothschild family; these Jews, who were of the extremist and now dominant Talmudic-Kabbalistic school of thought, also introduced to the Curse of Ham to their Gentile slave-trading brothers, a horrific, racist story concocted and developed by the rabbis in their Talmud which lowered the rank of our brothers and sisters of beautiful black skin to animals. This Talmudic drivel was used to justify the dehumanization of millions of others and in the greater geopolitical sense it is now being exercised to justify more Zionist aggression on the African continent. [...]

First and foremost, the IAEA is not an independent outfit like its public relations stooges would like the world to believe. The IAEA reports directly to the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council and coordinates all of its actions with these two institutions of Zionist power. Therefore, without question, it can be said that the IAEA is nothing but a tool of the UN. The same UN hasn't done a damn thing to stop Zionist tyranny in Palestine, scripting hundreds of resolutions against this racist usurping entity but enforcing none of them. The same UN has done nothing to stop Hindutvadi tyranny in Kashmir, which is intimately aided by the Zionist entity with arms and intelligence, scripting dozens of other resolutions and enforcing none of them. The same UN that introduced Resolution 661 to Iraq, the treacherous 'sanctions resolution,' which crippled Iraq, prepared it for the Zionist invasion of 2003 and murdered over 2 million people by starvation including 800,000 Iraqi children. The same UN paved the way for the mutilation of Libya, in which at least 100,000 have been mass murdered. The same UN that now seeks to turn Syria into another Iraq or Libya 2.0. And besides, what is the UN really? As is the case with all matters of history and the revisionism that follows, we must return to the beginning; the origins. The origins of the UN can be found in the financing of the same Zionist banking families, the Rothschilds, Schiffs, Warbugs, Lazards and Oppenheimers, who have financed strife on this earth for centuries. The UN was created to justify the existence of the Zionist entity as a legitimate nation-state, to put a shroud on its hideous supremacist character. Despite the illegal Jewish colonization of Palestine financed by the Rothschild family since the 1880s and the horrible Zionist atrocities of the Nakba in 1948, still the UN recognized this fabricated regime, still gave it a name and a seat. Why? Because its godfathers, the Zionist bankers, wanted it that way. The UN is a tool of international Zionist power and by extension, so is the IAEA.

Norman Cohn's famous analysis of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is called "Warrant for Genocide." If you were able to get through this post, you just read anti-Semitic propganda which is just as extreme as the Protocols. Some people downplay the threat represented by a regime that spreads this kind of propaganda in its state-controlled media. My question for those people is the following: Is "Warrant for Genocide" an apt title?

"Kim Jong Un's Activities Reported by Media of Russia, China" (Korean News)

2012-01-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

Juche music marches on:

The news that the dear respected Kim Jong Un, supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, enjoyed 2012 New Year's concert "The Cause of the Sun Will Be Immortal" given by the Unhasu Orchestra on the New Year was reported by Chinese Xinhua and Russian ITAR－TASS between January 2 and 3.

Xinhua news said:

General Kim Jong Un, supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, enjoyed the 2012 New Year's concert "The Cause of the Sun Will Be Immortal" given by the Unhasu Orchestra on the New Year.

The audience paid silent tribute to leader Kim Jong Il in humblest reverence.

The concert emphasized that Kim Jong Il would live forever in the hearts of the service personnel and people of the DPRK.

Kim Jong Un highly appreciated the concert and extended thanks to the performers.

He said that he couldn't repress tears in his eyes whenever the benevolent image of Kim Jong Il appeared in the screen and that he was greatly inspired by the concert. [...]

It isn't everyday in North Korea that you can see images of Kim Jong Il. You will highly appreciate the latest Haveil Havalim.

"The revolution is not over yet" (Al-Ahram)

2012-01-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a heartening statement from some non-Islamists in Egypt. How realistic is it? Who knows:

[...] The good thing about the tragic events of 19 November and 16 December is that they separated the chaff from the wheat. We now know who the real revolutionaries are and those who have jumped aboard the revolution for personal gains.The revolutionaries are the ones who took to the street to uphold the ideals of the revolution. They risked their lives, and they will go on doing so.

By contrast, the army showed its real face. When army soldiers stripped girls naked in the streets, all pretence ended. The army's heart was never with the revolution, but with the old regime.

Likewise, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) was too eager to celebrate its electoral victory to bother to show up in the protests. How typical. This was the same MB that refused initially to take part in the revolution and only came to the scene belatedly and after some of its younger members practically defected to join the protests.

For years, the MB thought that it controlled the streets. Now all of a sudden, it has woken up to a new reality. The young people of this country have accomplished what the Brotherhood failed to do for 80 years.Whenever it suited its purposes, the MB was willing to ally itself with the military against the revolution and the young people of this country. The MB sees the young revolutionaries as a threat. It views their struggle for freedom, dignity and social justice with suspicion. This is why young MB members keep defecting, or at least challenging the authority of their elders.

The Friday of Restoring Honour, held on 23 December, was a new start. It was a message to the counterrevolutionaries that Egypt is still alive. The young men and women of this country, with support from many members of the middle class, are going to keep fighting for the ideals of 25 January.

"Retiring L.A. County workers get $48 million for unused time off" (LA Times)

2012-01-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

And the state is not so solvent--go figure:

[...] In all, Los Angeles County paid more than $48 million to retiring employees for unused time off in 2010. About a third of that, $16 million, went to workers leaving the Sheriff's Department even though they made up only 13% of the county's retiring employees, payroll data show.

The county is not alone in allowing public sector employees to bank large amounts of time. State and local governments across the country offer workers large future payoffs in lieu of immediate benefits, especially during tough economic times.

Such provisions can also be used to reward political allies. [...]

Amir Taheri on upcoming Iranian elections

2012-01-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

Iran has been dismantling the pseudo-democracy and becoming a more straightforward dictatorship:

[...] An analysis of those seeking the candidacy reveals the narrowing appeal of the exercise.

Four years ago, applicants came from broad sections of society.

This time, the overwhelming majority come from the security services, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the network of mullahs appointed by “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei as “Friday Prayer Leaders”. Technocrats working for companies controlled by the IRGC are also present in significant numbers. [...]

"Egypt charges telecom workers over Israel calls" (Ma'an News)

2012-01-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

The phrase "served the interests of Israel" could mean anything.

Egyptian prosecutors sent four telecom company employees to court on Thursday after charging them with passing phone calls that served the interests of Israel, an official at the prosecutor's office said.

"The state security prosecutor referred four employees of Mobinil telecom company to the state security court on the charge of passing calls to the benefit of the state of Israel," he said.

The official did not give further details or explain the exact nature of the charges but said a statement would be released later on Thursday. [...]

"IOF distribute pictures of alleged temple in place of Aqsa Mosque" (Palestinian Information Center)

2012-01-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

Originally, Ha'aretz ran a story about a picture of Jerusalem with the Al-Aqsa mosque photoshopped out which was included in some IDF literature about Chanukah. This news-site adds the invented detail that the photo also depicted a rebuilt Beit Hamikdash:

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have circulated pictures of the Aqsa Mosque site showing the Dome of Rock was removed and the alleged Jewish temple mount was erected in its place.

The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said the distribution of such pictures to members of the Israeli army was intended to send a serious massage to the Muslim nation about the Zionist intent to establish their alleged temple on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque.

The foundation highlighted that "the Aqsa Mosque has been purely an Islamic holy site since it was built until today and never been a temple," and added that "the talk about the alleged temple is part of the Jewish myths, fantasies and false allegations."

An photoshopped picture is a non-story. Palestinian denial of history is the real story. (And see EOZ)

North Korea "Condemns Japan for Its Unpardonable Immoral Act" (Korean News)

2012-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

The "Unpardonable Immoral Act" seems to involve the sort of political speculation and news coverage that occurred practically everywhere else in the world:

The world is watching the DPRK wailing in bitter grief over the untimely demise of Kim Jong Il, the father of the nation, whom the Korean people believed as in Heaven.

Such condolences and mourning are something unprecedented in human history.

The mourning of the Korean people over the demise of the leader was truest and noblest; it was an eruption of the kindred feelings that can be seen between the father and his children.

So, even foreign journalists who kept track of the mourning events were moved to tears. They reported "it is natural for the north Koreans to lament over the demise of their leader as they regarded him as a man always close to them and not imagined their life without him."

Japan, however, behaved as an exception.

The Japanese reactionaries unhesitatingly committed evils baffling human imagination by hurting the feelings of the mourners who suffered the greatest loss.

No sooner had the important announcement been released than the secretary general of the New People's Party and other riff-raffs of Japan talked nonsense about the "collapse of system" and "abduction and nuclear issue". Conservative media let vicious elements hell-bent on the anti-DPRK smear campaign act as newscasters to release malignant reports falsifying facts.

This is a base and despicable act which can be done only by the morally depraved guys ignorant of elementary etiquette, and an unpardonable immoral act of exploiting the great loss to other nation for their political purpose.

The hostile attitude taken by Japan towards the misfortune of a neighbor only once again brought into bolder relief its disposition as a political dwarf.

Japan can never behave otherwise because of its political nature.

It has never acted in good faith as regards the Korean issue but made the situation more complicated, going against the trend of the times.

It is ridiculous, indeed, for the Japanese authorities to trumpet about "collapse of system," availing themselves of this opportunity.

Japan, which has eyed Korea for centuries, is now telling a cock-and-bull story. It seems that Japan is no more than a politically blind country as it does not know about the DPRK at all.

Japan has topped the world list of replacement of prime ministers, becoming the laughing stock of the world and not a day passes without unstable domestic politics. Hence, Japan will never understand the social system in the DPRK, most stable in the world.

The Korean people more keenly realized the greatness of Kim Jong Il after his demise and the DPRK's system has grown more solid than a rock.

Japan would be well advised to face up to the DPRK and act with discretion, though belatedly.

"Iran Likes to Boost Ties with All Countries Excluding US, Zionist Regime" (Korean News)

2012-01-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

The (North) Korean News site sometimes adopts the point of view of the Iranian news agencies:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday underlined Iran's resolve to boost relations with all countries except the U.S. and Zionist regime.

He made the remark in a meeting with the Cabinet members and Iranian ambassadors and diplomatic representatives abroad.

Ahmadinejad called for a boosting in Iran's relations with other states in various economic, political and cultural fields and underlined the necessity of interaction between the diplomatic representatives and the cabinet members in this regard.

"Certain people have ‘mischievous’ plans for polls: Jannati" (Tehran Times)

2012-01-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

The upcoming fake elections are just not a happy subject for them:

Guardian Council Chairman Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said on Tuesday that certain people have “mischievous” plans for the March parliamentary elections and are making preparations to take advantage of the situation to foment unrest.

He also said that the Guardian Council is closely monitoring the activities of parliamentary candidates, adding that the council will take into consideration certain candidates’ huge expenditure on electoral campaigns in the process of vetting them.

David Frum asks Paulniks a good question

2012-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

What leads up to this is here.

Here’s my question for Ron Paul supporters: why the denial of the undeniable?

Perhaps you like Paul’s message of legalized marijuana? Why not just say so? You don’t think it’s important to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons? Argue it forthrightly. If you regard Social Security and Medicare as literally the moral equivalents of slavery, go ahead, make your case.

But all this excuse-making, special pleading and jiggering of the rules of evidence so as to exculpate Ron Paul from the record of his whole political life? For what?

Seoul National University lets "hooligans forcibly dismantle the altar"

2012-01-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

They aren't mourning the Dear Leader properly:

Students of Seoul National University of south Korea held a press conference in protest against the university side's dismantlement of an incense-burning altar for mourning the passing of leader Kim Jong Il.

The students of the University set up the incense-burning altar at the university students' hall on Monday.

They displayed at the altar a photo of Kim Jong Il taken with ex-President of south Korea Kim Dae Jung during the historic summit in Pyongyang in June 2000.

They wished to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il with great sadness over his untimely passing as he was father of the nation and lodestar of national reunification.

But the university side let hooligans forcibly dismantle the altar.

They condemned this reckless action, holding it is an expression of elementary etiquette to set up an incense-burning altar and express condolences.

"Rafsnajani’s daughter sentenced to 6 months in prison" (Mehr News-Iran)

2012-01-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

I wonder what is involved in banning someone from having "cultural activities."

Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was sentenced to six months in prison on Tuesday on the charge of spreading propaganda against the Islamic system.

She was also banned from having political, cultural, and media activities for five years.

Ha'aretz columnist thinks "Israel is missing another opportunity for peace"

2012-01-02T23:10:00.001-08:00

She thinks the Saudi initiative presented earlier missed opportunities:

[...] And now, in real time, it is happening once again: Hamas is suspending its acts of terror, opting for popular resistance, recognizing a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and even joining the Palestine Liberation Organization, the organization empowered to conduct negotiations with Israel. They aren't saying it outright, but joining the PLO also means accepting the agreements signed with Israel; and there is also the recognition of Israel, as well as responsibility and partnership in political decisions.

This, too, is a truly historic event. Granted, Ismail Haniyeh did visit with the Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday and make declarations about the destruction of Israel; but he is the man who wasn't consulted vis-a-vis joining the PLO and who is about to lose his post as prime minister, and he is kicking and screaming - not at us, but at Khaled Meshal. [...]

I wonder how she explains away all the other Hamas denials that it is "opting for popular resistance"? And hasn't Haniyeh been presented in the past as the "moderate" one? And this great opportunity is supposedly happening while the mainstream media are reporting that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt says it is about to submit the Camp David accords to a "referendum." Is there nothing leftists won't believe?

"N. Koreans told to go gloveless at funeral" (AFP)

2012-01-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

The source of this, according to the article, is somebody in Pyongyang by way of "Daily NK, a Seoul-based online newspaper run by defectors":

North Korean civilians were ordered not to wear hats or gloves for the snowy funeral of leader Kim Jong-Il because his son and successor chose to escort the hearse bare-headed, a report said Tuesday. [...]

Temperatures in Pyongyang on the day of the funeral fell as low as minus nine Celsius (15 Fahrenheit), according to South Korea's weather service.

The paper said civilians were ordered not to wear hats, gloves or scarves even if it was snowing. They were reportedly warned that "behind every line there will be people watching".

Video footage of the event showed virtually no one in the vast crowd that lined the route wearing hats or gloves . . .

The Korean News site, in the meantime, reports on a "Ceremony of Bidding Last Farewell to Kim Jong Il Held":

The dear respected Kim Jong Un together with senior officials of the party, state and armed forces organs observed silence before the bier of Kim Jong Il, praying for his immortality, and went round the bier before the departure of a funeral procession.

"Praying for his immortality"? To whom?

"Hamas: Public freedom committee to meet tomorrow" (ABNA-Iran)

2012-01-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hamas is now 20% more democratic!

Senior Hamas official Ismail Al-Ashqar, a member of the public freedoms committee, said the committee would meet this Monday to address important contentious issues thwarting the national reconciliation.

According to Palestine newspaper, Ashqar stated that the public freedoms committee would discuss the issues of political arrest, passports, the closed charities and institutions, and the restriction imposed on travel and political activities.

The Hamas official affirmed that his Movement deals with these files more flexibly and transparently than ever and gives the higher national interest precedence over any thing else.

This committee involves members from many Palestinian factions including Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Arab Front.

"Ejeii explains why Rafsanjani website was blocked" (Mehr News-Iran)

2012-01-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Not a terribly informative report--what sort of "criminal content"? It is always interesting, however, to see admissions that all is not totally harmonious in Mullah-land:

National Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeii has said that the website of Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was blocked on December 28, 2011, because it contained ‘criminal’ content.

The working committee tasked with supervising the content of websites, chaired by the national prosecutor general, had already given a warning to the webmaster, Mohseni-Ejeii, who is also the Judiciary spokesman, told a press conference on Monday.

The documents in question were removed from the website, but more similar documents were published later, he stated.

He added that the webmaster sent a letter to the committee on January 1, “which I have not seen yet.”

WAFA: Complaining about Abbas meeting with murderess Amneh Muna is "Incitement and Racism"

2012-01-01T22:46:00.000-08:00

The WAFA news agency site has a regular feature called "WAFA Monitors Incitement and Racism in Israeli Media," which generally fails to come up with convincing examples. Muna, you will recall, struck up an internet friendship with a random Israeli 16-year-old boy in order to lure him into a murder-trap:

[...] YnetNews website reported on statements issued by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemning President Mahmoud Abbas meeting, in Turkey, with Amneh Muna, who was convicted of the murder of an Israeli in 2001 and released in the Gilad Shalit swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office said, “It is awful that Abbas, who pretends wanting to achieve peace with Israel in front of the whole world, goes to Turkey to ‘meet a killer.'”

"Another sedition brewing: IRGC commander" (Mehr News-Iran)

2012-01-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Iran is apparently nervous about upcoming elections. Will "Spring" finally come to Iran?

Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Sunday that the enemy is seeking to ignite another sedition through taking advantage of the March parliamentary elections.

He also said that the people’s massive turnout for the elections will foil the enemies’ plots.

Hojjatoleslam Saeed Salami, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the IRGC, also said on Sunday that the enemies may be seeking to create challenges for the elections through using the opportunity that will be provided by certain candidates’ failure to gain the approval of the Guardian Council.

"Report: Hamas mulls joining Muslim Brotherhood" (Ma'an News)

2012-01-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hamas was spawned by the Muslim Brotherhood, of course. What would it mean for it to "join" the Muslim Brotherhood? This article does not provide much of a clue, but it would be a further negative development almost certainly:

Hamas leaders are holding meetings in Sudan to discuss joining the Muslim Brotherhood, the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Saturday.

Some 59 members of Hamas' Shura Council met in Khartoum to discuss creating a separate branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, the report said.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met Muslim Brotherhood chairman Muhammad Badie on Dec. 26 during his visit to Cairo.

A Hamas delegation, including Haniyeh and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal, is in Khartoum and met Sudanese President Omar Bashir on Thursday.

In October, a Muslim Brotherhood delegation visited the Gaza Strip for the first time. The party had been curbed by US-aligned Hosni Mubarak but it has been empowered by a strong showing in elections since the president's ouster.

"Peculiar natural wonders were observed on Mt. Paektu" when Kim passed

2012-01-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

On December 18th I wrote, "Come to think of it, what is Mt. Paektu doing now? Erupting in sorrow?" How did I miss this from December 21?

Peculiar natural wonders were observed on Mt. Paektu, Jong Il Peak and Tonghung Hill in Hamhung City where the statue of President Kim Il Sung is standing at a time when all Korean people are mourning the demise of leader Kim Jong Il in bitterest sorrow.

On the morning of Dec. 17 layers of ice were broken on Lake Chon on Mt. Paektu, shaking the lake with big noise.

The Group for Comprehensive Exploration of Lake Chon on Mt. Paektu said it was the first time that such big noise was heard from the ridge of Janggun Peak and the lake.

The temperature on Mt. Paektu that day registered 22.4 degrees centigrade below zero and there was strong wind accompanied by snowstorm measuring 18 meters per second.

The snowstorm stopped blowing all of a sudden from dawn of Tuesday and heavy clouds were seen hanging around Hyangdo Peak.

At around 8:05 a.m. the sky began turning red with sunrise on the horizon. The peaks looked like a picture for wide and thick glow.

Kim Jong Il's autographic writings "Mt. Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong Il." carved on the mountain, in particular, were bright with glow.

This phenomenon lasted till 5:00 pm.

Glow was seen atop Jong Il Peak for half an hour from 16:50 on Dec. 19 when the nation was shocked by the news of the leader's demise. This was the first of its kind in dozens of years since the observation of the area was started.

A natural wonder was also observed around the statue of the President standing on Tonghung Hill.

At around 21:20 Tuesday a Manchurian crane was seen flying round the statue three times before alighting on a tree. The crane stayed there for quite a long while with its head drooped and flew in the direction of Pyongyang at around 22:00.

Observing this, the director of the Management Office for the Hamhung Revolutionary Site, and others said in union that even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il born of Heaven after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him."

I had a prophetic moment and I didn't even know it.

Repost: "He would tease us and ask if we wanted to die as martyrs with him"

2012-01-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

[EoZ notes that it is the third anniversary of Rayyan's death. This article from the Journal of Turkish Weekly (the link still works) brings out the martyrdom fetish that prevails in at least some quarters of the Gaza in an unusually striking way. Rayyan was the most prominent Hamas memeber to be killed in Cast Lead, but his extremely dramatic death does not fit the leftist narrative. Original post here.]

From Ma'an via Journal of Turkish Weekly. Martyrdom is what you might call a recurring theme here:

One of the surviving daughters of slain Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan, Walaa, spoke to Ma’an Saturday. [...]

"My father raised us all to love martyrdom," Walaa said. "If you had the chance to ask my 4-year-old sister Aaysha, who died in the attack, she would have told you that she preferred to die martyr." [...]

One hour before he was killed Rayyan’s daughter in law Eyman Asfora went to visit him. Walaa remembers that Eyman, wife to Rayyan’s eldest son Bilal, was received with a smile. He asked her if she would like to die a martyr with him, and she said "yes." But she left seconds before the missile struck the four-storey home.[...]

According to one of his four wives, Rayyan would tease his children in the days before his death, and ask them: "Who wants to die martyr with me?" and all his children used to answer, "Yes daddy, we all want to be with you alive or dead." His youngest son said, "I can’t imagine that you die martyr and leave me behind unable to see you. I want to die with you.

Dr Rayyan, who held a PHD in Hadith (the profit Muhammad’s narrated teachings), was killed along with his four wives . . .

Finkelstein seems to want to avoid gloating over the death of Hitchens, but can't quite manage it

2012-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

For one thing, he takes a video of North Koreans weeping over the death of Kim Jong Il, replaces the otherwise unaltered footage with an image of Hitchens for a few moments, and labels the result "American intellectuals weep uncontrollably over passing of 'great leader and guide' Christopher Hitchens." He also has a "Brief Comment on the Passing of Christopher Hitchens," which I'll let you read in its place if you are interested. It involves not very subtle but "ironic" speculation that the death of that very public atheist could be seen as Divine retribution. I will note that it includes the incredible sentence "I get no satisfaction from Hitchens’s passing." And then after an interval of two more sentences, he writes

And if you’ve made a career of pissing on other people’s mostly innocuous beliefs, should it surprise that outside the tiny tent called Vanity Fair, your memory stinks of urine?

New horizons in stupidity

2012-01-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post "oddly-enough" stories, but here is an AP story about a man who got arrested after trying to buy $476 worth of stuff at Walmart with a fake million dollar bill. The following sentence suggests an interesting scene:

Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.

Were they ready to laugh it off, but he kept bugging them?

Oh, and speaking of new horizons in stupidity, Angry Arab unwittingly linked to an AP story about the goings on Beit Shemseh a few days ago and titled the post "What the Western press does not covered [sic] about the Zionist usurping entity." His link is to the Times of India, which does not credit the AP.

The Text of the North Korean "Joint New Year Editorial" is available--they still aren't prosperous

2011-12-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

The "Joint New Year Editorial" is an annual event in North Korean propaganda. The current one is especially interesting because North Koreans have a new supreme leader. North Korean propaganda has interesting methods for avoiding the admission that they never saw any actual prosperity under the last Dear Leader. For example:

The great Kim Jong Il was an outstanding ideologist and theoretician, peerless veteran statesman and brilliant Songun commander who led the revolutionary cause of Juche along the road of victory by dint of his profound ideas and theories and unexcelled leadership, and a great patriot and the benevolent father of the people, who dedicated his revolutionary life entirely to his country and his people. Thanks to his leadership our nation has greeted a golden age of its prosperity unprecedented in its 5 000-year-long history . . .

Hmm, North Korea "greeted" prosperity? Does that mean it actually experienced it? Later we read

Today we are confident in saying that we, with a great pride in being a victor, are at the epochal point of opening the gates of a thriving country . . . As Kim Jong Un, a peerlessly brilliant commander, is leading our revolution in the van and the powerful revolutionary army and people united single-heartedly support faithfully their guide, the Workers' Party of Korea, the revolutionary cause of Juche is sure to emerge victorious. The advance of our revolution that started on Mt. Paektu will continue without interruption as a vigorous march towards the victorious Songun revolution, towards prosperity.

But they aren't actually prosperous now? The text of this thing is long, so I won't try to comment on everything of interest. Reuters noted the reference to people acting as "human shields" to protect Kim III. Readers of this blog should be familiar with that sort of rhetoric. The editorial is mostly like that: the same old propaganda in a currently interesting context.

PIJ: "Palestinian combatants now have the means to create horror and panic in Israel" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-31T18:06:00.000-08:00

According to this, the "means to create horror and panic in Israel" involves "new missiles":

A spokesman of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, warned the Zionist regime of Israel against launching a fresh invasion of the Gaza Strip, and stressed that any Israeli aggression will be met with a crushing response.

"The Resistance will give a crushing response to any invasion, while it will be able to target Israel's strategic sites with its new missiles that it used to be unable to threaten," Abu Ahmed told FNA.

"If Israel decides to implement its new warmongering threats of a new aggression against Gaza, it should expect a strong response from the Palestinian Resistance," Abu Ahmed reiterated, adding that the Palestinian combatants now have the means to create horror and panic in Israel.

He further reiterated that Palestinian resistance groups are entitled to the right to use all their forces and possibilities to defend their country and people against Israeli aggressions.

The remarks by the Islamic Jihad's spokesman came after Israeli officials intensified their war rhetoric against Palestinians.

Almost three years after the Israeli regime's massive attack on the Gaza strip, a Tel Aviv official has again threatened to launch another war on the blockaded region, describing the move as "a war of necessity for Israel".

Referring to the military plan as a "swift and painful" war, chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt. General Benny Gantz, also claimed that the measure was "not a matter of choice, but a war of necessity" for Tel Aviv.

That sounds true.

"Syrian Opposition Leader Urges Officials to Take Rigid Action to Free Abducted Iranians" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

I guess they were looking for a word like "rigorous":

A senior Syrian opposition leader condemned abduction of five Iranian engineers by unknown gunmen in Homs city last week, and urged the country's officials to take swift and serious action to set them free.

"We demand Homs officials to use all their possibilities to set the Iranian engineers free because they have come to Syria to aid our country with progress and development," Syrian Parliament Member and Leader of the 'Third Movement' Opposition Party Mohammad Habash told FNA in Damascus on Friday.

The opposition leader further underlined that the Iranian nationals have been abducted for political motives, specially for impairing Iran-Syria alliance.

"…those behind the kidnapping intend to pressure the ruling system (in Damascus) and make Iranians feel scared of their alliance with Syria", he said, but meantime underlined, "I don't think that such a thing could bring their illusions into reality and harm Iran and Syria's alliance."

He reminded Iran and Syria's strategic alliance against the Zionist regime of Israel, and said no one can harm the Islamic Resistance against the Zionist regime through such measures. [...]

France loots soda drinkers

2011-12-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

From Der Spiegel:

For French residents fond of sugary drinks like Coca Cola, life is about to get more expensive. The country's top constitutional body, the Constitutional Council, approved a new soda tax on Wednesday. The tax, which works out at about 1 euro cent per container, is part of austerity measures passed in France to combat the debt crisis, and is expected to generate around €120 million ($156 million) in revenue for the government.

In its decision approving the legislation, the Constitutional Council said that while it didn't believe the government was imposing the tax only to promote health and combat obesity, it also didn't see any unfair disadvantages for a specific product group in the legislation.

The "cola tax," as people are calling it in France, will now go into effect on Jan. 1. French media are reporting that most companies will raise the tax money by increasing their price per drink. Industry sources have told newspapers that soft drink prices could increase by as much as 35 percent. [...]

"Leader's Top Aide Lauds Syria as Main Arm of Resistance against Israel" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

In which we learn that the "chain of resistance" includes "the new Iraqi government":

Senior Advisor of the Iranian Supreme Leader for International Affairs Ali Akbar Velayati praised Syria's resistance against enemies' plots and conspiracies, and said certain states are striving hard to weaken Damascus as a main arm of resistance against the Zionist regime.

"The chain of resistance against Israel by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, the new Iraqi government and Hamas passes through the Syrian highway," Velayati said, addressing a conference in Isfahan city dubbed 'Islamic Awakening and the Role of Universities' on Thursday.

"Syria is the golden ring of the chain of resistance against Israel," he added.

Velayati also reiterated that any possible problem which leads to the collapse of Syria will be a blow to the aforementioned countries and resistance groups as well.

Many political analysts had earlier warned about the enemies' attempts to create problems in Syria for its resistance against the US and the Zionist regime.

"Enemies intend to weaken Syria to cut this main arm of resistance in the region, but they will certainly fail in their efforts," Secretary-General of Lebanon's Al-Tauhid Al-Arabi Party Wiam Wahab said in November.

Also in the same month, a senior figure of the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement had praised the resistance and wisdom shown by Syria against the US plots and schemes.

A conspiracy is underway against Syria but the country has powerfully resisted the US plots, Head of Hezbollah Sharia Board Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek said.

Yazbek further referred to the popular uprisings in the Arab and Islamic states in recent months, and added that Arab Spring means spring of resistance and uniting efforts against the US plots.

Hamas rats leave sinking Syria

2011-12-28T22:15:00.000-08:00

Of course, what replaces Assad could be worse. Cheerful thought, right?

Alarmed by bloody unrest in Syria, the Hamas militant group has pulled out many of its lower-level cadres from its Damascus headquarters and made contingency plans to move its leadership to locations across the Middle East, senior Hamas members have told The Associated Press.

The Hamas members say the group remains appreciative of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and there is no immediate intention to abandon their base in Damascus. But they confirmed that dozens of low and midlevel members have already left Syria as the security situation grows increasingly precarious. [...]

What is the significance of the 8th day of Chanukah?

2011-12-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

The eighth day especially embodies the significance of the entire festival. See here.

"The Zionist regime's decision to announce Quds as the capital of the Jewish government is the result of the Zionists' racist prejudice" (Fars-Iran)

2011-12-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

More about the "judaization of the holy city." I hear the Greeks are Hellenizing Athens:

The Mufti of Al Quds, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, blasted Israel for its claim on Quds city, and warned about the judaization of the holy city by the Zionist regime.

"The Zionist regime's decision to announce Quds as the capital of the Jewish government is the result of the Zionists' racist prejudice," Sheikh Akrameh Sabri told FNA on Tuesday.

He underlined the responsibility of the Arab and Islamic governments for preventing the implementation of such dangerous decisions, and said, "We want them not to leave us alone."

Sabri stressed that the Zionist regime is misusing the opportunity created by the Islamic Awakening uprisings in the Middle-Eastern and North African countries to promote its plots for Judaizing the Quds city, building more settlements and destroying the houses of the Palestinians while Arab states are busy with their own internal problems.

In light of the Arab and Muslim world's passive stance, the Zionist regime takes any action it wants very freely and breaks sanctuaries and Judaizes the Quds city without being questioned by the international community.

Palestinian officials had also earlier warned that the Israeli Quds municipality continued to Judaize East Quds (Jerusalem) through the renaming of Arab street names and monuments in the city.

As part of what the municipality calls "infrastructure restoration and area development", authorities fenced off areas around the city's historic Damascus Gate to do name and landscape changes as part of the Judaizing of the city.

"Camp David has been annulled and has no more credit and value" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

You may have seen headlines that state that Al-Nour will maintain the peace treaty with Israel. Don't count on it.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent Egyptian political figure and the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, cautioned that the US is doing whatever it can within its possibilities to stop the revolutionary Egypt from annulling Camp David Accord specially now that Islamist parties are coming to power in Egypt.

Speaking to FNA, pro-reform leader and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said that the future of the Camp David Accord has been the focus of meetings between Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Washington.

"The negotiations were completely secrete and confidential," ElBaradei said.

"What the supreme military council said was that the talks were about bilateral and mutual relations, but I believe that Americans wanted to ensure that the deals signed between Egypt and Israel will remain intact if Islamists ascend to power," ElBaradei stated.

The two main Islamic parties in the Egypt, which won majority of votes in the recent parliamentary elections in the country, have voiced their opposition to Cairo-Tel Aviv ties.

Speaking to FNA in Cairo on Saturday, spokesman of the Salafi al-Nour party rejected reports about a meeting between the party's leaders and Israel's ambassador to Egypt, and described the reports as smear campaign to defame the Islamist party.

"Al-Nour party can in no way ignore the Arab nations and Arab world's rights and the restoration of these rights is an unchangeable principle of the party," Nader Bakar said.

"Al-Nour is against the establishment of any relations with the Zionist regime," he stated.

The spokesman underlined that his party would certainly strive to change the Camp David Accord in the interests of Egyptian nation.

The Salafi al-Nour is among the two main Islamist parties that won a majority of votes in both the first the second rounds of Egypt's parliamentary. It has won 20% of ballots.

Early in December, a senior member of the Egyptian Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) party underlined the necessity for revising Camp David Accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv, describing the pact as "cruel".

"It is natural that after the victory of the revolution many things and issues should be studied and dealt with," Kamal al-Halbawi told FNA at the time.

"Hence, the issue of revising the Camp David Accord will also be in the list of the top priorities of (Egypt's new) officials to be studied in its appropriate time," he added.

Also, former Egyptian Ambassador to the Palestinian territories Gamal Mazloum had told FNA that Egypt should take action to boost its forces in the Sinai Desert and make a formal request to correct and modify the Camp David Accord.

Since the Zionist regime has several times breached the Camp David Accord, Egypt should use its power and increase its military presence in the Sinai Desert if the Israeli regime rejects a willing modification of Camp David, he said in October.

Another leading Egyptian political activist had also underlined the necessity of revisions in the Camp David Accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv, stressing that the deal is no more valid.

"Camp David has been annulled and has no more credit and value," member of Egypt's National Association for Change George Ishaq told FNA in Cairo in September.

As Camp David goes, so goes the whole concept of land-for-peace.

"Students manufacture amateur surveillance drone" (IRNA-Iran)

2011-12-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

What's an "electric jet engine"?

Students of Islamic Azad University in the city of Heris, East Azarbaijan province built amateur surveillance drone with electric jet engine, IRNA reported on Monday.

Head of the technical team involved in manufacturing the drone Nasser Nazari Heris said in the ceremony to unveil the aircraft that it has been designed for 35 minutes reconnaissance mission at night.

He said that the aircraft is ultra-light working with two electric jet engines and is capable of flying with one engine.

Nazari Heris said in the meantime that it took four months to design and manufacture the drone.

Teammate Reza Danandeh said that the drone is capable of flying at maximum speed of 250 km and minimum 50 km per hour.

It can fly a distance of 10 km and operates at an altitude of 9,000 feet. The aircraft can transmit online scanning of the area to database on the ground.

In other drone news, according to a Mehr headline, "Decoding drones not beyond Iran’s capabilities: defense minister":

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said that Iran has very high capabilities in the area of defense, particularly in decoding unmanned aircraft.

Vahidi made the remarks during a televised interview broadcast live on Jaam-e-Jam TV network on Sunday night.

“Islamic Iran has very high capabilities in all areas of defense, (including) employing drones and decoding them, electronic warfare and anti-electronic warfare as well as countering covert wars against the Islamic Republic of Iran and by itself has achieved such a level of success under the most difficult circumstances and (under) comprehensive sanctions. Therefore, it will easily enhance (its capabilities) and maintain them,” he said. [...]

"Kim Jong Un, identical to Kim Jong Il, is the popular tender-hearted father and the sun of the destiny" (Korean News)

2011-12-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

The cult of personality rolls on:

Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, has personified the love shown by leader Kim Jong Il for the people.

On December 24, all the servicepersons and people were deeply touched by the warm love shown by Kim Jong Un.

He earnestly instructed the officials to provide the people with convenience on a top-priority basis under any circumstances so that they might not be affected while mourning the demise of Kim Jong Il day and night in profound grief.

He underscored the need to take thorough healthcare measures for the people missing Kim Jong Il very much and falling into a swoon. And he told officials to console the mourners on the spot, offering them warm water.

Yesterday Kim Jong Un made sure that fresh fishes were supplied to every family in Pyongyang in reflection of Kim Jong Il's warm love for people and today he took a special step for meeting people's interests and providing the best conveniences to them on a top-priority basis under any circumstances.

Kim Jong Un, identical to Kim Jong Il, is the popular tender-hearted father and the sun of the destiny as he is the man the people will follow to the end of the earth.

Kim Jong Il is always with us.

Jeffrey Goldberg asks "Was the Arab Spring a Victory for Extremism?"

2011-12-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

He groups "responses" into "predictable" and "less predictable." The predictable responses are "panic and rationalization." The rationalizers rationalize

that the Muslim Brothers and even the Salafists are not the bogeymen we think they are. Scratch a Muslim Brother, the argument goes, and you’ll find the Middle Eastern analog of a European Christian Democrat.

So why is the other side characterized as "panic" rather than disinclination to rationalize? The "less predictable" responses involve "analytical humility"--we don't know what is going to happen--and "fatalism: What will happen in the Middle East is going to happen." Ok, but was the Arab Spring a "Victory for Extremism"? It looks that way now. Few would have a problem characterizing the Al-Nour Party as "extremist" if not for the fact that it just did well in elections. Goldberg is correct that we don't know what the Middle East will look like after "the next 10 (or 20 or 30) years"--actually I'm quoting part of a sentence that predicts that in the end Arabs will turn to "a type of liberal democracy informed by faith, but without the intolerance associated with fundamentalism," but I liked the sound of "analytical humility." Let's just say that extremism's stock is up at the moment. Way up.

Update: The latest Haveil Havalim is probably a victory of some sort. Other recent editions of HH here and here.

"Iranian President Condoles with North Korea over Kim Jung Il's Demise" (Fars News)

2011-12-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Iran's relationship with North Korea is mentioned less frequently in the Iranian Press than its relationship with other "independent" countries. I was wondering if I was even going to see mention of Kim Jong Il's death. This one even features a picture of Ahmadinejad, not looking too anguished, but maybe pensive:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in separate messages extended his condolences to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea over the death of the country's former leader Kim Jung Il.

In two separate messages to the DPRK's new Leader Kim Jong Un and President of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Presidium KIM Yong Nam, the Iranian president extended his condolences over the recent demise of Jong Un's father and leader of North Korea Kim Jung Il.

Also in his message, Ahmadinejad wished welfare and success for the Korean nation and government.

Earlier, Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani had also offered his condolences to the DPRK officials and nation on Jung Il's death. [...]

The snowman go-eth

2011-12-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

More post-Kim offerings from the Korean News site. Are rice balls good with cognac?

[...] Looking back on world history, there were many statesmen who advocated patriotism and dedication. But, no one has ever made such total dedication with a pure and true mind like snow.

It was only Kim Jong Il who made his life shine like snow.

He worked hard day and night, having uncomfortable sleep and taking rice-balls. He was the first to greet dawn like a man in his twenties. Seeing his dedication in tears, the people would ask him to stop making any more journeys along snow-covered roads in cold weather and sitting up all night. Hearing this, he said he considered it as his pleasure and his routine to do so and continued his journeys despite strong wind and snow and spent nights full of enthusiasm.

Who is the last laughter? No one in the world can beat the man ready to die. With such pluck and gut Kim Jong Il made trips to inspect the front and give field guidance to factories and co-op farms, providing a bright prospect for building a thriving nation. [...]

"‘Deviant’ current aptly named: MP" (Mehr News)

2011-12-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a fascinating glimpse into current Iranian politics. Often the Iranian press doesn't admit the existence of anything but complete support for the government among the Iranian people unless it is some sort of foreign plot:

MP Mohammad Dehghan has said that the deviant current deserves to be called “deviant” for a number of reasons.

Dehghan, who is a member of the Majlis Presiding Board, made the remarks in an interview with the Mehr News Agency published on Saturday, in which he enumerated six negative characteristics of the current.

He said, “The deviant current does not regard the principle of velayat-e faqih (rule of the supreme jurisprudent) as their point of reference in regard to their political and social activities.”

Dehghan added, “The current’s claims of being in contact with Imam Mahdi (AS) prove their departure from Shia beliefs.”

He also said that the relationship of the groups’ members with actresses who do not observe hijab (Islamic dress code) properly and who do not believe in Islamic values is another proof of their deviation.

The stance that the current’s associates have adopted toward Iran’s relations with the United States goes against the guidelines set by the late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dehqan said.

He added, “The deviant current seriously believes in normalizing relations with the United States. The leaders of this current are under the illusion that they should join the U.S. in managing the world, and the first result of such a belief would be the recognition of the U.S. hegemony in the world.”

“On regional uprisings, the deviant current believes that Islamic uprisings have been organized with the support of the U.S. and therefore regards supporting the people of the region as supporting the United States. To this day, they have not acknowledged that (these) uprisings are popular and Islamic in nature, and when they were compelled to use the term ‘Islamic awakening’, they introduced (the concept of) ‘human awakening’,” he stated.

“The deviation of this current has been proven to all revolutionary and Islamic intellectuals,” he said, adding, “The departure of these people from the principles of the revolution, the system, the noble Islam, and the clergy has led them to be called ‘deviant’.”

Dehqan also said that those who have not yet waken up to the danger posed by this current have poor understanding of the political and social realities on the ground.

Fars News Agency "Invites World Cartoonists to Int'l Wall Street Downfall Cartoon Festival"

2011-12-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

The solidarity between OWS and the Khomeinists is unshakeable!

Fars News Agency plans to hold an international cartoon festival on the Occupy Wall Street movement in a bid to help people in the United States take their message out to the world.

Despite the attempts made by the US media and statesmen to portray it as an unimportant development, the Anti-Capitalism Occupy Wall Street Movement has gradually grown so wide that it cannot be harnessed by the US administration any more. Now the US administration can suppress people by the help of its security forces, but it no doubt will be unable to root out this movement, and one day, the roots of this movement will grow so deep and so wide that it will topple the West's and the United States' capitalist system.

A way to help the Occupy Wall Street Protests stay alive is releasing artworks, specially cartoons and satirical works, around this movement. Cartoonists can portray their critical and vigilant views in one work through their artistic delicacy and present it to thousands, meaning that the message carried by hours of speech or lengthy pages of an article can be presented to people in one single picture.

'The International Cartoon Festival of Wall Street Downfall' is an opportunity for artists from around the world to display their works in support of the American and European protesters and all others who have been victimized by poverty, corruption and discrimination.

Festival Topic:
The Anti-Capitalism Occupy Wall Street Movement

Conditions:
Each participant can send a maximum number of 7 works

Please attach your name and surname, postal address, contact numbers and E-mail in a file in Word Format to your works.

All works should be 1500 pixels (200 dpi) in length and width at minimum

All participants will be presented with a copy of the Festival's Book of Selected Artworks

Winners Prize:

Top Artist Prize: 5000 euro + diploma and festival statue
Second Winner:4000 euro + diploma and festival statue
Third Winner: 3000 euro + diploma and festival statue
4th to 10th Winners: Each 500 euro + diploma and festival statue
Diplomas for 70 finalists
And
A Special Prize, including 500 euro, for the selected artist from the viewpoint of our internet visitors [...]

Carlos Latuff should do well.

Billy Graham mourns Kim Jong Il?

2011-12-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

According to (North) Korean News:

U.S. Rev. Billy Graham, Rev. Franklin Graham who is president of Samaritan's Purse, a non-governmental organization, and Robert Springs, president of Global Resource Services, a non-governmental organization, and his wife Babara Springs sent a floral basket and wreath to the DPRK permanent mission at U.N. Wednesday on the demise of leader Kim Jong Il.

Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico State, requested the U.S. government to express condolences over the demise of Kim Jong Il.

He in a Tuesday TV show including ABC TV said the U.S. government should express official condolences to the DPRK.

"Assad losing control as 10,000 soldiers desert Syrian military" (Ha'aretz)

2011-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

The next dictator to make his exit?

According to Western intelligence agencies, even though the top brass is still loyal to President Bashar Assad, lower-level officers are deserting in large numbers, and in some cases, whole units have deserted en masse. [...]

And maybe some of the top brass are leaving also. According to Arutz7:

A Syrian opposition group reported on Wednesday that a senior officer in the Syrian army has defected.

The group claimed that the officer is General Mustafa al-Sheikh, commander of the Syrian army’s chemical warfare unit. It was also reported that he fled to Turkey.

Angry Arab: "Arab Jews are part of the landscape"

2011-12-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

I'm Ashkenazi myself, but I'm sure the Arab Jews have some suggestions for what he can do with that "landscape":

I read that Munsif Marzuqi called on Tunisian Jews to return to Tunisia. Many Arabs wrote to me in protest. I do support his call. We should call on all Arab Jews to return to their original lands. In fact, such call could easily cut the Israeli population by half, but the intentions are moral. Arab Jews are part of the landscape and they should not have been driven out (mostly by Zionists and in some cases by intolerance).

"Mostly by Zionists," eh? Here is a blog you might want to follow on a regular basis.

"Iran Can Make Drones More Advanced than RQ-170" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

In which we learn of Iran's "giant advancement in electronics":

Former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Electronic Warfare Division Ali Asqar Zare'i stressed Iran's giant advancement in electronics, and said the country can and will make drones much better and more advanced than the US RQ-170 Sentinel that it downed on December 4.

Zare'i who is now a member of the Iranian parliament pointed to the hues and cries made by the US after Iran brought down the US stealth drone, and said, "Americans want to wage a propaganda campaign to make the world believe that if Iran gains any progress in this field (drone technology) it has been learnt from the (downed) drone."

"That is not true. In fact our drone industries is right now not much behind this plane technically," Zareii noted.

"Today the stealth technology has been indigenized in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We have a radar-evading plane which enjoys a home grown and fully stealth technology and has been tested by the most precise systems and can continue flying for tens of hours," the commander said, adding that the US officials should wait and see how Iranian experts make a drone much more advanced than the American RQ-170 Sentinel.

"In response to Mr. Obama's demand for the return of this plane, I recommend the Americans to be patient a bit since God willing our friends will manufacture a drone more advanced than the US RQ-170 Sentinel soon and then they can come and buy it to regain their morale and stop their (present) feeling that they are loosing everything," the former IRGC Electronic Warfare commander said. [...]

That's really giant of him . . .

Kim Jong Un emerges as . . . um . . . whatever

2011-12-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

Whatever it is that we are supposed to know about dictators, we don't know it about Kim Jong Un. A current buzzword about Kim Jong Il is "unknowable." And that is after decades of public prominence and a giant cult of personality. The young Kim has seemingly achieved a great leap forward in unknowableness. This captures it pretty well:

According to various press analyses, the new leader is either a bumbling naïf or a clever, multilingual operator who’s already formed alliances with key generals. He will either push market reforms or preserve the status quo. He will reach out to the West or step up confrontation or do neither.

Here’s the real answer: We really don’t know much of anything. [...]

What does North Korea's news agency tell us about the Great Successor?

[...] Standing in the van of the Korean revolution at present is General Kim Jong Un, the great successor to the revolutionary cause of Juche and outstanding leader of the Party, the army and the people.

He is the eternally immovable mental mainstay of the Korean people. [...]

"Eternally immovable mental mainstay"? Hmm. Not nimble on his feet like his father? In any event, Reuters evidently has an infallible informant who informs us that the Young General is going to rule, not by himself, but as part of a military junta. If that's true, that counts as an actual development. And if not, oh well, nobody ever said unknowability was good for journalism.

"Cuba Proclaims Period of Mourning for Demise of Kim Jong Il" (Korean News)

2011-12-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

It's a sad time for Cuba:

A mourning period of three days was proclaimed in Cuba over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il.

On Monday, the Council of State of Cuba announced the days from Dec. 20 to 22 as an official period of mourning over the demise of Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission.

Flags will be hoisted at half-mast at public buildings and military institutions of Cuba in the period.

Kim Jong Un "tortured small animals" as a child? (WS Journal)

2011-12-20T00:36:00.000-08:00

Just giving them field guidance:

[...] The portrait of Kim Jong Eun that emerges in his U.S. profile is that of a young man who, despite years of education in the West, is steeped in his father's cult of personality and may be even more mercurial and merciless, officials said.

A senior U.S. official said intelligence analysts believe, for instance, that Kim Jung Eun "tortured small animals" when he was a youth. "He has a violent streak and that's worrisome," a senior U.S. official said, summing up the U.S. assessments. [...]

"We Are under Respected Kim Jong Un"

2011-12-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

Western news agencies are wondering if the relatively untested Kim Jong Un will be able to successfully take over the reins of power. Silly Imperialists!

[...] Kim Jong Il passed away to our sorrow before seeing the victory in the drive for building a thriving nation, his great desire, but we are under respected Kim Jong Un identical to him.

Kim Jong Un's leadership provides a sure guarantee for successfully carrying forward the revolutionary cause of Juche through generations, the cause which was started by the President and led by Kim Jong Il to victory".

Kim Nam Il, 36, teacher of Wonsan University of Fisheries, vowed to eternally hold Kim Jong Il in high esteem and defend and glorify his undying revolutionary feats, united close around Kim Jong Un.

The army and people of the DPRK will weather the present difficulties by overcoming sorrow and displaying fresh strength and courage and struggle more staunchly for the great victory of the Juche revolution under the leadership of Kim Jong Un.

According to one article I saw, Kim Jong Un already has diabetes, just like his father.

"Pyongyangites Call Kim Jong Il in Chocking [sic] Voices"

2011-12-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

The English section of the (North) Korean News site finally has content related to the Songun bucket-kicking of the Dear Leader. Here is a particularly maudlin example:

"Father!"

"General, don't go!"

"General has not passed away."

"General, our father!"

These are the voices of grief heard from among all Pyongyangites, young and old, men and women, at the sad news of demise of leader Kim Jong Il which came like a bolt from the blue.

The statues of President Kim Il Sung in various places of the DPRK including Kim Il Sung University and the Pyongyang Students and Children's Palace and the mosaics depicting Kim Jong Il are visited by an endless crowd of citizens.

They are shedding bitter tears, their knees on the ground, as they courageously weathered out stern adversities, trusting him only and holding him in high esteem as the sun of destiny and father.

They are getting the paved stones drenched with tears, feeling so regrettable as they can no longer see him whose smile was as broad as sunshine.

Great Leap Backwards--A Kim Jong Il Retrospective III

2011-12-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

[This one was called "Kim Jong Il, genius of music and arts"--May 23, 2010]

Can you imagine what his musical "field-guidance" must have been like? "Rule number one: All songs must be about me!"

The musical anecdotage "General Kim Jong Il and Songs" (second volume) was recently published by the Art and Literature Publishing House.

The five-part book contains 126 musical anecdotes about General Secretary Kim Jong Il's energetic guidance over the work of music and arts.

Part 1 carries episodes in him who provided tireless guidance to make sure that such songs praising the revolutionary life, undying exploits and noble personality of President Kim Il Sung as "Cantata to Marshal Kim Il Sung", "We Live in the Embrace of the Leader" and "Leader, the Night Is Far Advanced" resounded forth.

Part 2 deals with historic episodes which were told in the days when songs calling for devotedly defending the leader and songs praising the country, loved by our army and people, were created and disseminated under the far-reaching plan and energetic leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Part 3 carries touching episodes saying that Kim Jong Il, genius of music and arts, developed the Juche-oriented music and arts onto a new higher stage suited to the emotion of the era and the thinking and sentiments of the Korean people.

Parts 4 and 5 deal with moving stories telling that he wisely guided the work to make every song created in the era of Songun a powerful weapon encouraging the revolutionary cause of Juche to victory and a solemn march for the building of a great prosperous and powerful nation and that he showed profound trust and warm love for the creators and artistes.

The latest Haveil Havalim is "a powerful weapon encouraging the revolutionary cause of Juche to victory."

Great Leap Backwards--A Kim Jong Il Retrospective II

2011-12-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

[This one was called "the flood-victims directed attention to protecting the portraits of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il than their families"--September 8, 2007]

Remember the story about the lady who got burnt trying to protect slogan-bearing trees from fire? This one is called "Spirit of Defending Leader with Very Life Displayed in Flood-hit Areas":

The recent unprecedented heavy rains triggered off flood and landslide in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, causing heavy human and material losses.

But the flood-victims directed attention to protecting the portraits of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il than their families.

The torrential rains on August 9 submerged the township area of Hoeyang County. Over a thousand families there were evacuated to safety places. They came there, carrying not their properties but the portraits of the President and the leader.

Students of Koksan County School for Agricultural Skilled Workers and people in the county defended the picture of smiling President from the downpour.

Ri Chun Hwa, a worker of the Changdo County Clothing Factory, brought over 1,500 books carrying the images of the great men of Mt. Paektu, from the County Publication Circulation Office to a safe place through torrents of water at the risk of her life.

Many people including People's Security officer Choe Myong Gil in Ichon County and teacher of Ichon Middle School No. 1 Hwang Myong Ok rushed in public buildings and dwelling houses without hesitation to save portraits, realizing that they would soon crumble.

Among such people are peasant of the Jongdong Co-op Farm in Phyonggang County Cha Hyang Mi who handed over portraits to rescuers and went to the bottom of the torrent water, peasant of the same farm Pak Jong Ryol who lost his wife and child by landslide but saved the portraits and worker of the Ichon Foodstuff Factory Kang Hyong Gwon who firmly took portraits in his hands in flood though his five-year-old daughter slipped down from his back.

Oh no . . . no . . .

After the flood, corpses were dug out of the silt. Found out in their bosom were portraits wrapped with vinyl sheets to prevent them from being spoiled by water.

It is the just outlook on life of the Korean people to enjoy their existence, dignity and happiness in the effort for defending the leader at the cost of their lives.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Great Leap Backwards--A Kim Jong Il Retrospective I

2011-12-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

[This post was originally titled "Of Slogan-bearing Trees and Infinite Happiness"--December 22, 2005]

More from the N. Korean News. I know, I know, I do this too much. This one is a minor masterpiece:

Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a letter on Dec. 19 from Kim Yong Ok, a lecturer of the room for the education of servicepersons through trees bearing slogans at the navy unit 153 of the Korean People's Army, who got burnt while sacrificingly protecting slogan-bearing trees on Mujae Hill a few years ago. She returned home after being given medical treatment in a foreign country thanks to the benevolent solicitude of Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il personally met Kim Yong Ok during his field inspection on Dec. 10, 2004. Seeing the scar of a burn on her face and hands, he took a benevolent step for restoring her face and hands at a best hospital of the world . . .
Recalling the unforgettable days when she felt the warm loving care of Kim Jong Il, she presented a letter to him who had her restored as a most beautiful flower in the Songun era at the expense of much money.

And that isn't even the letter:

She said in the letter:
Seeing us being hospitalized at the highest class room for nearly one year with payment of a fabulous medical fee under the peculiar expectation and concern of the country, even doctors, who had treated only rich men of different countries at the world's famous orthopedic hospital, repeatedly asked me that they were really a daughter and sons of workers and farmers and families of servicepersons. I loudly answered that I am a daughter of Kim Jong Il. I told doctors and foreigners that I had given up marriage after getting burn as a girl, that the whole country gave me medical treatment and helped me get married to a navy officer and that Kim Jong Il told officials to send me to the most famous hospital in the world to restore my face and hands. Deeply moved to hear me, they said that Kim Jong Il is best in the world, socialism of Korea is best and you are his daughter living in blessings. When I told them that Kim Jong Il is the sun in the sky and the future of Korea under the shining sun is always rosy and bright, they stood up to clap, shouting "Kim Jong Il-Sun!" and "Sun-Kim Jong Il!"

Wouldn't anybody! The article concludes:

In the letter she expressed her firm determination to convey to all the people and servicepersons the legendary story of love shown by Kim Jong Il to her as a wife of an officer and make her debut on the stage of the 9th contest of art groups of families of servicepersons to loudly sing of the infinite happiness of being a member of families of his servicepersons.

"Kim Jong Il-Sun!" "Sun-Kim Jong Il!"

Kim Jong Il kicks the Songun bucket and makes the last great leap forward

2011-12-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

He's gone to the great Hungnam Fertilizer Complex in the sky. He's giving field guidance at the morgue in the spirit of Mt. Paektu. Come to think of it, what is Mt. Paektu doing now? Erupting in sorrow?

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69.

Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. [...]

Is this the end of Juche-oriented blogging? Or will North Koreans rally around the headquarters of the revolution in the spirit of devotedly defending the leader, Young General Kim Jong-Un? Stay tuned, Imperialists . . .

"Iran does not need China, Russia for inverse engineering, says MP" (ISNA-Iran)

2011-12-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised they admit to any interest in reverse-engineering the drone. Why do they need US technology?

-The Head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the country does not need China and Russia for inverse engineering's technology.

As to the rumors on handing the U.S. spy drone to Russia and China for inverse engineering, Boroujerdi said, “As it was announced we are amongst the rare countries and even the second one capable of producing drone and even we ourselves can best make use of the U.S. new technology.”

He said Iran has gained power in this regard after the end of the imposed war.

As to the probable exchange of the drone with Russia for receiving S-300 missile system, he stressed, “Russians are indebted to us on the issue of S-300. They have not fulfilled their promises based on an official agreement, now they should either act based on the contents of the agreement or pay for its losses.”

He noted, “Aggression against Iran’s air space violates the international convention, though Iran has succeeded in confronting the air space violation.”

Boroujerdi stressed, “The U.S. should bear all the consequences of its spy drone violation of Iran’s air space and it should know that Iran definitely would not return the drone.”

According to another ISNA headline: "Iran designs several models of drones":

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Saturday the country has designed several models of drones.

He added, "Iranian armed forces have managed to make progress in designing unmanned crafts. Iran has designed drones with high power, preciseness and detection capabilities and the drones are being developed inside the country."

Also regarding threats against Iran, Vahidi said, "Threats on aggression against Iranian border by the US and Zionist regime is rooted in weakness of international organizations which were created and controlled by them." [...]

Such as the UN?

Hezbollah deals drugs to deal with cash-flow problems (Ynet)

2011-12-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

Ynet reports that according to a Le Figaro article "based on information obtained by French intelligence agencies," sanctions against Iran and Assad's problems are hurting Hezbollah's financing. Of course, those Khomeinist scamps are nothing if not resourceful:

Le Figaro said the financial crisis has led some Hezbollah terrorists to deal drugs in north Lebanon. Just last week US prosecutors indicted a Lebanese national who they said led a massive international drug smuggling ring with links to Hezbollah.

"Hamas Reiterates Armed Resistance against Israel" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hamas continues to make effective use of its two faces:

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, would never give up armed resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel, a Hamas official said, rejecting reports that the group has accepted to end its armed struggle against the Israeli regime.

According to Palestinian media reports, Salah al-Bardwil, a member of Hamas Political Bureau rejected the claims raised in some western media about an agreement between Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas about ending armed campaign against the Israeli regime.

Western media have quoted Abbas as saying that Fatah and Hamas had agreed during their reconciliation talks on giving up military resistance to stand against the Zionist regime only through "peaceful popular resistance".

"Hamas is against giving up armed resistance," Bardwil stated, and added, "This issue has not been raised during the negotiations between Hamas and Fatah."

He reiterated that popular resistance is a priority for the Palestinians, but it does not at all mean that armed resistance should end.

Another senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan had earlier said that armed resistance remains a strategic option for Palestinians, while affirming that popular action was also an integral part of challenging Israel's policies.

Radwan told Ma'an news agency that "all aspects of resistance are open and permissible and open to us". [...]

Student health threatened by LA school-district "healthy" lunches

2011-12-17T21:36:00.000-08:00

The health-food wimp menace has started threatening our children!

[...] For many students, L.A. Unified's trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop. Earlier this year, the district got rid of chocolate and strawberry milk, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, nachos and other food high in fat, sugar and sodium. Instead, district chefs concocted such healthful alternatives as vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads and pad Thai noodles.

There's just one problem: Many of the meals are being rejected en masse. Participation in the school lunch program has dropped by thousands of students. Principals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away. Students are ditching lunch, and some say they're suffering from headaches, stomach pains and even anemia. At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving.

But will it be able to save all those kids from anemia? Maybe it won't have to. The articled continues:

Acknowledging the complaints, L.A. Unified's food services director, Dennis Barrett, announced this month that the menu would be revised. Hamburgers will be offered daily. [...]

I hope there's meat in those burgers . . .

"Iran builds remote control semi-smart submarine" (ISNA-Iran)

2011-12-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Just a bauble:

Iranian scientists built a remote control semi-smart submarine with the speed of 10 nuts per second.

The submarine dubbed "Phoenix" can move with the speed of 10 nuts per second under water and 12 nuts in second on water. It also enjoys pleasing appearance. Camera can be installed on the submarine as well.

More evidence that Iranian press agencies also get help from North Korea.

"Syria Mufti warns of Zionists' plot to divide Egypt" (IRIB-Iran)

2011-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

He looks worried:

Syria’s Grand Mufti, Ahmad Hassoun, warned Egypt on Wednesday against “an Israeli plot to divide Egypt like the way Sudan was divided.”

In an interview with the Kuwait-based Al-Rai newspaper, Hassoun said the gangs in Syria killed his son because he refused to join the plot.

Other Iranian Press headlines include one from PressTV proclaiming "Russia will stop any attack against Iran" although the person interviewed is identified as "an independent military expert." In another interview-based article (with video), PressTV also informs us "US turning into burgeoning police state."

"UK Queen begged Tehran for ties" (PressTV-Iran)

2011-12-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

Zohreh Elahian, in case you don't follow these things so closely, is female:

A senior Iranian lawmaker has revealed that Britain's Queen Elizabeth II “begged” Tehran to maintain ties with London after Iran's Majlis voted to downgrade ties with the country.

“After Iran's Majlis approved a bill to downgrade ties with the UK, the office of [Britain's] Queen [Elizabeth II] contacted some of the Iranian officials and begged for the continuation of relations with Britain,” Head of Iran Majlis (parliament) Human Rights Sub-committee, Zohreh Elahian was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying on Thursday. [...]

I wonder if there is any truth to this at all. Maybe the Queen got modestly involved in the diplomatic process at some point? It is hard to judge from this article, which is supposed to mean that Iran is scoring lots of glory and grandeur points presently.

"Where are you"--a story for Yud Tes Kislev

2011-12-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

On the 19th of Kislev, the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, was released from prison. See here to learn why this day is known in Chabad as the "Rosh Hashanah of Chassidism." Here is a story:

In 1798, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was imprisoned on charges, put forth by the opponents of Chassidism, that his teachings undermined the imperial authority of the czar. For 52 days he was held in the Peter-Paul Fortress in Petersburg.

Among the Rebbe's interrogators was a government minister who possessed broad knowledge of the Bible and Jewish studies. On one occasion, he asked the Rebbe to explain the verse (Genesis 3:9): "And G-d called out to the man and said to him: 'Where are you?'" Did G-d not know where Adam was?

Rabbi Schneur Zalman presented the explanation offered by several of the commentaries: the question "Where are you?" was merely a "conversation opener" on the part of G-d, who did not wish to unnerve Adam by immediately confronting him with his wrongdoing.

"What Rashi says, I know," said the minister. "I wish to hear how the Rebbe understands the verse."

"Do you believe that the Torah is eternal?" asked the Rebbe. "Do you believe that its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions, at all times?"

"Yes," replied the minister.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman was extremely gratified to hear this. The czar's minister had affirmed a principle which lies at the basis of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the very teachings and ideology for which he was standing trial!

"'Where are you?'" explained the Rebbe, "is G-d's perpetual call to every man. Where are you in the world? What have you accomplished? You have been allotted a certain number of days, hours, and minutes in which to fulfill your mission in life. You have lived so many years and so many days," -- here Rabbi Schneur Zalman spelled out the exact age of the minister -- "Where are you? What have you achieved?"

"US must apologize instead of requesting" (IRIB-Iran)

2011-12-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

No, don't say the word "apologize"! Don't give Obama any bright ideas . . .

The United States must offer apology to the Islamic Republic of Iran over the intrusion of the Iranian airspace by one of its spy drone (landed by IRI experts last week) instead of asking for the return of the landed drone, Spokesman of the IRI Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.

The spokesman also called the US request a “forward escape tactic”.

It seems that US President Barack Obama has forgotten that the United States has violated Iran's airspace and engaged in an intrusive spying operation as well as interfering in the nation's internal affairs, which are all in violation of international law, Mr. Mehmanparast told reporters at his weekly press conference.

The US needs to understand that what it has done in violating the Iranian airspace is a sort of measure that can threaten global peace and security, he added.

In an apparent forward escape tactic, Obama has pleaded for the return of the spy drone rather than making an official apology and admitting to the intrusive violation of Iran's sovereignty, the Iranian spokesperson pointed out.

Mr. Mehmanparast emphasized that the US must accept responsibility for intruding into Iran's airspace and the ensuing consequences of such abusive conduct. [...]

Actual Fars News headline: "Obama Begs Iran to Give Him Back His Toy Plane"

2011-12-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

This was completely predictable:

US President Obama is hoping that the Iranian government is in a Christmas mood because he has asked Tehran to send him his Christmas present back.

We are still wondering how he shamelessly asked Tehran to give the US back the stealth drone which had violated the Iranian airspace for espionage.

"We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said following a meeting at the White House with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Obama's comments were the first official confirmation that the United States had asked for the return of the RQ-70 drone that was downed by Iran over a week ago.

During the last ten days, Pentagon and State Department officials have repeatedly said they were unaware of any efforts by the American government to contact Iran to have the drone returned to the US.

Speaking later in the afternoon US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was doubtful the US would get its "equipment" back.

"Given Iran's behavior to date, we do not expect them to comply," she said during a press conference with her British counterpart. [...]

I hope that demonstrates her gift for understatement, but I don't hope for much from this administration.

Occupy protestors failed to be as much of a nuisance as they planned to be

2011-12-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

I happened to be driving in the vicinity of Long Beach today. I was glad the rain was good for something:

Reporting from Oakland, Seattle and Long Beach—Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters blocked access to several major West Coast ports Monday in synchronized demonstrations that slowed business but fell short of what some protesters hoped would be a complete shutdown of coastal shipping.

The protests stretched from San Diego to Anchorage, brought work to a standstill in Oakland and Longview, Wash., and led to the closure of a major marine terminal in Portland, Ore. Demonstrators caused smaller disruptions in Seattle and in Long Beach, where a driving rain and threats of arrest put a damper on an early morning picket line. [...]

Rain is pretty infrequent here in Southern California. The Earth disapproved?

Newt fails to make a distinction

2011-12-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not endorsing what Newt said, but it is fun looking at all the not-so-dazzlingly-well-informed responses he is garnishing. Case in point, Michael Kinsley in an article entitled "Palestinians Will Invent a State Next":

Newt also isn’t completely off the wall in describing the situation as a struggle “between a civilian democracy that obeys the rule of law and a group of terrorists that are firing missiles every day.” If he had thought a bit before opening his trap, Gingrich might have wanted to distinguish between the Palestinian Authority, which rules in the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza . . . Hamas is the one firing missiles. [...]

Here is a sentence from today's Maan News:

The Ayman Juda Brigades, a sub-division of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing two homemade projectiles at an Israeli military post in the southern Gaza Strip.

Fatah is, of course, the main "faction" of the PA/PLO. This isn't, as they say, rocket science.

LoonWatch explains the prevalence of suicide bombing

2011-12-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Today the LoonWatch blog, the scourge of Islamophobes everywhere, explains something I had been wondering about:

Some Americans wonder why there are so many Muslim suicide bombers. Well, they don’t have drones, which are the American equivalent of suicide bombers. Drones have the added benefit that they can be operated without fear of any personal harm.

Hmmm, drones are "the American equivalent of suicide bombers." "Equivalent" in what way? Don't ask me, but I will say this: this little comparison doesn't seem to place much emphasis, at any rate, on the suicide part of suicide bombing. Keep working on this one, guys.

Dr. Ismail Zayid tells Kim Peterson "who the Palestinians are"

2011-12-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

More Gingrich fallout: According to Peterson, "Dr. Ismail Zayid, who was born in Palestine, responded to me a few years ago on the topic of who the Palestinians are":

The Palestinian people of today are the direct descendents of the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Jebusites and other Arab tribes that lived in this land, of historic Palestine, since history began . . .

The Israelis are not the original inhabitants of Palestine. They came as invaders. The land of Palestine, because of its geographic location, was exposed, throughout history, to a variety of invaders including the Hebrew tribes, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Turks and the British and finally the Israelis of today. The Hebrew tribes [The Israelites], as invaders have no more legitimate claim to this land than the Greeks, Romans, Turks etc. If conquering invaders, in occupation for a period of time, have any legitimate claim to a territory or country, then the Romans should claim England as their land, and the Arabs should claim Spain as their land, and so on. [...]

Is that a claim that "the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Jebusites" were all Arab? And who does he think got invaded by the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans?

"Message from Iran: Tell All Americans We Love Them" (LoonWatch)

2011-12-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

LoonWatch is a website with a mission: to expose Islamophobia. A current post tries to combat the image of Iran promoted by the "corporate media":

Iran is portrayed in the Western media as a country run by fanatical, bloodthirsty Mullahs, ruling in concert with the often outrageous President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As for the Iranian people, angry mobs are often shown in the streets, burning American flags and shouting “Death to America!”

No wonder it is easy to convince Americans that Iranians are consumed by hatred . . .

The "fanatical, bloodthirsty Mullahs" are presented merely as a projection of "Western Media" and the only thing admitted to be "often outrageous" is Ahmadinjad himself--and not only that, we've transitioned to whole new topic: how ordinary Iranians feel about Americans. They "adore" them, we learn, and this post has the anecdotes to back up that generalization.

OK, but what about those Mullahs? What are they really like, anyway? We learn later

. . .the late Ayatollah Khomeini dubbed America the Great Satan, a term that has been co-opted ever since by Islamophobes determined to portray Iranian leaders as hateful and irrational.

Wait a minute--they aren't "hateful and irrational"? Pay no attention to all those loony and hostile articles at IRIB, ISNA, PressTV, Fars News, and Mehr News? Well, for some reason, we learn that Iranians hate their government anyway. But we shouldn't get carried away:

As much as Iranians despise their current regime and adore Americans on a personal level, they are united in the opposition to foreign intervention. If the US attacks Iran, Iranians will rally around the flag.

And how do the good folks at LoonWatch know this? All that appears necessary to establish the imperative of using nothing but diplomacy on Iran is a Nicholas Kristof editorial. Ah, I thought I saw that "friendly Iranian" meme somewhere before! The folks at LoonWatch appear to be very prolific. By the time you follow the link and look at the rest of this little masterpiece, it will be buried under a whole slew of new posts. Watch out, Loons of the world: you're being watched.

"Muslim Brotherhood to review Camp David treaty" (IRIB-Iran)

2011-12-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Iran is happy and the image accompanying the article somehow conveys their feelings perfectly. Even we imperialist world-arrogance types can appreciate the fact that the tear goes right through the image of Jimmy Carter:

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said that the country's peace treaty with the Zionist regime needs re-evaluation by the country's new parliament, in press remarks by a senior member of the group published Friday.

"A long time has passed since the Camp David accord was signed, and like the other agreements it needs to be reviewed, and this is in the hands of the parliament," said Mahmoud Hussein, the group's secretary-general, according to DPA.

He denied a report saying that the Muslim Brotherhood had reached an understanding with the United States and the Zionist regime on "the importance of safeguarding the peace treaty with Israel." [...]

Another ideologically flawless performance

2011-12-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

Where else but North Korea?

Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, enjoyed a performance given by the art squad of KPA Large Combined Unit 324.

Put on the stage were colorful numbers of diverse genres including female quintet "Glory to Our Great Party", male solo "Tell, the Road of Songun," guitar quintet "At a Breath," drama and chorus "They Are Looking at Us," mixed chorus "Our Army, Our People", female solo "Arirang on Jiansanfeng" and chorus "Song of Defending Country".

The performers represented the invincible might of the powerful revolutionary army of Mt. Paektu which has grown to be a matchless army and the loyalty of the servicepersons of the People's Army serving it with yearning for the Supreme Commander.

They also reflected the ideological and moral traits of the servicepersons of the large combined unit spending days and nights with combat preparations, following the enemies' provocative moves with vigilance.

He expressed great satisfaction over the splendid performance rich in ideological contents and high in artistry with numbers of great cognitional and educational value as they truthfully reflect the inexhaustible mental power and noble moral traits of the KPA dynamically advancing full of optimism and enthusiasm, equipped with transparent outlook on the leader and the revolution. He highly appreciated their successful performance.

He repeatedly praised the performers for their successful presentation, saying he watched the performances of the art squad of the large combined units several times and the one given by it this time was the best. He extended a warm salute to creators and artistes.

He noted the members of the art squad are high in artistic skills and the numbers staged by them are firm in their ideological stand and their contents are good as they are firmly based on the service of the soldiers.

He expressed expectation and conviction that the members of the art squad of the large combined unit would conduct dynamic revolutionary and militant art agitation in the future, too.

So I'm assured of endless blogfodder.

Juan Cole: Palestinians "were mentioned by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians"

2011-12-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Was Gingrich's statement that Palestinians are "invented" actually a clever ruse to make leftists and Palestinians spout nonsense? Here is Juan Cole on the ancient roots of the Palestinians:

Gingrich said that there had never been a Palestinian state in history. If you want to play the romantic nationalist game of finding ancient forebears for modern nations, it would be easy in the case of the Palestinians, who were mentioned by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians. But today’s Palestinians are equally descended from the ancient Canaanites and as well as from the ancient Jews.

The bit about the "Egyptians and Assyrians" involves a trick I've noted before: conflating the modern-day Palestinians with the people who are usually referred to in English as the Philistines. Do the Palestinians really want to be identified with polytheistic enemies of the monotheistic ancient Hebrews? And what is the evidence for the assertion in the sentence about the "ancient Canaanites" and "ancient Hebrews"? Need something to blog about? See the rest of Juan's post for more half-truths and nonsense.

New Iranian computer game--"Attack on Tel Aviv"

2011-12-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

It doesn't actually exist yet if I am following this correctly:

Iranian computer game programmers will soon release "Attack on Tel Aviv" in a retaliatory move against "Battlefield 3" videogame which depicts a US assault on Tehran.

Speaking to FNA on Saturday, Executive-Manager of Iran's National Foundation of Computer Games Behrooz Minaei told FNA that the foundation will fund the project, and announced that many Iranian computer game programmers have voiced preparedness to contribute a role in the project.

Minaei said that Battlefield 3 has many technical and video faults, adding that the location of the game in Tehran is "unacceptable".

He said that Iran has sent letters to the US videogame company, Electronic Arts (EA), and voiced its protest at the latest version of Battlefield, but the opposite side has not yet responded to the letter.

In November, Iran banned the computer game, depicting US amour and aircraft launching an assault on Tehran.

"All computer stores are prohibited from selling this illegal game," Iran's deputy police chief said.

A Tehran-based IT union warned all shops to abide by the ban. [...]

No matter who offends them, the "retaliation" is always against Israel.

PA spokesman lectures Newt Gingrich about "basic historical facts" while spouting ahistorical nonsense

2011-12-10T20:13:00.001-08:00

Gingrich, as you may have heard, referred to the Palestinians as "invented." I try to avoid that sort of rhetoric myself, but this reponse features some nice unintended irony:

"The Palestinian people descended from the Canaanite tribe of the Jebusites that inhabited the ancient site of Jerusalem as early as 3200 B.C.E.," [Fatah Revolutionary Council member Dimitri] Diliani said. The "Gingrich remarks are ignorant of the basic historical facts of the Middle East."

Great News! "Hamas sets up rocket production line in Sinai"

2011-12-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

That didn't take long. From J-Post:

Hamas has established forward bases and rocket production facilities in the Sinai Peninsula in an effort to protect them from Israeli air strikes, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

By establishing the facilities in Egypt, Hamas aims to protect its assets since it believes Israel will not strike targets inside Egypt due to the affect it would have on bilateral relations. [...]

"If the United States' spy drone . . . had been a jet fighter, we would have hit all the US military bases throughout the world" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

But next time, however, "If another US spy plane violates the Iranian airspace, we will give a frightening response to the Americans." There is a bit of bluster to Iran's military rhetoric, isn't there?

If the United States' spy drone that was recently downed by the Iranian Armed Forces in the Eastern parts of the country had been a jet fighter, we would have hit all the US military bases throughout the world, a senior Iranian lawmaker warned on Friday.

"If this had been a fighter jet, the conditions would have been different now as we would have pounded all the US military bases on the planet," Vice-Chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmayeel Kowsari told FNA.

"We have repeatedly said and we caution again that in case our country's borders are violated, we will not confine our response to geographical borders," he added.

Iran has repeatedly warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv. It has also warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormoz.

The MP further said that Iran proved to the world that the US is not an invincible power after it downed the highly sophisticated drone through hacking its systems.

The legislator rapped the international bodies for their silence on the case, and warned, "If another US spy plane violates the Iranian airspace, we will give a frightening response to the Americans."

Iran announced on Sunday that its defense forces had downed the aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack.

The drone is the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program. [...]

"Fatal"? So there won't be a "stealth drone program" any more?

"Iran: Britain will atone for its inappropriate behavior" (ISNA-Iran)

2011-12-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

And, we learn, it has a century of imappropriate behavior to atone for:

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Saturday Britain would atone for its inappropriate behavior towards Iranian nation over last century.

He made the remarks at Tehran international Mehrabad Airport where he was joining the welcoming ceremony for staffs of Iranian embassy in Britain who heft the European country Friday night.

"British officials felt humiliation after Iranian Parliament passed a bill to downgrade relations, so they took a hasty measure to overshadow the bill," he told reporters.

"They want to represent Iran as a threat. They claim that Iran is the element of instability and insecurity in the region. They accuse Iran of terrorist actions."

They prepared the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Chief on Iranian nuclear issue in such a way which raises concerns over Iranian nuclear issue. They are seeking discord between us and other regional countries."

Also deputy ambassador of Iranian embassy in the UK, said, "Iranian embassy staffs left Britain with official British officials' send-off despite all pressures." [...]

"The Jews are the ideas that now prevails everywhere": Conspiracy Theories from the Muslim Brotherhood

2011-12-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

The auto-translation is very garbled in places, but you get the idea. From Ikhwanonline.com:

Jewish conspiracy continues

Unfinished plots Judaism at an end attempts to assassinate the Prophet peace be upon him, but took Liedson and hatching in the dark; They were behind the murder plot Commander of the Faithful Omar ibn al-Khattab, and sedition overwhelming that broke out during the reign of the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan at the hands of Abdullah Ibn Saba the Jew, and then followed it up to broadcast the seeds of strife and discord and conflict, and divide the nation into warring groups; Shias and the Kharijites and Qaramita and others.

Continued Jewish conspiracy in the black covert action through their associations suspicious, all lead to one goal, is to renounce religion and put and call to non-religious; Kalasmaeilih and the Ahmadiyya and the esoteric.

Today causing a treachery by secret societies to undermine Islam; Balmasonah and Rotary Clubs and the Baha'i .. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Mohamed Hussein: "The invitations destructive was wearing a dress of humanity and compassion and love of peace and harmony, they are many; Kalmasonah and communism, spiritual, and call for reconciliation between religions and between Islam and Christianity in particular," they went out to the world slogans glamorous; all lead to the destruction of Islam and destroy it.

And confirms the Sheikh Mohammed Abu Zahra (may Allah have mercy on him) their deception today, saying: "What I thought - as well as more Almason - that their association puppet Zionist purely not only Jewish, seeks the Jews by their influence to restore the glory of Zion, and the meaning of the glory of Zion disarmament of Palestine and its Judaization, a king to the Arabs for three centuries and a half. "

We will not forget their destructive

We will not forget the Jews subversive role in toppling the Islamic Caliphate, and they take off the Sultan Abdul Hamid, was demonstrated on the dimensions of the plot through the recently published diary of Sultan Abdul Hamid, and the emergence of a lot of historical documents and books that show the facts in this conspiracy .. Dr. Mustafa Hilmi: "The collapse of the heralds of which appeared in the last century, and before the announcement of its fall by the movement of the coup members of the Union and Progress (Masonic), and proved that they do not belong to the strain in Turkish, but a mixture of races, religions and nationalities, and staged a coup against the Sultan Abdul Hamid, for refusing to allow the Jews to buy land in Palestine.

Will not forget the destructive role of Jews in the Holy Temple .. Came in an appeal of Ansar al-Palestine Holy directed to the Muslim world to save Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1938: "The Jews demanded that the Grand Mufti to the Holy Land officially hand over Al-Aqsa Mosque and it is permissible for them to transform it a synagogue they live their faith," In the book (the Temple of Solomon) to Joseph Haj states: "The Jews demanding demolition of Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Temple of Solomon and the Wailing Wall, as claimed by the Jews is the wall the rest of the Temple of Solomon, and if we know that this wall is the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque destructive realized the seriousness of their plans.

Will not forget the Jews their subversive today in the fight against Islam on the international level; in the political, economic, social, and dissemination of dissolution to break the immunity of Muslim societies, and was Raúdhm the Jewish Freud; the demolition of ethics such as the demolition of thought and religion, both Jewish Darwin and Marx, then Otbahma Jewish Durkheim; who said that the original communist women, the need for the family!.

And became the Jews do not publish these views in the forums and publishing houses, but possessed direction applied to them; from the exploitation of art, and used as a tool for the pleasures of besmirched, and desires, and become Jews today are running nightclubs and dance halls and brothels, even turning the world into a brothel full of corruption, not to mention Jewish women and their use as wives or mistresses of the leaders of nations and well-known; to know the secrets and racketeering.

The record here, "Jack Whitney," U.S. Senator cries of the facts about what he sees in his country, America; says:

* There is a fear that a converted Jew in America a hundred years, and are more than dreams of Marx.

The Jews are the ideas that now prevails everywhere, and the occupation of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel is a sign of the beginning of the era of non-religious Jews.

* The influence of Jewish finance has been strengthened for ever; terrible strength in order to remain dominant throughout the world.

* If we searched and searched behind the scenes of world politics animated; We found the Zionist stand firm devoid of emotions, do not shake the conscience of him.

* The destruction of nations and destroy religions and atheism offer .. All of these tragedies giant steps on the road to realize the hope of Israel (Book of the false brothers).

The Jews will not forget their role today in the killing of innocent people in Gaza and southern Lebanon, and has shaken shohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifok the permanent slogan of resistance: "Khaybar Khaybar Jews, Muhammad's army .. started back."

The resistance to draw the nation's awakening after a setback, and awakening after a long sleep, in spite of Bush!!, And takes us back memory to the year 1948, was raped Palestine in the absence of Islam, and almost Brigades, the Muslim Brotherhood to remove the shame shameful, and inflicted terror in the hearts of the Jews nerveless; not for allies Jewish corruption of the people who kill Jews Kavúa Imam al-Banna in the February 12, 1949 AD.

Glad to hear "The influence of Jewish finance has been strengthened for ever." Hope that trickles down to me. (Hat Tip: EOZ)

Obama gets that Chanukkah business out of the way

2011-12-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

Two weeks early. The Sufganyot were Pas Yisroel. (h/t: Israel Matzav) Obama expressed "our unshakeable support and commitment to the security of the nation of Israel." I'm not sure how many points this will gain him with Jewish voters, but it shows that Obama thinks ahead when organizing his calendar.

"China, Russia want to inspect downed U.S. drone" (Mehr News-Iran)

2011-12-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

Hows that international isolation going that we've imposed on Iran?

An informed source in the Iranian military has said that Russian and Chinese officials have asked for permission to inspect the U.S. spy drone that was recently downed by the Iranian Armed Forces, Nasimonline.ir reported on Wednesday.

On Sunday, an unidentified Iranian military source said that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic had downed an advanced RQ-170 unmanned U.S. spy plane, which had violated the country’s airspace along the eastern border.

There are unconfirmed reports that Iran may put the drone on public display.

According to the Washington Post, the RQ-170 drone has been used by the CIA for highly sensitive missions into other nations’ airspace, including months of surveillance of the compound in Pakistan in which Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was allegedly hiding before he was killed in an attack by Special Operations forces on May 1, 2011.

On Monday, U.S. military officials said that they are concerned that Tehran may now have an opportunity to acquire information about the classified surveillance drone program, AP reported. [...]

"Fear of Iran Makes US Abort Covert Plan to Retrieve Spy Drone " (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

The drone is dominating Iran's news sites at the moment. Here is one particularly gloating example:

US special forces intended to conduct a covert mission inside Iran to retrieve or destroy a very precious stealth drone that was downed by Iran on Sunday, but ultimately gave up the plan for their fear of Iran's tough response, Washington officials revealed on Thursday.

Iran announced on Sunday that its defense forces had downed the aircraft through a sophisticated cyberattack.

The drone is the first such loss by the US.

Initially, officials in Washington didn't believe Iran had detected and downed the drone, but they later admitted that they had lost it. White House officials first alleged that the drone was not anything special and belonged to the ISAF forces in Afghanistan, but later admitted that the unmanned surveillance plane was a stealth aircraft being used for top secret missions by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The US officials are now trying to convince the world that the aircraft and its systems are not among those technologies which shouldn't have been exposed to Iran, but the western media reported today that the aircraft is so important for the US that they have worked out three operations to retrieve or destroy it.

The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations' air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

US officials unveiled on Thursday that they considered various options for retrieving the RQ-170 Sentinel drone.

US officials considered both sending in a team of American commandos based in Afghanistan as well as using allied agents inside Iran to hunt down the downed aircraft.

Another option would have had a team sneak in to blow up the drone. A third option would have been to destroy the highly sophisticated aircraft with an airstrike.

However, the officials worried that any option for retrieving or destroying the drone would have risked a tough reaction by Iran.

"No one warmed up to the option of recovering it or destroying it because of the potential it could become a larger incident," the US official said according to Wall Street Journal.

If an assault team entered the country to recover or destroy the drone, the official said, the US "could be accused of an act of war" by the Iranian government.

Meantime, the US media are trying to convince the world that the drone has been badly damaged and is not of much use to Tehran, but Iran on Thursday evening released the first images along with thorough explanations about its systems, specifications and the way it was downed by military forces in Eastern Iran. The images and the footages aired by the Iranian state-run TV showed that the stealth aircraft is almost intact and without any major damage.

The Thursday evening images, footage and explanations are available on FNA website (the footage is, of course, only available on our Persian website).

Iranian officials had earlier informed the media that the craft sustained only minor damage.

US intelligence and military officials declined to comment on the specific mission the drone was flying when it was brought down by Iran.

George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, declined to comment on the discussions over options to recover the drone.

US officials claimed that analyzing the materials that contribute to the craft's stealth qualities wouldn't tell Iranian scientists how to manufacture the necessary coatings, but Iran does not need this information as it manufactured a radar evading spy drone with both surveillance and bombing capabilities almost two years ago.

They have already mastered all technology . . .

Assad interviewed by Barbara Walters

2011-12-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

This offers the same propaganda that you can read on his news agency's site, but I suppose there is some morbid curiosity gratification in hearing this played out in an actual conversation with Barbara.

"Berkeley’s Jewish student union says ‘no’ to J Street U" (jweekly.com)

2011-12-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

Good news although much of the article reads like a sympathetic interview with the J-Street types.

"Kim Jong Il's Songun Leadership Feats Praised by British Organization" (Korean News)

2011-12-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Funny how this sounds exactly like everything else at Korean News, isn't it?

The British Association for the Study of Songun Policy on Nov. 19 posted on its Internet homepage article titled "Defending world peace with outstanding Songun leadership" with a photo of leader Kim Jong Il.

World people are praising him as the "great defender of the socialist cause" and "symbol of human cause of peace", the article said, and went on:

The imperialists have resorted to vicious moves such as political and diplomatic pressure, economic blockade and armed blackmail to harm the DPRK.

Tricksters of the U.S. Department of Defense made a Korean war a fait accompli and worked out an operation scenario.

Another war might break out on the Korean Peninsula any moment.

The international community closely watched the DPRK with deep concern.

But for the Songun politics, a war would have broken out long ago on the Korean Peninsula by the imperialist aggressors and humankind would have been plunged into disastrous calamities of world war again.

Kim Jong Il conducted the energetic external activities to defend socialism and world peace.

He visited Russia and China several times in the new century alone. He also met with foreigners who visited the DPRK and gave clear answers to the questions for world peace and security.

It was thanks to his outstanding Songun revolutionary leadership and energetic external activities that all the moves of the imperialists against independence and peace have been checked and frustrated.

Justice and peace are being protected in the international arena and the human cause of independence is dynamically advancing thanks to the peerless Songun brilliant commander.

"Analysts Warn of Astronomical Prices for Oil if West Takes Action against Iran" (Fars News-Iran)

2011-12-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

This doesn't seem to have actually been produced by Fars News. It looks as if they just lifted it from somewhere:

Pimco warned investors that any military action against Iran over its nuclear program could lead to sudden "all-time high" oil prices.

Greg Sharenow, portfolio manager at the group, said markets are more vulnerable to significant price spikes should a new supply disruption occur than during the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait or the 1980 Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

The price of Brent crude oil already hit year-to-date highs of more than $120 per barrel in April before falling to roughly $100 by October. However, in October and November it gained roughly 8 per cent and as at December 1 was up to $110.

Sharenow said in a note, "Any event could pose a formidable risk to the global economy, e.g. a real supply disruption scenario would require higher prices to lower demand in order to balance the market. This could come at a time when the global economy, or at least the developed world, is facing fiscal headwinds and limits on monetary policy."

The manager said he was also concerned about supply disruption as there is currently less of a surplus than normal, with inventories falling below the five-year average for the first time since 2008. "While Saudi Arabia will likely respond by boosting output, we estimate excess capacity is unlikely to be much higher than 1.5m barrels a day," he said.

Sharenow said potential scenarios for an oil price surge range from exports being minimally disrupted, with oil spiking to $130-$140 per barrel, through to Iranian exports being lost for half a year, leading prices to rally and average $150 for the six months with "notable spikes" above that level.

Yet, market analysts and traders are seeing a shocking $200 to $300 per barrel for first few weeks of military action against Iran and a complete disruption of Iranian oil.

Robert Jukes, global strategist for Collins Stewart Wealth Management, said he was focusing more on the macroeconomic environment, including the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

He said, "Ultimately short term spikes are possible as the situation is volatile and the oil price has been bubbling up on these tensions. But the bigger picture is the macro backdrop, which is deflationary."