Four Palestinian organizations threatened Sunday to launch attacks on US targets in response to what they said was America’s “support of the Israeli crimes and massacres, the last of which occurred in Beit Hanoun.”
The organizations slammed the US’s decision to veto the Arab proposal calling on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send a delegation to the Middle East to probe the deadly IDF shelling in Gaza, which left 19 Palestinians dead.
A statement was signed by the Popular Resistance Committees, the Al-Aqsa Brigades (Fatah’s armed wing), the Fatah-affiliated Abu Rish Brigades, and another Islamic group who’s name has recently surfaced – the Tawahid Brigades.
The groups warn the United States that its policy is making it “a legitimate target for Palestinian organizations and any Muslim or Palestinian around the world.” [...]
[Spokesman for the Resistance Committees] Abd-el Aal said that the Palestinians have so far been overly patient towards the Americans and their policies, "but the recent American behavior and its support of the Israeli massacre has not left us no choice, this is why we will make sure they will taste and drink from the plate they feed us. We are calling on all Muslims around the world to hurt Americans wherever they may be. This is a new era."
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Post-election do threats now work against America?
This Ynet.com article does not draw that connection specifically, but it can hardy be said that terrorists have failed to note the left's rhetoric concerning America's relationship with Israel and the war on terror. The quoted spokesthug refers to "a new era." Well, what exactly is "new" at the present?
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Ramattan News Agency: "PM Haniyeh cites 'assassination of Arafat' to prove Israel’s extremism"
LGF currently has a post about an award given to a photographer for this news agency. I'm always interested in new Arab news agencies, so I looked around the site. They seem currently to be occupied with the idea that whatever was in the no-man's land of Arafat's bloodstream was Israeli in origin:
September 11 was not only a day for the Palestinians to commemorate the death of Late president Yasser Arafat, but was also an opportunity to be seized by Palestinian politicians to highlight to which extent the Palestinian symbol’s peaceful policy bore fruit.Arafat? Terrorism? Who would think of such a thing?
In a speech he directed to the Palestinian people, in the commemoration of Arafat’s death, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh lambasted the Israeli “hostile polices against the Palestinians” providing an example of the “belligerent attitudes” against the Palestinian peacemaker, who singed Oslo Accord in the hope of ending a 45 years of bloody conflicts between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
“The late president offered a lot for peace and stability in the region, but the result was that Israel besieged and poisoned him,” Haniyeh said. “Therefore, the problem is not with the Palestinians or the Palestinian government but with the Israeli polices,” he added.
The commemoration of Arafat set a comparison between the Israeli polices towards the Palestinian Authority before and after Hamas’s ascension to power. The spokesman of the Palestinian government Ghazi Hamad, said in a press release today: “There is no denying that the course of life of [late] president Arafat proved unquestionably that Israel does not seek peace; it seeks hegemony, picking wars and spreading depredation.”
“Arafat had come a long way negotiating with Israel, and singed agreements, however, they [the Israelis] ungratefully did him down and accused him of terrorism,” said Hamad.
These remarks were the oft-repeated motif of Hamas’s campaign pitch to the Palestinian voters – during the general elections at the begging of this year – and which swayed many voters who once believed in Fatah’s peaceful policy which recognized Israel and renounced violence.
Jewish News of Northern California: "New House leadership may breathe life into Jewish domestic concerns"
This article is one of several that appears in the Jewish News under the heading "Jewish Victory." What are Jewish "domestic concerns"? After some discussion of who supports Israel, we read the following:
There are, however, some likely incoming committee chairmen who spark concern on certain issues, primarily because of their opposition to Israel’s settlement policy. At the same time, these lawmakers often see eye-to-eye with the Jewish communal agenda on domestic issues . . .A "comprehensive approach" means amnesty, I suppose. I am not the most gung-ho conservative that ever lived on the subject of immigration, but it is hard to see what is "Jewish" about these "domestic concerns" other than liberalism.
On the domestic front, some Jewish organizational leaders expressed optimism about focusing on longtime domestic priorities.
“One of the first pieces I expect them to bring up is a clean increase of the minimum wage,” said Hadar Susskind, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. By clean, he meant the bill would not be lumped in with other Republican-sponsored tax-cut initiatives.
The initiative would be led by Conyers. Conyers’ committee is also expected to play a large role in the continuing debate over immigration debate. Jewish groups and their allies have had a hard time pushing comprehensive immigration reform in recent years, due to strong opposition from House Republican leaders.
Susskind said he believes an immigration deal could be worked through the Senate if it passes the House.
“We’re now in a situation where the House will be putting forward a more comprehensive approach, and the Senate has to work with that,” he said. “That’s a whole different situation.”
Hizbullah flexes its political muscles
From CNN:
Five Shiite ministers resigned from Lebanon's Cabinet on Saturday after talks about giving the Hezbollah party more power collapsed, according to party spokesmen.Can't have any fingers pointing at Syria, now, can we?
The withdrawal of three ministers from Hezbollah and two from the largely Shiite Amal movement does not topple the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora but it makes it more difficult for Siniora to govern.
Hezbollah has threatened to stage street protests to bring down Siniora's government unless a new unity administration is formed.
The threat prompted leaders of the major Lebanese parties to hold talks over the past week.
Lebanese government sources told CNN earlier Saturday that those talks collapsed.
Hezbollah has sought to control at least a third of the Cabinet, which would give it a veto on any decisions.
One measure Hezbollah wants to veto is a statute approving an international tribunal that would try those accused of involvement in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005.
IRIB: "Arafat poisoned by Zionists"
As the Gemara says, "The wicked are called dead even while alive":
The personal advisor of former head of Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, in the second anniversary of his death, revealed that Arafat was killed by 'Israeli' poison.Related.
Al-Arabiya TV network qouted Bassam Abu Sharif, who was Arafat's advisor for 15 years, as saying that he had warned Arafat verbally and in writing about Zionist regim's attempts to poison him.
In a formal letter to Arafat, Abu Sharif had stressed that based on reliable informations, the Zionist regime was trying to lace Arafat's food, drinking water or medicine with poison.
Elton John "would ban religion completely"
From the AP via Boston.com:
"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."Of course, governments that "ban religion completely" usually end up murdering huge numbers of their own citizens. It has something to do with the absence of a religious idea called "Thou shalt not kill." The chances of an Elton John realizing this are miniscule, no doubt--he's just a rocket man.
"But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," he said. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."
John also criticized religious leaders for failing to do anything about conflicts around the world.
"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together?"
John said those in his own field have been similarly lax.
"It's like the peace movement in the '60s. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts, but we don't seem to do them any more," he said. "If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."
Friday, November 10, 2006
IRIB: "Toy bomb blast kills 5 Pak children"--that's what it says . . .
Could that mean a real bomb that was being used as a toy? Who knows:
At least five school children were killed when a toy bomb, they were playing, exploded in Pakistan's administered Kashmir, TV channels reported.Update: A site called newKerala.com describes it as a "toy-shaped bomb." Wow.
The blast took place when the children found the device in farms near their school in Neelam valley, near the line of control (LOC), which divides Pakistan and India in the disputed Kashmir region, TV channels reported.
Three sisters are among those killed in the blast.
According to the report the girls were injured in the blast, who later died in a military hospital in the region.
Witnesses said they saw Pakistani soldiers searching the farms to find any such devices.
Newsmax: "Britain Tracking 1,600 Terrorists"
A swamp in need of draining:
British authorities are tracking almost 30 terrorist plots involving 1,600 individuals, the head of the country's MI5 spy agency said, warning that young British Muslims are at risk of being radicalized by extremists.
More than a year after the suicide attacks on London's transit system, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller predicted the fight against terrorism would last a generation.
"It is a sustained campaign, not a series of isolated incidents," she said in a speech to a small audience of academics Thursday, according to a transcript released by the spy agency on Friday. "Radicalizing elements within communities are trying to exploit grievances for terrorist purposes."
"It is the youth who are being actively targeted, groomed, radicalized and set on a path that frighteningly quickly could end in their involvement in mass murder of their fellow U.K. citizens, or their early death in a suicide attack or on a foreign battlefield," she said.
Manningham-Buller said MI5 had foiled five major plots since the July 2005 transit bomb attacks in London, which killed 52 commuters and the four suicide bombers.
Officials are also "aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy," she said. "What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 that we currently know of." [...]
Manningham-Buller, who has headed MI5 since 2002, warned that radicalization, especially of young people, was one of the biggest problems facing anti-terror investigators. Three of the four men who attacked three London subways and a red double-decker bus on July 7, 2005, were British-born.
"More and more people are moving from passive sympathy towards active terrorism through being radicalized or indoctrinated by friends, families, in organized training events here and overseas, by images on television, through chat rooms and Web sites on the internet," she said.
MENL: "PA Officers behind kidnapping"
Thugs playing musical chairs basically:
Officers of Palestinian Authority security services were said to play a major role in the spate of abductions of Westerners in the Gaza Strip.
Officials said an Interior Ministry investigation concluded that members of the security services targeted and participated in recent kidnappings. They said several officers have already been arrested.
"There has been a commitment to crack down on abductions, which have prevented foreign investment with the PA," an official said.
Over the past six months, at least three Western journalists have been abducted in the Gaza Strip. Over the last few weeks, the threat of abduction has spread to the West Bank.
Reuters: "Al Qaeda gloats over Rumsfeld"
That headline is well-put. I didn't think Reuters had it in them:
A purported audio recording by the leader of Iraq's al Qaeda wing gloated over the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as a top U.S. general said the military was preparing to recommend strategy changes.
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in the recording posted on the Internet on Friday that the group had 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be equipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defense minister...stay on the battle ground," he said.
He said his group would not rest until it had blown up the presidential mansion in Washington.
"I swear by God we shall not rest from jihad until we...blow up the filthiest house known as the White House," the voice on the recording said. [...]
WorldNetDaily: "U.S. Jewish Groups Refuse Aid to Gush Katif Refugees"
And the bad news related to the Gaza withdrawal continues:
Mainstream American Jewish groups largely have refused to aid the thousands of Jews evacuated last summer from the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom, fifteen months later, are unemployed, and none of whom received permanent housing promised by the Israeli government, WND has learned.
The former Gaza residents have appealed for help multiple times to major Jewish organizations in the U.S. but say they were mostly rejected.
Meanwhile, the U.S. groups, most of which supported Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, raised over $300 million for northern Israeli communities battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in July and August, including large sums of money for Arab villages.
Also, the American organizations recently initiated a major task force to raise money for underprivileged Israeli Arabs.
"With few exceptions, we have received almost no help from the mainstream Jewish American groups, which grant billions of dollars per year," said Dror Vanunu, a former Gaza resident and the international coordinator for Friends of Gush Katif, a major nonprofit organization representing the Gaza Jewish refugees.
Vanunu said the U.S. Jewish groups "supported the Gaza withdrawal, telling Americans it would help bring peace. They see us in a political light, but it shouldn't be this way. There are now thousands of Jews who are without permanent homes and whose children are having major problems.
"We are a humanitarian case, not political. Where is the Jewish brotherhood? The people who say they will not allow Jews to be in need? We are expecting them to become deeply involved in the restoration of our lives and hope they respond," Vanunu said.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
"setting off a raging storm of great leap"
You know what this is from:
Rodong Sinmun Thursday editorially calls for ever higher display of the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance in all fields and at all units for the purpose of making a new leap in the building of a great prosperous powerful nation and successfully closing the drive for this year. Self-reliance is the traditional fighting morale and mighty mode of revolution of the Korean people advancing under the uplifted banner of the Juche idea, declares the editorial, and continues:"The way out"? That's an odd bit of frankness, isn't it? I mean, after "ever greater" this and "ever higher" that and an endless succession of "undying feats," you aren't supposed to be looking for a "way out," are you?
It is noble truth substantiated by the prolonged struggle of the Korean people for socialism that only self-reliance is the way out and the road of eternal victory and prosperity.
There can be no slightest vacillation in the stand and will of the people of the DPRK to make the revolution to the end with confidence in their strength, no matter how the world may change and what grim test may face them in the way of their struggle.
If the vast plan of the Workers' Party of Korea for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation is to be carried out successfully at an earlier date, production and construction must be pushed ahead vigorously under the uplifted slogan of self-reliance.
The drive for this year proves that strength of the DPRK built up under the banner of Songun is inexhaustible and there is nothing impossible and a higher leap can be brought, should all the people turn out with rare resolution and give fullest scope to the might of the economic foundation of the country.
The U.S. imperialists are getting more desperate in their moves to stifle Korean-style socialism which is advancing under the banner of Songun held aloft. The most powerful weapon for smashing the dastardly anti-DPRK maneuvers of the enemy is close single-minded unity around the headquarters of the revolution and the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance. The people of the DPRK should powerfully display the independent dignity of Songun Korea and the spirit of great strength and prosperity by resolutely foiling the enemy's moves with the revolutionary strategy of self-reliance and setting off a raging storm of great leap.
IRNA: "Supreme Leader: Control of world developments by Zionists, a threat"
IRNA seems to the most official of Iran's various government-controlled news agencies:
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said here Thursday that changes in human communities are unavoidable adding that control of world developments by the Zionists and global capitalism is a serious threat.
The Supreme Leader made the remarks at a public gathering in this northeastern provincial capital on the second day of his three-day visit to the province.
"The international bullying gangs, which developed the military apparatus of NATO to have hegemony over nations, are now determined to make NATO's cultural apparatus annihilate the national identity of human communities and achieve their goals.
"They intend to control the major political, economic, social and cultural developments in the world by using their extensive media facilities," said Ayatollah Khamenei, while urging the need for vigilance.
Ayatollah Khamenei called for renovation, open-mindedness and proper management as a way to advancement.
"The criteria of progress will be effective in the process of real changes and advancement, if they are used based on the basic characteristics of our national identity and principal ideals.
"Otherwise, the growing indices and criteria of progress commonly used by some apparently developed Western countries will practically result in injustice, bullying by other nations, proliferation and use of destructive weapons such as atomic bomb, promotion of ethical corruption as well as disruption of family and social relations," said Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Supreme Leader added that the progress to be achieved based on such criteria is rejected by the Iranian nation.
Ayatollah borrows Kim Jong Il's speechwriter again
The Fars News article abut this speech, made in a universiy setting, is entitled "Supreme Leader Urges Rule of Elite." This excerpt is from IRIB:
Ayatollah Khamenei affirmed that the traits of the student community mainly as its enthusiasm, abundant talent, wishing for progress, hopes in future and readiness for work bode well, urging the students to unite those traits with awareness about the path to national aspirations, planning, prudence, unwavering efforts and bewaring not to miss targets until the path to heights of progress is covered . . .Speaking of Kim Jong Il.
Ayatollah Khamenei promoted a receptive attitude towards any change for better and avoiding stagnancy, adding change for better is rather than anarchism, ferment, and destructuralization while stagnancy differs from social stability, and what constitutes the target is a stable but not stagnant society that experiences quick but accurate changes.
Ayatollah Khamenei reckoned that there are several requirements to bring progressive changes about, mainly as preserving origins, avoiding destructuralization, honoring national identity, keeping hope in future, liveliness, maintaining a receptive attitude towards criticism, promotion of competitiveness, planning and opting for an accurate policy . . .
Ayatollah Khamenei then warned about a big threat posed by the dominance of Zionism and global capitalism over the world developments, adding international networks of money and force which formed NATO military organization to grab dominance over the nations' wealth are now bent on forming a cultural NATO in which to adopt multifaceted media capacities to take hold of socio-cultural and politico-economic developments of nations to further promote their goals and destroy national identity of human communities.Ayatollah Khamenei underlined vigilance in this regard.
Lileks on the election
The funniest post-election wrap-up so far, much funnier than Coulter's. Lileks observes, "Democrats ran on a two-plank platform: not mentioning the taxes they would raise, and promising to lose the war faster than Bush." Here are the final paragraphs (registration required):
At the end of the day, some pundits detect a sea change: Jesusland has come to its senses and become Rosie O'Streisandland. Fear has given way to Love. The great unspoken national sympathy for the Dixie Chicks has finally asserted itself. Coast to coast, state by state, people are waking from the long national nightmare and deciding that we're undertaxed, underaborted, under-regulated, underindicted and something else, about Katrina — underlevied, perhaps? We're certainly overmacaca'd. No one really knows what "macaca" means, but it's the mysteries that give life its sweet allure.(Hat Tip: Lucianne.com)
What matters are the lessons each party learns. The Democrats might look at themselves in the mirror and ask: Is it possible the voters just wanted that old standby, change? They weren't necessarily voting for slinking out of Iranam — sorry, Vietnaq — sorry, whatever, that messy hot country somewhere. Maybe they weren't voting to put the nation's business on hold while we hold hearings over the quality of French intelligence in 2003?
Likewise, the Republicans might peer at the pale, drawn face in the glass and wonder: Could this be more than an ill-tempered blurt of disaffection over our spending, our nonchalance toward the issues that motivate the base, our institutional complacency? Might it also reflect our failure to correctly define the enemy, choosing to wage a war on "terror" instead of the states and cultures that support it? And the face in the mirror will probably say: NAAAAAHH.
See? Consensus already. It's going to be a great Congress!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
(North) Korean News: "Rodong Sinmun on Ideological and Moral Source of Korean People's Patriotism"
I don't know if any Juche sentence especially stands out from this one. It's all equally Juche:
Rodong Sinmun today carries a signed article dealing with the patriotic enthusiasm and devotion given ever fuller play by the Korean people. Reflected in the fresh innovative successes gained in all fields and at all units in succession are the unshakable faith and will of the officials and working people of the DPRK to do more work with increasing zeal to build a great prosperous powerful nation at an early date, finding their happiness in the prosperity of the country, the author of the article notes, and goes on:Whew! I have to catch my breath after that one.
The ardent patriotism of the army and the people of the DPRK is based, above all, on the iron faith that they would surely emerge victorious as long as they are led by Kim Jong Il, the brilliant Songun commander of Mt. Paektu.
Through the experience gained from the long practical life, the Korean people have made it their faith that all the plans and intentions of Kim Jong Il for the people signify practice, science and reality.
Witnessing the magnificent reality that the looks of mountains and rivers are changing according to the grand blueprint for building a great prosperous powerful nation spread by Kim Jong Il, the Korean people keenly feel the worthy fruits of their tireless efforts and harden their faith that happiness is in store on the road indicated by him. The ardent patriotism of the army and people of the DPRK comes from the conviction and pride in their immeasurable creative power with which they can carry into effect whatever plan unfolded by the Workers' Party of Korea.
Confidence in their strength and wisdom is what fills the hearts of the army and people of the DPRK who have turned out in the general march for a decisive victory in the building of a great prosperous powerful nation. The unshaken pluck and high enthusiasm of the multitudes of the army and the people confident that they can surely build a great prosperous powerful country by their own efforts in the near future is based on the absolute belief that they can certainly do anything when they follow the Party's policy, and on the creative view, pluck and fighting spirit they have gained under the care of the great master of the creation and construction of the century, the great teacher.
Multitudes of the army and the people, helping and leading each other along in one body, are carrying out gigantic undertakings. A new period of prosperity in the building of a prosperous powerful country is being unfolded in all spheres and fields by the creative power of army-people unity and the might of revolutionary soldier spirit.
More election analysis: Mehr News thinks voters "frustrated" by "White House’s support for the Zionist regime’s aggressive policies"
They're pleased, needless to say:
U.S. citizens went to the polls on Tuesday to elect 435 representatives, 33 senators, and 36 governors, and the votes are nearly all counted now.A little wishful thinking there!
Democrats took control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.
The results from California and Washington indicate that the Democrats have actually polled more votes, despite the fact that the Republicans had done well in those states in recent years.
In fact, the Iraq war was the decisive factor in the United States’ midterm congressional elections, which some Arab political analysts have called the “Iraqi congressional elections”.
During the electoral campaigns, Democrats underlined the need for a vote for change, while the Republicans were still insisting on “staying the course” in the so-called campaign against global terrorism.
With the loss of the House, the Republicans will no longer have a free hand in formulating and implementing foreign policy. The loss also bodes ill for their prospects in future elections, especially the 2008 presidential election.
George W. Bush’s failure to establish security in Iraq, the White House’s support for the Zionist regime’s aggressive policies against the Lebanese and Palestinian nations, and the Republicans’ failure to properly handle the ominous phenomenon of terrorism have all frustrated U.S. voters.
"Stones and Trees" Hadith Watch
From a current reader's comment on Islam Online:
There is a Hadith, where prophet Mohammed (SAW) said a time will come when Jews will hide behind stones, the stones will shout and point out that Jews are hiding behind them.Here is a fuller version from the Hamas Charter:
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).
Further thoughts on the election
I think people are now going to see that we really had a fairly a lively interplay between the two parties up until now. The Democrats don't have a big enough majority in congress to force the advance of their agenda, which is the situation the Republicans were in before the election. Republican "control of all three branches of government" was always a myth. Slight preponderance yes, "control" no. We are now in for a nastier version of the gridlock we had previously.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Mehr News: "Ahmadinejad calls for transparent and enthusiastic elections"
In the Islamic Republic, that is . . .
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad emphasized the need to hold legal, transparent, and enthusiastic elections, here on Tuesday.Meanwhile, according to Iran Focus:
In the Islamic Republic of Iran votes are really determining, Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with members of the nationwide election inspection board.
In certain states that claim to be democratic, crucial decisions are made in “factional hiding places” outside the people’s sight, he stated.
However, in Iran it is the decision and preference of the people that are realized and in fact people are the system’s strongest powerbase, he said, adding, “The power of the authorities emanates from people’s participation in the political arena.”
“The Islamic Republic is the only system in which every major official is elected through people’s direct vote with not any, or only one, mediator,” Ahmadinejad noted.
Neither the law nor the religion allows decision making on behalf of the people, and those responsible for holding the elections should be the people’s trustees, he observed.
The president urged the candidates to respect their rivals and to only publicize their qualifications while avoiding Western methods such as mudslinging and character assassination.
Iran ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries in an annual report issued by an international corruption watchdog.
Transparency International listed Iran at 105th place out of 163 in its 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released Monday.
The theocratic regime scored 2.7 on the zero-to-10 scale, with zero indicating the highest level of perceived corruption.
Iran ranked at 88th place in Transparency International’s 2005 CPI.
OK, bigmouths, you got what you wanted. I want Nancy to go personally to Pakistan and capture Bin Laden
Here is Nancy's program, from HuffPo:
If you honor Democratic candidates with your vote today, in the first hundred hours of a Democratic Congress: We will restore civility, integrity, and fiscal responsibility to the House of Representatives. We will start by cleaning up Congress, breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending.What about Bin Laden? I thought they were the party of catching Bin Laden. Doesn't Bin Laden have repeated nightmares in which he is chased by a giant infidel donkey? Backsliders!
We will make our nation safer and we will begin by implementing the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission.
We will make our economy fairer, and we will begin by raising the minimum wage. We will not pass a pay raise for Congress until there is an increase in the minimum wage.
We will make health care more affordable for all Americans, and we will begin by fixing the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices. We will also promote stem cell research to offer real hope to the millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases.
We will broaden college opportunity, and we will begin by cutting interest rates for student loans in half.
We will energize America by achieving energy independence, and we will begin by rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies for Big Oil.
We will guarantee a dignified retirement, and we will begin by fighting any attempt to privatize Social Security.
Monday, November 06, 2006
NY Times: "New York Plans to Make Gender Personal Choice"
Strange times we live in:
Separating anatomy from what it means to be a man or a woman, New York City is moving forward with a plan to let people alter the sex on their birth certificate even if they have not had sex-change surgery."Potent" and "muscular" are interesting words to use.
Under the rule being considered by the city’s Board of Health, which is likely to be adopted soon, people born in the city would be able to change the documented sex on their birth certificates by providing affidavits from a doctor and a mental health professional laying out why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex, and asserting that their proposed change would be permanent.
Applicants would have to have changed their name and shown that they had lived in their adopted gender for at least two years, but there would be no explicit medical requirements.
“Surgery versus nonsurgery can be arbitrary,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner. “Somebody with a beard may have had breast-implant surgery. It’s the permanence of the transition that matters most.”
If approved, the new rule would put New York at the forefront of efforts to redefine gender. A handful of states do not require surgery for such birth certificate changes, but in some of those cases patients are still not allowed to make the change without showing a physiological shift to the opposite gender.
In New York, the proposed change comes after four years of discussion among health officials, an eight-member panel of transgender experts and vital records offices nationwide. It is an outgrowth of the transgender community’s push to recognize that some people may not have money to get a sex-change operation, while others may not feel the need to undergo the procedure and are simply defining themselves as members of the opposite sex. While it may be a radical notion elsewhere, New York City has often tolerated such blurring of the lines of gender identity.
And the proposal reflects how the transgender movement has become politically potent beyond its small numbers, having roots in the muscular politics of the city’s gay rights movement.
Transgender advocates consider the New York proposal an overdue bulwark against discrimination that recognizes an emerging shift away from viewing gender as simply the sum of one’s physical parts. But some psychiatrists and doctors are skeptical of the move, saying sexual self-definition should stop at rewriting medical history.(Hat Tip: Lucianne.com)
. . . some psychiatrists said that eliminating identification difficulties for some transgender people also opened the door to unwelcome advances from imposters.
“I’ve already heard of a ‘transgendered’ man who claimed at work to be ‘a woman in a man’s body but a lesbian’ and who had to be expelled from the ladies’ restroom because he was propositioning women there,” Dr. Paul McHugh, a member of the President’s Council of Bioethics and chairman of the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University, wrote in an e-mail message on the subject. “He saw this as a great injustice in that his behavior was justified in his mind by the idea that the categories he claimed for himself were all ‘official’ and had legal rights attached to them.”
Vote Republican Tomorrow
The following from RealClearPolitics sums it up very well:
No one who follows politics even a little could imagine that the America of Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, and Nancy Pelosi would look anything like Ronald Reagan's America.See also this and this.
Yet, shockingly, this election hangs in the balance because many conservatives don't think it's worth coming out to vote. Races across the country will turn on who goes to the polls and who stays home. Conservatives should flock to the polls to protect Reagan's legacy.
Instead, Reagan's name and memory are invoked as excuses for apathy. Some conservatives are piqued that President Bush and congressional Republicans have not been true enough to the Reagan vision, accusing them of tacking before the wind on trade and spending and campaign funding, not doing enough to put God back in our schools, succumbing to the corruption of power. Conservatives, echoing the media, moan that the war in Iraq seems endless, unpopular, and un-winnable. Conservatives speak of teaching their leaders a lesson.
This is not the time. This is not the way. Because on every issue conservatives care about, giving power to Democrats will make things worse.
"Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv"
From JPost.com:
Schoolgirls marched and shopkeepers closed down their stores in Jenin on Monday in protest at the death sentence handed down against Saddam Hussein by a Baghdad court which found him guilty of crimes against humanity.He used to give money to the families of suicide bombers also. JPost is getting to be as bad as Reuters.
Carrying pictures of Saddam, about 250 girls from seven to 13 years old paraded through the town's refugee camp, chanting "Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," the same slogan shouted by jubilant Palestinians when Iraqi rockets slammed into Israel during the 1991 Gulf War - before the marchers were born.
Under Saddam's rule Iraq donated $25,000 per household for Jenin residents to rebuild homes destroyed in a 2002 Israeli military offensive there.
In the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, masked gunmen from a previously unknown group calling itself Arafat's Army threatened reprisals against foreign citizens in the Palestinian territories if the sentence against Saddam is carried out.There's a difference?
"We warn the American administration and its collaborators not to hurt Saddam Hussein because ... we will target all foreigners, especially the Americans and their British supporters," one of the men said, without giving his name. "We warn all foreigners in the Gaza Strip, especially the Americans, that they will be kidnapped and killed in front of witnesses."
In recent weeks several journalists and other foreigners have been kidnapped in Gaza, most of them by criminal elements and disgruntled government workers.
They were all released unharmed.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Falasteen: "The execution of Saddam Hussein"
The venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure Elder of Ziyon has lately been using the autotranslation tools now available on the internet to explore the articles on Arabic websites--with good results. Since I like to post items from the Arab and Muslim press, I have been doing some experimenting to try to follow his lead. I have now learned that SANA is as boring in Arabic as it is in English, and some other things as well, and I think the following is an interesting Palestinian response to Saddam Hussein's death-sentence. I am only posting one paragraph because the auto-translated English is bound to get annoying after a while, but here goes:
No matter how we disagree on this personal attractive Saddam Hussein remains a symbol of steadfastness and challenge each Arab missing, that cry of history in the face of injustice and tyranny man has sacrificed the most cherished ideals in order to live the trial of Saddam Hussein and are all honorable Arabs and the execution of Saddam is the execution of the right and freedom, steadfastness and message each Arab rulers who are making them American Chamber pen and put them inside and all of the leaves of this constituency is executed or liquidated by painter who paints for us and for our future. this trial and this government is not only an art of the art of modern democracy, which does not serve the interests only of Western foreign and a lethal weapon against the rulers of the Arab regimes. and to all the honorable say that Saddam was a symbol Arabs had was the script after Yasser Arafat and Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and all of it and the issue of land, If Saddam had not been printed issue of its relationship with Israel and to become American and Israel servant Secretary to the security of Israel is in Naim allowance, which is a loss.
Solomonia on Nadia Abu el-Haj
Martin Kramer comments "Another Saidista . . . goes for tenure at Columbia."
IRIB: "Saddam to be hung, America escapes"
I think we have a Juche sentence of the day:
Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday by a court in Iraq, terminating the case of a callous ruller who had several high-profile war crimes notably the imposed war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman ordered bailiffs at the high tribunal to force Saddam to stand before the court as, visibly trembling, the former strongman attempted to shout down the verdict.
"Make him stand," proclaimed Rahman.
"The highest penalty should be implemented," Rahman declared.
Saddam's death sentence only addressed his role in ordering the deaths of 148 Shiites in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad.
Saddam's half-brother and intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti was also sentenced to death, as was Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, who was convicted as the President of the court which ordered the Shiites executed.
The former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan received a life sentence, while three Baath party officials from Dujail received 15 years each and a fourth, more junior figure, was cleared.
The verdict seen by many as a propaganda push timed to inspire more votes for George W. Bush whose party licks wounds of failed schams in Iraq wrapped a breathtaking moment of possible dock for the country's flagrant support to the criminal Saddam.
Haveil Havalim 92 is up!
Haveil Havalim is the Jewish blog-carnival, and it is hosted this week by Yehuda at Jerusalem Board Games. Incidentally, there is a blog devoted to Blog Carnival Listings. You can use it to submit your posts to HH and any other blog-carnival that strikes your fancy. I submitted a post to the most-recent Carnival of the Capitalists, for instance, and they were nice enough to link to it. Many of the Blog Carnivals out there seem very specialized. I wonder if there are some good Blog Carnivals that have yet to be invented.
Sky News: "Saddam Hussein To Hang"
This is good news, but is this a sympathetic article? Is the reporter sure the emotion on his face was "disgust"?
Angry, shaking and defiant, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death this morning by hanging for ordering the massacre of Iraqi civilians.
"Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) and "Long live the nation!", he shouted, pointing defiantly at the judge as the verdict was delivered.
Looking away in disgust, and then staring angrily back at the judge he continued to shout "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!"
He had refused to stand for the verdict and had to be lifted to his feet by two court bailiffs.
"Make him stand," the judge ordered as the former president stayed seated.
He then stood in silence and waited for his fate to be announced to the world.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Dar Al Hayat: "Hezbollah, A Superpower…Domestically!"
Very interesting:
Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, during his interview with Al-Manar Television Tuesday night, repeated his claim that Lebanon had turned into an important regional power after the victory of the Resistance in the face of the Israeli war on Lebanon in July and August. He said in his speech at the Victory Festival on September 22 that Lebanon had turned into a regional superpower after its success at putting the breaks on one of the most powerful armies present, that is, the Israeli army, thanks to the losses inflicted in its ranks by the Resistance.
The fact is, and this is indisputable, that by achieving these results in the face of Israel, the Resistance gave an example of how Israel can be defeated, contrary to the slackening and submission of the Arabs in the face of Israel, as a result of their repeated defeats in their wars with Israel. Of course, this is in almost complete harmony with what the US wants from the Arabs in their long-standing conflict with what is an alien entity in the region.
This fact is reflected in that, at the very least, Hezbollah achieved something positive despite the tremendous losses to the party and to the country. This is undeniable, even by those who tend to only talk about the major losses brought on by Hezbollah in this war. That is, the incalculable damage that struck Lebanon, which many describe as a cataclysmic disaster.
Perhaps this is what takes us toward understanding the meaning of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had to say: Lebanon has become a regional superpower, since pride among the Resistance fighters and the Arab and Lebanese citizenry makes such a conclusion natural. They have every right to be proud of the Resistance's ability to defeat Israel. This is particularly true if factor the tremendous popularity Nasrallah has come to enjoy from the Atlantic to the Gulf. He has become the primary symbol of steadfastness against the demeaning policies pursued by the US and Israel against the Arabs. This definitely reinforces the sense of grandness with the victory that was achieved.
But it is also certain that Sayyed Nasrallah used this expression, "Lebanon is a regional superpower", in the metaphorical sense. It was intended to highlight the importance of the victory over Israel in the face of those who downplay the importance of the sacrifices made by the party and the ill effects left by the enemy on the country. He realizes that the specifications of being a superpower differ from the specifications enjoyed by the State of Lebanon. These specifications, starting with the economy and history, include the factors of culture and scientific capability and social structure, before ending in military capabilities. Lebanon is a fragile State, despite its people's exceptional dynamism, and despite the conviction of its Arab neighbors for the need to continue supporting Lebanon so that it does not to fall. Despite this, the fact is that one of the factors of its fragility, its diversity, was one of the very factors that maintained the legitimacy of the Resistance and allowed Hezbollah to continue to bear arms, specifically to spare the Lebanese mosaic from cracking.
More appropriately, it should be said that it is Hezbollah that is a regional superpower, not Lebanon. The party is more coherent and united at the cultural, scientific, military, political, and even financial levels than the Lebanese State, not to mention its alliance with a country that can truly be described as a regional superpower, Iran, and with a pivotal Arab country in the region, Syria. This becomes even truer if you take into account its regional achievements against Israel.
In his interview with Al-Manar, the Secretary General of Hezbollah transferred the state of being a regional superpower from his party to the domestic Lebanese situation, speaking to thousands of Lebanese from this stance. He took a tone full of threats and commands, while also adopting a language of compromise, willing to accept the participation of others in the resolution and that Fouad Siniora remain head of government.
Such projections of regional grandeur from the party to the internal Lebanese makeup can result in nothing but destructive lapses, since the true regional superpower, when it imposed its 'grandness' on this internal makeup, lapsed in a way that had disastrous consequences. The matter will become destructive if the party tries to transfer its state of being a superpower to its sect, much as was the case with the Maronite leadership in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They turned their sect into a superpower and reaped what they sowed. Maybe this is the danger that Speaker Nabih Berry senses in his attempt to objectively place himself at the centre of Lebanon's contradictions.
The General Secretary had on previous occasions responded to the 'boyish' remarks made by some of the representatives of the majority that the party has been weakened by the Israeli war on Lebanon. These remarks were also made by American officials, and Hassan Nasrallah considered that those few Lebanese who had come out with that conclusion were 'stupid' (he said this in his interview with Al-Jazeera following the end of the war).
The results of projecting the party's regional power, thanks to the victory over Israel, onto the Lebanese internal makeup become even more destructive if it becomes mixed with this feeling that others are trying to belittle the party; that is, what took place when these irresponsible remarks were made. This lethal mixture gives birth to contradictory and uncongenial conduct.
In that case, who is going to be able to convince the other sects and their leaders, when Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warns and threatens, the he will not bolster himself with the 20,000 rockets he has left over? This is in spite his reassurances that he will not use these weapons against the domestic situation.
MENL: "Israel Finds Advanced Equipment in Gaza"
And at the same time Hizbullah's rearming is proceeding unimpeded:
Israel has found advanced military equipment in Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Israeli military units in the northern Gaza Strip have found advanced infrared rifle sights and night-vision goggles in the homes of Hamas operatives. They said the night-vision equipment were similar to those used by Hizbullah during the war with Israel in July and August 2006.
"Forces uncovered large amounts of weaponry in one of the buildings, including rifles, ammunition and night-vision equipment," an Israeli military statement said on Thursday. "The three Palestinians hiding the weaponry in their house were arrested and taken for questioning."
Officials did not identify the infrared sights. Those used by Hizbullah in Lebanon were said to have been manufactured in Britain and exported to Iran in 2004 and 2005.
MPAC-UK and Islam Online on the recent Gaza incident
The recent Gaza incident involving gunmen hiding in a mosque and female human shields received a fair amount of attention in the J-blogosphere. Now MPAC-UK, in its inimitable style, offers a video of the incident accompanied by the caption "See Video of Your Mothers Being Killed In Cold Blood." The ensuing comment thread is almost completely in sympathy with the caption. Surprisingly, the discussion forum on the same incident at Islam Online features a number of reasonable voices. I guess it is simply a much more widely-read site. By the way, what does "laknatullah" mean?
Arizona Election Lottery: A Very Bad Idea
From Newsmax:
Those who make the effort in this southwest U.S. state will decide the fate of a controversial measure that would award a $1 million prize to one lucky resident, just for casting a ballot in an Arizona primary or general election.Besides that, what is going to happen when a candidate comes along and says, "Vote for me, and I'll make sure that you have a better chance of winning something at the next election lottery"? It is going to create an association between voting and receiving something from the government. Won't that sort of atmosphere favor candidates promising government handouts? And isn't it ironic that this sort of skewing of the political process involves a lottery, something which holds out the false promise of easy riches?
The initiative is the brainchild of Mark Osterloh, an ophthalmologist and lawyer from Tucson, who came up with the proposition to try to boost dismal voter turnout in Arizona and across the country in recent elections.
During the last mid-term election - when the U.S. presidency is not up for grabs - Arizona officials said about 56 percent of the state's registered voters showed up at the polls. That same figure nationally was just 40 percent.
"We've got a real problem that everybody recognizes (and) we've got a real solution," Osterloh said. "It's like being able to win a door prize at a church social. You walk into the polls, get what amounts to a ticket and you may win a really big prize. Who can resist something like that?" [...]
In Arizona, critics say the ballot proposal denigrates the lofty ideals of democracy and fear it will bring out ill-informed voters for the wrong reasons.
"People should not be motivated to vote by greed. People should be motivated to vote by wanting to do their civic duty or decide important issues," said Curtis Gans, director of American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate, in Washington.
IRIB: "Seizure of Den of Spionage"
They are still proud of their wonderful act of hostage-taking:In November 1979, the newly-established Islamic Republic was barely seven months old.
The deposed Iranian tyrant, Mohammad Reza, was a high-profile wanderer, Mahdi Bazargan interim government had failed in establishing country-wide order, and the political and social atmospheres were dense and vulnerable.
Anti-revolutionary figures, trends, and organizations were doing their utmost to dislodge the revolutionary gov't and to render the sacrifices the nation had made, fruitless. Coups were in the making, and all these facts contributed to destabilize the country.
The Carter Administration's rather naive decision to accept the ex-Shah and to ignore all popular and formal Iranian demands for his extradition, plus its covert and overt aids and support for elements who were trying in vain to topple the popular Islamic Republic, added fuel to the flames of hatred for America already kindled.
A group of university students - who later introduced themselves as Muslim Students Following the Line of Imam Khomeini - ultimately decided to seize the embassy of America to protest the irresponsible and arrogant stance towards the plights of the Iranian nation.
It was only after the embassy's takeover that the nation found out the true nature of American under-cover activities at the diplomatic' premises.
Occupying a foreign embassy may be considered to be a rejected act, both according to international law and in inter-governmental relations. Nevertheless, diplomatic corps and premises have an internationally accepted definition. Sophisticated communications and eavesdropping apparatus, as well as classified documents suggested, the embassy was actually what the Iranian people have ever since named it: an espionage den.
The documents-30 volumes plus of which have been published-all bear witness to the sustained interventionist (foreign) policy of consecutive American administrations; to the perpetual tendency in American statesmen to create and dispose foreign governments according to their desires and interests.
The takeover marked a turning point in the relations of third world countries with America, contributing greatly to promoting awareness of nations, and exposing the true face of American diplomacy. Ever since then, nations - and even governments - have moved in cautious steps in expanding their relations with Washington.
Imam Khomeini's affirmation of the brave student action was in fact a stance serving multiple purposes: to promote national and Islamic self confidence and self-esteem, to strengthen the position and status of the oppressed against the hegemony of the great powers, and to underline the fact that for international relations to be lasting and concrete, they have to be based on equality, sincerity, and mutual respect.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Do you tell 3-bean-salad jokes at your Shabbos table?
The Judeowife suggested that I post all my 3-bean-salad jokes ("so the world will see what I have to put up with"). So here goes:
The original 3-bean-salad joke: Hey that's false labeling--there's more than three beans in there!
She: Can I pass you anything?
He: Just the 3-bean salad, I'm on a diet.
She: Pass the 3-bean salad, please.
He: Are you sure that's going to be enough?
She: Is there any 3-bean salad left?
He: That's hardly possible.
She: We're having 4 guests for Shabbos.
He: We'll need another bean.
She: Do you know where the chummus is in this store?
He: Probably next to the 3-bean salad. I hear there's a lot of extra room on that shelf.
She: You could only come up with six of those jokes?
He: Hey, that's two per bean!
Gut Shabbos!
The original 3-bean-salad joke: Hey that's false labeling--there's more than three beans in there!
She: Can I pass you anything?
He: Just the 3-bean salad, I'm on a diet.
She: Pass the 3-bean salad, please.
He: Are you sure that's going to be enough?
She: Is there any 3-bean salad left?
He: That's hardly possible.
She: We're having 4 guests for Shabbos.
He: We'll need another bean.
She: Do you know where the chummus is in this store?
He: Probably next to the 3-bean salad. I hear there's a lot of extra room on that shelf.
She: You could only come up with six of those jokes?
He: Hey, that's two per bean!
Gut Shabbos!
IRIB: "IRI missile capabilities make Zionist regime fazed"
Just think of it as the Iranian regime's way of saying "Please remove us from power."A political expert of the Zionist regime expressed concerns about the missile wargames of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its effect on the regime, saying undoubtedly IRI's long-rage missiles are worrisome for the Zionist regime.
"Because it has become obvious during the recent Israel-Hezbolah clash that the Zionist regime couldn't manage to defend itself against missile firing," Maer Jafid argued, in reference to the regime's defeat in its imposed war against Lebanon.
The Islamic Republic of Iran started the second stage of a wargames named after the Noblest Messenger of Allah Hazrat Muhammad (A.S.) in the central Qom province by test launching of an array of indigenously manufactured missiles.
"As a result, in case a conflict rises between them, the progressive IRI missile system uncovered during the wargames will be worrisome for the Zionist regime," Jafid added.
In his interview with Aljazeera network, Jefid said that in case of war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Zionist regime, the regime could not dare fight by its own.
Shahab 2 and 3 long range missiles as well as short missiels of Zolfaqar 73, Fateh 110, Scad B and Zelzal were fired in the military exercise Thursday morning in a desert area located a two hour driving from the capital Tehran.
Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and member combatants of the Basij Organization were reviewing their military training in the ten day exercise held to examine the Islamic country's national power to defend its territorial integrity.
The air, marine and ground military wargames is planned to be staged simutaneously in several locations countrywide.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Guardian: "British believe Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il"
Guess they're not so impressed by the Might of Songun:
America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.
Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an "axis of evil", but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.
The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country.
It exposes high levels of distrust. In Britain, 69% of those questioned say they believe US policy has made the world less safe since 2001, with only 7% thinking action in Iraq and Afghanistan has increased global security.
The finding is mirrored in America's immediate northern and southern neighbours, Canada and Mexico, with 62% of Canadians and 57% of Mexicans saying the world has become more dangerous because of US policy.
Even in Israel, which has long looked to America to guarantee national security, support for the US has slipped.
Only one in four Israeli voters say that Mr Bush has made the world safer, outweighed by the number who think he has added to the risk of international conflict, 36% to 25%. A further 30% say that at best he has made no difference.
Voters in three of the four countries surveyed also overwhelmingly reject the decision to invade Iraq, with only Israeli voters in favour, 59% to 34% against. Opinion against the war has hardened strongly since a similar survey before the US presidential election in 2004.
In Britain 71% of voters now say the invasion was unjustified, a view shared by 89% of Mexicans and 73% of Canadians. Canada is a Nato member whose troops are in action in Afghanistan. Neither do voters think America has helped advance democracy in developing countries, one of the justifications for deposing Saddam Hussein. Only 11% of Britons and 28% of Israelis think that has happened.
As a result, Mr Bush is ranked with some of his bitterest enemies as a cause of global anxiety. He is outranked by Osama bin Laden in all four countries, but runs the al-Qaida leader close in the eyes of UK voters: 87% think the al-Qaida leader is a great or moderate danger to peace, compared with 75% who think this of Mr Bush.
The US leader and close ally of Tony Blair is seen in Britain as a more dangerous man than the president of Iran (62% think he is a danger), the North Korean leader (69%) and the leader of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah (65%).
Mehr News: "refusal to recognize the 'Holocult' as just another Zionist propaganda lie"
As you read this, remember that it is being disseminated by the state-controlled press of a regime that is working to acquire nuclear arms:
As a regular visitor of and subscriber to various dissident blogs and newsgroups, I can’t help but being amused at times by the “Berührungsangst” (German: fear of contact), at times bordering to paranoia, of some activists displayed towards each other. In particular, pro-Palestinian activists seem to be infected by the so-called Requisite Knee-fall Paragraph Syndrome (RKPW).
Ingrid Rimland, the wife of Germany's most prominent political prisoner [i.e.,Ernst Zündel--YG], describes the RKPW like this:
It kicks in whenever the so-called “Holocaust” comes up. It’s automatic. One cannot help it. By inner command, one must immediately get down on one’s knees, bow to the dust, pay homage to the “six million”, get up, kick Hitler in the shin, deplore the “racism” of the Third Reich, and otherwise distance oneself from the period of ’33-45’ so that there is no doubt as to exactly where one stands -- fair square against (gulp!) “Nazis”.
In the case of some ethnic Palestinian activists, there seems to be a bit of a competition going on between the Palestinian and The Jewish Holocaust (trademark). They almost seem to be jealous of how well the Jews have done out of ‘their Holocaust’ and keen to copycat them, especially when it comes to the question of reparations.
As much as I can sympathize with the 'leftie' hate for everything to do with fascism, I think they are fighting a war that's been won more than 60 years ago. I suspect that their refusal to recognize the 'Holocult' as just another Zionist propaganda lie is motivated by the perceived moral superiority it gives them over the political right. I haven't given up hope though. Most of us have come to accept that we have been lied to about the murder of JFK, about the USS Liberty, about September 11, about WMD and all sorts of other things. It's only a matter of time until the last taboo of Western society is broken too.
Coming from a progressive, antiwar background myself, I have learned over the years that political positions are just that: positions, viewpoints that allow us to see things that people with a different viewpoint are often oblivious to. They provide us with frameworks that enable us to interpret 'reality' and come up with working solutions. True leadership requires the ability to 'switch frames' in order to come up with the best possible interpretation of what's actually happening and how to deal with it.
Unfortunately, the described disunity amongst activists comes at a high price. The anti-Zionist movement is split up in various factions, all pursuing their own little agendas. The Palestinians fight against the Zionist occupation, the Iraqis against the Zionist-inspired U.S. occupation. The Americans fight against the Zionist influence on U.S. foreign policies and try to hold them responsible for their role in the staged September 11 events. The Germans, Austrians, French, and Spaniards fight against the Zionist-inspired ‘Hate Laws’, established to prevent European scholars from questioning the Zionist claims relating to the alleged murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies. The Indians and the Chinese are trying to prevent total Anglo-Judeo control of the world’s remaining oil reserves.
This disunity amongst its opponents is such a perfect situation for the Zionists that they would have to artificially create it if it didn't come about by itself. It’s the old ‘divide and rule’ game the British played so well to rule their vast empire and prevent a situation where the rest of the world united against their domination.
Sixty years of brainwashing must come to an end. Thanks to the Internet, it’s becoming easier and easier for people all over the world to realize that they are fighting a common enemy: the ruthless and unrestrained greed of the Zionist mafia. Once they do, they will unite their efforts to rid the world of this cancer.
No more gefilte fish by 2048?
I'm not a scientist, but this seems massively alarmist to me. From AFP:
The world's fish and seafood could disappear by 2048 as overfishing and pollution destroy ocean ecosystems at an accelerating pace, US and Canadian researchers reported.Do species ever recover from being "collapsed"? What will happen when a third of the fish are gone? Did Mr. Worm ever consider changing his name? This doesn't seem to be written for a reader with a lot of intellectual curiosity.
If current global trends continue, the loss of fish and seafood will threaten humans' food supplies and the environment, according to the most exhaustive study to date on the subject, published in the November 3 issue of the US journal Science.
"Our analyzes suggest that business as usual would foreshadow serious threats to global food security, coastal water quality, and ecosystem stability, affecting current and future generations," the international team of ecologists and economists wrote in "Impact of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services."
The four-year analysis was the first to study all existing data on ocean species and ecosystems and synthesize them to understand the importance of biodiversity at the global scale.
"Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world's ocean, we saw the same picture emerging," lead author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, in Canada, said in a statement.
Worm said the disappearance of species from ocean ecosystems had been accelerating.
"Now we begin to see some of the consequences. For example, if the long-term trend continues, all fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within my lifetime -- by 2048," Worm said.
"In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems. I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are -- beyond anything we expected."
At this point, 29 of currently fished species were considered "collapsed" in 2003, that is, their catches have declined by 90 percent or more, he said.
"It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating," he said.
AP: Red wine helps you stay healthy on fatty diet?
They should call this the "kiddush effect":
Obese mice on a high-fat diet got the benefits of being thin -- living healthier, longer -- without the pain of dieting when they consumed huge doses of red wine extract, according to a landmark new study.Pass the kugel.
It's far too early to know whether this would work in people, scientists said. But several were excited by the findings, calling it promising and even "spectacular."
The study by Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging shows that heavy doses of the red wine ingredient, resveratrol, lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems, and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice.
Fat-related deaths dropped 31 percent for obese mice on the supplement, compared with fat mice that got no treatment. The mice that got the wine extract also lived longer than expected, the study showed.
And astoundingly, the organs of the treated fat mice looked normal when they shouldn't have, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. Sinclair said other preliminary work still underway shows the wine ingredient has promise in extending the lives of normal-sized mice, too.
IRNA: "Tehran International Caricature Exhibition on Holocaust wraps up its work"
There is no mention of the Danish cartoons here, and it is also interesting that the concepts of attacking the Holocaust and attacking Zionism appear to be interchangeable as far as Iran is concerned:
Tehran International Caricature Exhibition on Holocaust wrapped up its work here on Wednesday.
In the closing ceremony of the event, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi said artists from Iran and all around the world displayed their noble feelings.
Saffar Harandi said, "Expressing hatred towards the hated figures of Zionism and their masters, is a sign of love for the victims of Zionism."
In closing ceremony, many officials as well as Iranian and foreign artists were present.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Daily Kos: "Run, McCain, please please run you nasty bloated blob of Halloween bat vomit."
The title is "Please Tell Kerry" and the post continues the sentence:
. . . to use this media attention to explain his excellentAnd that's the whole post, a reader-contributed "diary" from someone calling himself "bokchoy." Hard to know what to make of it.
plan for getting the troops out of Iraq safely.
He's wasting media attention by dancing to McCain et
al's tune.
God does that puffy warty face and mouth full of
yellow McCain teeth look like something out of Stephen King?
Run, McCain, please please run you nasty bloated
blob of Halloween bat vomit.
Can't tell the players without a scorecard
Ever notice that there are three different Iranian officials named "Gholam"?
I think each one should have his own theme song, just to help Judeopundit readers keep things straight.
First there is Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei.
Gholam Gholam Gholam, Head 'em up and 'roll em
Prove you can control 'em, Ejei!
Next we have Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham:
See Khomeini shinging so brightly (Ho-Ho-Ho-Hossein)
Reckon he's big and I reckon rightly (Ho-Ho-Ho Hossein)
I'm here to inform the Olam
Gonna show you why I'm Gholam Elham
And last but certainly not least, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel:
He's not the Imam
He's not the Imam
He's just the Gholam
Ali Haddad!
(Bonus quiz: Name those tunes)
I think each one should have his own theme song, just to help Judeopundit readers keep things straight.
First there is Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei.
Gholam Gholam Gholam, Head 'em up and 'roll em
Prove you can control 'em, Ejei!
Next we have Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham:
See Khomeini shinging so brightly (Ho-Ho-Ho-Hossein)
Reckon he's big and I reckon rightly (Ho-Ho-Ho Hossein)
I'm here to inform the Olam
Gonna show you why I'm Gholam Elham
And last but certainly not least, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel:
He's not the Imam
He's not the Imam
He's just the Gholam
Ali Haddad!
(Bonus quiz: Name those tunes)
AFP: "Israel, Denmark are Egypt's worst enemies"
The Danish cartoon pebble hit the Islamic pond, and the repercussions radiate ever outward. I think the name of the Iranian military maneuver discussed in the previous post may also have something to do with the cartoons.
Israel and Denmark are Egypt's worst enemies, according to a poll measuring Egyptian attitudes to various countries published this week by a government body.And that's better than I would expect!
The study conducted by the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center, which questioned a random sample of 1,000 Egyptians over the age of 18, found that 92 percent consider Israel an enemy despite a peace deal signed in 1979 by both countries.
Only two percent of Egyptians interviewed considered Israel a "friend".
Over 60 percent of Egyptians also consider Denmark an enemy, after caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 sparking anger, and sometimes violence, across the Muslim World. Egypt's population is 90 percent Muslim.(Hat Tip: Big Pharaoh)
Egypt's third enemy is the United States, according to over 50 percent of those interviewed for the poll.
On the other hand, Egypt's closest friend is considered by 92 percent of respondents to be Saudi Arabia, followed closely by Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan and Syria.
The cabinet body interviewed people by phone between August 31 and September 3, 2006.
ISNA: "Iran's second Great Holy Prophet maneuver starts tomorrow"
I recommend following the link I added on the word "Basij." Notice what the IRGC emblem seems to be.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps General Commander announced that the second Great Holy Prophet of Islam maneuver will start from the 2nd of November in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea waters.
Brigadier General Rahim Safavi in a news conference held for this purpose stated that the first objective of this maneuver was illustrating Iran's national will and power in a full scale defense of it territorial integrity.
"The participant forces in this maneuver will include the special armed forces of the navy, air force, land forces and the Basij," he explained.
Safavi while stating that this maneuver would cover the entire Persian Gulf and Oman Sea shores commented that the second Great Holy Prophet of Islam's maneuver posed no threat to the region or neighboring countries.
"This maneuver concentrates on the region's security," he stressed.
"The security model which the Islamic Republic of Iran bares in mind is establishing security and protecting the region through the cooperation of all regional countries," he added.
"Iran regards its neighbors as its friends and allies and our enemies are our neighbor's enemies," said Brigadier General Safavi while adding "The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in this maneuver only intends to illustrate that how the sons of Iran can defend their country."
The IRGC General Commander went on to note that the Islamic Republic of Iran saw defense and the regions security two connected issues.
Brigadier General Rahim Safavi also referred to the shared U.S. maneuver.
"This maneuver is a political propaganda and has no military values," he said.
MENL: "Britain sells arms to Iran"
Kick them out of the World Arrogance!
The British government has acknowledged arms sales to Iran and Syria.
A British Foreign Office report said the government has granted licenses for dual-use equipment to Iran and Syria. The report said the exports include components and technology that could be used by the militaries of the two Middle East states.
The human rights report asserted that Iran spent about $350 million, or 180.5 million British pounds, on a range of British dual-use systems. The Foreign Office cited aircraft engines, machine tools and chemicals.
The Foreign Office said Syria has ordered nearly $200,000 worth of dual-use items from Britain, including chemicals as well as technology to produce toxins. The purchases were said to have taken place between October and December 2005.
IRNA: "US embassy take-over signalled end of US plots against Iranian Revolution: speaker"
Did you know that there is a holiday coming up?
Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said here Wednesday that the take-over of the US embassy in Tehran on Nov 4, 1979 (13th of Aban, 1358) by Muslim students following the line of Imam Khomeini ended US conspiracies against the Islamic Revolution.
Haddad-Adel made the remarks while addressing an open session of Majlis on the eve of the take-over on Nov 4, which is momentous in Iranian history because of two other decisive events: the exile of the late Islamic Republic's Founder Imam Khomeini by the ex-Shah (1964) and its declaration as Students Day (in remembrance of students martyred in 1978 while taking part in a protest rally against the ex-Shah).
"The late Imam Khomeini was exiled first to Turkey and then to Iraq in 1964. His exile paved the way for the victory of the Islamic Revolution and his return signalled the collapse of the former regime of the Shah and establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
He also brought to remembrance the students who were martyred in front of Tehran University in November 4, 1978, saying "one year after their massacre, university students took over the US embassy." "The US embassy in Iran, better known as the `den of spies', was the center of conspiracies against Iran," the speaker said.
Haddad-Adel quoted the late Imam Khomeini, who described the takeover of the US embassy as another revolution in Iran.
He expressed hope the Iranian nation would preserve the legacy of the Imam and continue his ideals of independence and resistance against bullying powers.
IRIB: "Nasrallah set deadline for unity gov't"
According to the story, Nasrallah is only threatening "protests, strikes and sit-ins," but "zero hour" sounds more ominous than that. IRIB is obviously biased, but they are making Nasrallah sound like the true leader of Lebanon. Perhaps he is.
The Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday gave Lebanon's Siniora's controversial cabinet until mid-November to agree to the formation of a national unity government or face protests demanding new elections.
"If the consultations, dialogue and political efforts did not lead to a national unity government and these forces are forced to take to the streets then... the goal of the protests, strikes and sit-ins... should be calling for early elections," Nasrallah told al-Menar television station.
He said Hezbollah and its allies should have at least a third of the cabinet.
"If the week (of meetings) ends without positive results... then the zero hour (for the protests) would come," Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah said the coalition would still lead any new government if they agreed to a deal next week, saying was not opposed to Siniora retaining his post.
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