Kim "enjoys light comedy"

Yet another story about this "light comedy," which, as we learn this time, gave "full play" to the audience's "mental power." I guess they all left the theater and immediately made a great revolutionary upsurge holding aloft the banner of Songun. And that was just light comedy:

General Secretary Kim Jong Il enjoyed light comedy "Echo of Mountain", Kim Il Sung Prize Laureate, now being put on local stages, at the Hamhung Grand Theatre together with servicepersons of the KPA.

The light comedy is such masterpiece of the era that the more one watches it, the more profound truth of life one grasps, he said, adding that it has such outstanding influence and attraction as gripping the hearts of audience and giving full play to their mental power. This comedy, therefore, serves as a close companion and a textbook for our army and people in their life, he stressed.

Wow, that's the sort of rhetoric he usually reserves for something momentous such as a Youth Power Station or a Fertilizer Complex. Maybe he's getting senile.

Recalling that the creators and artistes of the State Theatrical Troupe have remained true to the WPK's literary and art policy by creating and performing excellent works required by the times in every annal of the revolution, he said that they have greatly encouraged the army and people of the country in their drive to greet the 65th anniversary of the WPK and its conference with high political enthusiasm and shining labor achievements by staging the light comedy, monumental masterpiece of the Juche-oriented theatrical art in the new century. He highly estimated their revolutionary performing activities and extended thanks to them in the name of the WPK Central Committee.

Revolutionary literary and art works serve as an effective means of education as it powerfully encourages the party members and other working people to perform feats in their struggle for their great influence and cognitive and instructive significance, he said, stressing the need for the creators and artistes of the country to create many more masterpieces such as the light comedy greatly conducive to giving full play to the mental power of the masses and thus imbue great strength and courage into the servicepersons and people all out in the drive to build a thriving nation.

Still not there . . .

Angry Arab: "Israeli homophobia is ignored in the US"

What is AA talking about? This story, in which some Israeli park workers insist on charging a same-sex couple as two adults instead of giving them the family rate and finally the workers' employer, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority agrees with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel lawyer that the workers were indeed guilty of discrimination and the couple deserves a "deep apology." Wow, that's just like Iran . . .

Ma'an: Haniyeh says PA "waging war against Islam"

Palestinians vs. Post-Palestinians:

Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh accused the Palestinian Authority on Monday evening of waging a war against religion and Islam.

Haniyeh, speaking to reporters at the rebuilding ceremony of the police station in Al-Shati refugee camp, said "what is happening in the West Bank is a religious war that targets the pious people, particularly the new generation."

The Gaza premier said the PA began taking "several steps" from the beginning of Ramadan, including banning a Hamas-affiliated sheikh from making Friday sermons in the West Bank, turning down the volume on mosque loudspeakers during prayer call , and closing associations for memorizing the Quran, which he said has left many mosques without preachers.

"They won't succeed in their war against Islam, because they are fighting God," Haniyeh said, alleging that the PA was trying to impose "religious normalization."

Haniyeh called on religious men in the West Bank "not to surrender" and protest against the PA's actions.

Those sound like fighting words. Is Hamas emboldened by the recent assertiveness of Iran and Hizbullah? When the show-down comes between the PA and Hamas, I'm betting on Hamas.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Harry Reid clarifies controversial statement

Visibly shaken by opinion writer Greg Sargent's observation that "This just makes the Dems look weak, unorganized, cowardly, and unwilling to take a stand for principles they plainly believe in," Reid clarified his widely-reported controversial statement that "the mosque should be built some place else."

"I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque somewhere else," he said.

"I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about."

"The Constitution protects freedom of relocation," added Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman. "Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the decision is perhaps better left until after the Midterm elections."

Source: AP, additional reporting by Yitz (h/t: memeorandum )

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

A moment to savor

MPAC-UK has a recent post with one of their usual charming titles: "The Mossad – Terrorising the World Thanks to the Holocaust." Someone in the comments thread named "Paul M" observes:

Yet another article which features the Holocaust gratuitiously. I have known Auschwitz survivors who go on about the holocaust a lot less than MPAC does.

Today (Elul 5) in History

Just in case you thought there was no Jewish history in Israel between the Roman expulsion and Zionism:

The first group of Chassidim, led by R. Mendel of Vitebsk, R. Avraham of Kalisk, and R. Yisroel of Polotzk, reached Eretz Yisrael, 5537 [1777].

Source: Chabad Chodesh

By the way: August 15th, 2005, when the Gaza pullout started, was (incredibly) Av 10, the day after Tisha B'Av.

IRIB Radio (Iran): "Obama' Politicized Mosque Move at Politically-Motivated Iftar"

How's that outreach to the Muslim world going, Mr. President?

Amid opposition by certain groups in the US to the building of a mosque at the so-called Ground Zero in New York at the site of the highly suspicious 9/11/2001 incidents, President Barack Obama on Friday made a politically motivated move by claiming to respect the rights of Muslims in the US including the Cordoba Mosque Project.

He made the comments at the politically-motivated 'Iftar' at the White House State Dining Room to a selective gathering of pro-western Muslims breaking the fast of the blessed month of Ramadhan.

The White House had so far not taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a 100 million-dollar Islamic center two blocks from the World Trade Center towers, whose destruction was blamed on Muslims while it was clear that the Zionists were behind the terrorist act that killed 3,000 people, but not a single Jew working in that place, since they were all mysteriously absence on that Monday.

Some Republicans including the defeated vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and former head of House of Representatives Newt Gingrich had made common cause against the Mosque project with the Anti-Defamation League, which is a pro-Zionist group.

The wrangling thus provided Obama with an opportunity to try to deceive Muslims once again with his seemingly supportive words for the Mosque project despite the fact he has breached all his election promises of change of policy towards world Muslims as is evident from the worsening of their plight in the American occupied countries of Afghanistan and Iraq in addition to the Palestinians continuing to groan under the jackboots of the US-supported Zionist usurpers of their homeland.

And this was evidently written before Obama backtracked. Did I mention that Rite-Aid has been having two for one specials on bottles of Ibuprofen lately?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Exhibition fails to show true range of Juche art

The NY Times currently has an article about an exhibition in Vienna of North Korean propaganda art. All the art evidently looks like this:

According to the article:

Mr. Noever [the museum director] provoked further furor with his catalog essay lamenting that “our Western ideological lenses cloud, if not entirely distort, the view of other realities” and urging museumgoers to “bid farewell once and for all to Eurocentric and culturally imperialistic attitudes.” The show, he argued, "proves that cultural differences can be bridged with mutual respect."

I gather the exhibition didn't include anything that looked like this:



(h/t: silke) Source of the "fist" painting: Dark Roasted Blend

Update: The latest Haveil Havalim does not fail to show the true range of Jewish blogging.

Obama encourages communication in families

The Judeowife saw I was reading something on the computer and asked why I was laughing. I replied that Obama made a ringing endorsement of the right to build the Ground-Zero Mosque (at an Iftar dinner, no less) and then later denied that he was endorsing the project. "He's such a suck-up" I commented. The holy Judeobochur was walking by and asked "What does that mean?" "He likes to kiss tushies" the Judeowife helpfully explained. I commented: "That's a very diverse collection of tushies he's kissing."

MondoWeiss revives the poison balloon story

I missed it at the time, but on August 4th the MondoWeiss blog revived the poison balloon story, the same day Weiss himself posted admitting he was wrong about the now-famous border-incident tree's location. From a post entitled "The Lebanese Army finally acts to protect Lebanon’s sovereignty":

Israel has violated the ceasefire with Lebanon over 7,000 times since the end of the 2006 war on Lebanon . . . Dropping poisonous balloons over Southern Lebanon causing 8 people to be rushed to the hospital after inhaling toxic fumes.

The MondoWeiss post links to the original Naharnet story. By the time of this Naharnet story it was clear that they were just helium balloons from a promotional event of the Ha'ir newspaper. Just for fun, let's revisit the Fars News story "Israel Massacres Lebanese by Poisonous Balloons" (the image from the Fars story graces the top of this post):

Genocide by poisonous balloons is the new method employed by the Israeli army for killing people in southern Lebanon.

FNA dispatches from Beirut said that the Israeli planes have so far dropped thousands of these balloons all across the woods and coastal areas in southern Lebanon.

The balloons which come in bright and child attractive colors have been observed specially in Nabatieh, Sour and the surrounding villages and, of course, in Beirut.

The balloons read such phrases as 'Happy Birthday' or 'Happy Night' in English and Hebrew . . .

The Israeli army has a long record of massacring civilians with bombs placed inside dolls, mobile sets and similar objects . . .

I searched for the word "balloon" in the 134-post comment thread of the MondoWeiss post. Did the whole MondoWeiss crowd really not notice? Yaacov Lozowick noted the post on August 6.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Feisal's Pals like Menorahs

Remember this image?You'll be pleased to learn that the following appears at the website of the Perdana Global Peace Organization:


The post with this image includes some words as well, such as this paragraph:

The Israeli administration’s scriptwriters use a propaganda training manual that teaches the art of lying and how to sugar-coat their poison so that gullible audiences will easily swallow it. Everything Israel dislikes, and everything that thwarts their lust for domination, is now labeled “Iranian-backed”… They would have us believe that everyone in the West – and that includes you and me and the dog – is in mortal danger from Iran and must therefore huddle together in a collective act of aggression orchestrated by Tel Aviv and Washington.

Why should you be interested in the Perdana Global Peace Organization? Well, it lists Ground Zero Mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf prominently on its list of "Role Players and Contributors." (h/t: Big Peace) There are legitimate arguments to be made against "stopping" the Cordoba House project by denying it permits and the like. Those legitimate arguments involve religious freedom, but there is no excuse for believing feel-good nonsense about the project. Delving into what its leaders and members are likely to believe and promote is probably not going to convince anybody (except for a few Leftists) that the project heralds a great new era in inter-fidel relations. It is bound, in all liklihood, to lead to the sort of bad headache one gets from perusing the MPAC-UK site. Have a nice day.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

A better idea

A great deal has been made recently about a recent modest proposal to build, next to the planned Ground-Zero Mosque, a center for Bi-Fidels, Trans-Fidels, Cross-Fidels, and other non-traditional Muslims. While the idea has considerable merit, it has, I believe, one glaring drawback: it threatens a certain Massad-ization of the Muslim viewpoint.

I believe that I can propose an alternate plan much more conducive to building bridges and healing the currently strained relations between the two great civilizations. What was the greatest good fortune ever to befall the Hebraic and Christian faiths? Surely there is nobody who will hesitate to aver that it was the advent of Higher Biblical Criticism. What greater gift could we give our Muslim brethren, what greater demonstration that we know that 9/11 was merely the work of a few crazed misfits, than an institute for historical and textual study of the Quran, right next to the site where Bin Laden's minions played into the clammy hands of Islamophobic bigots like Rush Limbaugh and Pam Geller?

Shall the scripture that is the basis for all scientific discoveries languish for lack of truly scientific study? Will we let our Mohammedan brethren base one of the world's great faiths on silly superstitions and outmoded notions of Divine revelation when a truly scientific foundation beckons? If Bin Laden's propensity to bomb an institution is the greatest recommendation one could make for establishing it, then surely everyone will agree that the Al-Wellhausen Institute for Higher Quran Study should be built even before all the funding is in place for the admirable Cordoba House project. And the BFTFCF community will just have to wait its turn.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Some Brief Items

Spiegel Online: "Malaysia's 'Imam Idol'"

Also at Spiegel Online: U-Putz is back with an article about recent events at the Israeli-Lebanese border, entitled: "Lots of Questions, Few Answers in Border Skirmish." Most of the questions do turn out to have answers, however, even according to U-Putz, as various parties admit that Israel's account is the correct one.

Haveil Havalim 279 is up.

Iran is still gurgling with joy over the Lebanese army's role in the recent incident.

Singer sings Syrian tune

And I'm sure it was music to their ears. From SANA (Syria):

"We are confronting a fierce Israeli enemy which usurped lands," Singer Marcel Khalifa said in a statement to SANA, hailing the Lebanese Army's courage in resisting the latest Israeli aggression.

Khalifa's remarks came during a press conference on Wednesday at Talisman Hotel in Damascus.

Khalifa met Syrian journalists who gathered at one of Damascus ancient houses around a fountain.

"Damascus means a lot to me, especially old Damascus which I consider an exquisite cultural haven," said Khalifa, adding that his next two concerts to be staged at Damascus Citadel will be different from his concert at the "Damascus Capital of Arab Culture" Festival.

Khalifa considered that there is an Arab generation which is not interested in the mainstream Arab music aired on Arabic Channels, which seeks to vulgarize music taste.

IRIB Radio (Iran) on Kagan appointment: Obama doing "utmost to appease the influential Zionist lobbies"

They present this as a triumph for the "Zionist lobbies" and then go on to discuss her liberalism, which probably puts her in the camp favoring a softer approach to Iran. Do they draw the connection? You won't find out here:

The third Jewish member of the US Federal Supreme Court takes oath at the White House, today. Elena Kagan was elected as the new member of the US Federal Supreme Court by the US Senate on Thursday with 63 votes in her favor against 37 negative votes.

She is set to replace John Stevens in this legal and judicial organization as of October 1. The US Federal Supreme Court is considered as the highest judicial and legal source in the US and shoulders a number of obligations including interpretation of US Constitution, study of complaints leveled by US federal government against state administrations and vice versa, and issuance of final verdicts in US judicial establishment.

The introduction and confirmation of the 50-year-old Kagan is of importance due to a number of reasons. She is the second member appointed to US Federal Supreme Court by US president Barack Obama. The majority of members of this Supreme Court have been appointed in the past thirty years by Republican presidents and for this reason; the conservative viewpoints are stronger in the US Supreme Court. In fact, currently, five out of nine judges in the Supreme Court are well-known for their conservative standpoints, while the remaining four are classified as liberals. Meanwhile, with the resignation of John Stevens and entry of Elena Kagan to US Federal Court no major change and development takes place in the political makeup of this court. Nonetheless, the appointment of Elena Kagan changes the gender and religious makeup of the US Federal Supreme Court. Thereafter, and for the first time in the US history, three women will concurrently be present at the US Supreme Court.

Kagan is the third Jewish member of the Supreme Court. Jews are occupying one third of seats in the highest US legal and judicial source while only 3% of the American people are Jewish. Nonetheless, in the recent years, US presidents have tried their utmost to appease the influential Zionist lobbies through appointment of more Jews in the judicial establishment, especially the US Federal Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Protestants which constitute 51% of US population, and the ten million Muslims in the US currently do not have any representatives in the US Federal Supreme Court.

That last analysis was kindly supplied by the Ayatollah Buchananstani.

Obama's decision to introduce a liberal figure has led to the protests of a number of Jewish groups in the US.

Kagan is the only member of the US Federal Supreme Court who is a newcomer to this scene and has never had a record of conduct as a judge. Her critics believe she is not qualified to join the highest US legal and judicial source.

Their worst suspicions are proven . . .

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

ISNA: "Iran says it has discovered Arrogant-sponsored plots backing Zionists"

"Plots designed by Arrogant powers to make Zionist regime's alive"--that's some choice Irangrish:

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said Wednesday that the country has discovered Arrogant-sponsored plots aiming at supporting Zionist regime in the region.

"I have good news for Iranians that many plots designed by Arrogant powers to make Zionist regime's alive have been discovered," he said in his trip to central city of Hamedan.

"Good news"?! What if they're just the tip of the iceberg?

The enemy has found that its plots in the region will be thwarted, he said.

Also concerning recent terrorist attack in southern city of Zahedan, Moslehi said, "some individuals linked to the issue are arrested."

Of course, the most perfidious plot of all was the attack on Lebanon:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for international communities to condemn aggressive actions of Zionist regime against Lebanon.

In a phone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman Tuesday afternoon, Ahmadinejad offered condolence on martyrdom of some Lebanese people following Zionist regime's attacks and said, "Zionist regime's measure is out of its disappointment and fury and the international community needs to show reaction against the aggression."

Ahmadinejad then reiterated that, "Iranian nation will always side by Lebanon's brave nation."

Michel Suleiman on his part expressed appreciation on Iran's stance and said, "the recent calm and tranquility in Lebanon caused that Zionist regime start aggressive actions, but it faced Lebanese army firm resistance."

He then added, "Zionist regime is responsible for losses as well as injuring and killing Lebanese people."

"We will file a case against Zionist regime and present it to the UN Security Council." [...]

Is that all? Angry Arab wanted an invasion. I think he has the distinction of being more extreme than the Khomeinists.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Now that we're all agreed on what happened at the Lebanese border

The infallible news source puts the seal of supreme truth on the facts of the case:

"Unifil established [...] that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the blue line on the Israeli side."

Unifil confirmed that Israel had notified it of its intention to carry out routine maintenance work on trees along the border, and that Unifil passed the information on to the Lebanese army.

The Lebanese army admitted that its soldiers opened fire on troops from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the confrontation. [...]

This would be a good time to recall what MondoWeiss said about Israel's role in the incident:

Reminiscent of the tractors in the Golan before the Six Day War...

He has since admitted that he was wrong about what side of the border it was, but he has not (in this post, anyway) updated his little reflection on what past Zionist perfidy the current one reminds him of.

And while we're on the subject of MondoWeiss, the site also includes a post from one "Rabbi Lynn Gottleib" entitled "Why I support the Olympia Co-op boycott." The site is supposed to be on "The War of Ideas in the Middle East," but you can't have much of a war unless both sides are represented. So are we going to see a rebuttal any time soon from a Female Imam who opposes the boycott? Just wondering. See EOZ for a visit to MondoCole and Soccer Dad for one to FireDogLake.

Except for the Martyr's Symphony?

The Iranian press has articles from time to time on the doings of orchestras, conductors, and composers. I always wonder whether such stories are mainly for foreign consumption or if the Islamic Republic really likes a nice tune. Here we learn that the Supreme Leader thinks music is "not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic":

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that music is "not compatible" with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practised or taught in the country.

In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Khamenei said: "Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic." [...]

Khamenei has rarely expressed his views on music publicly, but he is believed have played a key role in the crackdown on Iran's music scene following the revolution. When Khamenei was president, he banned western-style music, forcing many stars to go into exile.

Houshang Asadi, a former cellmate of Khamenei before the Islamic Revolution said: "He hated the music from the beginning." [...]

And now his dream of cracking down on it is being realized. Inspiring.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Gaza heat wave bad for bomb-makers

If you can't stand the heat, get out before the kitchen goes boom? From the AP:

[...] Early Monday, a huge blast leveled the house of a Hamas commander in the Deir el-Balah refugee camp in southern Gaza, wounding at least 32 people, according to Palestinian security officials . . .

Often there are accidental explosions in bomb factories. In the hours before this blast, Palestinian security officials said there were two other explosions elsewhere in Gaza, apparently caused by an intense heat wave detonating chemicals. [...]

(h/t: a commenter at EOZ)

Yemen Times: "Egypt’s 'Hashish Crisis' stokes bitterness"

I live in LA, where seemingly every third store sells so-called "medical marijuana," so don't read this and feel all superior or anything:

A shortage of hashish in Egypt is fueling anti-government conspiracy theories, and resentment among the public

It may be an attempt to maintain stability while the ailing president was abroad, or a pre-election clampdown on crime. But whatever the conspirators say, more and more Egyptians are asking: “Where has all the hashish gone?”

Hashish, the once ubiquitous yet illegal substance in Egypt, is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in the country and it’s fueling conspiracy theories and general anxiety.

The issue is especially pertinent to the younger generation, the main consumers of the illegal drug derived from marijuana, who resort to the “remedy” as a retreat from their daily troubles.

Egypt amended laws in 1989 making the possession and trade of drugs punishable by life in prison or even death, but this has apparently not reduced the popularity of hashish.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a young Egyptian told The Media Line that its use is “very tolerated,” adding that his police officer friends had even asked him to store hash for them.

With a waning economy, an unclear political future and frequent reports of politically-motivated clampdowns against opposition activists, hashish has become a popular pastime for young people and a way to take a break from the daily rat race.

“It’s very prevalent,” Sam, author of the Egyptian blog Sand Monkey, told The Media Line. “It’s equal to beer use in the U.S.”

The shortage has caused the street prices to soar. Conspiracy theories abound. The talk of the coffee shops is “Where has it all gone?”

“It’s all half jokes and half conspiracy theories,” said the blogger Sam. “But no one really knows anything.”

A recently formed Facebook group in Arabic entitled “Together against the hashish crisis in Egypt” has so far garnered a modest following of 30 members.

"A large number of Egyptians appreciate hashish and these include decision makers, journalists and artists," according to the group’s manifesto.

Some Egyptians are reportedly tying the mysterious disappearance of the drug to the recent illness of President Hosni Mubarak and his trip abroad. Government officials, according to this theory, wanted to ensure country remained stable until the president’s return and beefed up security along the borders, which in turn has stemmed the flow of drugs into the country, according to the Egyptian daily Al-Youm A-Sabi.

However, Egyptians are skeptical that the authorities will be able to eradicate hashish altogether, the paper reported. This was because too many people in high places have vested interests in the drug trade and have cohorts in the official positions who will help them preserve their interests. [...]