Thursday, January 31, 2008

This is your brain on Juche-keit

The actual title is "Rodong Sinmun Calls for Smashing Imperialists' Moves for Ideological and Cultural Poisoning":
It presents itself as an important issue in defending the cause of global independence and victoriously advancing it at present to shatter the imperialists' moves for ideological and cultural poisoning.

Rodong Sinmun Thursday says this in a by-lined article.

It continues:

Checking the imperialists' moves for ideological and cultural poisoning is a basic guarantee for the advance and victory of the popular masses' cause of independence, the cause of socialism.

The imperialists are now becoming more crafty and vicious in their moves for ideological and cultural poisoning aimed at achieving their hegemonic purpose.

It is a trite method employed by the imperialists to invade and dominate other countries to spread bourgeois ideology and culture.

The imperialists are now perpetrating such act in a craftier manner under the signboard of "cooperation" and "exchange."

They are spreading the reactionary ideology and culture in an undisguised manner under all kinds of specious signboards such as "cooperation" and "exchange," availing themselves of the trend of the change and development of the times.

They are leaving no stone unturned to realize their ideological and cultural domination over other countries by infiltrating their reactionary bourgeois ideology and culture into them.

The historical experience and lesson prove that it is impossible to defend the popular masses' cause of independence, the cause of socialism, should a country allow the imperialists to infiltrate their ideology and culture into it without any vigilance against their poisoning.

It is necessary to strictly guard against the imperialists' ideological and cultural poisoning and decisively foil it in order to defend socialism and ensure its triumphant advance.
They are certainly vigilant to guard against reactionary bourgeois paragraph development. I guess that's one of Kim Jong Il's immortal feats: In North Korea every sentence is a topic sentence!

Missionaries attempt to covert Sderot residents to crude, homemade religion

The clumsy attempts to deny the Scientology-connection would be funny if the whole enterprise wasn't an attempt to recruit terrorized Sderot residents into a cult. From Jpost:
In a move seen by some as an attempt to take advantage of Sderot's shell-shocked residents, a nonprofit group is offering them free workshops based on the teachings of the late L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.

A group calling itself the Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East, which denies any connection with the Church of Scientology, has sent e-mails to social workers in Sderot offering to help the residents cope with the Kassam rocket attacks.

It is entitled, "Sick of being bombed?" and asks: "Are you afraid to leave the house in the morning? Don't know if the children will return home safely? Business in danger? Life become a struggle in the shadow of fear? Come make sure right now that the psychological damage will be as limited as possible!" The free workshops are offered to schools and places of work . . .

In an e-mail responding to questions by The Jerusalem Post, the Association for Prosperity said the workshops were based on the teachings of "The Way to Happiness," a pamphlet written by Hubbard - one of 645 works he authored on various subjects, according to the group . . .

Mordi Bucai, who answered the Center for Scientology's toll-free line, told the Post that there was no Scientology activity in Sderot. He said that the teachings found in "The Way to Happiness" were "totally different" from Scientology.

Bucai acknowledged that most of the people in the Association for Prosperity, including its director-general, were Scientologists. But he added that some were not, and one did not have to be a Scientologist to work for the association.

The Association for Prosperity said, "Claiming our organization is connected with Scientology just because our director-general studied Scientology is like saying that other nonprofits are hi-tech because volunteers work in hi-tech."
Sounds like he's had a lot of practice with this particular denial.
Bucai, who heads a Scientology Center on Sderot Rothschild in Tel Aviv, said "The Way to Happiness" was a moral code based on 21 principles relevant for all religions, "based on logic." [...]
I hear that the people of the Gaza Strip love principles relevant for all religions. The Scientologists really should go to Gaza. (h/t: MOT News)

Related.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Der Spiegel: Qassams and moralizing from Gaza

The latest from the aptly-named Ulrike Putz, whom we have met before, describes her "Visit to a Gaza Rocket Factory." She begins by describing a nighttime ride in a car with some Qassam-builders and includes the following detail:
One holds a pistol in the face of the stranger: "I just wanted to see if you would be frightened."
The "stranger" is U-Putz, right? The article features fairly sympathetic writing about the Qassam-building vermin, but I would like to focus on some rancid moralizing:
[...] The production of the fuel may be delicate, but the really danger lies in the Israeli helicopters, Abdul says. "We know that we are easy prey." His thumb flashes a nervous Morse code with his flashlight onto the floor of the hut. "We are ready to die; that is the price of our freedom." He says that the Palestinians are left with no other choice but to fight the Israelis with weapons. "Either we resist, or they treat us like slaves." He has thought about who is hit by his rockets. "If we kill soldiers, then we are more than happy," he says. "If it hits a child, then naturally we are not happy."
Lying scumbag.
The simple fact of the matter is that you can't aim a Qassam, he says. "And look at the Israelis. They have F-16s and Apache helicopters and can shoot with amazing accuracy. And they still kill our women and children." He reflects for a moment. "Children shouldn't be killed in any war in this world," says Abdul, who has no children of his own.
And who is actually attempting to murder someone else's children.
Then he sends everyone outside. "This is the most dangerous moment. Just before the fuel is ready, the whole thing can explode." Over tea on the porch Abdul tells of his career as a rocket maker. A few hours of theory, then he and his friends did their apprenticeship with an experienced rocket builder. He doesn't want to explicitly say it, but it seems as if he also trained abroad. "I was in Syria, Jordan and one other country," he says. In Iran? Abdul smiles slightly. [...]
Read the rest if you have the stomach for it.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Mehr News: "Islamic Revolution was one of history’s greatest events: Ahmadinejad"

Did you know that the Iranian Revolution brought about the "recreation of human identity"? That's what Ahmadinejad says. Is he sure that wasn't an accomplishment of Kim Jong Il?
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has described the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 as the greatest event in the history of humanity after the incidents that occurred in the first years after the advent of Islam.

"The Islamic Revolution has profoundly influenced all dimensions of human life… Independence and freedom are the main accomplishments of this revolution," Ahmadinejad said here on Tuesday at a meeting with the organizers of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations (February 1 to 11), which commemorate the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

"The Islamic Revolution happened at a time when human generosity had been destroyed. The Ten-Day Dawn not only celebrates the freedom and independence of the Iranian nation, it belongs to all humanity because it commemorates the recreation of human identity by the Islamic Revolution," Ahmadinejad stated. [...]

Monday, January 28, 2008

IRNA: "World has not witnessed crimes bigger than Zionists'"

Ynet has a breaking news item about this speech, but it is pretty typical hyperbolic Iranian denunciation of the usurper Zionist entity. A rotating cast of Iranian officials seem to make pronouncements such as this one almost daily. Ahmadinejad is, of course, a keen student of history:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in the whole history nobody has witnessed crimes like the ones committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian.

Speaking in a ceremony dubbed as "Appreciating the servants of the martyrs", the president said, "The Zionist regime in the past 60 years has surrounded people in their houses and has killed kids and adults in the name of fight against terrorism."
All who want to impose themselves by force have reached to their end and human beings will not accept their logic, Ahmadinejad continued.

He concluded, "We must be patient and insist on our principles, so by God's help this puppet regime will collapse."
Meanwhile at IRIB we learn that "Students protest Zionists' crimes":
Hundreds of students members of the Basij Organization gathered at Palestine square, Tehran, on Monday to protest against the Zionist crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The students carried placards condemning the Zionist regime's brutality in the Gaza Strip and urged international bodies to prevent the Zionists from committing more crimes.

The protesters also carried pictures of savage killings of the Palestinian youth, children and women displaying violation of human rights.

They called for the world nations to force Zionists to stop massacre of the innocent children in the occupied lands.

By chanting slogans such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", the demonstrators voiced their anger over the Zionists' savage attacks on the occupied territories.

At the end of their gathering, the Basijis signed a scroll expressing disgust at genocide of the defenseless Palestinian people by the apartheid regime.
Classy. According to Wikipedia:
The Basij . . . is a volunteer based Iranian paramilitary force founded by order of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on November 1979. It serves as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as law enforcement, emergency management, and most controversially the suppression of dissident gatherings.

Dissident Voice on radiant Israeli brilliance

Hey, if it ends the Middle East conflict, who are you to complain?
Forget everything you’ve read about the "Great Escape" from Gaza. It’s all rubbish. The whole farce was probably cooked up in an Israeli think tank as a way to rid Palestine of its indigenous people. Here’s an excerpt from the Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva which explains the real motive behind the incident:

"MK (Israeli Knesset member) Aryeh Eldad is hailing the Arab exodus to Egypt as proof that voluntary transfer is indeed an option."

"The Israeli left continues to claim that there is no such thing as voluntary transfer, and simply ignores reality," Eldad said.

Voluntary transfer. Bingo.

So the fleeing Palestinians just walked into a trap. Now they’ve been banished to Egypt by their own volition. Will they be allowed to return? We’ll see. [...]

Hamas poses no threat to Israel and it controls nothing; certainly not the border. They’ve even suspended all suicide attacks since they won democratic elections a year and a half ago. But that is not enough for Israel, whose goal is to extinguish any trace of Arab solidarity or Palestinian nationalism. Nearly all of the 4,000 articles now appearing on Google News follow this same absurd narrative about 'clever terrorists' who’ve out-foxed Israel and liberated their people. It’s just another way of concealing the criminal brutality of the 60-year-long occupation. In truth, Hamas probably had nothing to do with the destruction of the wall. It’s just part of Israel’s plans to exile more Palestinians.

According to the article in Arutz Sheva, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak decided to follow orders from Hamas’ chief Khaled Mashall and “ignore Israeli calls to close the border. Mashaal seemed to indicate that Hamas was asserting sovereignty over northern Sinai, calling upon the Arab world to take advantage of the Islamist group’s new stronghold to provide aid directly without Israeli interference.”

Now, that’s a stretch. In other words, US puppet Hosni Mubarak — who gets $2 billion a year in aid from the United States — has suddenly decided to take orders from the head of a group that is on the State Dept’s list of terrorist organizations so that he can fulfill his obligations as a “loyal Arab”?

Ridiculous.

Besides, Hamas has no interest in northern Sinai or any other territorial ambitions. Its only purpose is to resist Israeli occupation.

So far an estimated 350,000 residents of Gaza have fled across the border since Wednesday. The Egyptian police have done nothing to stop them from entering the country. "A significant number have remained in Egypt . . . traveling south to Egyptian population centers." [...]
I'm sure they'll be a stabilizing influence there.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Reason Online: "Bogus politics of the stimulus"

The other dimension of this question, of course, is that the proposed tax rebates will put some money in my over-taxed pocket. At least that money won't be spent on whatever nonsense the government would spend it on. True, "economic stimulus" doesn't really help the economy in the long run if it just increases the deficit, but who says anyone has the political will to pursue a sensible alternative? The politically feasible alternatives could be worse.
[...] Steven Wieting, an economist at Citigroup, predicts growth of 1.2 percent. But like our elected officials, he sees no point in getting hung up on technicalities. "Academic definitions aside, we'll call that a recession," he writes in a new report. We can call it a recession or we can call it a wirehair terrier, but that won't change what it actually is: an expansion, albeit a modest one.

Notwithstanding that, President Bush and House leaders have agreed to pelt the economy with $150 billion in rebates and business tax incentives to rouse it from its lethargy. The idea behind the rebates is that consumers will use the cash to buy goods and services, keeping companies and workers busy supplying them. Business tax incentives are supposed to goose investment in plants and machinery. The two sides are agreed, in the mantra of the week, that these measures will be "timely, temporary and targeted."

In their dreams. Timeliness, in this case, is not unlikely—it's impossible. The Internal Revenue Service, it seems, is fully occupied at the moment sending out tax forms and processing returns, and will be for a while. So even if the program zips through the Senate, the checks probably won't go out until June and won't all reach the beneficiaries until August. The money itself will take months to be spent, if it gets spent at all -- postponing the intended boost until next football season.

If a recession is already underway today, it could very well be over by then. This is the equivalent of a doctor telling a patient that she may have pneumonia and promising to put her on antibiotics—in October. [...]
Good image, but what about an antibiotic voucher with a high cash redemption value?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

"Rodong Sinmun on Korean People's Inexhaustible Mental Power"

Songun mental power can melt steel:
The invincibility of Songun Korea ushering in the most brilliant era of prosperity in the nation's history spanning 5,000 years, standing all tests of history under the guidance of Kim Jong Il is based on the strong mental power of its people, says Rodong Sinmun Monday in a signed article.

The Korean people are proud to have the strong mental power peculiar to them.

It is the important characteristics of the mental power of the Korean people that it has a tremendous potential and persevering might as it is given fuller play in face of manifold difficulties and trials and that it has been steadily displayed and carried forward generation after generation in the whole course of the revolution.

The Korean people's strong mental power is based on the great revolutionary idea.

The Juche idea serves as ideological pabulum as it makes the people strongest in faith and will in the world.

The Korean people's mental power is inexhaustible as it was created and proved in the arduous yet worthwhile revolutionary practices.

It is thanks to the peculiar nature of the Korean revolution that a great number of people with strong mental power have been produced in the revolutionary practice.

The Korean revolution is a Songun revolutionary cause that has advanced with the philosophy on army as guidelines since its start. The Songun revolution is a gigantic one unprecedented in its fierce and arduous nature and a great one as it helps train people into revolutionaries who prize arms with do-or-die spirit and indomitable fighting spirit.

The revolutionary soldier spirit created under the great banner of Songun is the most vivid expression of the Korean people's strong mental power.

The Korean people have carried on the revolution, forming a harmonious whole with the illustrious leaders. This has been a decisive factor that enabled them to emerge a people with the strongest mental power, concludes the article.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Al-Manar TV: "Three Killed in Beirut Protests over Power Cuts"

It seems to be the season for power cuts, but they know how to do it right in Beirut:
Three men were martyred and more than 18 others injured in Beirut on Sunday as unknown gunmen opened fire during protests over chronic power cuts in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. Two of the martyrs are, Ahmad Hamza Hamza, 21, was a member of the Amal movement, a party member said, but insisted he was not involved in the demonstrations and the second martyr is Youssif Shokeir.

Spontaneous protests erupt in the southern suburbs of Beirut where demonstrators had blocked roads with blazing tires to protest at power cuts in that area. And as night fell, demonstrators also cut the main airport road with burning tires and that similar protests were underway in other parts of Beirut's southern suburbs.

An Amal official said that Hamza was not among the protesters. "Hamza was not a demonstrator. He cooperated with the army on a regular basis whenever there were such similar protests in the region," he said. "The protests were initially spontaneous."

According to the security official, the shooting occurred after demonstrators set ablaze tyres, blocking a main road linking the Chiyah and Mar Mikhael neighborhoods in the southern suburbs to protest power shortages. The army fired warning shots to disperse the demonstrators, the official said.

Dozens of demonstrators were on the streets between the neighborhoods of Chiyah and Mar Mikhael and some protesters were also emerging on the streets further south, witnesses said.

Demonstrators have faced off with security forces on several occasions in the past few days over the power cuts.
Al-Manar TV now allows reader comments. Here is someone named "Syed" from the US:
It is tragic to see the Muslim youth go like this. But all the Lebanese people should know the reality of this gun fire, that ZIONISTS did it and that Saniora government is behind it. A SAD SITUATION!!
Another comment is titled "This what Israel looking for." Finally, someone named Arnon in New Zealand comments:
The best way to solve problems is to do what Syed (USA) does: blame the Zionists. Electricity cuts in Southern Beirut? blame the Zionists! Tsunami in Indonesia? blame the Zionists! earth quaqe in Iran? blame the Zionists. How genious.
You said it, Brother. The only person I know named "Arnon" is from Israel, by the way.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Linkim 1/27/08

Haveil havalim 151 is up! Carnival of the Insanities is up!

EOZ: "Fisking Khalidi's 'Iron Cage'" I and II

Judeosphere: "Women's Group Denounces 'Neocon' AJC"

iowahawk: "Filed in Triplicate"

Solomonia: "Sami Al-Arian Loses His Appeal"

Soccer Dad: "My name is bill and i'm a head case"

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Islam Online invites readers to share their prayers for Gaza . . .

. . . with fairly predictable results:
allah shower your blessings on all muslim brothers and sisters all over the world.for the palestinians who struggle for the freedom of the wholy land. ya allah give us strenght to break all anti-islamic , zionist , masonic conspiracy to demolish islam. ya allah strnghthen islam by us and strengthen us by islam. ya allah shower imaan into our heart which never goes down till our death.ya allah lead us in a right way.ya allah help those who work for your dheen .ya allah help us t establish the khilafat which has been broken by " kamaal attaturk".
Want another?
YA ALLAH YA RAHMAN YA RAHEEM,YA ZIL JALALI WAL IKRAM,PLEASE SAVE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM THE DIRTY AND CRUEL HANDS OF THE JEWS.PLEASE HELP THEM AND GIVE THEM ENOUGH STRENGTH TO TEACH THE JEWS A LESSON WHICH THEY WILL NEVER FORGET.YA RABBUL AALAMEEN BESTOW YOUR MERCY ON THE UMMAH OF OUR PROPHET MOHAMMED SAS.AND SAVE THEM FROM THE CRUEL HANDS OF JEWS.AAMEEN
Another requests "Make the whole world see the reality of the so called Israel." If what Israel is faced with is part of its "reality" . . .

Mehr News: World Arrogance "'satisfied' with the extensive disqualification of the candidates"

Guardian Council disqualifications of candidates make Iran's elections almost meaningless. Nobody is allowed to admit that in this article, but someone is quoted asserting that the "World Arrogance" approves of the disqualifications, presumably because the Satans of various sizes are rooting against Iranian "democracy." (A man can only hold out so long against the use of scare quotes.) The Iranian Press does not suppress all admissions of discord. Not yet, anyway--look for the final steps in acquiring nukes to usher in new oppressive measures. In the meantime admissions that the country is not surging ahead with the might of single-minded unity are usually quite interesting:
Negotiations aimed at "bypassing the law" will not influence the vetting practice by the Guardian Council, the GC spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaii told a press conference on Saturday.

"Guardian Council’s criterion for vetting the candidates is law, and if negotiations about requalifications are based on law, they will be effective; but if the consultations are aimed at bypassing the law, they won’t have any effect on the body."

Assuring that there would be no problem in studying the petitions of the rejected candidates, Kadkhodaii said, "We expect the parties and individuals not to jump to conclusions."

Asked whether membership in Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP) and Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization (IRMO) has led into rejection of some candidates, he said GC vets candidates regardless of their affiliation to political groups or parties except those who are members of illegal parties.

GC will inform the excluded candidates about the reasons behind their disqualification, he vowed . . .

Former Majlis speaker Mahdi Karrubi, former president Mohammad Khatami and Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were likely to meet to negotiate about banned candidates, Esmail Gerami-Moghadam, the spokesman for the National Confidence Party, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Saturday.

Karrubi, the NCP secretary general, is going to meet with many of prominent political figures to negotiate the situation created after the rejection of some candidates at the request of NCP central committee and other reformist figures, Gerami-Moghadam noted.

"I intend to defend the rights of all candidates who have been unfairly disqualified including the members of the National Confidence Party and other reformists and even conservative figures who protest the screening," Karrubi has told a NCP extraordinary meeting.

"I have always been against politically-motivated disqualification and believe it is not in the national interest," he has pointed out.

"If the present vetting process by the oversight bodies is not corrected, we will not have any nominees in many of the constituents," Democracy Party Secretary General Kavakebian told ISNA on Saturday.

He urged the supervisory commissions not to disappoint the country’s political elite.

"World arrogance" is not interested in a high turnout in the March election and contrary to what it claims it is "satisfied" with the extensive disqualification of the candidates because it prevents a massive participation in the voting by the Iranians, he commented.
Hardliners get the last word:
Meanwhile Morteza Nabavi of the conservative Islamic Society of Engineers has said those who were convinced of their exclusion registered for the ballot to question the election.

Some of the rejected ones have recently said it was not necessary for the candidates to accept the "principles of the Islamic system" and this was a strong indication for rejecting their candidacy, the former MP noted . . .
"Not necessary"? Can't have that.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

The BBC eulogy for George Habash

The article is accompanied by a wild-eyed picture of Habash gesturing with a raised hand, with the caption "George Habash supported violence against Israel." Three one-sentence paragraphs toward the end take up the subject (mentioned earlier as well) of his "support" for violence:
[...] Throughout his life Habash supported the use of violence against Israel.

One of the most deadly PFLP attacks was the gunning down of 27 people at Israel's Lod airport in May 1972.

Forty-seven people were killed when a Swissair jet was bombed in 1970.
And here is how the article concludes:
Israeli tried for years to capture Habash, even intercepting a commercial airliner in 1973 and forcing it to land, mistakenly believing he was on board.

Habash stepped down as leader of the PFLP in 2000, by which time the group had been marginalised by the growing power of Islamist movements like Hamas.

Mr Abbas called Habash a "historic leader" and ordered Palestinian flags to fly at half-mast.

The current deputy secretary-general of the PFLP, Abdel Raheem Mallouh, called Habash a "distinguished leader... who struggled for more than 60 years without a stop for the rights and the interests of his people".

He was married, with two daughters.

His wife, Hilda, said: "We will all carry the banner of Habash and the Arab nation he dearly cherished. Habash always believed Palestine would be liberated."

"He lived for his people and died for his people," she told Reuters.
His heart-attack at the age of 80 was for the sake of "his people"? That's nice. He was a pioneer in the use of the airline industry for terror-purposes. That makes the 9/11 operation part of his vile legacy. Yemach shmo.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

The Nation on the Weathermen: What could be as quintessentially American as a work accident?

The Nation currently has a a review essay of Weatherperson Cathy Wilkerson's Flying Close to the Sun. Besides actually referring to Wilkerson as a "terrorist," and also reminding us of the history of nail-studded bombs meant for dancers, the essay reflects on the "American" character of the lovable SDS:
[...] The movement's revolutionary turn was not so much a measure of its un- or anti-American character, as conservative critics would have it, but rather an indication that, if anything, the New Left might have been a bit too American for its own good. Its impatience with the half-measures of liberal reformism, its lack of interest in creating a stable constituency or institutional base, and its promotion of a politics of confrontation and risk ("putting your body on the line," as the saying went) revealed the movement as an exotic but recognizable descendant of the powerful Protestant antinomian tradition of radical individualism--one whose adherents defied social custom and religious law to follow the inner promptings of God's voice wherever they might lead. "John Brown is a good symbol for us," Langer noted in passing. "At one point he wanted to run a school for Negroes but he came to find the idea too small: he had to attack Harper's Ferry." [...]

Wilkerson's fame, or rather infamy, was bound up with a single moment five months later, on March 6, 1970, the date of the "Townhouse Explosion." The building in question, on West 11th Street in Greenwich Village, belonged to Wilkerson's father, a well-to-do New York City advertising executive who had no idea that his wayward 25-year-old daughter was using it in his absence as a temporary safe house and bomb factory. While she was upstairs on that March morning incongruously ironing sheets, three of her comrades were in the basement putting the finishing touches on a nail-studded dynamite bomb they intended to plant and set off that night at a dance at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Their desire to "bring the war home" with a homemade antipersonnel weapon outstripped their understanding of electrical circuitry, however, and instead of killing others, Terry Robbins, Ted Gold and Diana Oughton killed themselves. [...]
Thereby sparing us memoirs (and reviews in the Nation), no doubt. Towards the end the essay comments:
An entire page is devoted to a poem written in 1970 commemorating Ted Gold, one of Cathy Wilkerson's three comrades who died in the Townhouse Explosion, including the line "he is dead/Of a bomb meant for better targets." Really? Would the "better targets" have been just the soldiers at the dance at Fort Dix, or would they have included their girlfriends and wives as well?
Can you imagine the Nation asking this about Hamas terrorists? I thought not.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Thursday, January 24, 2008

(North) Korean News: US "wrecker and strangler of Middle East peace"

"Kudus" seems to mean Al-Quds. It seems pretty clear which side of the Middle East conflict is the Songun one:
The chief executive of the United States toured Middle East from January 8 to 16.

The purpose of his trip was to refurbish the image of the U.S. by "promoting" Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, build an anti-Iran alliance by winning over the local countries and establish its domination over this region.

Through his trip, the U.S. betrayed its double-dealing tactics and one-sided policy inclined to Israel in the Middle East issue.

In a statement on the Palestinian issue Bush pretended to be deeply concerned over the peace process while failing to put forward any concrete solution to such core points as the definition of the border line of the independent Palestinian state, the issue of refugees and the status of Kudus.

He talked about an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories, but failed to specify a solution to it. And he described the expansion of Jewish "settlements" as an "obstacle," but did not pressurize Israel to stop it. He went the lengths of praising Israel as a "supporter" to the peace process, not its obstructer.

This not only added to the internal split of Palestine but also openly patronized Israel in its fascist repression and brutal murder of Palestinians.

It was with this support of the U.S. that Israel, no sooner had it "committed" itself to bending efforts for the solution of the problems pending between the Arab countries and Israel at the international meeting on Middle East peace held in Annapolis, Maryland of the U.S., last November, than it declared its plan to build Jewish "settlements" extensively and committed brutal killings of innocent Palestinians almost every day.

Blaring that it would not end its occupation of the West Bank until the "security" of its own territory was guaranteed and would never surrender Kudus to Palestine, Israel took advantage of Bush's Middle East trip as the best chance to bring into the open its ambition to keep Arab territories under its sway for ever.

Not without reason did Reuters say many people in Middle East regarded Bush as a war maniac who pursues not peace and democracy but the supremacy of the U.S. and Israel.

During his trip, Bush denounced Iran as "the world's leading state sponsor of terror". And he urged Persian Gulf leaders to confront with Iran and tried to pressurize them to join the U.S. in its efforts to isolate Iran, restricting their access to Iran's banks and other financial institutions.

Timing to coincidence with his trip, the U.S. administration notified Congress of its intent to sell to Saudi Arabia advanced weaponry worth more than 120 million U.S. dollars to bolster the defense of U.S. allies in the Gulf against Iran.

This proposal is the first part of the planned 20-billion-dollar deal with the Gulf which the U.S. announced last year.

At that time, the U.S. also declared its plan of $30 billion in arms sales to the Jewish state.

It is as clear as daylight that this will aggravate the local situation.

Facts vividly show that the U.S. posing as "an apostle of peace" and "an unbiased arbitrator" is the wrecker and strangler of Middle East peace.
In which order?

Tehran Times: "Trilaterals triangulating in Pakistan"

This little essay on the hidden hands pulling the strings (because tentacles are very awkward at pulling strings) is also available at Mehr News:
In a one-on-one meeting with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Lahore in August 1976, Henry Kissinger, then U.S. secretary of state, threatened the Pakistani prime minister, who was pressing ahead to acquire nuclear technology for his country despite U.S. opposition, saying, "We will destabilize your government and make a horrible example out of you." [...]

The United States is basically run by a small clique of wealthy families who own and control the Federal Reserve System, and the Trilateral Commission is their policy think tank.

The Trilateral Commission was established in 1973 by David Rockefeller as a private organization with the goal of promoting cooperation between the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Rockefeller was inspired to forge this trilateral alliance after reading Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book Between Two Ages. [...]

The Federal Reserve/Trilateral clique formulates U.S. foreign policy, defines U.S. interests in the world, and controls all the U.S. intelligence agencies and the Pentagon.

They have no qualms about toppling governments at home and abroad or assassinating political leaders who refuse to toe the line.

Many have said the Federal Reserve/Trilateral clique organized the conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy after he challenged their power.

From his early days as foreign minister in the 1960s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had called for an independent and non-aligned foreign policy free of U.S. encroachment as well as for the closure of U.S. military bases in Pakistan, which were used for surveillance of the Soviet Union. As foreign minister, he built bridges with China, lessened tensions with the USSR, and gradually distanced Pakistan from the United States.

In the 1970s, a nationalization program of key industries under his government was carried out, which undermined the interests of multinational capital, owned mostly by the same wealthy clique that calls the shots in the United States. [...]

In the mid 1970s, the Trilaterals had already formulated their plot to lure the Soviets into their own Vietnam in Afghanistan. However, the articulate and intelligent leader of Pakistan was a major thorn in the side of the plotters. They were aware that he would not fight a proxy war for the United States. The independent-minded Bhutto was too smart to support one superpower against the other and destroy his country in the process.

The moment his government was toppled by the military ruler, Bhutto was aware of the forces at work and knew his fate. He shared all this with his family and especially with the young Benazir Bhutto.

Three decades have passed since the Trilaterals toppled the Bhutto government and then eliminated him physically, but their efforts to destabilize Pakistan are still on. In fact, with the assassination of Bhutto’s daughter in Rawalpindi on December 27, they have intensified their efforts to destabilize this immensely important South Asian country -- a geopolitical hub which the U.S. wants to use as a base for military intelligence operations.

The U.S. seeks to gain a stronger foothold in Pakistan to gain additional leverage against Russia and China. Meanwhile, Israel wants Pakistan’s nuclear technology neutralized, as it acts as a silent deterrent to the Zionist regime’s evil designs on the region. This is why the Western media raised the specter of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of religious extremists after the assassination of Ms. Bhutto. An Islamic country with nuclear weapons, advanced missile technology, a prospering economy, and increasing stability could harm the interests of both the Zionists and the Trilaterals. [...]
Not to mention the Bilderbergers, the CFR, the Illuminati, and the Modern Language Association. Oh, and the Rothschilds.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

IRIB: "the enemy intends to wipe Palestine off the world map"

The actual title is "Bush try to topple some Arab leaders"--savor the Irangrish. The use of the phrasing "wipe . . . off the world map" is very interesting. That is what Ahmadinejad said about Israel according to the IRIB archives--although only Neocon swift-boaters would prefer the word of native Persian speakers to that of Juan Cole, right? If Iran is defensively trying to turn the phrasing into a counter-accusation, it implies that they accept it as a good rendering of what A said, doesn't it? And yes, I know he was echoing an older statement from the Ayatollah.
IRI Head of Committee to Support Intifada of Palestinian Nation said on Wednesday if American President George W. Bush and the Zionist Premier Ehud Olmert would be successful in defeating Palestinians, they would soon try to topple some Arab leaders, as well.

Former interior minister Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipour made the comment at National Conference on Palestine, titled "Palestinian National Rights, National Unity, Liberation Path, and Repatriation" at Sahari Conferences Complex of Damascus.

He added, "The Muslim nations should not permit American and the Zionist regime's leaders to come up with the dangerous conclusion through which they can divide the limbs of the Islamic body."

Mohtashami said that severe scarcity of fuel, medicine, and foodstuff in Gaza is already a human catastrophe, asking the various Islamic countries to take advantage of the various levers at their disposal aimed at ending the sad situation speedily.

"He said that the brutal Zionist regime has deprived the Palestinians of fuel to warm their children in the cold season, and of medicine to heal the victims of the inhumane Israeli Army's brutal attacks against civilian elderly folks, women, and children."
Because otherwise they wouldn't need medicine.
The Head of Iran-based International Committee to Defend the Intifada of the Palestinian nation added, "By creating endless problems for the Gaza Strip's residents, the enemy intends to wipe Palestine off the world map, but the Zionists had better know t hat the Palestinian resistance gets stronger with the passage of each newday."

The political activist said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran heartedly supports resistance forces in Palestine and Lebanon."

900 Palestinian personalities, including members of resistance movements, civil and popular groups, repatriation committees and independent personalities, as well as 300 distinguished foreign guests from various countries around the globe are attending the National Palestine Conference.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Al-Ahram approves of FARC and Chavez

According to Wikipedia Al-Ahram's "content is controlled by the Egyptian Ministry of Information." I guess this illustrates that whatever the US is buying with all the aid that goes to Egypt, it isn't friendship:
[...] This may turn out to be the high point in Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's Latin American policy. The last thing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe would have wanted was to solicit the support of the Venezuelan leader. Ironically, the task of negotiating the release of Colombian hostages fell to President Chavez . . .

The US has had a despicable history in the region which many Latin Americans still cannot forgive. And, Uribe is widely viewed as an American stooge . . .

FARC is not on the wrong side of history
. They have solid support in their native Colombia. That is an improvement on the recent past, but it is hardly an overwhelming triumph.

Chavez could tip the balance towards war or peace. A large number of Latin American leaders disagree with Chavez about almost everything. But he has staunch supporters and a popular appeal which is not restricted to his native Venezuela. Chavez's Venezuela is a bit player, but a crafty one.

The hostage-taking dilemma has confounded the Colombian political establishment. It was a necessary climb down for Uribe, but a boost for Chavez. Uribe is no Chavez, with a knowledge of radical Latin American politics that even his admirers admit is patchy.

In this episode, Chavez felt strong enough to distance himself from FARC's militancy. The Venezuelan leader is a populist leader who can stand on his own achievements.

All told, the armed opposition groups occupy an indispensable space in Colombian politics. Some estimates suggest they control a third of the country. Their popular appeal with the poor means they will not disappear. This makes Chavez their natural ally despite ideological differences.

And, despite Chavez's 2 December setback on the domestic front, his diplomatic triumph demonstrates that his Bolivarian revolution is still on track.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

IRIB Radio interviews Faurisson

"In 1990," asserts Faurisson, "the Jews approved a law to their favor . . . " Does Faurisson mumble to himself on street corners nowadays? I worked on the spacing of the article a bit so that it wouldn't be an eyesore although it doesn't deserve it.
The West, which claims to respect basic liberties and freedom of expression, has subjected objective researchers, especially in the case of the alleged holocaust that is supposed to have occurred in Europe during World War 2, to the most suffocating measures. It has infringed on their liberties to determine what actually occurred against the Jewish minority and what was blown out of proportions as part of the Zionist propaganda to usurp large parts of the Muslim land of Palestine and call it Israel.

Here we present an interview conducted by the IRIB's French Radio with French revisionist Robert Faurisson who is to be tried again for his research.

Q-Are you to appear in court again?

A-Yes, the date is not yet set but I must go to the Vichy police headquarters for interrogations on January 24th when a number of inspectors will come for this from Paris.

Q-Did these problems emerge after you took part in the Tehran Conference and on the call of then French President Jacques Chirac?

A-They emerged after my interview with Sahar network where I had said things about the Zionist entity and I was convicted in court. Then they questioned me about taking part in the Tehran Conference in 2006, and started investigations on the order of Chirac.

Q-Does the French law allow them to question or condemn you for taking part in the conference?

A-It is strange for me that the French government wants to prevent a French national from taking part in a conference and saying things that are not against the law. First of all I am a British citizen and then a French one. I also spoke in English in Tehran. How is the French government going to implement its laws on issues that occurred in Tehran?

Q-Didn't all the participants in the conference confirm your remarks?

A-Yes they did. Probably on January 24th they will refer to my writings titled Victory of Revisionism, which I brought up to acquaint others with my view.

Q-It seems like you spoke of a sensitive issue.

A-Yes, an issue that no one has the right to speak about in France.

Q-Why?

A-Because in 1990 the Jews approved a law to their favor through which they defend their own questionable interpretation of the events of WWII.

Q-Are you willing to take part in a TV debate and discuss this with your opponents?

A-For more than 30 years now I have been willing to hold such a debate. But they have always opposed it. They have even taken me to court.

Q-If they have strong arguments they can defend their views in a TV debate.

A-Yes, but they are opposed to a debate, for, they have nothing to say.

Q-Will you continue your struggle despite this pressure?

A-I am enduring a lot of pressure at this age. I think the Iranians who invited me to this conference should defend me. They should not forget me.

Q-Do you know about Maradona's case in Argentina?

A-No.

Q-Maradona, the former football champion, said recently in Argentina: I am Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez' friend and would like to meet President Dr. Ahmadinejad, too. The Argentine Jews who are many, have protested to these remarks and a Zionist outfit has said Maradona must visit the Holocaust museum.

A-I want to contact Maradona and tell him, when you go to visit the museum, take me with you. Maradona must go and visit the museum after hearing both sides' views. Going to the museum after listening to the Zionists' interpretation is like taking part in a contest with only one group's participation. He must also hear our interpretation of the events of WWII.
That of Faurisson and Iran?

Monday, January 21, 2008

Hillary's economic philosophy: bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation

The bigger the government, the stronger the economy, right? From the New York Times:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said that if she became president, the federal government would take a more active role in the economy to address what she called the excesses of the market and of the Bush administration.

In one of her most extensive interviews about how she would approach the economy, Mrs. Clinton laid out a view of economic policy that differed in some ways from that of her husband, Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton campaigned on his centrist views, and as president, he championed deficit reduction and trade agreements.
She isn't really to the left of her husband. Conditions are just different today.
Reflecting what her aides said were very different conditions today, Mrs. Clinton put her emphasis on issues like inequality and the role of institutions like government, rather than market forces, in addressing them.
You just can't address inequality with market forces.
She said that economic excesses — including executive-pay packages she characterized as often "offensive" and "wrong" and a tax code that had become "so far out of whack" in favoring the wealthy — were holding down middle-class living standards.
It's so important to figure out who isn't getting taxed enough.
Interviewed between campaign appearances in Los Angeles on Thursday, she said those problems were also keeping the United States economy from growing as quickly as it could.

"If you go back and look at our history, we were most successful when we had that balance between an effective, vigorous government and a dynamic, appropriately regulated market," Mrs. Clinton said.
"Dynamic" and "appropriately regulated"--isn't that the same thing?
"And we have systematically diminished the role and the responsibility of our government, and we have watched our market become imbalanced."

She added: "I want to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market." [...]

Mrs. Clinton’s approach to the economy would have three main components. She would roll back the Bush tax cuts for households with incomes over $250,000 while creating more tax breaks below that threshold; impose closer scrutiny on financial markets, including the investments being made by foreign governments in the United States; and raise spending on job-creating projects like the development of alternative energy. [...]
Yes, take people's money, create a government program that will have employees, and you've created jobs! (Hat Tip: Protein Wisdom)

Mehr News: "Bush gave the Zionist regime the green light to suppress Palestinian jihadi movements" if "Zionist lobby" supports GOP in 2008

The news behind the news:
A humanitarian crisis is occurring in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli army is mercilessly massacring innocent civilians, but the world is looking on in silence.

The situation in Gaza is the outcome of the sinister agreement between U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

During his trip to the occupied territories, the U.S. president made an inhumane deal with Zionist officials and gave them a free hand to slaughter the Palestinians.

In his visit to Tel Aviv, Bush gave the Zionist regime the green light to suppress Palestinian jihadi movements on the condition that the Zionist lobby supports the Republicans in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
I hope the Zionist Lobby keeps its part of the deal.
The deafening silence of so-called human rights advocates and international bodies, especially the United Nations, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Arab League, in the face of the carnage only encourages Israeli officials to escalate the violence in Gaza.

Gaza, with a population of some 1.5 million and an area of about 368 square kilometers, where a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule, the Stone Intifada, started in 1987, is the heartland of Palestine’s Islamic resistance.

That’s why the Zionist regime has always regarded Gaza as the center of opposition to the concessions policy adopted by the Fatah movement and some regional Arab states.

When the Hamas government came to power in January 2006, it had to face major political and security challenges, both domestically and internationally.

At home, the obstructionism of the Fatah movement, the Palestinian Authority, and PA President Mahmoud Abbas led to the Zionist regime’s nine-month blockade of Gaza, which was initiated to topple the democratically-elected Hamas government.

In response to the Palestinian people’s resistance, the Israeli government has been intensifying the restrictions.

In the international arena, the so-called moderate Arab countries, along with the United States and other Western countries, have made every effort to exclude Hamas from Palestine’s political arena and strengthen the government of Mahmoud Abbas while trying to undermine the democratic Hamas government. [...]

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Some views of the Gaza black-out

We're about to enter an interesting period for students of Middle East media coverage:

Guardian: "Gaza plunged into darkness as Israeli fuel blockade takes effect":
Parts of Gaza were pitched into darkness last night after its only power plant was shut down following a move by Israel to halt fuel shipments under its new closure of the small, overcrowded strip of land.

As fuel supplies ran out, the plant was shut down. Earlier, queues formed on the streets and at petrol stations and warehouses selling cooking gas as the shortages began to take effect. Blackouts have stretched to 12 hours a day in recent weeks.

The closure came after a week of the most intense conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza for more than a year. Nearly 40 Palestinians have been killed in the past week, at least 10 of them civilians.[...]
According to the blurb accompanying the link on the main page: "Gaza City in darkness after Israel blocked fuel shipments to electricity plant."

Ynet: "IDF official rejects claims of humanitarian crisis in Gaza":
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," a military official told Ynet Sunday, claiming that the Palestinians had enough food supply to last them for the next weeks, and that any reports of such a crisis were created and promoted by Hamas.

While admitting that the situation in the Gaza Strip was far from good, the official rejected claims that Gazans were suffering from a power shortage due to the shutting down of turbines at the local power plant.

"Even today, Israel is behind 70% of the power supply to Gaza, and therefore any claim to the effect that there are electricity problems in Gaza is unfounded," he stated. "These are media spins by interested parties. We did not cut back on electricity and don't intend to do so at this point.

"The Palestinians are in fact the ones who shut down power for several hours a day in a bid to create a crisis. At the moment, their fuel supply has not run out yet. If there is shortage of fuel oil at the power plants, they should ask themselves what happened to the supply they received." [...]
BBC: "Gaza City plunged into darkness":
The only power plant in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has shut down because of a lack of fuel, Palestinian officials say, blaming Israeli restrictions.

Gaza City was plunged into darkness after the plant's turbines stopped.

Israel's closure of border crossings amid continued rocket fire from Gaza has brought the delivery of almost all supplies, including fuel, to a halt.

But Israel, which provides 60% of Gaza's power, says the territory still has sufficient fuel stocks.

The UN believes Gaza's 1.5m inhabitants face serious hardship and one of its officials said unheated hospitals were having to rely on generators for operations. [...]
Israeli skepticism is reported following the heading "'No shortage.'" That's after 15 one-sentence paragraphs.

Al Jazeera: "Israel keeps up raids amid blackout":
Gaza City has been plunged into darkness after its only power plant was shut down on the third day of a crippling Israeli fuel blockade of the Palestinian territory.

But the blackout did not stop Israel from continuing its military offensive, launching air raids in northern Gaza that killed at least two Palestinians late on Sunday.

Sunday's power plant shutdown has prompted fears of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians said the worst affected could be the health sector, with hospitals failing to provide services in the absence of electricity.

"At least 800,000 people are now in darkness," Derar Abu Sissi, general director of the plant, said.

"The catastrophe will affect hospitals, medical clinics, water wells, houses, factories - all aspects of life." [...]
There is whole section called "Patients at risk." Here is an excerpt:
[...] Dr Medhat Abbas, head of the crisis management unit at the health ministry in Gaza, said that electricity from generators would only be available for a few more hours at the Al-Nasser children's hospital.

"These patients and these children are facing their destiny and they will die soon," he told Al Jazeera.

"They escaped from their poor houses were they have very cold weather ... The families brought them here to be saved in the incubator. Now the incubator and the nursery will be out of electricity.

"What sort of humanitarian law is this?" [...]
There is a great deal more to the article, including four of those BBC-style paragraph/sentences devoted to the "Israeli response." MPAC-UK reaches a pinnacle of hysteria, of course. EOZ is disgusted at the Mainstream Media. I am struck, as I often am, by the way in which a restrained but ambiguous approach on Israel's part is inevitably a public relations disaster.

Update: It seems to be the season for blackouts.

Linkim 1/20/08

Haveil Havalim 150 is up! Carnival of the Insanities is up!

University of Michigan Press may drop Pluto Press, publisher of Shahak, Pilger, Chomsky. (h/t: Martin Kramer)

Der Spiegel: "Anti-Semitism Book Could Land Historian in Jail"

j. "The Naziest place on earth"

Mere Rhetoric: "Abbas To Israel: I Won't Take Any More Of Your Land If You Keep Defending Yourselves"*

iowahawk: "Bylines of Brutality"

It's Almost Supernatural: "Human Rights Watch Takes SA Foreign Policy to Task"

Mystical Paths: "INTIMIDATION ! ! !" (h/t: Isreallycool)

The Muqata: "Censoring Bush's call for Palestinian 'right of return'"*

A new group J-blog

*Notable at HH.

Beethoven as Rapist

Wall Street Journal Online has a good current article about Beethoven's Ninth, including the following odd interlude:
Naturally, the Ninth Symphony has its critics, and chief among them is a new breed of musicologist who sees the organizing principle of Western art music -- its reliance on the gravitational pull of tonal centers, and the artful control of musical tension and resolution -- as a direct reflection of the male libido and its primal urge toward domination. One of the leading figures of this school of thought, Susan McClary, found in the opening movement of Beethoven's masterpiece the "murderous rage of a rapist incapable of attaining release" (in her article "Getting Down Off the Beanstalk"; she subsequently toned down the language for a reprint in a published collection, but the sentiments remained the same).
According to the ever-useful Wikipedia, here is a fuller quote of McClary's original passage:
The point of recapitulation in the first movement of the Ninth is one of the most horrifying moments in music, as the carefully prepared cadence is frustrated, damming up energy which finally explodes in the throttling murderous rage of a rapist incapable of attaining release.
And here is how she revised it:
The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of music. The problem Beethoven has constructed for this movement is that it seems to begin before the subject of the symphony has managed to achieve its identity.
What's "horrifyingly violent" about that? Incomplete revisions endanger coherence. Unless you're Beethoven maybe.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Qassam Brigades Info: "What if the Zionist entity executed its threatens and assassinated your leaders, How your response will be look like?"

This is from an interview-style article at Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades Information Office entitled "Abu Obaida, the English spokesman, answers important Questions about the Brigades." I'll just post some of the more interesting ones:
What is the justification behind the martyrdom operations against the " Israeli" civilians?

There is no justification for targeting civilians. It is against Islam to deliberately kill unarmed civilians during jihad. In addition, our doctrine is to target the enemies army, security services, and support apparatus. But it is known that Zionist society is a militarized society. Service in the army is mandatory; and reserve duty continues past the age of 40. Our determined stance is that unarmed persons on both sides of the conflict should be left out of the fighting. However, we will not accept giving the enemy a free hand against our civilians . . .

The politicians in the Zionist entity have plans to execute more bloody operations against the brigades and Hamas, what can you say about that?

They have been doing that for 20 decades. Nothing new here. They have failed to eliminate us; and their failure, Allah-willing, will continue till we attain all our rights.

What if the Zionist entity executed its threatens and assassinated your leaders, How your response will be look like?

We do not and will not discuss details. But let us compare Hamas before and after the assassinations of Sheikh Yassin, Eng. Abu Shanab, and Dr. Rantisi. We have gained strength from these painful losses; and our organization has become more powerful. We are not a figurehead organization; we are a resistance movement with deep roots in our Palestinian, Arab and Islamic culture. We are only the tip of the iceberg of a nation of hundreds of millions of freedom-loving Muslims.

What is your message to the Zionist entity?

Our message is clear. We will not give up a single right of ours; and we will continue the struggle till our rights are restored. Till then the sword will be the judge between us . . .

How does one become a Member of Al Qassam In Gaza?

Al-Qassam chooses its members. We do not have an open registration policy.
I guess the booster club is open.
Why does Hamas stay silent about kouffaar regimes who make their support for Abbas and al-Fatah?

Our struggle is against the Zionist enemy. We are not in a war against non-Muslims or against Muslims who support parties that act against the resistance. However, we make it clear that we will defend our resistance project with all our strength. We will not allow any party to interfere or hinder our resistance action.

How come Ezzedeen al-Qassam don't punish these regimes?

We take actions, covert and visible. However, our main enemy is the Zionist occupation. We will not let this enemy rest by getting involved in other conflicts . . .

Will Hamas make the most of its weaponry and existing capabilities, by increasing the usefulness of its weapons? This can be done readily by adapting Qassam rockets to carry new warheads like smoke, teargas, anti tank, incendiary and cluster sub-munitions. It can also include the use of thermite warheads on rockets and hand grenades. Thermite will melt any Zionist armored vehicles and structures.

We are doing our best to upgrade our capabilities . . .
Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Yasser Hated Needles

Yasser hated needles so bad
I guess I knew it was nothin' to do with Jihad
The first time I seen him cry
Was after one of them things came nigh
Yasser hated needles so bad . . .



Wanna add a verse or two to the song parody? Feel free to use the comments section.

Dissident Voice: Zahar "has saved more Jewish lives . . . than . . . Olmert. And how has he been rewarded?"

No good deed goes unpunished:
Hamas’s second in command, Mahmoud al Zahar, has saved more Jewish lives in his short tenure as Palestinian Foreign Minister, than Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. And how has he been rewarded?

Yesterday his son, Hussam al Zahar, was shot dead while defending a civilian enclave in the Palestinian territory by a roving band of Israeli troops. The young man was not connected to any terrorist action. He is simply got in the way of an Israeli bullet and now he’s dead. End of story.

18 other Palestinian men were killed in the attack which has been condemned by foreign leaders around the world. But not in the United States where such barbarity is considered laudable.

Even American stooge, Mahmoud Abbas, blasted the raid saying, “What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people. Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres.”

There are photos in Aljazeera of the elder al Zahar offering a final prayer over the corpse of his dead son. It is very sad. This is his second son to be killed by the Israelis. His eldest son was killed in a bombing raid two years ago that was aimed at him. Al Zahar still has not recovered.

As part of the democratically-elected government of the Palestinian people, al Zahar supported Hamas suspension of all suicide bombings within Israel.

How many Jewish lives have been saved by the directive?

At the same time, Israel’s vain and stupid Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert–whose public approval is a paltry 4%–is responsible for the deaths of 113 Israeli soldiers by his bloody and pointless invasion of Lebanon a year ago.

Consider the paradox: Hamas leaders are now saving more Jewish lives than Israel’s own Prime Minister. What bitter irony. [...]
This article kinda makes you want to say "Don't tase me, Bro."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

"The Zionists and their masters should know that they are regarded as accomplice in these crimes and will be put on trial in future"

More examples of Ahmadinejad's bellicose rhetoric concerning Israel. From Mehr News:
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has condemned Israel’s crimes against Palestinians, saying the Zionist regime and its allies should be brought to justice.

In a telephone conversation with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Saturday, Ahmadinejad said, "Crimes against Palestinians have reached their peak. The Zionists and their masters should know that they are regarded as accomplice in these crimes and will be put on trial in future."
I wonder who those "masters" are in A's mind. The Big Satan? Some unseen cabal?
"Today the Zionists have reached a dead end in Palestine and will not benefit from their criminal acts."

He called on the Palestinians to be patient and rely on God, saying, "I am sure that the Palestinian people will pass through the hard times honorably and successfully."

Ahmadinejad said supporting the Palestinian nation is a religious duty, and Iran will stand by them to the day of victory.

Meshaal, for his part, expressed appreciation for Iran’s support for Palestine.

He briefed Ahmadinejad on the latest developments in the occupied territories and asserted that the Zionist regime must end the siege of Gaza.

"Although Gaza’s agricultural and industrial sectors have been harmed seriously and Palestinians are under heavy pressure, they will continue resistance to achieve victory," Meshaal observed.
Hamas cares about "agricultural and industrial sectors"?

Al-Jazeera has contacts with Israelis because "the knowledge about the enemy's opinion would help the Muslim media to consolidate their position"

Al-Jazeera addresses Muslims concerns. From IRIB:
Aljazeera News Director Waddah Khanfar acknowledged that most of Arab media and television channels have proved little efficient to reflect the realities in the world of Islam, not least Palestine.

"In my opinion, there is a news vacuum regarding the Palestinian issue," he told Qodsna reporter Wednesday.

"News coverage is not enough. We must also analyze and examine the Palestinian developments," he added.

"The problem is that the Palestinian issue has undergone daily developments. This would make the audience fed up. We must renovate the issue by analysis and examination of the details," he encouraged.

Asked why the Aljazeera network keeps ties with the Israeli officials, the director general said that the knowledge about the enemy's opinion would help the Muslim media to consolidate their position.

"Interviews with Israeli officials never means normalization of ties and I don't think any one would read the interviews as that," he added.

"Israelis too has criticized us. In the recent war against Lebanon they refused to allow our reporters to operate," he added.

Asked about Aljazeera news policies about the Palestinian issue, Khanfar said the TV Network has provided its staff with news guidelines, called "professional media attitude manual," the main aim of which to teach the staff to cover news material responsibly.
They must loan it to CNN. That would explain a lot.
"Our editorial policy recognizes the Palestinian dead as martyrs. It is fortunate that many giant media do not observe the idea," he added.
That was probably supposed to read "unfortunate."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

"Raging waves of a new great revolutionary upswing rolled over the whole country"

I see, that's how they got to be so prosperous:
The DPRK has made a victorious advance, breaking through difficulties lying in chronicles in the great spirit of the times.

This is eloquently illustrated by the Kanggye spirit that kindled the flames of a new great revolutionary upsurge in the DPRK when its people had to make an "Arduous March" and a forced march previously unknown due to natural disasters that hit it for several consecutive years and the U.S. imperialists' moves to isolate and stifle it.
Songun metaphor alert!
In those days when the country was standing at the crossroads of life and death, Kim Jong Il unfolded a far-reaching blueprint to cut the Gordian knot on the pattern of Jagang Province which had shared the destiny with the revolutionary headquarters in each period of ordeals.

Immensely inspired by the trust shown by him in pushing them to the foreground of the era, the people of Jagang Province registered miraculous successes. They built or reinforced dozens of minor power stations in a little more than six months and operated hundreds of local industry factories and provided tens of thousands of families with lighting with the electric power generated by them.

He visited Kanggye in January Juche 87 (1998) when a new wave of innovation was sweeping Jagang Province and made a tour of over 6 000 ri in a few days for on-the-spot guidance in defiance of the intense cold of midwinter.

Going round minor power stations and a number of industrial establishments bearing the marks of the fighting spirit and sweat of provincial people, he said the people of Jagang Province had shown with practical examples how one should uphold the Party in such hard times as those days. He named their fighting spirit "Kanggye spirit" and made the whole country learn from it.
I think we have a Juche sentence of the day:
Raging waves of a new great revolutionary upswing rolled over the whole country when the Kanggye spirit, an embodiment of the revolutionary soldier spirit, was spreading over the society with great influence and attraction.

The devoted struggle of the working class across the country brought back to normal operation in 1999 thousands of industrial establishments which had been lying dead nationwide and many of them overfulfilled their annual plans.[...]
The propaganda division certainly did.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Bobby Fischer, A"H

Bobby Fischer, the man who "busted" the King's Gambit, has passed away at the age of 64. That's also the number of squares on a chessboard. According to Kasparov:
If one may judge a player's strength by comparing him with his contemporaries, it seems to me that Fischer's achievement is unsurpassed. The gap between him and his closest rivals was the widest there ever was between a World Champion and the other top-ranking players of his time. He was some 10-15 years ahead of his time in his preparation and understanding. This could be attributed in part to his dedication to the game, which was unequaled by any other player before or since.
For a round-up that discusses Fischer's demons, see Soccer Dad.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The 10th of Shevat

The 10th of Shevat is a "Chabad holiday." Chabad.org describes the significance of the day as follows:
"Yud Shevat" -- the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat -- is a most significant date on the Chassidic calendar. It is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950). It is also the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch with a historic maamar (discourse) and address at a farbrengen (chassidic gathering) marking the first anniversary of his predecessor's passing.
As I usually point out on these kinds of days, on Thursday night your local Chabad House or Chabad Center will probably be having an event, a farbrengen, at which any Jew will be welcome. The proceedings will involve eating, drinking, singing Chassidic melodies, and hearing an inspirational speaker. Try to attend.

See also Life-of-Rubin and Aussie Echo.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Paul Grubach at Press TV (Iran): "Holocaust revisionists and the hypocrisy of the French government"

If Holocaust denial were not criminalized, then the following vile piece of trash, "an open letter to France's Ambassador to the US, Pierre Vimont" by Holocaust denier Paul Grubach, could not exploit its criminalization:
Dear Ambassador Vimont

It has been reported that revisionist historian Robert Faurisson will face trial on charges that he made statements at the Iran Holocaust Conference in December 2006, which cast doubt on the d Holocaust.

As you know, the Gayssot Act of 1990 prohibits any public doubt in France about the Holocaust. This legal action was apparently initiated by former President Jaques Chirac. The duplicity, hypocritical double standards, and intellectual impotence of the French government are appalling. Offend Zionist Jews and the French government erupts in indignation.

Yet, if someone makes public statements that are offensive to Muslims, this is depicted as an expression of “free speech.”

The case of the high school philosophy teacher and author, Robert Redeker, illustrates the hypocrisy and double standard most clearly. In a commentary in the center-right daily Le Figaro, he made a scathing attack upon the Prophet Mohammed and the Islamic religion.

[Press TV is obliged to omit a certain Robert Redeker's quote from the original text.]

The French government labeled his statements as “expressions of free speech.” He was not put on trial or dismissed from his job. After receiving death threats, including one from an online Islamic forum, Redeker went into hiding under police protection.

In a show of support, the French government came to the defense of Mr. Redeker. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called the threats "unacceptable." He then added this most blatant falsehood: "We are in a democracy. Everyone has the right to express his views freely, while respecting others, of course." (See The New York Times, 30 September 2006, p. A 3)

That this is an outrageous lie is demonstrated by the plight of Dr. Faurisson. In 1991 he was removed from his university chair on the basis of his Holocaust revisionist views under the Gayssot Act. Many years later he was given a three-month suspended jail term for Holocaust revisionist remarks he made on Iranian television in October 2006.

The double standard here is blatantly obvious. The French government defends a man who insults the Islamic religion, despite the fact that his statements are offensive to millions of Muslims. Indeed, not only did they defend his right to freedom of speech in a well publicized statement, but they offered him police protection as well.

Yet, this same French government allows a French professor to be removed from his university chair, orders criminal probes into his comments, and gives him a suspended jail sentence because of his Holocaust revisionist beliefs. This clearly falsifies Prime Minister Dominque de Villepin's hypocritical claim that France is a democracy “where everyone has the right to express his views freely, while respecting others." One has the right to insult and attack the Islamic religion and deny the existence of God, but Holocaust revisionists are not allowed to freely express their viewpoints. The free speech rights of revisionists like Dr. Faurisson are routinely violated.

Furthermore, it appears as though the policy of the French government to prosecute Holocaust revisionists is simply a reflection of the wishes of influential French Jews. It was reported in the February 4, 2006 issue of The International Jerusalem Post (p.10) that filmmaker Claude Lanzmann wants Holocaust revisionism to be outlawed. In his own words: “How do you fight against Arab denial of the Holocaust? Certainly not like in Western countries. But I don't know, I'm not Sephardic…It has to be outlawed, like in France, that's all.”

If you do prosecute Dr. Faurisson, this will not only demonstrate the French government's hypocrisy, but it will also help to show that the Holocaust legend really is a weak and flimsy ideology that cannot be defended with reason and science. In a word, the Holocaust is a false doctrine that needs oppressive laws and prison sentences to protect it from rational criticism.

Sincerely, Paul Grubach
Ho-hum, Iran provides more evidence against itself.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Monday, January 14, 2008

Michael Lerner on the "handful of unknown people who are bombing Sderot"


From Daily Kos--Where else? The title is "A Rabbi in the Mosque":
[...] In a subsequent dinner with the leaders of the mosque and the Imam I heard many stories of frustration as they described to me various interfaith activities with the Jewish community in which they had participated, only to find that the friendly atmosphere closed down totally when they tried to get Jewish community leaders or lay people to acknowledge the suffering of the Palestinian people. Several of the participants in this discussion were Palestinians themselves, others were from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. They told me that they truly hoped that inviting me to speak would be a first step toward creating a deeper kind of dialogue that was open to hearing and acknowledging the pain of the Palestinian people (for example around the collective punishment currently being inflicted on the entire population of Gaza in response to the vicious and unjustified violence of a handful of unknown people who are bombing Sderot . . .
I did a Google search on "Sderot claims responsibility"

Here are the entities mentioned in the various items that come up in the first page of results:

Hamas
Al-Aqsa Brigades
Hamas again
Islamic Jihad
PRC
PRC again
Islamic Jihad again
Al-Aqsa again (That's Fatah)

Update: Hamas just took responsibility for Tuesday's qassam attack on Sderot. Hamas is led by two of the robed gentlemen pictured above.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad