Omar Khadr: not guilty by reason of genetics

I am sure the person who sent me the link to www.thekhadrlegacy.com site (now expired) has done so with good intentions in mind. After all, that person, who will remain unknown for the purposes of Elders' network information security, does lots of good in general.

Not this time. Perusing the site caused me one of the worst cases of the blogger block in almost five years this blog is functioning (or erupting, whatever). I mean, try getting your head around a family that... but let's do it in orderly fashion.

So, there was a long period of mulling, and then - eureka! Biology is not going to remain the same after this is published, rest assured.

But first of all a warning: this is rather a long post, so click on "Read more" only if you are interested in a new development in biology that should by rights shake up the scientific world: the Khadr/Al Qaeda Affinity Gene (KAQA)!

In the second half of the last century, a lot of maladies, as well as positive traits, were found out to be hereditary. It is not only your blue/brown/green eyes, it's your tendency to liver problems, your weakness for alcohol or the other sex (or the same one, if you are so inclined), your good or bad heart, etc and ad infinitum. Many a balding man will curse his unfortunate ancestry and many a frustrated woman will do the same when she's not able to squeeze her unfashionably large feet into an especially dainty and elegant pair of shoes.

However, when a person chooses his political affiliation or his/her ideology, it never crosses anyone's mind to link the choice to the person's gene pool. Whether the person becomes eventually a full-fledged believer in capitalism or a raving follower of Mao, never parting with the red book, or a Buddhist carefully treading on the sidewalk to spare the bugs, or... in all these cases the person's genetic legacy is never questioned.

Nevermore.

We aren't dealing with the causality chain of the KAQA gene creation and proliferation. Whether it was a high energy particle from an unknown part of the Universe that hit a DNA molecule in Ahmed Khadr's mom's egg or Ahmed Khadr's father's spermatozoon, or contaminated water in the place in Egypt where little Ahmed was born, or it was just that his mom was so frightened by a stray dog two weeks before the birth (which also could cause a gene or two to wilt - a sufficient grass roots explanation for some) - this is really immaterial for our purposes. What is important is that Omar Khadr is innocent and should not be going through this legal rigmarole in Guantanamo. Instead, he should be transported as soon as possible to a research facility for an in-depth genetic study. Subject of the study: isolation and development of quick identification mechanism of the Khadr/Al Qaeda Affinity Gene (KAQA).

So let's embark on a tour of Khadr family history then, using Wiki and other handy sources:

Ahmed Said Khadr (the daddy)

An Egyptian-Canadian aid worker and patriarch of the Khadr family, Sheikh[1] Ahmed Said Khadr (أحمد سعيد خضر) (March 1, 1948 – October 2, 2003) had close ties to a number of militant and Mujahideen leaders, including Osama bin Laden, which saw him accused of being a "senior associate" and financier of al-Qaeda, while his family insisted that he maintained the contacts to help his charity work.

The life story of Ahmed reads like a thriller. To start with bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, arrest, release (thanks to then PM Jean Chrétien's plea before Benazir Bhutto), kissing the ground in Toronto, then back to Afghanistan, living in the same compound as Osama bin Laden. Then a doubtful distinction of having his name added to a United Nations’ terrorism blacklist... and more and more. The end is known: killed by Pakistani counter-terrorist forces at a South Waziristan safe house.

But you can see that it's all one huge misunderstanding, of course - as his surviving relatives claimed all along. So let's see who is next.

Maha Elsamnah (the mom)

There isn't a lot of info on the loyal wife of Ahmed. Maybe this:

Accused of helping to finance terrorism, Elsamnah was listed as the joint director of her husband's Health and Education Project International charity.

Or this:

In 2004, Elsamnah appeared in a documentary entitled Son of al Qaeda;

"I like my son to be brave...I would like my son to be trained to protect himself, to protect his home, to protect his neighbor, to see a young girl innocent, being raped or attacked, to really fight to defend it. I would really love to do that, and I would love my son to grow with this mentality...[a]nd you would you like me to raise my child in Canada and by the time he's 12 or 13 he'll be on drugs or having some homosexual relation or this and that? Is it better? For me, no. I would rather have my son as a strong man who knows right and wrong and stands for it, even if it's against his parents."

In spite of being so disappointed by her sons' prospects in Canada, Ms Khadr is not very eager to leave. It is just that her kids are always gallivanting around all the Al Qaeda - infested areas... purely incidentally, of course, like their daddy. No doubt to become strong and be able to distinguish between the right and the wrong.

But sons are not the whole story, especially since the oldest kid was:

Zaynab Khadr - (the big sister)

Here we can easily detect some action. To start with - the first marriage.

In July 1995, Ahmed arranged for the 15-year old Zaynab to marry an Egyptian man named Khalid Abdullah in December, and Maha began preparing an apartment for the couple in the family's house. On November 19 Ayman al-Zawahiri bombed the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan, and Zaynab's fiancee went into hiding, named as one of the conspirators.

Oops. But you would rightly say: doubtless another coincidence, besides it's the daddy who has chosen al-Zawahiri's sidekick as a husband. Yeah... just wait a little.

In 1999, Zaynab was introduced to the Yemeni Yacoub al-Bahr, who had fought in Bosnia although better-known as a wedding singer in Kabul.

Well, the guy fought in Bosnia, on one hand, but he is a wedding singer, for crying out loud! Where is the harm? Oops again:

The wedding was in Kabul, and both al-Zawahiri and bin Laden attended, although Zaynab later explained that nobody was individually invited, and that word of mouth simply informed all interested parties about the open invitation to their upcoming wedding.

Still I have to insist that it's neither here nor there. People strolled by, seen a nice happy wedding and became "interested parties". Could happen to any of our kids too...

Like her mom, Zaynab loves Canada:

Zaynab lived in a rented apartment with her daughter and younger sister in Islamabad, Pakistan, and although her passport was revoked by the Canadian High Commission in Pakistan, she returned to Canada on February 17 2005 to be with her mother, and help the legal defence teams of her brothers Abdullah Khadr and Omar Khadr.

The love to Canada is somewhat bitter, though:

When she returned to Canada, security officials, including Konrad Shourie, met her at the airport bearing a search warrant stating that "Zaynab Khadr has willingly participated and contributed both directly and indirectly towards enhancing the ability of Al Qaeda", and seized her laptop, DVDs, audiocassettes, diary and other files. They claimed that they were able to determine the present locations of multiple al-Qaeda veterans, though were not able to produce any evidence to charge her.

But this laptop is easily explained:

Zaynab offered the defence that she had purchased the computer second-hand seven months before her trip.

Yep... again, could happen to anyone: these Al-Qaeda information - infested laptops are everywhere, one can't be too careful when buying a second-hand one these days.

And, appearing at her mom's side in this documentary, she says:

We don't like seeing people killed...[a]t the same time, when you're seeing your people being killed and killed and killed, everyday, everyday, everyday, and then you see whoever is doing this...being killed, you don't want to feel happy. But you just sort of think, "They deserve it. They've been doing it for such a long time, why shouldn't they feel it once in a while?"

But this should be discarded as an emotional outburst, I suggest. And as a side effect of KAQA...
Meanwhile, we came to:

Abdullah Ahmed Khadr (the eldest brother)

What can we say:

He has admitted buying weapons for al-Qaeda, but maintains that he was merely on friendly terms with its leaders due to his father's prominence, and not a member himself. He has said that he would "be the first one to stop" any potential attacks against Canada.

Notice how the love of all the family members to Canada surfaces each time. And how every member of the family eventually gravitates to Al Qaeda, maybe even unwillingly. As for his predilection to weaponry, he explained it perfectly, as far as I am concerned:

When testifying about a three-month camp he attended when he was about 13 or 14, Khadr explained that learning about basic weapons training, rocket launchers, grenade launchers and how to detonate explosives, were part of the "Muslim culture" and part of growing up in Afghanistan.

I think it clears the picture completely. Nice guy, with the same KAQA problem. And now:

Abdurahman Khadr (the third broher)

Abdurahman Khadr (in Arabic عبد الرحمن خضر) (b. 1982) is the third child of the Egyptian Canadian Khadr family, and was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, after being detained in Afghanistan under suspicion of connections to Al-Qaeda.

Here KAQA starts working early enough:

While the family was living in Nazim Jihad with Osama bin Laden's family in 1998, Abdurahman became close friends with Abdulrahman bin Laden who was close to his age...

Then there is some hint on his cooperation with CIA and later rumors on his life being made into a movie, worth a lot of money to the guy. If so, we can stipulate that KAQA could be managed, provided enough dough is invested and Hollywood is interested...

However, Abdurahman seems to be the only lucky one. See the next case:

Abdulkareem Khadr (kid number four - if my count is still OK)

Abdulkareem Khadr (in Arabic عبد الكريم خضر) (b. March 29, 1989) is the youngest son in the Egyptian Canadian Khadr family. In 2003, he was with his father Ahmed Said Khadr during a shoot-out with Pakistani security forces. As a result, his father was killed and Abdulkareem was left paralyzed. He returned to Canada the following year, and currently resides in Toronto, Canada with his mother Maha Elsamnah.

Unfortunately, due to the disability, Abdulkareem didn't have a lot of opportunities falling under the KAQA control. But even so:

Around 1999, while staying with the family of Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kandahar, the ten-year old Abdulkareem begged the al-Qaeda leader to let him hold his gun after he returned home one night. al-Zawahiri relented, and let him inspect the weapon.

But, after all, no harm was done, and the boy returned to beloved Canada, where he receives to this day his mom and sis attention and does his best to... whatever. In his case, the KAQA, not being able to come to fruition, transformed into some friskiness that may seem to be excessive for a semi-paralyzed guy:

In 2010, Abdulkareem Khadr, now 21 was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation, Toronto police spokesman said. The alleged female victim was a minor at the time of the alleged event, but is now 18 years of age.

Of course, like all the other siblings, he is unjustly accused:

He denies all responsibility on the affair.

Otherwise, nothing special. Just a nice boy, with some residual passion for guns and games...

And now to the baby of the family. The one who makes the headlines these days:

Omar Ahmed Khadr - the baby

Omar Ahmed Khadr (in Arabic عمر أحمد خضر) (born September 19, 1986) is the fifth child in the Egyptian-Canadian Khadr family. He was captured on July 27, 2002 by American forces at the age of 15 following a four-hour firefight with militants in the village of Ayub Kheyl, Afghanistan. He has spent seven years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps accused of war crimes and providing support to terrorism after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier.

If you read the story as it is presented in this Wiki entry, you could certainly get dizzy from all the legalese the entry offers. While the case is quite clear: the baby, while being 15 years old and definitely not responsible for anything, succumbed to KAQA and, as a result, found himself in the midst of Al Qaeda best and finest. When the shooting started, he was playing with the usual weapons (RPG, a few hand grenades, etc, as is fitting the boy whose upbringing in Afghanistan got him into the stuff). All the shooting and violence that suddenly developed around him caused his hand (the one with the grenade) to jerk, absolutely involuntary, and the rest is history. Or Wiki, whatever.

Conclusion

Well, if you have followed this long story so far, it's time to conclude what should have become obvious by now:

• Khadr siblings love Canada, the facts show that every time after a temporary insanity is caused by the gene that controls their behavior, their first request is to be transported back to Canada.
  
• Khadr siblings are essentially peaceful folks and any accusation of sympathy to terrorism or some such is completely misdirected.
• Khadr siblings carry a new gene, already called KAQA. The said gene causes them an uncontrollable urge to travel, as a result always putting them in direct vicinity of Al Qaeda operatives of the highest caliber.
• The Khadr siblings' passion for weaponry is not related to KAQA in any way, but is the result of the traditional upbringing in naturally weaponry-friendly region. Americans, of all people, should be perfectly OK with this matter.
  
• The baby Khadr's trial should be dismissed due to obvious innocence of the accused.
• The baby himself, and all the other surviving siblings should be studied for as long as it's necessary to identify and isolate the gene.
• After success of the above mentioned studies, and for as long as appropriate machinery for locating Al Qaeda operatives based on the study is developed, the Khadr siblings should be allowed to roam free, albeit under close observation. Every move they make (geographically) will certainly be a clear indication of another Al Qaeda cell, to be taken care of.

In short: no matter what UN, CSIS, CIA, FBI, Interpol and all the others think about the Khadrs, they should put aside their petty suspicions and let the science do its work.

I just found that I don't know how to finish this post, long as it is. But, on second thought, this story is just beginning. Khadr family is not going to leave their beloved Canada, and there already is a third generation of KAQA - positive babies, who will, in turn, produce more of the kind...

So there.


And, just in case you want to know more about the baby Khadr:



Cross-posted on Yourish.com

Lynn Turner, the antifreeze lady, is no more

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Department of Corrections says a woman serving a life sentence for killing her husband and her boyfriend with antifreeze has died at the Metro State Prison in Atlanta.

She made him some Jell-O.

This seemingly innocuous, but fraught with tension, mystery and foreboding sentence will never leave my mind. Especially at meal time.

But at least now I'm able to eat green Jell-O without my hands shaking too much...

Danielle Staub sex tape, Lori Michaels and housewives of New Jersey

Wouldn't be found here, but I gather that New Jersey is one exciting state to inhabit.

For you, dear hapless surfers, here comes a consolation prize:

Enjoy.

So who is Mya Guarnieri?

I have read the CIF post by AKUS Who is Mya Guarnieri? without great deal of interest. Tel Aviv is quite a big place and, as any place like this, has collected its measure of jetsam and flotsam. So one more example doesn't make a difference.

Then I have looked at the blog Ms Guarnieri keeps - it's called Mya Guarnieri, accidentally. The masthead of the blog drew my attention, since something seemed familiar there. Here is the snapshot of it (in case the owner decides to remove it later):

Do you see that figure with raised hands on the right? It is surely related to the post Children are just Israel’s latest victims, where Ms Guarnieri protests, in her inimitable way, possible deportation of 400+ children of undocumented migrant laborers.

The figure in that placard is not an original. It is borrowed - from this one, painfully famous, and not only in Israel:

This is one of the most famous photos of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. People have tried to identify the little boy with his hands raised over the years without any success. The SS Trooper with his face to the camera (dumb move) was identifed however as SS- Rottenfuehrer Josef Bloesche by Polish investigators and hunted down. He was tried for war crimes in Poland in 1969 and executed in July of that year. All the captured Jews were sent to the camps and all are believed to have perished there.

I doubt that Ms Guarnieri is the author of the placard (although who knows?). But in any case, if she isn't aware of the link between the placard and the picture, she is even more empty-headed than AKUS shows in that excellent post. If, however, she is aware of it, I am not sure I want to know about the contents of her head.

I have done a short self-check, trying to understand my own feeling re Ms Guarnieri.

Outrage? No...
Nausea? No...
Curiosity? No...

Nothing. And this is what she should remain to us, I suggest. Believe me, this is the best way to deal with such critters.

And the question in the headline: leave it alone, please...

When the undead meets the village idiot

Details.

The Frank Johansson "scum state" controversy is over!

Of course, the Elders were furious reading this headline:

CHAIRMAN OF FINNISH AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS ISRAEL A SCUM STATE.......

But, after some investigation, it appears that the whole brouhaha was a matter of a misunderstanding. First of all, take a look at the so called "Chairman":

Isn't it clear to any unprejudiced eye that it's a Chairwoman? Maybe dressed a bit mannishly, but so what?

And then there is a matter of translation. JP made it clear that it wasn't "scum" after all, but rather "douchebag". And this changes the picture radically. It has become known to the Elders that, when used by a woman, "douchebag" is a term of endearment in Finland. Here is the object itself:

It is nice, it is useful, it's totally non-threatening. And it is pink!

So, we say, let's all cool it. Everything is peachy, folks. Peace...

US envoy warned Lebanon: Israel can wipe out Lebanese Army between breakfast and lunch

Hmm...

They forgot the hallowed 10 AM tea break. Histadrut (Israeli trade union) wouldn't stand for this...

Ministry of infrastructure and the way it all goes...

To many a person who is able to compare the two, our little state here sometimes reminds too much the big state over there, namely Russia. Our founding fathers, at least most of them, came from over there, or from places once controlled by the big bad Russian bear. Thus our purely Russian tendency to let the things take their course, to leave for the day after tomorrow everything that could (and should) be done yesterday etc. This goes for our wars, our economic decisions, our seemingly carefree way of managing everything.

The ministry of infrastructure recently offered a good example of how (not) to manage the decisions of yesterday.

The National Infrastructures Ministry on Thursday issued a tender for a consultant to do an economic analysis of the feasibility of electric cars compared to gasoline-powered and other alternative energy vehicles.

Quite astonishing - to everyone who is aware of the Better Place enterprise that is in progress for almost two years, gathering momentum, building infrastructure for the next year's (hopefully) introduction and mass marketing of electric cars, creating partnerships and accruing huge amounts of investments in Israel and abroad.

There is indeed a tender (in Hebrew), which, in general, repeats what is written in that article linked above:

According to the tender, the consultant will be asked to evaluate clean transport options and the electric car and its components, including its infrastructure requirements such as the electricity grid. Energy needs of current electric cars and those in development and the environmental ramifications based on energy use will also be examined.

Yeah... and this is the way the Cossacks in our government manage it...

Compare? Or not, if you want...

I am sure that Bob didn't intend the subject of this post to be compared with other cases. The parallel, however, is irresistible.

Sorry, Bob.

Peace Talks: Arguments "For" and "Against"

For: All Jews and all Arabs want peace. Arabs want it so badly; they are prepared to sacrifice and fight for it. Hamas Charter says: "The Day of Peace will not come about until Muslims fight for peace to the last Jew".

Against: Peace negotiations invariably lead to Intifadas. "Intifada" is a form of Palestinian Olympics in which you don't have football or volleyball tournaments. Instead competing teams from Gaza and the West Bank take turns in the ancient sport of "Throw the Jew Down the Well".

For: Some think that Intifadas are not really linked to peace negotiations but are merely supported by the organizers in line with available resources, be that homemade Qassams, explosives or holes in the fence.

Against: Some claim that Obama is planning to lock Abbas and Bibi alone with Hillary until they reach an agreement. Personally I would opt for a more humane method.

For: One of the most venerable places of Judaism is no longer under any threat whatsoever. Palestinians destroyed it last time around.

Against: Have you no pity? If they were to come to a peace deal... Who will that poor Palestinian farmer blame as he is beating his third wife and raping his fifth daughter? Please spare a thought for population of the 25 Arab countries - how on earth will they explain their backwardness if it were not for the Zionist enemy?

For: The fact that a powerless stooge with a PhD in Holocaust denial finally agreed to have a talk with the Prime Minister of Israel is not only a great honour to the Israelis but also a huge success of Obama's foreign policy. When his presidency is over, Obama will be able to say: "Yes, I destroyed the economy. Yes, Iran got nuclear weapons on my watch. Yes, the US was pushed over by Kremlin and Venezuela. But I did get Mahmud and Bibi to chat to each other!

Against: Mahmud Abbas is too decisive. Only took him a couple of years of vacillating before he agreed to sit at the same table with Bibi. At this rate the conflict could be fully resolved before my grandchildren get married and we won't get to enjoy the negotiation process for very long.

For: Negotiations will finally, finally give the British newspapers a long-awaited excuse to write about the conflict and to blame Israel for all sins in a traditionally understated and non-partisan manner.

Strippers : 1, New Beginnings Ministries : 0

If you wanna preach - preach, but don't interfere with other people's lives. Otherwise - look for your Islamist and Judaic comrades-in-arms. Maybe together you will find a place you can mold to your taste. Like... oh well.

Details.

I Was There in Color

This is an amazing story of a treasure almost thrown away.



Hat tip: E.S.

What's so outrageous in a bra made from deer antlers?

The full headline of the story is Artist creates the world's most outrageous bras and corsets made from shells and deer antlers. But there is no clarification regarding who is it that is supposed to be outraged, for instance, by this bra made from deer antlers:

Should men be outraged, I ask you? Men, antlers, antlers, men. Doesn't work for me.

Nah...

Oil eating microbe vs oil eating microbe

First I have seen this article:

A natural "bioremediation" technique developed by biologists at an Israeli university may hold the key to the final, difficult steps of the billion dollar oil spill cleanup in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Professors Eugene Rosenberg and Eliora Ron from Tel Aviv University (TAU) use naturally occurring oil-munching bacteria, grown at the TAU lab, to clean hard-to-reach oil pockets that are produced when oil mixes with sand and organic matter on beaches and forms a thin layer on precious waterways.

And then this one:

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has revealed a previously unknown type of oil-eating bacteria, which is suddenly flourishing.

Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported Tuesday in the online journal Science Express.

OK, so I guess the folks around the Gulf of Mexico don't need our microbe then, the nature itself seems to be taking care of them. So we can give a hand to the Saudi Arabia people, they do have a lot of that oil pollution thing in their basements...

One day in the news

So what is the most benign headline you see below?
Yeah, I though that much...

(The headlines belong to Fox News site)

Khurram Sher case: Idol is the root of all that's bad in this world

CBC dryly reports:

The RCMP have charged three Ontario men for allegedly taking part in a domestic plot, and possessing schematics, electronics and explosives related to creating improvised explosive devices.

Them mounties are doing their job, and this is cool with me. However, one detail is passed over by CBC and could be found here:

The third man arrested in the Ottawa anti-terrorism raids is a former Montrealer who once auditioned for Canadian Idol. Khuram Sher, 28, moved to London, Ontario a month ago and is said to be a 2005 graduate of the McGill medical school and was in 2006 Pakistan during the relief efforts after an earthquake in Kashmir. He sang Avril Lavigne's song Complicated in a 2008 Canadian Idol audition.

And here he is for all to enjoy:



I always felt something smelling bad about these Idols. Now we all know...

McCarthyism vs McCarthyism

Not many in this polarized world are able to see both sides of the coin.

Yaacov Lozowick is one of the few.

No, really, people!

Propelled to prevent the conspiracy of assassination and anarchy, C... becomes a target for deadly forces in and out of the government and is pursued across a simmering landscape peopled by rogue CIA agents, Cuban killers, Mafia madmen, and ex-Nazi scientists, all the while haunted by a beautiful woman with her own scandalous past to purge, her own score to settle.

There must be something missing... or not? Oh well...

Spanair flight 5022 - the Trojan that killed 154 people

This news strangely (or not) didn't make many headlines.

Authorities investigating the 2008 crash of Spanair flight 5022 have discovered a central computer system used to monitor technical problems in the aircraft was infected with malware.

An internal report issued by the airline revealed the infected computer failed to detect three technical problems with the aircraft, which if detected, may have prevented the plane from taking off, according to reports in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.

Flight 5022 crashed just after takeoff from Madrid-Barajas International Airport two years ago today [August 20] , killing 154 and leaving only 18 survivors.

It's easy to see why airlines and airplane builders wouldn't want that kind of news to spread. And there is another article, linked from the above one.

Modern malware uses a variety of methods to conceal itself. As a result, even the most advanced antivirus software only detects between 40 and 70 percent of infections, said Danny Quist, a malware specialist and founder of Offensive Computing, LLC.

Quite bleak, isn't it?

Brad Pitt calling for blood

Now analyze this:

Brad Pitt has said that he would consider executing those responsible for the BP oil spill if he was in power. The "Fight Club" and "Ocean's Eleven" actor, said he usually opposed capital punishment but would make an exception if he could.

"I was never for the death penalty before -- I am willing to look at it again," the 46-year-old said when asked about the situation.

I do respect the body of work so far produced by Brad Pitt. But is it only I who suspects that Lt. Aldo Raine has grown on him?

Granted, the people responsible for the spill are guilty of gross negligence, incompetence etc. But, continuing Brad's line of thought: what if we apply the same criteria to the Hollywood figure(heads) that tend to have a strong opinion for everything under the sun?

In short, why don't we shoot everyone responsible for another multi-million flop of a movie?

Or, perhaps, first take away their limos and private planes? Just asking, like...

Reactionary scum are reactionary scum, the world round

The "anti-war" dirtbags at their vilest. By Terry Glavin.

And the worst thing yet - they appear to be winning in the White House and other high windows.

Hitler's Jewish and African roots? Tee hee...

I guess the nowadays neo-Nazis and similar garbage will have to do some creative juggling of their ideas after that.

Heil who?

American takeover of Al Qaeda - good or bad?

I've recently got an interesting article from a friend. It's titled Under New American Management Al-Qaida Now Poses Inner Threat. The main point of the article is that:

If al-Qaida looks and sounds different as we approach 9/11's ninth anniversary, it's because it's under new American management. No fewer than four U.S. citizens and a permanent U.S. resident have risen to senior leadership posts.

These five English-speaking leaders are actively planning or facilitating attacks against their countrymen, while recruiting and radicalizing other American turncoats to carry them out.

There is no contradiction between the two numbers mentioned, I can assure you (I have spent some time counting): five is indeed no fewer than four.

While some people, especially in US, can take umbrage at the story, I feel somewhat cheered up by it. It is good to know that Americans are becoming more and more involved in the management of that unruly bunch. The intrinsic American talent for high quality of management, for installing order where there was none and the commercial savvy will surely bring Al Qaeda into the fold.

Very soon, I predict, Al Qaeda will get itself incorporated according to the international law, quit it excessively tough bargaining policy and become one of the more successful international financial colossi with an undeniably huge geographic footprint.

We shall see in the near future the golden arches of the big M on top of Tora Bora ridge, the Walmart parking lots in Waziristan and Taliban folks in orderly ticket queues at AMC cinema house in Marjah. Or Mecca, whatever comes first.

It is not for nothing that the article was posted on Investors.com, after all.

Watch the upcoming IPO, I say...

More on the short man who resembles a toad in a toupee

I knew about the giant rabbits and that the man is terribly ronely. But here is more, much more and all of it is good! Enjoy.



Hat tip: The Propagandist.

Heidi Montag & Karissa Shannon Sex Tape

Definitely could be of interest to some of you, but wouldn't appear here. Instead, behold this:

Do you still want to surf for Heidi? I knew it...

Mahmoud the Mad fulfills his dream

Fox News have chosen to illustrate their article Iran Unveils Its Unmanned 'Ambassador of Death' Drone by the following composition:

Not bad, you may want to agree with this assessment, I hope. For me, however, the parallel was too irresistible. Unfortunately, embedding of the clip was disabled, so you have to follow this link.

A short essay on relativity and relativism

There is a moderate amount of brouhaha in the intertubes, caused by one Andrew Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia and author of a brilliant (or, let's say, exceptional) article Counterexamples to Relativity that "disproves" the theory of relativity. In fact, the beef Mr Schlafly has with the theory of relativity is that "It is heavily promoted by liberals who like its encouragement of relativism and its tendency to mislead people in how they view the world".

I wouldn't go into arguing science with Mr Schlafly, who received a certificate in Engineering Physics from Princeton University and degree from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor. I just have to mention a hilarious point out of 30 "counterexamples" used in that article: "9. The action-at-a-distance by Jesus, described in John 4:46-54." How does Mr Schlafly know that Jesus didn't apply his intimate knowledge of the theory of relativity to the "action-at-a-distance" is beyond me...

Anyhow, the chief reason I don't argue science with Mr Schlafly is best expressed in this article by Clifford Will, professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis:

The Internet world is full of kooks and crackpots who put out all kinds of drivel. It is pointless to attempt to refute these people with evidence, because they don't believe in evidence. People may not like relativity, but the experimental and observational evidence that supports it is so overwhelming that it is now a fact of the universe.

Indeed. I only hope, for Mr Schlafly's sake and for the sake of his clients that he is a much better lawyer than he is a physicist. And the chief reason for this post is to address my conservative and my lefty friends (and indeed, I have friends of both kinds) with a word (or two, as is my habit) of caution. Let's start with the dictionary definitions:

rel·a·tiv·i·ty
[rel-uh-tiv-i-tee]

Physics. A theory, formulated essentially by Albert Einstein, that all motion must be defined relative to a frame of reference and that space and time are relative, rather than absolute concepts:

rel·a·tiv·ism
[rel-uh-tuh-viz-uhm]

Philosophy. Any theory holding that criteria of judgment are relative, varying with individuals and their environments.

Even an eye not trained by Princeton University could easily grok that the first term belongs to the domain of physics and the second to the bailiwick of philosophy. While there is a lively interaction between the two, physicists don't manipulate their criteria of judgment and the latter don't vary in physics - no matter what manner of individuals deal in physics or what their environments are.

When state, ideology or religion try to interfere in physics - or any other science - what results from such an intervention is not a science anymore, in most cases.

Now I can address my friends.

To my lefty friends

I know that you personally wouldn't even fart in the general direction of relativism, especially its most revolting branch: moral relativism. But I beg you, please do not repeat this "As Einstein said, everything is relative", even as a laughing matter. Because it makes you schmucks, and this is something we would like to avoid, wouldn't we?

And more: when in a heated discourse on a political, ideological or any other related subject, please do not refer to physics if you are not qualified to do so by relevant education.

Remember, there is nothing common between relativity and relativism and, when discussing Middle East, Burma, Tibet, etc. - please leave physics alone. Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and many others deserve peace in their eternal rest, so let's give it to them.

To my conservative friends

I readily agree that anyone deserves the freedom of expression. I just have to add, though, that the freedom of expression has some unwanted consequences, one of which is filling the bottomless reservoir of virtual space with absolute drivel and poisoning many a curious mind.

When a liberal law professor, whom you suspect of being a lefty, uses relativity as a metaphor for understanding constitutional law, you may want to consider that: a) the learned professor surely doesn't understand physics; b) he could easily be a putz and c) most probably is confusing the two terms that are presented above. But then, Mr Schlafly is definitely confusing the two terms that are presented above - which is the reason for his misplaced zeal in disproving the theory of relativity.

In no way does the learned liberal law professor (be he a putz or not) justify an unbridled and, frankly, stupid attack on Einstein and/or the theory of relativity by Mr Schlafly who, without any doubt is a putz, a kook and is hardly worth your attention, in spite of being a prominent conservative.

Remember, there is nothing common between relativity and relativism and, when discussing Middle East, Burma, Tibet, etc. - please leave physics alone. Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and many others deserve peace in their eternal rest, so let's give it to them.

OK?

Ground Zero Mosque: A Zionist Conspiracy

Arghh...

Norman Finkelstein - out of the closet finally

Norman Finkelstein's behavior doesn't present a big mystery. Of course, there are many who erroneously claim that he belongs to that funny and ill-defined sect called "self-hating Jews". I've always protested that definition, seriously wrong in most cases as it's wrong in Finkelstein's case - after all, is there something he hasn't done yet for self-aggrandizing and for self-love?

If Finkelstein suffers from surplus hate, it is directed at Israel. Visiting Lebanon as a celebrity guest of Hezballoons - it is quite an act of hate, you would agree. Although - even in this act our Finkelstein was quite focused on his own PR.

But now, I suggest, we may have found the problem of the character, whom I called some time ago "a pathetic individual that carries out some deep psychological trauma, expunged by academic community and living of the Holocaust memories in his own perverted way". We don't have to look further for the root cause of the trauma.

The discovery is related to the story about the decoy Jews in Amsterdam. It appears (thanks to Yitzchak Goodman aka Judeopundit) that Finkelstein stumbled upon an AP article on the subject. His response? Reposting the whole article without any comments, save the following headline:

Dutch police to undergo mandatory circumcision and will expose their traumatized “members” in public

Here is a snapshot of the relevant page from his site:

So, without further ado: this pointless (and not even approximately funny) headline is, in fact, a cry (or a wail if you will) of a tortured soul. This headline puts a finger on the sensitive or, rather, painful point. (Can a headline put a finger on something? Whatever, you know what I mean.)

Notice the "traumatized" in conjunction with "circumcision". A botched circumcision could get a man to a poor state of mind, for sure. One could understand that hate - of own's father who has chosen the mohel with a shaking hand, of his own people who persist in their habit of circumcising their young. Of the whole megillah, in short.

Yeah. It was a big mistake. Or should we call it a small mistake in this case? Whatever, and here is the result:

Finkelstein visiting a Hezbollah "freedom fighters" cemetery

Ehehe... A big schmuck with a small pipik, and this is the whole story? How sad indeed.

Bilderberg films that blew Bilderberg wide open. And cold fire

Will not appear here as most of the crap associated even in a roundabout way with Alex Jones, one of the leading world's crapologists. Nor any PR for a fire extinguisher. This, however, will appear and is appearing:

I am sure this beats destroying your digestion over Bilderberg.

So why not decoy Jews?

The article, when I read it the first time, seemed to be clear enough:

“Decoy Jew” is a new phrase in the Netherlands. Jews are no longer safe in major Dutch cities such as Amsterdam. Since 1999, Jewish organizations in the Netherlands have been complaining that Jews who walk the Dutch streets wearing skullcaps risk verbal and physical attacks by young Muslims. Being insulted, spat at or attacked are some of the risks associated with being recognizable as a Jew in contemporary Western Europe.
...
In an effort to arrest the culprits who terrorize Jews, the Amsterdam authorities have ordered police officers to walk the streets disguised as Jews. The Dutch police already disguise officers as “decoy prostitutes, decoy gays and decoy grannies” to deter muggings and attacks on prostitutes, homosexuals and the elderly. Apparently sending out the decoys has helped reduce street crime. The “decoy Jew” has now been added to the police attributes.

So, we have here a sad story of young Muslims becoming way too frisky and venting their frustrations in a healthy anti-Semitic way (or is it the anti-Zionist way, it is so difficult to get a handle on the distinction these days?). We have a cause and we have a natural police response to it. Sad as it is, nowadays it's not exceptional in Europe.

But then something caused me to browse the article again. Here it comes:

The deployment of “decoy Jews”, however, is being criticized by leftist parties such as the Dutch Greens. Evelien van Roemburg, an Amsterdam counselor of the Green Left Party, says that using a decoy by the police amounts to provoking a crime, which is itself a criminal offence under Dutch law.

So I have one or two questions to ask the Counselor:

• Does the Counselor protest the use of decoy Jews only, or decoys in general?
• Does the Counselor think that the urge to attack a peacefully walking and minding own business Jew is natural?
• Maybe the real Jews (not the decoy ones) should be also considered as provocateurs of crime by their mere appearance?
• The Counselor herself is a mighty good looking person. Wouldn't the Counselor's appearance on the streets of Amsterdam be a provocation for all kinds of unsavory elements? By itself a criminal offense, so to speak?
  
• And... no, enough is enough.
  

Questions, questions...

Via The Blonde Zionist Jewish Chick.

David Pur, world's oldest man, lives in Israel

He has trouble seeing, but as one who has repeated the prayers for more than a century, he knows them by heart. David Pur, age 115, continues to learn Torah and to pray every day, now in the nursing home to where he moved just three months ago.

And he was not too shy to disclose the secret of his longevity:

• At breakfast, he drinks a glass of brandy and eats nuts.
• For nearly 110 years he smoked...
• He rejected a potential remarriage ten years ago.

At this age, it will be a crime to wish David the classic Jewish 120 years. Be well and keep plugging, David!

Oh, and David has another advice on longevity of a different kind:

We must be strong with the regime of the ayatollahs and not fear them.

Right.

Thomas Friedman's sense of smell is back

Wow. I am totally discombobulated. But read this excellent post by Soccer Dad.

Why Israel?

Precisely. Good shout, Batya!

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do

Says Mr Grumpy about this:

'Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said bibles translated into Dari had been found.

'"Yesterday at around 0800 (0330 GMT), one of our patrols confronted a group of foreigners. They were Christian missionaries and we killed them all," he told the AFP news agency.'

Unlike Mr Grumpy, I belong (well, nominally at that) to a less forgiving religion. I am more into the maxim ascribed to Storming Norman Schwartzkopf:

I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.

And I don't wish to be forgiven for this opinion, thank you all very much.

The discovery of an ancient SMS media

Invented by you know whom. The ever careful eggheads just didn't know how to interpret the find correctly.

The fragment includes a partial text including the words "you," "them," and "later."

That's not a fragment at all, people. Open your eyes.

If you can't make sense of "you them later", SMS, Twitter etc. are not for you, that for sure.

Yep, we own the moon

And I didn't even know that we do. Of course, I am in another department and don't have to do with property, but still.

Memo to self: have to take a day or two off, find a good spot for a summer place. Not drafty will be the first requirement, SWMBO says. And dry, too.

Erykah Badu naked at Window Seat

Not here, of course, but you get a consolation prize:

Doesn't one of the coolest critters on this planet beat Ms Badu easily?

Not a bull's eye yet, but getting there

Iranian air force jet fighter crashes near nuclear site, they say.

"Near" is not a proof of a good aim. Even the previous time was closer.

No sweat, third time will be a charmer.

Taking it one day at a time

Even the Palestinian kids know these days to recognize the ways of compulsive, cold-blooded, bloodthirsty, infidel Jewish Zionist murderers.

Yeah, "Yesterday they crucified Jesus; today they poisoned the father, the Elder."

And this is the way it goes: day after day after day...

White Liberals and Politically Correct Racism

The white liberal is an unhealthy type of creature that you will undoubtedly have encountered, if not in real life, certainly via the media. By ‘liberal’, I do not mean simply someone who has a generally liberal outlook, in the sense of a ‘live and let live’ philosophy, nor do I mean liberals in the sense of the classical liberals of the conservative tradition. By ‘white liberal’, I mean a white Western individual who is likely to come from a middle class background and have a university education, considers him or herself to be both ‘left-wing’ and socially ‘liberal’, and almost certainly reads The Guardian or The Independent.

If this beginning intrigues you, you could do much worse than reading the whole article. It is by Edmund (not Jewish) Standing, it is thoughtful, provocative and it hits where it hurts. Some people, at least.

Via (and thanks to) Peter Risdon.

Jennifer Aniston vs Bill O'Reilly

Not that I am terribly interested or, deity forbid, involved in the general subject, but this specific squabble caught my eye. First of all, because the editor decided to put the pictures of the protagonists side by side.

If the visual effect is to be the decisive factor then I have to confess: if I were a kid looking for adoption, left side would have won hands down. At least, on the face of it.

But then another factor came into play: Mr O'Reilly, in his zeal to protect the apple pie and the family values, said, obviously in the heat of the argument:

Dads bring a psychology to children that is in this society, I believe, under-emphasized. I think men get hosed all day long in the parental arena.

Dunno: whatever psychology Bill's dad brought to him at the time, he definitely skimped on mouth washing - with soap, I mean.

I am not sure where exactly the "parental area" is located, but I don't recall being hosed there...

Nah... Jennifer still wins.

Dr David Lowry - a short study in contradictions

I have stumbled on a curious letter to the Guardian, titled Hiroshima, Israel and nuclear tests, signed by Dr David Lowry, former director, European Proliferation Information Center (EPIC). He starts with the background:

I visited the exhibition on images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Face to Faith, 7 August) at the Quaker Friends House in London on Hiroshima commemoration day (6 August)...

Then comes the central issue:

However, I did notice one odd thing in the Quaker exhibition...: it lists Israel as a one of nine nations that have tested nuclear weapons.

Now some undoubtedly interesting background of the issue:

It is now accepted that Israel has around 200 nuclear warheads, although Tel Aviv declines to confirm its atomic weapons status. But, despite the fact that Israel has undoubtedly received considerable atomic assistance from the US, as is told in detail in Seymour Hersh's excellent 1991 expose, The Samson Option, there are no published details of Israel actually testing a nuclear device.

And all this is crowned by a question addressed to the general public:

I wonder if anyone else knows more details?

Ahead of answering this question, I've decided to look at the questioner.

David Lowry is an independent research policy consultant, specialising in nuclear issues and a member of the Nuclear Waste Advisory Associates. He does some research for Dai Davies, Independent MP for Blaenau Gwent; previously he worked with the late independent MP Peter Law and now retired Labour MP Llew Smith.

Beside that blurb, Guardian presents a respectable body of work by Dr Lowry, although one of the recent pieces should have been classified as an attempt at stand-up comedy, having a lede that reads: "With a few more olive branches and a bit less hypocrisy, there is new hope for progress over Iran's nuclear ambitions". That in April 2009... but so what, anyone can fall victim to own well-wishing, can't anyone?

Now, to gather my thoughts: Dr Lowry confused me quite mightily. On one hand, he sports an inordinate body of knowledge on the subject. On the other, he is easily thrown by a notice on some Quaker-born presentation stand - and doesn't even ask the Quakers for a comment. Then, being an expert in the subject, he a) uses Seymour Hersh's "expose" as input for his deliberations on the subject (imagine a physicist using an article from Examiner as a base for his/her doctoral thesis or summat) and b) asks the general public for help with a question that confuses him. To top this, the question about Israeli nuclear tests is submitted to the general public via the Guardian - oy vey...

Anyhow, being a member of general public and in a generous mood, I've decided to give Dr Lowry a hand with his research, using the premise "have Google - will research" (oh, well). And it was laughably easy - almost half a million hits for a search string "israel nuclear test". Follow some exciting results, without links for many reasons. Anyone interested can find the source by searching for the text or part of it.

The earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean on December 26, triggering a series of huge waves called tsunami, “was possibly” caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which “Israeli and American nuclear experts participated,” an Egyptian weekly magazine reported Thursday.

[Seymour] Hersh_revelations_and_allegations: that Israel collaborated with South Africa on a nuclear test over the Indian Ocean in 1979. [Notice that, although Hersch stated the "fact", for some reason Dr. Lowry didn't use this. This is the "Vela incident", frequently referenced in the media.]

Israel has most probably conducted several nuclear bomb tests. They have continued to modernize and vertically proliferate and are now one of the world's larger nuclear powers.

And why should we limit ourselves to tests only? Here are few examples of operational use of Israeli nukes:

Hi Readers.. The gist of this report is that the convicted bombers did indeed detonate a device in Bali at the critical time, which they never denied, however their bomb was a crude home made device that did relatively little damage, the enormous explosion that killed the people and leveled the buildings, was an Israeli "Micro Nuke."

The use of the micro nuke last week in Iraq against Shiite's on their holiest day, I knew was Israeli...

Zionists Nuke The Australian Embassy in Indonesia

And my personal fave:

I think that someone needs to find out if Israel sent [sic!] an underground Nuke. I have a strong feeling that they did this to cause an earthquake in Iran. When I get feelings like this I'm usually right. I don't know how to reach the Iranian Government, but this needs to be investigated.

Mmm... enough? There is so much more where these ones come from that I am afraid I will die of fright if I continue will this stuff for a bit longer.

So, where were we? Yes - you see, dear Dr Lowry, if you have started with using Seymour Hirsch as your personal scientific oracle, you might as well go the whole hog. There is no lack of proof, then, so there...


P.S. In addition to all of the above, I was quite startled by the following: "...after attending a moving ceremony that included speeches from a survivor of the city's atomic immolation, former London mayor Ken Livingstone..." While being an unintentional turn of phrase, it explains quite a lot to fans of the former mayor.

P.P.S. How do you like the title of that letter? Is Enola Gay a Hebrew name or something?

P.P.P.S. Meanwhile, another learned cove, Emeritus professor Norman Dombey, answered the question by Dr Lowry. Not that he added much to the body of knowledge presented in this post, but I feel compelled to quote the following pearl:

A clandestine nuclear test by Israel would have been useful.

From where I stand, this is all the proof one would ever need.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

Reza Baruni offed by Israeli diversionists, and more...

Want to know who Reza Baruni is and what "diversionists" really means? Here:

Founder and developer of the Iranian drones, a constructor Reza Baruni, was killed early in August in a raid by Israeli armed diversionists, who entered his well-defended villa in western Iran, Russian media reported citing the Israeli media.

As you can see, this bit of news went through a few translations, retaining as a result several accents, the last one Armenian. Needless to say that the original source is Oh Debka, Debka.

But the Israel armed diversionists didn't restrict themselves to that single act of villainy, which was followed it up by another one:

On Aug. 1, An American warship cruising in the Persian Gulf lofted three unmanned aircraft and crashed them deliberately on the dome atop the Iranian nuclear reactor in Bushehr.

This scoop, however, is disputed by the Iranians:

They elicited a Ministry of Defense communiqué which confirmed that a single drone had indeed crashed into the nuclear reactor dome, but insisted it was launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to test the alertness of the air defense personnel guarding it and the effectiveness of its anti-air radar system.

Mmm... how do you like them Ministry chickens? I would say that the truth is elsewhere: the late Mr Baruni was playing with several drones simultaneously from the comfort of his home, when something went terribly wrong. As a result, few of the drones fell on his head and the others on that nuclear reactor dome.

Of course, the Elders' mind control rays and their fatal impact cannot be completely excluded as a possibility...

T-shirts against Tea Party?

Tee hee. By Andrew Ian Dodge.

Actually, it's not that funny, when you read something like:

In a Facebook post yesterday regarding the tragic plane crash that killed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, Halloran wrote, 'Just wish Sarah and Levy [sic] were on board.'

Politics... of a kind.

And for the latest edition of Havel Havalim by Soccer Dad look no farther than here.

Naomi Klein's Floating Diaphragm or The SS Jew Baiter

Ho ho... Good job.

Reginald Levy Is Dead at 88; Hailed as a Hero in a ’72 Hijacking

As reported by NYT:

Reginald Levy, who as captain of a hijacked Belgian airliner in 1972 was hailed as a hero for enabling Israeli commandos to storm the plane and rescue all 100 passengers and crew members, died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Dover, England. He was 88.

The courage of Reginald Levy has deeper roots:

Captain Levy joined the Royal Air Force when he was 18, flew bombing missions over Germany and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.

Read the whole story or even better obituary in Telegraph. Looking for another photograph of Captain Levy, I have found this mention of his WWII days.

RIP, Captain Levy, and thanks.

Hat tip: Tom Carew.

Teri Hatcher naked photos

As you know, are not suitable for this here blog. Instead, an elephant seal in his naked glory:


Notice how cool, self-sufficient and botox-free is this lad of about 3 metric tons.

Tila Tequila attacked by Juggalos?

I could have sworn that this headline belongs to some UFO site. Or, perhaps, to some exotic branch of SF fans. Go figure that both Tila Tequila and Juggalos are actual live and breathing mammals, moreover - human beings! Shows my lack of worldly knowledge and naivety... Anyway, here is another picture:

See if these fine upstanding folks care about Tila Tequila or Juggalos. And how cool they are...

Why Today's World Must Understand the Crimes of Communism In Order to Survive

A must read. By professor Barry Rubin.

The sudden twist in Hamas propaganda

Aussie Dave aka Israelly Cool noticed it:

The palestinians, their supporters, and those who do not, but should know, better have been portraying Gaza as a concentration camp/prison camp – replete with widespread poverty and starvation.
...
The proliferation of such proof that the reality in Gaza does not support the concentration camp/prison camp comparison has engendered a paradigm shift in the palestinian’s Gaza narrative. So while they are still arguing that it is a prison, they have shifted the essence of their Gaza narrative from physical prison to mental one.

Indeed, the change is remarkable. The article that Dave quotes, says it quite unequivocally:

Gaza’s residents will concede that there is no hunger crisis in the Strip. Residents do love the beach; and the store shelves are stocked. But if you’re focused on starvation, they say, you’re probably missing the point.

What, no starvation? That after years of being taught by Gazan propaganda and their many tame supporters west and east of Gaza that death of starvation is but a few hours away? Google for "gaza starvation" - a small effort that returns almost 200,000 hits in a blink of an eye.

Yeah, well, after all you cannot fool all of the people all the time. Too much information on the real situation in Gaza leaked out, and the media lately is saturated by the pictures of stores, bazaars and hotels, so the old tackle doesn't work as well as it has done for years.

Gaza's Siege Mentality: Not Deprivation but Desperation - was the title of the article Dave uses in his post. Easy to see the shift. And then I have encountered another example of the shift, with a headline that is even more fascinating: Calling Gaza a prison camp is an understatement. The author, Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian freelance journalist, photographer, and blogger who divides her time between Gaza and the United States.

It's a strong start, ain't it? And Laila doesn't mince her words to start with:

Gaza was never a place with a quantitative food shortage...

Do you notice that "never"? Of course, Laila qualifies that bombshell with "it is a place where many people lack the means to buy food and other goods...". You would have thought that such people are precisely the reason that UNWRA and the West in general (but not the Arab and Muslim brethren for some reason) are pumping hundreds of millions yearly into Hamastan, but let's leave it alone.

So, the above mentioned "concentration camp/prison camp – replete with widespread poverty and starvation" is not replete with starvation, as we have learned. And there is a keyword missing now from the formula. And the formula, anyway, is insufficient for the horrors Laila is presenting in her article - concentration camp is, you see, an understatement. I shall leave that concentration camp missive to Laila's expertise (no, I don't want to go that easy way, really). Anyway, what makes Gaza worse than a concentration camp? Here it is:

But people don't want handouts and uncertainty and despair; they want their dignity and their freedom, employment and prosperity and possibility. Perhaps most significantly, they want to be able to move freely – something they still cannot do.

So, if we gather the wishlists from the two articles, what is it the people of Gaza desire?

• Freedom of movement.
• Employment.
• Prosperity.
• Possibility.
• No more mental anguish, no more posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

How interesting: the same list will be, for sure, collated by the people of Sderot, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon - the whole million Israelis that were in the reach of Gazan rockets (still are, and for all we know, there are new and more potent rockets in Hamas' warehouses).

Although, come to think of it, most Israelis would add one wish missing from that list. It is peace. It was the reason for the botched disengagement from Gaza, when we have really hoped for a prosperous and peaceful neighbor and got instead that "We have decided to make Sderot a ghost town" promise.

Laila's article, however, doesn't mention peace. It is all about things that people of Gaza miss and desire. Not about what they are ready to do about it - aside of continuing the efforts to kill more Jews at their own convenience and demand more freedom and prosperity in between.

Anyhow, now you see the way propaganda winds have started to blow. Be ready for more mental anguish and more uber-concentration-camp headology.

And meanwhile enjoy this clip - Welcome to Gaza.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

On peculiarities of Baltic region

The nastiest, dirtiest porn ever - Eva Mendes sex tape

As you like it. And this picture is for you to relax, after watching the tape.

Cool, ain't it?

Winnie Langley RIP - dead because of credit issues

No matter how you spin the story, the article makes it quite clear that Winnie had succumbed because she quit smoking. Only, if you believe the lede,

A pensioner, Winnie Langley, who smoked for more than 95 years and only gave up because she could no longer see the end of a match, has died a month short of her 103rd birthday.

Winnie quit because of her poor eyesight. However, a closer reading of the article points to the real root of the problem:

Winnie Langley had already cut down from her five-a-day habit to just one cigarette last year because of the credit crunch.

Yeah... and of course, the British health authorities didn't see it fitting to provide Winnie in her hour of need with the measly five ciggies per day.

No matter, Winnie has had a good run:

Throughout her life it is thought the defiant OAP, who outlived her husband, son and all of her 10 stepchildren, smoked more than 170,000 cigarettes.

Which goes to prove.

RIP, Winnie.

Only Hariri? And what about Jimmy Hoffa?

Details.

Elias Abuelazam, the serial stabber, is one of ours!

Well, kind of.

It looks like:

Abuelazam is suspected in 20 18 stabbings (investigators have revised the number,) five of which were fatal. Most of the victims were black but there were Hispanic and white people stabbed as well.

Since most of the victims were black, law enforcement officials suspected the stabbings were related to race. But that, again, was just a theory. The police could produce a different theory now that they have a suspect.

Meanwhile our local press wasn't asleep on the job, and dug up a few more details:

• The real name of the character is Elias Abu El-Azam.
• He comes from an Arab Christian family in the city of Ramle.
• He left Israel for US as a kid and visited Israel quite frequently.
• A few months ago he got into trouble in Israel (a fight with a friend) and left immediately.
• People who met him describe him as a huge man with an intimidating presence.
• His ex, Jessica, is in shock, was overwhelmed by the news.
• While in Ramle, he staid in his mother's house, didn't have a permanent employment, was supported by his mom and was frequently involved in fights.
• He has a considerable criminal record in US.
• Er... as far as I am concerned, the US authorities are welcome to keep him.

As for the question asked by a blogger here:

Are you surprised that the suspect is an Israeli and not some idiot from a hate group that thinks they’re better than everyone else?

I would answer by another question (as Jooish tradition prescribes): why, can't an Israeli be an idiot from a hate group?

On the subject of cormorants

Not that there is any reason to post this, if echoing a post by Francis isn't a reason enough. Somehow the cormorants fascinate me. Their pitiless emerald eyes and that mean attitude (ain't it stupid to ascribe our traits to animals?) are so reminiscent of reptiles, that ... what the heck, here are the pictures:

And now in flight:

Phoenix, AZ, 2010