A copy/paste job

Iran's Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence against a hard-line Islamic vigilante for murdering a couple for immoral behavior in southeastern Iran, one of the victims' lawyers said Thursday.

Ali Maleki, with the help of several accomplices, drowned Reza Nejadmalayeri and his fiance, Shohreh Nikpour, in a small pool in 2002 on the belief they had violated rules against contact between unmarried men and women. The killings occurred near Kerman, a city some 620 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran.

A Kerman court issued death sentences against six hard-line Islamic vigilantes, including Maleki, in 2003 for murdering three men and two women who they believed were promoting ``moral corruption.''

The five other assailants have been identified as Mohammad Hamzeh Mostafavi, Soleiman Jahanshahi, Mohammad Ya'abbasi, Mohammad Soltani and Changiz Salari.

All six men were members of the Basij, a pro-government vigilante force that enforces Iran's strict version of Islamic law - including segregation of the sexes and the wearing of the veil by women.

The vigilantes, who pledge support to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stoned one of their victims to death and tied up four others before throwing them into a swimming pool where they drowned.

Critics say the ruling demonstrates the free hand given to the Basij, which has no official legal authority in Iran, but is considered more powerful than the country's police. Enforcement of Islamic law has been reduced in Iran's largest cities like Tehran ever since reformists held power in the late 1990s, but the Basijis have continued to wage their campaign elsewhere in the country.

Under Iran's Islamic law, the vigilantes can escape punishment if they prove their victims were morally corrupt. The next step in the case will be a determination by the Supreme Court of whether the attackers were correct in their beliefs, Ahmadi reported.

The brutal killings shocked Kerman residents, but Iran's media has largely been kept uninformed about the case. The state-run media has not reported any news of the killings or the subsequent cases.

No comments. Just a reminder from that article by Simon Jenkins:

One country in the region that has retained some political pluralism is Iran. It has shown bursts of democratic activity and, importantly, has experienced internal regime change. If ever there was a nation not to drive to the extreme it is Iran.

Yep.

***

Politicians

The following sticker is making its rounds in Israel lately:

The Hebrew text, for those of you who are still Hebrew-deficient (it's a mistake, if you ask me as an Elder, it is either Hebrew or its dialect - Mandarin, so you decide) means:

Diapers and politicians should be replaced frequently and for the same reason

How true...

***

The bannana controversy

This is not a typo, so don't get your knickers twisted, please. This is the real, live bannana controversy, and you shall see why immediately:



The happy poster that brought the controversy to our attention, supplied and explanation for the feeble minded atheists:

The Atheist's nightmare is....a bannana. Actually, this is a famous argument that shows how God created fruit for us to eat.

So now you know everything about the design and the designer. The poster forgot to add that in his infinite wisdom, the deity also created a Joo who invented money, a Scotsman who invented the automate and a Yank who put bannana, money and automate together and this is how we have that infernal vending machine that, in its finite wisdom, sometimes agrees to spit out a (usually either too green or too rotten) bannana in exchange for some of our hard earned money.

Unfortunately, that same deity forgot to equip the humans with a spelling mechanism, but he/she is getting to it, via Bill Gates.

I think that BEAJ will be delighted to see this clip.

P.S. Do not forget to read the comments under the clip - priceless!



to SV.

***

Now say it again, please

The telegraphic style of the newspaper's headlines is something one gets used to with time. From time to time, however, one is startled nevertheless. Here is one of the best (Guardian April 18, 2007):






Now that you know I am not lying, here is the text again in larger letters:

Mayor shot dead by crime chief enraged his car was damaged at public works construction site, police say.

Two things are clear: that the mayor was shot and that the whole sentence is attributed to the police, so it must be the police spokesperson who was mealymouthed.

But who (and how) enraged the car? And whose car was that? And who (or what) was damaged? And what precisely does that public works construction site have to do with all that?

Questions, questions, questions...

***

Tony Greenstein in three easy steps

A while ago there was some brouhaha on the ENGAGE site, caused by the rash (we think) decision of the team to provide space for Tony Greenstein's rebuttal of an excellent article by David Hirsh. David wrote about the pitiful attempt of TG and his few remaining friends to exonerate themselves of antisemitism accusations, leveled at the rabidly anti-Israeli Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

The decision was a rash one, in our opinion, because, first of all, TG is not able to discuss anything at the level required for a dispute with David Hirsh. Being an indoctrinated old style communist, he tends to see the world in black and white, and his analytical ability is hardly above that of a dedicated Soviet party member (or a medium sized cucumber, for that matter). Just look at the way TG argues against the latest report on antisemitism in UK:

1. The chair of the committee is a right winger who denounced Chavez as "a ranting, populist demagogue". Besides Chavez being all that indeed, how is this relevant to the anti-Semitic attacks?
2. The committee "came to the question of anti-semitism from a rightwing political perspective." Probably being beat up by a leftwinger changes the picture drastically for a good Jew in Tony's book.
3. And where is a committee on the anti-Muslim abuse? It must be clear to all that absence of such committee makes that other committee's conclusions invalid...
4. The committee did not consult with anti-Zionists (read TG). Such a pity indeed that the committee preferred dry and boring police reports to TG's broader views...
5. And more of such claptrap

The above clearly shows TG the intellectual colossus, undoubtedly stretching the envelope that confines his scholarly prowess. What it also reveals is that he may require a smidgen more grey matter than he empirically possesses to stand David Hirsh a fair chance of igniting at least one used brain cell.

The other TG revelation is definitely one to be shunned by the gentle folks of Engage. We, however, will not overlook it. It appears that the fearless freedom fighter, the fervent communist, the dedicated community worker apparently has talents which are unjustly confined by the lowly limitations of the law. Using these astutely fine tuned talents, he has amassed an impressive portfolio:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Well, well, what do you know? To repeat a few especially poignant sentences from the above:

• Mr Greenstein was not legally represented in court. Notes to which he referred during the hearing were written on the back of notepaper from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
• Reference was made in court to eleven previous convictions for a variety of offences.
• He had been barred from the university and was now writing a book about the Middle East.

Quite. A fraud, a crook and an expert on the Middle East...

(Of course, Tony Greenstein is not the rarest name in the world, but somehow I doubt that it is some other TG).

We normally do not deal with the issue of antisemitism, since the whole subject became a mire of accusations, counter-accusations, spins, straw men etc. Generally, we consider that we (the Jooz) do not have to be neither especially liked nor especially hated - just like all the other, moderately good, moderately evil, moderately straight, moderately lying, ... people. With TG and his ilk, however, it is kinda different. TG himself, of course, will vehemently deny a charge of antisemitism - after all he is not only a Joo but also a valiant fighter against antisemitism, as his latest escapade with his own baby PSC proved. After all, it is not that pleasant for one to be spat, pissed and shat upon by the organization one considers his brainchild (well, the baby has certainly inherited dad's brains in this case).

So, for the purpose, let's define a new category of antisemitism - let's call it de facto antisemitism. You see, Tony Greenstein says openly "Yes, I want the state of Israel to be destroyed." No, of course, he does not mean by that a physical extermination of 6 million Israelis. He just does not care what will happen to them - dispersed, drowned in the Mediterranean, knocking on the doors of benevolent Europeans for shelter or just subjected to the usual, run of the mill dhimmitude of the new Caliphate - no matter, as long as Tony sees what he perceives as historic justice carried out.

From where we stand, it makes Tony practically indistinguishable from any neo-Nazi or a two-bit Muslim Joo-hating tyrant: they want to kill or subjugate Jooz, he wants the same. The texts may vary slightly, the motives may be different, but the goal is the same. And the definition of "de facto anti-Semite" applies to TG in its fullness.

So, it is time to summarize. Who (or, rather, what) is Tony Greenstein:

1. A cerebrally incapacitated pixie.
2. A small-time tea leaf
3. A de facto anti-Semite

And this is only a short, partial and very sympathetic description. To boot - there are some more disgusting things I had an unhappy opportunity to step on, but not so many of them that I would need two hands to count.

There are many more details on this creature here. But to finish this TG probe on a happier note, here comes some poetic distraction:

Greenstein (to the tune of Greensleeves)

Composed by Syrian poet Abu Jihad:

Alas, Hamas, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in terrorist company.

chorus:
Greenstein, Nasrallah's joy
Greenstein's Hamas delight,
Greenstein the jihad toy,
And who but my dear Abu Greenstein.

More where the above came from.

Take care and do not step on it.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com.

***

Making Money "Part Of Jewish Tradition"

Sometimes apologies are assuredly in order. However, I am getting somewhat perturbed by this all-American tradition to issue apologies every day of the week.

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson told a Jewish group Monday that earning money is "part of the Jewish tradition," a remark for which he later apologized.

"I'm in the private sector and for the first time in my life I'm earning money," Thompson told the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. "You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition. ... "

Later, he added: "I didn't (by) any means want to infer or imply anything about Jews and finances. ... What I was referring to ... is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You've been outstanding business people and I compliment you for that."

Thompson spokesman Tony Jewell said the former Wisconsin governor, who is Catholic, was sorry.

What's wrong with the statement in question? We've just been collectively commended for our success in the business world, and, as far as I can tell, the praise was not brought on by some warped precepts.

Our remarkable achievements can be interpreted in a multitude of ways: as part of the broader, all-embracing Jewish conspiracy or as something we have earned by slogging our guts out and fearlessly taking on insurmountable obstacles. Thompson's comments were, in my view, well-intentioned, and I truly don't think he has anything to apologize for in this particular case.

***

Professor Librescu RIP

This is the notice on Virginia Tech site:

This is the tragic story of the Holocaust survivor:

Professor Liviu Librescu threw himself in front of the shooter, who had attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

***

Irish stew with some matzo balls

The story about the recommendation on boycott of Israeli artists issued by Aosdana, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of creative artists, did not make a lot of waves in the media. Probably because it is not remarkable enough. JP says:

Aosdana, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of creative artists, voted last week on a motion to "back the call from Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers to end all cooperation with Israeli state-sponsored cultural events and institutions."

The proposal - put to a motion by composer Raymond Deane, founder of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, and seconded by playwright Margaretta D'Arcy - was defeated in the organization's general assembly.

Of course, as in any other place of the world, Ireland has its share of polarized opinion on the Israel/Palestine issue. Of course, the extreme political wings, as usual, miss the crucial point when taking a decision like this: the boycott will not help the situation, and polarized vision will assist only the cause of further polarization. But this is besides the point I wanted to make. Which pont is about the (almost) absolute lack of anything remarkable in that event.

First of all, we have a case of a relatively large group of artists, most of whom do not know a lot and do not care about the grave issues tearing apart our corner of the world. Then we have a relatively small hard core of the activists, not surprisingly associated with the even more hard core PSC. Using the indifference of the general public, this hard core group succeeds in pushing through a recommendation to all Aosdana members to consider the boycott (even the indifferent majority disagreed with the first, binding version).

This is not the first time that extremists abuse the public indifference, the examples are numerous and hardly remarkable. Also unremarkable is the language of the resolution, full of cliches, as usual representing only one side of the issue.

Of course, as expected, the team that spearheaded this initiative, includes its token Jew: a playwright Margaretta D'Arcy. Business as usual, and Ms D'Arcy's support makes the whole business a bit more palatable for some people who otherwise may have been wary of the rabid ways of PSC and its followers.

And of course, a response from the Israely embassy came as expected:

Israel's embassy in Dublin released a statement condemning the motion as "wrong, unjust, biased and based on misunderstanding and misinformation." Ambassador Zion Evrony said, "It appears that a very small number of Aosdana members... have misled others and imposed their views on the whole organization."

There are only two items in the whole story that may pretend to be called irregular:

Aosdana, you see, is not exactly an independent body of free-thinkers:

"What is more concerning is that by being elected to Aosdana as an artist, you get an annual salary from the state," the member explained. "As it is state-funded, it is surprising that [Aosdana] took this stance, given that political matters are not their remit."

So the Irish government is understandably unhappy with the behavior of its proteges , and condemned the resolution.

The second item is more remarkable. After the (fairly standard) response from the Israeli embassy, Ms D'Arcy, decided to explode (in public, too):

D'Arcy, for her part, wrote an open letter to the ambassador attacking his views: "Mr. Ambassador, who the hell do you think you are, interfering with Irish artists, prescribing what we may or may not reflect upon?" she fumed.

"I wonder that the Irish government does not immediately break off diplomatic relations with Israel for your absurd violation of those articles in the UN Charter of Human Rights that guarantee free expression," D'Arcy declared.

To tell you the truth, I also don't know who the hell our Ambassador is, aside of his name (Zion Evrony) and that strange way he (and any other Ambassador) should be addressed ("your Excellency" or summat). However, I was flabbergasted by that display of histrionics. The only thing our lady of letters forgot to demand of her government is that it nuke Israel within 24 hours. Or else. From that single glimpse into Ms D'Arcy's character, I guess that nary a government will deny a request from her. Fearsome, I say. Not a person I would lightly refuse an offer of a scone from, even a poisoned one.

Anyhow - if someone can tell me how the boilerplate response from His Excellency violated Ms D'Arcy's right to free expression, do not hesitate to do so. In details, please.

Meanwhile, I would like to quote here a comment to the original article in JP:

65. Long live Ireland

Jan - Norway

04/10/2007 06:37

It seems like many people reading this article do not quite get the fact that the Irish government, various media sources and even a large part of the organization that called for the boycott in fact do not support a boycott of Israel. Irland do not have anything to be ashamed of in this case. Left-wing moonbats are everywhere, but obviously they are not ruling Ireland. So lets give the Irish some credit not rebuke as Ben and other writers seem to do.

Precisely my opinion. Although - I am not sure what kind of moonbat Ms D'Arcy is - left or right, and could not care less, but moonbat she definitely is.

Too bad.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com.

***

But I thought...

Israeli-Syrian conflict can be resolved in 35 minutes, Clinton says

My memory is not what it used to be, but I am fairly sure that a) he did not promise not to smoke that stuff anymore, but b) he definitely promised not to inhale it in his lungs.

Hmm...

Er... unless he meant the time it will take for F-15 to get to Damascus?

But that is much shorter - about 10 minutes or so...

***

The meme revenge

That is not the first time I am succumbing to the devious plots by some people aimed to force me into that darn meme folly. Knowing that I have a soft spot for him in my heart, Shlemazl has done it again. Still, being an Elder, I have decided to play ball, but in my own way.

So what is going to happen now is that I shall choose a number of random answers from Shlemazl's own version of the "Five Things You Didn't Know About Me" meme, copy his answers and comment on each in my way. So here we go:

4. At the time best Soviet universities did not accept Jews. Jews were routinely "failed" during entrance examinations because of the notorious "fifth item" in the application forms that we had to fill in. It read "nationality" but it meant "ethnicity". I studied extremely hard at school and managed to slip through the system. I was the only Jew to enter my university in 1987. By the time I graduated Perestroika was running wild and the place was infested with Jews.

4a. No worries, Shlemazl: Perestroika is quite dead, and normal services have been resumed. As it was exceedingly well shown by our own AgentAzure, the place is no more infested by Jooz.

3. When I applied to one of the top Soviet universities, I did not know it had anything to do with "nuclear". That was a secret. I got into this business by accident.

3a. The youngster is, probably, talking about the outfit that I applied to quite a lot of years before him. I knew it was about nuclear and got promptly throw out on my face for my troubles. The only university of esteem that agreed to take me in was a few thousand miles to the east...

5. At university I did not have to study at all. Professors would read my name, look at me, automatically assume that I was a genius - otherwise I wouldn't be at that university - and give me the top mark without embarrassing themselves by asking stupid questions.

5a. I, on the other hand, did not want to study due to heady environment and a serious case of hormonal imbalance caused by a certain lady.

9. When my company offered a move to Canada I accepted it for they can't play hockey in Britain. I hoped for proper winters too, but that didn't happen.

9a. My company, on the other hand, being an Israeli one, didn't offer. They just told me you are moving for at least three years to the xxx (somewhere in the Midwestern US) or else. I moved. After three years I have decided that a) I purely love the US of A and b) that three years is enough.

13. Just for my leftie readers... Yes, I do work for Mossad. Remember that earthquake a couple of years back? That was me. Suppose you've known it all along. Watch out what you do and say, for it is me that you see in your rear view mirror every morning.

13a. Big deal, of course shlemazl works for this pool of semi-amateur rookies we use for preliminary selection to the Elders' field units. And of course, that semi-amateur stuff like earthquakes, floods, plagues, offing the firstborn (count to ten, please) is being 101 level training material since the days of exodus. Nothing much to brag about, really.

Now look here, Shlemazl: do desist with these memes, unless you want to become a close acquaintance of TheMaiden. Unlike in the case of the lady who accompanied you on the job, this one will care solely about her own personal enjoyment. This relationship will involve you very intensely, but only one of you will enjoy it. If you know what I mean.

***

Ladies and Gentle peoplemen...

...was probably the beginning of the sentence Yid with Lid aimed to write, when his head, weary from the effort, hit the keyboard.

He didn't even have time for the last browse to see that huge piece of work he has accomplished on the Haveil Havalim #112, but here it is, in all its glory. So, everyone, your overfed after - Pesach bodies notwithstanding, start clicking! Hooray to Yid with Lid and his all night vigil!

And since it is not the right moment to peddle one's personal pet peeves about bright fonts on a black background, I shall say not a word about it...

***

Librarians 'suffer most stress'?

Fighting fires may sound taxing, chasing criminals demanding, but a new study says that working in library is the most stressful job of all.

And they tell it so maddeningly cool about the job I am dreaming about (but am not qualified for) most of my life?

And urgent response from a few experts required!



to Norm.

***

On the turbulence and the optimism

Reading the article "You think our age is turbulent? What nonsense" by Anatole Kaletsky, I could not get out of my mind an unwanted image of my feeble self clutching the armrests of my seat upon hearing the self-assured baritone of the pilot telling us to prepare for a "slight turbulence that will last only a few minutes".

Of course, the rational part of my brain knows perfectly well that the plane is designed and built to withstand much higher stress figures than those offered by a mere turbulence. But of course that irrational part of my brain gets an upper hand quite easily, drawing a horrifying picture of this aluminium tube broken to pieces and my vile body thrown out to become a fodder for local fauna after a few minutes of tumbling in the air (hopefully unconscious).

Having this in mind, I should be excused for the resistance my overly cynical and pessimistic brain put up against the main premise of the article:

We are constantly told by politicians, journalists and business experts that we live in an era of unprecedented change — a dizzying period of technological and geopolitical revolutions, in which every year brings some new and astonishing upheaval for which our nervous, insecure societies are totally unprepared. What nonsense.

Never in human history has life been more predictable, safe and stable — at least for that large minority of the human race who live in the advanced capitalist countries of Western Europe, North America and East Asia.

Hope springs eternal, and I would like nothing more than to submit to the seductive call of this London siren. After all, Anatole is right: many advanced capitalist countries, especially of Western Europe are experiencing an unprecedented stretch of 60 years of prosperity and (relative) peace. The reason and humanism have won. At least it seems so to an unprejudiced observer, especially one residing in one of the above mentioned countries.

And Alex does an excellent work, proving his point by (admittedly anecdotal, but so true) examples of his own family history, showing a thread on the bloody and horrifying tapestry of the last century. It is impossible to argue with this history and, indeed, on the face of it, this century was the pinnacle of horrors, genocide and inhumanity.

But was it really a pinnacle? I am not so sure. Maybe in terms of absolute numbers of the victims, but what about the Black Plague centuries? What about the flu pandemic? What about the uncounted wars, conquests and genocides of the, say, last 2000 years only?

I am not so sure, in short, that the XX century was the pinnacle - neither in terms of inhumanity nor in terms of relative mortality numbers.

But let's look at the other angle - that of 60 years of prosperity and peace. Leaving aside the fact that several billions of people (Central and South America, Africa, China , a good part of Asia, etc.) do not seem so happy and contented, how about that vaunted European Golden Age? Just a few days ago I have posted a short but succinct aside by Isaac Schrödinger:

It's quite something: most Europeans living today have, historically speaking, a distorted view of reality. They've lived in their American-subsidized peace bubble for too long.

I do not think I should try to pierce that mental bubble for Alex. If he does not want it to be pierced, the mission is simply impossible.

And, without attempting to insult Alex's intelligence by going into a few cases he so unintelligently brings up at the end of the article (yes, Alex, the global warming alarmists do believe that they have a cause, and you better believe it; and the psychologists who treat accident witnesses cannot use Holocaust as a treatment tool; and the number of victims of terrorism grows too swiftly to be ignored, but let's leave all this for a while): being an economist, Alex could be unaware how fragile the life on this planet is. But lots of people dealing with several scientific disciplines could easily insult Alex's intelligence by explaining to him that a rise (or a drop) of a few centigrades in the mean temperatures, a chance meeting with a sufficiently large asteroid, an outbreak of a new plague for which we do not have an antibiotic or a half-serious nuclear war could easily bring about the extinction of our civilization. At least in the form we know it today and Alex is so happy about.

So let's hold the horses with that announcement of the golden age for a while. At least until we know that we can deal with the common flu, not to speak about a regular head cold. OK?

Meanwhile, I have on the table an urgent issue of where to have my lunch, and damn the global warming...

Oops: I have discovered too late that Norm has already done it. Yeah...

***

Was Kurt a Jew?

That's the question many people are asking these days. Because, you know, it is oh so important (for the record, he was not). Click to enlarge:

***

Islamic Hate Film Gets PG Rating

A PRO-TERROR hate film that urges children to martyr themselves in Islam's war on the West and calls Jews "pigs" has been rated PG by Australia's censors.

Sheik Feiz Mohammed's DVD box set, which also calls for the murder of non-believers, was initially seized by Federal anti-terror police.

But the Office of Film and Literature Classification has ruled that The Death Series is suitable to be bought and watched by children.

The shock decision has seen the nation's peak censorship body slammed as weak and out of touch by family groups and the Jewish community.

Does the West have any guts left to actually defend its way of life and all the values we hold dear? Our plentiful weaknesses are being exploited here and there, but many westerners seem to be oblivious to the happenings. What will it take to wake them up?

Any instance of "Islamophobia" (whatever it is) is decried and denounced to an absolutely ridiculous extent, yet Muslims are given the green light to spread unadulterated hatred and issue passionate calls to arms.

Are we insane?

***