Is Breaking the Silence collecting intelligence on the IDF?

I would hate to see a political movement get squashed for political reasons. However... watch this:



These are some mighty strange questions people concerned with human rights and violations thereof ask.

In short: this stinks to high heaven.

More.

Netanyahu's salary - in defense of Bibi

It is with great reluctance that I write this post, defending the man I so much like to criticise. Oh well, one has to change one's tack from time to time, I guess. Anyway, it is about the brouhaha in the local media around Bibi's tweet where he published his pay stub.

A few words of explanation for the curious foreigners. While Bibi's monthly salary before tax may sound considerable (NIS 48,815, roughly $12,000 - a salary of, say, a senior manager in local high-tech company), what is left after taxes and other deductions (NIS 17,645) isn't all that much. Far, very far below the income of many happy clappy bank executives, CEOs and other highfalutin employees in the local private sector.

And the reason I post this at all? Yes, it is a radio interview given by a lady I prefer not to name (this way I don't have to remember her name), who is what is called these days a "socialite" - meaning a person of no detectable occupation, a great PR value and unshakeable opinion on everything. In this case coupled with a poisonous tongue and a voice of a buzzsaw.

The lady went after Bibi's income like a bike of hornets after a... after Bibi. The quantity of venom she spent on the subject of Bibi getting everything for free was beyond reasonable and below bad taste. It was deeply unfair and deeply stupid. Whatever you say (and I do say) about Bibi's faults as a leader, as a manager and as a person, he is holding an unenviable job, one which most sane citizens prefer to be held by anyone but them. Even a triple amount of what Bibi receives for that yoke would have been not enough, if you ask me. So there.

Well, and if you want something bad to be said about Bibi, here it is: that pay stub trick is something Bibi has already performed, more than once. He is, most probably, calculating the time it takes the wave of adoration, caused by the previous publication of the pay stub, to recede and... Anyway, enough is enough.

Evidence based medicine: how passe is it really? A layman micro-fascist's view.

‘There are in fact, two things, science and opinion;

the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.’

(Hippocrates)

Anyone who doesn't look at modern medicine with sense of wonder, liberally mixed with trepidation, could skip this post altogether. However, the goings-on in some corners of this noble activity area should be of interest to many, I would suggest. Since you never know...

Read more »

Parents, forgive them; for they know not what they do

Our kids are usually a mixed bag, as far as our own emotional balance is concerned. These objects of our unconditional love tend to bring us as much worry and headache as joy, intermittently. And, strange as it may seem, our kids-related anxiety level only grows with years, not abating till our last breath. When the kids leave us to go to their choice of career or education, our active role as parents is somewhat curbed usually, but not our anxiety, which tends to skyrocket.

Of course, the university/college years are expected to be peppered by their youthful shenanigans. And who will not smile at something like this:

A US university has offered counselling to “injured and affected” students who may have been offended by classmates wearing small sombrero hats at a tequila-themed birthday party.

Juvenile, pathetic but still could be considered funny somewhat. It is a bit more difficult to smile at the sad story of two professors that were forced to resign after an attempt to uphold freedom of expression in Yale:

A Yale professor who argued for students’ right to wear culturally insensitive Halloween costumes and triggered outcry on campus has announced her intentions to resign from teaching at the university.

But you know, this could be written off to the youthful zeal and cultural sensitivity. The high schools definitely do a great job of instilling political correctness in our kids.

It is rather more difficult to write off the riots similar to the University of Missouri one. When a raging crowd, incensed by some real or imaginary racial slight (of course, the swastika, scrawled in feces, that was found in a dorm bathroom, has hardly figured in the riot for some reason) and social injustice, has as its main demand removal of the university president, whom it's hard to blame for the said slights and injustice, it becomes really difficult to sympathise with the kids. Especially, when one of the leading figures in the protests (Jonathan Butler) appears to be a son of a very wealthy family.

And thus is escalates, with students becoming de facto rulers in the institutions of high learning. You can argue forever whether it is the egg that came first or the chicken, but you must agree that the situation when the egg decides to teach the chicken is an alarming one. And the eggs, judging by the goings-on at some campuses, pretty malformed to boot, are definitely in the mood to teach.

And then it comes to the boil, in this theater of absurd that is called modern university:

Students at Western Washington University have reached a turning point in their campus’s hxstory. (For one thing, they’re now spelling it with an X—more on that later.) Activists are demanding the creation of a new college dedicated to social justice activism, a student committee to police offensive speech, and culturally segregated living arrangements at the school, which is in Bellingham, up in the very northwest corner of the state.

Read the whole article, dear parents, and weep: this is what you have unleashed on the academic world. These empty-headed embryos of an adult human being know all about their entitlements, about some vague ideals of social justice, about the power of the rabble-rousing mob and how to use it to their advantage. What you forgot to tell them when waving them off on their way to the university is about humility, about the need to study at the feet of their betters, about a long way from a human embryo to an informed and reasonable human being. So forgive them, because it is mainly your fault that you didn't instill in them some basic values before letting them go.

As for me - the whole sad subject somehow always reminds me this picture:

Child Soldiers in Cambodia.

Is Amira Hass whoring in the streets of Hebron?

To my ears it sounds farfetched. At least until it is proven by video recordings.

Now imagine any newspaper posting the above question and the above "conclusion". As a reader, you will be totally within your rights to ask what kind of crap is the newspaper up to?

Haaretz, however, has done just that in this article:

Does the Israeli Army Plant Knives on Palestinians?

And the "conclusion" of the article is just the same as in my combo above:

To the Israeli ear that sounds far-fetched, even an illegitimate question. But let’s ask: Have soldiers and policemen never lied to justify the unjustified arrest or shooting or killing of Palestinians? Israelis find it hard to believe that our soldiers and commanders could lie, until it’s proven otherwise by security cameras or still pictures of which the soldiers weren’t aware.

Welcome to the post-journalism era of the freest progressive-est newspaper in our neck of the woods.

Do Jewish people give children enema?

The headline above is a precise quote of a search string that brings some inquiring minds to this blog recently.

The only connection of this here blog to the enema I could find was in that post The Jew, the Pharaoh and the enema of about ten years ago. Old but still relevant, though.

Enjoy.

Another book not to read

In this fast-moving mystery/thriller, ... seek ancient documents hidden since the beginning of recorded time--documents that could forever change the course of human history. By using secret CIA parapsychology techniques for reincarnation based past life regression, they finally locate this treasure trove of ancient knowledge. But this is not before a harrowing journey that takes them around the world. Now is the time to reveal the secrets, but a dangerous and unknown force is trying to stop their efforts. This thought-provoking and suspenseful reincarnation thriller may make you think about the world and events in a new and perhaps disturbing way.

Any book that starts with ancient documents and adds: secret CIA parapsychology techniques, reincarnation, perilous journeys and a malicious unknown force... oh well.

Oh, and the way I think about most things is already disturbing, so there.

Kim Jong Un - getting personal now?

According to this, the tension between North Korea and the usual arrogant powers (TM) reached a new high (click on the image below to enlarge):

That "grown corpulent" part is especially interesting... well, all things considered (see above).

Unless the personal got so personal that they mean this man:

If this is a true guess, things might become real interesting. Where is my popcorn?

Yes, let's deal with this, Yariv Oppenheimer

Yariv Oppenheimer, General Director of Peace Now movement, is a man of strong convictions and strong opinions. His recent opportunity to go public with a strong opinion was re the two stabbing sprees by Palestinian martyrs-to-be - one in Jaffa, where a frenzied attack ended with one American visitor dead and ten other people (two Arabs included) wounded. The second attack, in Petah Tikva, was somewhat dryly summarized here:

An Israeli man who was stabbed multiple times Tuesday afternoon in a terror attack in Petah Tikva managed to remove the knife from his neck and use it to stab and neutralize his attacker, aided by the store owner, police said. 

What can I add to this? Only that we are used to different attitudes to such cases - from unbridled happy ululation from some Palestinian circles to the cautious "we don't condone but we understand..." from some members of the progressive left. Yariv Oppenheimer added  a new wrinkle to the case of Yonatan Azarihab (the man who killed the terrorist in Petah Tikva):

Translated, it says: "Both in Petah Tikva and in Jaffo, recorded clips show how neutralization becomes an execution without trial. In the current atmosphere no media outfit will dare to report and to deal with the subject".

Being a cautious fellow, one who prefers to let the emotions subside and to deal with any subject as cool headed as possible, I have waited a bit. Now I could proceed.

Mr Oppenheimer, you wanted to deal with the subject, so let's deal with it:

You are one sorry son of a bitch, Yariv Oppenheimer.

That's it, the subject is dealt with.

How about translating this, professor Juan Cole?

Since the days of the famous linguistic controversy about the undying words of Mahmoud Ahmadinejd aka Mahmoud the Mad and the brilliant interpretation of the "wiped off the map" by prof Cole, the issue has somewhat lost its allure. And now, Iranian military, undoubtedly seriously moderated by the latest elections (if prof Cole and his partners in disinformation are to be believed), decided to bring an end to the controversy.

Fars News posts photo of launched missile with Hebrew inscription: "Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth."

But, as they say, different strokes for different blokes. And if Ayatollahs and their warriors prefer to masturbate using missiles, one couldn't prevent a learned scientist from masturbating with words.

So translate this, prof Cole...

Kim Jong Un - really overdoing it

I mean this:

For a second day, North Korea appeared to be flexing its military muscles in the wake of a United Nations vote meant to cripple the nation's nuclear program.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time," the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported Friday.

I don't know why it is necessary. Just looking at this picture

totally scared the crap out of me.

Mercy, please!

The Toynbee Convector - rereading Ray Bradbury

There it is again, after a few thousands other books and a lot of time. Many authors took a shot at time travel, Bradbury himself included. But, in fact, this one short story includes everything you need to know about time travel. Oh, and about some damn fine writing, too.

And, by the way, here it is.

CNN invents a new source of energy - and more

When not preoccupied by inventing  vulgar headlines, the busy bees of CNN seem to make inroads in one of the more painful aspects of our existence, namely non-existence of clean sources of energy. This time they have revolutionized an already revolutionary (according to them) new design of a blimp, developed by Lockheed Martin. Here is the punch line:

The Hybrid Airship is a helium-powered craft that can cover thousands of kilometers in a single journey, with a top speed of 60 knots.

Just to think that until now no one, Lockheed Martin's boffins included, had thought to use helium as fuel! I bet that even helium itself hadn't a slightest idea of its ability.

I would also add another, less novel idea: why don't CNN anchors use helium for major announcements like that revolutionary one. It will sound much better, judge by this example:



And I promised more: here is another revolutionary discovery, about hitherto unknown quirks of modern geography:

I bet they are. After all, Aussies are so used to privacy, and now they have to have borders with all kinds...

Stay classy, CNN

The person responsible for that headline on CNN site will probably appear to be overworked and/or underpaid. Still, one of the prime media channels and all... OK, judge for yourself:

Nude reporter cries... sure. See what it is all about.

The sportscaster Erin Andrews tearfully told a court Monday that when she found out a stalker had posted nude video online, she called her father and frantically screamed, "Dad, I'm naked all over the Internet."

Whatever sells.

Orange revolution reaches USA now?

Reminder.