Guardian, trying to be fair and balanced, publishes letters (or excerpts from thereof) from the interested (or incensed) readers. From time to time some interesting items could be found in the texts, however a pearl like the following one, from a letter by Judith Kazantzis (Lewes, East Sussex), happens once in a lifetime, I would say:How will the next atrocious war on Lebanon be blamed on the other side?
Hey, Jude! No, forget it...
After few years of hesitation, British police decided to put their hands on one Omar Brooks a.k.a Abu Izzadeen, one of the chief rabble-rousers in London Islamic circles.Scotland Yard said the arrests related to allegations of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism abroad and fund-raising for terrorists.
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. To remind you, an excerpt of an oldish post about this revolting character:The audience laughs as Omar Brooks, a British Muslim convert who also uses the name Abu Izzadeen, makes fun of non-Muslims as "animals" and "cowards".
Of course, his ability to joke should not be curtailed, but he could do with a change of audience for a few years.
At one point he announces dramatically that the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center "changed many people's lives". After a pause, he brings the house down by adding: "Especially those inside."
And of course, Abu Izzadeen's fans abroad like the odious Chechen terrorism mouthpiece Kavkaz Center, are already clamoring for attention to the faith of this "martyr".
They are all active Muslims in the community. They are all passionate about what they believe. They all stand up against injustice by the government and their foreign policy. At the end of the day they have done nothing illegal and this is just another witch hunt and crusade against the Muslim community.When defended by a gang like this one, the need for legal defence seems to be kind of redundant...
Click to enlargeThese are two vortices (whirling motions) caused by the engines of a passing C-17 Globemaster III over the Atlantic Ocean last year. Sometimes called a "smoke angel," the patterns are visible by flares the plane just released, which are trailing down into the sea.Via Bad Guys.
This bizarre story as reported by BBC:
A man cut off his penis with a knife in a packed London restaurant.There is more in the article, but the main question: why would a person cause himself that ultimate in self-destruction, remained unanswered.
Police were forced to use CS gas to restrain the man when they entered the Zizzi restaurant in The Strand on Sunday evening.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the man was aged between 30 and 40 and that his injuries were self-inflicted.
The man was then taken to hospital in south London where his condition is stable. It is understood surgeons were unable to reattach his penis.
Zizzi is a chain of traditional Italian pizza and pasta restaurants that cook all their pizzas in wood burning ovens.Nothing extraordinary - just another pizzeria, and one should not expect anything special in the manner of food items served. It is definitely not a Maxim or a Peridot or whatever. And in any case, if the gentleman meant something in the line of criticism, why had he cut off his own member and not that of the offending chef?
This whiny tree-hugger article decries the incident that happened to Stumpy, the four-legged duck.Stumpy the famous four-legged duck has lost one of his claims to fame.
He is now a three-legged duck after getting one of his extra limbs caught in his pen, reports Metro. Stumpy caught the media's attention worldwide after he was born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest, Hampshire.Of course, neither the media, looking for an easy digestible scoop, nor the owners of Stumpy were imaginative or far seeing enough to understand that Stumpy is a humble beginning of what could be a brave new world of dinner table harmony.
In the 1960s, the U.S. Defense Department drew up operational plans calling for a military confrontation with the Israel Defense Forces to prevent Israel from occupying territory in Egypt and other Arab countries.This should serve as a reminder to all revisionists of history who claim that American ZOG was on the side of Israel from time immemorial. Not that it will bother many of them...
During the crisis in May-June 1967, on the eve of the Six-Day War, the plan for a military attack against Israel in the event it initiated a war, was updated.
The plan involved using air power, paratroopers and Marines to block the advance of IDF armored brigades in Sinai.
I have stumbled on the Al Jazeera article with ambitious title Israel and Azmi Bishara for a simple reason: there is a gag order on everything related to the investigation of this turbulent gentleman, and I hoped to get a glimpse of the goings-on via this outlet. I was quite excited seeing that the article is signed by an Israel scholar, one Neve Gordon, although I had not a slightest notion about the man (but let's leave this subject for while).
The article starts with a spirited defense of MK Bishara:Dr. Azmi Bishara, Christian palestinian citizen of Israel, and member of the Knesset, is being described as an enemy of the state of Israel. Why? He believes and works so that Israel becomes a democracy that allow non-Jews to have equal rights, says Neve Gordon.
That was a bit strange - to exonerate a man before even trying to state the (real or imaginary) charges. But I was hungry for some info, so I continued to read:In early April, the rumors about Dr. Azmi Bishara, the most famous Arab Knesset member, began circulating on the Internet: Bishara is afraid to return to Israel; Bishara intends to resign from the Knesset; the Israeli Security Agency has decided to accuse Bishara of treason and espionage. The gag order preventing the publication of any information about Bishara's actions made the rumors all the more intriguing. What did Bishara, in fact, do?
Uhu, says I to myself - in a moment I shall know everything.
...
I am at the end of the article. Mad as a nest of hornets. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The only other reference to Bishara's offences was:But what, one might ask, are Bishara's new offenses?
Immediately answered by the author himself:It is, after all, highly unlikely that he is a spy on the payroll of a foreign entity.
WTF? - said I to myself - the man has already cleared Bishara of any guilt, without telling us a single word about that file Shin Bet supposedly builds against him? And what does that "after all" mean?
This is, probably, why a man gets a scientific degree in political sciences (whatever this branch of science means, I am not privy to the secrets of this, undoubtedly fascinating, discipline). The ability to sell a lot of words to Al Jazeera without stating a single useful fact should count for something, after all.
Of course, the man has skirted a few hard facts that may be not known to Al Jazeera readers:
Many of you will smirk hearing about this display of testosterone-driven boyish behavior, called Blue Angels, the Navy's precision flight team. There could be plenty of psychological explanations why this elite team of the best, the bravest and the ablest does what it does - as many as there are reasons for smirking, probably.
But there are plenty of explanations for mountain climbing, lion taming and many other semi-suicidal hobbies, and I do not think that Blue Angels should explain what they do to anyone any more than an alpinist explains what he or she does. Saying this:
A Blue Angels pilot was killed Saturday when his F/A-18 Hornet crashed into a Beaufort, S.C., neighborhood near the end of a performance by the Navy's precision flight team.
Navy Blue Angel No. 6 is shown minutes before crashing during an air show at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C., on Saturday.According to the Blue Angels' Web site, that plane was generally piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin "Kojak" Davis of Pittsfield, Mass., who was previously stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.Rest in peace, Kevin. You are the best.
Ynet reports on the impending heavy loss for Israeli science: Dr. Ilan Pappe is leaving the University of Heifa in favor of greener pastures at University of Exeter.
The learned Dr. is already fighting with the British Jews, complaining in advance of being muzzled. An old trick, characteristic of many so called anti-Zionists.An article in the British Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), entitled 'Historian hits out at Jewish student lobby,' extensively quoted Pappe as complaining that UK Jewish students have formed a "lobby" aimed at quashing open debate on the Middle East.
Students quashing a professor. Probably by brute force of their younger muscles... For some reason the following version is much easier to buy:A British-Jewish academic, who asked to remain anonymous, said Pappe's allegations were themselves an attempt to silence opposing voices. "This is not a defense of free speech, but a suppression of it," he said.
Let's see how much time it will take before Dr. Pappe, who is not exactly famous for his social graces, alienates his new colleagues in Exeter. Meanwhile here the spirits are high:Regardless of events unfolding in the UK, many of Pappe's colleagues in Israel are glad to see him go, according to Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish History at Haifa University. "He is not a popular man in Israel, I'm very pleased," Kellner told Ynetnews, adding: "He's done his best to blacken the name of his university, and misrepresented it. I can't be help but be happy about this. Let's hope he stays there."
Yep. Dear Brits - better you than us. Sorry about this. Your decisions about boycott of Israeli goods should have been more forceful, apparently.
Just a few weeks ago the media (and we too) has reported on a new remedy for poor service - the suicide bomber belt.
It seems that the lesson was learned fairly quickly in some consumer circles. And here we have a customer who has decided that police, being funded by taxpayer's money, should be also included into the scope of the drive for better service. From Haaretz ticker tape:
16:09 Man wearing bomb demands return of confiscated car at Ramallah police station (AP)
Bravo!
Cross-posted on Yourish.com.
A bit of a problem here: with a long blogroll list it is impossible to provide a comprehensive review of any value, so please keep in mind that this is just a random selection.
Roland tells how happiness displayed by some of the left by the tragedy unfolding in Iraq put him off the left.
Cyrus describes a new conspiracy theory: it appears that these bloodthirsty Israelis killed Alan Johnston. No matter that Johnston seems to be alive meanwhile - it never hurts to have a good conspiracy theory ready.
Gabriel Shoenfeld asks in Contentions how good is CIA? I always thought that this bunch of bunglers is as good as any other in wasting the taxpayers' money, but....
D.C. Thornton tells about the new atrocity to be unleashed on the world by the fatso Michael Moore - this time about the wonders of Cuban health care. Read the first comment - it is enlightening for those who want some enlightenment. Then go see the crap - if you must.
Daled Amos throws a wrench into a mechanised blessing machine - simple and elegant!
Soccer Dad explains to us, uninitiated in the intricacies of the US politics, the difference in the stance of Republicans and Democrats on Israel. I guess I know (or I know I guess) whom Soccer Dad is voting for...
Hakmao helped me to find another common feature between smoking and religion (I do perfectly well with the former replacing the latter for me). The places of worship should bear the standard Surgeon General (or Generalissimo or whatever) warning, it looks like...
Raphael discloses the homicidal nature of the Thai Buddhists. Smashing.
Dr. Sanity elaborates on some finer points of Jihadi education, plan for some breathing exercises after reading. Heady stuff, pun intended.
Westbankmama on our magnetic qualities. So why no girl (well, almost) invited me to dance in my teens?
And for dessert, of course, Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin who joined another fine crowd, having his house promptly flooded as a punishment (I guess).
Enjoy. Share. Be of a good cheer.
This Friday brought some new rumblings from our internal political front. The two pretenders - Benjamin N. and Ehud B. (each considers himself and ideal replacement of the incumbent loser, of course) had a broadside each at Olmert/Peretz pair regarding the misfortune named "The second Lebanon war".
Barak is peddling his invaluable experience:
"When the dust settles over the conclusions of the Winograd Commission and the testimonies, one lesson will be drawn: In the state of Israel there no substitute to experience," he said in reference to the commission probing the war's handling.Doesn't the second paragraph cause you a desire to cry? The person who considers himself (a bit) above any deity, suddenly starts a free distribution of compliments... yeah...
"(Former IDF Chief of Satff) Dan Halutz is one of the most talented people we have; Amir Peretz is a talented person and so is (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert. They had good intentions and what happened to them proves that even among the highest ranks more experience is required"
Prime Minister, I would have done exactly the same. You will get our full support. I will support all steps, in this regard there is no coalition and opposition. We must respond with all out might.The quote above is a matter of protocol, and no matter how fiery was the subsequent response from Bibi's office when reminded about this record, it stays recorded.
The boycott of Israeli goods decided upon by the British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) caused several interesting responses. Of course, being the Guardian's fan of long standing, I cannot hide my astonishment by the extraordinary act of the Guardian's editor:"The Guardian disapproves of these kinds of boycotts and does not think they serve a useful purpose. It was a misguided motion," editor of the British daily Alan Rusbridger told Haaretz by telephone last night.
I am looking forward (not) to a sleepless night, trying to make up my mind about this statement. The similar statement made by the U.K. Foreign Office Minister is also quite interesting.
Of course, this strongly worded post by Meryl admirably expresses my initial feelings about the whole production by NUJ. So, all things considered, we could declare the case closed till the next outbreak of the British boycotts plague and plainly forget about it. And yet...
In the linked Haaretz' article there is a quote from what Zvi Heifetz, Israel's ambassador in London, said about the NUJ motion:It is a shame that an organization that represents journalists threatens to boycott goods from Israel only one day after worrying rumors surfaced about the fate of one of the union's own members.
This caused me to take a closer look at the NUJ boycott resolution, and here it comes, without any attempt to hide it:The call for the boycott in part related it to the kidnap of Alan Johnston. The Palestinian journalists union has given huge support to the campaign for his release - holding demonstrations and strikes against the Palestinian authority to demand more action from them. We work closely with the Palestinian union through the International Federation of Journalists and the boycott call was a gesture of support for the Palestinian people - notably those suffering in the siege of Gaza, the community Alan Johnston has been so keen to help through his reporting.
So, I hope that the situation is clear now: this boycott motion was a transparent attempt to get on the good side of the Johnston's kidnappers. And really, when the concern for the fate of one of their own motivates people to make some compromises, it is difficult to judge them. And in general, one does not judge people in their moments of trouble and desperation. So, ignoring some cynical remarks I wanted to make (but wouldn't now), like:
