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

Gnomsky Chomsky 9: Psychedelic

Since that day will be dedicated to visual arts, here comes a pinnacle of the said arts:

To enter and fully enjoy the bliss and/or nirvana you have to click on the picture and behold it in the glory of full screen, then relax in your chair - if your chair allows.

Filched with gratitude from Bob, whom I beg to pardon my (lately) rare visits.

Barak - passing the buck further (and back)

The hot potato of responsibility is handled by our politicos with the usual deftness. The ink on Bibi's testimony is still drying, and here comes Barak:

I carry overall responsibility for everything that took place in the systems under my command.

Spoken like a real man, isn't it? But...

But while holding himself accountable, the defense minister was quick to take aim at the Israel Defense Forces. "The decision making process at the political level was not the reason for the reality that emerged at the end of the operation," Barak said, calling the move to intercept the ships "a reasoned decision by a group of senior cabinet ministers".

Don't miss that "group of senior cabinet ministers", please, because this melody didn't stop there.

Speaking before the Turkel Commission probing the raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in May, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday contradicted statement's made by the prime minister on Monday, who told the committee the seven-minister forum only discussed the media aspects of stopping the flotilla and did not address the operational aspects.

Do you see it coming?

"The decision to stop the flotilla, which was made by the prime minister and the seven-minister forum, was made after examining the entire situation and the dilemmas," Barak said, stressing that "the discussion that was held by the seven-minister forum dealt not only with the media aspects of stopping the flotilla, but also with the military aspects."

Should I put an emphasis on the words "prime minister" in that last quote? I doubt.

Anyhow, Bibi is trying to recover from that previous weak performance:

In his testimony, Netanyahu appeared to shift responsibility to the defense minister, who he said was the man in charge while the PM was abroad. Later, Netanyahu published a clarification saying, "The overall responsibility is always mine – whether I'm in Israel or abroad."

Oh well. In any case, I pity that sergeant who doesn't suspect at the moment that the long arm of responsibility is aiming to get him as a chief culprit in the whole affair...

Nasrallah's "revelations" of Zionist crimes

The trailer to this thriller was published a week ago:

The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. In a fiery speech, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he would prove the claim at a press conference next week.

Of course, the brave new world was predicted as well*:

We blame the Israeli enemy for the assassination, and the figures I will reveal will open new horizons in the investigation that will lead to the identity of the true murderer.

Seeing as how all the fingers that matter point at Hezbollah, the public was waiting with bated breath for the unveiling of the new and crashing evidence. The date was set (Monday, August 9), the microphones were ready and the pens were poised. And here it comes...

The BBC headline is worthy of a special mention:

Nasrallah reveals Hariri murder 'evidence'

You too have noticed the quotation marks, I guess. Anyhow, without going into the details, it was beyond pathetic. Of course, any Nasrallah's speeches are taken as a gospel by the converted. But even at the low standard the converted are used to it was exceptionally pitiable.

He showed footage which he said was from Israeli spy planes, shot at different times from the 1990s to 2005.

Sheikh Nasrallah also revealed the name of a Lebanese man allegedly spying for Israel, who, he said, was at the site of the killing the day before the assassination. The man, however, fled before authorities could detain him, he said.

Nasrallah also showed footage of a man he called Ahmed Nasrallah, whom he claimed is of no relation to himself, saying he had served as a spy for Israel. The other Nasrallah, who was arrested by Hezbollah, was shown telling the camera that he had informed Hariri the group intended to carry out an attack against him and his family using a car bomb, after numerous failed attempts on his life.

That's it, ladies and gentlemen. It may be interesting to notice that there was a moment of weakness (or was it a rare moment of truth?):

"I don't claim this is conclusive proof," Sheikh Nasrallah said during his news conference.

Indeed. But in any case even this "inconclusive proof" will not be of use to anyone:

Sheikh Nasrallah said he would not hand the evidence to the international tribunal investigating Mr Hariri's death, because he did not trust it.

Uhu... but we should take another good look at this picture:

It seems to be a recent one, and the pallor of that face doesn't point to a healthy way of life. And how could it, after four years in a bunker? Obviously this unhealthy regime has an impact on the Sheikh's mental abilities, his power of judgment is visibly waning as this wretched "revelation" is witness.

Somebody has to persuade him to go to the beach or something...

(*) That August 2 speech included a bit of retrospection too:

Regarding the Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah accused the international community of "showing, for the most part, support for the Israeli enemy, whose plan was to crush us until we hand over our arms. Prof. Noam Chomsky also believes that the war was an American decision executed by Israel."

Yep, it's always a pleasure to have one of these "Noam and I" flashbacks, ain't it?

P.S. Oh, and I almost forgot: for the Russian reader(s): "Опять Насрала".

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

Hooray to Steven Slater, the ballsy JetBlue flight attendant

Details:

The JetBlue flight attendant was pushed over the edge when a passenger started going for her luggage in the overhead bin the moment the flight’s wheels skittered on the tarmac at JFK. He warned her to sit down. She refused with an expletive as her bag hit him in the head. Slater demanded an apology. She refused. And then -- this is where it gets good -- Slater got on the public address system to say, "To the f*****g a**hole who told me to f*** off, it's been a good 28 years... I've had it. That's it.” He then grabbed his bags, a couple of beers, opened the emergency exit, slid down the ramp, ran across the tarmac to his car and drove home. He later was arrested on charges of “reckless endangerment,” “trespassing” and “criminal mischief.”

I guess the man can kiss that badge good bye, besides he is in one heck of trouble, since the police really threw the book at him. I, for one, will be happy to contribute to his defense fund.

I hope that he, at least, had time to enjoy these beers. That's it.

So, where does the buck stop, Bibi?

It took me a shitload of time to find the appropriate illustration to the following headline:

Netanyahu to Gaza flotilla probe: IDF coordinated the deadly raid

and to this quote (there are many others in the same vein it that article):

When asked by former justice Turkel who Netanyahu had put in charge of the operation during his trip to the United States a few days prior to the flotilla's arrival, the PM named Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

, but I have succeeded. Here it is:

Bleh...

Wow, Fidel, it is so uncool, dude!

A man, even as macho and as full of himself as Fidel (The Beard) Castro, should know when to retire. As it is, the public transition from the la la land of dictators to the la la land of senile octogenarian dictators is being too public for prudence we like to observe in VIPs.

He said he was sure that China and "the Soviets", an apparent reference to Russia, the former Soviet Union, did not want a world nuclear war and would work to avoid it.

I hate to be the one who breaks the news, dear Beard, but your comrade Nikita K. and your comrade Leonid B. and your other comrades are already pushing up the daisies, and so does the good ole Soviet Union.

And you should become more... how to say it... proactive in the same direction.

The unshakable faith in entitlement

I don't like to comment on what is essentially the USA internal dispute, it being a thorny one besides. I am not sure that the picture above is true and not a Photoshop job, however if it is, it's quite telling.

Congratulations to Judeosphere

For throwing a wrench into the well oiled (but irrelevant indeed) machine of international SWP solidarity. Good move.

The False Issue of "Race" in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

I don't think there's any question of the fact that there is far far more racism in Europe or in the Arabic-speaking world than in Israel--and that's an understatement.

This is not to say that there are no cases of bigotry in Israel, but first read this important article by Barry Rubin. For many a foreign reader it could be an eye-opener.

Haveil Havalim #279: It's Almost Elul!

Brand new one for your attention, by Ima on (and off) the Bima. Enjoy.

The Onion: So Not Funny

Looks like the producers of The Onion have been on a "sense of humour" training course at Hamas-TV.

Apparently, you can "Overcome Stress by Burning Greedy Hook-Nosed Race Of Creatures".