Haaretz and the Elders of Zion. Also - a sensational confession by an Elder.

Remember: you have read it here first!

***

OK, now I shall take a lungful of air and go for it. You see, my dear reader, I don't subscribe to the printed edition of Haaretz, the most progressive Israeli newspaper. Never did. Probably never will, although no one knows what might happen next.

Yeah... I already feel better. Such a load off my shoulders...

***

Thus I have missed a significant event several months ago, related to an article by the inimitable Gideon Levy, aka Self-Appointed Conscience of Israeli aka Baron of deceit industry. But this post here is not about Mr Levy: I think I had enough of that character, at least for the next few months. Anyway, the article, when I stumbled on it in the on-line edition, had the following headline:

AIPAC Is Destroying Israel, Not Safeguarding It

As usual for the above mentioned scribe, the article is full of venom, and I am sure the following (first) paragraph is sufficient to get the article's drift:

The enemies of Israel will gather here Sunday for their annual conference. Almost 20,000 people will flock to the city’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Almost all are Jews, and almost all are not friends of Israel, despite their organization’s name and pretensions.

Etc. So I've browsed through that wretched piece, wondered a bit about the poisonous pen and the inevitable hateful result and then promptly forgot about the whole. It was March 2016.

Yesterday, November 19, I have found something curious. Seth J. Frantzman posted this snapshot of the printed article on Facebook:

Not recalling the anti-AIPAC screed described above, I have started to google for the text of the headline, namely "The conference of the Elders of Zion". All my googling left me empty handed, if one doesn't count endless essays on the Protocols of... you know. Unwilling to confess my defeat, I have started to google for the pieces of the article's text and, eventually, voila: the Haaretz article of Mar 20, 2016, titled: AIPAC Is Destroying Israel, Not Safeguarding It. Of course, then I've recalled reading it.

So now it became obvious: The original printed article went out to the subscribers under "The conference of the Elders of Zion" headline. After that, somebody in the Haaretz' editors hierarchy (where Mr Levy himself occupies an editor's position, by the way) got cold feet. Besides being unwilling to deal with us (the Elders), that pathetic headline reeked too strongly of Der Sturmer and had the potential to become too damning in the near future, should it have spread all over the 'net.

Yellow cowards of a similarly colored tabloid. Well, it fits.

Now that scares the crap out of me

And how about yourself?

Update. I think I've found the source of that picture. The article says:

As reported IA "Tiras"* a billboard has appeared in the Montenegrin town of Danilovgrad and this billboard completely blew up the Internet. In it the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump stand shoulder to shoulder against a background of flags of the two countries. But most of all Internet users were impressed by a slogan in Russian and English that reads: "Let's make the world great - again!".

Montenegro - the country. which is economically strongly connected with Russia, however it is committed to integration with NATO. Montenegrin hopes for mutual understanding between Washington and Moscow in this sense are not surprising.

(*) IA "Tiras", where "IA" stands for "Information Agency", the source of the news, is a media outfit that is located in the Transnistria, "a self-proclaimed republic on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the border with Ukraine, recognised only by three non-United Nations (UN) states". In other words, a Moscow puppet.

Smoldering America and the Wesleyan's genderfuck

I didn't want to be too negative, so I could't call America burning. It is certainly smoldering, what with the wild behavior, both verbal and physical, of many of its citizens, inflamed by incendiary rhetoric coming from both sides of the growing political/social divide.

Of course, the rest of the world is in a shape that leaves even more room for improvement. While the self-centered Westerners keep their unwavering attention on the future White House inhabitant(s), the Russian bombs keep falling on Aleppo and other Syrian cities, ISIS continues their bloody work all over the place, Mosul is being torn apart by both ISIS and the righteous coalition, not to mention (purely humanitarian, of course) bombing air raids by that coalition, the refugees boats keep overturning in Mediterranean, the bombs - manned or otherwise - keep exploding in mosques, churches and restaurants etc. etc. - you get the picture, I bet.

But - all is well in the American institutions of higher learning. As it should be, the uber-green lawns of the campus are isolated from the rest of the unhappy world*. And the young ones, just like birds in love, keep adding more and more stalks of grass, branches, clay, saliva and whatnot to their nests, creating, to the best of their ability, their home away from home.

And Wesleyan's, to use one example, are doing their administrative best to assist the young ones in creating a variety of nests houses for every youngster's desire. Like this one:

Open House is a safe space for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderfuck, Polyamourous, Bondage/Disciple, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism (LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM) communities and for people of sexually or gender dissident communities. The goals of Open House include generating interest in a celebration of queer life from the social to the political to the academic. Open House works to create a Wesleyan community that appreciates the variety and vivacity of gender, sex and sexuality.

Now don't get me wrong. I am all for variety and vivacity of gender, sex and sexuality. I can't abide bigotry of any kind, including bigotry toward the sexual minorities of (almost**) any kind.

But, admittedly belonging to less celebrated and less vivacious heterosexual majority, I would still dare to inquire: aren't we getting overboard a bit? What with all the smoldering, burning and other warning signs that this here XXI century is going to hell in a handbasket? Isn't all this coddling and cuddling going a very long way to raising generation after generation of spoiled snowflakes? That are not only unable to cope with the larger fires mentioned re the rest of the world, but unable even to cope with the mundane American smoldering?

Isn't the Genderfuck*** going to turn to a clusterfuck as we watch helplessly?

Just asking.

(*) Unless it is that time of the day when the obligatory Zionism-bashing or anti-T-Rump or similar ablution is to be ritually performed, of course.
(**) Pedophilia will be one clear exception, I hope any reader could live with that. If not, go and boil your head.
(***) Genderfuck: no, it is not a swear word added by me for color. It appears in the Open House statement above and, apparently, is a legitimate form of the gender dissent variety****:

Noun

genderfuck ‎(plural genderfucks)

The conscious effort to subvert traditional notions of gender identity and gender roles.

(****) In their haste, the youngsters forgot other forms of gender dissent, such as Aromantic:

An aromantic is a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others.

Nu, fine... more nest building is clearly indicated.

For documentation purpose, a snapshot from that linked page (just in case):

About the recalcitrance of Israeli public and the role of the media

This post (see below ***), originally written in 2014, became relevant again.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing a proposal to quieten calls to prayer, saying he has received complaints from all quarters about "noise and suffering".

I don't know who exactly complained directly to Bibi (Sara?), and I don't doubt that, aside of the worry about the citizen's eardrums, the opportunity to stick it to the mullahs is also an element in the decision.

On the other hand, the ever increasing levels of noise irritate not only the sensitive Zionist ears, but Iranian ears as well, as was shown further down there in this post. The Saudis joined this trend too.

Saudi Arabia is cracking down on overly loud loudspeakers used to call the faithful to prayer, as mosques increasingly drown each other out, the official SPA news agency said Saturday.

Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Saleh al-Sheikh ordered teams to inspect mosques in the holy city of Mecca, in Riyadh and elsewhere around the kingdom for too powerful speakers.

Of course, it is always educational to see how the other side presents the initiative. Here comes Kamel Hawwasha, Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at University of Birmingham, with his (not especially unique) version of events.

Something is in the air in Jerusalem and if Israel has its way it soon won’t be; the Muslim call to prayer – the adhaan – is under threat. The state which is built upon the ethnic cleansing of the majority of the indigenous Palestinian people is inching its way towards banning the call for prayer, which was probably first heard in Jerusalem in 637 AD. That was the year in which Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab travelled to Palestine to accept its surrender from Patriach Sophronius, bringing a six-month siege of the Holy City to a peaceful end.

So again, "banning the call for prayer" is the definition of the measure. Well, what is good for Telegraph (see below) is surely good for one lying Professor of Civil Engineering.

Well, what can I say: shut them down.

***

A day usually doesn't pass without another article bewailing the unstoppable shift of Israeli public to the right. The shift to the right, as it is measured for Israelis, is usually referring to the attitude of Israeli public regarding the impassable Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which is simmering for a long time. Without any signs of abating and without hope for resolution.

Being one of the several millions that indeed have undergone a significant shift to pessimism and a significant loss of hope for the resolution of the conflict, I could quote many reasons for this change of heart. Indeed, from the heady days of Oslo accords via the years of Arafat's double-tongue speech and encouragement of "resistance", via lack of leadership on both sides of the conflict, via emergence of Hamas with its genocidal agenda (different from that of its rival Fatah only in more open and frank definition of goals, to be sure) etc. - it was difficult not to lose that optimism.

Be it as it may, the international media knows to put its collective finger on the reasons. Of course, depending on the particular bend of a specific media outfit, the apportioning of the blame will be different. From blaming the bloodthirsty ZioNazis to accusing the bloodthirsty Arab world and/or Islamist culture of death, you will find the whole gamut of opinions, emotions and hyperbole in the unending stream of what passes these days for reporting and editorializing.

There is one thing, though, you will never find in the media - blaming itself for what is going on. And I don't mean the incendiary articles by anti-Zionist or anti-Arabic gurus, not at all. Just the usual, run-of-the-mill daily reporting, dull and unremarkable, that seeps through the brain matter of the reader, leaving in its wake a few weak emotions, only to be forgotten the next day. But not completely forgotten. Because if, before reading the article, you didn't know anything about the subject, your knowledge will be increased only a tiny little bit. However, your opinion on the main actors of the unfolding drama - Jews and Arabs - will change - slightly, but it will definitely change. And not in favor of the Jews, things being (mis)represented as they frequently are.

And if you are a Jewish Israeli citizen, this reporting will increase your general irritation level, your sense of being wronged, your feeling of alienation and your sense of enmity the outside world displays. Slightly, granted, but increase all these feelings will. Eventually, with the passage of years and accumulation of these small jabs, one can't help but distance oneself from any hope of rapprochement - neither with one's Palestinian cousins nor with the rest of the world.

And to illustrate this long rant, I have chosen an unremarkable example from a newspaper that is not known for being especially anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish - The Telegraph. Robert Tait produced for The Telegraph an article

Israeli MP proposes banning Islamic prayer call.

Israeli Right-wingers have revived highly contentious plans that could effectively silence the Muslim call to prayer, known as the adhan.

In a move that risks stoking already simmering tensions in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is tabling legislation that could put strict limits on Islamic prayer calls from mosques in the city and across Israel.

So where do I start? With the headline, of course. No one is trying to "ban" the prayer call, to start with - this is the first small "inaccuracy" of that report. And as for "effectively silencing" that call, there is a grain of truth in that sentence, but only... how to say it gently - half of the truth. Because - but you will not find the full truth in the article, search it as you like. Let's try another source - Washington Post. WaPo presents a misleading headline as well, but slightly less misleading:

Israeli politician wants to silence the Muslim call to prayer

At least, this headline doesn't use the totally untrue "banning", choosing "to silence", which is somewhat closer to the reality. And in the article itself you may find the first glimpse of truth:

The song of the muezzin is a fixture of urban life in many parts of the world where there are Muslim populations. But for Ilatov and others, it's a problem of noise pollution. The proposed bill would give Israeli authorities the right to decide whether public address systems can be placed in mosques -- a de facto right to muffle the muezzin.

In this quote you can see that, first of all, the incendiary "to silence" is replaced by true version: "to muffle". Which, together with the first mention of  "public address systems", starts to resemble the truth (you wouldn't find any mention of PA systems, which are in reality humongous loudspeakers, in The Telegraph's article).

Now we can proceed to a local view of the same issue - by Jerusalem Post.

Yisrael Beytenu revives bill to limit muezzin’s call to prayer by labeling it noise pollution

The bill, originally drafted in the previous Knesset by then-Yisrael Beytenu MK Anastasia Michaeli, calls for a ban on the usage of a PA system to complete the call to prayer – called the idhan in Arabic – and any other sound emanating from a religious institution that is deemed noise pollution.

The idhan is recited five times per day, including at dawn, and muezzin in Israel use loudspeakers to call Muslims to prayer.

You can say what you will about the whole idea. But, first of all, did Prophet Muhammed, PBUH, require use of loudspeakers for idhan?

I, personally, tend to doubt it, but then I am not a scholar of Islam - or any other religion, for that matter. I only know that for Israeli citizens living in cities with mixed population, the 4AM wail, equal in the decibel count to an air raid siren, produces an unwelcome and unasked for wake-up call. And sometimes the same "PA system" continues to transmit the whole sermon. Why should Jewish and Christian neighbors be subjected to this unsubtle punishment, only Allah knows...

And finally, if the question of comfort and well-being of the Jews and Christians shouldn't in your opinion trample the religious rights (what religious rights, by the way?) of our Muslim brothers and sisters, consider this:

Calls to prayer have become rare, too. Officials have silenced muezzins to appease citizens angered by the noise. The state broadcaster used to interrupt football matches with live sermons at prayer time; now only a small prayer symbol appears in a corner of the screen.

This quote refers to... yes, take a seat: Islamic Republic of Iran, for crying out loud. Apologies for emphasizing, but it was irresistible...

Now to summarize: you can see how a relatively simple case gets a skewed and, eventually, anti-Jewish angle when presented by many Western sources. Imagine the interpretation of the same case by the Muslim ones, multiply this case by tens or even hundreds on the daily basis... you get the picture now, I bet.

So how do you expect us to keep our equanimity and our desire for peace, understanding and all things dear to any right-minded progressive Western bloke going?

You tell me.

P.S. To prevent a certain type of responses: no, I am far from blaming the media in everything that is going on, but at the end of the day, when the blame is to be apportioned, some media hacks have to own up to their fair share.

Che and the modern education

This Che (#26) is a middling one, even if I have to confess to this. But soooooo true...

Garrison Keillor and the Trumpists (aka the great unwashed)

As a person who doesn't understand a lot about America, I have been trying to keep away from the events of this unfortunate (for America) year. And I wouldn't even mention the results of that drama/tragicomedy. Some good people told me off and I shall heed their advice, given in a friendly way.

However, many questions remain and even accumulate. This post was triggered (yes, I know) by an innocent enough occasion. Reading a book Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor, which book is, in fact, a collection of his "it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon" monologues, which I loved - terminally and unconditionally - from the first listening occasion, back then in 199... If somebody requires a list of things/people that make America great, I thought since, Garrison Keillor should definitely be on it.

Reading one of these, I got curious about something in Keillor's biography, so googling for Garrison Keillor was a natural, if not very well considered at these mad times (as I know now), action. Well, I should have considered that action a bit more carefully, because what I got first was this:

Garrison Keillor: Done. Over. He's here. Goodbye.

Part of the article is a somewhat natural (for a liberal* and a Democrat) horror at the elections result. It repeats many other missives I happened to stumble upon (not really seeking all that, believe you me). So I wouldn't expand on this part. What really hit me was the general air of derision, condescension and alienation of/toward these same people whom, as a whole, Keillor used to describe with love and understanding all these years. Now he is designating them "Trumpists", which could have been fine with me, if only it was the only view he enforces on the reader.

But no, it gets worse. The "we" versus "them" melody grows stronger with each line in this piece. And it doesn't take long to understand who are "we", the definition is unequivocal: "we liberal elitists". As to "them", it becomes exceedingly clear too, when you see this at the end of the article: "Let the uneducated have their day".

Wow. So the first question will be: does anyone expect to close the rift(s) in American society, espousing this attitude?

And the second question: how about these liberal elitists (see the clip below)?



(*) No, not a liberal in the "pinko commie" sense many Americans use this word today, rather a classic liberal. Or so I thought. Till now, that is.

P.S. Oh, and I learned a bit from this article. Recommended.

And here is a debunking of Keillor's "uneducated" blip.

Tucson Water Protectors, intersectionality and tentacles of the big Z

А если в кране нет воды -

Воду выпили жиды.

Беляев Константин Николаевич

A bit of a jumble, that headline, isn't it? Now I have to explain it, which is quite a job.

Tucson Water Protectors are a nice bunch of well meaning folks, obviously located in Tucson, AZ, US of A. As they explain on their Facebook page:

Tucson community in solidarity with Standing Rock. Providing a platform of resistance for the intersection of ecological, social, and indigenous struggles.

Fully explaining the situation with Standing Rock, DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) and related phenomena is a bit beyond the brief of this post, so see the links.

Intersectionality: now this is a bit of a highbrow concept. Wiki does a good job, so I shall borrow a short passage from it:

Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) is a term first coined in 1989 by American civil rights advocate and leading scholar of critical race theory, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. It is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. The theory suggests that—and seeks to examine how—various biological, social and cultural categories such as gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, age, nationality and other sectarian axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels.

To make it simpler, here are a few real life cases:

• If you are incensed about the behavior of French troops in Poland during Napoleonic wars, you could relate it to and allot a good part of the blame to... say, Zionists and their tentacles (of course, I am using only one example out of many).
• If a DMV clerk made a mistake entering your age in the computer and now you can't get a drink in your local watering hole due to being officially underage (in spite of being a father of 3 college graduates) - you can relate it to... er... to use a handy example - Zionists and their tentacles.
• And of course, when some greedy oil company wants to lay its capitalist/colonialist pipeline through Native Americans' tribal lands, you can connect this act not only to the capitalists' thirst for oil and profit, but to many other injustices and acts of oppression. To use a totally random example - Zionists and their tentacles.

Tentacles of the big Z: I hope it is self-explanatory to every person hungry for Social Justice, Equality and Freedom.

So now you shall clearly see how the good fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline came to the necessity of issuing this flier:

So there. Now you know how the things in this world are interconnected... sorry, intersectionalized. And this knowledge will make you free. Or not, as the case might be.

Now to explain that quote in Russian that mysteriously slipped into the masthead of this post. It is a popular in Russia quote from a comical song about The Jew being everywhere. The quote says: "If there is no water in the tap/The kikes drunk it."

Yep. Water. Just like in "Tucson Water Protectors", innit?

Here comes the song. Well, for those who grok Russian, of course.

Orange revolution? And here is why

The much disturbing and stomach-turning process of American elections is over, but the punditry and histrionics in certain quarters of the public are just starting, like in this sorry example:

“I feel hated,” I tell my husband, sobbing in front of the TV in my yoga pants and Hillary sweatshirt, holding my bare neck. “Hated.”

This is what democracy is about, Ms Harding. Take it or leave it, up to you.

But still, the best summary that many people have to heed is the one I've read on a FB friend's page:

"Have any of you ever heard the sound of a billion beating wings, looked up at the sky, and seen LITERALLY BILLIONS OF CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST?!
Because thats what is happening now. Every act of SJW idiocy, every BLM rally, every safe space, every mobbing, every narcissistic tantrum......these things made people stop caring about the left.
The SJW cliques are the architects of Trump's victory, and watching them shriek in terror and rage is better than sex".

America, teared apart by hate, ideology and fear, has to go through a long healing process now. Is its leadership up to the task? I don't know.

But people on extreme left and extreme right of this great country have to do a lot of soul-searching now, instead of finger-pointing, blaming and teary pronouncements.

As for Hillary and Donald sweatshirts: burn them or use them for house cleaning, be my advice.

And this completes the topic of American elections on this here blog.

Enough.

Feng-Shan Ho: he who saves one life, saves the whole world

This post is not about some news item. The life and story of the Chinese diplomat is known and his name is in the list of the Righteous Among the Nations. It is just my own way to say that I've learned about the man right now and to say thank you.

After Austria’s annexation to Nazi Germany in March 1938, the 185,000 Jews there were subjected to a severe reign of terror, which resulted in intense pressure to leave the country. In order to do so, the Nazis required that Jews have entry visas or boat tickets to another country. However, the majority of the world’s nations refused to budge from their restrictive immigration policies, a stance reaffirmed at the Evian Conference, in July 1938.

Unlike his fellow-diplomats, Ho issued visas to Shanghai to all requesting them, even to those wishing to travel elsewhere but needing a visa to leave Nazi Germany.

Many of those helped by Ho did indeed reach Shanghai, either by boat from Italy or overland via the Soviet Union. Many others made use of their visas to reach alternate destinations, including Palestine, the Philippines, and elsewhere...

May your name be blessed and rest in peace, Feng-Shan Ho.

Hat tip: L.G.

Putin's Russia, the parable of the boiled frog and penal colony IK-31

Since the parable of the boiled frog was mentioned, I feel it is my duty to save the reader some googling.

Suppose you want to boil a frog. How do you do it? You could place the frog into a pot of hot water, but as soon as it feels the heat, it will jump out. So, what can you do? Put a pot of cool water on the stove and then add the frog. Not sensing danger the frog will stay. Next, turn the burner on low to slowly heat the water. As the water warms, the frog relaxes. The warmth feels good. As the water gets hotter it acts like a steam bath draining away energy and deepening the frog's relaxation. The frog becomes sleepy and has less and less energy while the water is getting hotter and hotter. By the time the frog realizes its danger, the water is beginning to boil, and it is too late to take action. There is neither time nor energy left to do anything. The frog perishes in the boiling water.

There seems to exist a debate on the parable's scientific value, but still there is a general agreement about the premise that when you heat the water slowly enough, the frog stays put and eventually is boiled to death.

Whether the parable carries any scientific truth or not, it is an excellent parallel to the goings on in the modern Russia during the 17 years reign of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Unlike Stalin (to use one example), Putin didn't arrest his real or imaginary enemies, dissidents and protesters in their hundreds of thousands. The railway cattle wagons weren't (still aren't) stuffed by hapless victims and taken to Siberian or northern Gulag camps . People aren't taken from their families in the middle of the night to be tortured and shot in NKVD basements. The (initial) proliferation of free press was surprising everyone familiar with the Soviet (and previously Russian) censors' heavy hand on the media's throat.

Nope, Vladimir Vladimirovich has chosen another way. Yes, a few too feisty protesters were arrested here and there, some even incarcerated - but never to the tune of the 193... Yes, a few journalists that went too far were eliminated in suspicious circumstances, later usually ascribed to various criminal acts. A few (but very few) political rivals died of violence, but of course the regime wasn't really implicated, was it? And you can't really blame censorship, when a too frisky TV channel gets taken over by a bigger rival - after all, it is a free market. If that bigger channel happens to be a government-owned one, so what? And if the government subsidies are denied to a certain theater or a troupe, if a controversial painter has his show closed down for some reason having to do with public morals - why, doesn't it happen everywhere? So slowly and gradually the screws are being turned and the freedoms are chipped away, with the (really small percentage of) people concerned feeling the heat a bit too late. The frog(s) is getting close to the boiling point.

Of course, to see to the sufficiently slow rise of the metaphorical water temperature in this case, you need some sophisticated measurement tools. And what is better than to produce here and there a wink to the good old days as a provocation? A public paean to Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin or to one of the lesser mass murderers under his command. A nostalgic speech about the good days of the Soviet empire (as if the current borders are insufficient for the ever dwindling population). A gradually managed and now at its pinnacle (oh well, probably not yet) discrimination of the LGBT... folks. The list of acts that allow the regime to measure the response of the hated liberal community (our frog) is endless, and the results are - very encouraging for Vladimir Vladimirovich. The frog is mostly relaxed and the movements of its appendages or its blinking are really not that alarming.

It is not to say that the Western liberals give a flying donut about the Russian regime becoming more and more oppressive, about the last remains of freedom being taken away from their Russian comrades. The opposite is rather true - Putin has become a darling of many Western lefties - but it's a separate, albeit a very sad, story.

All of the above (and apologies to all who consider that long introduction too obvious and unneeded) was a preface to a description of a recent outrageous affair that happened in Komi Republic, one of the favorite locations of GULAG. First the visual:

The text on the plaque says:

August 16 of the year 1937

In this place the construction of the penal colony (camp "Vodorazdellag - Mikunskaya") was started. This memorial plaque was placed on August 16, 2016 as a sign of respect and gratitude to the first builders and staff* - creators of the colony.

(*) Obviously "builders" and "staff" are not the same group of people, the first being the wretched prisoners - "Enemies of the People", brought to the empty, freezing and deadly environment of Komi and the other... well, it is your guess.

The colony in question - IK-31 is its official designation in the Russian prison system - is still open for business. Lately dealing mostly with criminals, it recently hosted a political prisoner, Hennadii Afanasiev, a Ukrainian protester of the Crimea grab (to name only one). But the uncounted thousands of political prisoners of Stalin's times, who entered the gates of IK-31 to die later of cold, illnesses and exhaustion - they and their names are not mentioned on that plaque. Well, there definitely isn't enough room for all. Besides, why be negative, when as festive an affair as unveiling of that plaque is being held?

And the unveiling of the plaque was festive indeed. Here come some pictures from an official site of the Russian prison authority:

The pair of prison employees who were entrusted with the honor of unveiling the plaque. 

To make you see the sweet side of the whole story, the author of that official article added some enjoyable tidbits (partial translation):

The most anticipated event was the beauty contest "Miss IK-31 - 2016", which brought together six female convicts. They had four competition stages to identify the most beautiful, intelligent, creative and economic girl.

The finest stage was the catwalk in dresses made [by the female convicts'] own hands. Here the contestants showed all their imagination, because they used for raw material steel wire, trash bags, thread and glue, shoes and gloves. Particular delight was caused by a dress made of crumpled newspapers, glued together and painted in the colors of the rainbow.

Another sporting event was held in the "Jubilee" city stadium. Here, on the football field, the colony staff team met the team of the colony's convicts. No matter how the convicts tried, they once again failed to defeat the staff. The match ended with a score of 10:2.

Ernest Mezak, the man who has written on Facebook about the whole wretched plaque affair, adds:

I think that it is necessary to read the lists of the repressed, incarcerated in the Komi Gulag camps near this "monument".

Let's not hold our collective breath waiting for this to happen.

And how does our frog do after that story was published (officially, no less)? Aside of Mr Mezak, there was some limited noise on the 'net (in Russian only), one article in English (by a Russian poster, obviously using Google Translate and not much else). And that's all. Nothing from the above mentioned Western knights of the human rights, freedom and justice. Nada. Zilch. As expected.

Yeah, so our frog is indeed very close to the boiling point. Moreover, it (the frog) doesn't have any friends to come to the rescue.

Too bad.

Hat tip: E.S. (aka M.M.)

So what's up? Yes, Nederland, Colorado.

It looks like nothing much has changed since I left that place to the tender care of some lazy folks.
Meanwhile that thing in America is not over yet, but less than a month is left, so bear the silence on the subject with me. Otherwise - yes, it is America, to restart with some easy reading:

A man suspected of leaving a backpack bomb outside a police station in a small Colorado mountain town tried several times to remotely detonate the homemade device using a cellphone but failed, according to court documents released Monday. David Michael Ansberry, 64, of San Rafael, California, was arrested this weekend in Chicago after surveillance video captured him at the stores where he bought the cellphones that he expected to trigger the explosive in the town of Nederland, investigators said.

Why would a 64 years old citizen of sunny California try to blow up a police station in Colorado is beyond me, unless the following quote carries a clue:

He was easily recognizable because he is 3 feet 6 inches tall and 100 pounds and wore a ponytail, a ball cap and using crutches.

If I were 3 feet 6 inches tall needing crutches (not to mention the ponytail), I would carry a serious grudge against the world in general too, and town called Nederland (of all the possible names) would be as good a target for my ire as anything else. Although why not demolish something in California? Beats me.

Anyhow, we all should know more in a few days, and meanwhile a bit of news from the place:

Bomb Suspect Linked To Radical Hippie Group

Hippie? It figures, ain't it?

Vyacheslav Andreevich Likhachev

Likhachev calls himself a "historian and a public figure".  Born in Russia, a citizen of Ukraine, he lives in Jerusalem and is funded by Israeli taxpayers. Having graduated from the "Jewish University of Moscow" (whatever the hack it is), Likhachev is now an "expert" on racism and antisemitism, often quoted by Jerusalem Post and the like.

Let's hear out what our expert has to say about Rivlin's visit to Ukraine:

- Я бы, конечно, такой хуйни не напорол бы [I wouldn't have fucked it up like that].

- Хамство! [Rudeness]

- Израиль на голубом глазу пытается приватизировать память Холокоста и право говорить от имени его жертв.  Ривлин родился в Иерусалиме, а его мама из Англии, папины предки жили в Эрец Исраэль  с начала 19 в. какое он вообще имеет отношение к Холокосту? та я бОльшее имею.  Бабий Яр - украинская боль, трагедия украинцев, а не Ривлина, он приехал кому-то что-то по этому поводу рассказывать?  с хуя ли? [Israel is trying to privatise the memory of the Holocaust and the right to talk on behalf of the victims.  Rivlin was born in Jerusalem, and his mother is from England, his father's ancestors lived in Eretz Isroel since the beginning of the 19th century, what has he got to do with the Holocaust?  Even I have more to do with it.  Babi Yar is Ukrainian pain, Ukrainian tragedy, not Rivlin's, he came here to tell something to Ukrainians?  What the fuck?]

- Украинцев не было среди растреливавших евреев на Бабьем Яру. [There were no Ukrainians among those who shot Jews at Baby Yar].

- ОУН, в отличии от СС, никаким судом осуждена не была [OUN, unlike SS has not been condemned in any court].  

Just a few of comments on the above:

1. Likhachev's swearing is pathetic.  Russian slang is far, far richer than this.  What did they teach at the Jewish University of Moscow?

2. Likhachev hasn't read the speech he is criticizing, if that is the appropriate term for our expert's stream of shit.  In the speech Rivlin stated why it's personal:  his wife's family was murdered in Ukraine.

3. At issue is the honouring of mass murderers, which is ongoing in Ukraine.  Three months ago a major avenue in Kiev was renamed after Stepan Bandera.   Rivlin had to say what he said.

4. The talk about "privatization of the Holocaust by Israel" stinks all the way to heaven.

5. Likhachev's credentials of a "historian" look a bit dubious.  Thousands of Ukrainian Auxiliaries took part in the mass murders at Babi Yar at every single step from seeking out Jews to arresting them, goading them, forcing them to undress, murder and destruction of the evidence.

6. 1.5 million people were initially identified as the potential candidates for War Crimes Trials.  In the end only a handful actually stood trial.  There were practical and political reasons why the vast majority of mass-murderers got away scot free, not least that very few people really cared. That does not stop Stepan Bandera and his cohorts from being responsible for mass murders.

7. I feel for the Israeli tax-payer who is funding this expert. .

Subsequently Likhachev justified UNESCO's antisemitic and anti-historic Temple Mount resolution by linking to a slightly tasteless video from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs but that's another story.

Burkini ban controversy

The Cannes burkini ban have triggered, as expected, furious reactions from the usual suspects.

Oddly enough, even though I'm allergic to arguments like "Muslim women have the right to wear what they choose" (what if a Muslim woman chooses to wear an explosive belt?), I've reached the same conclusion albeit through the use of an entirely different line of reasoning. The ban is wrong.

One hot summer day I was enjoying myself at a big pool in an amusement park in central Israel. All around me were people in swimsuits, except for one young woman in a traditional Islamic dress, all black, and the mandatory hair cover. She was accompanied by a young man, probably her husband. They entered the water fully dressed. Nobody cared, and I wouldn't have remembered it if it wasn't for the expression on the young woman's face. Obviously this was her first time in a pool. She was literally beaming with joy, there was so much happiness and wonder in her eyes, and deep gratitude for the man beside her that made this experience possible.

Now imagine that the amusement park management had at the time decided on a "swimsuits only" policy. This sweet young woman, trapped in a world with strict behavior codes, could not change her black dress for a swimsuit. She would have been left behind, locked in her world by our inability to understand that she really had no choice in the matter.

The burkini ban is effectively locking Muslim women out of our world. This is sad, and wrong.

Immigrant executed by gendarme on the streets of Nice

A Tunisian immigrant was executed by French Police on the streets of Niece during Bastille Day celebrations as fireworks decorated the evening sky. This occurred as his truck veered out of control and plunged into the crowded streets of the Riviera promenade. Our local news affiliate on the scene reported that “the driver appeared to veer left and right in a desperate effort to avoid the crowds, as police armed with automatic weapons seemed eager to snipe the fraught driver”.

No, just a “Guardianesque reportage” on similarly tragic vehicular terrorism in Israel.

Law and disorder

Looking at the latest tragic events in Dallas and other major cities across the US, seems like sanity and common sense have finally given up on this stubborn, selfish, violent human race. But life beats even the best soap operas. Relief and a glimmer of hope came from the least likely place and the least likely people.

Yes, this is real.

A Texas jailer who suddenly stopped breathing is now alive and well — thanks to a group of inmates who busted out of a holding cell to save him. 

Weatherford, Texas.

Dallas. Texas.

Quo vadis, Texas?


Obama whitewashing the killing of white cops - calling it an "attack on law enforcement" was dishonest after Micah Johnson himself confessed he wanted to kill white people -  came as no surprise, of course, but his mentioning "failures of the criminal justice system" in relation to  black-on-white revenge was rather hilarious. O. J. Simpson, anyone?