MEChA at U.C. Berkeley Slandered
The Hispanic anti-semitic group Aztlan returns at Berkeley: OpinionJournal.com's Best of the Web offers this choice morsel today:
During our collegiate days in California, we were dimly aware of an extremist Hispanic campus group called Mecha. What we didn't realize is that these guys are a bunch of Jew-haters. Check out the group's statement on a recent UC Berkeley episode in which the publishers of a conservative student publication called the Patriot accused Mecha members of stealing the Patriot's press run. Mecha denies the allegation in strikingly hateful language:
A group of conservative Jewish/White students have made unsubstantiated accusations against the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA). . . . This is not the first time that MEChA has been the victim of false, racist and bigoted accusations as well as physical attacks by KKK and Hillel type students on campuses. . . .
The Mexican-American community is fed up with educational inequality in Alta California and is ready to take action. There is presently an opportunity to replace outgoing Jewish UCR Chancellor Raymond O. Orbach with a Latino. . . .
The final decision on the next Chancellor for U.C. Riverside will be made by the President of the University system Richard C. Atkinson. Atkinson is also Jewish and there is a strong possibility that he will replace Orbach with another of their own. Jews make only about 2% of the state's population yet they dominate the state's academic institutions. Also, the two U.S. Senators of California are ladies of Jewish descent.
As the largest segment of the Alta California population, we are not going to stand by while our university and colleges students are unjustly attacked by Jewish/White racist students.
israelinsider: The Jewish question revisited
Proponent of Aliyah lays on the Jewish guilt trip: Yishai Fleisher, the founder of
Kumah, a grassroots organization promoting aliyah, complains that American Jews
are abandoning their responsibilities to Israel.
American Zionism has become a hypocritical oxymoron. We send money to Israel to whitewash our own guilty souls, yet we do not rend our own clothes and mourn for the deaths of our brothers and sisters.
Well, we can't take him literally. Mourning for immediate kindred is required by law, but while Judaism values life, it does not require us to sit shiva for every other Jew that dies. Life is too short and valuable for that.
We are too comfortable, too content, too fat, to realize that we are contributing to their deaths every day. We American Jews are justifying Yerida (the leaving of Israel) by not making Aliya (moving to Israel).
Alright, so I could afford to lose some weight. I've known that for a while. But how my losing weight will help Israel any I do not know.
But being serious for a moment, I have visited Israel twice (both before and during the first Intifadah). It was emotional and educational, but despite all the intense feelings I felt no inclination to make Aliyah. And I still don't. I am American and this is my home.
We are justifying the death of Israel by providing a viable and attractive alternative to the State of Israel right here in America.
G-d forbid we should strive to better ourselves anywhere but Israel. How horrid that we should make America a better place rather than give up and move.
As I said, I happen to think America is pretty great. I admire and support those that would make Israel a great place, too, but I will not be one of them. There are things I can do to help that aim here, thank you very much.
Part of the problem for the Zionist enterprise of massive Aliyah is that the kibbutzim are not thriving. As Joshua Muravchek describes in this month's
Commentary magazine, "Socialism's Last Stand" is not going well.
When Likkud came to power in the late seventies, Israeli policy changed both fiscally and psychologically. "Out went a policy of generosity to the kibbutzim, including subsidies, tax breaks, and government contracts." Menachem Begin's constituency was more Sephardic than Ashkenazi, and less socialist-friendly.
Then, over the course of several financial crises, kibbutzim borrowed heavily and required a massive government bailout. But Muravchek points out that the borrowed money went towards improving the kibbutz standard of living. Why? To try to stem the flow of people leaving the socialist paradises.
Since kibbutzim formed so much of the basis for the fervour of Zionism originally, it is no surprise that its decline is associated with the decline in Aliyah.
I'll return to this topic when I have finished the article.
GOD NAMES NEXT "CHOSEN PEOPLE"; IT'S JEWS AGAIN "Oh Shit," Say Jews: Jews, whose troubled, 10,000-year term as God's "chosen people" finally expired last night, woke up this morning to find that they had once again been hand-picked by the Almighty. Synagogues across the globe declared a day of mourning.
Asked if the descendants of Abraham shouldn't be pleased about being tapped for an unprecedented second term, Jerusalem Rabbi Ben Meyerson shrugged. "Of course, you are right, we should be thrilled," he said. "We should also enjoy a good swift kick in the head, but for some reason, we don't. (
SatireWire)
israelinsider: Yes, I am a Jew
Yes, I am a Jew: Michael Freund asks, "when the sharpened blade of the oppressor is raised against you, inquiring about your identity, how should you respond? To admit to being Jewish in such a situation might mean risking torture or death, but to deny one's heritage would be a betrayal of one's ancestors and faith. What then is a Jew to do in such circumstances?"
He sees Daniel Pearl's example and
feels emboldened.
... by clinging to the truth, by refusing to disavow his Jewish identity, Daniel Pearl has become far more than just a victim. He has become a hero, a modern-day Jewish hero, one whose valor shines brightly for the entire world to see.
At a time when assimilation is rife throughout the West, when so many young Jews are abandoning their people, Daniel Pearl's words serve as a powerful reminder of Jewish courage and pride. They demonstrate how, even under the most trying and difficult of circumstances, Jews have always clung to their identity with tenacity and resolve, determined to prevent the flame of Israel from ever going out.
Palestinians plan for post-Arafat era: "Radical Palestinian groups, fearful that Israel will succeed in its effort to undermine Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat, have begun clandestine efforts to establish an alternative organization to replace him. Reports on the groups' efforts have appeared in the Saudi press and have been confirmed by Arab and European diplomats. An Arab source said the effort is still in the stage of "secret and serious consultation."
Extremist Palestinian groups expected to participate in the attempt to depose Mr. Arafat are said to include Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas and PFLP-General Command. The new organization would include members of Mr. Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, according to the Saudi daily Al-Watan, which has reported on the scheme." (
The Washington Times)
Hate taught at the teat: According to Israeli President Moshe Katsav, one of the biggest problems in the Middle East is that Palestinian mothers teach their children to hate Jews. "Each Palestinian baby, when he was born, he took with the milk of his mother incitement against the Jews," he said. "That's a problem."
The Saudi peace plan: "In 35 years of studying the Middle East, I have rarely seen anything to rival the Saudi "peace plan" for cynicism (of those pushing the plan) and gullibility (of those buying it). If it were not so tragic it would be comic." (
Charles Krauthammer, Mar. 6)
An alternative Saudi peace plan: "John O'Sullivan concluded that "reforming the House of Saud will be a formidable and subtle task. But it offers a great deal more hope for everyone than blithely burning it down." I disagree. Reforming the House of Saud is all but impossible. Lavish economic engagement with the West has only entrenched it more firmly in its barbarism. "Stability" means letting layabout princes use Western oil revenues to seduce their people into anti-Western nihilism. On the other hand, blithely burning it down offers quite a bit of hope, given that no likely replacement would provide the ideological succour to the Islamakazis that Saud-endorsed Wahhabism does. My own view -- maps available on request -- is that the Muslim Holy Sites and most of the interior should go to the Hashemites of Jordan, and what's left should be divided between the less wacky Gulf Emirs. That should be the policy goal, even if for the moment it's pursued covertly rather than by daisy cutters." (
Mark Steyn, Mar. 4)
What the Islamic world poll really means:
When the poll of Muslims came out, the talk shows were keenly interested in knowing what we did wrong. When the second poll — of Americans — came out, they were run side-by-side as if what they had to say revealed roughly equivalent phenomena. "Only one in four Americans have a favorable opinion of Muslim countries," reported USA Today. "That's roughly the same percentage of the Islamic countries' residents who look favorably on the United States."
The only morally and intellectually responsible reaction to this stunning finding is a heartfelt "so what?"
Imagine if I wrote: "Only one in four cops have a favorable opinion of criminals. That's roughly the same percentage of criminals who look favorably on cops." Would that tell you that cops and criminals views of each other are based on the same set of grievances? Would you say that the criminals have a roughly equivalent case? Would you give a damn at all? Okay, maybe you would, but only because nobody wants their police force to have a favorable view of criminals at all. Jonah Goldberg
Israel tells critics to "bugger off": Moshe Katsav, the President of Israel, lashed out at Canada and the United States yesterday for criticizing his country's military retaliation against Palestinian terrorists and said Bill Graham, the Foreign Minister, made a "serious mistake" by denouncing the Jewish state for killing innocent civilians.
"No one around the world has any right to condemn if we would use our right to defend ourselves. Self-defence is an elementary right and we must do it," Mr. Katsav said yesterday after private meetings with Jean Chrˇtien and Mr. Graham. (
National Post)
Senior U.S. Officials Behind Sept. 11 Attacks: "A U.S. presidential candidate in the 2000 election, Lyndon Larouche, has said that senior security officials of the United States were behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and were aiming to use the incident to promote a war against Islam." (
Tehran Times)
How to prevent suicide bombers: make them adherent Mormons?: OpinionJournal points to a
new study linking high religious commitment to a lower risk for suicide. "Young Mormon men living in Utah who closely adhere to the dictates of their faith are less likely to commit suicide than their peers who are less active in the church, study findings show."
Using the word "Jew": Dr. Frank argues that the word has
its own special meaning:
The word "Jew" is avoided because it, just on its own, is an argument against moral equivalence. In its single syllable is a world of meaning that calls into question an entire relativistic world-view that animates an entire intellectual culture. It summons to mind a history that is undeniable, that everybody knows, and in which right is clearly demarcated from wrong beyond all question. Regardless of intent, statements about "the Jews" unavoidably echo the rhetoric of the worst murderers the world has ever known. That doesn't mean that it's never legitimate to criticize Israel or Jews, certainly; but it does mean that one must think very carefully about what is meant when people speak this way, even, indeed, if they leave out some of the words. Unfortunately, people are speaking this way all over the middle east. It's abundantly clear that, whatever their motivations, it's not "just rhetoric." You don't need Daniel Pearl's murder to demonstrate this, but it is a demonstration of it. Some people would rather not let the truth get in the way of the theory. I think that's why Robert Fisk could not permit himself to write that they killed Daniel Pearl because he was a Jew.
Poll reaction and anti-semitism: Barbara Amiel ("
Are too many Muslims in denial about September 11?," Daily Telegraph, March 4) shows appropriate skepticism for the results of the Gallup poll of the Islamic world.
These polls can be easily manipulated by how the questions are drafted. Nor are they fully reliable in their measurement. I use polls strictly to determine the existence of a strand in a given culture or country. The very existence of such a strand may exert a strong influence on behaviour in that region.
She also has a post-script to her article, in response to the furor of her coverage of British anti-semitism:
There is a school of thought in the press, exemplified by Deborah Orr at the Independent, who wrote that "according to Ms Amiel, I too have been peddling anti-Semitism. Ever since I went to Israel on holiday I've considered it to be a shitty little country too."
Actually, Miss Orr strikes me as muddled rather than anti-Semitic. However, her point, repeated elsewhere, is that I believe anyone who criticises Israel's policies or actions to be anti-Semitic.
For the record, I do not. Yes, it is possible to be anti-Israel both in general and vis-a-vis specific policies without being anti-Semitic. That is so self-evident that the number of Jews, since the days of Theodore Herzl, who were anti-Zionist not only equalled but periodically exceeded the number who were Zionists.
That said, the fact is that these days, when anti-Semitism is not socially acceptable and anti-Zionism is, a number of anti-Semites hide their true colours under this distinction.
I'm dwelling on this idiocy at length because, having worked as a journalist on both sides of the Atlantic, it is my impression that the British public is more likely to take its opinions from the media than either the Canadian or American public.
In the past number of years, the British public, while not necessarily anti-Semitic, has acquired an anti-Israeli bias based on the tendentious and inaccurate information of the British media. (One example: the BBC's decades of letting Resolution 242 pass as demanding Israel's return to the 1967 borders.)
To become anti-Israeli because of persistent misinformation may not be the same as becoming anti-Semitic, but it is still foolish and wrong.
(Thanks to Dr. Frank at the
Blogs of War for this one)
Young? Go to Israel: I'm too old and already been there twice, so consider this a public service announcement:
Israel: Never been before? Wanna go for FREE?
If you are between the ages of 22-26 and have never been to Israel before on an organized trip, you are eligible to participate on Birthright Israel's Hillel young professional trip!
Sign up NOW by going to
www.hillel.org
Not all terrorists are Muslims, part II: The UBC journalism school magazine also offers a handy-dandy
tip sheet for aspiring journalists who want to be Muslim-friendly. For example:
Confront comfortable stereotypes.
In a Vancouver Sun article on Sept. 19, feature writer Stephen Hume wrote, "Islamic militants live among us. Indeed they do – but so do Christian militants who haven’t hesitated to use terror in their campaign against abortion, white supremacists who use it against identifiable minorities, and the right-wing fanatics of individual rights who use it to strike out against governmental institutions." By applying the terms, "militants" and "fanatics" to other groups, Hume challenges the stereotype that Islam is the only religion, which militants use as motivation.
Not all terrorists are Muslims: The magazine of the University of British Columbia's journalism school says that Canadian journalists just aren't doing enough to combat
stereotypes of Muslims.
Shahina Siddiqui, senior director of the Canadian division of the Council on American Islamic Relations... notes a positive trend... she believes that the media portrait of the average Muslim is still a negative one, loaded with stereotypes. Siddiqui said the general picture presented is that:
"Islam condones, encourages and recommends violence. Muslim women are suppressed, repressed, oppressed and depressed because of Islam. If only they would wear a mini- skirt their woes would be over."
She said that Muslims are also portrayed in opposition to everything positive about the West. They are "anti-democracy, anti-pluralism, anti-freedom and anti-civil liberties." At times, she said this is taken to the extreme where, "Israeli life and Western life is more worthy than Muslim life."
What do you think about the Saudi Peace Plan?: The Onion asks the people on the street
their opinions.
Friedman on "muslim rage": "When Hindus kill Muslims it's not a story, because there are a billion Hindus and they aren't part of the Muslim narrative. When Saddam murders his own people it's not a story, because it's in the Arab-Muslim family. But when a small band of Israeli Jews kills Muslims it sparks rage — a rage that must come from Muslims having to confront the gap between their self-perception as Muslims and the reality of the Muslim world." (
The Core of Muslim Rage, NYT, Mar. 6)
Canada's love/hate relationship with the Jewish state: Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien "gave his unequivocal backing to Israel last night only hours after his Foreign Minister denounced the Jewish state for killing innocent civilians. The contrasting messages on Mideast policy came in speeches by Bill Graham and the Prime Minister to a conference of Canada's Jewish community. Mr. Graham was jeered after a speech in which he said: "Innocent civilian casualties, for example, no matter what their background or religion, are not justifiable and ultimately compromise Israel's image as a vital and compassionate nation..." " (
National Post)
Holocaust memorial in Germany defiled: German police are offering a reward for any information leading to the arrest of vandals who desecrated a former concentration camp with a severed pigs head. A memorial to victims of the Holocaust was damaged beyond repair when hooligans cut holes in a sandstone monument at the Woebbelin camp near Berlin last week. A four-foot high red swastika and the words ‘Jud Luege’, meaning Jew lie, were daubed on the 42-year-old memorial, and the culprits also deposited the head of a dead pig at the scene before fleeing. Grisly parcels were also discovered at a Jewish cemetery in nearby Boizenberg and at Baben Steinfeld, the site of a memorial to prisoners who perished in a death march. (
Totally Jewish.com)
Reform rabbis warming to the hawk approach: "Rabbi Martin Weiner, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, said yesterday that they have become more critical of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians."
"For many of us, our views have changed considerably," Weiner said.
"Many of us who have supported the Oslo Process for the last decade must admit to ourselves that the Palestinians really do not want peace, that possibly Arafat's ultimate goal is now and may always have been the destruction of Israel," he said in a speech following his return to the US.
Weiner said the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which includes Reform rabbis from around the world, meets every seven years in Israel. This year's gathering, he said, is seen as one of solidarity with and support for Israel. (
Jerusalem Post)
Lowry v. Matthews: Rich Lowry recounts an "acrimonious exchange with Chris Matthews last night. We were discussing why the Arabs hate America. Chris thinks it’s our failure to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace. I think it goes much deeper. I was trying to explain this, when Chris started badgering me at the end about whether I had ever visited the Middle East (I haven’t, and don’t think the Saudis in particular will be inviting me any time soon)."
Rod Dreher responds with sympathy. "Hey, Rich, I have been to Israel and the West Bank, and I agree with you. There's nothing like listening to educated Palestinians tell you that the Holocaust never happened, or that it was a minor thing compared to what the Israelis are doing to them, to educate naive Americans on the intractable psychological realities of the Middle East. I will never, ever forget the American clergyman who had been serving Palestinian communities for a decade, and who told me he'll never get the Arab mindset. He said it's driven by conspiracy theory, and the utter conviction that everything bad that happens to Arabs is somebody else's fault (usually that of Jews and Americans). The current conspiracy theory in his parish was that Arafat is secretly a Jew, he said, because at the time Arafat was saying nice things about the Israelis. "Next week they'll believe something entirely different, with equal fervor," the clergyman said. "Arafat and his mafia are robbing these people blind, and they refuse to see it."" (
Lowry,
Dreher)
The Jewish singles scene: The former "Monica Lewinsky" blogger (
MONICA'S KARMA) is a tad disturbed by an ad for a Los Angeles Jewish singles event:
It strikes me as rather, y'know, creepy that an event serving the neurotic impulses of young, unattached Jews, being groomed to get over self-obsessiveness by, well, catering to the very same self-obsessiveness, is being held at the Museum of Tolerance. Is the intolerance that these single folk have for one another after years (if not decades) on the prowl, convinced they will probably never meet Mr. or Ms. Right, at least within their own background (I'd hesitate to use the word "faith"), now considered an crisis issue on the same level as the attempted genocide of the Jewish people? I've never been to this museum, I'm sure it's a splendid place. But the contradiction falls right in line with a singles symposium promoting one of its discussion points as "Are singles’ programs only for losers, social misfits and the desperate?" I dunno ... you tell me. Ugh.
Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic sentiment in the Guardian? Say it ain't so! The
VodkaPundit takes on a Guardian article point by point.
Religious declaration on sex: On Sunday afternoon, Rabbi Biatch will be discussing sexual morality at Beth El, a reform synagogue in Northern Virginia -- more specifically, the
Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing. It appears to be a lot of poorly-worded pabulum, but I will be participating in the discussion anyhow.
The declaration is hosted by the "Religious Institute":
"The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing was founded in 2001, to promote the vision and promise of the Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing. The Religious Declaration is a consensus statement created by theologians and ethicists from a broad range of religious traditions and currently endorsed by over two thousand religious leaders across the United States, including denominational leaders, seminary presidents, deans, and faculty members, and clergy from more than twenty-five religious traditions.
The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing develops and supports an expanding religious network of clergy, religious educators, theologians, theological ethicists, and other religious leaders committed to this vision of religion and sexuality. It builds the capacity of religious institutions and clergy to offer sexuality education within the context of their own faith traditions and to advocate for sexual rights; helps congregations become sexually healthy faith communities; and educates the public and policy makers about this vision of sexual morality, justice, and healing.
An institute dedicated to including porn stars in Jewish adult education? No wonder!
Word of the day: irrefragable. Pronounced \ih-REH-fruh-guh-bul or ear-ih-FRAG-uh-bul\, this adjective has two meanings:
- impossible to refute
- impossible to break or alter
Look for me to practice using it later on in Kesher Talk...
Iranian terrorist web site threatens return: "A militant Iranian group threatening relentless attacks against the United States has vowed to relaunch its Internet site, ansaronline.com, shut down last week after it was exposed by the National Post. Hamid Ustad, leader of Ansar-e-Hezbollah, a Taliban-like group in Iran, was quoted by the BBC yesterday blaming the United States for pulling the plug on the Web site and promising it would soon be rebuilt. (
National Post)
Bush Middle East policy sinking fast: "There has got to be a vision for peace in order for us to head toward peace," Mr. Bush said in a joint appearance with Mr. Mubarak at the White House. "But I want to remind everybody that it's going to be difficult to achieve any kind of peace, so long as there is a
cycle of violence." (emphasis added in disgust)
Fundamental differences: While Israelis were being killed all across the country today, the Israeli Defense Forces did something no Palestinian terrorists would do --
appologize for a wretched mistake. "Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and the IDF apologized yesterday for the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians in Ramallah in the afternoon. They said a tank shell accidentally hit a pickup truck driven by Bushra Abu Kweik, wife of Hamas terrorist Hussein Abu Kweik, who was not in the vehicle, killing her and their three children. Two occupants of a car behind them were also killed."
Extremism is recyclable: OpinionJournal reports that "Ummah.com, a Muslim Web site, publishes an article putting forth the
crackpot theory that Sept. 11 was actually the work of a Jewish conspiracy. Nothing surprising about that, but scroll down and look at the byline: "Michael Collins Piper -
American Free Press." What is the American Free Press? According to its
About Us page, it is "brought to you by the former staff of The Spotlight, who are now the publishers."
The Spotlight was published by the now-defunct fringe-right-wing group Liberty Lobby."
The Best Man: My fiancee dug up these two possible explanations of the origin of the best man. But does Judaism truly have a comparable concept, or do we just appropriate it once in a while?
Story One -- Years ago women were deemed to belong to their father. When she married it was therefore her father who "gave her away" along with her property to the groom - to whom she then belonged! In some case the groom was also given a pair of the bride's old shoes to indicate that it was now his responsibility to keep the bride in shoe leather.
The groom used to kidnap his bride and hold her on his left arm, so that his sword arm was free to fight off any other suitors. This is why the groom normally stands on the right of the bride during the wedding ceremony. If the groom needed help to kidnap his bride he would ask his best friend to be his "best man".
Marriage was often used as a means to bring together two opposing tribes so the families sat on opposite sides in order to try and avoid any fighting in the church.
Story Two -- But, if we trace the routes of marriage back a few hundred years, we would see a far more simple way to be wed. In the times of Kings and Queens, Knights and Knaves, if a man saw a woman of whom he wished for his bride, he merely kidnapped her from her village. Many basic wedding traditions originated (believe it or not) from this very way of marriage. The man (groom) would acquire the aid of his best friend (best man) to fight off any family so as to successfully steal away the girl. Once captured, he would have the woman (bride) stand on his left side because predominately he would have been right handed, and at the time his right hand would be wielding some sort of weapon to fend off his bride's angry family and friends. And thus, the traditional best man took form, and, the reason why the bride stands on the left and the groom on the right. Can you imagine any wedding nowadays containing a sword-wielding groom? Ah, what a violent sport love is!
Hungarians desperate for matzah; Jews elsewhere say "Take mine, but leave me some matzo-balls":
Hungarian Jewish leaders are importing matzah in an attempt to avoid a shortage that plagued the community last year. Reform, Conservative and Orthodox leaders are importing matzah from Israel to avoid last year´s fiasco, when the country´s 100,000 Jews were saved by a last-minute shipment from the Jewish state. Some 15 to 20 tons of matzah — double the normal amount — is coming from Israel, according to Peter Tordai, president of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities. (JTA NEWS)
"True Lies": The
Standard profiles MEMRI today.
An Ohio congressional race gets ugly with anti-semitic slurs: The
Chicago Sun-Times reports that "Ed Moskal, president of the Polish American Congress and a key supporter of 5th District congressional candidate Nancy Kaszak, was caught on camera Monday making anti-Semitic remarks about Rahm Emanuel, Kaszak's chief rival in the hotly contested primary."
Of course, finding that a Polish person is anti-semitic is not the greatest shock in the world, nor that the person would use that in adressing a Polish constituency.
Do not misinterpret this as a slur against Poles. It is a slur against Polish sentiments, both current and previous. There is a reason my Zaidie's family moved to Canada in the early 20th century. The main reason it was "the land of opportunity" was that, even if anti-semitism persisted, it was on its way out. Whereas, back home, the Poles and Litvaks were viciously anti-semitic... Fiddler on the Roof hardly scratches the surface of that reality...
Hobnobbing with Arab congressmen: I was informed this weekend that one of the conressman I met last Wednesday night, an an interesting Lebanese fellow dressed like a schlub, has his own little note of fame. One of the main reasons he was chatting with us and us with him is that he was the target of a Jewish Defense League bomb attempt. Maybe it was guilt on the part of my colleagues, who knows, but all the better for him and us, since he is something of an entertaining cad. Though how he thinks that Cincinnati has the greatest pastrami in the nation is beyond me...
Flapdoodle is officially the word of the month, according to my fiancee. She said, "I always thought it was Flap-a-doodle, but perhaps that is the american slang of this important, descriptive term. I'll ask our editors."
Why are we having this conversation? Because a chiropractor, writing in response to a recent article of mine (
"The Dangers in Chiropractic"), scolded that I could "do better than this baseless, biased flapdoodle."
WARNING: Plain Sick: I've not seen this kind of sickening garbage coming out of America for a few years, since I first started researching "Gulf War syndrome" and got on the wrong side of some militia groups. A quick run through
Daypop for "Judaism" brought up this vile hate site, the
Vanguard News Network. They are at the vanguard of plotting the death of Jews.
Where oh where do they come from? Smartertimes offers this observation this morning:
A front-page dispatch from Jerusalem in today's New York Times makes a point of noting that Israel used "American-supplied F-16 fighter planes and Apache attack helicopters" to strike at Palestinian Arab targets. No mention by the Times of who supplied the "M-16 assault rifle" and "two grenades" that the Palestinian Arab terrorist -- the Times calls him a "gunman" -- used to murder civilians in a Tel Aviv nightspot, according to the Times.
Times to head underground...: Rumor over at
A Dog's Life has it that the New York Times has set up a
shadow newspaper to go with the newly reported shadow government.
Mineta hits Toys'R'Us: "There's a rumor that Norm Mineta is investigating a new, improved “non-lethal” technology to help airline pilots defend their passengers against terrorist attack. After repeated visits to a local Toys ‘R Us, the transportation secretary is said to be ready to authorize the issue of water pistols to all flight crew." (Andrew Stutafford on
NRO's The Corner
Quench your thirst for blood: The
Guardian interviews a "wanted militant" after the latest baby-killing suicide bomb:
... others were pushing for different forms of revenge yesterday - such as shooting sprees inside Israeli towns. "It gives you the pleasure of quenching your thirst and anger against those people when you are shooting at them," said Majid al-Masri, another wanted militant, whose leg was shattered by an Israeli missile in a failed assassination last year. "When you blow yourself up, you don't get that same satisfaction."
Arab youth trained in combating Israel: Our friends in Dubai play host to "the Third Arab Youth Gathering organised by the Department of Culture and Information under the banner: The youth and the Arab Cause. Addressing delegations of young men from 15 Arab countries, Abdullah Al Owais, Director General of the department, stressed that young people in the Arab world can play an integral role in fostering the Palestinian uprising and destroying Israeli arrogance that disrespects international agreements." (
Gulf News)
Pipes 1: Daniel Pipes' New York Post column from last week ruminated on the
"laws" of war (physical laws, rather than legal ones):
... Israelis and Palestinians have already been at war for over a year, but their leaders finally acknowledging this fact makes it easier squarely to assess the situation. War has clearly-established patterns, and these provide insights...
... History teaches that what appears to be endless carnage does come to an end when one side gives up. It appears increasingly likely that the Palestinians are approaching that point, suggesting that if Israel persists in its present policies it will get closer to victory.
Pipes 2: Daniel Pipe's column today addresses the Fleisher
gaffe, where he accidently told the truth about the Clinton adminstration's Middle East meddling.
Anti-Defamation League still not in touch with reality: It is unfortunate that, while they seem to read MEMRI reports closely, the ADL fails to understand the implications of what they are reading. Hence, pointless action like this press release: "
ADL Urges Mubarak to Condemn Media Anti-Semitism."
Arafat has denounced terrorism and made promises up the wazoo. He does not keep his promises of course. But more importantly, he speaks different things depending on his audience. When he talks in English, it is of "Peace and Love" and "Can't We All Just Get Along?" When he speaks in Arabic, it is of "Jihad" and a call for martyrs.
Even if Egypt's Hosni Mubarek "denounced" anti-semitism in the Egyptian media, how would that affect the daily output which he controls? It would actually prove a good PR move for him here, since it would never require him to actually change the "news" business back in Egypt but would buy him more favor in Washington.
Website of the day: NCSJ: Originally the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, the
NCSJ (I could find no explanation of the acronym) advocates on behalf of Jewry in the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
White House spokesman covers up the truth: "On Friday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was forced to retract his charge that the Clinton administration's Middle East peace process had led to increased violence. Where could Fleischer have gotten a strange idea like that? Everyone knows that the peace process led to unprecedented harmony and goodwill in the region." (Ramesh Ponnuru,
NRO's The Corner)
Afghan casualties: STATS takes on the casualty figures from the war in Afghanistan on
TechCentralStation this morning.
