Thursday, July 22, 2010

1. The Gaza-Concentration Camp Comparison - I think that there is a valid comparison here, but not in the way that Israel's enemies suggest. Please bear with me as I try to make my point.

During the Shoah, the Nazis maintained a ghetto called Theresienstadt. The camp was located in the fortress/garrison town of Terezin, which was built by Austrian Emperor Joseph II and named for his mother Maria Teresa. It was located near Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. The fortress had a very famous prisoner between 1914-1918 - Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was the final trigger to the start of World War I.


The Gestapo took control of the fortress in June, 1940 and turned the Main Fortress into a ghetto (the smaller Fortress served as a prison). The ghetto was portrayed to the outside world as a model Jewish settlement, when in reality it was a concentration camp, as well as a transit camp for Jews en route to Auschwitz.
"Hitler, the world was to be told, had built a city for the Jews, to protect them from the vagaries and stresses of the war. A film was made to show this mythic, idyllic city to which his henchmen were taking the Jews from the Czech Lands and eight other countries. Notable musicians, writers, artists, and leaders were sent there for “safer” keeping than was to be afforded elsewhere in Hitler’s quest to stave off any uprisings or objections around the so-called civilized world. This ruse worked for a very long time, to the great detriment of the nearly two hundred thousand men, women and children who passed through its gates as a way station to the east and probable death."
So Terezin was set up to deceive the world into believing that the Nazi treatment of Jews was somehow humane.

"The Red Cross was allowed to visit Terezin once. The village of Terezin was spruced up for the occasion. Certain inmates were dressed up and told to stand at strategic places along the specially designated route through Terezin. Shop windows along that carefully guarded path were filled with goods for the day. One young mother remembers seeing the bakery window and shelves suddenly filled with baked goods the inmates had never seen during their time at Terezin. Even the candy shop window overflowed with bon bons creating a fantastic illusion she would never forget.

When the Red Cross representative appeared before this young mother, she remembers being asked how it was to live in Terezin during those days. Her reply implored the questioner to look around. Be sure and look around, as she herself rolled her own widely opened eyes around in an exaggerated manner. The Red Cross reported dryly that while war time conditions made all life difficult, life at Terezin was acceptable given all of the pressures. The Red Cross concluded that the Jews were being treated all right."

I hasten to point out that the one time the Red Cross was permitted to visit Terezin is one more time than it has been allowed to visit Gilad Shalit.



Let's turn to Gaza. Hamas has cynically allowed the vast part of Gaza to turn into a giant cesspool. This is deliberately done to deceive the world into thinking that Israel are somehow modern-day Nazis - a form of what is known as holocaust inversion.

But just as Terezin had a hidden side, so does Gaza. It has an upscale restaurant and hotel, its stores are full of sweets and treats, and it recently had an antique car show. Most recently, it opened a shopping mall.



But the same type of people who were utterly oblivious to the plight of the Jews during the Shoah eat up the the "bad side" of Gaza, wringing their hands in self-righteous indignation, organizing "freedom flotillas", and condemning Israel at every turn - all while completely ignoring the true nature of the Hamas regime - and completely ignoring any justice for Gilad Shalit.

Israel already supplies or permits enormous amounts of aid into Gaza despite the genocidal nature of the Hamas regime. Does anyone really believe that the situation in Gaza would not be 1,000% better if Hamas recognized Israel's right to exist and stopped its terrorist attacks against Israel (including, by the way, rocket attacks against the electrical plant in Ashkelon that supplies electricity to Gaza)?

Here are some links on both Terezin and Gaza - what do you think of my analysis?

3. Now Here Is Something You Do Not See Everyday - The Zionist Imam

4. Iran - always in the news:

6. Mel, Mel, Mel - If memory serves, Australia was founded as a prison colony. Good place for Mel - somewhere deep in the Outback.....

8. I'd Rather Go To Disneyland - Hizballah's jihad theme park - Jihad Watch





11. Just A Nice Story - I guess that The Boss was not such a prick after all - Steinbrenner's final salute to an old friend - CNN.com

12. Seinfeld - if you are a regular visitor to this site, then you know that I am a Seinfeld aficionado. One of my favorite episodes was The Serenity Now (episode 3 of the 9th season). Here are some clips from the original episode, as well as a clever assembly of various Seinfeld scenes into an action-thriller movie trailer.






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Monday, July 19, 2010 - Tisha b'Av edition

This is a brief edition to mark Tisha b'Av.


For those unfamiliar, the day marks the date that both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, causing some to refer to the day as the "saddest day in Jewish history." (and, unfortunately, there is lots of competition). Many other tragedies are said to have occurred on the same day, such as:
  • the sin of the 12 spies (but not Joshua or Caleb) in disparaging the Promised Land of Canaan;
  • the razing of Jerusalem in 70 CE;
  • the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt;
  • the declaration of the First Crusade, with disastrous consequences for the Jews of France and Germany;
  • the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290;
  • the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492;
  • the start of World War I, which set the stage for World War II and the Shoah;
  • (on the eve of Tisha b'Av) the start of the deportation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto for the death factory of Treblinka; and
  • the attack on the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires, resulting in the death of 86 people and the wounding of 300 more.

Here are some links to sites appropriate for the day:
(the infamous Umschlagplatz in Warsaw, where the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto were put on trains for Treblinka - I had nightmares about this place)

(the attack on the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires)




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Sunday, July 18, 2010 - Dog Days of Summer Edition

There will be a little of everything on today's post - it's just one of those days.

1. And Israel Has Made Peace With Jordan - Somehow, this never makes the press nor incurs the wrath of the MSM or the self-righteous liberals - Jordan's Queen writes children's book about tolerance and openness -- but not for Jews - Jihad Watch


3. What Do You Think Of This, Part I? Is it funny? Is it disrespectful? Is it scandalous? (you can tell what the person who posted the video on YouTube Thought). IDF soldiers face penalty after uploading Hebron dance video to YouTube - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News. My sense is that it was humorous and was likely intended as an internal joke - no one was being taunted, etc. - but I can understand that the IDF would not be amused.


4. What Do You Think Of This, Part II? While I can understand why some people are upset, my initial reaction is that if I survived Auschwitz, I would have the right to celebrate my survival pretty much as I thought fit - which may not at all be the way another survivor might do so.







8. He Doesn't Just Dislike Jews - Chavez: Venezuela rethinking relations with Vatican






12. Punk'd - I do not even know what to say about this other than it does not take much to get David Irving to open his vile pie-hole:


13. Or Mel For That Matter - though he has the support of Whoopi Goldberg (I think that if she ever had it, Whoopi has now lost it), so that must count for something - next he'll have Rosie O'Dingbat on his side:





14. More Cartoons -





15. Baseball In The Modern Age:


16. Quick Hands


17. Those Airlines Charge For Everything!


18. This Makes Me Laugh - superstition in the locker room (not sure where the subtitles come from - Finnish?):


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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

1. Idiot #1 - Louis Farrakhan - Farrakhan Demands Reparations from Jews - Daniel Pipes - National Review Online




3. The National Post - no one can doubt the conservative nature of Canada's National Post newspaper. Thankfully, it stands as a bulwark against a lot of the ridiculous left-wing thought expressed in other places - especially the CBC. Here are 2 examples of recent editorials that illustrate my point:

4. Rev Up The Bus... - looks like NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will be the next guy thrown under the Obama-bus - White House denies NASA remark on Muslim outreach - Yahoo! News.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Bolden made the whole thing up. But it raises a bigger question - Pajamas Media » Should NASA Send a Man to Mecca?


5. The War on Terror - and one of its Canadian faces - Pajamas Media » Do We Need a War on Terror? and Khadr’s no angel | Comment | Ottawa Sun



7. The Threat Of Iran - Iran threatens world -- and itself

8. Diplomatic Foolishness - that is business as usual at the UN - the answer is - "Blame the Torpedo" - what was the question? Since articles from the Wall Street Journal can be hard to link to, I have reproduced the entire piece here:

"When is a condemnation really a form of diplomatic rehabilitation? When it's delivered by the U.N. Security Council, which on Friday denounced the March sinking of the South Korean ship the Cheonan without denouncing anyone in particular for having sunk it.

It's as if the attack was a Sherlock Holmes mystery about a murder without a body. Never mind that everyone in the world knows that the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, killing 46 sailors in one of the worst acts of aggression since the Korean War ended nearly 60 years ago. A May report by a panel of global experts convened by South Korea to investigate the sinking left no doubt that the North perpetrated the act, despite Pyongyang's denials.

Seoul went to the Security Council to seek the global rebuke of the North, but China objected to a resolution that specifically blamed its clients in Pyongyang. Thus the Security Council retreated to writing a resolution that condemned the act of aggression but named no aggressor. Apparently the rogue underwater missile targeted and then launched itself against the South Korean vessel. I, Torpedo.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice tried to make the best of this embarrassment by saying the message to the North was "crystal clear" and that "The Security Council condemns and deplores this attack. It warns against any further attacks. And insists on full adherence to the Korean Armistice Agreement."

The torpedo couldn't be reached for comment, but the North Koreans quickly claimed what a spokesman called a "great diplomatic victory" because the U.N. had failed to back up South Korea's allegations against the North. "We have made it clear that this incident had nothing to do with us," he said.

More amazing still, the resolution that didn't bark is being hailed as a deft way to lure North Korea back to the six party talks over its nuclear program. Follow the logic: Since the North wasn't condemned for doing what everyone knows it did, the North's leaders might now be appeased enough to return to the nuclear talks they walked out of last year. Sink a ship, and gain new diplomatic respect. If former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton had predicted this scenario, the New York Times would have accused him of trying to undermine the credibility of the U.N.

It would be nice if we could dismiss the U.N. as a land of meaningless make-believe, but too many people, including the Obama Administration, imbue the U.N. with moral authority and the Security Council with the power to enforce collective global security. A body that refuses even to speak obvious truths about a murderous act, much less do anything about it, deserves no such authority, much less respect."


9. Life On The Edge - While all the armchair quarterbacks around the world (including me) on all sides express their opinions about the possibilities of the next war in Gaza or in the Galil/Golan, more than anyone else, the people who live there have to face up to the fact that yet again they will literally be on the front line. In my defence, at least I have been to both spots several times and have a sense of how close these areas are to Gaza and Southern Lebanon respectively. I also know that the IDF does everything it can to protect its own civilians, rather than cynically use them as shields. In any event, this is a very sobering article that should remind us of the real people affected by the conflict - Sheltering for the Next War.


10. Flotilla Wrap-Up - The probe into the raid on the Mavi Marmara has wrapped up and issued its report. Here are some summaries from 3 different sources - IDF blames intelligence for Gaza flotilla 'mistakes', but defends use of commandos - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News, IDF probe: Army didn't have ‘Plan B’ for flotilla op and BBC News - Press: No surprises in Israel flotilla report (a summary of various reports).

11. Hitch - I link to Christopher Hitchens when I agree with him, so it is only fair that I do so when I do not. Why is the U.S. Treasury Department subsidizing zealots who oppose our foreign-policy objectives? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine.

12. Seeking Justice - Undercover avenger

13. This Link Is Old By Today's Instant Standards - I received this link from several people but did not get the chance to post it - Middle East and Terrorism: Europe's Envy :Why Europeans Loathe America and Israel.

14. Potpourri - like the category of the same name on Jeopardy! I save a variety of links to review in more detail before deciding whether to post them - here is a completely mixed bag of links that I have saved but not yet posted (not to take away from their importance):

15. It Is People Like This Who Make History - Doctor of legendary ‘Exodus’ ship dies at 86


16. And People Like This - one of the last Canadians to die in combat during World War II - Lt. Robert Hampton Gray - Veterans Affairs Canada


17. The Boss Is Dead - George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees and widely known simply as "The Boss", died yesterday at age 80. Some people would suggest that he died on the day of the annual All-Star Game just to upstage it and garner attention for himself. Love him or hate him - and I'd fall into the latter category - his contribution to major league baseball as we know it today is unquestioned. Here are a couple of stories about this controversial man - Joe Posnanski » Posts George Steinbrenner « and Championships and chaos reigned in the Bronx Zoo of the 1970s - MLB - SI.com.

He must have had a sense of humor - there was a recurring parody of him in episodes of Seinfeld (voiced by Larry David - no relation - LOL) that he must have tolerated, since he apparently made no move to try to block it. Check out this link - and here is one scene I have never seen until today (it was a deleted scene from a Seinfeld episode):


18. Comic Relief:

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