Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - Brief Posting

1. Terrorism On The Border - There was a terrible terrorist incident yesterday on Israel's border with Lebanon. While performing routine maintenance - removing a tree and shrubbery - on the Israeli side of the border - two senior Israeli military officers were shot - one died and one was badly wounded. The incident resonated a bit more with me as it took place at Kibbutz Misgav Am - where I had visited in May, 2009 - and where one can clearly see the very delicate nature of the border.

(looking into Lebanon from Kibbutz Misgav Am)

Meanwhile, for once, it appears that the US, which has been so critical of Israel lately, recognizes that this was nothing more than an unprovoked attack (see first link below). Even the ultimate in useless - UNIFIL - said that the Israelis did not cross the border. That said, it is instructive to read the RubinReports link below to see examples of media bias.


My condolences are extended to the family of the murdered IDF officer, and a refuah shleimah for a full and fast recovery goes to the injured IDF officer.

Here are a variety of links:
"was worried about the incident and sorry about the loss of life on both sides. He called on both Lebanon and Israel to exercise restraint to avoid further violence."
Reminds me of the garbage apologies that Arafat, Abbas or any of those goofs issue(d) when there was a terror attack that killed only Jews - "we regret the loss of life of all innocent civilians......"

Go to hell! The only reason that there was loss of life on the Israeli side was because a terrorist gunned down an Israeli on Israeli land doing something entirely legal. The only reason that there was loss of life on the other side was because the IDF defended itself against such a cowardly attack.

So, Mr. Secretary-General - why don't you call a spade a spade - how about - I'm truly and sincerely sorry that yet another Israeli was murdered by terrorists, and I think that the LAF terrorists that did this are damn lucky that only a few of them died when Israel exercised its right of self-defense.




4. Good Question - Whither Israel’s al-Jazeera?

5. Good Speech - We owe the Jews

6. Goodbye - Closure of Cape Breton’s oldest synagogue marks end of era Holy Post National Post - this is going to get me into trouble, but for all the many, many times that I have been to Cape Breton - and Glace Bay - I never was inside the Glace Bay Synagogue.

I can tell you that many of the current and former members of the Jewish communities in industrial Cape Breton (and I'm probably committing another sin by lumping them all together) are as well-versed about Judaism and Israel as you would like. And extremely nice people to boot!





(what is the point of posting this on Facebook?)

9. Good Grief Part 2 - Maybe the notion is noble, and it is certainly not my place to criticize the IDF, but who else in the world operates under these constraints - my concern is first and foremost for the members of the IDF - and I am confident that they are trained to a very high ethical level when it comes to civilians.


11. Good Cartoon:


12. Good Night: Cool ads, even if they might be fake - from the English soccer side Aston Villa:




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Sunday, August 1, 2010

1. Antisemitism On The Internet - Let's assume that you have nothing better to do on a summer Canadian long weekend than to surf the internet (which must in some fashion be true if you are reading this). You decide to follow some links to stories about Israel. If after reading the story you continue to read the comments section, I will hazard a guess that in almost any ostensibly "neutral" site - in other words and for example, not the Jerusalem Post - you will readily come across criticism of Israel that covers the whole spectrum from articulate criticism expressed by someone with a differing perspective to withering, unbridled antisemitism.

On occasion I have spent some time reading the comments sections, and even posting my own from time to time to respond to what I see as the most egregious postings. The experience is akin to getting a nice 2x4 piece of wood and then asking someone to hit you with it as hard as they can. My personal experience is that the ignorance and hatred is quite commonplace - even on sites where comments are monitored.


I have no idea what percentage of commenters are represented by these people, nor what percentage of society in general that they represent. I do know that it reflects a very seedy and ugly side of the internet.


If you don't have the time to read both articles, then at least read the "Jew-baiter's Lexicon" in "Playing With Fire". If you can't do that, then read this very short summary - How Jew-Baiting Makes Money on the Internet | Jewish News From WorldJewishDaily.com



3. The Nakba - being defeated in 1948 was not just a military defeat - The Nakba Obsession by Sol Stern, City Journal Summer 2010






"Most significant, there is sharia. By pressing the issue, Newt Gingrich accomplishes two things. First, he gives us a metric for determining whether those who would presume to lead us will fight or surrender. Second, at long last, someone is empowering truly moderate Muslims — assuming they exist in the numbers we’re constantly assured of. Our allies are the Muslims who embrace our freedom culture — those for whom sharia is a matter of private belief, not public mission. Our enemies are those who want sharia to supplant American law and Western culture. When we call out the latter, and marginalize them, we may finally energize the former."

8. Apart From Apple Pie, What Is More American Than An Eagle Scout? - maybe not for much longer - Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front group sponsoring interfaith events at Boy Scouts National Jamboree - Jihad Watch = part of the slow creep referred to in McCarthy's article in the previous item?

9. Scary Saying - One of the scariest sayings one can hear is "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" A newer version is "I'm an intellectual and I can explain all this".

I know a lot of people who are much brighter than me (admittedly, a low threshold). But I wonder if many of them have the ability - in the real world - to tie their own shoes or walk across the street. When I think of intellectuals I think of the old joke - "What is the definition of a consultant? A guy who knows 100 ways to make love to a woman, but who doesn't know any women."



10. I Have No Time For These Guys - Homeland Insecurity - by Marissa Brostoff > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life - my heart bleeds.....

11. Speaking Her Mind - Melanie Phillips does not mince words. Here are two of her recent columns - Melanie Phillips’s Articles » Israel and the Blackmailer Paradox and No Win Journalism
12. Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - The hutzpa to be exceptional





15. When The Shoe Was On The Other Foot - it was not pretty - somehow this gets no attention, though I would suggest that it is part of the continuing plan to undermine the notion of an ancient Jewish presence on the Temple Mount - Islamic Waqf Likely Destroying Jewish Antiquities on Temple Mount | Jewish News From WorldJewishDaily.com - but what are the Islamists going to do about the billions of copies of the Bible?

16. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF)??? - are you kidding me???? Lifting the veil on airport security Canada News Toronto Sun

(Did I read that correctly?)

17. Thought-Provoking - Israelis must quell internal confl - from the director of the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

18. OK - This Is Sarcasm - in case for some inexplicable it is not clear....oh, and I could not care less about Christiane Amanpour......

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Saturday, July 31, 2010 - motzei Shabbat

1. A Sad Tragedy - This past week, the IAF suffered a terrible loss when a helicopter crashed during training exercises in Romania. 6 members of the IAF, together with a Romanian observer, died in the accident.


May the families of the victims know no further sorrow, and may they be comforted among the mourners of Zion.
2. Winston Churchill - this opening segment is intended to provide some context for the following segment (He Ain't No Winston Churchill).



For my money, Winston Churchill will always be England's greatest Prime Minister. He may have been an old-fashioned imperialist, he may have been wanting on domestic issues, and he may have liked the bottle too much - but when the free world needed him, he stood as a bulwark against Nazism and in and of himself was as important as the service personnel, ships, tanks, aircraft weapons and ammunition needed to defeat Nazism.

From being an early and consistent critic of the policy of appeasement of Hitler's Germany to his inspirational leadership after the French Army and the British BEF had been obliterated in the blitzkrieg in the summer of 1940, some 18 months before the United States entered the war, I suggest that Churchill can easily be regarded as one of, if not the most important, saviors of modern western liberal democracy.

The Churchill story is obviously far too long to detail here, though for a good overview of his importance in the period leading up to and including World War II, I refer you to this tribute.

These famous quotes (among many) illustrate his fierce determination:
  • An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
  • You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
  • We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
  • Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
  • If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.
  • It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
  • From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.
  • I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

3. He Ain't No Winston Churchill - Not everyone can be a Churchill. Every country has its share of average leaders, below average leaders and above average leaders. Some countries are even fortunate enough to have a Churchill, Lincoln, Roosevelt or Ben-Gurion.

But I regret very much to say that David Cameron, the current British Prime Minister, apparently falls into the below-average category, at least when it comes to matters of foreign relations. He certainly ain't no Winston Churchill.

Cameron, who became Prime Minister on June 2, 2010, heads Britain's first coalition government since World War II. He is a member of the Conservative Party - the party of Margaret Thatcher.

This past week, Cameron has caused 2 major foreign affairs crises for his comments about Turkey and Pakistan. His comments about Turkey - which were unnecessarily fawning and subservient to start with - of course managed to contain a shot at Israel - and were exacerbated by the comments of Tom Phillips, the British Ambassador to Israel.

Here are a number of good links on the subject:
I will close this section by quoting from Professor Barry Rubin in the last link above. He puts the run to the ludicrous idea that Israel's defence of her right to exist breeds radicals in the Palestinian world
"Here’s the truth: revolutionary forces that use terrorism, preach a totalitarian ideology, create dictatorships, and have genocidal goals are responsible for war and conflict in the Middle East.

No matter how intensely Western democracies flagellate themselves, no matter how much they appease and concede, that basic and deadly fact will not change. No, let me correct the end of that sentence: the cost will become more dangerous, bloody, and deadly.

Speaking of alligators, it was another Briton, Winston Churchill, who said that an appeaser is someone who feeds the alligator--ok, nitpickers, I know he said crocodile but they differ only in the roundness of the snout--in hopes that it will eat him last.

Our problem is that contemporary appeasers also hope the alligator will eat us first."
4. Moonbat Season - lasts all year round, unfortunately. Here are simply the latest examples - Alan Dershowitz: Moonbats Against Israel


5. There's No Business Like Shule Business - I'll say! Here are some links to do with Judaism and Jewish religious issues:
"I will end with a request to readers. If you agree with my views or share my concerns, do not simply succumb to the temptation of sending this article to another member of your synagogue. Take to the trenches and face outward. Knock on the door of your gentile neighbor or officemate and say: Remember, Joe, how I used to go along with all your sarcastic criticism of Israel? Times have changed, Joe. My people are in trouble, and there are things I must do even at the risk of testing our friendship. I want to tell you how strongly I feel about Israel, what is factual and what is malice in what you hear, and why our world will not be the same without that tiny, shining spot called Israel."
7. My Position On This Hasn't Changed - A former guard at the Belzec extermination camp has been indicted in the deaths of 430,000 Jews - Nazi suspect indicted in Germany and The Last Nazi Trial?: Former Death Camp Guard Indicted - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International.

I do not care how old this guy is, how mentally competent he is, or how infirm he may be. When the Nazis murdered 6,000,000 Jewish me, women and children, they did not care about any of that - so it seems to me that once it is established that he is who is he alleged to be, that true justice for this bastard is to be subjected to the same fate as those the Nazis murdered. Then he can rot in hell for eternity.


8. Iran - What can one say? Now they are blaming Zionists (because of course they have no issues with merely Jews) for tainted cigarettes.....Iran: The Marlboro Man is a sneaky Zionist - Jihad Watch. Also see these other links about Iran - Charles Krauthammer: Iran starts to feel the heat Full Comment National Post and Faster, Please! » The Brothel Named Iran.



9. North Korea - speaking of lunatic states, this story makes me think of the old saying (which appears in various forms) that you can tell a lot about a country by how they treat their disadvantaged. In this case, you can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats their sporting representatives - North Korean football team shamed in six-hour public inquiry over World Cup - Telegraph.


Someone might validly criticize Western countries for idolizing their sports stars - but this is ridiculous.




12. Wow - That Twilight Thing Is Sure Popular!


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Thursday, July 29, 2010 - A Light Night

Just an easy (for me to assemble) edition this evening that (except for some of the images in item 1) will largely take a break from the serious issues of the day.

1. Cartoons - I like many types of cartoons, from editorial/political cartoons, to cartoons that exhibit human foibles, etc. So, with that in mind.....





2. Baseball Video - I am not a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. The club has returned the "love" by usually beating my favorites - the Orioles - there, I said it, I'm an Orioles fan!! - on a very consistent basis - thanks in part to plays like this - Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | BAL@TOR: Escobar makes a great behind-the-back play - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia.

3. Stupid Videos - seeing the first (which is not "real" but from a movie called "Never Back Down" made me think of the second, which is a classic movie excerpt:



4. Hated Sports Teams - 25 most hated teams in sports history - More Sports - SI.com -I agree with most of the list - the team on the list that I hate the most is probably the 1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers - not much more than goons with a few talented players mixed in.

5. Press Hop 2 - Man, one might actually think that what professional athletes do for a living is actually something more than entertainment:


6. The Finger - looks like there are some issues in the workplace:


7. A Convert? NBA Star Heads to Israel – The Shmooze – Forward.com - for some reason reminds me of the old basketball adage - "you cannot teach someone to be tall"

8. Shut Your Pie Hole - Jim Bunning is a former major league pitcher. He once pitched a perfect game. He is now a US Senator. Recently he was one of 13 Senators who did not sign the Senatorial letter supporting Israel. So when it comes to this - D.C. Sports Bog - Jim Bunning mocks Stephen Strasburg - I don't really care what he says. He's 0 for 2 as far as I am concerned.

9. Classic Seinfeld - from "The Blood"


10. All In The Family - an incredible show that was light-years ahead of its time. Saw an episode on late night TV the other night - classic stuff for sure!






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