Saturday, February 12, 2011 - motzei Shabbat

1. Mubarak Is Gone - A day after saying he would remain in office until scheduled election in September, Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and transferred power to the Egyptian military.


For what it is worth, the military stated Saturday that it is committed to civilian rule, democracy and treaties - Egypt's army commits to civilian rule and treaties.


But then what comes next? Who really knows?


Professor Barry Rubin makes a number of excellent points in this article - Egypt: The Mubarak Resignation--He Did It His Way--And Its Consequences. Here are some comments from a variety of sources - some written before today's dramatic events, and some after:
One thing is for sure - it won't be dull or boring. And in my humble opinion, when it coms to international relations in the Middle East, particularly as it relates to Israel, dull and boring is good. That is not to say that I supported Mubarak or his corrupt and repressive regime, especially when he was constantly warned by President Bush (not President Obama) and the Israelis to make changes - it is that I am very concerned that for all the jubilant talk about establishing a democracy and so on, there is no precedent of Egyptian, or really, Arab democracy on which to build a "new" Egypt - and as stated in the "Terra Incognita" article above:
"Democracy isn’t about burning down the headquarters of the other party. It isn’t about paralyzing the state so that no business can be conducted and nothing can happen. Oddly, democracy isn’t about mass protests and riots. Democracy is primarily about voting and peaceful transitions of power. The other freedoms that follow from that, like the press, assembly, religion, equality and free speech, are products, hopefully, of democracy."

And anyone who thinks that the forces of evil - the radical Islamists, spurred on by Iran - are not looking to take advantage of this situation to pursue their dark agenda - is either naive, stupid, or reside in some entirely other dimension (Leftist Dupes: From the Communist Brotherhood to the Muslim Brotherhood | FrontPage Magazine). Also see: Jewel of the Nile - by Lee Smith > Tablet Magazine




3. Oh, Just Shut Up - like he's one to talk about the will of the people and so on - Ahmadinejad: "We will soon see a new Middle East materializing without America and the Zionist regime" - Jihad Watch - and the sad thing is that many people, including many of the ivory tower geniuses in the West, give credence to this waste of DNA.


4. Telling It Like It Is #1- one may not like her blunt nature or what she has to say, but I think that she is basically correct:






7. Maybe Things Under Islamic Rule Aren't So Bad After All.... - oops, forgot that Gaza is the world's largest concentration camp, or whatever......also see - Anti-Semitism and Israel Bashing? Must Be a European Parliament Paper



9. Falling Off The Bandwagon - First Germany, then Britain, now France - Multiculturalism 'clearly' a failure: Sarkozy

10. Shocker - Commentary » Blog Archive » UN Group Distances Itself from Female Terrorist Ad Campaign - even the dimwits at the UNPF could not get themselves out of this one.


11. I Don't Know.... - The silver lining





14. A Liberal Palestinian? - Cost Analysis - by Adam Kirsch > Tablet Magazine - meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has suddenly announced it will hold elections in September - big whoop - Palestinians to hold elections by September - Forbes.com.

As stated above, holding elections, even if they are as pure as the driven snow, in and of itself will not suddenly make the PA a democracy - and as to whether it will pacify the legitimate dissenters who object to the corruption (‘Corruption will let Hamas take W. Bank') and hypocrisy of the PA (see next item), well that's another story again. Why don't you start by returning the billions of aid to the Palestinians that has found its way into the accounts of senior PA officials and using it for the good of the average Palestinian?

15. How Do You Spell Hypocrisy? Or, do as I say, not as I do - which applies pretty much to whatever the PA does or endorses - Abbas, Dahlan take out Jordanian citizenship
"According to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, a significant number of PA leaders are registered as full Jordanian citizens.

The paper pointed out that the leaders applied for Jordanian citizenship at a time when they were urging the Jordanian authorities to stop giving Palestinians Jordanian citizenship, in order to “consolidate their Palestinian identity.” The Jordanian government had justified its decision to strip Palestinians of their citizenship by using the same argument." (my emphasis)

16. I'm Clueless - and embarrassed, I had never heard of Simms Taback - Illustrious - by Marjorie Ingall > Tablet Magazine - but I wish him a refuah shleimah - a speedy return to good health.

17. Miscellaneous - just some random links on less serious topics:






which is a parody of:





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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

1. Egypt - continues to dominate the news. The demonstrations continue, the pro-Mubarak side has emerged (why they are "pro" is a good question), Mubarak himself seems to be hanging on, there are some signs of "normality" - banks open etc., and everyone has an opinion about the Muslim Brotherhood.

And whatever you think of Henry Kissinger, I think he makes a very good point to Charlie Rose:




3. Multiculturalism - gets a failing grade in the UK, as apparently it did in Germany - British PM says multiculturalism has failed, Muslims must integrate into British society - Jihad Watch. See also - Works and Days » The Middle East and the Multicultural Nightmare - what will be said soon in North America?


4. Devious - Sorry, but I do not believe that this can be taken at face value - Palestinians want Church of the Nativity recognized as UN heritage site. And on a related note - Dutch FM: Recognition of Palestinian state does no good

5. The Great Communicator - President Reagan would have turned 100 years old on February 6. 2011. The date prompted a variety of articles about his place in history. Here are a few to ponder:



9. Emptying The Vault - various links on various topics I have saved but never posted for whatever reason:

11. Super Bowl Sunday I - The Super Bowl was Sunday. In my view the "good guys" won - after overcoming all kinds of injuries not just during the regular season, but in the game itself. When the game was really on the line in the fourth quarter - especially on that late 3rd down and 10 when Aaron Rodgers fired a 31 yard strike to Greg Jennings - Green Bay came through, and Pittsburgh didn't.

Green Bay is the prototypical old school NFL team - the only one, I believe, that is community owned. Pittsburgh is a similar team, and while it is not community owned, I believe that the Rooney Family has owned it for a very long time (with 6 Super Bowl victories to show for it).


Here is a story about the AFL that came to rival the old established NFL, resulting eventually in a merger and the creation of the Super Bowl played between the winners of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The Other League - by Marc Tracy Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life - and yeah, there were Jews involved.

12. Super Bowl Sunday II - I hate the hype, I hate the way that almost every performer who sings the national anthem has to turn it into some sort of personal signature song (PS - memo to Christine Aguilera - easy on the lipstick, girlfriend), and I hate the half-time show.


I always hope for a well-played game that is close to the end and is decided by the players, not the officials. Oh, I sometimes, I love the commercials - like these ones from Sunday:






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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Obviously, Egypt is still the major story, so a lot of this posting will focus on events there and their effect in the region and beyond. The situation is so fluid that no one really knows for sure what the new Egyptian reality will be - so there are millions of opinions flying all over the place - so one has to exercise caution in trying to speak too authoritatively. In any event, here are some of the latest developments from various perspectives:

1. The Empire Strikes Back - This was bound to happen:

4. The Impact On The United States - Reminiscent of the "Who Lost China?" question in political debate in the US in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the question of the second decade of the millennium may now become "Who Lost Egypt?":
5. This Seemed Odd - Hamas worried upheaval in Arab world will spill into Gaza - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News - but doesn't Hamas (or their supporters) claim to be a democracy? See item 13 below.

6. Looking Back - what does history tell us about what to expect to take hold in Egypt?
7. Looking Ahead: what do the experts think will take hold in Egypt?

9. "I Told You So" - Commentary » Blog Archive » Go Read Kirkpatrick. Again. and the piece by the Jeane Kirkpatrick, late US Ambassador to the United Nations referred to in the link - Dictatorships & Double Standards


11. The Impact Of Social Networking - I posted about this recently (item 3 from last Thursday's edition) - here is an update on the role of social media in all of this - Egyptian protests, Twitter, and Facebook: How do social media tools enable revolutions? - By Jesse Lichtenstein - Slate Magazine.

12. The Muslim Brotherhood - maybe I am an alarmist, but the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood having any influence on the reins of power in Egypt scares the daylights out of me. Apparently, others agree (the ones who don't are referred to in the following links):

13. Liberalism In Egypt - I have been saying this in my own way for a long time, but I do not think that one can say it better and more succinctly than this - Commentary » Blog Archive » Egypt Needs Liberalism - and it should be required reading for all the apologists for Hamas who jump up and down and say that Hamas was elected in a free and fair election:
"If Egyptians elect the Muslim Brotherhood in a free and fair election, and the Muslim Brotherhood then rigs or even cancels every election that follows, Egypt will not be in any way shape or form a democracy. It will be a dictatorship that happened to have an election."
14. Advice From An Unlikely Source - A word of advice from Northern Ireland

15. Seymour Hersh - I have never been a fan of this prominent American journalist and author - Seymour Hersh’s Twisted World of Paranoia


16. I Hope He Has To Spend Millions On Lawyers - Jimmy Carter being sued for alleged falsehoods


17. (Ir)responsible Journalism - The Real 'Palestine Papers' Scandal - WSJ.com

18. One Of My Favorite Israeli Songs - performed by Arlo Guthrie, son of the famous Woody Guthrie, in a rather tongue in cheek manner like his "Alice's Restaurant" song.

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