My Right Word

Is It Homeland or Minority Security?

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:37:00 +0000

Homeland Security is now engaged in minority security:-

The U.S. Homeland Security secretary says she is working to prevent a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.

Janet Napolitano says her agency is working with groups across the United States to try to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday's rampage by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim who reportedly expressed growing dismay over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Consider this point-

Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen...assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates at the Maryland graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal complaint.

That's Really Rich, Rabbi Rich

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:23:00 +0000

This bit out of the NYTimes article on the UK school admission policy based on religion illustrates the problem there within the Jewish community:-

Rabbi Danny Rich, chief executive of Liberal Judaism here, said the lower court’s ruling, if upheld, would help make Judaism more inclusive.

“JFS is a state-funded school where my grandfather taught, and it’s selecting applicants on the basis of religious politics,” he said in an interview. “The Orthodox definition of Jewish excludes 40 percent of the Jewish community in this country.”

a) the decision of the 40% non-Orthodox that left them excluded was theirs and not the Orthodox. They decided to alter their own definition of Judaism so why are they blaming the Orthodox?

b) religious "politics"? Politics or Halacha?

That twisting of the essence of the argument, no matter the merits, is so rich.

Even Somali Pirates Can Provide Humor

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Luxury Cruise Lines

Now Accepting Reservations! Additional cruise information available below.

To The Point Cruise Lines is excited to offer the ultimate adventure cruise, along the pirate-infested coast of Somalia !

Ultimate Adventure Cruise Route Rates and Availability

We board our luxury cruise ships in Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea, and disembark in Mombasa, Kenya seven adrenaline-charged days later. Reservations start at only $5,200 per-person (double occupancy, inside room) and $6,900 (verandah complete with bench rest).

You'll relax like never before!
That's because you are welcome to bring your own arsenal with you. If you don't have your own weapons, you can rent them from our onboard Master Gunsmith. Enjoy reloading parties every afternoon with skeet and marksmanship competitions every night!

But the best fun of all, of course, is...

...Pirate Target Practice!

The object of our cruise is to sail up and down the Somali Coast waiting to get hijacked by pirates!

For the gun nut who has done everything, join a cruise to sunny Somalia and see how many pirates you can take out.

The Somali cruise package that departs from Sawakin (in the Sudan) and docks at Bagamoya (in Tanzania).

The trip includes a master gunsmith and will have reloading parties every afternoon as well as optional marksmanship training.

The cruise lasts from 4-8 days and nights and costs a maximum of $3200 per person double occupancy (4 days). If you don't have your own high powered weapons you can hire them on the boat.

The cruise boat sails along the coast of Somalia waiting to get hijacked by pirates. Here are some of the costs and claims associated with the package.

*$800.00 US/per day double occupancy (4 day max billing)

*M-16 full auto rental $ 25.00/day ammo at 100 rounds of 5.56 armor piercing ammo at 15.95

*Ak-47 riffle @ No charge. ammo at 100 rounds of 7.62 com block ball ammo at 14.95

*Barrett M-107 .50 cal sniper riffle rental 55.00/day ammo at 25 rounds 50 cal armor piercing at 9.95

*Crew members can double as spotters for 30.00 per hour (spotting scope included).

*RPG’s at 75 bucks and 200 dollars for 3 standard loads

*“Everyone gets use of free complimentary night vision equipment and coffee and snacks on the top deck from 7pm-6am.”

*Most cruises offer a mini-bar and this cruise offers a MOUNTED MINIGUN AVAILABLE @ 450.00 per 30 seconds of sustained fire”

“We guarantee that you will experience at least two hijacking attempts by pirates or we will refund half your money back including gun rental charges and any unused ammo (mini-gun charges not included).

How can we guarantee you will experience a hijacking? We operate at 5 knots within 12 miles of the coast of Somalia. If an attempted Hijacking does not occur we will turn the boat around and cruise by at 4 knots. We will repeat this for up to 8 days making three passes a day along the entire length of Somalia.

At night the boat is fully lit and bottle rockets are shot off at intervals and loud disco music beamed shore side to attract attention. Cabin space is limited so respond quickly. Reserve your package before the end of May and get 100 rounds of free tracer ammo in the caliber of your choice.”

As if all that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, there were a few testimonials

*“I got three confirmed kills on my last trip. I’ll never hunt big game in Africa again. I felt like the Komandant in Schindlers list!”---- Lars, Hamburg, Germany

*“Six attacks in 4 days were more than I expected. I bagged three pirates and my 12yr old son sank two rowboats with the mini-gun. PIRATES 0 - PASSENGERS-32! Well worth the trip. Just make sure your spotter speaks English” - Ned, Salt Lake city, Utah USA

*“I haven’t had this much fun since flying choppers in NAM. Don’t worry about getting shot by pirates as they never even got close to the ship with those weapons they use and their squirrelly aim—reminds me of a drunken ‘juicer’ door gunner we picked up from the motor pool back in Nam”—“chopper’ Dan ----Toledo USA.

*“Like ducks in a barrel. This is must do! – Zeke, Minnahaw Springs, Kentucky, USA

Finally, someone had the common sense to cash in AND solve a major problem. These folks deserve a medal!

What Is This Jew Referring To?

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Ynet quotes one Dan Rickman writing:

Many Jews are familiar with negative images from the Koran if only because these are used frequently in the ongoing propaganda wars between Zionist and anti-Zionist groups. Yet many Jews are unaware that within Jewish sources there are also many negative stereotypes about “the other”, the most radical perhaps being a view in the Palestinian Talmud that non-Jews do not even exist.

These sorts of jarring views are sadly common place in almost all religious literature and as a consequence religion has all too often played a negative role in this conflict.

"a view in the Palestinian Talmud that non-Jews do not even exist"?

Dan refers to himself as a "left wing Orthodox Jew" and his bio reads:

Dan Rickman is an alumnus of an ultra-orthodox Jewish school in London and Oxford University who currently works in the IT industry. He has an MA in Hebrew and Jewish studies from the University of London

Is he referring to this?

"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts. (Baba Mecia 114-6)."

which is countered:

Baba Mecia 114-6. This quotation is a complete fabrication. Even the numbering is incorrect. There can be no 114-6; it has to be 114a or 114b.

Maybe this?

In a parallel story in the Talmud Yerushalmi, Rabban Gamaliel responds to the criticism (there concerning whether property stolen from a non-Jew could be used) by reversing the law--and forbidding the use of an object stolen from a gentile--lest the law cause God's name to be profaned (Talmud Yerushalmi Bava Kamma 4:3, 2c).

Even from here I can't figure it out.

A Bit of Fanatic Religious Hatred - In Case You Missed It

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:28:00 +0000

From the transcript of "God Has Filled People’s Hearts With Loathing For These [Jews]"

Amin Al-Ansari: "God has filled people’s hearts with loathing for these [Jews]...

Amin Al-Ansari: "This is a Jewish soccer player, who behaved unjustly even on the field. But Allah be praised...

Replay of footage

Amin Al-Ansari: "Look at this Jew being kicked. People hate them. They don’t like them.

[...]

"We are not talking only about people. [The same goes] even for trees and animals. You know, there is rather peculiar footage, in which an Arab man who has a camel loves it and kisses it, and the camel kisses him back. Along comes a Jew and wants to kiss the camel, just like the Arab. What do you think the camel did? Let’s watch."

Footage showing Arab kissing camel and camel trying to bite Jewish man

... The proof is that the Prophet Muhammad said that when Judgment Day draws near, the final war between the Muslims and the Jews will take place. The Prophet said that the Muslims would kill the Jews.

"'Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.' The Muslims will kill the Jews. Be patient. All the trees and all the stones will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him – except for the Gharqad tree.' Only one kind of tree will not call [the Muslims]. It is the Gharqad tree."

What a stupid spiteful man. As are all who listen to him and believe him.

Isn't That Name Familiar?

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000

If you go here, on page 32, (page 29 of the document itself) you'll find a familiar, by now, name as a person called upon to help Obama during his transition team period on securitiy priorities.

Can't wait?

Here it is:-

(Kippah tip: AtlasShrugs)

History Belongs To The Doers

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Here, scanned, is an article I penned back in May 1987, that's umm, 22 years ago, right?

It was published in the Labour Party's English-language monthly at the time, Spectrum, edited by Susan Hattis-Rolef.

How does my thinking stand up to the test of time?

Two More Posters Spotted

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:33:00 +0000

This one announces a party to honor the two soldiers recently incarcerated for displaying political soogans at their swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall.

This one warns hareidim from viewing DVDs:

Tyler, Remember: The Ball Bounces

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:16:00 +0000

There's this 18-year old basketball player over at Haifa Maccabi, an American straight out of highschool. His story in a nutshell:-

[Jeremy] Tyler still talks openly about retiring with $200 million in the bank after a 15-year N.B.A. career. He also talks about modeling, the documentary being made about him, and how he and his girlfriend, Erin Wright, the daughter of the rapper Eazy-E, will grow up to be an American power couple.

Wow.

his coach was baffled that a player with such great potential could arrive without basic skills like boxing out and rotating on defense. Tyler is lost, Ashkenazi said, if he cannot do what he does best: taking the ball to the rim and dunking.

Wow.

Tyler, a 6-foot-11 center considered the best American big man since Greg Oden, cried when leaving the United States. He missed his first flight because he did not know he needed his passport.

WOW!

I Was Thinking Just The Same Thing

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:01:00 +0000

I was reading a book review of a book entitled MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS, A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen and came to this:

Janzen has clearly inherited her mother’s gift for emotional generosity and tolerance. She laughs lovingly at the oddities of her conservative upbringing, the horrible “shame-based” lunches she and her siblings were forced to take to school in diaper bags, the strict ethical and behavioral standards she was held to until she was old enough to flee. She takes us on a hilarious tour of Mennonite cuisine: borscht “looks and smells like milk gone bad,” with a “lingering afterwhiff” of soldiers’ socks, while a typical sandwich is made from ketchup, homemade bread and salty little meatballs...

and I began to say to myself, 'Mennonite? This is a Jewish situation'.

And then this appears:-

Her tone reminds me...also of the many Jewish writers who’ve brought mournful humor to the topics of gefilte fish and their own mothers, as well as to the secular, often urban, often intellectual world they call home now.

An Azure Letter-to-the-Editor Reject

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Michael Oren was at least as entertaining as the film he reviewed and certainly more intellectually stimulating. Nevertheless, his essay (“Post-Zionism, Hollywood Style”, AZURE No. 34, 2008), springboarded off of Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan”, contained two errors of historical fact.

He asserts, p. 53, that, following the threat of American President Eisenhower to apply sanctions on Israel unless it retreated from the Sinai Peninsula after the 1956 Sinai Campaign, “the Jews of America remained silent”. Not all. The Betar Zionist youth movement attempted to protest what was perceived as unfair American pressure. A demonstration was conducted in the Garment Center district which led to the virtual expulsion of the movement’s Israel emissary. In addition, efforts were made by Betar and former Betar members to mobilize opposition to that administration pressure. Attempted approaches to such personages as Abba Hillel Silver, Henry Morgenthau Jr. , Felix Frankfurter and others were made with the assistance of Rabbi Louis I Newman, Eliyahu Ben Horin and Max Lerner however without success.

On page 54, Oren writes that “the first formal call for Jewish statehood was issued not in London or even Jerusalem, but in 1942 at New York’s Biltmore Hotel”. Not being sure of how “formal” is defined in this instance, I would suggest that at the 17th Zionist Congress of 1931 it was Ze’ev Jabotinsky who issued a formal call for Jewish statehood. His call for Jewish statehood was included in his proposal of an endziel declaration that Zionism meant the establishment of a Jewish state, with a Jewish majority in the original territory of the Jewish National Home as decided by the League of Nations prior to the British initiated partition that established Transjordan. The Congress voted against that suggested decision.

Yisrael Medad
Shiloh

Another Nice Jewish/Israeli Girl Gone Gothic

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:52:00 +0000

Natalie Portman:

Or is that kitsch?

Or gothic?

Just To Be Clear

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:37:00 +0000

This blog (including any attachments and/or pictures) is intended for the use of any individual or entity to which it is addressed or even not addressed and probably contains information that is non-public, proprietary, privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law or it may even constitute as attorney work product. It may contain even silly, humorous, satiric or other material.

If you are not the intended recipient, it doesn't matter.

You are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly not prohibited.

If you have received this communication in error, notify us immediately by email and

(i) send this message on to all your friends and even enemies
(ii) do not, repeat, do not delete this message immediately.

Thank you.

Who Was More Dangerous - Pollard or Hasan?

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:02:00 +0000

After reading a good few stories about the massacre at Fort Hood commited by Nidal Malik Hasan, including this one by Phylis Chesler and this one by Diane West (which includes this stat: "Pentagon statistics show there are more Jews and Buddhists than Muslims serving in the 1.4 million strong, overwhelmingly Christian armed forces") and pointed out that "Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality as Palestinian", I am asking myself:

why does the intelligence community still think Jews in the military or in government service are potential enemies and suspects and why people like Hasan are around?

and

who, in the end, was more dangerous to America, Jay Pollard of Nidal Hasan?

Creating A Sinisterly Link Through "Lure" and "Context"

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Gershom Gorenberg, has an article in The American Prospect.

Gershom has specialized in messianic Zionism. His Wikipedia entry defines him as "an American-born Israeli historian, journalist and blogger, specializing in Middle Eastern politics and the interaction of religion and politics" and "a left-wing, skeptical Orthodox Zionist Jew".

The article, as others of his usual writings, attempts to sinisterly link the mainstream of the nationalist-religious camp all the while distancing himself from what he does. It's a form of ballet.

The article is entitled "Yaakov Teitel and the Allure of Lawlessness" it begins with another theme altogether so as to create the "lawlessness" and then seeks to create a link between two different realities but in doing so, points an accusatory finger and walks away after staining a whole camp.

First, he relates of 'a glossy flier posted on a bulletin border in a small, illegal outpost of Israeli settlers near Nablus' and 'citing religious sources, the flier urged Jews to "harvest" the Palestinians' olives if they could, and uproot the trees if they couldn't.'

However, 'since Judaism forbids not only theft but also the destruction of fruit trees even in warfare', even Gorenberg had to point out that 'the writer had to use considerable casuistry to make his case'. Ans sure enough, i't was condemned a few days later in a popular right-leaning newsletter' but Gorenberg then writes: "The moderate right is disturbed by such tactics...The flier's text is testimony to the violence and lawlessness that are part of the ideological atmosphere at the settlement movement's radical edge" Okay, but what about that "edge"? Gorenberg dances: "The mayhem isn't just the work of a few crazed individuals" and then draws the link: "Use that as context for understanding the arrest of Yaakov Teitel...".

Gorenberg admits "Teitel's alleged offenses reads like a brief guide to hate crime" that "He was reportedly seen as a loner" but Gorenberg won't let his prey get away. He continues: "But that's framing the picture much too narrowly. Even if Teitel is a man driven by his own particular furies, he chose to live in an environment where acting on fury is sometimes treated as acceptable, even as a virtue."

Well, a) his first two suspected crimes were committed prior to his living in any Yesha community. So just perhaps his mind-set was fixed before he could insert himself into an "environment"? And his mind-set was less ideologically political than mentally unstable maybe? and b) a 'virtue' of 'acting on fury' is 'acceptable'? er, like getting drunk at bars and beating up innocent people or killing your sister because of unacceptable social activity? What exactly is Gorenberg saying?

Ah: "Ideological violence is basic to settlement history. Arguably, it is inherent to a project that asserts one ethnic group's ownership of territory while negating another group's rights".

So, Gorenberg is getting theological - a new meaning to 'born in sin'.

And he is quick to the defensive offensive maneuver: "Predictably, prominent settlers argue Teitel is an aberration". And he perverts something Emily Amrusi wrote, about the "300,000 people living today in Judea and Samaria" who are not guilty and certainly not connected to Teitel's perceived deeds. Gorenberg adds: "That's the number of Israeli settlers, not counting those in annexed East Jerusalem. For Amrusi, apparently, the Palestinians either are invisible or are something other than people".

Does Gorenberg think that Emily should have included Arabs in the pool of potential Jewish criminals? What does he take us for - fools? If she had written 'so-and-so million people' would he not have then, perhaps, claimed Emily was intimating that all Arabs posses a virtue of fury, that their history is one of ideological violence, that they are all to be stereotyped?

But he has thought of that and he quickly adds, after doing the damage: "Put aside that gaffe". Thanks there, Gershom.

And next, he gets downright mushy: "It's true that stereotypes should be avoided, that settlers are not a monolithic group. More Israelis have moved to settlements in search of the suburban dream than for the sake of ideology. Even among ideological settlers, there's a wide spectrum of attitudes. I assume that many felt a helpless revulsion when they heard of the Teitel case: Again, someone from their community had shed blood and besmirched their name."

But he can't let go: "...as I said, there is a historical context of settlers treating violence, not to mention casual disregard of the law, as trivial or even heroic...". Lucky for him, we're not talking about the Second Aliyah, the Third, the Hagana, the Palmach.

And he claims that Shvut Rahel is "a community established in violation of Israeli law, according to the government-commissioned Sasson Report".

That's wrong. Shvut Rachel was established right after the murder of Rachel Druck in October 1991, shot on the eve of the Madrid Conference on land zoned as part of Shiloh and in fact is registered as "the Shvut Rachel neighborhood in Shiloh".

Gorenberg if fearful that his mental instability will permit his friends and neighbors to "ignore the question of why he chose to live among them". So, every murderer and rapist and thief is to be looked at geographically - why did he come to live in this neighborhood or that village?

And then Gorenberg gets into conspiracy theories: "The open question now is whether Teitel was caught because his repeated attacks created more evidence for investigators, or because he'd begun attacking Israelis, or a combination of both" as if the failure to arrest him previously was due to an indifference to crimes against Arabs. I am sure the police would be upset about that

Gershom ends by noting "The occupation will not be listed as co-defendant or co-conspirator. But if he did do what the investigators claim, his hatred not only fits a context. It fits a context he chose, drawn by the allure of lawlessness".

The "context". Another innocent key word of blame and guilt. Another sinister link.

Such a ballerina.

A Dvar Torah for VaYeira

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:59:00 +0000

In the newly republished Rav Yeivi of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Ostrog, 1738-1791, a disciple of the Maggid Dov Ber, he explains the testing of Avraham in quite an allegorical manner.

Avraham signifies the soul ('neshama') and it is being sent into this world to be tested if it can survive within a corporeal form. The phrase 'after these things' is a Midrashic reference that the soul is shown all the pleasures of Gan Eden before being sent out into the world. 'Your son' refers to the body, which builds up the person and his fulfillment of God's commands and instructions. Yitzhak is another term for the body based on Proverbs 31:25 in that the sould obtains joy from serving God but the body only does so in the world-to-come and therefore the future tense, "yitzchak", is employed.

The raising up of a sacrifice is the raising up of the body from level to level in God's service until it is at its highest, the mountain. The donkey signifies another element of the soul ('nefesh') which acts as a vehicle for the other two ('neshama' and 'ruach') and the two servants are the Good Inclination and the Evil Inclination. The splitting of the wood is akin to the outbreak of light when the sechel, the commonsense bursts into the mohin. The wood is interpreted through a play on its root as 'advice'. The fire signifies the Torah and the slaughtering knife indicates his death if the soul is not adequate enough too the task of bringing itself back to the place it left.

The conversation between Avraham and Isaac is between the soul and the body: will the fire be the Torah, for good, or of Hell, for bad? The ewe is the promised reward for the righteous which usually is wanted earlier than later. And the best result is that two should go together, the soul and the body, to achieve God's will and design.

The binding is representative of the successful act of harnessing all powers, physical and spiritual. as well as the power the soul has of causing uncomfort to the body so that is should properly act in God's service. But since a tzaddik is used to bodily punishment and severe restrictions, he has to be warned not to go too far and the call comes from on high to halt the exercise, for the body is still young, as a youth, and needs to be nurtured. Although almost worn out and tired, the eyes are raised and the ram is seen. In Hebrew, the root of איל, 'ram', also signifies strength and so the process is able to be completed despite the intervention of the Evil One, signified by the סבך, the thicket.

Tricky Dick Goldstones His Audience

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:17:00 +0000

Unctuous and slick at the debate last night:-

...Goldstone said the forum allowed him a chance to explain the substance of his findings “and avoid the personal and ad hominem attacks that have marked the debate on the report to date.’’ Goldstone, a former South African constitutional court justice who is himself a Jew, said much of the criticism of the report was based on false premises...Goldstone said the days he spent in Gaza were full of surprises. He admitted to a bout of nerves at the thought of a Jew roaming around Gaza and said that just before he went he had a nightmare that he had been kidnapped by radicals “and that people in Israel were rejoicing,’’ drawing a laugh from the audience.

But in the end, he said, he was struck by how similar Israelis and Palestinians were in their warmth and their aspirations.

People in Israel were rejoicing at his imaginary distress?

Projecting now, is he?

And this is a nasty way of perverting the term "war crimes":-

"War crimes are committed when disproportionate force is used," Goldstone said. "That is the essence of what war crimes are all about, Israel has the absolute right and duty to defend its citizens, I repeat for the third time but in doing so its responses must be proportionate," Goldstone said. "That
is the law and up till now that law has been accepted by Israel."

If you do not view Hamas as a terror group but rather seem to sense that it has justification for "resisting" Israel, then the shooting off of rockets as opposed to Israel's precision-bombing capabilities, well maybe there is, in a sick way of thinking, something disproportionate in Israel's response.

But that is immoral, Judge Goldstone, and ad hominem or not, you are wrong, grossly so.

Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:54:00 +0000

Elliott Abrams has a wonderful description of what the administration has been up to —

“nine months of nonsense.”

(Full context: Instead of demanding an unrealistic freeze, Abrams said, the administration could have made the Bush deal public, noted that Israel had not consistently lived up to it and declared that it would now be enforced. "Instead, we had nine months of nonsense," he said. "Palestinians and Israelis are not sure what the United States stands for.")

Of course, there's always another opinion:

Ghaith al-Omari, a former Abbas aide who is advocacy director for the American Task Force on Palestine, said, "The situation is so complicated that no matter what approach the administration would have taken would have led to difficulties." He said that things have improved in the past nine months, including getting a reluctant Israeli government to embrace the idea of talks. Negotiations will begin eventually, he said, because the Obama administration has signaled that it will not waver in pursuit of direct talks.

A Very Bad Idea

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:28:00 +0000

I found a piece in a South New Jersey weekly, The Jewish Times, entitled A Bad Idea and it forced me to write this letter:-

In "A Bad Idea" by Stephen Kramer (Nov. 6), we read this assertion: "The Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank after 1946...". But this is wrong.

The 1947 UN Partition Resolution establishing both a Jewish and an Arab state in the area of Mandate Palestine does not mention the West Bank at all. In all British official documents as those of the US State Department as well, the territory is Judea and Samaria. In the section delineating borders, it refers solely to Judea and Samaria. Only in April 1950 did there appear a geopolitical term, the "West Bank", when the Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan illegally annexed Judea and Samaria after occupying it in 1948.

Your Health

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:21:00 +0000

The American Citizens Abroad (ACA) organization is alerting US citizens who live overseas to an unfair excise tax of $1900 per family that they may be required to pay as part of the proposed new healthcare and insurance legislation.

ACA is requesting all members and supporters to email, fax and/or write their Senators in support of a change in legislative language to the bill "Americas Healthy Future Act of 2009" authored by Senator Max Baucus.

In the 16 September 2009 version of this bill there is wording which would cause great hardship on American citizens living outside the US. The wording would leave Americans overseas exposed to paying an excise tax regardless of whether they carry health insurance via overseas health providers. The purpose of the proposed excise tax is to encourage all Americans who benefit from the US health program to participate in its financing. Americans residing overseas cannot benefit from the US health system so for them the excise tax is just that -- a tax with no counter-part service. Currently the planned maximum excise tax per family for non-participation would be $1,900.

Please help ACA to insure that Americans overseas are not unfairly taxed. Help ACA to bring this matter to the attention of the decision makers in Washington DC by writing to your representative today.

LGF Gets Dainty

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:52:00 +0000

Here's the Little Green Footballs post on the identity of the Fort Hood shooter:

Fort Hood Shooter Identified As a Major

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

Hmmm.

Malik Nadal Hasan. Just a Major?

Not Muslim?

Not of Palestinian descent?

Tsk, tsk, Charles.

See:

He attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and is devout, according to Faizul Khan, former imam at the center. He attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues, Khan said.

See:

Hasan is an American citizen of Palestinian descent

Gideon Levy Is An ASSinine Individual

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:46:00 +0000

On the very day that the IDF announces the capture of an extremely large and dangerous shipment of arms to Israel's adversaries from Iran, Gideon Levy publishes this, and please excuse the longish extracts but to bury him, seems one needs a lot of evidence:-

Every few weeks you have to sow fear, every few months you need to make threats, and once every year or two you have to have another little war. Blind cooperation between the defense establishment and the media holds the promise of another round of fighting...It also creates good television ratings and sells sensationalist newspapers and advanced weapon systems. What's better than that for us?

The most recent cry of alarm: NASA in Palestine, Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in Gaza. Hamas launches an Iranian rocket - it must be Iranian - 60 kilometers. The head of Military Intelligence reported on it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke immediately about missile systems, and the media immediately broke into its favorite war dance. "Three million citizens within range," "Confrontation in December," "Are you within range?" "Outskirts of Tel Aviv in danger," "Doomsday weapons" - frightening headlines accompanied by no less scary maps. "This is a new dimension confronting the IDF. It's not a simple matter. It's really a different story altogether. We should remember that there will be many casualties on the home front," roared the national baritone - the military commentator on television.

So again we are dealing with the grotesque - a strip of land under siege wallowing in its distress and ruins...That's how they create the scenario for the next war. That's how they empower not just the enemy, but first and foremost the IDF, which can beat the enemy.

The warmongering military commentators say war will come early, maybe even next month. The furious predictions of the commentators will again be a self-fulfilling prophesy. As with the horrible earlier incarnations, we can soon expect a series of "incidents" that are "heating up the front" - bombing a tunnel or shelling a weapons lab. A few helpless peasants who dare approach the security fence, rusty plows in hand, will be killed after being depicted as terrorists laying explosives, and the Palestinians will fire hollow Qassams in response, sowing fear in the Negev and creating pressure on the government to "do something."

...It would be funny if it were not so depressing. Even satire would not be as ridiculous as this constantly recurring reality. No lessons are learned...

Gideon, go! Leave! Exit!

Fool. Dangerous ranter of perverse leftwing claptrap.

Thoughts/Words of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:07:00 +0000

1.

“We might have an impact. A politician can’t be a politician if they get voted out of office.”

Jerry Hershberger, at a demonstration in Washington protesting the Obama health bill.

2.

"'Wrong' is one of those concepts that depends on witnesses."

Catbert

When People Can't Remember Their Own Exhortations

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Almost two years ago, I commented on something Aaron Lerner wrote. It wasn't fully correct and Aaron was quite upset and expressed himself forcefully.

The main point he made was why didn't I contact him first to clarify the matter.

He was right.

Usually I do not comment on my wife's blog posts. Her mind is her mind, her thoughts are her thoughts and I respect a person's independence.

But we have a storm that is overflowing out of the teacup.

As my wife explains here, just before copying a poll that Aaron had published, she made her own comment. She then copied Aaron's content and also indented them as a quotation.

A JPost reporter unfortunately missed the graphics and reported that what my wife had said was actually what Aaron had supposedly said but that was untrue.

Aaron got justifiably upset.

And he wrote a letter to the JPost which was published as a "Correction".

But he didn't first ask my wife about the matter and so this appears in the JPost:

The article quotes a statement posted in Lerner's name on the blog Shiloh Musings, including the assertion that "Israeli 'justice' is always different for right-wing Jews." Lerner has told the Post that this entire statement is fabricated; he did not make it.

But what doesn't appear there is that it was the error not of my wife but of the reporter.

That's too bad.

And it's too bad Aaron didn't follow his own suggestion to call first, contact the person and clarify.

Another "Green-Lined" Blog Post

noreply@blogger.com (YMedad) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:58:00 +0000

Here.