Simply Jews

Viktor Dvorakovsky: an undermartyred Russian Islamist

2012-05-27T10:35:00.000+03:00

I wouldn't have paid any special attention to this UPI story but for a slightly unusual (that is, for an avowed Islamist) name of the culprit: Viktor Dvorakovsky.

Viktor Dvorakovsky, 24, was sentenced by a regional court in Russia's southern Stavropol territory Thursday to 23 years in a high-security jail, RIA Novosti reported.

Dvorakovsky was previously convicted of charges of plotting a terror attack, attempting to kill a police officer, making improvised explosive devices, inciting racial hatred and fraud.

The key sentence, however, is here:

Prosecutors said Dvorakovsky converted to Islam and ... started an extremist campaign in the Stavropol territory in 2010.

On could ask why so many of the converts to Islam decide to prove their adherence to their new religion (of peace, let me remind you) in the most violent way, including killing other people. But one wouldn't want to be facetious, of course... Anyway, here are some more technical details:

Dvorakovsky was put on a most-wanted list after a homemade bomb went off in his Pyatigorsk apartment in March 2011. When he was arrested in July, Dvorakovsky tossed a homemade bomb, injuring a police officer, and attempted to throw two more bombs at other policemen, but they exploded in his hands, blowing off his right hand.

This last detail makes our Victor into a kind of spiritual relative of another unsuccessful bomber: Abu Hamza aka The Hook. And sometime in the future they may meet in the martyrs understudies' department of the terrorists' paradise, where a reduced number of virgins will take care of their needs. Seeing as how both have a reduced number of appendages and require specialized care.

The fact that our hero doesn't rate a full martyr treatment, not being blown apart by his bomb, made for another, quite funny turn. Kavkaz Center, the seriously revolting mouthpiece of Chechen and pro-Chechen Islamists, hastily reported on Viktor Dvorakovsky as a martyr in a bombastic (as usual) piece headlined Russian Muslim martyr (Insha'Allah) planned to eliminate Russian interior minister.

This story has been reported by Russian invaders and puppets in Dagestan, when it became known that a Russian Mujahid, Viktor Dvorakovsky, martyred while detonation a bomb near the main police department building in Shamilkala (former Makhachkala) on Tuesday.

To make the alleged martyrdom seem more worthy - price/performance-wise - KC scribe added a consoling detail:

2 police minions were killed as a result of the explosion. The hospital is located near the blast site.

I guess the miraculously resurrected policemen enjoyed giving testimony at the miraculously resurrected, albeit slightly damaged wannabe martyr's trial.

The story, somewhat comic as it may be, sent me looking for more sources on the phenomenon of Russian converts to Islam. Quite interesting, and could be (or should be) a source of some concern to the Russian authorities. A short chapter in Wiki mentions the converts, with some additional links. And, from the horse mouth - a Russian, most probably a convert himself, translated an interesting article from Russian.

So yes, it seems that Russians have quite a lot to worry about on that front.

What turns on Silvio Berlusconi

2012-05-27T07:30:00.000+03:00

As they say, different jokes for different blokes, or something in this vein. They also add something about no accounting for taste. However, that one is real strange:

One of the young women who attended Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties told a court on Friday that she dressed up as a burlesque version of U.S. President Barack Obama to entertain the former Italian prime minister.

Yeah... Silvio is a gift that keeps giving...

Devrait pas nous fâcher

2012-05-26T17:50:00.000+03:00

Apparently it means "You shouldn't get us mad". Indeed, mad students are not a pretty sight at the best of times, witness this:

Is this a student or a student's grandpa, we'll probably never know. And if he is a student, what is his major? Remedial Basket Weaving 101, suggests gnotalex. Trying not to be an ageist (which I could hardly pull off, myself being decrepit to the utmost), I would suggest archeology.

But you knew I would.

2012 UC Irvine Hate Week Post Mortem

2012-05-26T11:00:00.000+03:00

To summarize the week of events, it was almost the same lineup of speakers we have seen regularly in the past. Boring Ben White, the ever-annoying Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, the misguided Hedy Epstein (who doesn't realize whom she is lending support to), always radical imam Amir Abdel Malik Ali ( who belies the claims of the MSU that they are really a mainstream religious organization that rejects anti-Semitism), and this time, veterans of the Oren disruption, 4 unrepentant young men, who swear if the Israeli ambassador ever returns to UCI, they will be there to disrupt again.

Yeah, and the festivities to be repeated again. And again...

Read it all.

Happy Towel Day!

2012-05-25T11:29:00.000+03:00

To everyone who celebrates it.

The Council Has Spoken!

2012-05-25T11:06:00.000+03:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 2/3 votes! Joshuapundit – What Does Peace Mean Anyway?
Second place with 2 2/3 votes – The Razor- Geert Wilders: A 21st Century Canary in a Coal Mine
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – The Right Planet-Marx Is For Hippies
Fourth place with 1 vote – Gay Patriot-Is there anything Barack Obama doesn’’t politicize?
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room- The Fiction of Barack Obama
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews- Tombstone and Mexican spotted owl
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room- Is Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, a 1978 case rejecting academic racial quotas, the smoking gun behind Obama’s Kenyan identity? *UPDATED*
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey –Still More Narrative Fail
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi –The Biggest Loser, Navy-style
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Professional Malpractice By North Carolina Social Studies Teacher
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – The Enforcement Deficit
Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Political Commentator –It’s 8:00 AM, do you know where your tax money is going?

Non-Council Winners

First place with 4 2/3 votes! – The Other McCain- Brett Kimberlin Saga Takes a Bizarre Turn, Forcing Me to Leave Maryland submitted by Rhymes With Right
Second place *t* with 2 votes – Mark Steyn –Eternally shifting sands of Obama’s biography submitted by The Noisy Room
Second place *t* with 2 votes – Andrew McCarthy – Western Sharia submitted by Joshuapundit
Third place with 1 vote -Melanie Phillips The BBC Is Using Taxpayer’s Money To Spread An Ancient Racial Libel submitted by The Razor
Fourth place with 2/3 vote Israel Hayom -A Worthless Piece Of Paper submitted by The Political Commentator
Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -PJ Media/Roger Kimball Who Is Barack Obama? The Question that Won’’t Go Away submitted by The Right Planet
Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - The Texas Scribbler – Lynching A Black Man submitted by Simply Jews
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Paul Miller/Shadow Government –Obama’s legacy on Afghanistan submitted by The Glittering Eye
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Center for Defense Studies –Rushing for the Exits: The Wrong Lesson of Afghanistan submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -FrontPage –Chicago Braces for Leftist Violence and Mayhem submitted by The Independent Sentinel
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Publius Forum–VIDEO: Violent Union Thugs Using Ball Bat on Effigy of SC Gov. Nikki Haley! submitted by VA Right!
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Gatestone Institute –Apartheid: The Big Lie submitted by The Watcher

Brett Kimberlin: an American success story?

2012-05-25T09:58:00.000+03:00

Of course, charlatans are not any nation's specialty. People who change identities, places and methods are known to escape the attention of gendarmes and judiciary for many years in many countries. But the story of Brett Kimberlin is quite unique. Starting with this (click to enlarge):

In fact, if you look at this article, the man started on the road of crime long before becoming a bomber, but let's not be small minded. You would expect the man to rot in jail. But no, not only he is out of jail, but by now a quite successful entrepreneur, managing a 501(c)3 non-profit that receives serious money from some celebs, including Barbara Streisand, John Kerry’s wife, George Soros-connected Tides Foundation etc. And he didn't resort to identity change or any other misdirection. Amazing, ain't it?

Moreover, he is trying to stifle the voices that try to remind people about his past record and to put a finger on his current (mis)deeds. Actively and quite aggressively. And for some reason* only the conservative part of the American blogosphere stands up to his bullying an harassment. But - but here is a better quote:

Ultimately, this is a free speech issue. Kimberlin and his group of thugs have done their level best to attack everyone in the blogosphere who wrote anything negative about him. Now the blogosphere is starting to wake up, and there are so many critics he can’t possibly intimidate them all.

My friends at the Watcher of Weasels presented quite a selection of posts on the subject:

Brett Kimberlin -- Terrorist

Standing with Stacy McCain

Hurrah! It’s Everybody Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day

Stalking the Blogosphere – BlogBurst Friday for Free Speech

Stalking the Blogosphere – BlogBurst Friday for Free Speech

BlogBurst Friday: Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day

How The Left Does Discourse and Respects Free Speech

Re: Brett Kimberlin Day and at least for today, a true bipartisan issue!

BlogBurst Friday for Free Speech

And the full list of bloggers that have joined the campaign:

Bloggers Standing Against Terrorism in the Blogosphere:

Aaron Walker
Ace of Spades
Adrienne
All American Blogger
Apocalypse Paradigm
Ask Marion
Backyard Conservative
Beat Canvas
Big Government
BlackFive
Blazing Cat Fur
Blog de KingShamus
Bob Owens asks a central question: Why are Maryland Democrats letting the “Speedway Bomber” get away with terrorism?
Bookworm Room
Bruce Kesler at Maggie’s Farm
Capital Research Center
Catholic Bandita
‘Cause I Said So
Clayton Cramer
Conservative Hideout
Daily Thought Pad
Daley Gator
Dan Riehl
Daria DiGiovanni
Darth Chipmunk
DaTechGuy
Day by Day Cartoon
Dedicated Tenther
Doctor Zero: “Oppression fails when we stand together as one.”
Donald Douglas at American Power
Doubleplusundead
Dr. Melissa Clouthier
Evil Blogger Lady
Film Ladd
Fly Over Here
Fox News
FreedomWorks
Full Frontal Nerdery
Gay Patriot
Goldfish and Clowns
Granite Grok
Gulag Bound
Hillbuzz and here as well.
hogewash
Hyscience
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds
iOwnTheWorld
Ironic Surrealism
Israel Matzav
Kathy Shaidle at Five Feet of Fury
Kim Priestap and here…
Knowledge Creates Power
Lady Liberty 1885
Legal Insurrection
Liberal Terrorist Pal
Liberty Chick
Lisa Graas
Little Miss Attila
Markham Pyle, UK Telegraph blogs
Mark of a Freeman
Matthew Vadum, Front Page Magazine
Michelle Malkin
Midwest Conservative Journal
New Zeal
Nice Deb
NoisyRoom
Northshore Journal
Other Half of My Brain
Patterico
Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar
Pirate’s Cove
PJMedia Tatler
PL Birnam Wood
POH Diaries
Political Junkie Mom
Popehat
RedState here and here…
Reform a Liberal
Restoring Honor Starts Here
Rhymes With Right
Richard Fernandez
Right Wing Professor
Right Wing TechnoPagan
Roderic Deane
Ron the Cop
Simple Justice
Sister Toldjah
Small Dead Animals
SocietyBytes
Something Fishie
Stix Blog
Sundries Shack
That Mr. G Guy
The American Catholic
The American Thinker
The Blaze
The Camp of the Saints
The Coalition of the Swilling
The Free Speech Blog
The Jawa Report
The Lonely Conservative
The Neosecularist
The Political Commentator
The Radio Patriot
The Razor
The Right Planet
Twitchy here and here…
Wake Up America
Walter Olson at Overlawyered
Washington Examiner, Mark Tapscott
Wicca Pundit
Wintery Night
Yid with Lid
Zilla of the Resistance

Email us to update the list if you were left out.

(*) Well, I am being facetious here. This is the reason the American left puts up with this character: he is useful to them - for now.

The Whited Sepulchre photo files

2012-05-25T02:00:00.000+03:00

Quite.

And then came MK Michael Ben-Ari...

2012-05-24T11:33:00.000+03:00

I am listening to the radio this morning, trying to make sense of the yesterday's demo in the Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood.

Over a thousand people demonstrated on Wednesday in Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood against the influx of migrants from north Africa. The demonstrators held signs calling for the deportation of the migrants, one of which read "(Prime Minister) Bibi (Netanyahu) decide - Sudan or Israel."

The demonstration ended in violence this time:

Police arrested a total of 17 people during and after a protest against African migrants in south Tel Aviv Wednesday night. Among those arrested were 11 minors and six adults. The arrests were made for rioting, attempted assault, possession of knives and looting store fronts.

There is no doubt that influx of migrants who are not taken care of by the government (in any sense of the words "taken care") and gravitate to poorer neighborhoods of our cities cause friction, violence and problems like this one. There is no doubt that both points of view that say Deportation is inhumane and Keep our Israel Jewish have a grain of truth in them: how to reconcile the two is the big question, currently causing a big headache to the people dealing with the illegal immigration.

This, however, is the gist of the problem, looked upon from a height of a communication satellite. The way that the yesterday's demo descended into violence, though, is something one can stick one's teeth into. Notice that "Among those arrested were 11 minors..." - the category of population that is most easily incited to rioting and violence. And when this group of "demonstrators" is subjected by inflammatory demagogy by our lawmakers or, let's be frank - by our rabble-rousers - the results are to be expected.

So this is what I hear in this morning radio reports and what is (only partially and scantily) appearing in the main newspapers. Three names are reported most frequently: MK Miri Regev (Likud), MK Danny Danon (Likud) and MK Michael Ben-Ari(National Union). Why I am not surprised? Of all possible rabble-rousers these three are guaranteed to be there, when demagogy, incitement and cheap populist rhetoric are the name of the game.

Danon:

The infiltrators are a national plague, and we must deport them immediately before it's too late... the state of Israel is engaged in a war against an enemy state composed of infiltrators and located within Israel.

Miri Regev:

...the Sudanese are a cancer in our body.

But these two were just an appetizer. Because then... then came MK Michael Ben-Ari...

Update: a few words of sanity from the Knesset:

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin also criticized the MKs. "When the masses are raging, leaders must curb the rage instead of spreading it," he said during a meeting with the US ambassador.

"It's OK to protest and demand a solution from the government but once cannot be dragged into incitement and use words the anti-Semites use against us," he said.

Nasrallah and Draw Mohammed Day

2012-05-24T08:00:00.000+03:00

Via Incognito the Closet Republican.

A case of creative price management and other wisecracks

2012-05-24T07:30:00.000+03:00

California, apparently, suffers from surplus of weed. The solution was simple:

Authorities say three and a half tons of marijuana have been found floating in the ocean off Southern California.

Idahoans, on the other hand, think that they are first in everything:

A southwest Idaho thief covered his head with underwear - briefs - as he and his partner broke into a coffee shop Tuesday and stole a safe.

OK, but what does Jason Wilson, the owner of that shop* think about it?

"Who robs something with underwear on their head?," Wilson said.

Oh, man, how far out you are: these are simply Bar Refaeli's missing undies!

(*) The shop is called Big Star Coffee in a place called Fruitland (!).

Moose on the Loose Triggers Police Chase in Utah

It (the headline) started so well, and then... something, possibly related to police, is missing. I don't know: booze, shmooze, cabooze ...

The next one looked hauntingly similar to something else:

KODIAK, Alaska -- Dozens of fly swatters bearing logos of collegiate and professional sports teams have been washing up on the beaches of an Alaska island.

Then I remembered the previous story:

Since 2007, 11 human feet have washed up on the shore near British Columbia—and no one knows why.

These two must be related, I suggest. First the feet in expensive footwear ("Eleven feet, some right and some left, all clad in buoyant running shoes..."). Then fly swatters bearing logos of collegiate sports... does anybody recall a disappearance of a college fly swatter team?

Kristen Stewart threesome uncensored

2012-05-24T06:00:00.000+03:00

No, no way it will appear here. Instead, a better kind of bird:

But I guarantee that it's uncensored.

Monbiot vs Chomsky: get your head around it, if you can

2012-05-23T21:18:00.000+03:00

Bob from Brockley has done another great post. Which by itself is not a scoop, since with Bob it's kinda habitual. This time it's a great and amazing post. It will shake the found... aw, what the heck - just go and read it. Hurry.

Ex-Satanist Exposes Illuminati Card Game and the NWO

2012-05-23T21:01:00.000+03:00

I can assure you will spend an extremely gratifying and educational half an hour with this revelation. Mind you, though: the guy is way too optimistic. He thinks that the world is currently at 11:55 PM, as far as Illuminati's plans are concerned.

Tee hee.

All the news that's fit to scare us

2012-05-23T08:00:00.000+03:00

And I did deliberately parody the NYT tagline.

I notice that this item (from the Henry Jackson Society - good guys on the Middle east - check out the reason for their name via their website) hasn't been referenced on the Simply site. So, although it's almost 3 weeks old, here goes.

The Society took its story from Ha'aretz (Snoopy, you're slipping: it's your job - and Gideon's of course - to keep an eye on these things, not leave it to someone 2000 miles away), and they head it "Will Hamas Ever Moderate?" You don't need me to tell you the answer to that (rhetorical) question.

Early in the article is this quote: "According to a Haaretz report last week, a secret vote in Hamas was conducted to elect new members to the group’s political bureau and Shura Council. The results saw Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of the Hamas’ administrative wing in the Gaza Strip, get elected to head the movement’s political bureau in Gaza." Translation: real hard-liners elected to replace/control not quite such hard-liners.

And this is important because? Well, because "Haniyeh is a noted hardliner who is less amenable to finding a political solution with Hamas’ Palestinian political rival Fatah or Israel for that matter."

It's not good, but it's hardly news, even if we do need to to be told.

By Brian Goldfarb.

A million dollar parking? What for?

2012-05-23T07:50:00.003+03:00

That was a doubly (at least) mysterious news item for me. To start with, the name of the person who pitches the parking:

The private garage at 66 E. 11th St. is "for someone who wants complete privacy," said Prudential Douglas Elliman Vice Chairman Dolly Lenz.

How is she/he called at home (or in the office, for that matter), I wonder? And then:

"You can drive in and not be seen again," Lenz said.

Hm... a million dollar for that? I know places (including parking lots) where people drove in and where never seen again for free.

Go figure out them New Yorkers...

Khartoum points to Israel after car blast in E. Sudan, Mossad denies etc

2012-05-23T00:12:00.000+03:00

They say.

An Israeli government spokesman declined to comment on the explosion in Sudan's east...

Of course. It's a simply absurd allegation. For many years already Israel doesn't produce any cars. And those that were produced weren't such a blast too. Rather died a natural, albeit painful death.

So there.

Israel vs Iran reported, Iran vs Israel ignored

2012-05-22T20:00:00.000+03:00

I've spent all morning and the better part of the afternoon hunting for two stories in the media. None was reported by the major news wire services and newspapers. No big surprise there, as the media has been so busy for several years now denying that the iranian leadership ever thought of harming the israeli corner of the world - rather the other way round.

Story number one, first published in the printed edition of Israel Hayom, brings us the words of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, as recounted by Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Israel National News reports:

"In a private discussion we held in Tehran in October of 2000, Ali Khamenei told me that Israel must be burned to the ground and made to disappear from the face of the Earth," Aznar told the audience, according to a report in Israel Hayom.

Story number two, fresh form Fars News, brings us the words of another iranian leader, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi:

Addressing a defense gathering here in Tehran on Sunday, General Firouzabadi said that nations should realize the threats and dangers posed by the Zionist regime of Israel.

He reiterated the Iranian nation and Supreme Leader's emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes, and noted, "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel."

No further comment needed, me thinks.

Christian Toto vs Sacha Baron Cohen: about sense of humor of some Republicans

2012-05-22T08:00:00.008+03:00

After showing some (not bad at all) examples of the right wing trashing Obama's election efforts, here is an example of an overexcited Republican: Christian Toto, a Breibart writer, tries to trash Sacha Baron Cohen, because... try to read it carefully:

Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator" features a political speech that could have been stripped from any Occupy Wall Street protest.

A bit more details:

"The Dictator" casts Baron Cohen as a Middle Eastern dictator trying to recapture his country following a coup by a trusted associate (Sir Ben Kingsley). During a critical scene late in the film, Baron Cohen's General Aladeen character unleashes an angry rant against American capitalism and how unfair it is for society.

Like most celebrity OWS supporters, Baron Cohen enjoys all the perks of capitalism while bashing the very system that made him ridiculously rich.

So let me see how it goes: Sasha Baron Cohen plays a role of a Middle Eastern dictator and as such rants about the American capitalism. Which makes him a "ridiculously rich" member of the OWS crowd... have you got it?

Sasha Baron Cohen if far from being my favorite comedian, but he has his moments. Anyway, I didn't expect that I'll have to explain to Christian Toto, who is somewhat of a movie critic as well, that there is (or let's say, might be) a difference between an actor who is playing a role and the person whose role is played by the actor.

Dear Christian: Steven Seagal doesn't kill ten villains for breakfast in real life. Clint Eastwood couldn't cut a hanging rope with a first shot from half a mile even if his life depended on it. And Meryl Streep isn't an Iron Lady or any other right wing politician. Graham Chapman (look him up) has hardly become a saint after playing Brian. I even dare say that various actors who played Hitler are not, for the most part, avowed Nazis.

Of course, one couldn't vouch for Donald Fauntleroy Duck, but I suspect that he is a Republican anyway, so we can overlook him.

Another good shot at the Republicans appears under a headline:

ROMNEY RACKING UP INDIFFERENDORSEMENTS

Rallying around Mitt Romney in much the same way suicide jumpers rally around the ground, Republican heavyweights have continued to endorse the “inevitable” GOP presidential candidate by using such superlatives as “yeah,” “(let’s) face it,” and “whatever.”

“Face it, we got the best candidate we could out of the process,” South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney actually said — out loud — at a Republican forum.

Yeah... it's quite good, read it all.

Simply Che

2012-05-22T07:50:00.000+03:00

Number eleven, and I am certain the subject will turn in his grave several times:

Mmm...

Why Livingstone Lost Much of the London Jewish Vote

2012-05-21T10:02:00.000+03:00

I have been neglecting my self-appointed task of providing links to items readers of this blog might find interesting. I know I've been away (and Costa Rica was wonderful), but that's no excuse now I'm back. So here's what I can only hope and pray is the last word we might need to worry about on Ken (I wanna be Mayor again) Livingstone.

To take one example from the start of this long article, 'The litany of public run-ins between Livingstone and Jews eventually broke the camel’s back. It was, to use an older Jewish phrase, “enough already.”' Dave Rich, of the CST, writing in Forward, is relating how come Labour canvassers in the just past London Mayoral elections kept getting this reaction on the doorstep when they canvasses Jewish voters. Although I wasn't canvassed, I'd have said the same.

Among the other elements is Livingstone's continued support for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a confirmed anti-semite, misogynist, homophobic Islamist as some sort of liberal; Ken's inability to see the complexities in the London Jewish community; and his tendency to fall into the same trap as the likes of Mearsheimer and Walt. At the same time, Rich insists that, despite all this, Livingstone is, on an individual level, antisemitic, just one-eyed.

From my perspective, I think he's being very generous. But, perhaps, Rich is far more in the public world of London politics that I will ever be.

By Brian Goldfarb.

In Memoriam: one of the good guys is no more

2012-05-21T09:00:00.001+03:00

CST had this on their website: it's a brief obituary of Vidal Sassoon. I posted the following comment on another site, when it was suggested that he was a veteran of world War 2:

Umm, Francis, he was too young for WW2, in that he was sub 18 when the war ended – even The Grauniad got that bit right. However, he did join up with the 43 Group to fight fascists on the streets of London, while a hair-dressing apprentice. There’s one lovely story from this time: he arrived at work badly bruised one morning, and when the boss asked him how he got the bruises, he reportedly said he’d tripped over a hair-band.

He did go to what was then Palestine and fought in the War of Independence in the Hagana.

He may not have been religious, but was surely very Jewish and very anti-fascist.
The CST item is well worth a read.

By Brian Goldfarb.

Majid Jamali Fashi: dead because of Wikileaks?

2012-05-20T12:56:00.000+03:00

It is possible that Assange who, via good services of his buddy Israel Shamir, already caused torture and death of opposition activists in Belarus, can chalk up a new "achievement": this time in Iran.

WikiLeaks may have been responsible for exposing Majid Jamali Fashi, the 24-year-old kickboxer who was hanged in Tehran on Tuesday morning after “confessing” to assassinating a nuclear scientist on behalf of Israel, a British media report said.

The Times of London reported Wednesday that a document from the US Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, seemingly drew attention to Fashi. The September 2009 US diplomatic document — identified by the code 09BAKU687 — quotes an Iranian source who was a licensed martial arts coach and trainer as describing to his American contacts pressure from the Iranian regime to train soldiers and militiamen in martial arts.

Wikileaks' minions vehemently (and using too many words, if you ask me) denied their culpability. However, after reading this, their protest sounds somewhat smelly:

Fashi was reportedly in Baku for an international martial arts competition only days before the US Embassy document was written.

The suggestion is that the Iranian authorities identified Fashi as someone who was in illicit contact with the West on the basis of the document. He was arrested days after the publication of the document by WikiLeaks in December of 2010 and charged with carrying out the January 2010 assassination of nuclear scientist Masoud Ali-Mohammadi on behalf of the Mossad.

The timing strongly suggests a link between the events, and if you check the leaked document in question, you shall see that, while the name of the source was indeed redacted, the words "licensed martial arts coach and trainer" are left untouched. How difficult it will be for an intelligence service to connect a certain licensed martial arts coach, a trip to Baku and the leak?

Whatever Julian Assange and his cohorts think about themselves, no matter how they hail their "fighting the bastards" - they have become a bunch of dirty and unscrupulous bastards in their own right.

Hat tip: Louise the Stubble Jumping Redneck.

American elections: it is heating up, ladies and gentlemen

2012-05-20T08:00:00.001+03:00

So prepare your favorite armchair, your drink and your snack. If you have an advantage of watching the campaign from the outside, double the quantities. Here come a few examples where the gloves come off:

Obama is under the mistaken impression that America's symbol is the bald ego.

From here via Soccer Dad.

Details.

Surely the best one:

And one a bit below the belt:

To be fair and balanced, I promise to collect a few from the other side.

Setting free the beers

2012-05-20T07:30:00.000+03:00

Can you do this?

If you can, I want to be your friend.

And if you also got the allusion in the title of this post - I, probably, already am your friend.