Simply Jews

Roger Cohen and the doctrine of being right

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000+02:00

I am starting to suspect that Mr Cohen reads this here puny blog! I swear that he does it, possibly hiding in a closet with his laptop or some iThing, but he does.

Well, he surely read the post Roger Cohen: a man who rarely misses an opportunity to miss a point. Proof? Here comes an article Doctrine of Silence, where Mr Cohen has done everything possible in the way of verbal acrobatics to insure that, no matter what the outcome, he will be right.

On the subject of silent assassination of terrorist leaders he stated straight away:

I approve of the shift even as it makes me uneasy. One day, I suspect, there may be payback for this policy and this silence.

Well, about as straight as a snake tied in an intricate sailor's knot. It this short passage its author not only put Obama in a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" position, he also insured himself by setting up at least two ("I approved it to start with" and "I told you so") future postures.

Cool, Roger, I really admire that. Ways to go, man!

The Council Has Spoken!

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000+02:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Mellow Jihadi – Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, Marine Hero
Second place with 3 1/3 votes – The Right Planet- Are We a Democracy?
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- Obama’s State Of The Union – The Hollow Man
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey-What the Gingrich South Carolina victory could mean
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye-You Be the Judge
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room-Revolution Moves Into The Overton Window
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor-A Tale of Two Disasters: The Titanic and the Costa Concordia
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –War is not, and should not be, sporting
Sith place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Going All The Way
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Simply Jews – Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey vs FUKUS
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Am I Wrong To Be Troubled Here?
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Political Commentator – Doing away with the Electoral College! One man, one vote and majority wins!

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! –Family Security Matters- Muslim Children in America are Being Taught to Hate submitted by The Political Commentator
Second place with 2 votes – Mark Steyn – The Sinking Of The West submitted by Joshuapundit
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Sultan Knish So You Want a Revolution… submitted by The Noisy Room
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Yourish.Com–TANSTAAFL submitted by Simply Jews
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Right Wing News –The Worst People In Politics Aren’t Racists submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - The Foundry –1,000 Days Without a Budget: Facts on the Senate’s Failure submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -The Compass – An Iran Attack Would Succeed, Then What? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Gay Patriot –SOTU: Obama’s last chance to change tone submitted by Right Truth
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The New Atlantis –The Global War Against Baby Girls submitted by The Watcher
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -James Taranto/Best of the Web–The Genetic Fallacy submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Zero Hedge –Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejectionsubmitted by The Razor
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Cabinet –The Behavioral Sink submitted by The Watcher
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Polipundit –Why Newt should not be the nominee submitted by Rhymes With Right
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Accuracy In Media –The FOX News Feminists submitted by New Zeal

Egypt’s election results are none of Israel’s business? Indeed?

2012-01-26T08:00:00.005+02:00

I just finished reading an article with that intriguing headline: Egypt’s election results are none of Israel’s business. If you click on the link to read it (and I am certain that you could do much worse with your time than reading it), you shall see that it's written in the web magazine +972* by Lisa Goldman, an award-winning freelance journalist and blogger. An excellent reporter, and intrepid and courageous person, Lisa has done a lot during her illustrious journalistic career in and outside of Israel. Some of it, like her reporting from Beirut is widely known and deservedly admired, some of her tribulations during her years in Israel are still less famous (well, maybe one of these days with Lisa's permission...).

The article left me with some mixed feelings. On the factual side of it it's an admirable job. It's difficult to argue with facts and with Lisa's opinion that revolution is a messy business and it will take quite a lot of time till the smoke disperses, SCAF (the Egyptian military) steps back and we'll be able to see what is what.

As for the main statement - the election results are none of our business - it demands some deconstruction. First of all, as far as meddling (of any kind, including verbal support for any side in the Egyptian power play) is concerned, I guess no one of a sane mind will disagree. Maybe it's worth mentioning here the fact that a few Israelis visiting Cairo, caught up with the events in the Tahrir square, enthusiastically took part in the demonstrations (at least before the Muslim Brotherhood gradual takeover) against Mubarak's regime, but this is neither here nor there.

However, Lisa then takes to task her colleague at +972, one Larry Derfner, who in his short (thanks deity) piece on Islamists' election achievement has the following to say:

I don’t regret siding with the protesters against Mubarak one bit; knowing what I knew then, I didn’t see that a democrat had any choice. But if I’d known then what I know today? I would have supported Mubarak.

Lisa, apparently, got irked by this expression of wisdom. Why, I can't even start guessing. Mr Derfner's quite pompous way of expressing his displeasure with the election results and of hinting (yeah, yeah, I know it was unwitting) about the possible withdrawal of his support from the revolution shouldn't be that strong an irritant. However, Lisa has chosen to go after Derfner in a rather original way:

Well. “We liberals” are citizens of the democratic state of Israel, which freely elected, as the largest faction in its governing coalition after the Likud, the quasi-fascist Yisrael Beitenu party. The head of that party, Avigdor Lieberman, is now the foreign minister. He cozies up to Vladimir Putin and once said that Israel should bomb the Aswan Dam. In our Knesset, we also have Kahanists and a large contingent from Shas, which is quite similar to the Nour party. So I don’t think we have all that much credibility when it comes to commenting on the election results of our neighbours.

No matter how true the above is (and much of it is true), what do the Zionist government's warts and blemishes have to do with Larry Derfner's foot being firmly lodged in his mouth? After the passage quoted above, Lisa has said something more to the point:

I am also pretty sure that the Egyptians don’t care whether Larry or any other non-Egyptian supports their revolution. They particularly don’t care whether or not Israeli liberals support or oppose their revolution. We Israelis can be quite vain, but really – this revolution is not about us. At all.

However, there is no reasonable explanation of that previous tirade, not linked to anything Derfnerian.

This, however, is not all Lisa had to say about the potential Israeli involvement in Egyptian issues, there is more:

We [Israel] removed ourselves from the discussion by tacitly supporting oppressive dictators like Mubarak, who crushed civil society in his country over a period of thirty years, and by refusing to end the military occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Strange that. I would say we shouldn't be a part of the "discussion" for the simple reason of being foreigners with no right of being involved in any way. As for tacit (or not) support of the dictator: does Lisa mean that we should have been active in his removal or that we should have cut the diplomatic ties? And how is our military occupation of the Palestinian territories relevant to support (or the opposite of it) of Mubarak's regime that we shouldn't be involved in as foreigners to start with? Beats me.

Now we can move from the question of involvement to the question of having an opinion on the events in Egypt. In this respect I don't understand Lisa at all. Back to Derfner again. The question is simple: clumsy as Mr Derfner was in his piece quoted above: does he or doesn't he have a right to have and to express an opinion on goings-on in a largest Arab country and our neighbor to boot? In an indirect way Lisa answered this question:

When I was in Cairo last spring, I met a prominent Egyptian journalist – a liberal – who displayed an impressive knowledge of Israeli society and politics. He told me two things that I won’t forget. He said that there was not a single Israeli journalist who evidenced any true insight or deep knowledge of the Arab world. And he said that the Arab uprising was unstoppable.

With all due respect to unnamed Egyptian journalist, I tend to doubt that sweeping statement. That in the whole country, puny as it may be, there is not a single person (let's leave journos alone) with in-depth knowledge and understanding of our mighty neighbor? Not serious, no matter how unstoppable the uprising is. At best this saying reminds me of the "mysterious Russian soul" that no foreigner is supposed to understand...

Of course, besides the issue of having or expressing (or not) our opinion there is another issue, that of minding our own business. A good part of it, unfortunately, is monitoring and being prepared to any surprises our neighbors may have in store. Of course, Lisa has an unequivocal answer to that too:

But if we’re going to assess reasons to fear for the Middle East, we Israelis don’t have to look very far. The danger is not with the Islamist parties. They have no love for Israel, but they have neither the power nor the will to express their dislike by mobilizing for war. The danger is with the Israeli governing coalition, which is passing anti-democratic legislation at home and behaving increasingly like non-rational players in the diplomatic arena.

I am sure that our Chief of Staff will be glad to hear it, but let's leave him some wiggle room, at least for long range planning, could we possibly? As for our precious governing coalition, discombobulating as it may be, I could point out a few other sources of potential military danger in our corner of the world, but let's leave it alone for now, OK?

And now back to the title of Lisa's article, to remind you: "Egypt’s election results are none of Israel’s business". I have to disagree. Non-involvement issue and Larry Derfner issue being cleared and put aside, Egypt’s election results are very much our business. At least no less of our business than elections in US, UK, Uganda or Singapore. Maybe even more...

And, liberal or not, my personal thoughts are with Sandmonkey, Big Pharaoh and thousands of young and not so young good and intelligent people who went to Tahrir square hoping for better future and now are clearly despaired of seeing it anytime soon.

So, Lisa, am I allowed to express this sentiment without fearing that it may be interpreted as an intervention in Egypt's revolution?

I certainly hope so.

P.S. The above mentioned Larry Derfner, trying to make a graceful about face after that poor show, while not quite succeeded, still made a few points similar to ones expressed here.

(*) I know that the mere thought about reading +972 could be an abomination for some right wing people, but I assure you that it's worth reading some of it, if not always with admiration.

Russia - Syria Yak-130 deal - bad news for Syria's uprising

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001+02:00

Both JP and Ha'aretz report, as do some foreign sources, that Russia has signed a contract to sell 36 Yak-130 jets to Syrian regime.

If you look at the Yak-130 parameters, one thing becomes clear: this jet, when not used for training air force pilots, is not of any concern to Syria's neighbors: a subsonic trainer, carrying no more than 3 tons of weaponry isn't going to cause sleepless nights to surrounding nations.

A ground attack subsonic jet, carrying 3 tons of weaponry is going to be devastating news for military and civilian rebels in Syria, on the other hand.

And Russian readiness to sell these deadly tools of oppression to the much hated regime is another loud and clear reminder about the grim role Russians continue to play in the Middles East for so many years.

Too bad.

A poem to the bagel

2012-01-25T07:50:00.000+02:00

On several aspects of this seductive food item you may not have thought about.

Bagel Mood Swings

The call to kill Jews: applicable or not?

2012-01-24T08:10:00.000+02:00

The latest from PMW (Palestinian Media Watch) includes three major points in its lede:

Mufti denies applying Hadith about
Muslims killing Jews to today's conflict

PMW report shows that Mufti did apply call
to kill Jews to current conflict

Following PMW report, PM Netanyahu calls
for criminal investigation of PA Mufti

It is very simple to show that there is no contradiction between these three points, but of course we all have to calm down first. Have you calmed down? Now take heed of the following:

First of all, the Mufti is absolutely right. That Hadith is like a standing instruction: you see a Joo, you kill yourself one. So there.

On the other hand, the PMW report is also absolutely on the money: standing order, no matter how ancient, once it's issued and followed to the letter, is applicable to the current time. So there.

As for Bibi being discombobulated by the Hadith, there is a reasonable explanation for that too. You see, the full text of that Hadith is:

Judgement Day will come only when the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, until the Jew hides behind the tree and the stone, and the tree and the stone say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him' - except for the Gharqad tree.

Now, the reason most Jooz are so cool about the Hadith is that every single one has planted and grown for him/herself a good Gharqad tree. Just in case, you know. However, Bibi, due to his acquired girth, has a problem you can easily grok:

Can you see Bibi behind the tree? Me too...

Now, is the whole issue squared away? I hope so.

Let's kvell

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000+02:00

Just a brief note. The title of this piece (from the Elder of Ziyon) is "Tel Aviv one of the 'world's most creative cities'". Says it all, really. The only other thing you need to know is that the U of T is the University of Toronto. Good reading.

By Brian Goldfarb.

Yet more of globalization surprises

2012-01-24T07:50:00.000+02:00

I have to say, it becomes more and more complicated to read sentences like this:

This afternoon unmanned aircrafts bombed and killed our brother Hilal Al Barzawi from Lebanon with British citizenship who fought in Somalia for a long time.

You barely have time to connect the lines on the globe, and brother Hilal is already on another continent, in another country.

Oh well, at least he is fighting the same holy cause, and Chinese Kalashnikovs provide some measure of continuity too...

Breaking news: even American Zionists can publicly say and write stupid things

2012-01-24T07:40:00.001+02:00

This little gem landed in my inbox today. I have to admit that it bespeaks such a degree of stupidity on the part of the original writer that it took me a while to believe it. But, who am I to doubt the veracity of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency? The following is, according to them, breaking news. However, by "breaking news" I guess they mean last Monday (that is, 16 January), seeing as they posted this item today, 23 January at 19.20 GMT, and the US is 5 hours behind, so it would be 12.20 local time in New York, and they'd need time to verify the truth of the email…So, you get the picture that this item is probably cooler than JTA want us to think. But, hey, if you haven't heard the news, it's hot!

Anyway, the gist of the item is that the idiot who owned (you read the tense of that right: he's resigned the editorship and is looking for a new owner) The Atlanta Jewish Times was so ill advised as to suggest that, should Iran get the bomb, the likely Israel response was one or more of the following three scenarios: attack Hamas and Hezbollah before they get too cocky with a nuclear-armed sponsor behind them, attack Iran before it could deploy the nukes, or, three, deploy a Mossad assassination team to kill President Obama. Yes, you read that last one right too: in his own words "Yes, you read 'three' correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don't you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel's most inner circles?"

Err, no actually, I would guess that it most decidedly hasn't and, further, any Israeli "intelligence" idiot who suggested it would, probably and rapidly, find themselves drawing unemployment pay with no references for future employment. Given, at the very least strong rumour has it, that Israel has been supplied with the US's latest bunker-busting bombs, on this, supposedly anti-Israel, President's watch.

It just goes to show that you don't have to be an anti-Zionist (he said politely) "speaking-as-a-Jew" Jew (one who is anti-Israel to curry favour with his supposedly, and equally anti-Israel, left-wing buddies) to be able to open your mouth and put your foot in it up to the knee and down to the stomach. If you prefer, even Zionists can be stupid, unfortunately.

By Brian Goldfarb.

French Senate passes Armenian genocide bill. Vive la France!

2012-01-23T23:55:00.000+02:00

At last.

Scandal: prenatal care in Israel is well organized

2012-01-23T08:00:00.003+02:00

Introduction: A short time ago I've posted a short piece De nada, Ilse dealing with an amazing view of Israeli prenatal care. The piece met some spirited defense. The article below is originally written in Dutch by Ratna Pelle, a Dutch publisher/writer on Israel, a peace activist, a friend and a person deeply involved in the sometimes convoluted coverage of this here neck of the woods.

I am sure that the reader will be able to come to her/his own conclusions after reading this rough translation of the article, made using Google Translate and assistance of the author.

Two weeks ago the Dutch daily newspaper Trouw published an article about prenatal care in Israel under a very suggestive title: "The chosen people must be perfect." The article is about the experiences of a Dutch woman (Ilse van Heusden, a journalist) in Israel, who felt that the way the health of her fetus was being monitored by Israeli medical personnel, and all the tests that were imposed on her, were very overdone.

An article comparing prenatal care in different countries would be interesting, and can indeed reveal something about a country, its culture, politics, level of organization and the priorities it sets. This article however, talks only about specific experiences of one woman, with some quotes from others linking prenatal care to Israel's focus on military(!) and politics, the Jewish past and, of course, the Holocaust. We learn nothing about health care in Israel in general, about the infant mortality rate compared to other countries (very low, unlike in the Netherlands), about the experiences and satisfaction of Israeli women (Jew or Arab) with the system, etc.

The author admits that reading a menu card is as far as her Hebrew goes, and her poor knowledge of the language may have contributed to her negative judgment.

The purpose of this article seems not to inform people, but merely to convey a sentiment and thus to score some cheap points. In fact it's a boring story, since details of the birth of another person's child are just not necessarily interesting. So the author spices it up by throwing in an occasional suggestive note, hinting that things are better organized in the Netherlands because "here they are not so exacting," and in the Netherlands you "can still enjoy pain during childbirth". If you ignore these comments and consider only the facts, a picture emerges of a very well organized health care system, where every effort is made to ensure that your child is born healthy. And that would seem to be a good thing, perhaps an example we can adopt.

The article evoked a lot of reactions and emotions, and I've read several comments from women who claim to be happy with the Israeli system and the care they received. Van Heusden also casually mentioned her 'friends in Netherlands' who "jealously sighed that at least for me it was all well organized." But she immediately added that Israel obviously can't guarantee that your child will be healthy, because a 100% guarantee does not exist.

People always refer to the Holocaust when writing about Jewish people. No report about Israeli society or politics can do without linking it to Judaism, the Bible and the Holocaust. Van Heusden also makes ample use of these clichés in her story to liven up its dullness. A woman told her that she switched to another gynecologist after hers had urged her to have an abortion because a deviation was found:

"What is with this country?" I sighed. "The Jewish people are the chosen people," she replied. "And their children should be perfect."

This is a false suggestion, which is repeated several times. There are more abortions committed in the Netherlands than in Israel, and it is not true that Israeli women are pressured not to have an abortion. Like in the Netherlands there is a stringent procedure. It would also contradict the stated Israeli desire for a high birth rate (which the article strongly suggests), but consistency is just not the strong suit of Israel bashers:

Children need not only be perfect: what makes things even more emotionally charged is the Israeli demand to have many children. The state promotes having children, for instance through high child support.

The latter is true, but mainly because of ultra-Orthodox parties' disproportionate influence on politics (they are indispensable in almost every coalition). In exchange for supporting government policies they stipulate government support for religious schools and exemption from army service. Incidentally, Arab families benefit from this as much as Jewish families, and the birth rate among Arabs is higher than among secular Jews. The suggestion that Israel consciously encourages a high birthrate to strengthen the Jewish majority is therefore contrary to the policy which also favors Arabs with many children.

The article then links the high birth rate in Israel to the Holocaust:

The very fact that Israel is in a permanent conflict area, contributes to the high birthrate in Israel, according to Israeli Professor David Passig: "It is known that everywhere in the world more children are born after a war. Here the wars come and go." But the futurologist at Bar Ilan University sees the real cause somewhere else: the Holocaust. "We have barely recovered from that disaster. The State of Israel lives in fear and striving to survive, so we get more kids."
That fear is allayed by many check-ups. That is helped, says Passig, by the fact that the prenatal tests are not controversial in Judaism.

It is quite possible that the many disasters the Jewish people have lived through, and the wars against Israel, had an influence on their attitude towards children. In addition, Israel at its inception had about 700,000 inhabitants, and in a short time more than one million refugees from Arab states as well as Holocaust survivors from Europe joined them and had to be provided for, meanwhile fighting off Arab attacks. This is not so much about defusing (irrational) fears, but about pure survival. Israeli society is more focused on ways to survive than the Dutch. People work harder, everyone must serve in the army (except Arabs and ultra-Orthodox, which is an increasing problem as both groups grow). People are inventive and enterprising, helping strangers on the street and getting involved with each other, and there is less attention paid to 'luxury' stuff like tidy streets and parks.

An article without negative intent or undertones, investigating how the Holocaust affects modern Israel, might be interesting, although one should remain wary of easy clichés. An article on how health care in Israel is organized as compared with other countries would also be instructive. A study in which regulations regarding pregnancy care and infant care in some countries are associated with the attitude towards children in the dominant religions and cultures can also be interesting. An article in which a woman describes her own, by no means exciting experiences and dishes out most hackneyed clichés about the country ("having a child in Israel is like a military operation") which concludes that it is all wrong in Israel once again, is not only terribly boring but is also unworthy of Trouw. Every opportunity to present a negative story about Israel is grabbed with both hands, since such stories are doing well in Europe these days.

The unsavory headline with a subtle reference to the anti-Semitic notion that Jews consider themselves superior to non-Jews, disguises the less substantial content of the article. Congratulations, Trouw, you are slipping more and more down to the level of a tabloid.

This is not the first time the childbearing subject is used to show Israel and Judaism in a bad light. Two years ago, Dutch TV news show Nova did a report about IVF treatments in Israel, emphasizing the generous multiple IVF reimbursements for women of a relatively advanced age. Scandalous, of course, and clear proof of the ominous Israeli plans to dominate the non-Jews by power of the womb. Perhaps we can stop with this nonsense and just agree that the Israelis may make other choices and organize their society different than the Dutch do? Sometimes better, sometimes worse, sometimes just different.

Ratna Pelle

Press TV no more

2012-01-23T07:50:00.009+02:00

I am not sure I am in full agreement with the Ofcom decision to close down that nest of (fairly stupid) vipers. One likes to be able to see and count one's vipers in the open. Still, a person can enjoy his moment of Schadenfreude, can't he? So, to preserve the moment, here is a snapshot of the article's intro:

I could have expressed a gleeful concern about Galloway's next source of income. But you know, this cat will land on all four feet. In another gutter.

Iran: Motorcyclists kill military officer

2012-01-22T17:00:00.000+02:00

This raises a natural question: are these motorcyclists out of nuclear scientists or what?

Judge Goldstone: From Zero to Hero…or vice versa

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000+02:00

An interesting one, this. It comes from UNWatch (which carries broadly the same watching brief on the UN that CiFWatch does on The Guardian's Comment is Free online blog) and, from the title, you'd think it was quite innocuous. It says that the column is a correction as to their reports on one William Schabas (of whom I was ignorant until I read this) and Judge Richard Goldstone. William Schabas is, variously, Chair of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Associate Professor at the University of Middlesex and the same at Quebec University. He also holds degrees in History and Law from a variety of prestigious universities. So, he's no slouch, then. Oops, nearly forgot: he's also a 'door tenant' at barristers chambers in London. So he really is no slouch.

Anyway, if you read the UNWatch article, you'll see that they said, back when Goldstone retracted most, if not all, of his criticism of Israel and the IDF, that Schabas had turned on his 'good friend' Richard Goldstone when he retracted. This Schabas denied, so UNWatch "corrected" their earlier comments by noting what he did say, which was (in this article) that "when Goldstone retracted the core charge of the report, Schabas was among the first to respond, adopting a different tone toward his friend. He now accused Goldstone of being “certainly more indulgent towards Israel.”" (There's an internal link in the article to a fuller version of what Schabas said). However, they are much more forthright (which is a very British way of saying rude) about Roger Cohen and Richard Falk and their reactions to Goldstone's retraction, with links to their sayings.

By the way, if you'd like to read more examples of "very British" ways of insulting people, you might like to go (he said, very immodestly) to my review of Benny Morris's book "One State, Two States". The examples are Morris's. You can find it here. Should you do so, please note my comment at the end of paragraph 5 of the review. I'd be interested to hear what your answer to the sum might be.

By Brian Goldfarb.

The elusive recognition question

2012-01-22T07:50:00.000+02:00

Remember Bibi's dream about Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state? Let's keep dreaming then, because:

Hamas, Fatah and the others are not waging war against Israel right now for reasons related to balance of power. There are no two Palestinians who disagree over the fact that Israel exists, and recognition of it is restating the obvious, but recognition of its right to exist is something else, different from recognition of its [physical] existence.

Adli Sadeq, PLO Ambassador to India, in official PA daily.

And, in somewhat related news: Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister praises Hamas “concessions” at PSC event. But be prepared for a nauseating experience reading this.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey vs FUKUS

2012-01-21T08:00:00.003+02:00

Today I felt a need to refresh my knowledge about the life and tribulations of Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, a man of many talents I have had an opportunity to mention several times. Characters like Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey* are in short supply, and ignoring him for too long just wouldn't do.

And I was happy to discover that my timing was right. Apparently, Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey has recently coined a new term, hitherto unknown to connoisseurs of acronyms. It is FUKUS, which is supposed to mean France, UK and US or, as he puts it in the long form "the two ex-colonial powers the UK and France and their former colony(ies), the USA". In other cases, when he is especially irked (probably by stale food in the Pravda's canteen), he adds the Little Satan to the trio.

I don't want to inquire how exactly this acronym is pronounced by Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, but I am confident you are able to make an educated guess. Anyway, I like the acronym and probably will adopt it for some cases.

What else is new with Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey? First of all, his style - never stable or easily readable to start with - became even more indicative of his tendency to histrionics, unbridled by judicious use of tranquilizers. An image of a rattlesnake trying to excrete several razorblades comes to mind. Nothing could alleviate Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey's passionate hate of the dreaded FUKUS. His Pravda patrons could rest assured, knowing that they have such a loyal sentinel at their beck and call.

Another important development in creative life of Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey is his newly discovered love of long sentences. Observe the example from the above linked piece (where he is especially irked):

Iraq provided a telling preview of what was to come - the wanton breach of international treaties, charters, covenants, resolutions and promises, the targeting of civilian structures with military hardware to then dole out rebuilding contracts, the purposeful theft of resources and historical artefacts, the opening of the concentration camps and the holding of detainees without due legal process, the torture, the sodomy, the urinating in food, the urinating on prisoners... these demonic acts - not one-off breaches by rogue elements but rather, an integral part of policy (water boarding, for instance) - alerted some of us as to the true nature of the FUKUS-Axis (France, UK, US and Israel) and showed us quite how low they can stoop.

I can only imagine the size of his lungs: try to shout the whole quote without stopping for breath and you shall see. I hope you don't doubt that this sentence is written to be shouted, do you? Oh, and doesn't its rhythm remind you this:

As for the last paragraph of this article, where Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey got tired, most probably losing his breath after all that shouting:

This is the two-tier international community in which we live - a bunch of criminals and those who look on and mutter things about respect for the law. How sickened I feel to belong to the human species at this moment in time.

I would surely want to calm him down a bit: since there are a lot of people who think that Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey doesn't really exist, being a figment of some Russian prankster's imagination, that issue of belonging to human species is highly hypothetical anyway.

So there...

(*) After contemplating the question of the double-barreled name and its possible replacement by an acronym, I came to a conclusion that I can't do it. This name has a life of its own. Unlike its owner.

On the burgeoning quotations business

2012-01-21T07:50:00.001+02:00

Hear, hear. And heed.

Etta James RIP

2012-01-20T19:15:00.000+02:00

They don't have the mold anymore to make another one.

Now just close your eyes and listen:

And remember.

Why you should put Richard Millet's blog on your personal list

2012-01-20T08:00:00.004+02:00

Mainly because he constantly risks, if not life, then certainly limb in bringing both pictures and videos of really not very nice anti-Israelis to his website. Quite often, he is physically threatened for filming/snapping anti-Israelis and has actually been physically attacked on occasion, although fortunately not seriously hurt and his assailant was arrested.

This posting is about the very unlovely Lady Jenny Tonge (the one who can't seem to distinguish between antisemitism and anti-Israelism [tho' I find it difficult to distinguish the two myself, but for very different reasons, of course]), at a meeting in the House of Commons. The title of the article says it all: "Jenny Tonge rants about the Holocaust and idolises Ismail Haniyeh". She is one of the original users of the Livingstone Formulation. For those who don't know of this, it's what happens when someone criticises Israel unfairly, without supporting evidence, and is called on the lack of evidence, their response is on the lines of "Whenever I criticise Israel, I'm accused of being antisemitic", when no-one, other than them, has mentioned the "a" word. Not surprisingly, it's named after the late and unlamented Mayor of London. In the second video clip in this article, Jonathan Hoffman calls Tonge on this very matter, and she fails to provide an example of this happening to her or anyone else.

For a fuller version and discussion of the term, you need to go to the Engage website and put "Livingstone Formulation" into their own search facility and see what comes up.
Note that the fourth illustration down the article features the equally unlovely Gerald Kaufmann.
Most of Richard Millet's postings are about the anti-Israel, pro BDS crowd, by the way, but the two immediately previous articles on his blog are especially worth reading. The first article, on Tonge, is here.

By Brian Goldfarb.

Dr. Faber's oversight

2012-01-20T07:50:00.002+02:00

Marc Faber aka Doctor Doom once said (most of you are familiar with this, I bet):

The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I've been doing my part.

Prophetic as the words might be, he made two mistakes, pointed out by an Israeli economist, who wrote:

Dear Mark,

You are right, the economic situation in US is terrible, with no improvement on the horizon. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that:

The Budweiser brewery was acquired by a Brazilian company InBev. So only the prostitutes are left.

But if the prostitutes decide to send money to their sons, the money will wind up in the Israeli Knesset, where the majority of SOBs reside.

Hat tip: L.G.

The Council Has Spoken!

2012-01-20T07:40:00.001+02:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Right Planet – The Talking Points Meme
Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- “I Got Bin Laden” – And Why Obama’s Big Boast Might Have Been A Huge Mistake
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – The Political Commentator-Achtung! Antisemitismus, immer präsent doch in der Regel unter dem Radar, ist jetzt immer häufiger offene und ist in das Licht der Welt erscheinen!
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor-In the Belly of the Swan
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Mellow Jihadi- Move, Vets Coming Through!
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room-Don’t Worry… Nuthin’ Bad’s Gonna Happen…
Fifth Place with 1 vote – Right Truth-Handcuffed, arrested, and now faces three and a half years in jail for firearms possession – for the crime of being unaware that the Second Amendment does not apply in New York City
Sixth place with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – Citizenship Skills
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –San Francisco Chronicle columnist warns city’s rational thinkers not to roll in the mud with one specific fringe group
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – DSA Marxists Take Over the Occupy Movement: Plan “Spring Offensive,” With Widespread Occupations of State Capitols, Schools and Workplaces
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote– Simply Jews–De Nada Ilse
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Ron Paul Flying First Class on Taxpayer Dime

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Allen West - Mr. President, please don’t play the race card in 2012… submitted by Joshuapundit
Second place with 2 votes – Defining Ideas – The Death Of Honestystrong> submitted byThe Colossus of Rhodey
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Melanie Phillips-The West’s Useful Idiots submitted by The Political Commentator
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Mark Steyn –Ron Paul beckons GOP to Fortress America submitted by The Noisy Room
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Maggie’s Farm – Understanding The Wuterich Haditha Court Martial submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
Fifth place with 1 vote - Wings Over Iraq–Let’s Review submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote -Inside Higher Ed – Price of Success submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -IsraellyCool –There’s Something About Perry submitted by Simply Jews
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Big Government –EXCLUSIVE:Former Bush Counternarcotics Advisor: We’re Losing the Drug War Because of Government Bureaucracy submitted by Right Truth
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -SE Cupp – Newt Gingrich, Natural Woman submitted by The Watcher
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Rush Limbaugh –Washington, DC, Law Forces Exterminators to Capture and Relocate Rats submitted by The Right Planet
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -GodFather Politics – Urinating on the Dead: Marine Performance Art? submitted by Bookworm Room
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Nile Gardiner – Why are Barack Obama’s critics so smart? submitted by The Razor
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Liberty’s Spirit – The Real Story of the Lebanese Civil War submitted by The Watcher
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Accuracy In Media – AIM Interview with Craig Shirley on Pearl Harbor, Ronald Reagan and Today’s Politics submitted by New Zeal
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Blaze –More ‘Embarrassing’ Ron Paul Newsletters Emerge on Race, Israel, & More submitted by Rhymes With Right

Iran to kick off World War Three? Nope, but McDonald's just might...

2012-01-19T08:00:00.005+02:00

Pravda at its scaremongering best: Iran to kick off World War Three. According to this piece, it will start with Israel attacking, US getting involved, China "taking responsive measures" etc... until, of course, Trinidad and Tobago start getting serious about the whole brouhaha...

But, unnoticed by the scribe that penned this article, another Pravda's scribe revealed the stark reality that will, most probably, put paid to this here world:

McDonald's to expose everything about its chemical food in Russia

Consumer rights' advocates filed a lawsuit against McDonald's fast food chain in Russia. The lawsuit was filed at Moscow's Tverskoy Court. The plaintiffs intend to oblige the company to indicate the complete list of ingredients on packaging, rather than the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Civilizations were ruined for reasons that pale into insignificance compared with a thought of such disclosure. The Mayan calendar with its reminder about 2012 was on the money, after all.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

Golshifteh Farahani naked uncensored and banned in Iran

2012-01-19T06:00:00.004+02:00

The picture will not appear here, but you can read the sad story. And then rest your eyes on this:

Rested? Now you can continue surfing.

Israel says decision on attack on Iran is not close

2012-01-19T06:00:00.001+02:00

Now they really should start worrying, I suggest. The man didn't say what he really thinks for ages now.

LSE Nazi games in context

2012-01-18T18:34:00.000+02:00

Hear, hear!

Also: notice where the article appears. What do you know...