Welcome to Zak's stupid blog

Yeah

2008-05-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

I do think I'll start blogging here again.

I'm back

2008-05-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

I think ...

Bukowski'esque poem

2007-05-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

I've started reading Bukowski after a long hiatus. Like last time, his poems inspire me to write my own:

Beer on one side

whiskey on the other

and I sip them both

until my typing

starts to lokok lkie thsi

I shall return

2007-05-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've been a tad busy these days, and therefore I haven't been blogging. When I am not at work writing, I am writing cover letters and such for jobs, or working on my thesis. I defend my thesis proposal on the 15, and after that -- assuming I defend it successfully -- I can institute my study. When all of that is finished, I'll blog regularly again.

Later.

When it comes to Jews, the far Left and far are Right not so different after all ...

2007-04-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

... as I always suspected and sensed.

This is why I hate the far Left with the same passion that I hate Nazis and white supremacists. But the far Left is far more dangerous, because unlike the far Right, Leftists can be found at universities across the West and are granted a modicum of respectability that KKK members or Neo Nazis could only dream of.

Don't believe me?

Read it and weep: http://www.zombietime.com/berkeley_racist_literature/

Easter Through Jewish Eyes

2007-04-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Easter through Jewish eyes
Just the aromas awaken comparisons
By ME
Daily News Staff
April 9, 2007

My roommate was surprised to see me up so early Sunday morning. The reason for the early start, I told him, was because I was going to church.

He looked surprised, which was entirely justified; after all, I am Jewish.

But I was curious to tackle this assignment, which required I choose a Lutheran or Catholic (or other congregation) church in order to cover the Easter services. I wanted to see the differences between Catholics and Lutherans, and I wanted to see what, if any, commonalities I would find between those two faiths and my own.

I cannot deny that I felt a little trepidation. Not too long ago in history, church on Easter Sunday was not the safest place for a Jew. Whereas Christmas is practically a secular holiday that almost anybody can take part in, Easter week is the religious story of Christianity.

But I was soon to learn that my trepidation - all right, my Jewish neurosis - was unfounded.

As I entered Holy Angles Catholic Church in West Bend I was immediately struck by what I recognized as the scent of frankincense. The smell took me back to the Old City of Jerusalem, the place where I first encountered that ancient fragrance.
As I marveled at the familiar smell and reminisced about Israel, a woman on the altar spoke of "the country of the Jews" in reference to the Holy Land.

I can dig that, I thought to myself. I can say "amen" to that. In fact, on a few occasions I almost did join in on the amens, which in Hebrew means "I believe," and which Jews repeat as well.
"Jesus is our Lord and Savior!"

"Ame-" Oops, I’m not supposed to say that, I had to remind myself a few times. But chiming in with an amen is a natural reaction when hundreds of people around you say it in unison.

While the Catholic church smelled of a classical fragrance, the Lutheran church, specifically Trinity Lutheran Church one block over, smelled of coffee.

What’s a synagogue smell like? The one I attended as a boy smelled of pungent old lady perfume and musty books. Perhaps the Lutherans and Catholics have us beat in the aroma department.

In any event, the service at Trinity seemed a bit more informal than the Catholic service. However, both required their flocks to "all rise" and "please be seated" over and over again, just like at a Jewish religious service. I noticed the Catholics one-upped Jews and Lutherans because they also knelt. I was wondering why there were padded foot rests curiously designed for short people behind the seats at Holy Angels.

Like Jews, Catholics and Lutherans also include red wine in their ceremonies, during communion. It was clear they weren’t drinking Mogen David or Manichewitz wines, however, because nobody made a face after sipping. And there was no kiddush, or prayer over the wine, as there is in Judaism.

As in Reform Judaism - the largest stream of Judaism in America - I noticed that both congregations seemed progressive and liberal. Holy Angels had a number of alter girls helping Rev. Richard Wendell, and Pastors Cristy and David Schoob both led services at Trinity.

When it came to sharing the bread of Christ, the Lutherans offered gluten-free wafers for coeliacs.

I was surprised when ushers collected donations at both congregations. We Jews raise money for the synagogue in a different way; people bequeath parts of the synagogue in honor or memory of somebody. That is why you hang your jacket in the "Lillian and Irving Goldberg Memorial Coatroom" before making your way into the "Lester and Miriam Cohen Family Atrium."

In the end, I discovered that all of our faiths are really not that different when it comes to the important things, like appreciating life, health and happiness, and doing to others as you would have them do unto you.

Happy Easter and l'Chaim!

Furious fingers

2007-04-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

Not much to report these days, if anybody still visits here. Just interviewing for jobs and waiting for my ship to come in. Lately I’ve been practicing darbuka a lot. I’m quite happy with the progress I am making, and I am hoping to start gigging with a local belly dancer one of these days.

This is a darbuka (also called "doumbak"):

Anna Nicole Smith Snuff

2007-02-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

The death of Anna Nicole Smith was certainly of passing interest. She was famous, she had just had a baby, and days later her son collapsed and died. Then she collapsed and died— and so it was news. But what’s to make of the media feeding frenzy behind her death?

Cable news networks are covering it non-stop; and not just the gossipy programs like Greta Van Susteran’s “On the Record,” but even the serious news shows by serious reporters, like Anderson Cooper.

I understand that the media is a business. The networks make money by selling advertising space, clients buy advertising spots, the clients want to know that millions of eyes are watching the show, and so the execs. figure out what the public wants to see. Apparently the networks believe we want coverage of Anna Nicole Smith.

I don’t blame the networks—I blame the American public and their prurient interests. What concerns me most, however, is not the public’s obsessive interest in the death of a celebrity, but the celebrity we have decided to drool over—a no-talent. Smith was not known for her acting, singing, dancing, erudition, sense-of-humor, or philanthropy. By all accounts she was a cynically avaricious druggy with a penchant for fucking so many men that nobody knows who baby Daniellelynn daddy be.

Perhaps America really is experiencing its downward trajectory as a superpower? I heard a couple talking heads argue that Anna Nicole Smith is a much needed diversion from serious news, like the war in Iraq, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, etc. I don’t buy it, because that argument presupposes that Americans have been paying close attention to international events in the first place.

Athlete's foot?

2007-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

I think I have athlete’s foot. My foot looks normal, but it itches like crazy. I could complain and bemoan my wretched fate, but that’s not the kind of person I am. I prefer to see the glass as half full.

For one, I am athletic. That’s a good thing. A lot of people are not. Two, I have feet. Some people do not have feet.

I count myself as lucky, nay, blessed, to have athlete’s foot.

(Now, back to scratching my toes into a bloody pulp)

Egyptian MP: Nothing short of nuke will 'work' with Israel

2007-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Arab al-Aksa hysteria grows ...

"A member of the Egyptian Parliament from President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party said Monday that nothing short of a nuclear bomb would 'work' with Israel.

"That cursed Israel is trying to destroy al-Aksa mosque," Mohamed el-Katatny of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) told the Egyptian Parliament, adding "nothing will work with Israel except for a nuclear bomb that wipes it out of existence."

The harsh statement was uttered during a heated discussion of Israel's renovation of the Mughrabi walkway near the Temple Mount. Egyptian parliamentarians claimed that Israel was destroying the Al Aksa mosque."

Read the rest, here.

My sentiments exactly

2007-02-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Who's to Blame for The Killing
By Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post
Friday, February 2, 2007; A15

This week the internecine warfare in Iraq, already bewildering -- Sunni vs. Shiite, Kurd vs. Arab, jihadist vs. infidel, with various Iranians, Syrians and assorted freelancers thrown into the maelstrom -- went bizarre. In one of the biggest battles of the war, Iraqi troops reinforced by Americans wiped out a heavily armed, well-entrenched millenarian Shiite sect preparing to take over Najaf, kill the moderate Shiite clergy (including Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani) and proclaim its leader the returned messiah.

The battle was a success -- 263 extremists killed, 502 captured. But the sight of the United States caught within a Shiite-Shiite fight within the larger Shiite-Sunni civil war can lead only to further discouragement of Americans, who are already deeply dismayed at the notion of being caught in the middle of endless civil strife.

There are, of course, many reasons for these schisms. Some, like the fundamental division between Sunni and Shiite, are ancient. Some of the wounds are more contemporary, most notably the social devastation and political ruin brought upon the country by 30 years of Saddamist totalitarianism and its particularly sadistic persecution of Shiites and Kurds.

America comes and liberates them from the tyrant who kept everyone living in fear, and the ancient animosities and more recent resentments begin to play themselves out to deadly effect. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, the overwhelming majority of them killed by Sunni insurgents, Baathist dead-enders and their al-Qaeda allies who carry on the Saddamist pogroms.

Much of their killing -- the murder of innocent Shiites in their mosques and markets -- is bereft of politics. It is meant to satisfy instead an atavistic hatred of the Shiite heresy. The late al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was even chided by headquarters in Afghanistan for his relish in killing Shiites for the sport of it.

Iraqis were given their freedom, and yet many have chosen civil war. Among all these religious prejudices, ancient wounds, social resentments and tribal antagonisms, who gets the blame for the rivers of blood? You can always count on some to find the blame in America. "We did not give them a republic," insists Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria. "We gave them a civil war."

Of all the accounts of the current situation, this is by far the most stupid. And the most pernicious. Did Britain "give" India the Hindu-Muslim war of 1947-48 that killed a million souls and ethnically cleansed 12 million more? The Jewish-Arab wars in Palestine? The tribal wars of post-colonial Uganda?

We gave them a civil war? Why? Because we failed to prevent it? Do the police in America have on their hands the blood of the 16,000 murders they failed to prevent last year?

Thousands of brave American soldiers have died trying to counter, put down and prevent civil strife. They fight Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, Ramadi and Baghdad, trying to keep them from sending yet one more suicide bomber into a crowded Shiite market. They hunt Shiite death squads in Baghdad to keep them from rounding up random Sunnis and torturing them to death. Just this week, we lost two helicopter pilots who were supporting the troops on the ground fighting the "Soldiers of Heaven" outside Najaf to prevent the slaughter of innocents in a Shiite-Shiite war within a war.

Our entire strategy has been to fight one side and then the other to try to prevent sectarian violence -- a policy that has been one of the leading reasons Americans are ready to quit and walk away. They can understand one-front wars, but they can't understand two-, three- and four-front wars, with Americans fighting any and all in sequence and sometimes in combination.

And at the political level, we've been doing everything we can to bring reconciliation. We got the Sunnis to participate in elections and then in parliament. Who is pushing the Shiite-Kurdish coalition for a law that would distribute oil revenue to the Sunnis? Who is pushing for a more broadly based government to exclude Moqtada al-Sadr and his sectarian Mahdi Army?

We have made a lot of mistakes in Iraq. But when Arabs kill Arabs and Shiites kill Shiites and Sunnis kill all in a spasm of violence that is blind and furious and has roots in hatreds born long before America was even a republic, to place the blame on the one player, the one country, the one military that has done more than any other to try to separate the combatants and bring conciliation is simply perverse.

It infantilizes Arabs. It demonizes Americans. It willfully overlooks the plainest of facts: Iraq is their country. We midwifed their freedom. They chose civil war.

Temple Mount riots

2007-02-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

The job of the media is to inform. In regards to the latest riots on the Temple Mount, most of the media reports I've read have failed miserably. Instead of explaining the reality of the situation, they parrot the competing claims of both sides. The problem with this approach is one side—the Arab Muslims side, especially in this instance—is totally unhinged and irrational.

I have been to the Western Wall plaza countless times, and I am familiar with the ramp that is being repaired (Circled in red. For a layout of the Temple Mount, click here.). The Western Wall makes up one of the walls of the Temple Mount, where the Golden Dome and al-Aksa mosques are located. The said reconstruction work is not “underneath” the Temple Mount. It is 200 feet away; it can’t possibly damage the integrity of the structure. Anybody with eyes and a brain can understand that.

It’s obvious the Palestinians are using the repair work as an excuse to rile up the Muslim world. Why don’t sane Islamic leaders condemn the violence? Surely they know these wild accusations are red herrings; that the Palestinians are manipulating world-wide religious sentiments for their own immediate and provincial political needs. Indeed, what better way to turn attention away from Palestinian civil war, corruption and general malaise than by freaking out about the nefarious Jews?

In the end this paranoid rumor mongering only makes Muslims look crazy and irrational. I’m trying to hard these days to look past the fanaticism and see the good in Islam. I know a lot of good people who are Muslim, or born Muslim. But when the so-called moderates among them remain silent on issues such as the above, it gets really hard, man, really hard.

Meanwhile, for years the Waqf has been excavating inside the Temple Mount. Tons of ancient material that some argue is rich in archeological importance has been dumped into a nearby ravine. Do Jews and Christians make threats and riot?

Israeli law requires all construction projects be excavated by trained archeologists before work is begun. The reason is simple—the country is rich in archeological treasures. The Waqf, which controls the Temple Mount, refuses to comply with this law. The Israeli authorities do nothing because they're afraid the Palestinians will go crazier than they already are (if that’s possible— although they haven’t yet used baby bombs).

Groups such as The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount document the Waqf's careless disregard of the Temple Mount's archeological sanctity, but despite their work, nobody seems to give a shit. Why? Because a website and indignant newspaper articles don't get as much attention as violent riots.

Baby bombs

2007-02-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Up to now the Palestinians have used ambulances to transport bombs. They have used infants as cover for transporting bombs. Among the cadres of suicide bombers the Palestinians have used old women, young women, countless young men, minors under the age of 18—even a mentally retarded child—to kill Jews.

Can they get any lower? Sadly, yes.

I predict that one of these days an Arab—most likely a Palestinian—will strap a bomb onto a baby in the hopes of detonating the infant and killing Jews.

Another reason why Jimmy Carter’s latest book is wrong

2007-02-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

I’m not going to focus on the numerous errors in Carter’s book, many of which have already been pointed out. Instead, I want to focus on why his accusation of Apartheid in regards to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is a red herring.

To reiterate, Carter stated in his book and in numerous subsequent interviews that Israel is not an Apartheid state, but rather that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a form of Apartheid, or will be, if the situation continues.

What Carter ignores is that since 1993 Israel has been prepared to grant most of the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War to the Palestinians. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have used all “liberated” territories as bases from which to attack Israel. Since 2000, when the Palestinians began their latest uprising, Israel has been forced to re-conquered territory; in other cases, however, it has withdrawn completely, for example in the Gaza Strip. But the salient point is that the majority of Israelis know the occupation can’t continue. They know that for any lasting final settlement to work, Israel will have to relinquish those lands. Ehud Barak offered as much at Camp David in 2000, and Ehud Olmert was elected on a platform of unilateral disengagement.

The Israelis have come to terms with this reality. The Palestinians have not. In the meantime they elected Hamas, which opposes Israel’s right to exist in any size, shape, or form. Yet, despite this sad reality, along comes Carter’s book, completely ignoring all of the above.

Carter conveniently ignores the lesson of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. The lesson: Territory relinquished to the Palestinians is immediately used as a launching pad for rocket attacks into Israel. Right now Sderot and other cities inside Israel but near Gaza are targets. If Israel withdrew from the West Bank, then Tel Aviv, Haifa, Afula, Netanya, Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion International Airport!—almost all of Israel—would be in range of Palestinian rockets.

Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel, and the so-called Palestinian moderates are not really moderate. The Palestinians can’t make peace with themselves lately. It is highly doubtful they can do so with the Jews.

And yet, here comes Jimmy Carter to heap opprobrium and accusations of the worst kind onto Israel.

What a dick.

Palestinian genocide in Iraq?

2007-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Jews treat the Palestinians pretty well compared to how they are treated by their Arab-Muslim brethren.

The radical leadership of the Palestinians continues to come back to haunt them.

A bitter pill to swallow

2007-01-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

Don’t we swallow pills in the first place because they are bitter? If they tasted good, wouldn’t we just chew them like little Flintsone vitamins? This aphorism makes no sense when you think about logically or take it literally. Then again, it’s just a figure of speech. I’m just saying…

Oh no, not again!

2007-01-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hezbollah vows 'very big action' ahead

(Nasrallah) said the resignation of Israel's military chief proved that his group had won the July-August war with Israel, and forecast that the country's prime minister and defense minister would also have to resign.

"It is natural and logical," he said, for Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz to quit. "I expect him to resign. He will be the next victim.

He predicted that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would also pay the price of Israel's failure to crush Hezbollah and secure the release of its soldiers in the 34-day war.

"In the end, (Olmert) will either resign or be overthrown," Nasrallah said.

The chief of Israeli armed forces, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, resigned Wednesday, saying he had to take responsibility. Internal inquiries by the Israeli military found widespread problems in the forces' performance during the conflict.

His resignation generated Israeli calls for Olmert and Peretz to step down as well. The three leaders were widely blamed for the war's shortcomings.

Nasrallah said that Halutz's resignation showed that Hezbollah achieved a "historic, strategic victory" in the war.

"What is happening now confirms that," Nasrallah said, adding that when he heard of the resignation, "I felt happiness."

He said the deterrent power of the Israeli armed forces had "collapsed."

"There is a crisis of confidence in the Israeli army, unprecedented since its inception," he said.

This is a perfect and sad example of a Middle Eastern leader mistaking Israel’s strength for weakness. The resignations in Israel are part of the process of taking responsibility for mistakes made during this summer’s war. It is clear from Nasrallah’s comments that Hezbollah hasn't learned a thing. If Hezbollah starts another war, Israel's response will be far more punishing than last summer's.

A sit down with Supreme Court Chief Justice Abrahamson

2007-01-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

‘Court security issues tend to come up mostly in family law matters’: Chief justice views secure courthouse

Global warming (we're all going to die!)

2007-01-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

It begins like this: I’m supposed to go ice fishing with Mike Desterhoft, who is mentioned in the linked story below. I will explain.

One of my beats is “Back Yard Tourist” (BYT); the idea being that you don’t have to leave the WC to find something to do (although you probably should if you want to have a good time). Needless to say, it ain’t no easy beat ‘cuz I have to come up with ideas every week, week after week. I thought ice fishing would make for a good BYT, but the weather won’t cooperate. In my quest to find an ice fisherman, however, I stumbled upon Desterhoft and we hit it off. When I had to do the weather story the other day I decided to use Desterhoft as a source, since the guy is agreeable and friendly.

I know, this stuff’s just too fucking interesting, I know-I know... With no further adieu, here is the story: El Niño sparks spring temperatures, activities

Booster seat law

2007-01-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

Hold on to your seats; this story is riveting.

http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2006/May_06/05312006_06.asp

Hudna Watch

2007-01-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

The most salient point about the following message from Ami Isseroff, IMHO, is that he is one of Israel’s foremost peacenicks. Yet, the bitterness in his message is palpable. That’s what 14 years of fruitless Olso Peace Accords, Road Maps to Peace, Washington Declarations, Wye River Memorandums, Sharm e-Sheikh Memoradums and Taba Summmits with the Palestinians will do to you.

Hudnawatch: The meaning of Hudna and the rain of Qassams
13.01. 2007 http://www.zionism- israel.com/ log/archives/ 00000329. htmlOriginal content copyright by the author Zionism & Israel Center http://zionism- israel.com

Shu'ada hudna? What is a hudna? Sayed Ahmed Youssef, adviser to Palestinian Hamas PM Haniyeh, explained the meaning of "hudna" to us ignorant foreigners thuswise in the august pages of the New York Times:

A truce is referred to in Arabic as a “hudna.” Typically covering 10 years, a hudna is recognized in Islamic jurisprudence as a legitimate and binding contract. A hudna extends beyond the Western concept of a cease-fire and obliges the parties to use the period to seek a permanent, nonviolent resolution to their differences.

Americans must thank the New York Times for this bit of enlightenment. As we know, the US lacks Arab speakers, and this lack is seriously hindering their war effort in Iraq. The hudna, as marketed by Ahmed Youssef, has become very popular. There is a hudna in Gaza, and Israelis are urged to extend this hudna to the West Bank, and indeed to withdraw from all the territories and have a hudna for 5 years, for 10 years or perhaps for 20 years. The sons of the prophet are generous.

Many words have two meanings. One is a theoretical definition, and the other is the practical, operative one, which consists of how an action is implemented. The New York Times and other media have not troubled to update their audience on the operative, actual meaning of hudna. Media are theoretical. Life is empirical. There is also a difference between formal, literary Arabic of the Qur'an and of honored people like Sayed Ahmed Youssef, and spoken Arabic.

In practice, in spoken Arabic, hudna means a constant rain of Qassam rockets on the Western Negev, daily or almost daily. Sometimes the rockets hit nothing, sometimes they do damage. Sometimes they kill people. The headlines, reported in Israeli newspapers, though not in the USA or Europe, say that "rockets fall." The headlines are deceptive. The rockets do not fall spontaneously, as manna from heaven. They are not a meteorological phenomenon. The rockets are launched by Palestinians for the purpose of killing Israelis. Sometimes they kill Jewish Israelis, sometimes they kill Arab Israelis. Palestinians are not racists of course. The Palestinians were launching Qassam rockets in December, and the Palestinians are still at it.

Yesterday was a typical "truce" day. The truce meant that four Qassam rockets "fell" in Western Galilee. Perhaps many more were launched, but the others may have fallen in Gaza. Additionally, IDF patrols found two bombs. The bombs don't count at all, because they were detonated harmlessly -- this time. Nobody was hurt, so there is no problem. Unexploded bombs are boring, and are not news. What after all, is a mere trifle like an unexploded bomb, compared to the agony, the frustration and the humiliation of a Palestinian who has to wait at a checkpoint while the IDF checks for other bombs? That always makes headlines. It is always featured in PBS, in the BBC, on the French television, and in the Independent. A Qassam a day keeps the peace away. A lot more than one a day have been falling. The Palestinians are making sure. Can't have too much of a good thing, right? That is how the Palestinians keep the truce, and that is the meaning of hudna in practical spoken Arabic.

That is the truce that we are supposed to extend to the West Bank. Then we will have the same truce, and the same meteorological phenomena will be reported, in the heart of Israel. "Truce" will fall in Kfar Saba, in Jerusalem and on Lod airport. The truce will be extended from two bombs per day to ten bombs per day, and perhaps the IDF will not find all of them. The truce will be extended from Qassam rockets to Katyusha rockets. The Iranians are already training cadres of truce loving Palestinians in the upgraded Katyusha hudna, which will last for five years, for 10 years, or for 20 years. We know also that it will not be the fault of the Hamas or the Fatah. They are blameless. Mr Abbas will condemn the terror, will he not? And Mr. Hanniyeh will prove that he was on the phone to Damascus at the time, getting his orders. He has his alibi. But of course there are other organizations. Palestinian terror organizations are always springing up like mushrooms after the rain: Black September, Green November, Front for liberation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad, Shi'ite Hudna, Popular Front, Popular Front General Command, Very Popular Front, Unpopular Back Office. Kulu wahad, they are all one. Just as Mr. Arafat directed the murder of US diplomats in the seventies, though it was credited to "Black September," and just as Mr. Abbas and Mr. Arafat were equally responsible for the murder of Israeli athletes in Munich, also credited to Black September, so Mr Abbas and Mr Hanniyeh are responsible for the daily manifestations of the "truce" in the form of rockets and bombs.

They do not really deny it in fact. Didn't Mr Abbas, just the other day, in plain, spoken, Arabic, tell the Palestinians to aim their guns at the occupation? Isn't that a violation of the Oslo accords, that Mr. Abbas insists must be honored? So now we know both the meaning of hudna and of agreement in Palestinian Arabic. The guns of course, are supplied by the United States, ostensibly to allow the Fateh to fight the Hamas.

Mr Abbas and Mr Hanniyeh: "The Qassam rockets are killing us all." They kill people in Sderot, and they will kill people in Kfar Saba. Only so long will being pay the rent of seem. The hudna will kill us all, for it is only a matter of time before the IDF, which is anyhow not so competent any more as you are quick to point out, makes a mistake. Then one or two hudna bombers will get into what you call "occupied Palestine," in Tel Aviv and Nathanya, as they were doing a few years ago. Then there will be hudnas in our discotheques and pizza parlors, in our coffee houses and in our hotels, in our supermarkets and in all the other instruments of Zionist oppression. The body parts of evil Zionist occupiers, aged 8 months to 80 years old, occupiers with pig tails and diapers, will be all over the place. And then, as in 2002, the IDF will need to demonstrate what hudna means in Hebrew, and then the hudna will be killing Palestinian Arabs as well as Israeli Jews and Arabs.

The world will assuredly be horrified by the Hebrew meaning of hudna. The HRW will protest that in a real hudna, only Israelis are supposed to die. It is against international law to kill civilians, and all Palestinians are by definition civilians, while all Israelis, of whatever sex, age, ethnic group or religious persuastion, are occupiers. The UN General Assembly will praise the valiant Palestinian resistance, and the UN Human Rights Council will condemn the evil Zionist aggression. Folks in Europe and USA will be be indignant. "After all," they wiill protest quite correctly, "the Palestinians were not doing anything to the Israelis, so why did Israel attack them? It is a disproportionate response, a war crime of the expansionist Zionists." "Qassam rockets, what Qassam rockets?. How could there have been any Qassam rockets, if none have been reported in our media?"

There exists a worthy organization called Machsomwatch, which reports constantly on the human rights violations of Israeli soldiers at checkpoints. I applaud this organization. Every democratic society needs watchdogs. By now, thanks to Machsomwatch everyone knows about "checkpoint brutality" of Israeli soldiers. But Machsomwatch is not enough, because, curiously enough, they fail to report on the number of bombs discovered by IDF soldiers in checkpoints and on patrols, the number of suicide bombers caught, and the number of terror attacks that are foiled in the framework of the hudna.

Therefore, I propose that you and I and all of us together form a new organization, to be called "Hudna watch." For our part, we shall take care to announce all the manifestations of the hudna through our news blog - Israel News . What you can do, if you do not want to monitor Israeli media, is to sign up for our daily Israel News mailings at our Israel News Web site. Then remind local media in your country each time there is another manifestation of the hudna, each time another batch of hudna rockets fall, each time another hudna bomb or hudna bomber is discovered. Write to your local media, write it up in your Web logs and Op-Ed columns. Write to your elected representatives. We don't want there to be any misunderstanding. It is important for foreigners to learn the meaning of Arabic words, to increase understanding between civilizations. There should be no misunderstanding of the term hudna. If you want to know even more about the hudna, contact people in Sderot and the Western Negev. A list is appended below. Ami Isseroff

Original content is Copyright by the author 2007. Posted at ZioNation-Zionism and Israel Web Log, http://www.zionism- israel.com/ log/archives/ 00000329. html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Disributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@ yahoogroups. com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only.

Kissel Kar Kraze

2007-01-13T23:07:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed talking to Lynn Kissel. He was a real character. Kissel Kars are pretty cool, too. The following is from his website, dedicated to the Kissel Kar.

The Event Gets Media Coverage
There are multiple representatives of the media at the anniversary celebration. Lynn is interviewed by Zak Mazur, a GM Today staff writer. (GM stands for Greater Milwaukee.) Zak goes on to write an article that appears online on the GM Today website, Kissel car show also a family reunion, dated June 19, 2006. Here is a PDF version of the article. This article also appears on page A3 of the June 19, 2006 issue of the Hartford/West Bend Daily News. Zak was kind enough to send Lynn a copy of the paper.

Yeah, that was so kind of me!

This will give you warm fuzzies

2007-01-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Reunited with love: 6-month absence makes Max’s return sweeter

Wittle bunny wabbits

2007-01-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

If you're the president of the Wisconsin Chapter House Rabbit Society, Inc., then you have too much time on your hands.

Good doggy!

2007-01-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Heart Walk speaker saved by his dog: Golden retriever woke owner during heart attack

Stupid pheasants

2007-01-13T22:49:00.000-08:00

It took a lot of shots to get this picture: Govenor lets it fly

Local man sees childhood dream take flight

2007-01-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Here’s another EHAS about a young chap who is a flight instructor at the West Bend Airport (yes, WB has a modest little airport): http://www.dailynewsol.com/topnews06.htm.

P.S. I usually don't come up with these headlines.

P.S.S. Oops, I guess the story wasn't included with the picture and caption.

Preserving 1 culture, adopting another: Indian woman happy to live in Hartford

2007-01-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

About once a month the staff writers at the Daily News have to write a feature called “Everybody Has A Story” (EAHS). The stories are about average Joe’s and Jane’s in Washington County. The WC is a very homogenous place, so I decided to mix things up a bit. I thought it would be interesting to highlight a non-white, non-Christian person. Since many Sikhs use the surname “Singh” (for males) and “Kaur” (for females), figured it would be easy to locate a Sikh in the phonebook. And indeed I did. Preserving 1 culture, adopting anotherIndian woman happy to live in Hartford

Westboro Baptist Church

2007-01-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

These people are fucking crazy:

Marine captain's funeral protested

Thank god for the Patriot Guard Riders.

There will be links to stories

2007-01-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

For some reason I haven’t been inspired to write about what’s going on in the world, and particularly in the Middle East . Therefore, in order to keep this blog updated, I’m going to start linking to my published articles. You will probably find these stories to be boring and sometimes even stupid, but by compiling these clips I will have a handy trove of published stories that I can refer to as I hunt for jobs.

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran

2007-01-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't read too much into this story. States have contingency plans for all sorts of situations. I'd be shocked if Israel didn't have such plans drawn up. Why these plans were publicized is another matter. -ed.

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

Read the rest

Why Israel will go to war again – soon

2007-01-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

There will soon be another war in the Middle East, this time a renewal of
the conflict between the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Hizbollah. The conflict
is inevitable and unavoidable. It will come about because Israel cannot tolerate
the rebuilding of Hizbollah's fortified zone in south Lebanon, from which last
year it launched its missile bombardment of northern Israel. Continue...

Exploited

2007-01-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for new jobs in the fields of public relations/communications. I am not giving up on journalism, but I need to expand my job skills because I don’t feel comfortable putting all of my eggs in the journalism basket. Here is why:

Reporters are paid shit. From what I understand, even at decent publications, reporters still don’t make much compared to what people make in the corporate world. I am not sure why that is, but that’s how it is.

It’s not like being a reporter is an entry level job that doesn’t require a university education. For example, at my current job as a reporter I have covered some important stories. I have interviewed significant figures in Wisconsin, and written about state politics during this past election season. Reporting certainly takes skill. One must be able to write, obviously, but reporting requires much more than that. You have to write FAST. Every day there are looming deadlines; multi-tasking is par for the course; research skills, investigative skills, fact checking—all are a must. On top of all that, your byline goes out on top of every article you write. If you make an error, or if people don’t like what you wrote, you get an earful on the letters page. You have to have a thick skin. And there’s more. You have to have people skills. You have to learn to coax some people to divulge information. You have to be aggressive and think fast. Sometimes you have to keep your cool in the face of truly psychotic people, which is not easy—see here.

None of the above bothers me. In fact, I like the pace of work; I like the deadlines; I like it all, especially composing the stories and writing cleaver leads, etc.

But I get paid—after having received a raise four months ago—a paltry $11.70/hour. It’s embarrassing to admit. I earned more as a waiter in college.

The paper only gives me 30 hours/week. Tack on about 10 hours for my commute and I’m basically busy with work 40 hours/week, full time. Yet, I am unable to make ends meet. It’s stressful.

And so for now I am looking to enter the field of PR for practical reasons. A) I need to earn more money to dig myself out of a widening pit of debt that is accruing thanks to my current salary, and B) I need make myself more marketable in the job market, as stated above.

This doesn’t mean I’m giving up on journalism. I’ll always have the skills I have developed and if I can manage to earn more money, I’d like to do some Michael Totten-style reporting down-the-line. My dream is to go to Iran and see for myself what the heck is going on there. A Jewish citizen of the Great Satan goes to Iran… what will he find?

Blogging from L.A.

2006-12-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday. Everything went smoothly—even at the airport—despite the fact that I prostrated myself before boarding and screamed, “God is great!” and “Bush is an idiot,” over and over again.

I left a frigid Milwaukee and arrived to a cloudless, warm L.A. winter’s day. Christmas/holiday spirit is alive and well in Milwaukee, but it seems muted here. It must be the weather and palm trees. The biggest Christmas-ee decoration I’ve seen yet is on Hollywood Blvd., where the Scientologists have erected a large and gaudy Winter Wonderland.

I’m staying with a friend just off Hollywood Blvd. Parts of Hollywood Blvd. are naturally flooded with tourists. But if you walk south, just after the sidewalk emblazoned with the names of famous entertainers ends and reverts back to normal sidewalk, you start to enter ethnic areas.

I found myself in Little Armenia; replete with businesses brandishing names ending in “ian” or “yan.” There were a fair number of diminutive Middle Eastern looking people who must have been either Armenian or Persian. Little Armenia also seems to overlap with Thai Town. The Thai influence is even more identifiable, with loads of Thai eateries, video stores, shops and—of course—short and bronzed Thai people walking about.

Before I came my friend told me that there were a lot of short people in L.A. I didn’t think much about the comment, but now that I’m here, I see that she’s right. It is obvious why: In L.A. there are large numbers of people from Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, (the Far East in general) Iran, etc.—places generally not known for having tall people. It’s particularly noticeable for somebody like me, coming from the Midwest where people are largely descended from northwestern Europe, and therefore taller. So, it’s nice not too feel too short here!

It’s true what they say about L.A. and especially Hollywood being filled with people who have dreams of stardom. I chatted with a guy at the gym and he said he came here from Chicago. He’s a massage therapist, “and I also do voices,” he said. Good luck with that. Later that night I was at a bar. The bartender mentioned in passing that he came out here because he acts. You and everybody else, buddy.

So far I am having a very nice time. Tomorrow I’m going to visit my relatives in Orange County and that should be fun. Monday I return to Milwaukee.

Jeff the Ripper

2006-12-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

To humans, Jeff is an exceptionally good-tempered and friendly cat; to rodents and other small animals, he is death itself... Perhaps he is simply a hardwired killing machine. All we know for certain is that he hunts down a wide variety of small animals and disembowels, decapitates, and dines on them. Often.

-From the website: What Jeff Killed

Oil is the root of all evil

2006-12-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

Another gem from VDH:

With the gruesome killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Vladimir Putin's Russia stands accused of poisoning yet another critic.

Meanwhile, Syria continues to mastermind the murders of Lebanese democrats. Israeli-free Gaza is as violent as ever. Hezbollah is busy replenishing its stock of Iranian missiles. The theocracy in Iran keeps promising an end to Israel. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is slowly strangling democracy in Latin America in a manner that an impoverished Fidel Castro never could. And then, of course, there's Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's easy to think all of this violent instability across the globe is unconnected. But, in fact, in one way or another, oil and its huge profits are at the bottom of a lot of it.

Read the whole thang, here.

A culture of violence (This is a MUST READ)

2006-11-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

A culture of violence
Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 29, 2006

Virtually not a day has passed recently without some famous person declaring that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the key to solving all the problems of the Muslim world - from Kofi Annan ("As long as the Palestinians live under occupation… so long will passions everywhere be inflamed") through Henry Kissinger ("a restarted Palestinian peace process should play a significant role" in resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis) to Tony Blair (an Israeli-Palestinian settlement is "the core" of any effort to resolve other Middle East problems and defeat "global extremism.")

It is astonishing that so many intelligent people could seriously espouse such an obvious falsehood. Do they really believe that Sunni Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims - whose views on Israel are identical - are slaughtering each other in Iraq because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Or that anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon - who are no less anti-Israel than the pro-Syrian sort - are being assassinated by Syria and threatened with a coup by Hizbullah because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

That Arab Muslims are committing genocide against black Muslims in Sudan because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

That Taliban Muslims are murdering non-Taliban Muslims in Afghanistan because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

That Chechen Muslims took Russian schoolchildren hostage in Beslan because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

That Muslims and Hindus are killing each other in Kashmir because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

That Muslims worldwide rioted over Danish cartoons because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The list could go on for pages.

But the theory of Israeli-Palestinian centrality is not only false, it is dangerous - because it prevents the world from addressing the real root cause of all these conflicts, including the Israeli-Palestinian one: a widespread culture in the Muslim world that views violence and threats of violence as legitimate means of resolving disputes.

THE CARTOON crisis is a particularly good example, because it is not obscured by entanglement with any local political conflict. After a Danish paper published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last year, Muslims worldwide engaged in violent rioting for weeks, resulting in several deaths.

Compare this to Catholics' reactions to recent satirical assaults on the pope and the church in Italy. Two weeks ago, for instance, an Italian television show satirized Pope Benedict XVI as being jealous of his predecessor and therefore engaging in various degrading acts - tap-dancing, juggling oranges - while demanding: "Could Pope Wojtyla [John Paul II] do this?"

On another recent show, an Italian comedian joked about the Holy Trinity debating where to go on a trip: God the Father proposes Africa, Jesus proposes Palestine and the Holy Spirit proposes the Vatican. Asked why, the Holy Spirit responds: "I've never been there."

Clearly, such ridicule is no less offensive to devout Catholics than the Muhammad cartoons were to devout Muslims. But there have been no riots over these satires, nor have any Catholic clergy urged such riots, as many Muslim clerics did over the Danish cartoons. Catholics have confined themselves to oral and written protests - because in modern Western culture violence is not considered an acceptable response to offense.

DO REACTIONS to religious satire really have any bearing on political conflicts such as the Israeli-Palestinian one? Absolutely - for two reasons.

First, as long as the Muslim world considers violence an appropriate response to grievance, neither the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nor any other of the dozens of conflicts involving Muslims worldwide will be solvable. Indeed, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amply demonstrates this point.

The Palestinians could have obtained a state in July 2000, had Yasser Arafat expressed his dissatisfaction with Israel's proposal at Camp David in "Western" fashion - by presenting a counterproposal. Ehud Barak's government was clearly willing to make further concessions; it did so at the subsequent Washington and Taba talks. But instead the Palestinians opted to express their dissatisfaction violently, by launching a terrorist war that killed over 1,000 Israelis (and some 4,000 Palestinians) over the next six years. As a result, Israelis kicked Barak out and began a military counteroffensive, and negotiations stopped.

The same happened last year after Israel left Gaza. Israelis subsequently elected Ehud Olmert on a platform of doing the same in most of the West Bank. But the Palestinians, instead of seizing this opening to declare a cease-fire and negotiate further concessions, opted for violence: They used evacuated Gaza as a launching pad for bombarding southern Israel with rockets, and then, for good measure, elected Hamas, which openly advocates Israel's destruction. As a result, not only are negotiations still on hold, so is Olmert's proposed West Bank withdrawal.

THE SECOND reason why addressing the culture of violence is crucial is that even if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could somehow be resolved without doing so, this would do nothing to solve other problems either within the Muslim world or between the Muslim world and the West - because the number of potential grievances is endless. These include cultural differences (the Danish cartoons), economic issues (last year's riots in France), foreign policy issues (Iraq, Afghanistan) and more.

The Blair-Annan-Kissinger idea seems to be that if Muslims were appeased over Israel they might abjure violence over other issues. But, in fact, history teaches the opposite: Just as Hitler, far from being appeased by the West's handover of Czechoslovakia, instead concluded that he could also grab Poland with impunity, thereby igniting World War II, so has every concession to Muslim terror simply encouraged Muslims to think that violence pays.

Israel's pullout from Gaza, which 84 percent of Palestinians attributed to terror, was a major factor in both their election of Hamas, the leading Palestinian terrorist organization, and their ongoing majority support for terrorism. Spain's pullout from Iraq following the Madrid bombing encouraged al-Qaida to plan similar bombings in other countries. And Muslims worldwide credit Iraqi terror with America's expected pullout from Iraq.

If the West really wants to solve its Muslim problem, it must adopt the opposite approach - making it clear that violence, far from being rewarded, will be penalized. By instead seeking to appease the Muslim world in Israeli coin, it merely proves that violence pays.

And it will thereby reap more of the same.

Psychological terrorism

2006-11-29T05:24:00.000-08:00

Political correctness used as a weapon:

Air marshals, pilots and security officials yesterday expressed concern that airline passengers and crews will be reluctant to report suspicious behavior aboard for fear of being called "racists," after several Muslim imams made that charge in a press conference Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Six imams, or Muslim holy men, accused a US Airways flight crew of inappropriately evicting them from a flight last week in Minneapolis after several passengers said the imams tried to intimidate them by loudly praying and moving around the airplane. The imams urged Congress to enact laws to prohibit ethnic and religious "profiling."

Federal air marshals and others yesterday urged passengers to remain vigilant to threats.

"The crew and passengers act as our additional eyes and ears on every flight," said a federal air marshal in Las Vegas, who asked that his name not be used. "If [crew and passengers] are afraid of reporting suspicious individuals out of fear of being labeled a racist or bigot, then terrorists will certainly use those fears to their advantage in future aviation attacks."

But Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said Muslims "have to walk around on eggshells in public just because we don't want to be misconstrued as suspicious. You have to strike a balance between legitimate fears which people may have, but not allow passengers to have so much discretion that they can trigger a process that would violate a traveler's basic civil rights."

"Because one person misunderstood the actions of other law-abiding citizens, they were able to trigger a very long and daunting process for other travelers that were pulled off the plane in handcuffs and detained for many hours before they were cleared."

The imams say they were removed from the Phoenix-bound flight because they were praying quietly in the concourse. They had been in Minnesota for a conference sponsored by the North American Imams Federation.

But other passengers told police and aviation security officials a different version of the incident. They said suspicious behavior of the imams led to their eviction from the flight. The imams, they said, tested the forbearance of the passengers and flight crew in what the air marshal called a "[political correctness] probe."

"The political correctness needs to be left at the boarding gate," the marshal said. "Instilling politically correct fears into the minds of airline passengers is nothing less than psychological terrorism."

The passengers and flight crew said the imams prayed loudly before boarding; switched seating assignments to a configuration used by terrorists in previous incidents; asked for seat-belt extensions, which could be used as weapons; and shouted hostile slogans about al Qaeda and the war in Iraq.

Flight attendants said three of the six men, who did not appear to be overweight, asked for the seat-belt extensions, which include heavy metal buckles, and then threw them to the floor under their seats.

Robert MacLean, a former federal air marshal, expressed the fear yesterday that the situation "will make crews and passengers in the future second-guess reporting these events, thus compromising the aircraft's security out of fear of being labeled a dogmatist or a bigot, or being sued."

Flight attendants said they were concerned that the way the imams took seats that were not assigned to them -- two seats in the front row of first class, exit seats in the middle of the plane and two seats in the rear -- resembled the pattern used by September 11 hijackers, giving them control of the exits.

A Minneapolis police officer and a federal air marshal who were called to the plane after the imams refused to leave the plane for questioning said "the seating configuration, the request for seat-belt extensions, the prior praying and utterances about Allah and the United States in the gate area ... was suspicious."

One pilot for a competing airline said the incident would have a chilling effect on the flight crews.
"The flight crew may be a little more gun-shy about approaching people, they may have a higher standard for the next few weeks for screening unusual behavior. I hope that's not the case, because I do think US Airways did the proper thing."

Andrea Rader, spokeswoman for US Airways, said its employees "are going to do what is appropriate" to ensure that airplanes are safe and will not be dissuaded by uproar over last week's incident.

"I don't think people will be less vigilant as a result of this, and I think that's appropriate. There is a balance, and I think we will continue to achieve that. Our crews and people on the airplanes are going to watch for behavior that raises concerns."

Many airports offer private rooms for prayer, but CAIR's Miss Ahmed said travelers required to arrive at airports two hours in advance to go through security inspections are too exhausted and must pray at the gate.

"It's convenient to check in then get to the gate and pray there," she said.

From Russia, with polonium 210

2006-11-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Say what you will about western leaders, but they don’t order the assassination of their critics. If they did, Bush would have a lot of killing to do.

Putin is a murderer and an autocrat and Russia is slipping back into its old ways.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Thank goodness my great grandparents fled that cesspool a long time ago. Spit!

Incredible recipe

2006-11-24T20:11:00.000-08:00

Zak’s Famous Chopped Vegetable Feta Salad

This recipe was invented by me (hence the name) and was inspired by Israeli and Serbian salad.

Ingredients:

Cucumber (a big one or two small ones)
Bell Pepper (green, yellow and red; one of each)
Red Onion
Tomato (two, not too ripe but preferably a bit firm)
Feta cheese
Goat cheese
Olive oil
Lemons or limes (two)
Balsamic vinaigrette
Love

Directions:

Dice vegetables finely. I mean finely. No big chunks. Don’t be lazy. With the cucumber you must remove the mushy, seedy center; same with the tomatoes. Too much mushy shit will make the salad too watery. Place all of this in a shallow yet wide container so that once the veggies are mixed and evened out they are about one and half inches deep. Juice the lemons or limes over the veggies. Add a little olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Mix it up well. Sprinkle cheeses on top so that it creates about a quarter inch-thick covering.

Remember, it is important to dice the veggies finely because every bite should contain multiple pieces of vegetable and bits of cheese.

Everybody who has ever tried this salad has fallen in love with it. You will too, I promise.

(If you don’t fall in love with my salad it’s because you done fucked it up somehow when you were preparing it)

Holocaust archive tells many new stories

2006-11-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

The Iraq situation

2006-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Call me stubborn, but I still believe that overthrowing Saddam was the right thing to do. That said, I realize democratic nation-building in Iraq has turned into a fiasco. We are partially to blame—partially.

We tried to fight the war on the cheap. It is apparent we needed more boots on the ground to pacify the country. Perhaps we should never have disbanded the Iraqi military? I could go on and on.

But, the bulk of the blame lies at the feet of the Iraqis, and specifically the Sunni and Shia (The Kurds are doing quite well). Blame also goes to the outside Arab world, which has done much to ensure the Iraq democracy experiment fails.

There is a lot of blame to go around and things are not going to plan. Only the willfully myopic won’t admit that. But again, it doesn’t invalidate the original aim. If Saddam was still in power I believe the US would be in a worse situation than we are now. Prior to the invasion Saddam was on the cusp of breaking out of the sanctions all together. The world community had no stomach for enforcing its own Security Council resolutions. The French and the Russians were lining up to make lucrative oil deals with Saddam. His evil sons were well on their way to taking power after his death. According to translated Iraqi documents, Saddam was as little as one year away from building a working nuclear device. All the know-how for other WMD’s was there and could have been activated with a simple order.

I am not entirely disappointed by the results of the midterm elections. It’s good to bring the Democrats on board and let some of the responsibility for Iraq fall in their lap too. Let’s not forget, many Democrats also voted for the war. Further, it might not be such a bad idea for the Maliki government to feel the pressure, to know we won’t be there forever and hopefully start to get its house in order.

Finally, the problem with Iran is not going to go away. Come what may, I believe this country will best be served by having unity in the face of the Iranian nuclear threat. If the decision to take military action is made, it will be better if it’s a bipartisan decision. With the Democrats wielding significant political power, they will have to take considerable responsibility regarding how to react to the Iranian threat.

MSM finally hits the mark

2006-11-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

I watched a Glenn Beck special on CNN about the anti-Semitic rabidity that emanates from the Arab and Muslim media. Two weeks ago Fox News ran a similar special. Finally at least two mainstream media outlets have homed in on this problem, which I believe is the real reason the Arab-Israeli conflict rages on.

As I’ve written before, there seems to be two general ways to view the conflict: “It’s the occupation, stupid,” or “It’s the anti-Semitic brainwashing hate propaganda, stupid.”

Let’s look at the first argument: Time and again Israeli territorial concessions are answered with violence. This is a fact, and so the argument that the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza fuels the conflict—oh wait, Gaza was evacuated over a year ago—doesn’t hold water. So why does the conflict rage on? Because it stems from Israel’s mere existence in any size, shape or form. Yet the mainstream media basically refuses to consider this fact. Therefore, most reporting “on the ground” about the conflict is your typical, “Fatimah al-Husseini and her 30 children are angry. She wants to buy vegetables for the feast, but she can’t get cucumbers because Israeli checkpoints between her hardscrabble village and the major vegetable markets require hours of waiting. Sometimes, it’s closed altogether…” [Voice over to Fatimah’s hysterical ranting in Arabic, where every time she says “Yahud (Jews) the translator replaces it with “Israeli” or “Zionists”].

I listen to the BBC every night. I listen to NPR twice a day on my hour long commute to work. I peruse all sorts of news mediums. The above is the type of standard reporting fare on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed any reports about the Medieval hate that is spread throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds. Why, why, why???

Ousting Saddam was the right thing to do

2006-11-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

There are said to be some 120 million pages of Saddam era Iraqi documents. Only one percent of them have been translated. Some of these documents have been put online, and the NYT’s reported on Nov. 3 that some of those documents could aid our enemies in developing WMD’s.

The NYT’s reported that some of the documents posted “are a danger themselves” because they provide “detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.

“Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq had abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.”

Perhaps the NYT’s thought the story would put the Bushies in a bad light, but this story actually vindicates the removal of Saddam and his henchmen. Were it not for Saddam’s ouster, Iraq might be a nuclear power today.

Oh Milk!

2006-10-31T17:11:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile I am compelled to write terrible poetry. Enjoy:

A cry for milk

After eating cookies,
Cry for milk

After eating chocolate cake,
I cry for milk

And pancakes, too
They make me,
Cry for milk

We are mammals,
We cry for milk

As babies,
We cry for milk

But vegans,
They don’t cry for milk

How can you eat cereal?
And not cry for milk?

Oh Vegan! Are you not human?
Does your mouth not cry out for ice cold milk,
After eating P.B. & J?

“But we have silk!”
The vegans retort

To that I reply:
Silk ain’t milk
You are not higher than a mammal

And I ask you, oh Vegan:
What about cheese?
Cheese from silk?

Surely you jest,
You can’t make real cheese
Without real milk

A life without milk,
Is a life half lived.

Fin

Extreme Makeover Home Edition: Hezbollah style

2006-10-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Snippet:

When the recent Israeli-Hezbollah war ended, the United Nations' newly organized human rights council, pressed by its Islamic members, spent its first two sessions criticizing Israel for allegedly causing heavy civilian casualties. But details are now known of a secret Hezbollah operation, mounted long before the war and focused, in violation of international law, on putting civilians at risk, that significantly contributed to this toll once the fighting began…. Long before hostilities erupted on July 12, Hezbollah construction teams had gone out and modified numerous Lebanese homes. Sometimes with, but most the time without, the homeowner's permission, workers began adding on a large, single-function room. These rooms were unique for, when completed, they lacked an essential element of all rooms -- a door. Each room was sealed shut -- but only, and immediately, after an object was placed inside.

Graven Images

2006-10-29T06:39:00.000-08:00

Yo!—what’s the deal with certain religious monotheists and their irrational fear of graven images?

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a graven image is “an object of worship carved usually from wood or stone.”

Paintings, drawings and photographs are also deemed to be graven images if they exhibit a human being, or even an animal.

So, let me try to break down the reasoning: Because monotheists worship a completely non-anthropomorphic God, it’s deemed blasphemous to proscribe any anthropomorphic qualities to a graven image. As a result, some people take this idea to its irrational, illogical conclusion and shun many great works of art and even photographs. Are these people afraid they might accidentally worship Mona Lisa? Is their faith in an omnipresent God that weak? Or do they fear their omniscient God might misinterpret their appreciation of art as an act of worship and then punish them? If God knows all, He would know the difference between somebody appreciating art and worshiping a graven image.

The injunction against graven images, or rather the irrational lengths to which some believers take it, is really… stupid.

I love Hamas

2006-10-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, I don’t really love Hamas, but I love their honesty. Here is a blunt Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar:

"We will never recognize Israel, and the end the [fate of] Zionists will be like that of the Crusaders, the Persians and the English, who left. We want all of Palestine, every centimeter, from the river to the sea, from Rosh Hanikra to Rafah. If we can form a state within the 1967 borders we will do so, but this doesn't mean that we will relinquish our right to every centimeter of Palestine's land.”

I love the fact that this raving fundamentalist lunatic has the title “Palestinian Foreign Minister.” Why? Simple—because now the mask is off for the whole world to hear the Palestinians in their extremist splendor.

This doesn’t mean I am happy that Israel has no negotiating partner, because I’m not. But Israel hasn’t had a trustworthy negotiating partner… ever. We now know—and many of us knew before—that Arafat’s PA sometimes talked the talk about peace in English (but not in Arabic), but they never meant it. The result was that Israel was pressured into making dangerous concessions to the PA, even though it had no intentions of coming to a final peace settlement.

But with Hamas, what you see is what you get. At least Israel knows where it stands, and everybody knows where the Palestinians stand.

Double standard argument defeated

2006-10-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Now that North Korea has unabashedly joining the nuclear club, be prepared to hear the tired old arguments about the West’s double standard regarding nukes.

“Israel has nukes, India has nukes, why don’t we threaten them with sanctions?”

This argument is akin to asking why it’s okay for an upright citizen to own a gun, but not okay for a deranged psychopath with a history violence to own one.

India and Israel are both democracies. Both have open and free press’, open borders and neither poses a threat to its neighbors, provided they are not attacked. Despite all of the bluster from Arabs, they know they have nothing to fear over Israeli nuclear capabilities. They know that so long as they don’t attack Israel and threaten its very existence, Israel would never even consider the use of such weapons. Ditto for India, who has never invaded any of its neighbors, save for protecting its territory from the privations of fundamentalist Pakistan.

This is not the case with North Korea or Iran (or Pakistan, which is already nuclear), all countries with expansionist dreams of dominating and bullying their neighbors and spreading their violent, totalitarian ideologies, be they secular or Islamic.

Anybody who makes the “unfair” argument is either an idiot, or is not interested in a rational discussion about the dangers of nuclear proliferation but rather in scoring points against Israel, or both.

Stop playing games, China

2006-10-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Why has China acted as North Korea’s body guard for so long? Fine, I understand their support for NK during the Korean War, but what about since the 1990’s till now?

China is no longer a communist country. It is a totalitarian country with a free market. The Chinese government is well-aware that stability among their population is best maintained by economic growth. That means business and trade with other states, specifically developed ones. I don’t have the data, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that China does more business with South Korea than NK. After all, South Korea is one of the world’s largest economies.

In the absence of communist ideology, in light of the fact that trade and economic growth are necessary for China, the question begs: What the hell do they get out of protecting NK?

If anything, the Chinese should be embarrassed and ashamed. NK is a basket case, a crazy country ruled by a freakin’ weirdo who starves his people by the millions

It looks like the Chinese might play ball with us in the Security Council. Great, however, if they do not, or if they are about to balk, the US has to play hardball. We should let the Chinese know that we will help Taiwan go nuclear and develop enough offensive missiles to hit anywhere in mainland China. We will urge the Japanese to go nuclear and expand their military forces. We will support South Korea to the hilt, as much as they want and need our support. If they want to go nuclear, let them.

I am sure a big part of China’s support for NK is to stick a finger in our eye. But now the gloves come off. Let’s see if a nuclear East Asia is in their best interest. Let’s see if the Chinese still want to protect their psychotic little freakazoid basket case of an ally.

Wok update

2006-10-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I’ve been putting my wok to good use. I was surprised to learn that more care goes into a wok than a normal cooking pan. For one, you have to give it a serious initial rinse in order to get rid of the coating put on at the factory. Once that is finished you have to “season” the wok. This is accomplished by heating oil in the wok and making sure the oil is spread around the entire wok. It takes about ten minutes to heat and this process must be repeated at least three times.

Once you have seasoned your wok you can start cooking. However, after using your wok it should NEVER be cleaned with soap; otherwise the seasoning process must be repeated. Essentially, your wok should always have a thin coat of oil covering it at all times to prevent rusting.

Thus far, cooking with the wok was everything I had hoped for and more. It heats up incredibly fast. I tossed in some finely chopped chili, garlic and larger piece of mushroom, bell pepper, onion, broccoli and sweet pea pods onto a dollop of super-heated olive oil, fish sauce, chili oil and soy sauce. The sizzling, crackling sound was music to my ears. The aroma was music to my nose, even though my nose can’t listen to music. I dumped my flash-cooked, stir-fried veggies onto a bed of rice and I was good to go. It was delicious, or as they say in the Far East, dericious.

Last night I experimented with deep frying. I bought tempura mix (although from now on I’ll try to make my own) and coated chopped pieces of veggies with tempura and placed them in the wok, which was filled with olive oil. I used a mix of soy sauce and fish sauce for dipping and the flavors were out of this world. Later I did the same with chicken strips. Mmm, good.

I also made a Thai volcano sauce last night, and it turned out pretty well. I’m going to keep experimenting with sauces until I really get the hang of them. It’s easy to cook veggies and make rice. The key to a good Asian or Indian style meal is the sauce.

SAUCE!

Atomic North Korea

2006-10-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here's my quick drive-by take on the North Korean atomic bomb test. Not sure I can add much to the fray, but here it goes:

The big news of the day is the apparent successful detonation of a North Korean atomic bomb. The detonation will send shockwaves far beyond the Korean peninsula.

Japan will be further emboldened to develop its military capabilities, which isn’t all together a bad thing. Maybe South Korea will consider going nuclear? Still, widespread nuclear proliferation is not a positive development.

How do we know the North Koreans won’t sell a ready-made nuclear devise to the highest bidder? They are certainly poor as all hell and have already sold ballistic missiles to rogue states like Syria (spit!).

Finally, Iran is watching this closely, especially how the Security Council will be dealing with North Korea. Will the S.C. slap on sanctions? Will the sanctions have teeth? Iran will be watching and paying very close attention.

Sit back boys and girls, this is going to get interesting—and not in a good way. As the old Chinese curse goes: May you live in interesting times.

Freedom of speech is only for the Left?

2006-10-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

The far left is at it again. This time students at Columbia University—one of America’s preeminent universities—rushed the stage during a speech by a member of the Minute Men. Violence nearly ensued, that is if you don’t consider a mob rushing a stage and pushing over a lectern while intimidating a speaker to be violent. Without security present, who knows what would have happened? Obviously the speech was effectively terminated; yet again another visitor from the political right was silenced. Freedom of speech? Forget about it.

This has been going on for years. Benjamin Netanyahu, Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin—all of these individuals were silenced by aggressive crowds of leftists on college campuses; all have had their freedom of speech denied.

I do not like Coulter or Buchanan, but I support their right to free speech, just as I support anybody’s right to speak.

I harp on the radical left a lot on this blog, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving the far right a free pass either. The difference between the two, however, is that the far right is miniscule compared to the far left. Example: when was the last time you heard about a throng of skinheads or KKK members rushing a stage at a university because a person of the left was speaking? That’s my point: whereas the far right are generally eschewed by society and their ideas given little consideration—their tactics less so—the far left are heavily represented on college campuses everywhere—even by some of the faculty on those campuses.

It’s just a matter of time before this country experiences the modern-day version of the Weather Underground. Don’t be surprised when the next terrorist attack is committed by a suburban leftist thug instead of some wild-eyed jihadi.

Tired argument

2006-10-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yet again I heard on BBC the tired old argument that the Muslims are mad at the West because of the West’s support for Israel. To assuage this Muslim anger, the reasoning goes, the West needs to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, to settle it. This premise seems to be near gospel for many, but it is deeply flawed.

Simply put, it is flawed because it takes two sides to make peace, and all indications show that the Palestinians do not want peace with Israel. This is evidenced by the failure of the Oslo Accords, which, according to former president Bill Clinton, failed because of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. More recently the Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction. Not exactly a negotiating partner.

Finally, the Palestinians are now on the brink of civil war. Palestinian society is in tatters and it would seem that before they can make peace with their Israeli enemy they should at least make peace among themselves, and perhaps develop a functioning government. After all, it’s hard to run a state without a competent government.

Those who adhere to the above supposition ignore the disarray and radicalism that is rife in Palestinian society. They put the entire onus on Israel and the West to make peace with a people who are apparently not interested in peace; and even if they were, can’t get their shit together enough to pick up the garbage every day without graft and corruption helping line the pockets of the Minister of Garbage and his clan.

If that were not enough, you have strong elements within the Arab world actively opposing peace and normalization with Israel on many fronts. From the media to professional organizations to the UN and international conferences, many Arab and Muslim leaders do far more to “keep hate alive” than to promote peace with Israel. And yet, that doesn’t stop them from repeating the same old argument: The Muslims are mad at the West because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Zak Can Cook

2006-10-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today I buy wok for cook!

This picture of wok:

Makes you sort of go hmmm...

2006-09-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

At the risk of sounding offensive, one must admit that the lines between religion, cult and superstition are nebulous.

Main Entry: re·li·gion Pronunciation: ri-'li-j&nFunction: nounEtymology: Middle English religioun, from Anglo-French religiun, Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY1 a : the state of a religious b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Main Entry: cult Pronunciation: 'kWHEEL1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator 5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

Main Entry: su·per·sti·tion Pronunciation: "sü-p&r-'sti-sh&nFunction: nounEtymology: Middle English supersticion, from Anglo-French, from Latin superstition-, superstitio, from superstit-, superstes standing over (as witness or survivor), from super- + stare to stand -- more at STAND1 a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary

This might get interesting...

2006-09-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

I received the following email, directed at the graduate department, from a fellow graduate student:

"This is what makes me afraid of being a photographer in the times we live in. I've been stopped and questioned in America for taking photographs, and have learned that it's illegal to take photographs of a federal building unless you have press credentials.

I'm not in the same position as Hussein--at least not for now."

And he linked to this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/photographer_detained

Here is what I sent out to the department:

I don’t know if this Bilal Hussein dude deserves to be held by U.S. forces or not, but here is what I do know: The article you linked to is an A.P. story about an A.P. reporter; the same A.P., mind you, whose Lebanese stringers scandalously and unethically staged numerous photos during the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. Therefore, I have to take this story with a grain of sand.

Here is a link that highlights some salient issues that the A.P. story about the A.P. downplayed or ignored all together: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/015301.php

N: “This is what makes me afraid of being a photographer in the times we live in. I've been stopped and questioned in America for taking photographs, and have learned that it's illegal to take photographs of a federal building unless you have press credentials.”

Perhaps such a law is an overreaction? Then again, maybe it isn’t considering the very real terrorist threats we live under these days? It’s also against flight regulations now to carry-on toothpaste, or shampoo, etc. I don’t blame the TSA or whoever makes the rules—I blame the terrorists for forcing their hands. Some of us bemoan—perhaps rightly at times—the alleged erosion of some of our freedoms in this era of mass casualty terrorism. However, when the next deadly terrorist attack occurs (and it will), I am sure there will be finger pointing at our government for not having done enough to prevent the attack.

N: “I'm not in the same position as Hussein--at least not for now.”

I’m sure you’ll be fine as long as you don’t become too chummy with head-chopping terrorists who are dedicated to killing American soldiers, Iraqi election workers, bound hostages and the like.

We all have our political biases and so some of us will ignore certain things and focus in on others. But as journalists, journalists in-the-making and or scholars of the media, don’t we have an obligation to be a bit more circumspect here? I mean, let’s be clear: for every Bilal Hussein there have been many—far too many—western, Arab and Iraqi journalists who have been kidnapped, tortured and executed—just for doing their jobs. Here is a link to the Committee to Protect Journalists website with a rundown of journalists killed in Iraq since 2003: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html. We should be concerned about the safety of all journalists in Iraq, not just the ones whose plight makes America look bad.

I will update any replies.

My take on the Pope's Islam quote

2006-09-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

So the Pope quoted a medieval text about the Muslim prophet Muhammad and at this count we have death threats against the pope, an elderly nun shot in the back and killed in Somalia, churches in the West Bank torched, and general whining and seething.

To their credit, some Muslim leaders have accepted the Pope's apology.

But for far too many Muslims, it seems that if somebody says, rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, that Islam is violent, the response is... violence or threats of violence.

Sigh.

Keep hate alive

2006-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Iranians shun Israelis at conference

And check out the last sentence from the story:

“Not one of the several dozen speakers at the two-day conference was a woman.”

I guess the presence of a female religious leader would make all these men of god get horny and want to fuck her.

Why I haven't seen any 9/11 movies/programs

2006-09-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

As a news junky, I found it somewhat odd that I largely shunned much of the 9/11 coverage marking the 5th anniversary of the attacks. As a strong supporter of the war against radical Islamic terror, it seems incongruous that I have yet to watch any of the movies or television programs about the attacks on 9/11.

But in reality it isn’t odd or incongruous at all. The fact is, I am deeply familiar with what happened on 9/11, and I know the lessons well. I do not need to watch the buildings collapse again, or watch a movie about the heroics of those aboard United flight 93 to be reminded that we are in a war with an enemy that we did not choose to fight, but that chose to fight us.

But it is good that such movies and programs exist, and that the media have solemnly focused on 9/11 on its anniversary, because far too many Americans need reminding.

My future, sort of

2006-09-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

So, for years I’ve toyed with the idea of moving to southern California. Recently a good friend of mine moved there, and she’s been begging me to come join her ever since.

She was slightly perturbed, I think, when I told her that I made it to the first round of interviews for a job with the local NPR affiliate here, WUWM. But, as I expected, I didn’t make it to the second round, and therefore the main dream job that would have kept me here for sure is no longer an option.

My current goal: Finish thesis by December and perhaps in the meantime get a new job in Milwaukee (I’m sick of driving to West Bend); one that pays better than my current reporter gig. But the point is: I don’t see myself landing the type of job that would be so great that I’d be willing to freeze through another Wisconsin winter.

I don’t want to make any proclamations, and at this point things are still nebulous, but I think I’d like to visit my friend in January or February, and arrange it so that I can (hopefully) have a few interviews while I’m there.

So, who knows what the future portends. But this is my general thinking these days.

Break is over

2006-09-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I stopped blogging. I never started this with the intention of having a large readership, but rather as a vehicle to simply get stuff off my chest, or as a sort of online diary. I was reading past posts, and I realized how important it is for me to keep an ongoing log/diary of thoughts and feelings, because it's interesting to go back and read them.

So, I'll start again.

Yeah!

Know thy enemy

2006-08-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

It is clear to everybody that Hezbollah overplayed their hand. Even Hezbollah officials have admitted they did not expect Israel to respond to their aggression as it has.

So why did Hezbollah make such huge error? I think it’s because they believe their own propaganda and lies.

One of the basic rules in a war or conflict is to “know thy enemy.” But Israel’s Islamic enemies don’t know what makes Israel tick; they are ignorant of Jewish history, and they are unaware of the psychological impact of anti-Semitism, or the Holocaust, which they deny occurred.

The result is an inability to gauge how Israel will respond to threats. They taunt Israelis with threats of annihilation, never appreciating that Israel is not some demonic caricature, but a real living and breathing society that has already suffered genocide and will never let it happen again.

Many Muslims might believe that Israelis are pure evil, but Israelis don’t wake up in the morning feeling illegitimate or evil. And now that Israel’s population centers are being targeted by an openly genocidal terrorist army supported by Iran and Syria and cheered on across the Islamic world, Israelis are going to defend their homes. Because that’s what this war is about: defending Israel from pure aggression. There is no “occupation” that the Lebanese can point to; this war is the result of Israel’s audacity to simply exist at all. All Israelis are united the likes of which we have not seen in decades. Israel might be demonized and seen as a villain by much of the Islamic world, but this is reality, not the twisted dreams of religious fanatics, and the Israelis are not going to get defeated like the villain in some movie.

Why do so Muslims have no clue about Israel and Jews? Because to try to have a rational and sober understanding of Israelis and Jews and Jewish history means placing yourself in somebody else’s shoes—and when that happens, there is a chance you might come to a more nuanced understanding of the Jews. In other words, you can’t feel good about annihilating an entire society made up of millions of men, women and children if you can see their humanity, or maybe even learn about their history and understand why there is an Israel. No, in order to steel oneself to commit genocide, you have to dehumanize your enemy. But as I pointed out, in doing so you fail to “know they enemy” and the result is that you miscalculate, as the Arabs have done so many times before.

Click here and kick Nasrallah's ass

2006-08-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

2006-07-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'd go even further than the message in this cartoon and argue that for Hezbollah and the Palestinian fighters, their greatest weapons are women and children. Their only "victories" are won by the propaganda value of civilian casualties.

Many Iranians don't care about Hezbollah

2006-07-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

If only the crazy mollahs would go away! Of every Middle Eastern country (not including Israel), Iran probably has the most potential to be a stable, responsible democracy, if given the chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/world/middleeast/23iran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Israelis prank Beirut Burger King

2006-07-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Fajr onion rings! That's funny!

http://players.mediazone.co.il/media/authors/34/playlists/2341/2341_static.asx

Say Cheese!

2006-07-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

I just watched "Alien Vs. Predator" with my roommate tonight. Having never seen the movie, I put my money on Predator. Although Alien is tougher and breeds quickly, Predator is smart and has cool technology.

Anyway, I was right: Predator won.

I also said it was going to be a terrible movie, and I was right about that too. It was horrible, but fun to make fun of nonetheless.

I still can't figure out which is uglier.

Pic of Alien

UN gets it...

2006-07-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

... for once.

Here is UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland on Hizbollah's tactics:

"Consistently, from the Hizbullah heartland, my message was that Hizbullah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."

Ouch!

UN Humanitarian chief blasts Hizbollah

Criticize it, but legalize it...

2006-07-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article about why drugs, or at least marijuana, should be legalized.

Legalize it

More thoughts on "the situation"

2006-07-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

Although it is frustrating that Israel is held up to a standard that no country could possibly uphold (i.e. to fight a war against terrorists that use civilians as shields without harming any civilians), consider that the Arabs are not held to any similar standard by anybody. Sure, Hezbollah’s attacks are deplored, but nobody suggests that they or Hamas take care to “avoid harming Israeli civilians.”

“Hey Hezbollah, be careful with those rockets…”

Yeah, right!—their raison d'être is to harm Israeli civilians.

Based off of the constant statements put out by the UN, EU and others, it would seem to be a bygone conclusion that some Arabs, collectively, do not care about the lives of their civilians, and certainly not Israeli civilians. Without saying it explicitly, the world seems to understand intuitively that the Jews and Arabs operate using vastly different moral standards. The Jews are held to a higher standard, because they generally behave in a morally superior manner. The Arabs, on the other hand, are not held to such a standard, or perhaps any standard.

Believe me; I take no joy out of saying that. And please consider that I said “collectively” and not “individually.”

I’ve had this thought before, but it came to fruition after reading Eygptian Sandmonkey’s recent frustrated and exasperated blog post:

"The never ending war
This is what this feels like: A never-ending war. The Battle that will never end, mainly because the Israelis are willing to Kill to stay alive, and because the arabs are willing to die to kill them. I don't think Peace is possible, mainly because you need a common ground for peace, and a level of acceptable losses. The Israelis will always reach a point where their losses become unacceptable, and they will push for Peace. Not for our side. Our acceptable losses are limitless, as long as we win. When your acceptable loss is your own death, what is there to compromise on?
The Israelis want to destroy Hezbollah, but they can't, because it's a culture and a nation. You want to destroy Hezbollah? You have to kill every single person who supports Hezbollah and its Ideology. You have to eleiminate almost all of the Shia in Lebanon. You have to engage in ethnic cleansing, and you can't do that! Now, since YOU CAN'T DO THAT, you will lose. It is inevitable. In order for the gun to kill the idea, it has to kill everyone who holds the idea. Since you can't do that, the idea will always win. The cause will always survive. The Israelis maybe willing to kill for Israel, but the arabs are willing to die for the cause. There is no winning for the israelis. Only degrees of losing!

But let the folly continue anyway…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I, of course, disagree with ESM in one area: I believe that Israel can hold on long enough for the Arab “idea” to change. Perhaps I am naïve, but if you don’t have at least a little hope, you are left with nothing but despair.

In any event, the Arab “idea” that persists in the rejection of Israel is also the same “idea” that prevents the Arabs from reaching their full potential. It is the same fanaticism that brought us 9/11; and it is the same mindset that foments so much inter-Islamic and inter-Arab strife that has nothing to do with Israel in the first place.

Furthermore, despite the Lebanese Shiite support of Hezbollah, over in Shiite Iran the majority of the population bristles under the rule of the Mollahs. The Islamic Republic of Iran—the country that exported Shiite fundamentalism to the Shiites of Lebanon can’t—doesn’t even have the support of its own citizenry and stays in power through brute force and oppression alone. They can’t hold on to power forever. When they go, support for Hezbollah will dry up. If the “idea” has already died among the bulk of Iranians, it can die elsewhere.

The Jews didn’t survive (barely) 2,000 years of persecution and homelessness only to return to our ancestral land and be wiped out in less than 100 years. ESM is frustrated and I understand his frustration. But what he doesn’t notice is that not all Arabs share the death wish idea. He doesn’t, for example. Like the wars of the past, this one too will end. We’ll all come back to our senses, and life will go on.

The conflict the Arabs and Muslims have with Israel is symptom of their disease, not the cause.

Ugh

2006-07-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

There are billions of websites to visit and I can't think of a new one... It's like when I go to the record, er, CD store and all of a sudden can't decide what I want to get.

Interesting if apparent observation

2006-07-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

Israel and Egypt negotiated a peace treaty in 1979; this after fighting four bloody wars no less. Despite other subsequent battles Israel has fought with other Arab states and terrorist groups, the peace treaty with Egypt has held up for over a quarter of a century.

In 1993 Israel and Yasser Arafat’s PLO began the Oslo Peace Process. Despite Israeli withdrawals, by 2000 the agreements were in a shambles. Arafat never stopped being a terrorist, and any agreement signed by the PA wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. The result is war (and has been for some time).

In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a peace agreement. Despite ongoing tensions and war between Israel and the PA (PLO), the peace agreement between the two has held firm.

In 2000 Israel unilaterally pulled out of its security belt in Southern Lebanon and retreated to the internationally recognized border. Hezbollah moved in, filling the void. They grew stronger and remained aggressive. Because of Hezbollah, Lebanon was unable or unwilling to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel. The result is now war.

Therefore, Israel should not make the same mistake again. Peace can’t be made with terrorist groups that are not held accountable for their actions. This should seem elementary my dear Watson, but apparently it’s not. Not for all of those international figures calling for an immediate ceasefire, which would only help Hezbollah by giving it a respite to regroup.

Update

Mario Loyola at National Review Online puts it this way:

Terrorism as Social Contract: An Arab failure
This is a must read!

Ahmadmanejad

2006-07-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

What I find so frightening and dangerous about Iranian psycho President Mahmud Ahmedinejad is not just his genocidal anti-Semitism and hate of the West (specifically America), but his obvious disconnect from reality. When leaders of powerful countries are disconnected from reality, they are likely to make a political or military miscalculation. Such miscalculations can start major wars.

Read this outrageous letter from Ahmadinjad to the German government. It’s pretty scary that a dude like Mahmud is a leader of a powerful country, innit? Or do the clergy tell him what to say? Either way, it’s some chilling stuff.

Iran leader asks Germany for help on Zionism

German government official says a letter written by Iranian President Ahmadinejad to German Chancellor Merkel asks her to help solve Palestinian problem, deal with Zionism. Official says letter ‘rather weird’
Reuters

A German government official said on Thursday that letter written by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asks her to help solve the Palestinian problem and deal with Zionism.

“There’s nothing about the nuclear issue (in the letter),” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the extreme sensitivity of the issue for the German government.

“It’s all related to Germany and how we have to find a solution to the Palestinian problems and Zionism and so on. It’s rather weird,” The official, who has seen the letter, said.

Iranian students news agency said on Wednesday that Ahmadinejad had written to Merkel, but until Thursday officials had not spoken about the contents.

Zionism is a political movement that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, now the state of Israel. The fate of Palestinian Arab refugees is one of the world’s largest and most long-lasting refugee problems.

Berlin’s relations with Ahmadinejad have been complicated by his denial of the Holocaust, in which Germany’s Nazi regime killed six million Jews, and his call for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany punishable with up to five years in prison.

“It’s extremely touchy (for the German government),” said the official, adding that the government did not yet know if or how it would respond. “There are a lot of propaganda phrases about Israel and the Jews inside.”

'He is not criticizing Germany'

In May Ahmadinejad wrote US President George W. Bush an 18-page letter discussing religious values, history and international relations.

In it, he took swipes at Israel and at the United States.

He sharply criticized Bush on many fronts, implying that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, abuses of detainees in US prisons in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib—and his staunch support for Israel—were somehow inconsistent with Bush’s Christian beliefs.

But the letter to Merkel was different and was not confrontational in tone, the official said.

“It’s not negative like Ahmadinejad’s letter to Bush. He is not criticizing Germany,” he said. “It’s basically about how we have to work together and solve the problems of the world together.”

In February, Merkel compared Ahmadinejad’s statements and stance to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power when he and his Nazi party began threatening to exterminate European Jewry.

“Remember that in 1933 many people said it was just rhetoric,” Merkel said.

The German official said it was interesting that the letter did not discuss Iran’s nuclear standoff with the United States, European Union and other countries.

Iran is facing possible action at the UN Security Council over suspicions that it is developing nuclear arms. Tehran denies the charge, saying it is working on nuclear fuel only to run power stations.

(07.20.06, 22:46)

Professional organization

2006-07-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

I finally joined my first professional organization: The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

I was told about this organization from a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter that I met when we were reporting on the same event. She suggested I join, despite the fact that I’m not Asian.

I’m considering applying for a leadership position with the organization, but first I want to check out one of their meetings.

As a member I get a lot of benefits, which is cool. I guess it was about time that I start hobnobbing and networking with others in my field.

In a nutshell

2006-07-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the whole Lebanon-Hezbollah-Israel crisis and the answer to the crisis in one easy-to-read, succinct article:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/07/a_rare_irreproducible_opportun.html

July 19, 2006
The Only Exit Strategy
By Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- There is crisis and there is opportunity. Amid the general wringing of hands over the seemingly endless and escalating Israel-Hezbollah fighting, everyone asks: Where will it end?

The answer, blindingly clear, begins with understanding that this crisis represents a rare, perhaps irreproducible, opportunity.

Every important party in the region and in the world, except the radical Islamists in Tehran and their clients in Damascus, wants Hezbollah disarmed and removed from south Lebanon so that it is no longer able to destabilize the peace of both Lebanon and the broader Middle East.

Which parties? Start with the great powers. In September 2004, they passed U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, demanding that Hezbollah disarm and allow the Lebanese army to take back control of south Lebanon.

The resolution enjoyed the sponsorship of the United States and, yes, France. As the former mandatory power in Lebanon, France was important in helping the Lebanese expel Syria during last year's Cedar Revolution, but it understands that Lebanon's independence and security are forfeit so long as Hezbollah -- a lawless, terrorist, private militia answering to Syria and Iran -- occupies south Lebanon as a rogue mini-state.

Then there are the Arabs, beginning with the Lebanese who want Hezbollah out. The majority of Lebanese -- Christian, Druze, Sunni Muslim and secular -- bitterly resent their country being hijacked by Hezbollah and turned into a war zone. And in the name of what Lebanese interest? Israel evacuated every square inch of Lebanon six years ago.

The other Arabs have spoken, too. In a stunning development, the 22-member Arab League criticized Hezbollah for provoking the current crisis. It is unprecedented for the Arab League to criticize any Arab party while it is actively engaged in hostilities with Israel. But the Arab states know that Hezbollah, a Shiite militia in the service of Persian Iran, is a threat not just to Lebanon but to them as well. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have openly criticized Hezbollah for starting a war on what is essentially Iran's timetable (to distract attention from Iran's pending referral to the Security Council for sanctions over its nuclear program). They are far more worried about Iran and its proxies than about Israel. They are therefore eager to see Hezbollah disarmed and defanged.

Fine. Everyone agrees it must be done. But who to do it? No one. The Lebanese are too weak. The Europeans don't invade anyone. After its bitter experience of 20 years ago, the U.S. has a Lebanon allergy. And Israel could not act out of the blue because it would immediately have been branded the aggressor and forced to retreat.

Hence the golden, unprecedented opportunity. Hezbollah makes a fatal mistake. It crosses the U.N.-delineated international frontier to attack Israel, kill soldiers and take hostages. This cross-border aggression is so naked that even Russia joins in the G-8 summit communique blaming Hezbollah for the violence and calling for the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty in the south.But only one country has the capacity to do the job. That is Israel, now recognized by the world as forced into this fight by Hezbollah's aggression.The road to a solution is therefore clear: Israel liberates south Lebanon and gives it back to the Lebanese.

It starts by preparing the ground with air power, just as the Gulf War began with a 40-day air campaign. But if all that happens is the air campaign, the result will be failure. Hezbollah will remain in place, Israel will remain under the gun, Lebanon will remain divided and unfree. And this war will start again at a time of Hezbollah and Iran's choosing.

Just as in Kuwait 1991, what must follow the air campaign is a land invasion to clear the ground and expel the occupier. Israel must retake south Lebanon and expel Hezbollah. It would then declare the obvious: that it has no claim to Lebanese territory and is prepared to withdraw and hand south Lebanon over to the Lebanese army (augmented perhaps by an international force), thus finally bringing about what the world has demanded -- implementation of Resolution 1559 and restoration of south Lebanon to Lebanese sovereignty.

Only two questions remain: Israel's will and America's wisdom. Does Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have the courage to do what is so obviously necessary? And will Secretary of State Rice's upcoming peace trip to the Middle East force a premature cease-fire that spares her the humiliation of coming home empty-handed but prevents precisely the kind of decisive military outcome that would secure the interests of Israel, Lebanon, the moderate Arabs and the West?

letters@charleskrauthammer.com
(c) 2006, The Washington Post Writers Group

Big Miscalculation

2006-07-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I can say one thing for certain about this mess: The Arabs (and Iran) miscalculated big time.

They thought that Israel’s unilateral withdrawals from the security strip in South Lebanon in 2000 and from Gaza last summer were signs of Israeli weakness.

They were wrong.

Maybe they thought that Israel’s popular election of a center-left government headed by Ehud Olmert with leftist Laborite Amir Peretz as minister of defense also proved Israel was weak.

Wrong.

In fact, because the current government is left of center, it can expect far more public support in Israel for military action than a rightwing or right of center government would have. Whereas the Left in Israel would have turned on a Likudnick like Netanyahu or (former Likudnick) Sharon in a heartbeat for being too militant, the Israeli right will always back the Israeli left when it comes to national security and defense. Israel’s enemies didn’t take the internal dynamics of Israeli politics into account. As a result, they seriously miscalculated.

Had they paid attention to history, however, they would have noticed that when faced with a serious threat, left wing Israeli governments tend to hit back just as hard, if not harder, than right wing Israelis governments do.

What fanatical dolts. I guess it’s time for them to hide behind women and children because the IDF is taking the gloves off.

Can Israel strike Iran?

2006-07-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

Ahmadenijad boasted that Israel can't do anything against Iran.

He may very well be wrong.

A taste of things to come

2006-07-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

The following editorial gives an example of what Israel can expect from the international community:

The US veto came on numerous grounds, including that the resolution related only to Gaza, even though the Hizbullah-Iranian offensive had already begun.

It will be long remembered by this country that the UN could even consider such a lopsided resolution at a time when Israeli civilians were being killed over an international border that it had fully recognized. Though the US cast a lone "no" vote, it is the majority of 10 nations - including France, Russia, and China - which should be ashamed of their stance, as should the UK, which could only muster an abstention.

On Friday, a separate emergency debate began in the Security Council over the situation in Lebanon. "Many of the long-range missiles that have hit Israeli towns…were launched from private homes, with families residing inside," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman noted. "This is yet another example of the cynical and brutal way that Hizbullah uses civilians as human shields, with complete disregard for human life."

The US veto and the opening of a new debate on Lebanon offer the opportunity of correcting some of the damage done by the disgraceful draft resolution on Gaza. There could be no more clear-cut case of international aggression than the cross-border attack on Israel from Lebanon.

It's laughable when Russia's Putin talks about an Israeli "disproportionate response." This from the leader of a country that leveled Grozny and killed well over 100,000 Chechen civilians.

The tone of this editorial is also telling. Europeans and others that rush to condemn Israel should be "ashamed." That's all the Jews will do or say. "You should be ashamed." No threats of violence, no threats of retaliation.

I've always said, It's easy to criticize the Jews, because they reply with indignant editorials. Whereas if you place your country in opposition to elements in the Islamic world, you can expect threats of violence, threats to cut off oil, and sometimes actual violent attacks on your country or interests abroad.

Much easier to lambast Israel. Plus, Israel is full of ... Jews.

What can I say?

2006-07-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

I have decided I'll update this blog, for now, with links to articles that I think describe and explain what's happening with Israel and the Middle East. Things are changing so fast, it's sort of hard to make any grand statements.

What appears to be the case, and what I hope is the case, is that Israel will wipe out the Hezbollah threat. If all of the actions in Lebanon end with Hezbollah intact and still on Israel's border, than nothing was accomplished.

Israel can't shatter Hezbollah in days. It will probably take a ground operation. I am concerned that international pressure will try to prevent it. The truth is, the last thing anybody who supports an idenpendent and sovereign Lebanon should want right now is a cease fire, because then Hezbollah will regroup, rearm and be back to business as usual.

Iran is behind a lot of what is happening. With an operable nuclear arsenal, Iran would probably act even more belligerantly than it already acts. This is yet another reminder to those who stick their heads in the sand why Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad and the ruling Mullahs are not responsible leaders. They are religious fanatics with dreams of jihad and armagedon.

The following erudite column by Barry Rubin describes how exremists in the Arab world always end up being the ones who call the shots.

Excerpt:

THE ARABS in general are not giving credit to Teheran. After all, the whole point of this being an Arab and (Sunni) Muslim victory is ruined if the new hero is Persian and Shi'ite.

Lebanon is playing both sides at once. Christians, Druse and even Sunni Muslims are angry that Hizbullah has dragged them into the war, destroyed their tourist industry and wrecked the prospects for the country's economy for years to come. In private, Lebanese say they would like Israel to wipe out Hizbullah for them. Publicly, though, most Lebanese politicians are standing beside Hizbullah and will not lift a finger to help.

Nobody should have any illusions about the Lebanese government doing anything even if the whole country is leveled. The country's leaders simultaneously use, fear, and support Hizbullah. To cheer on the extremists protects their careers, and none of them have gotten where they are today by caring very much about the nation's interest.

Neighborhood bully

2006-07-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one, He got no place to escape to,
no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.

He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say.
He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.

by Bob Dylan
Wednesday April 13, 1983

Crimes Against Humanity

2006-07-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

Here is something to chew on in light of the oft-heard accusation about Israel, which always gets accused of Crimes Against Humanity:

Switzerland says Israel violating international lawGaza - Crimes Against Humanity in International Law Eli E. Hertz July 6, 2006

UN Security Council resolutions and International treaties define crimes against humanity as the "participation in and knowledge of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, and the multiple commission of [such] acts ... against any civilian population"

These international binding instruments go-on to impose uniform mandatory counter-terrorist obligations on all states to "bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of terrorist attacks and stresses that those responsible for aiding, supporting or harboring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of these acts will be held accountable." There is no escape clause - the Council repeats "its unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, in all their forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomever committed."

Palestinian terrorists such as Hamas that kidnap Israelis, blow up and destroy public buses, murder young people at cafes and discos, school outings, and hitchhikers on their way home, alongside indiscriminate around-the-clock shelling of Qassam rockets at civilian populations in Israel, are clearly committing Crimes Against Humanity - acts of terrorism for which the UN Security Council under UN Charter Chapter VII directs everyone to fight by all means.

International law leaves no room to question Israel's right to defend its citizens against systematic and sustained Palestinian terrorist attacks launched from Gaza and the West Bank by Hamas. Palestinian claims of civil rights on the other hand, do not come with 'clean hands,' their hands are mired by their lawless violence in a bid to destroy the Jewish State.

"War is Hell." [General Sherman, June 19, 1879]

Let Palestinians who choose the path of war bear full responsibility for the Hell that follows.

"... no legal right shall spring from a wrong." [Judge Schwebel, former president of the International Court of Justice, "Justice in International law," 1994.]

Natural hallucinogen

2006-07-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

Who says you have to do LSD or eat 'shrooms to hallucinate?
Try it. It really works.

Palestinian rocket hits city

2006-07-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

So reads the AP headline. Buried deep in the article was the information that should have been the lead and headline:

The rocket flew 7 miles through the air and exploded in the courtyard of a school in Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 on Israel's coast north of Gaza. The school was empty at the time and no one was hurt. School security cameras showed a large cloud of white dust rising from the point of impact.

Thank G-d it was empty.

Here's the link to the rest of the article.

Summerfest

2006-07-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here's what I did at Summerfest.

Dialogue vs. monologue

2006-07-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry for having been derelict of my blogging duties. Yes, lot’s of stuff has been happening in Gaza—and I’m watching developments like a hawk—but what’s the point of adding my two cents? In other words, despite some shoddy reporting/analysis here and there, for the most part the MSM has done a decent job of describing what’s happening. Not that they deserve a pat on the back; what has been happening is straight forward and, therefore any news organization with any integrity should be able to get the story right.

Frankly, this whole mess is depressing for those of us who had hoped the Gaza disengagement would succeed and be followed by more withdrawals. It takes the mental/moral gymnastics of leftist British newspapers like The Guardian to actually turn this story into something other than it is. And believe me—they can always be counted on to do as much, sadly. But getting back to my point: I, and it appears most Israelis, want a separation from the Palestinians as much as possible in the absence of a negotiated settlement that would have accomplished more or less the same thing. How can any Israeli in their right mind support handing over more territory (at least now) inlight of what has happened in Gaza in the last year? The lesson of Gaza shows us that the territory will be used as a launching pad for rockets into Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the coastal region in general.

I suppose my only criticism of the MSM in this latest episode of violence is the inability of most of them to understand why Israel is (semi)reinvading. It’s not because of the kidnapping of one single soldier—19 year-old Gilad Shalit, who was attacked within the UN-recognized border of Israel and dragged to Gaza—it is also and largely due to the 1,000 kassem rocket launches into Israel since the pullout last summer. Since the pullout from Gaza, no Israelis have been killed by these rockets, which are acts of terror since they are blindly aimed at a civilian town inside Israel and designed to kill non-combatants. However, prior to the Gaza pullout nine civilians were the killed by these terrorist rocket attacks. Three of them were children.

Now, getting back to disengagement: Israel had always hoped to negotiate a final status peace agreement whereby Israel would be out of Gaza and the West Bank and there would be some sort of arrangement in Jerusalem. In 2000 at Camp David Labor PM Ehud Barak offered such a deal, but Arafat rejected it and initiated the “al-Aksa war” which has pretty much continued since then.

With nobody to negotiate, Israel decided to unilaterally re-draw the borders. The Gaza pullout and evacuation of the few Jews who lived there was step one. With no more “occupation” the Palestinians were free to show themselves and the world that they could govern effectively. As it turned out, the only booming (no pun intended) sector of their nascent economy appears to have been rockets and explosives.

On top of daily barrages of rocket fire into Israel, the Palestinians offered their coup de gras by electing Hamas, who openly calls for the destruction of Israel and who openly love al-Qaeda. Of course, when US aid trickles off because Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist and reign in the terrorists, they scream and cry. Well, what do they expect? Why on earth would the US support an organization that openly applauds the death of US soldiers in Iraq and supported the attacks on 9/11, as well as the destruction of a democratic US ally? Shit, the Hamas are so repulsive and ass-backward even the French are largely boycotting. That tells you something.

It’s very hard for the Palestinians to understand the world around them because, and this is my opinion, they are convinced of their utter victimization, and as such, they feel hate and rage because of their “humiliated” stance as victims. Arab culture is steeped in the “shame-honor” dialectic (they are the poster children of the anthropological term) and any real or imagined damage to one’s honor results in shame which must be rectified by some sort of violent response, which exculpates the shame. For more information on how this shame-honor dialectic manifests itself, google “’Arab’ and ‘honor killing.’”

This brings me to a fascinating conversation with a Palestinian 28 year-old female that really hammered this home to me. It was both a heartening and depressing conversation. She was by all accounts a very westernized Muslim Arab. She admitted to having an alcoholic drink here and there, for example. Her mode of dress was completely that of your average (well-dressed) American female. She had also lived in Ramallah. Her biggest gripe was the checkpoints she had to pass through, and once having to wait for hours to see a doctor in Jerusalem, as well as “terrible things I saw.” She told me her children have an inordinate fear of people in uniforms now, and I have no reason to doubt her. Except for a few close-minded Israelis and Israel supporters, I think we are all aware that a lot of innocent Palestinians are caught up in this mess to.

What bothered me was her complete inability to think beyond the checkpoint, for example: why are there checkpoints?

Answer: The constant suicide bombing terrorist attacks. The security checkpoints are Israel’s first line of defense in stopping the smuggling of bombs and other weapons. Were I some Shmo who knew nothing about the conflict and I heard her speak, I’d walk away “understanding” her rage because why on earth would the Israelis make life hard on people for no reason at all? In her mind, that’s what the Israelis do. And based off what she said, there have never been any Israeli victims, either.

To her credit, she was sick of living with the hatred and rage in her heart. She told me she wanted closure. She ended up joining some Jewish-Palestinian dialogue group. She spoke to them. She told me she said, “I used to want to kill Israelis! I was so angry that I wanted to just… kill them!”

Presumably she no longer wants to do that. Like she said, she was sick of living with the hatred in her heart.

Yet, she still can’t get over the victim-role. I explained her to her that many Israelis felt like victims too, and that while in some cases it’s true that both people have victims, when people see themselves as cosmic uber-victims, the result is they absolve themselves of having to act as responsible moral agents. After all, if you are a victim, an innocent victim, why should you change? You didn’t do it—you are the victim. The other must change and rectify all of your grievances. We can take this further: if you are an innocent victim being oppressed for “seemingly” no reason, maybe you should fight back and be totally justified?

I told her it was very important to resist indulging in “victimology” and that even when Israelis do it, it gets them nowhere. Meanwhile, the entire time she griped, I resisted the desire to mention that, had I not slept at my friend’s apartment in Jerusalem one summer night in 1995, I might have been blown up in a Hamas suicide bombing, since the bus that was blown up was the bus that I took to ulpan from Givat Ram to Mt. Scopus. The bombing did kill a number of Israelis as well as a middle aged American Jewish mother who was on a synagogue-sponsored trip to study Hebrew in Israel for a couple of months and who studied with us.

A for trauma, I could have mentioned the American Jewish girl who studied at the Hebrew U with me said she saw an arm dangling from a tree when her bus approached the site of the bombing moments after it happened. She left Israel a few days later. What sort of trauma did she suffer from?

Yes, many Palestinians have been traumatized, and so too have many Israelis. I used to ride the bus to work in Jerusalem every day and I’d blast music on my headphones because, as I saw it, if it was my time to go I’d rather go while listening to some kick-ass music. I’m safe in America now (well, crime can be pretty messed up in places), but everyday Israelis board busses or go to malls or stores and wonder in the back of their minds if they are going to die for eating ice cream or buying pants. Yes, there is trauma all around. Each side has its horror stories. Next time I have a similar like conversation with a Palestinian, I’m going to stop them in their tracks and explain the above. They come from a shame-honor society; we westerners, and especially Jews, are more from a guilt-based society. I’m not going to take a harangue designed to make me feel guilty sitting down anymore. I’ll stand up and take it… kidding.

Back to the conversation:

“The last time I was there, I saw the wall, it’s absolutely disgusting,” said my interlocutor.

I told her that it’s a wall in the Jerusalem area, but that most of it was a fence.

“I disagree with you.”

“Well, I don’t expect you to like the fence or wall, but the fact is it’s mostly a fence and it’s there because of the countless suicide bomber that were dispatched from the West Bank. In fact, the number of bombers that have snuck into Israel’s main coastal cities have dropped dramatically.”

“I disagree with everything you are saying.”

“Okay, but what I’m telling you is not my opinion—it’s a fact. And you know what?—if the violence calms down one day, the fence can be torn done a heck of a lot quicker than it was erected.”

The above illustrates another common problem I’ve encountered when dialoging with Arabs or Muslims. Often times, their perceptions or opinions are seamlessly converted into solid “facts” in their minds. I don’t know how to deal with this. I forgot who coined the saying, but it goes something like this: You have a right to your own opinions. You don’t have a right to your own facts.

I’ll never give up on dialogue, but it’s sort of pointless if people invent their own facts and deny actual facts that fly in the face of their preconceived notions. I don’t know how to deal with that. Am I supposed to be heartened by the fact that my interlocutors are politely having a discussion with the “enemy” instead of trying to cut my head off no questions asked? If that’s the best I can hope for, well, that sucks.

Then our conversation got even stranger. I asked her about what it was like in Ramallah for a westernized girl like herself. She said she had no problems at all. But then she contradicted herself and said, “I hate my culture!”

Playing the mild mannered inquisitive guy (not normally my general disposition… inquisitive, perhaps. Mild mannered… generally not!) I played a little devil’s advocate and said, “Surely you can’t hate your culture, just certain aspects of it.”

I forgot a few parts of the conversation, but we somehow got to the issue of honor killing, which she then tried to downplay and sort of deny. Talk about cognitive dissonance. She just told me she is an independent woman, raising her two boys (she was married at 16, traditional Arab-thang) all on her own, that she hates aspects of her culture, the male chauvinism I presume, and yet she wouldn’t swallow the honor killing thing.

“Look, it happens in the Middle East, sometimes in the West too, by Middle Easterners.”

“I disagree with you.”

In the end, I told her that it didn’t matter which side was “right” or if either side saw the other side as having legitimate historical arguments. Both peoples were there, neither people going anywhere, which left a single alternative: coexistence—preferably a two state solution with a shared Jerusalem.

She said I was a “beautiful” person and while that’s nice and good (and probably wrong … hee hee), I still never heard a) an acknowledgement that Israelis were victims too, b) that there might be legitimate reasons for checkpoints, etc. c) that there is such a thing as a fact, and d) that she necessarily agreed with my dream of a two-state solution.

Regarding, d, I’ve also noticed a reticence on behalf of many Arab interlocutors to curiously refrain from articulating an acceptance of such an arrangement. I’ll come out and say, “Hey, I support a two state solution based basically off of the 1967-borders with an arrangement in Jerusalem… I believe in peace.” And they smile and say, “Cool man,” but that’s it. It seems that even the moderates (whom I guess aren’t the people who a priori think Jews are evil and Israel must be destroyed utterly) still holdout the dream of a return of refugees and at best a bi-national state whereby eventually the Arabs will outnumber the Jews.

My rule of thumb for dialogue from now on is to nip the victimology grievance thing right in the bud. What good is dialogue if it’s merely a vehicle for Palestinians to tell us how humiliated they are as we Jews and Zionists and Israelis keep our mouths shut or hang out heads in shame?

That’s not dialogue, that’s monologue.

Euro-English to be lingua franca of EU

2006-06-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

"The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w"with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.
If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

... now it's turning out that something was fishy at the beach

2006-06-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

While sticking to its demand for the establishment of an independent inquiry into a blast on a Gaza beach 10 days ago that killed seven Palestinian civilians, the Human Rights Watch conceded Monday night for the first time since the incident that it could not contradict the IDF's exonerating findings.

Click me to read the rest of the article.

I doubt these new findings will be as widely reported as the pictures of the poor girl crying and screaming.

Garlasco's face is dripping with egg right now.

Intrafadeh: Palestinian infighting spreads to West Bank

2006-06-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

Let’s forget for a moment whether the Palestinians have a right to an independent state or not. Read this article. It seems to me the salient question is: Are they capable of even running a state?

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hundreds of Palestinian security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip…

… In Monday's unrest, hundreds of members of the Preventive Security force shot out the windows of the parliament building before storming the two-building Cabinet complex, where they smashed furniture, destroyed computers and tore up documents. No casualties were reported.

Shooting wildly in the air, the mob then set fire to one of the Cabinet buildings, gutting the fourth floor. When a fire engine approached the scene, one gunman lay on the road, preventing it from reaching the building.

"Every time they touch one of ours in Gaza, we will get 10 of theirs in the West Bank," said one member of the Preventive Security force. Dozens of gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a pro-Fatah militia, joined the mob.

The crowd also set fire to the parliament building and a Hamas office. Both blazes were quickly contained. Abbas' presidential guard later arrived to guard the burnt-out parliament and Cabinet buildings.

Late Monday, Fatah gunmen briefly abducted a Hamas lawmaker, Khalil Rabei, after attacking his office and setting it on fire. Rabei said he was kicked and threatened before he was released.

Abbas' personal guard granted refuge to Rabei and nine other Hamas lawmakers, and was ordered to escort the men home safely.

The rampage in Ramallah followed an earlier attack by Hamas gunmen on a Preventive Security installation in Gaza. The attack set off daylong clashes that left two people dead and 14 wounded.

Most of the Palestinian infighting in recent weeks has occurred in Gaza, Hamas' stronghold. Monday's incident signaled that Fatah is now ready to move the conflict to its West Bank power center.

Something smells fishy at the beach

2006-06-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

When I heard about the beach bombing in Gaza that struck the Ghaliya family, killing six, I was horrified. But I was dubious that Israel was responsible. Initial reports said it was an errant artillery shell. This did not make sense to me; modern artillery is pretty accurate. The Israelis also take great care to avoid civilian casualties. From a realpolitik perspective, it doesn’t make sense for Israel to target civilians—just look at the international uproar.

Then there were reports that the shell came from an Israeli naval vessel, but the Israelis were quick to dispute this, even though they offered regret over the incident and pledged to launch an investigation. But the Palestinian authorities refused to cooperate in the investigation, and that seemed suspicious to me. After all, if Israel was the responsible party, wouldn’t the Palestinians want to “help” Israel implicate itself, so as to prove to the world that forensically-speaking the Israelis were guilty?

At first the mainstream media put the blame on Israel, but as Israel’s investigation continues, inconsistencies with the established “facts” are coming to light.

By Martin Fletcher
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 5:56 p.m. CT June 12, 2006

Shocking pictures of the beach bombing have turned Huda into a Palestinian symbol around the world. President Mahmoud Abbas called her the daughter of the Palestinian people. But there is confusion as to what really happened.

Friday afternoon, the Israeli army and Palestinian militants from Hamas had been exchanging rocket fire. Hamas immediately blamed Israel, called off a 16-month truce and swore revenge. Israel said it regretted the loss of life, and brought three of Huda's two wounded sisters and brother to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

On Monday, Israeli military sources told NBC News they have examined shrapnel taken from Huda’s sisters and confirmed that the shrapnel did not come from an Israeli artillery shell.

So was it from a Palestinian explosive?

"All options are being examined,” said Israeli Army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dalal. “Let’s not judge."

No reaction yet from the Palestinians to Israel's claim that its shell didn't kill the family. And Huda seems too stunned to care who did it. She knows that soon she will have to tell her mother the truth.

Now, watch this segment from “60 Minutes” and, as Capt. Jacob Dalal said, “Let’s not judge.”

Incidentally, in 1999 I had an internship at the Jerusalem Post's weekend "In Jerusalem" section, of which Dalal was editor at the time. My recollection of him was that he was intelligent, down-to-earth and friendly. I also could have sworn that he spelled his last name "Dallal" ... and it turns out I was correct.

Tsk-tsk Martin Fletcher; I guess even the seasoned pros make egregious journalistic errors sometimes.

The crime of falafel

2006-06-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

I haven’t read about these falafel executions until I read this op-ed by UPI columnist Claude Salhani. I read it this morning and it’s been in my mind all day. Read the article and try to comprehend—if you can—the sort of mindset it takes to kill somebody for selling falafel.

To any Muslims who maybe reading this, I beseech you, fight the enemy within, for that is your true enemy, not Israelis or Jews or Westerners or Christians. As much as we in the West may despise Islamic extremism, at the end of the day far more Muslims are killed by the extremists than non-Muslims.

Quote:

Recent news reports from the Iraqi capital indicate radical Islamists are launching a campaign to prohibit the sale of ... falafel. Yes, you heard right, falafel. While this is the sort of news you might expect to hear from a late-night stand-up comedian on television, sadly, this is not a joke, and a number of falafel vendors who failed to heed the warnings have paid with their lives.

Saten 666

2006-06-11T10:54:00.001-07:00

Update:

Here is a link to the article about the desecration: Dolan's bottom line: Good wins out.

The big news over here in southeastern Wisconsin was the disgraceful vandalism on Holy Hill, which is a beautiful catholic church, perched atop a hill. It’s a tourist attraction as well as a house of worship.

Last week on 06/06/06 some idiots spray painted pro-Satan graffiti, except the dimwits apparently spelled Satan, “Saten.”

In a show of solidarity with Holy Hill, Milwaukee Archbishop Dolan led mass there yesterday. I had never been to a catholic mass, and it was quite an interesting experience. I even said “Amen” along with the flock when they quoted Deuteronomy about how God gave the land of Israel to Moses and his descendents forever!

But what struck me most was the constant harping on Satan. I didn’t realize how seriously the idea of Satan is taken among Christians, or at least Catholics. In all of my life, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a mention of Satan in any synagogue. I’m not even sure if Jews believe in Satan, and if we do, certainly not in the literal sense that Christians and Muslims seem to. At the same time, Satan also seemed to be used a metaphor, but not all the time. Let's just say, there was a lot of talk of Satan. It sounded foreign to my Jewish ears.

After hearing about how Satan visited the church on that day and did his evil stuff, I couldn’t help but to think, “Well, obviously Satan can’t spell for shit.”

I interviewed people after mass. As to be expected, people were appalled at the desecration. Don’t get me wrong, I think it was terrible and I hope the little bastards that did it are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, there was a part of me that thought, “Big deal.” This must be because I’ve become so inured to the constant desecration of Jewish property and graves. I've been aware of such shit ever since the day I started reading newspapers.

What’s also clear was that this wasn’t a hate crime, as most desecrations of Jewish property are. It was more like an “idiot crime” committed by a self-described “punk” who couldn’t even coherently explain why he did it, or spell Satan properly. It wasn’t done out of malice of Catholicism, but malice of civil society and religious faith in general.

Got him!

2006-06-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

It’s always nice to wake up to good news. In this case, they got him: Zarqawi is dead.

It’s important to remember that Zarqi was not the cause of the disease, but a symptom. So the terrorism won’t end, but this was a good step on the road to a semi-normal Iraq.

The Wrath of Ka

2006-06-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

This story highlights what a pathetic nation France has become, as law-abiding citizens quiver in fear from certifiable lunatics, and law enforcement stands idily by, helpless and useless.

The Wrath of Ka

Man's best friend

2006-06-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's interesting when outside organizations republish one of my articles that they somehow find online. Don't blame me for the music on this one. Click on this sentence and scroll down to the third article.

When boxing was a Jewish sport

2006-05-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

Excerpts:

“I was fighting as a kid,” said Rickun. “I fought every day. I didn’t hear the word ‘Jew’ directed at me [in a derogatory manner] because if I did, I’d split their heads open. I’d bang guys up if they called some other guys ‘Jew.’”

“I just had no direction at all,” he added. “Maybe that’s why kids like that become fighters.”

--------------

“I think [their memory] has been suppressed, because Jews weren’t so proud of it,” said Bodner in a telephone interview. “The fans [were proud], the parents were [proud] … the opinion makers were not. Jews weren’t supposed to be into violent sports.”

The DaVinci Code

2006-05-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

I haven’t read the book or seen the movie. I did have to write an article about it, though. Here is what I found in “the heartland” of America: Area clergy view ‘Da Vinci Code’ movie as educational opportunity

Why is polygamy illegal?

2006-05-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

I’ve been watching HBO’s latest series Big Love, which is about a polygamist Utah family. It’s an interesting and well-written show. The fear of the family getting discovered is a constant theme that hangs over the characters’ heads.

It got me to wondering why polygamy is illegal. If consenting adults decide they want to create such a family, why can’t they?

To me, it is similar to gay marriage. If gays get married, fine. What do I care? If a man wants multiple wives and the women agree to the situation, who am I to say no?

So why is polygamy illegal?

Saudi discussion II

2006-05-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

I don't think my Saudi interlocutor wants to have a dialogue...

Ayman wrote:

Interesting. But I don't have time to reply and comment to all your crafted tragedy. Your job as journalist is not what I'm interested in, however I'll keep this mail as a sample of what Zionists see.

Moi:

It's a sample of what ONE Zionist sees... there are many different types of Zionists. I do not speak for all Zionists or any person other than myself. For example, there are labor Zionsts, religious Zionists, revisionist Zionists... and the only thing that makes a person a Zionist is that they believe the Jewish people have the same right as all other people-- a right to self-determination. That's it.

My email had nothing to do with journalism; it's my own personal way of trying to understand the views of others. Unfortunately you don't want to play ball

I wonder what he meant by "crafted tragedy"? Then again, he's not a native English speaker...

Curious discussion with a Saudi

2006-05-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

The other day I received an email from a Saudi whom I met years ago while working for the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. I was doing some sort of article about interfaith-feel-good stuff and ended up asking him some questions and taking a picture of him. He told me he had done a little freelancing for the Saudi newspaper Okaz, so we had a little something in common.

Over the weeks we corresponded via email, but I was sorely disappointed when he finally told me one day, “Look, Israel has no right to exist. What was taken by force must be retaken” or something to that effect. I thanked him for his honesty and held my tongue and temper in check.

Anyway, here and there I’d get an email from him that was obviously sent out to a bulk of recipients. I finally decided to reply to one. The following is the ongoing discussion. Enjoy.

Ayman B wrote: (I don’t see any reason to reprint his full name, Zak)Subject: FW: This could save your lifeDate: Mon, 22 May 2006 13:17:44 +0300Check your car tires today.

Then there was some attachment about the importance of checking your car’s tires.

Zak Mazur wrote:
I am surprised you'd want my life to be saved. After all, I am a Zionist, Israel-loving Jew!

Zak

Ayman replied:

You are mixing here between beeing an enemy and being human. "One of Allah's slaves". I want your life to be saved as long as we are not in the battle field.
You know! I even want your after life to be saved. I invite you to Islam.

I replied:

“You are mixing here between beeing an enemy and being human. "One of Allah's slaves". I want your life to be saved as long as we are not in the battle field.
You know! I even want your after life to be saved. I invite you to Islam."

Battlefield? That is a curious statement. I try to understand how Muslims perceive what is and isn't a battlefield.

So let me get this straight: In America you and I are both humans and should strive to help each other? I agree. But if I am on a bus in Israel one morning headed to university (which I was in the summer of 1995) and the bus is blown up by Muslim dude with explosives strapped to his chest, does that mean the bus is a legitimate battlefield, and all the civilians on it were soldiers? I ask because that happened to a bus I used to take to school, but that day I took a different bus to school after sleeping at a friend's apartment. That bus was a battlefield? Those people were "soldiers?" The middle aged American Jewish woman blown to bits who was in Israel studying Hebrew was a soldier? The little kids who had no choice about what country they were born and were just going to school were soldiers? The old lady, a soldier?

Now, I know what you are thinking (no, I do not read minds!), so allow me to beat you to the punch: Please, don't point out some incident in which Israel killed civilians. Civilians die in all wars. We both know that. And Israel, like every country on the planet, is not perfect. But even if Israel intentionally targeted civilians in the same manner as does Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah Hawks, would "martyrdom" missions still be ... kosher/halal? How can two wrongs (evils) possibly make a right? I always hear Muslim apologists for suicide bombings (especially in Israel) describe them as acts of self-defense, but how is killing unarmed people self-defense?

Further, why must you worry about my afterlife (although I appreciate it, thanks)? Doesn't the Koran say that Christians and Jews also need not fear about the afterlife since we are ah al-kitab?

Granted I am not a religious Jew, and therefore in your book I will not go to heaven (I do not believe in an afterlife anyway), but I would like to discuss some philosophical issues with you (I cringe at the term "spirituality, as I do not believe in spirits or souls).

First of all, why does God demand that we be His "slaves." I'm not trying to bait you as a Muslim; I ask these sorts of questions and others, to rabbis, Christians, etc. Seriously, why would a deity as powerful as God want or desire "slaves?" I've never understood why in Judaism, Christianity and Islam people are supposed to "fear" God or be His "slave." When I meet people in real life who demand that others "fear" them or be their "slaves" I consider that person to be a psychopath. Why does religion make God seem so... jealous and infant-like? Does God lack self-confidence? Do his feelings get hurt if somebody also thinks an ancient forest on a mountain is "holy?" Do the questions I just raised to you make God furious at me? Didn't He give me a brain designed to think rationally about the world around me?

And this idea of hell. First of all, even if I was a religious Jew, we do not believe in hell. But still, lot's of Christians and Muslims believe in it, and hell is even described in the Koran, as I am told. Forever burning in hell; agony; torture, all for eternity. And for what? For not having the correct beliefs in life? So all the Buddhists and Hindus and people that worship multiple gods are ALL going to hell, even if they were wonderful, caring people during their lives and never hurt anybody, or even saved lives? Hellfire for eternity? What kind of sick shit is that? Ever hear of "gross and unusual punishment"? What kind of God would torture His creatures for eternity; the types of tortures that even Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Stalin and Hilter couldn't imagine?

So, the Bible and Koran tell us that God is jealous, demands complete obedience and if He doesn't get it, you suffer an eternity of unrelenting torture? Hmmm... not the kind of dude I'd want to be friends with, much less worship.

If I was Muslim, and you and I were in Saudi Arabia, could I even publicly ask these questions without being called an apostate or infidel and receive a whipping or beheading or even prison time? Why such a fear to doubt or question religion in Islam?

Many Muslims find America to be an immoral place. Parts of it certainly are. I could choose to rent porn -- it is there -- but I do not because it doesn't do much for me. But that's the key: choice. Here we have the ability to CHOOSE to be religious and virtuous, or not religious and virtuous, or bad, or evil, etc. But in Iran, Saudi, and other places, the government and/or society at large don’t want people to choose, they want to force religion, to make it law.

If there is a just God, who do you think He would prefer: the American who chose to follow religion, or the Saudi who never had a choice? Wouldn't God prefer that people CHOOSE to worship Him instead of HAVE to worship him? Whatever happened to the saying that there is no compulsion in religion? If not, why can't there be a church in Saudi Arabia, and why couldn't a curious Saudi visit it and worship there, if he or she wanted to?

Finally, astronomers are pretty confident that the Milky Way Galaxy is home to over 100 billion stars, one being the sun. Further, there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in space, each with their own hundreds of billions of stars. The chemicals required for life as we know it on this planet are abundant in the universe. Just by pure odds, it is very likely that there is other life out there, and some of it may be intelligent; perhaps far more intelligent than we.

If there is a creator of the universe (which I do not necessarily dispute; I'm an agnostic, not an atheist), why would It only make intelligent and sentient life on one tiny little planet on the edge of just another galaxy? Wouldn't that be a HUGE waste of stars and matter?

If there are other life forms, what do they believe? Do you really think they too believe in books just like the Bible and Koran?

Oh wait, I'm still not done. Faith. Why do you think some people have faith and others do not? Who gives us faith? Personally, I've always somewhat envied those who have faith, because faith gives answers to mysterious questions that will never be answered-- unless one has faith. Where does it come from? Does God give it to some and not others?

I do not expect you to answer everything at once.

Salam,

Zak