iPhone 5 left at bar by Apple employee... yawn...

A tequila bar, to boot. Really, Apple, life is too short to waste on all this nonsense. And I (or is it i now?) have yet to purchase one of the iThings.

But I might consider accepting one, if it's left at my doorstep glued to a case of tequila (of my choice, of course).

Jeffrey Goldberg vs "messianic" Jews

Not being religious, I have probably picked up a few key words here and there, thus I believe (hope?) that I can grok when somebody spews some obvious crapola. Jeffrey Goldberg is certainly hell bent on producing some. Quite a lot, in fact.

Victor Shikhman tears him apart. Enjoy.

Justin Bieber and dad get matching Jesus tattoos in Hebrew. So?

This Haaretz piece by someone named Elka Looks is so remarkable that I've decided to keep a snapshot for posterity (click to embiggen):

Look, Elka: I know that there are millions of teenogres out there who simply clamor for any bit of information about any bit of Justin's body and its functions. But why is that article tagged "Jewish World"?

And where will Justin's (and Jeremy's) penchant for skin art take us next? I shudder at the thought...

Israel, dinosaurs, Amy Winehouse and pathetic shits

So here I was perusing a steamy pile of virtual excrement titled Israel, Dinosaurs, and Amy Winehouse. The link to it was sent by a friend (thanks, friend!), who added a sentence mentioning pathetic shits or something in that vein. Indeed, it was a fitting tribute to this opus and much too kind, as far as I am concerned.

The author calls her/him/them-selves "I4P Writers Group" and declares "We are a team of bloggers we comprise a group of 5 writers in Ireland and 1 in Israel...".Whatever they comprise, even to my amateur eye English doesn't look like their mother tongue - notice "over indulgence", "cause it's ultimate destruction", "exept", starting every second paragraph with "So", etc. Read this if you are still unconvinced:

So, this brings me to the evil rogue state of israel, which, funnily enough, as it turns out, has quite a lot in common with Amy Winehouse, exept she had a great voice and didnt kill people constantly, they both suffered from the same affliction.

I have seen many a "How I spent my summer" work penned by a better hand. But style, atrocious as it is, takes its hat off and bows deeply to the heinousness of the contents.

A detail of a slight interest: these folks calls themselves "Unrepentant Fenian Bastards" (and Belfast is mentioned), according to their avatar:

Out of idle interest: is their visceral hate of Israel some kind of ersatz for their hate of the past (and, in part, present) occupier? Not that it's in any way important, but could be a telling detail.

So here I am reading it and otherwise browsing aimlessly, and suddenly I see that Bradley Burston has already got onto that case. What he says, essentially, is expressed in the lede:

There's cowardice in an opinion piece that uses the dead to sell hatred to the living. The dead deserve better. So do the living.

Yep. Too true, the cheap way of rushing to score a political point or two and dancing on the graves is a popular pastime of cheap scribes. Torrents of propaganda unleashed by the Norway massacre are despicable. And Bradley is right comparing the "I4P Writers Group" opus and its use of Amy Winehouse' name and fate to the JP editorial (I suspect I could guess its author's name in a pinch). The editorial, in its more polished way, does its own bit of dancing on the graves, and the impression is not much less ghoulish.

Still, there is one detail Bradley has missed. Or, perhaps, he just has chosen to concentrate on his main thesis. However, the exceptional hate of Israel radiated by the Unrepentant Fenian Bastards and already mentioned, deserves a bit more attention. Bradley quoted this passage along with the other material:

But, guess what? Israel is not 'God' and ultimately what killed Amy Winehouse will also kill off Israel as well. All we have to do is wait, and just keep on chip, chip, chipping away at the out of control, over excessive, over indulgent, spoilt brat killer bully that we now know as Israel.

Emphasis mine.

Kill off Israel... I guess we should be grateful to I4P Writers Group for their straightforward no-nonsense attitude. And if anyone wants to persuade me that their fervor is fueled solely by their love of the people of Gaza, he/she is welcome to try, but all the bets are off.

Well, that's it about this team of Fenians. They  are willing to keep on chip, chip, chipping and I am willing to keep wait, wait, waiting - we, the Red Sea pedestrians, are good at that and have already outwaited few pretty serious bastards. And a pathetic shitty gang of maritime losers is hardly going to impress us. Beyond that I don't see much need (or purpose) for further discussion of the perfectly odious obvious.

So, here I am, poring over three articles and surfing around some related stuff, when lo and behold:

Breivik and His Enablers

Op-ed, and not in some provincial rag, but in the august NYT. Now we shall get the gospel, finally the tragic events will be sorted out and explained to us. Oh well, don't be building your hopes up. The article is a usual bloviating scoring of political points. With a few items wanting a special mention. One, when the term "fellow traveler" is used - by one of the more experienced fellow travelers of the current century. And two other points (at least) in the final paragraph of that article:

Nothing, however, can excuse the widespread condoning of an anti-Muslim racism once reserved for the Jews of Europe. Not on the weekend when Amy Winehouse, a Jewish girl from East London whose artistry would once have been dismissed by a racist and murderous European right as degenerate “cosmopolitan” trash, died. A good way to remember her is finally to confront the latest iteration of a European bigotry that kills.

Amazing, ain't it? First of all, that "anti-Muslim racism" idiocy - from a luminary of NYT, no less. And then poor Amy Winehouse again - will the point scorers leave her alone, I wonder?

So, what can one do after all that? Do you know what: let's follow Bradley's advice and listen to that piece by Amy Winehouse:



And try to cheer up after all that crap...

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

Link between Anders Behring Breivik and Israeli Mossad explained - by Wayne Madsen

I wouldn't dare to quote from that opus. Go there, read and enjoy, it's sweet, uncharacteristically short and goes to the heart of the matter.

More on Wayne Madsen here.

Chomsky vs Chavez and/or Chomsky vs Guardian

Mastermind of the Century (the last one) decided to spice the current century. The story is simply delicious. It starts with an article by Rory Carroll where Chomsky criticizes Comical Hugo for his inhuman treatment of judge María Lourdes Afiuni, for his dictatorship, including hardly believable (for Chomsky) sentences like "Concentration of executive power, unless it's very temporary and for specific circumstances, such as fighting world war two, is an assault on democracy."

One might want to ask the Mastermind where has he been for the last twelve years, when Caudillo stripped Venezuela of its democratic institutions, building up his ersatz socialism. Weren't Chavez' intentions clear from the day one?

But let's go back to the story. Guardian, you see, was very excited for some reason about the rift opening between the hitherto best buddies: Noam and Hugo. So excited that the headline they've chosen says Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy. Which is a bit of exaggeration indeed: whatever Mastermind said is not such a scalding denunciation of Comical Hugo, rather a liver-spotted finger shaken in his general direction. Of course, our Mastermind, hilariously egged on by a blogger, blames the hapless Guardian in "extreme dishonesty". A classic case of pot calling kettle.

Well, the next act of the drama follows: The Guardian, hurt to its bone marrow by the accusations of the Mastermind (but also mindful of their previous clash with the latter) produces a transcript of Rory Carroll's interview. It's quite a boring reading and, to be frank, still doesn't support the headline that so riled the Mastermind.

So, we have here not only a rift opening between Chaves and Chomsky but also one opening between two important disinformation sources of the free world. Two birds and no stone wasted. Cool.

And, of course, as a bonus, the priceless correspondence between the Mastermind and Alek Boyd - the blogger mentioned already. Here is the second part of it. There are quite a few interesting passages in both parts, but I shall quote only a sentence:

The world needs to understand just how unhinged you, those you admire, and those who admire you, are, and these exchanges are just the perfect way to do it.

Indeed. I would suggest adding " and those who admire those who admire you" for completeness, but it's excellent as it is.

P.S. Still, I tend to disagree with Alek on Manning. Whatever the rights and wrongs, the man took the POTUS' dime.

Jolly Roger strikes again - after a decent interval

I am sure that by now the subject has almost exhausted itself. After all, how can the two or three readers of this blog be interested by the jolly Roger of NYT after a series of posts on same?

But what can I do? Really, the man defies any and all rules and/or limits put on obsessive behavior in polite society. So, after reading the new opus that again calls for rapprochement and, to be sure, "engagement" with Iran, titled (believe it or not) Iran Without Nukes, I have decided to have another go. Not that I hope for a change...

If you remember the Roger Cohen's "mea culpa" of two years ago, after a series of idiotic articles on "flawed but vibrant" democracy of Iranian Ayatollahs, crowned by the confession:

I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness.

Yes, Roger has erred - again, I have to add. Of course, he didn't just up and left, not without a defiant:

I’ve argued for engagement with Iran and I still believe in it, although, in the name of the millions defrauded, President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.

Obviously, the "decent interval" is over now, after two years, which is really a long time for Roger to hold his gushing waters of admiration for the "flawed but vibrant democracy". I confess I've expected a two or three months wait, but then the Arab spring happened, causing our Roger to be gushingly and tremblingly distracted, issuing another stream of admiring and, as usual, wrong predictions.

So what does Roger Cohen, the impervious and unstoppable torch bearer for Ayatollahs, say this time?

Iran is weak now, its ideology as tired as Osama Bin Laden’s, as marginal to peoples questing to reconcile their Muslim faith and modernity in new ways.

And a quote from Seymour Hersch, a New Yorker loony:

There’s just no serious evidence inside that Iran is actually doing anything to make a nuclear weapon.

And, similar to another Iran apologist, Juan Cole, reference to Mossad retired chief, Meir Dagan, on stupidity of a military move against Iran. But chiefly:

The nuclear bogeyman obsession has been a distraction from the need to try to tease out a relationship with Tehran, see Iran as it is.

See Iran as it is... this is the crux of the matter: this rare ability to see Iran as it is, awarded to selected few, like Sy Hersch, Juan Cole and, of course, our jolly Roger. The only problem is that many people see it differently, like in this, to take one of hundreds examples:

Iran has accelerated efforts to develop a long-range ballistic missile, despite tough international sanctions imposed a year ago, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported, citing an unpublished report by U.N. experts.

And:

These accounts coincide with a third U.N. report, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, dated May 24 that indicated the Iranians may be close to producing a nuclear warhead that could be carried by their intermediate-range ballistic weapons.

And:

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in the nine-page report his information was Iran has tested and manufactured the shaped explosives used with enriched uranium to create the critical mass that generates a nuclear explosion. He also cited information that Iran had redesigned the nose cone of the Shehab-3 so it could carry a nuclear warhead rather than one containing conventional high explosives.

But all this is, of course, just more war drums from the Zionist warmongers and their Pentagon ZOG puppets... ehehe. And, of course, the Zionist-friendly stooges in UN.

Well, what can I say about our jolly Roger. Another image - that of a habitual barroom brawler that picks himself up from the floor, wipes (with his sleeve, of course) the blood and snot from his damaged face and, with an appropriate war cry, stumbles back into the fray - comes to mind. No matter that the aftermath will be new "mea culpa" and broken bones - after a recovery, he will be back again, in the same old barroom...

So, a repeat requires another repeat, and I don't see any need to apologize. Here it is, to be repeated each time Mr Cohen repeats his BS:

Roger Cohen is just another link in the long chain of the fellow travelers (or useful idiots, take your pick), one of whom produced that masterpiece in 1924 for NYT:

Sad.


Judeopundit's view of same story.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com

Mea Shearim rabbinical court, dogs, lawyers, slow days

A Jewish rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a stray dog it feared was the reincarnation of a lawyer who insulted its judges, reports say. This is the most read story on BBC now. Must be a real slow day.

Yep, the Mea Shearim rabbinical court is a tough bunch of generally unsympathetic anti-Zionist ultra-orthodox jerk-offs. I can't imagine what they would do to a dog were it infested not by a lawyer's but by a reporter's soul...

Update: See a separate opinion by Judeopundit.

Scientists show that conservatives and liberals are thick

Imagine that.

Ayman al-Zawahiri is not my mom!

So why does he say (according to that): "Now you rejoice, but time will come when you will regret it"?

Is he supposed to do that? I am confused... really:

Michael Jackson photos to power the world

Another day, another good news:

Reginald Garcia will use cash from the sale of 130 unpublished Jackson photos to fund testing of the motor, which he claims generates more electricity than it uses.

Why do we need an intermediate device like that motor at all? I feel already charged after looking at the pictures in that article...

Zawahiri betrayed Osama bin Laden: Saudi paper

Well, well, what do you know?

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was betrayed by his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri who led US forces to his hideout as the two were involved in an intense power struggle, a Saudi newspaper has reported.

Ayman al-Zawahiri? The bloke that stops RPG rockets with his barenaked forehead? The one who eats infidel's hearts for breakfast? Nah... but read the rest of the story yourself.

US, Israel, Baghdad deny report of IAF jets in Iraq. So what?

The JP article US, Israel, Baghdad deny report of IAF jets in Iraq is, as usual, a typical Zionist obfuscation of truth. Here is a photo (from Elders' HQ and by a special permission, of course) that will tell you all:

You can easily distinguish IAF (Israel Air Force) pilots, dressed in seemingly innocuous garb, keeping a line for the food counters in an American air force base in Iraq. Not only was this garb designed to confuse any observer, it also drastically reduces the jet's visibility to radar.

So there.

Do you feel these fingers on your throat?

Somewhat grubby and shaky (as in "Parkinson's disease"), but still...

Details.

P.S. For Catch-22 lovers: do you remember that "Major Major and I will..."?

CNN - pumping some soporific into Muslim Brotherhood

Interestingly, MB are presented by the learned professor as pure lambs. What about dissemination of Hitler's Mein Kampf, assassination of Egypt PM in 1948, the roots of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda second-in-command, assassination of Anwar Sadar by MB offshoot Islamic Jihad. Etc...

As for the good professor - a short bio blurb:

Dr. Naim was born and brought up in India. Came to the US in 1981 and is now a US citizen. He earned his undergraduate degree in history with honors from the Aligarh Muslim University in India, a Master's degree in International Studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in India. He also earned another Masters in International Relations from the Australian National University and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is married with four children. 

Dr. Naim has taught and held research positions at the Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University in the UK, at the University of California Santa Cruz, and Union College in upstate New York. He is currently with the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University. His areas of specialization are International Relations in general and religion and politics, Middle East politics and Nuclear Proliferation. He has published on and taught these subjects for over 18 years. He is also a consultant on matters pertaining to Islam, the Middle East and South Asia.

Strange candidate to use as an expert on Egyptian affairs, isn't he?

As for the long-range aspirations of MB, here it goes, from Wiki:

The general goals and strategic plans of the MB are only found in Arabic documents. One for Europe called "The Project" was found in 2001 in Switzerland, another for North America was found in 2005 called the "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America. One citation from the document "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America" makes the objectives of the MB clear: "The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

No worries, folks, CNN knows better, apparently.

The future of the invisible warfare

This article boggled my imagination for a few minutes: Invisible Tanks, Planes and Armor Could Hit Battlefields in 5 Years. So much so that I have even developed an outline of a SF novel:

1. The military industries of all leading high-tech countries and, later, all other countries, begin to churn out invisible arms and ammo. It is relatively cheap, it works and soon displaces the old stuff.
2. Corrupt procurement folks in several places realize that, since the products they purchase from the military industries are invisible, they could order less for more money, without being caught. Of course, if they split the profit with the manufacturers.
3. Trade-unions realize too that this idea is a gold mine: after all they get paid for producing nothing at all. For a share of the profits they join the manufacturers and procurement.
4. Soldiers don't stay away from the conspiracy: for them, being invisible means that a soldier may as well stay home with his family or girlfriend.
5. The idea is simple and spreads all over the world. The percentage of non-produced weaponry grows. Non-production is good for the environment, so Greens jump on the bandwagon too...
6. In a generation, when the initially produced invisible weapons stop working, there remain no armies on the planet.
7. Only politicians and generals remain unaware of the real situation and continue with (totally invisible) exercises and parades of their invisible armies, declare invisible wars etc.
8. De facto peace descends on Earth.
9. This blissful state of affairs continues until a gang from one of the New York boroughs decides to raid an army armory to get themselves some of these famous invisible weapons. Armed only by clubs, the gang members discover...
10. North America becomes a kingdom. Other continents choose other forms of governance. The further story is not interesting, being a drab repeat of past history...

The yarn, however, is built on a flimsy premise: possibility of staying invisible by projecting videos of the surrounding countryside. If the inventors don't find a way to project in all frequencies - both visible to the naked eye and invisible - they haven't licked the problem. A soldier, armed by an infrared (or sensitive to other frequency) device will easily take care of that "invisible" tank...

So there...