Soccer Dad

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is speaking in baltimore, tonight

Sorry I'm late with the following announcement:

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi-Muslim journalist who has been beaten, imprisoned and charged with treason for publishing a newspaper which supports Israel, will speak this Tuesday evening, July 31, 2007 at 8:15 PM at Ner Tamid Congregation. In March, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution demanding that the Bangladesh government drop all charges against Mr Choudhury. This is a rare opportunity to meet and hear a brave voice against Islamic extermism. Sponored by Shalom USA Radio. For more information, call 443-226-1351.

The "most" songs

Elder of Ziyon has a departure from his regular fare with The most 60's song and wonders if "Incense and Peppermint" would qualify as the song that's most emblematic of the decade.

I like that pick, though my own preference would probably be for the early Beatles. "I wanna hold your hand" or "She loves you." But in addition the psychedelic sound and the Beatles (or more generally the British invasion) there were a number of other major trends. For example there was folk music (Maybe the most recorded song "Blowin' in the wind" ought to be considered) or Motown (is there a better pop song than "My Girl?").

For the 70's I'd probably go with "More than a feeling" by Boston. But there was also the California sound (Hotel California?) and disco ( Good Times) followed by New Wave and Punk that started at the end of the decade. (London Calling?)

I had originally associated the 80's with the MTV groups like Duran, Duran, Men At Work, Culture Club or Flock of Seagulls. I'd forgotten about Michael Jackson (Billy Jean or Beat it, maybe) or Prince (1999 - how's that for a song that represent the 80's?) And of course the Police, Dire Straits (Money for Nothing) and U2 were becoming huge.

The 90's I know little about. I suppose there was "Grunge." And in the world of Country music Garth Brooks became absolutely super.

So what to you think? Discuss here or at Elder of Ziyon.

A similar exercise from 2 years ago was Gut Music.

UPDATE: Or discuss this on your own blog! (If you do, let me know and I'll link to you!)

related posts on Soccer Dad.

pop music.

You can't hurry peace

In a fascinating op-ed, What use were all the wars? Mona Eltahawy writes

As the region marks the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli war, it's been a relief to be watching from another country, one where the stain of wars and defeat have marked several generations. But no relief or distance can silence this question: Is this what we fought all those wars with Israel for?

She goes on to argue that despite the peace treaties reached by Israel with Jordan and Egypt nothing much has changed in those countries. The citizens of those countries are no more free than they were prior to those treaties, so she doesn't expect that Palestine (when and if it comes into existence) will be a boon for its citizens either.

In short We have subsumed so much into the Palestinian cause, channeling efforts that should have gone into development into a near obsession with Palestine, for little apparent good. Egypt boasts that it can talk to both the Israelis and the Palestinians, but even that has done little for its influence in halting intra-Palestinian fighting in Gaza.

. . .

My generation, sadly, might be lost to defeat and humiliation. If so, the best gift we can offer those coming behind us is clear advice: Don't walk in our footsteps, and know that the best way you can help Palestinians is to help your own countries.

This is a variation on something Daniel Pipes

What went wrong?

Many things, but most important was that the deal rested on a faulty Israeli premise that Palestinians had given up their hope of destroying the Jewish state. This led to the expectation that if Israel offered sufficient financial and political incentives, the Palestinians would formally recognize the Jewish state and close down the conflict.

Israelis therefore pushed themselves to make an array of concessions, in the futile hope that flexibility, restraint and generosity would win Palestinian goodwill. In fact, these steps made matters worse by sending signals of apparent demoralization and weakness. Each concession further reduced Palestinian awe of Israeli might, made Israel seem more vulnerable and incited irredentist dreams of annihilating it.

The result was a radicalized and mobilized Palestinian body politic. In speech and actions, via claims to the entire land of Israel and the murder of Israelis, the hope of destroying Israel acquired ever-more traction.

and Fouad Ajami

Denied a sovereign political world of their own, the Palestinians came to believe that they could share in the sovereignties of other Arab states, that the armies of Egypt and Syria and Iraq, and the oil wealth of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, and the territories of Lebanon, were theirs for the asking. Few Arabs bothered to tell them otherwise, and the legend took hold of an Arab world forever in the grip of a Palestinian obsession. The "Palestinian cause" was there, an affliction and a supreme alibi of Arab politics, and the rival monarchs and dictators picked it up at will, offering dreams of vengeance against Israel, and wars of restoration.

have written.

What is needed then is a change in thought. No number of Israeli concessions and erasing red lines will bring peace.

There's a joke "How many psychiatrist does it take to change a light bulb? One, but the light bulb really has to want to change."

A qualification similar to the one underlying that joke might well be applied to the Middle East where the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin famously said that you only make peace with your enemies. You only make peace with your enemies, but your enemies must want to make peace with you, else they will just pocket your concessions and use them against you.

Peace in the Middle can't be achieved by Arabs constanntly demanding and Israel constantly giving ground. When Amir Taheri recently wrote that Israel needs to present a peace plan he was saying in essence Israel needs to make clear what its minimum requirements are. (Though I think that Boker Tov Boulder disagrees.)

Regardless, whatever the terms of a future of peace are, there won't be peace - there can't be peace - until there is a fundamental change in the Arab world. Certainly Mona Eltahawy's is correct that greater freedom would be a welcome step in the right direction.

UPDATE: apropos of Sabba Hillel's comment below, I was imprecise. Israel must make its case that there are certain red lines that it will not cross. The most obvious are dividing Jerusalem, going back to the 1967 lines and the right of return. For too long the non-negotiable Arab demands have defined the contours of the "peace process." Israel must make clear that those demands are unacceptable.

israel, middle east, peace process.

The spinnin' don't stop when you leave the cradle (of civilization)

Though he mentions is in a specific context, Seraphic Secret makes an important general observation,

The article is Googled, cited and quoted, and the wretched Arab propaganda spreads like a virus.

Let's see how this happens.

My Right Word objects to a word used by Ha'aretz. But it's more than just the word it is that the story that embarrasses the IDF and Israel. (OK, here's another way of looking at it.)

Consequently the NY Times picks up the story, Israeli Soldier Is Briefly Left Behind in Gaza.

An embarrassed Israeli military confirmed Sunday that a soldier from an elite brigade was left behind by his comrades in the Gaza Strip last week, and that he was extricated only after they had returned to base.

Even worse, said the Israeli news service Ynet, which broke the story, his comrades had answered for him during a verbal head count before they returned to Israel. The soldier had fallen asleep during a rest break about 700 yards inside Gaza, as the Israelis were returning from an incursion near Khan Yunis.

When he woke, he became frightened, fired tracer bullets into the air and waved a fluorescent lightstick to identify himself. Other soldiers then went to get him.

But the events, which are likely to result in severe disciplinary measures, were particularly upsetting to Israelis, who have been trying to secure the release of an Israeli soldier captured a year ago last June in an operation led by the militant group Hamas.

Now yesterday (or recently), a story broke, that the U.S. educated economist Salam Fayyad made statements that are indistinguishable from those of Hamas. Look how many positive modifiers are in in this backgrounder.

pro-Western
U.S.-educated Fayyad initiated major reforms
rejected feelers from Hamas
enjoys international backing

But he recently said that violence against Israel was legitimate

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said Palestinians have a legitimate right to resist Israeli occupation, even if the phrase does not appear in his new government programme.

“We are certainly an occupied people and resistance is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people as an occupied people,” Fayyad told reporters in Cairo, where he is leading the Palestinian delegation to an Arab League meeting yesterday.

(This is at the same time that Fayyad is calling for "tolerance".

An official English-language translation, released yesterday, of the policy document said that Fayyad’s administration would build a clear-cut strategy to “enhance the status of Islam as a religion of tolerance”.

At the same time, the platform said, the government would prevent “the use of Islam to justify killings, exclusion of others and destruction”.

Allowing that violence is justified while calling for tolerance makes no sense. More on this at Israel Matzav and Yoni the Blogger.)

Given that this statement contradicts the carefully cultivated image of Fayyad one would think that it would raise a red flag among media types who are always looking for a scoop. The problem is that the scoops they are looking for are those that confirm their world view; not those that contradict it.

Or consider the Washington that, in the past, has taken great pains to show that Hamas is more interested in good governance than in destroying Israel, is now reporting the Hamas is fighting terror effectively.

Egyptian border guards have found about 75 percent fewer tunnels from the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control there, an indication of the radical Islamic group's broad success in reducing the smuggling of weapons and other contraband, a top Egyptian border official said Sunday.

Hamas forces, which took over Gaza six weeks ago, now operate new outposts and watchtowers under the Palestinian flag along the nine-mile border between the Palestinian territory and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Palestinian border guards, identified by Egyptian and U.S. officials as Hamas fighters, have shed the ski masks that Hamas fighters usually wear. They have adopted military-style short haircuts and wear dark T-shirts, changes that symbolize the group's efforts to transform itself into a security force capable of bringing order to the rougher of the two Palestinian territories.

"They want to show in front of the world that they are nice, that they are in control," Egyptian army Col. Amr Mamdouh said.

The problem is that the Post's reporter might be the only one who's reporting this. An AP story - carried by the Post - using the same Egyptian Colonel as a source, Israel wounds seven in Gaza draws a rather different picture.

Egyptian authorities have discovered six tunnels in the border town of Rafah since Hamas took over Gaza in mid-June, after days of fierce battles with Fatah fighters loyal to Abbas, Mamdouh told reporters in Rafah.

He said the military could not say whether the rate of digging tunnels _ or discovering them _ has increased since the Hamas takeover. The Egyptians have found 138 tunnels since September 2005, when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, handing it over to Palestinian control.

After the Israeli withdrawal, Egypt beefed up its presence at the border, deploying 750 guards. The smugglers responded by digging longer tunnels, penetrating past the immediate border area.

(If I've read the two stories correctly, the Post's reporter used actual numbers of tunnels that Egypt reported finding, but left out the disclaimer that Egypt could not be sure if the rate of digging tunnels has increased or decreased. In other words, it doesn't appear that the Egyptian officer is sure that not finding tunnels proves that they don't exist.)

The narrative the MSM is pushing is that Israel has a peace partner in moderates and possibly even in those termed militant. Anything that makes the Palestinians look more reasonable is reported and emphasized, even if it is of dubious validity. The same happens for anything that appears negative for Israel. Scoops going against the MSM's conventional wisdom though, are rare, as the illusion of peace seemingly must be maintained at all costs.

israel, media bias.

When you're convinced you're right

One politician who absolutely frightens me is Gov. Elliott Spitzer of New York. His ambitions for office are so sweeping and his sense of righteousness is so strong that makes a potent combination. Last week he - or, more precisely, his administration - got caught up in a scandal. State police were used to collect information on a political rival. There's a brief summary of the affair at Contentions.

Gov. Spitzer has now availed himself of the usually friendly pages of the New York Times to issue An Apology from Albany

Though two independent investigations proved that no illegal activity occurred on my watch, it is crystal clear that what members of my administration did was wrong — no ifs, ands or buts.

I have apologized to Joe Bruno, the Senate majority leader, and now I want to apologize to all New Yorkers.

What you’ve been reading about in the papers and watching on television this week is not what we are about. In fact, it represents just the opposite.

On my first day in office, I brought my staff together and told them what our guiding principles must be: “First, we’re going to fight for what we believe in. And second, we’re going to maintain the highest ethical standards while doing it.”

Over the past few weeks, two members of my administration forgot that second principle — creating an appearance that the State Police were being used inappropriately.

If the actions taken were wrong why does he write that they created "an appearance?"

In order to have ethical standards one has to understand what is right and wrong. If behaving improperly is a matter of appearances and not of the nature of the action itself, my guess is that similar activities will happen again. After all when you're convinced that your overall goal is beyond approach no "appearance" should distract you from that goal.

eliot spitzer, new york.

The correction that wasn't

The Spine reports on a correction that the NY Times recently made:

"Because of an editing error..." and deals with mistakes in an article about Tony Blair's agenda as Middle East envoy of the Quartet. Specifically, the two errors concerned the statistics of Palestinian refugees and when they became refugees. Apparently, the original errors exaggerated the refugee totals: the article said "millions," not, as was the case, "about 700,000;" and the timing of their departure, not afterward, but before and during the war.

The article has a note at the end that the errors were corrected. But how could anyone have made the errors in the first place? Isabel Kershner, as the Spine points out, wouldn't have made those errors. That means that the errors were inserted during the editing process.

Not exactly a confidence builder.

new york times, media bias, israel.

Musical monday 5

I didn't have time last week for Musical Monday, so here is Musical Monday 5. I'd like to thank Malibu Stacy for the theme and songs (before the break) that come from the soundtrack of her life.

1. "I been Ayn Randed, nearly branded Communist 'cause I'm left-handed"
2. "Remember what the dormouse said"
3. "Do you know what it's like on the outside?"
4. "I was hoping for a replacement"
5. "Eyes that shine burning red, dreams of you all through my head."
6. "What a field day for the heat"
7. "Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles"
8. "He just grinned and shook his head"
9. "And I laid traps for troubadors who got killed before they reached Bombay"
10. "Sally, take my hand, we'll travel south cross land"
11. "Talking in our beds for a week"
12. "Reflecting the glow Of the winter moonlight."
13. "When I read the words that it told me It made me sad sad sad"
14. "I have never met Napoleon But I plan to find the time"

15. "You fill up my senses like a night in the forest."
16. "Meet me in the middle of the night."
17. "People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun"
18. "I wish that for just one moment you could stand inside my shoes"

Leave answers in comments or e-mail me at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com.

Answers from Musical Monday 4

1) I'm living for giving the devil his due
Burnin' for you - Blue Oyster Cult
2) If I could only see that familiar sunrise through sleepy eyes
Blue Bayou - Roy Orbison, Linda Rondstadt
3) Wouldn't you give your hand to a friend?
Midnight Blue - Melissa Manchester
4) And I nearly died from hospitality
Couldn't get it right - Climax Blues Band
5) It's stopped rainin' Everybody's in a play
Mr Blue Sky - ELO
6) Ain't love a funny thing, one day you're givin' up the dream
Out of the blue clear sky - Geogre Strait
7) She's got high-heel shoes and an alligator hat
Devil with a blue dress - Mitch Ryder
8) Money talks But it can't sing and dance
Forever in Blue Jeans - Neil Diamond
9) Do you want to hear me beg you to take me back?
Bellbottom Blues - Eric Clapton
10) When I smile, tell me some bad news
Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
11) Give me no reasons, give me alibis
Don't it make my brown eyes blue - Crystal Gayle
12) Can't afford to pass it by, Guaranteed to make you cry
Side Show - Blue Magic
13) Girl you just don't realize what you do to me
Hooked on a feeling - Blue Swede (yes I know also B. J. Thomas, but there's no "blue" in his name!)
14) A long, long time ago, On graduation day
Roses are Read (whoops!) - Bobby Vinton
15) You pay for this but they give you that
MY MY, HEY HEY (OUT OF THE BLUE) - Neil Young
16) Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list
Courtesy of the Red,White and Blue - Toby Keith
17) you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart
Blue Moon - lots
18) Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
Stuck inside of Mobile with those Memphis Blues Again - Bob Dylan
19) They wouldnt listen to the fact that I was a genius
Workin at the Car Wash Blues - Jim Croce
20) As she spells out regret in perfect time
She got the rhythm and I got the blues - Alan Jackson
21) A new day is comin' people are changin'
Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James and the Shondells

Thanks to Malibu Stacy, Elie's Expositions and Fiery Spirited Zionist for playing!

Tu b'blog II

Today is Tu B'Av on the Jewish calendar. (I blogged about it 3 years ago.)

It was a considered a time that was propitious for matchmaking

The last Mishnah in Masechet Taanit says, "There were no holidays so joyous for the Jewish People as the Fifteenth of Av and Yom HaKippurim, for on those days, daughters of Yerushalayim would go out dressed in borrowed white clothing (so that they would all look the same).

Three years ago I suggested that people try to introduce two eligible singles. And for singles I offered this advice that worked for me.

If you know a single person, why not pray for him or her? I remember hearing that Tehillim/Psalms 32, 38, 70, 71, 121 and 130 are particularly well suited for this supplication. So why not say these chapters of Tehilim tomorrow and have in mind that it is for the merit of the single people you know.

(Those Psalms are appropriate for a single person to recite also.)

But let me go one step further today. If you are single or know someone who is (and would be interested) why not send me a (your) name, age and two references. (to my g-mail address dhgerstman at gmail dot com ).

I have to limit my list to Orthodox Jews and the United States (preferably the East Coast) because that's where I have contacts. Ideally other bloggers could get involved so that we'd have a few (at least) lists to compare. Anyone else interested?

tu b'av

Haveil Havalim #127

Most recent editions of Haveil Havalim at Blog Carnival
#22 Mystical Paths
#21 Rabbinical Authority Consortium of HACKers
#20 Shiloh Musings
#19 Devarim
#18 Soccer Dad
#17 Mystical Paths
#16 Critical Mastiff
#15 Soccer Dad
#14 Multiple Mentality
#13 IsraPundit
#12 DovBear
#11 Kesher Talk
#10 Biur Chametz
#9 Soccer Dad
#8 It's Almost Supernatural
#7 Bloghead
#6 Willow Tree.
#5 Crossing the Rubicon2
#4 Dov Bear
#3 Biur Chametz

Let's Expand!

Canadian Jewish News has a current article, "Expanding the definition of 'kosher,'" picked up from American Jewish World and concerning the proposed "Hechsher Tzedek"--the Social Justice Hechsher! We learn:

Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., is passionate about both kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) and social justice. These concerns have developed into the Hechsher Tzedek (justice certification) movement, which brings social justice in the workplace into the discussion of kashrut.

"I really do believe that kashrut is a central part of Jewish life," Allen told the AJW . . .

Despite Rabbi Allen's kashrus centrality convictions, the reproach against normal kashrus observance and certification is not slow in arriving, of course:

"It is not enough anymore in the 21st century to say that a product is kosher according to the ritual debate," Allen said. "It is also necessary to ensure that a product matches our ethical debate."

The Hechsher Tzedek program will seek to certify foods that are produced in proper and healthy working conditions. Products that are certified will be stamped with the official seal.

To evaluate the social justice standards in the kosher food industry, the program will look at six areas: wages and benefits, worker health and safety, animal welfare, corporate transparency, employee training and environmental impact.

The big question is why is he picking on kashrus? I understand that this all came about because of allegations of poor working conditions at Agriprocessors, but if existing labor laws are not adequate to insure good working conditions and if laws addressing evironmental and other concerns are also not adequate, why doesn't he just develop a social justice certification for any product? Why not bicycles as well? The trouble with expanding definitions is that they often develop into blob-like masses of all-devouring goo:

"We are not interested in replacing traditional hechshers; our goal is essentially to supplement the fine work in determining the narrow definition of kashrut into something much broader," he said.

Both Rosenthal and Allen noted a growing spread of the scope of Hechsher Tzedek beyond the Conservative movement, and even beyond Judaism.

"We are capable of adding to the discourse in American religious life in general about what it really means to be a person of faith," Allen said. "Our goal is to demonstrate the holistic nature of Jewish life. All religions, Jewish and non-Jewish, are increasingly narrow in their focus."

There you go--he's out to fight the increasing narrowness of "all religions." So again, why pick on kashrus? Judaism does not have nearly the membership of some other world religions. Perhaps Rabbi Allen would be happier inventing eco-halal.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

LA Times: Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the Gaza Strip?

Somehow a story about surfing-as-freedom should not be so drearily predictable:

The surfer paddled out from the shore.

Lying on his battered board, he scanned the horizon. The turquoise water glittered in the midday sun.

Moments later, he caught a wave, effortlessly.

Back at the shore, Ahmed Abu Hassan, a 28-year-old Palestinian, pulled his board from the water and walked along the Gaza beach where green Hamas flags competed for space with red and yellow umbrellas. It looked as though Islamic militants and ice cream vendors had engaged in a turf war over the golden sand.

"It's a joy," said Hassan, a taciturn and graceful surfer.

If surfing is a quest for freedom, nowhere is such a pursuit more relevant than in Gaza, an overcrowded, poverty-stricken strip of land on the Mediterranean controlled by Hamas and cut off from the rest of the world by Israel. [...]

You can guess the rest. At the beginning of the next paragraph someone observes "Gaza is like a prison" . . . (The LA Times also currently features an article about someone who thinks "Islam is the ultimate sexuality.")

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Press TV (Iran): "Whose side is Al-Jazeera on?"

The pot calls the kettle a son of pigs and monkeys?

In a bid to undermine Iran's positive role in Iraq, Al-Jazeera TV network has made efforts to downplay the importance of the US-Iran talks, which can guarantee security in Iraq.

While the Iraqi government has described the second round of the talks as a big achievement for the Iraqi nation, the Al-Jazeera TV website tends to question Iran's positive role in the region by posting an article headlined "US and Iran clash at Iraq talks".

Al-Jazeera's attempt comes at a time when Iran, Iraq and the US have agreed on a new initiative to stymie the violence in Iraq while security experts from the three countries are slated to form a tripartite committee to support the Iraqi government.

Pundits did not expect such an early constructive result from the talks.

And still don't expect any kind of "constructive result" at all.

The Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, who headed the Iranian delegation, said that all sides had expressed their readiness to support the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and pledged to use their influence and clout to achieve this aim. Commenting on the results of the meeting, Qomi said, "If the talks make the US correct its policies in Iraq, it could be considered as a step forward."

Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari meanwhile said in a statement released on Tuesday, "This meeting has been challenging but productive and we feel it has produced some real results". He said the tripartite committee's objectives are "to battle al-Qaeda insurgents and support general stability in the country".

The Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh who described the talks as a big achievement for the Iraqi nation, said in an interview with al-Alam TV channel that the second round of trilateral talks was quite 'successful'. The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Bahram Salih also supported Iran-US agreements saying the talks would benefit the Iraqi nation, its neighbors and the US.

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker who headed the US delegation, also commented on the meeting saying, "We made the point that the agreement on principle is important and the principle that both Iran and the United States support is a democratic, stable Iraq."

He also said, "No people have suffered greater harm under Saddam Hussein than the Iraqis themselves, but second only to the Iraqis are the Iranians. The vicious eight-year-war that Saddam launched against them has to be something that no Iranian will ever forget."

Al-Jazeera has always tried to suggest that the Iran-US talks will be of no benefit to Iraq, but the question that remains is: apart from serving as a platform to broadcast footage of terrorist organizations, what does Al-Jazeera do in order to help the situation in Iraq?

Why does Al-Jazeera fuel sectarian and religious violence in Iraq and elsewhere in the region and try to undermine the efforts geared to improve security in Iraq? When all sides except the extremists seem satisfied and hope to defuse the crisis in Iraq, why is Al-Jazeera so angry about the trilateral negotiations?

Whose side is Al-Jazeera on?

They are subtly hinting at the answer with the image reproduced above.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Dar Al-Hayat: "Hizbullah's Ambush"

The Leftist line is that Israel planned the Lebanon war in advance. According to the present article (responding to this speech?) Hizbullah actually planned its cross-border raid in advance. The article is also nicely scornful of bellicose "Arab satellite channel" reporters and "truth twisting" apologists for Syria. The Western press could use more writers like this one:

Standing on the very same spot from which he covered last summer's war in Tyre, South Lebanon, a reporter for an Arab satellite channel pans his camera out to the sandy shore of the beach to reveal swimmers of all ages cooling off in the water under the summer heat. This reporter proceeded to assure his audience that these people - among others in South Lebanon and the Lebanese in general - were "prepared to sacrifice once more if such a sacrifice would lead them to another victory." He made this bold assertion without bothering to ask any of the swimmers in the water - whose numbers included many women and children - the position he had just taken in their name.

Anyone listening to the recent speeches of Hizbullah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah knows now that the ambush of Israeli soldiers that forced the Lebanese to make the sacrifices the reporter referred to was in fact three months in the making. Thus, the same Hizbullah that had been attending the famous national dialogue and reassuring the Lebanese that the summer and tourist season of 2006 would be a peaceful one was planning an operation that would inflict pain on Lebanon as a whole and not just on two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Throughout this planning, Hizbullah did not bother to grant others a say in the matter which would affect them - or to ask whether or not others were willing to pay the necessary price for Hizbullah's actions.

Hizbullah's reasoning bears a remarkable resemblance to the reporter's belief that he may speak freely on behalf of others without consulting them on his own plans for their future, and content himself with rallying them behind slogans of 'the road to paradise' - slogans fundamentally incompatible with the consensual democratic arrangement cemented in Lebanon's Taif Accords.

Sayyid Nasrallah went on to launch a scathing attack on Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and on his insistence throughout last summer's ceasefire negotiations on a full resolution of the issue of Hizbullah's weapons and on the state's monopolization over armed force in Lebanon. Thus, Nasrallah is condemning Siniora for implementing the duties delegated to him by the Lebanese people: the establishment and preservation of the power of the state rather than that of factions and parties. Nasrallah seems to have forgetten that it was Siniora who was relaying the conditions expressed by Israel through the United States government. This was due to Hizbullah's decision to use the Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament as a conduit in negotiations owing to the party's own political taboos and security constraints. By that reasoning, why does Hizbullah not also accuse Speaker Nabih Berri of pushing for the creation of an enclave dominated by multinational forces in Southern Lebanon?

As for Nasrallah's defense of Syria - who stood idly by while Lebanon was pummeled with several thousand tons of explosives - on the grounds that Damascus threatened Israel with military action should it take the war to Syrian territory, his statement is more an indictment than a defense. For it indicates that Syria is concerned only with her own security and not with that of its neighbor whom it dominated for years and with whom it has signed many a defensive pact. In addition, if Damascus' threats really prevented Israel from taking the fight to Syria, why did Damascus not issue warnings against attacks elsewhere?

So it seems that twisting the truth and switching positions are part of the 'politics of ambush' embraced by Hizbullah both publicly and in secret. And anyone who buys into the idea that the national unity government demanded by Hizbullah and its allies will remove Lebanon from destructive regional axes and restore peace and stability in the country has fallen victim to the politics of perpetual ambush.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

To engage or not to engage ...

Jon B. Alterman has advice on How to manage Assad.

First, despite all of their differences, the U.S. and Syrian governments share a variety of interests. Neither wants to see Iraq descend into chaos or break up, and neither wants an ascendant jihadist movement in the Middle East. Alliances have been founded on more slender reeds.

Second, there is little evidence to suggest that a cornered Syria is a more pliable Syria. The pervasive security apparatus, robust patronage system and utter lack of political alternatives suggest the Syrian government can remain in power indefinitely. The United States is not about to invade Syria, and while U.S. pressure can reduce Syrian economic growth, a quick look around Damascus makes clear that economic growth is not the government's highest priority.

Third, the cost of engaging with Syria is time and jet fuel -- and little else. The United States and Syria could -- and should -- embark on a series of parallel (if initially uncoordinated) efforts to pursue common interests. Over time, trust could be built to expand joint pursuit of shared goals. If it doesn't work, the United States can walk away without harm to its pride or prestige.

First, does Syria really have in interest in keeping Iraq from descending into chaos? This is an assumption that is dubious. If chaos in Iraq in any way enhances Assad's power, I suspect that he won't mind it.

Second, there's also no evidence that a doted upon Syria is more pliant either. President Clinton invested a lot of political capital in engaging Syria and found Bashar's father totally uncooperative.

Third, as Charles Krauthammer pointed out elsewhere on the page today, the cost can be higher than time and fuel

You don't want to be used for their propaganda. You need to know their intentions. Such meetings can make the situation worse.

Really there's little especially remarkable about Alterman's article except that anyone still believes that there's an advantage in engaging Syria. Barry Rubin recently pointed out in an interview with Michael Totten.

I think it depends on who you are looking at specifically. Those with little experience of Syria--naïve journalists and politicians rather new to the issue, especially in the United States--simply don't understand what is happening. What is most disturbing are the statements of former secretaries of state James Baker and Colin Powell, who have been stung by Syria but now seem to forget all the bad interactions and talk as if they had great success in managing Damascus. To hear both of them talk, they persuaded the Syrian regime to close terrorist offices during their tenure but those offices have always remained open. The next U.S. president might try to engage Syria and spend a year or so finding out that it doesn't work.

And it's also worth remembering that Hafez wasn't nearly as good a bet as he was portrayed. In the Word of Hafez al-Assad Daniel Pipes demonstrated that Assad Sr., despite the conventional wisdom violated nearly every agreement he made. There's no reason to assume that his son would be any more reliable.

syria.

On Al-Ahram planet, Pals have "acceptance of their enemy's humanity"

Yes. despite it all, they have not responded in kind to all that nasty Zionist hatred:

[...] The Palestinians are strikingly unburdened by the pathologies of their oppressors, not least of all because they do not reciprocate their occupier's widespread racism. Their responses to their sadistic dispossession and unbearable suffering run the gamut from peaceful to violent resistance, including the desperate barbarity of suicide bombings. Yet unlike their tormentors, they've not lost their humanity and essential decency, their acceptance of their enemy's humanity, their cultural generosity of spirit and life, their respect for the sacredness of all life . . .

The article, entitled "The closing of the Jewish mind" by the way, also includes the following anecdote, which the author finds important and illustrative:

[...] American Jewish sensibility is illustrated by a personal story. In September 2002, a local college organised a symposium on global peace. Hanan Ashrawi, an indefatigable humanist and proponent of Palestinian- Israeli peace, was the keynote speaker. The usual smear and pressure campaign was exerted on the college by Jewish organisations, portraying Ashrawi as a terrorist unfit to speak, organising loud protests on the college campus, bussing droves of people from a nearby city, and even flying in the fanatic Daniel Pipes to lead the protest. The school went ahead with Ashrawi whose address was global in substance, concerned with human rights and international institutions, hardly, if at all, mentioning Palestine-Israel. Because of lack of room in the packed auditorium, many, including myself sat on the grassy field and listened to Ashrawi through loudspeakers.

And there were these two: a Jewish man and his college-age daughter, sitting atop a picnic table, each facing opposite directions, bracing and balancing each other with their backs. I observed them with fascination as Ashrawi spoke, including their expressions and almost unconscious, incoherent mumbling and heckling as they rocked back and forth like an agitated seesaw, furiously chewing gum throughout a long talk, livid as they listened to Ashrawi say, well, virtually nothing about Palestine. I realised then the profound shutdown of the American Jewish mind. Ashrawi's topic was not on Palestine but they managed to experience what they expected. A total disconnect from reality. They were so utterly threatened and fixated on their hatred of this articulate Palestinian and what she represented that they literally did not hear what was, in the end, an innocuous talk, as far as they should be concerned. [...]

Crossposted on Judeopundit

The woman who wrote *spoiler alert*

via BuzzTracker
JK Rowling reveals some background relevant to the 19 years later epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to the Today Show.

But before we get into spoiler laden territory, there's the matter of the beginning of Harry Potter. Given the time that passed between the books, it's impossible that the books corresponded to years. But what hadn't occurred to me until I saw the dates that James and Lily Potter died, was that the events described in "... the Deathly Hallows" actually occurred in 1997-8, nearly 10 years ago . i.e. Harry entered Hogwarts in the 1991-92 academic year.

Now getting back to 19 years later.

*spoiler warning*

I have to admit that I'm disappointed that Harry ended up (in Rowling's telling) as head of the Auror department in the Ministry of Magic. I predicted that Harry would become the Defense against Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and think that would have been a much more interesting and appropriate job.

(Of course if he were a professor at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't have married Ginny. But wait, obviously Phineas Nigellus Black married else how could he have been Sirius's ancestor?!)

I also would have liked to know how George's business was doing. Had he become fabulously wealthy? And who'd be heading Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic (Percy?) two decades into the future?

Oh well.

UPDATE: Buzztracker

More Harry Potter on Soccer Dad.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

One and one for mr obama

A week ago the Washington Post, despite some reservations, praised Sen Barack Obama's speech on foreign policy in Mr Obama's Worldview

BARACK OBAMA, who has been chided for failing to supplement his inspiring rhetoric as a presidential candidate with substantive stands on issues, took an important step this week toward correcting the deficiency. In a 40-minute address to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Mr. Obama described a foreign policy that centers on continued American leadership in the world and a strong defense but that sharply differs with the Bush administration on Iraq and, at least in tone, on the fight against terrorism. The speech didn't cover some important areas, leaving the Illinois senator much more to explain as the campaign progresses. For example, he said next to nothing about trade -- a glaring omission in a speech that purported to outline a foreign policy for the 21st century.

Mr. Obama nevertheless made a worthy start at something we'd like to encourage: a vigorous debate on the issues during this extended presidential primary season.

. In particular the Post likes Sen. Obama's call against isolationism. In some aspects the senator sounded like a neo-conservative

He would support continued negotiations with North Korea and Iran while seeking to induce other nations to "ratchet up the economic pressure" on Tehran. "We must never take the military option off the table," he added.

(at least in that last part); in others he sounded unabashedly liberal

He would launch a global education program. He would double U.S. foreign aid to $50 billion by 2012.

However the Post seemed surprised (and perhaps uncomfortable) with what Sen Obama didn't say

Much of the Bush administration's usual depiction of the world after Sept. 11, 2001, is nevertheless missing from Mr. Obama's speech. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he does not use the phrase "war on terrorism." More remarkably, he doesn't mention Islam, much less Islamic extremism -- which Mr. Bush has described as a critical ideological threat to freedom inside and outside the Muslim world. Mr. Obama's advisers point out that much of the speech is directly or indirectly devoted to strategies to combat terrorists, counter their recruitment, and rescue failed or failing states. Still, Mr. Obama ought to explain more directly how he views jihadism. Is it an ideological challenge comparable to communism and fascism, as Mr. Bush contends, or merely an esoteric dogma held by bands of criminals, like the anarchism of the early 20th century? Is terrorism the central threat of the early 21st century, or, as some Democratic strategists argue, merely one of a panoply of challenges that include global warming, pandemics and the rise of China?

My guess: with a plank of a worldwide education program, Sen Obama adopts the latter view.

Sen. Obama had another chance this past week to address what his foreign policy would be in the famous YouTube debate where, Charles Krauthammer notes, he made a goof, in Strike Two for Obama (or href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/26/AR2007072601863.html">here))
For Barack Obama, it was strike two. And this one was a right-down-the-middle question from a YouTuber in Monday night's South Carolina debate: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?"

"I would," responded Obama.

His explanation dug him even deeper: "The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous."

On the other hand, his opponent, the Senator whose husband hosted Yasser Arafat more than any other head of state objected immediately,

She pounced: "I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year." And she then proceeded to give the reasons any graduate student could tick off: You don't want to be used for their propaganda. You need to know their intentions. Such meetings can make the situation worse.

Just to make sure no one missed how the grizzled veteran showed up the clueless rookie, the next day Clinton told the Quad-City Times of Davenport, Iowa, that Obama's comment "was irresponsible and frankly naive."

Despite what countries will say about the United States, they crave the attention of the United States as Krauthammer observes

To be on the same stage as the leader of the world's greatest power is of course a prize. That is why the Chinese deemed it a slap in the face that President Bush last year denied President Hu Jintao the full state-visit treatment. The presence of an American president is a valued good to be rationed -- and granted only in return for important considerations.

Too often that presence is too easily bestowed.

Despite the firestorm, I'm inclined to think that Sen. Obama meant exactly what he said.

more at memeorandum especially a nice argument at the Weekly Standard.

barach obama, foreign policy.

Council speak 07/27/2007

The council has spoken and it has named Little Noted but Long Remembered, Rightt Wing Nuthouse's lament about the decline of the space program the winner among council entries. Do you remember where you were when Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon? We were in Fenway Park watching the Red Sos beat the Orioles 6-5.

In the Shadows of fallen heroes from the Atlanta Constitution was named the best non-council submission of the week.

The runners-up among council members were Russia vs. the US: No contest by Cheat Seeking Missiles a meditation on entrepreneurship and Colossus of Rhodey's Boy was Thomas right an observation about race based remedies. Among non-council posts Don Surber's Name that Party: Investigators, part of an ongoing series of how the media report the affiliations of miscreants was the runner up.

If you're a blogger and would like to get in on next week's competition, follow these instructions.

watcher's council.

Condoleezza Rice Still Rewriting The Facts

Rice still has a habit of creating new facts on the ground.

She has falsely claimed that Gaza was at one time under Palestinian control.
She has called Hamas, recognized by the US government as a terrorist group--a resistance movement.
(see Condoleezza Rice Still Can't Get It Right)
Now Rice is ignoring what Bush has clearly said in public.

Arutz Sheva notes that Rice claimed:

that President Bush recently stated "very clearly that Israel's future will rest in Israel, in places like Galilee and in the Negev - and that the occupation of the West Bank will have to end, and a Palestinian state will need to be established."

However the reality is:

Pres. Bush also stopped short of saying Israel must withdraw from all of Judea and Samaria. Bush said rather that future Israel-PA negotiations must "lead to a territorial settlement, with mutually agreed borders reflecting previous lines and current realities, and mutually agreed adjustments."

Apparently the phrase "mutually agreed" poses some problems for Ms. Rice, which is borne out by Rice's history of demanding one-sided concessions from Israel to strengthen Abbas and Fatah--a strategy the success of which is plain for everyone to see.

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Israel and Condoleezza Rice and President Bush.

Harry W Potter

David Ignatius whose tastes are too sophisticated for Harry Potter tells us why literature is so important right now in Summer Escape Artists "

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" arrived at our house last weekend, all 759 pages -- two copies to be shared by my wife and three daughters. I'm missing the party, but only because of this summer's addiction to Anthony Trollope -- luxuriating at present in the 841 pages of "Can You Forgive Her?" with a mere 3,643 pages left to complete the sextet of the Palliser novels.

If ever there were a summer for escapist literature, this is it. The news of the real world is so bleak that it's a blessing to retreat for a while into the imagined worlds of fiction. There is a character in Evelyn Waugh's "A Handful of Dust" who, at the end of the book, flees London and is stranded in the Amazon jungle, where he is compelled to read the novels of Charles Dickens over and over again. That sounds pretty attractive right now.

But if he actually bothered to read Harry Potter, he'd see that there's not a lot of escapism in this summers pageturner.

Well if we go back a few years we have Harry's encounter with Professor Umbridge:

"As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page 245

He lied to get us into war.

"I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running around a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, page 306

His leadership of the war has been inept.

"We're nt the ones with the obsession, Harry! We're the ones trying to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, page 435

He was fighting the wrong war.

Perhaps the escapism that Ignatius seeks is not from the bleakness of the situation in our world, but from the lessons of Harry Potter. The myth of Harry Potter is about doing what's right despite the doubters and persevering despite the the cost because the cost of doing nothing is too much to bear.

So perhaps Mr. Ignatius is hiding behind his Dickens and Proust, not from the world around him but from the lessons of JK Rowlings' imagined magical world. Is it possible that, despite the errors, President Bush was right?

(I know I'm reading too much, way too much, into Harry Potter. Rowlings likely had the idea for the series before George W. Bush even governor of Texas. but hat doesn't mean that theree aren't some universal themes to the books.)

The furry reaper

You might be tempted to be flattered if cute Oscar the cat climbs on your lap to play with you. Don't be. If he does, you might well be marked.

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.

His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

oscar the cat.

Fadlallah - I hardly knew ya

via memeorandum

In its On Faith section the Washington Post/Newsweek organization gives Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah to pronounce his views on Islam. After delicately noting that he is "...a controversial figure known primarily for his support of the armed Shi’ite resistance movement, Hezbollah and for his uncompromising stance against the State of Israel" the WP/N folks let him speak. Contrary to what LGF writes, he doesn't seem to be claiming that Jihad is primarily peaceful, just that it's a last resort.

Of course the sanitized description of Fadlallah, doesn't note that he does fit into a legal category due to his affiliation with a terror group Hezbollah.

The Washington Post and Newsweek today has provided an online column for Hizbullah terrorist group supporter and religious leader Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah to discuss the nature of Jihad as a "defensive" struggle. The Washington Post column clearly describes Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah as a Hezbollah "supporter", stating that he is "a controversial figure known primarily for his support of the armed Shi’ite resistance movement, Hezbollah".

Hizbullah is a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and "Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah" is on the US Department of Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN). As reported by Newsweek itself, "In 1983, U.S. officials accused him of issuing a religious edict, or fatwa, that condoned the devastating truck bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut ."

Still other than his anti-Israel position he does possess another "progressive" credential.

As for the judiciary, there is a juristic opinion that allows the woman to be a judge. And it is a ruling I am in favor of.

See, he's all for equal rights for women as long as they're covered head to toe in burkas.

Really there's something perverse about giving this guy a platform to express his support for terror and extremism using terms borrowed from liberal Western thought.

also via memeorandum
Meanwhile Fadlallah's Syrian sponsors are again occupying Lebanon. (Where are all the news organizations who give voice to the claim that Gaza is still occupied even though Israel withdrew all of its citizens and military personnel from its borders?) Bret Stephens has details.

The news comes by way of a fact-finding survey of the Lebanese-Syrian border just produced by the International Lebanese Committee for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, an American NGO that has consultative status with the U.N. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, the authors have requested anonymity and have circulated the report only among select government officials and journalists. But its findings cannot be ignored.

In meticulous detail--supplemented by photographs, satellite images, archival material and Lebanese military maps predating Syria's 1976 invasion (used as a basis of comparison with Syria's current positions)--the authors describe precisely where and how Lebanon has been infiltrated. In the area of the village of Maarboun, for instance, the authors observed Syrian military checkpoints a mile inside Lebanon. In the Birak al-Rassass Valley, they photographed Syrian anti-aircraft batteries. On the outskirts of the village of Kossaya they found a heavily fortified camp belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in violation of U.N. resolutions and Lebanese demands.

After hearing in recent weeks that UN cartographer will (conveniently for Hezbollah, Syria, Iran) declare Sheba'a farms Lebanese territory (and thus give the UN's legitimacy to Hezbollah terror against Israel), Israel Matzav is right to wonder why the world is silent.

fadlallah, lebanon, hezbollah, syria.

Submitted 07/25/2007

In discussing What next in Iraq, the Glittering Eye argues that the current troop levels are insufficient to support the necessary operations in Iraq. Though (initially) opposed to the war he at least wants the war to be waged effectively and fears the consequences of an American retreat.

In False Posturing in Congress, Bookworm Room scores the Senate pajama party. Her arguments counter my Senator's (Ben Cardin) arguments quite well.

President Bush insists on continuing this “surge” policy. But the so-called “surge” is not working. Some of the most brutal acts of sectarian violence have occurred during the “surge.” For example, in March of this year, a truck bomb in a Shi’a neighborhood killed 150 people. The Shi’a-controlled police units responded by systematically kidnapping and murdering 70 Sunnis. This was not an isolated episode.

Cardin from what he said in the campaign doesn't believe that an American withdrawal would make matters worse. Obviously then, everything he sees, simply confirms his pre-conceived notions.

Done with Mirrors continues his campaign to make the world safe from snark, in Snark vs. Smart 2. The object of his derision is someone who decides to criticize Michael Totten. But Totten as Done with Mirrors observes doesn't necessarily try to draw larger conclusions about the subject of his reports, as his critic alleges.

JoshuaPundit again treads on the same territory I do this week with Palestinian Terrorists' Release - Rattlesnake Logic. He correctly scores Reuters and Abbas for making heroes of terrorists. His scathing comment here in response to Reuters was especially appropriate:

Mohannad had served 18 years of his 20-year-sentence in an Israeli prison for planting bombs in Israel. He said none had caused fatalities.

No fatalities? Does that he mean he just maimed people? Or does it mean that he would have been perfectly happy to kill innocent people, but was too inept?

Colossus of Rhodey.Hube turns his critical eye on the home front in Boy was Thomas Right. He observes that the idea that diversity is, by itself, a worthwhile goal in education and other experiments in social engineering have shortcomings or

Hope is great; reality and actual results can be sobering things, however.

The Education Wonks wish to educate Virginia's Clown Princes on basic fairness. It's fine to fine speeders excessively but don't make exceptions for out-of-staters. (I don't believe that the excessive fines come into play until there have been several tickets. Also, Gov. Kaine won't be returning to Richmond as governor, regardless, the Commonwealth's chief executives are term limited to a single term.)

Okie on the Lam takes a similar look at Congressional Democrats (to Bookworm Room) in Max Boot to Kissinger: Iraq isn't Viet Nam Henry and gets it right with

You gotta admit, you’ve not heard any support from the Democrat leadership for letting the Petraeus Surge Plan have even a little time to show that it can work. It’s more like they are afraid that it actually will work, and then they’d be up that famous sticky-brown creek with no paddles in sight.

Rhymes with Right writes about The Limits of Student Speech and School Authority. He makes the case (correctly) that speech a student engages in on her own time and resources should not subject to the purview of the school district.

In Russia vs. the U.S.: No Contest Cheat Seeking Missiles isn't discussing the relative sizes of each nuclear arsenal. Nope he's talking about entrepreneurial possibility. Great Story.

On the 38th anniversary of the first man walking on the moon, RightWingNuthouse wonders in Little noted but long remembered if anyone still cares. He lists reasons why (and laments that) no one, on either side of the (partisan) aisle, has much interest in pursuing further space exploration. See NASA's recent picture of the day.

Finally Big Lizards wonder about Dubai Ports Weird and seems skeptical of claims of secret reasons President Bush may have had for encouraging the Dubai Ports World deal last year.

My own contribution, like last week's, treads on similar ground to Joshua Pundit. In Prisoners to Prisoner Releases in which I wonder about why Israel is so quick to release prisoners without considering the damage it does to its arguments about fear of terror.

Read. Enjoy. Be informed.

watcher's council.

Daoud heal thyself

In "A destination not a road map" Daoud Kuttab argues that incrementalism is what's doomed the Middle East peace process.

We can no longer afford a step-by-step approach like the process begun in Madrid. In the past, plans employing incremental improvements have been targets for extremists seeking dates and locations to use to derail the peace process. Consider what a radical Israeli citizen did to Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. And Palestinian extremists have carried out suicide bombings and other horrific acts on the eve of Israeli elections and important redeployments, virtually guaranteeing the abandonment of Israeli withdrawal plans.

What we need, as suggested in the Arab peace initiative and a number of Palestinian-Israeli peace initiatives, is an agreed-upon final status -- something like the 1967 borders -- and the process to implement terms that will be agreed to by all parties. Otherwise, future summits will continue to fail.

One fallacy here is that the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin somehow slowed the peace process. It did nothing of the sort. In the two months following the assassination the new Prime Minister, Shimon Peres orchestrated the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Nablus, Ramallah, and Bethlehem in quick succession. PM Rabin had been hesitant to remove his soldiers from those towns, but after he was killed PM Peres was anxious to demonstrated that the peace process was viable.

But it's important to remember the lesson of these quick successive withdrawals: In a period of ten days in February and March of 1996 Israel was struck by a series of suicide bombings that killed over 60 people. (Israel had intelligence that there was a threat and closed the Palestinian areas. The first of these terror attacks occurred after Israel lifted the closure.)

Given the responsibility to secure the areas under his control (and obligated to by the Oslo Accords) Arafat allowed Hamas to build and operate a terrorist infrastructure. Given the untrustworthiness of Israel's partner, incrementalism was the only advisable course.

This paragraph is particularly bothersome:

Forty years after the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, Palestinians have yet to find the formula for liberation. They have attempted cross-border violence (late 1960s), Arab and international diplomacy (1970s and '80s), the first intifada (1987), secret talks in Oslo (1993), suicide attacks (throughout the 1990s and culminating in the second intifada), cross-border rocket attacks (2006 and this year), regional Arab initiatives (2000 and this year), international initiatives and peace envoys (since 1967) -- but nothing has succeeded.

Aside from his questionable timeline (cross-border violence started before 1967; cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza started in 2005, do the 3 noes of Khartoum constitute "Arab ... diplomacy?") what's notable about this argument is that half of them are violent. So if even he's acknowledging this aspect of Palestinian nationalism, why is he surprised that Israel has been somewhat less than forthcoming about the peace process.

But there's another issue here, the efforts at Palestinian independence listed by Kuttab are all descriptions of the Arab interaction with Israel. Nowhere does he write of the Palestinian obligations to themselves. The very fact that now, nearly 14 years after Oslo was signed, the PA has spent more time building a terror infrastructure than in building institutions of governance and industry. Had the PA worked seriously on the latter two, they'd have a state now. The political landscape of Israel would have required any Israeli government to make peace with a peaceable Palestinian government.

Instead Kuttab looks to the outside for help. All the American and international help won't create a state for the Palestinians unless they create it for themselves.

israel, terrorism, peace process.

Sharia "still not well understood"

From The Jakarta Post via Muslim News:

Five years after sharia was first implemented in Aceh, many residents, especially villagers, still do not fully understand it, an Islamic group says.

Many residents are unsure about its implementation, while some groups have politicized it, resulting in a focus on punishments like public caning and the requirement for women to wear a headscarf.

Better not to focus on the public caning.

Gazali Mohammad Syam of the Aceh Ulema Conference Council said there was a need to further familiarize locals with sharia and its regulations, especially in villages.

"Some people might still take sharia's implementation lightly, maybe because they have no knowledge on the matter," Gazali said.

He was speaking at recent meeting on five years of sharia in Aceh, organized by Mitra Sejati Perempuan Indonesia in Berastagi, North Sumatra.

The one-day meeting involved 20 participants from various groups in Aceh, including the sharia office, as well as officials, the police, ulema, academics, activists, lawmakers, the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency and several women's organizations.

Academic Arraniry Hamid Sarong said the poor understanding of sharia had become a serious problem and was beyond explanation given that sharia was introduced to Aceh in 2003.

Sharia was implemented in the province two years after the central government granted special autonomy to Aceh in order to curb the independence campaign conducted by the Free Aceh Movement.

"Back then, when sharia was about to officially introduced, everyone was in high spirits, so they forgot about hot to implement the law," said an expert from the State Institute of Islamic Studies.

He said public caning for men who do not perform prayers three times of Fridays was an example of sharia that had not been enforced correctly.

When the law first came in, people were in high spirits, he said, but when it came to implementing the law, everyone was confused.

"Everyone forgot how to find evidence that a man did not perform Friday prayers. It must involve the police, the prosecutor and the judge," Hamid said.

And then you can cane the guy?

Since sharia's implementation, several qanuns or local ordinances have been passed. They include bans on khamar (drinking), maisir (gambling) and khalwat (premarital sex).

Sharia also bans men and women from eating and selling food during the Ramadhan fasting month and forces Muslim women to wear the headscarf.

Since its introduction in 2005, the sharia court has dealt with 157 cases.

Hamid said the government and the community had a tendency to make things official but got caught up in jargons and symbols instead of getting to the core of the problem.

So much of life is like this.

"Now there is a need to make people understand sharia which has been made official," he said.

Apart from a lack of understanding and familiarity, critics have pointed the finger at officials, saying they have failed to be good role models.

Several officials and even a sharia police officer have been apprehended for premarital sex but escaped prosecution.

"It would be better if the sharia was implemented without making any exceptions," Gazali said.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Bedard's standard

Dan Haren - Game Scores > 75 - 1 / Avg Game Score - 60 / Best 3 game stretch - 216
Johann Santanna - Game Scores > 75 - 3 / Avg Game Score - 59 / Best 3 game stretch - 196
Jeremy Guthrie - Game Scores > 4 - 5 / Avg Game Score - 61.7 / Best 3 game stretch - 213
Mark Buehrle - Game Scores > 75 - 2 / Avg Game Score - 57 / Best 3 game stretch - 208
Erik Bedard - Game Scores > 75 - 7 / Avg Game Score - 61 / Best 3 game stretch - 253
John Lackey - Game Scores > 75 - 1 / Avg Game Score - 55 / Best 3 game stretch - 197
Chad Gaudin - Game Scores > 75 - 2 Avg Game Score 51 Best 3 game stretch - 196
Justin Verlander - Game Scores > 75 - 2 / Avg Game Score - 57.5 / Best 3 game stretch - 216
Josh Beckett - Game Scores > 75 - 1 / Avg Game Score - 57 / Best 3 game stretch - 197

(The number of Game Scores above 75; Average Game Score and best 3 game stretch for the current 10 leaders in AL ERA. Here's a definition of game score. Game score is a measure of a pitcher's dominance; 75 was an arbitrary cut off marking the best pitched games.)

Friday night's game held some drama for Oriole ace Erik Bedard: He had a no-hitter through five innings again Oakland. But then

... Ellis, quickly ended the drama by hammering Bedard's 1-0 pitch over the scoreboard in left field.

Left fielder Jay Payton raced back and looked as though he thought he might have a play for a second, but the ball disappeared into the seats. Bedard barely flinched, quickly turning to plate umpire Bruce Froemming to call for another ball before Ellis had even touched home.

The possible disappointment on missing out on a no-hitter, though, shouldn't obscure a different truth.

Erik Bedard is having an incredible streak (and a fine season).

Over his last three games - 23 innings - he has allowed a single run, six hits and 5 walk. He has also struck out 33, saw his ERA drop by half a run and faced only 7 batters above the minimum. His dominance can be measured by the cumulative game score of 253 he has accumulated over those three starts.

So how has Bedard's season compared with other leading pitchers in the American league? I isolated certain aspects of game score and Bedard ranks with the top pitchers in terms of dominance and consistency.

No other AL pitcher has dominated as Bedard has this year over a three game stretch. His average game score is not the highest - he's had a few bad outings - but it is close the top - including a no -decision as recent as July 2. But he also has accumulated the greatest number of game scores 75 or greater among American league pitchers. The latest three game stretch may well mark a peak for him this year.

The Orioles are amazed.

In winning his fifth straight decision, Bedard, who is now 9-4 with a 3.12 ERA, allowed just Ellis' home run and walked three while striking out 11. How dominant has Bedard been? In his past three outings, spanning 23 innings, Bedard has surrendered just one earned run and allowed only six hits. He also has struck out 33 batters during that span.

"What the guy is doing now, is he's dominating," Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley said. "He's making it look easy. He's throwing all his pitches for strikes. When he's pitching, the guys know they have a chance to win."

Hall of Famer, Jim Palmer is impressed too.

"I just think it's an evolution of pitching three or four years and having overwhelming talent," said Palmer, who has more wins (268) than any other Oriole. "There's never been a doubt about that."

(h/t Sox and Dawgs)

Cookin' with Gas looks at the stats for more than a year and concludes

I think Erik Bedard has a darn good argument as one of the best five pitchers in MLB right now. In fact, the only one I see who is really better (when taking things such as league and park into effect) is Johan Santana.

Throughout the year Bedard has been one of the top strikeout pitchers. He currently leads in that category of Johann Santanna (by a significant margin). The Orioles may be having a disappointing season, but Bedard has been about as good as a pitcher could be.

There may not be much to root for at Camden Yards this year, however Erik Bedard's continued success is great to see.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

erik bedard, baltimore orioles.

Prisoners to prisoner releases

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN INTERIM AGREEMENT
28 Sep 1995

ARTICLE XVI Confidence Building Measures

With a view to fostering a positive and supportive public atmosphere to accompany the implementation of this Agreement, to establish a solid basis of mutual trust and good faith, and in order to facilitate the anticipated cooperation and new relations between the two peoples, both Parties agree to carry out confidence building measures as detailed herewith:

1. Israel will release or turn over to the Palestinian side, Palestinian detainees and prisoners, residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The first stage of release of these prisoners and detainees will take place on the signing of this Agreement and the second stage will take place prior to the date of the elections. There will be a third stage of release of detainees and prisoners. Detainees and prisoners will be released from among categories detailed in Annex VII (Release of Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees). Those released will be free to return to their homes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

2. Palestinians who have maintained contact with the Israeli authorities will not be subjected to acts of harassment, violence, retribution or prosecution. Appropriate ongoing measures will be taken, in coordination with Israel, in order to ensure their protection.

3. Palestinians from abroad whose entry into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is approved pursuant to this Agreement, and to whom the provisions of this Article are applicable, will not be prosecuted for offenses committed prior to September 13, 1993.

The particular were laid out here.

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN INTERIM AGREEMENT ON THE WEST BANK AND THE GAZA STRIP

Annex VII Release of Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees

1. The release of detainees and prisoners, as agreed upon in Article XVI of this Agreement will be carried out in three stages.

2. The following categories of detainees and/or prisoners will be included in the abovementioned releases:

a. all female detainees and prisoners shall be released in the first stage of release;

b. persons who have served more than two thirds of their sentence;

c. detainees and/or prisoners charged with or imprisoned for security offenses not involving fatality or serious injury;

d. detainees and/or prisoners charged with or convicted of non-security criminal offenses; and

e. citizens of Arab countries being held in Israel pending implementation of orders for their deportation.

3. Detainees and prisoners from among the categories detailed in this paragraph, who meet the criteria set out in paragraph 2 above, are being considered by Israel to be eligible for release:

a. prisoners and/or detainees aged 50 years and above;

b. prisoners and/or detainees under 18 years of age;

c. prisoners who have been imprisoned for 10 years or more; and

d. sick and unhealthy prisoners and/or detainees.

4. The third stage of release will take place during the permanent status negotiations and will involve the categories set out above, and may explore further categories.

In the first group, paragraph 3 was supposed to guarantee safety for Arabs who had helped Israel. Of course the PA never respected this paragraph and killed those who had helped Israel.

The point of the prisoner releases was to say, let bygones be bygones. Certain behavior - such as terrorism - was a thing of the past and would be forgiven - up to a certain point. Of course what about those who engaged in terror after Oslo, why should they be considered for release? They showed their contempt for the peace process. And yet releasing said prisoners now is said to be a "confidence building measure."

There's also a tendency to portray those imprisoned as harmless or those involved in political activities. Take this Reuters article.

Amal has barely managed to sleep since hearing Israel is to release her husband, political leader Abdel-Rahim Mallouh, along with more than 250 other prisoners as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas.

A top official of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Mallouh, 61, has been held by Israel since 2002. He has more than two years left of a jail sentence imposed for being a member of an illegal organization.

Here's a profile of Mallouh from a terrorism database. His latest activities were

Mallouh became head of PFLP's political department in 2000. After the death of Mustafa al-Zibri he ran for Secretary General of the PFLP but was defeated by Ahmed Sa’dat, becoming deputy Secretary General. He was arrested by Israeli forces on June 12, 2002.

There seems to be no information that he was necessarily involved in terror. On the other hand Ahmed Sa'dat against whom he ran was thought to be involved in the killing of MK Rehavam Ze'evi - though Israel didn't try him for that crime. It's far from certain that involvement in the PFLP means just political organizing.

However the Reuters article reports later

"I have a dual role: that of the father and the mother," the housewife said with a broad smile while sitting at home, surrounded by Palestinian flags and huge posters of Mallouh and Marwan al-Barghouthi, a Fatah uprising leader seen as a possible future successor to Abbas but who remains in an Israeli jail.

"remains in an Israeli jail" what a sanitized way of saying that he's serving five consecutive life terms for his involvement in murders. But that's the way prisoner releases are reported - Israel in an effort to boost the image of Mahmoud Abbas is releasing prisoners who they arrested in an overreaction to terror.

But the actual statistics show that those arrested were arrested for good reason. IMRA provides the list of average time served for the prisoners being released.

1. Sentenced for attempting murder Number: 61, Range of sentence: 2.08 - 9.51 years, Average sentence: 5.59 years

2. Sentenced for shooting
Number: 78, Range of sentence: 1.33 - 13.01 years, Average sentence: 5.43
years

3. Sentence for planting bomb or incendiary material
Number: 67, Range of sentence: 1.17 - 20.01 years. Average sentence: 4.97
years

One of the prisoners was profiled yesterday in the Washington Post

Israeli police arrested Faten Daraghmeh four years ago in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel. The mother of seven children wore a vest packed with explosives, and she later informed her family that she had planned to blow herself up inside a crowded shopping mall. Instead she went to jail.

The reporter, Scott Wilson, describes this heartwarming moment:

Three of her daughters waited with the chanting throngs for their mother, who had served just over half her sentence. As she appeared in the window, the crowd lifted up Noura, a 4-year-old in an embroidered tunic, and Shuruq, a 5-year-old in a frilly white party dress, to ride with their mother before the bus zipped toward Abbas's presidential compound for a partisan celebration.

Then at a time she was attempting to blow Israeli mothers with children to pieces, Faten Daraghmeh had an infant and toddler at home. What sort of cruel society produces such people? This isn't the product desperation but of deep and depraved hatred. And yet these attempted murderers are not shunned but celebrated by the "moderate" in their society!

Wilson also makes a valuable point that Israel released nearly 900 prisoners in 2005 to boost Abbas only to have Hamas win parliamentary elections some months later. So this prisoner release, in addition to rewarding terrorists may not even have the desired political effect.

There is something perverse as to the way the terrorism issue has become the prisoners issue. By going easy on attempted murderers again and again Israel undermines the seriousness of the terror war waged against it.

israel, prisoner releases.

Haveil Havalim #126 is UP

R' Chaim HaQoton has posted Haveil Havalim #126, the "No small feat" edition.
Comprehensive and with commentary, no less. Go check it out.

And go to the end for the links to the latest Kosher Cooking Carnival and JPix!

BlogCarnival is scheduled to honor Haveil Havalim once again as its featured carnival this coming Wednesday!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of haveil havalim
using our carnival submission form. (This makes things a lot easier for the host than e-mailing links.)

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: haveil havalim, blog carnival.

UPCOMING EDITIONS

July 29 - #127 - Soccer Dad
August 5 - #128 - Soccer Dad
August 12 - #129 - Soccer Dad
(If someone wishes to volunteer for any of these editions please let me know!)

I'd like to thank the wonderful folks at BlogCarnival for this wonderful Blog Carnival Widget that gives information on upcoming hosts and past editions.

Thanks for participating, reading and keeping Haveil Havalim going!

However is someone decides that he/she wants to host in the future let me know at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com or use the BlogCarnival Contact form.

Remember, that while the hosts and hostesses of Haveil Havalim do a wonderful job of editing and searching for interesting posts, they can't see everything. If you want a better chance of being included in Haveil Havalim please submit one or two posts for inclusion.

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Technorati Tags: Blog carnivals, haveil havalim, Israel, Judaism.

Most recent editions of Haveil Havalim at Blog Carnival
#22 Mystical Paths
#21 Rabbinical Authority Consortium of HACKers
#20 Shiloh Musings
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#18 Soccer Dad
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#16 Critical Mastiff
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#14 Multiple Mentality
#13 IsraPundit
#12 DovBear
#11 Kesher Talk
#10 Biur Chametz
#9 Soccer Dad
#8 It's Almost Supernatural
#7 Bloghead
#6 Willow Tree.
#5 Crossing the Rubicon2
#4 Dov Bear
#3 Biur Chametz

Northern California Jewish News: Customer told "Jews need to be killed"?

Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, a San Francisco store that has received some notoriety because of an anti-Israel boycott, is now back in the news. According to Northern California Jewish News, a customer was subjected to an "Alleged anti-Semitic tirade":

“Paper or plastic?” is a checkout line conversation-starter David Alexander Nahmod has heard a million times.

But “Jews need to be killed, it’s the only way to get them off Palestinian land” and “You’re just a stupid Jew” are snippets he says he heard at the checkout line once — and that was enough.

Nahmod, a 51-year-old freelance writer and Sephardic Jew, recently filed a complaint with San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission claiming discrimination when a counterwoman at the Rainbow Grocery Cooperative allegedly showered him with anti-Semitic invective late last year.

Nahmod further claims that when he complained to customer relations about the incident, the attendant told him to leave him alone or he’d “whoop” him.

Rainbow officials declined to field j.’s [Northern California Jewish News] numerous phone calls. One member of the store’s board abruptly hung up during a phone interview, while another demanded that an interview request be submitted in writing. It was. We then received a fax claiming Nahmod was banned from the store because of his “continued documented harrasment.” [...]

Sounds incriminating. And you can't say that "j" isn't sympathetic to progressive people.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

IRIB: "'In Name of Democracy' reveales [sic] US plots"

Imprisoned American-Iranian scholar Haleh Esfandiari was recently shown on Iranian television making an apparently coerced confession. Her daughter writes in the Washington Post:

The program . . . was supposed to show Iran and ostensibly the world my mother's complicity in a plan to undermine the Islamic Republic using, of all things, female activists and academics. But the footage turned out to be a typical secret police job of deception, vicious in intent yet clumsily contrived.

(The Guardian's charming title for an article about the confessions was "US academics admit aiding Iran democracy drive.") "In the Name of Democracy" is a phrase from Esfandiari's statement that was used as the title for the television program. This IRIB article, interestingly and typically, does not mention Esfandiari and two other supposed conspirators by name:

Interim Friday Prayer leader of Tehran Ayatollah Sayed Ahmad Khatami said on Friday in his second sermon confessions of three American agents proved Washington is after launching soft and velvet coups not only in Iran, but also in many other countries.

From here until the end the original article is in boldface.

According to IRNA Political Desk reporter from central campus of Tehran University, addressing thousands of Tehrani worshipers, this week's Friday preacher of Tehran added, "This policy has worked in some countries, but in Iran, it has faced defeat, just like the other failed American policies on Iran."

Khatami reiterated, "In order to pursue its interferences in independent countries of the world, the American officials always backs up the process of soft coups, resorting to promotion of Western culture in so-called civil societies, creation of gaps be tween the nations and their governments through crisis generation and systematic activities of certain individuals, and launching psychological wars."

He added, "Then in the long run, taking full advantage of the press, mass media, and intellectual circles, and launching feminist campaigns, they try to reap the fruits of their vast scale efforts."

Pointing out that getting involved in such broad activities aimed at interference in foreign countries costs millions of dollars, he once again referred to the confessions of the arrested American agents in Iran, arguing, "Those confessions have enraged the country's statesmen and press, prompting them to react angrily."

Ayatollah Khatami reiterated, "During the past fifty years the American officials has directly or indirectly interfered in the internal affairs of 25 countries of the world militarily, and the funny thing is that Washington also claims it is after the establishment of democracy throughout the world."

Member of the Leadership Assembly of Experts highlighted the Islamic Republic of Iran's role in preserving stability and security in the Middle East region, adding, "Iran's policies regarding Iraq have always been aimed at promoting security measures there and serving the oppressed Iraqi nation, and yet America has always, resorting to fake pretexts, been accusing Iran of interference in Iraq's affairs."

He added, "The American officials policy in Iraq today is aimed at bringing the Ba'th Party back to power, and fueling the flames of tribal and sectarian wars there."

Elsewhere in his second sermon, Ayatollah Khatami referring to the Palestine issue, said, "In Palestine, the government and parliament took shape relying on people's votes, but you noticed how the oppressive powers treated that government and that parliament."

He added, "Now the world nations know very well that the only matter about which America does not care about the slightest bit is establishment of democracy, and that at the peak of that country's ideals there is exertion of America hegemony in as many independent countries in the world, as possible. [...]

Crossposted on Judeopundit

My day in the sun

Some 'Potter' fans keep tome shut, lips sealed

David Gerstman, 46, of Baltimore, also received his copy, a gift from his father-in-law, early from DeepDiscount. He said he has resisted peeking at the ending.

"It's actually a very clever marketing ploy," the computer programmer said of the timed released. "I give them a lot of credit for building up the suspense."

I actually had a very nice conversation with the reporter. I boasted about our 8 year old who's completed the other six and is now looking forward to reading the new book. (One of his parents will have to read it first!)

I got the impression that he wasn't nearly as impressed with Scholastic's embargo until a specific time. But releasing the book in that fashion makes it an event. Given that there have been surprises in every book it's been good to give everyone a fighting chance to read the book without having the surprises ruined. It's a phenomenon that doesn't happen frequently at all and I enjoyed it.

More than that, from now on because of the movies and the general penetration of Harry Potter-mania into our culture there aren't likely to be many surprises left. Why not enjoy the surprise this just once?

There was something about the Jon Hopkins story on Tuesday that didn't quite add up, now it's explained.

Jon Hopkins, a 25-year-old software engineer from Davidsonville, had received his copy from DeepDiscount on Tuesday. He provided his copy to The Sun, where his sister-in-law works. Sun reporter Mary Carole McCauley wrote a review of the book that appeared online Wednesday afternoon and in print yesterday. The Sun did not pay for the book.

More Harry Potter on Soccer Dad.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Juggling carnivals 07/20/2007

Incoming Carnivals

July 8th Carnival of the Insanities, generously included me near the top.

July 15th Carnival of the Insanites again included me near the top.

Though I don't have anything in it, there's plenty of interesting stuff at Harry Potter Carnival #50 at the PenSieve.

Please check out the latest Kosher Cooking Carnival at Mother in Israel.

It's our wits that make us men is hosting the latest Carnival of Maryland.

And though it's not a carnival thanks to Jack's Shack for including me in his linkfest!

Upcoming Carnivals

You have one more day to contribute to Haveil Havalim scheduled to be host at R' Chaim Haqoton this Sunday.

The next edition of Carnival of Maryland is scheduled at Maryland Politics Today, on July 29.

Council speak 07/20/07

The Council has spoken and chosen Bookworm Room's Harry Potter and the Ostrich Syndrome - reflection on everyone's favorite boy wizard and how the symbolism of his struggle relates to today's news, as the winning council post. The winning non-council post was Myths and realities of the George Bush Presidency at TCS Daily, which explained why the Bush administration isn't nearly as bad as its opponents portray it.

Among council members, there was a three place tie for second place among Right wing nuthouse's Are conservatives really hoping for another 9/11?, Done with Mirror's Pangloss as well as my A President's quick fix legacy playground - the middle east. The runner up this week was All things Beautiful's Politics of terror reign supreme.

watcher's council

Sunni cum laude

Charles Krauthammer observes the results of the surge and likes what he sees in the 20% Solution. (or here.

That's why so many Sunnis have accepted Petraeus's bargain -- they join our fight against al-Qaeda, and we give them weaponry and military support. With that, they can rid themselves of the al-Qaeda cancer now. And later, when the Americans inevitably leave, they'll be better positioned to defend themselves against the 80 percent Shiite-Kurd majority they are beginning to realize they may have unwisely taken on.

The bargain is certainly working for us. The recent capture of the leading Iraqi in al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate is no accident, comrade. You capture such people only when you have good intelligence, and you have good intelligence only when the locals have turned against the terrorists.

The place of his capture -- Mosul -- is also telling. Mosul is where you go if you've been driven out of Anbar and Diyala and have no other good place to go. You don't venture into the Shiite south or the purely Kurdish north where the locals will kill you.

In other words support the unpalatable against the monstrous in order to forge a bond with the former and thwart the latter. It doesn't sound so bad when applied to Iraq, but I have to admit a hesitation to its application to the PLO, which has shown no signs of reform.

That's exactly the strategy the Mark Helprin outlined yesterday (and I blogged about) in Forced to get along.

The principals, the important Arab states and the leading powers of the West are arrayed against a radical terrorist front that, unlike the one in Iraq, is geographically fractured, relatively contained, terribly poor and very much outnumbered. Anything for the worse can happen in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and usually does; but now the chief pillars of rejectionist policy lie flat and the spectrum of positions is such that each constructively engaged party can accommodate the others.

In the heat of a failing war, historical processes have unfrozen. If Israel and the Palestinian Authority can pursue a strategy of limited aims, concentrating on bilateral agreements rather than a single work of fallible grandeur, they may accomplish something on the scale of Sadat’s extraordinary démarche of 30 years ago. The odds are perhaps the best they have been since, and responsible governments should recognize them as the spur for appropriate action and risk.

Both these views are strangely consistent with an essay written by Edward Luttwak back in January, "Two Alliances" in which he argued

The Iraq war has indeed brought into existence a New Middle East, in which Arab Sunnis can no longer gleefully disregard American interests because they need help against the looming threat of Shiite supremacy, while in Iraq at the core of the Arab world, the Shia are allied with the U.S. What past imperial statesmen strove to achieve with much cunning and cynicism, the Bush administration has brought about accidentally. But the result is exactly the same.

So has America both in Iraq and in Israel chosen to side with the Sunnis against the radical Shi'ites, or have the Sunnis come running due to American miscalculations? (I know Hamas is Sunni, but it is backed by Iran. For the purposes of this exercise, Hamas is a Shi'ite power.)

Previously I wrote about Luttwak's article here (bringing some items that seemed to support Luttwak's description of what was happening) and here (contrasting it with the view of Fouad Ajami.)

Regardless of what's going neither process is likely to be successful except over the long term. If this is the correct path will the United States have the will to stick both out? Or will the desire for a quick solution make the country shift strategies again and start over again in 18 months?

UPDATE: Thomas Ricks gives some details of how this is going in Iraq. Will the friends the Americans make now persist or turn on them later, as commenter Gregg suggests? I have no idea, though it is certainly a real fear. The hope is, of course, that working together for a common goal will forge bonds of friendship that won't easily be broken.

News like this make me even more skeptical of this program regarding Israel and the Palestinian Authority, if even the so-called moderates won't get with the program.

More links at Buzztracker.

president bush, iraq, middle east, israel.

Shards of potter

A blast from the past

You scored as Hufflepuff, "You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil" Some fellow Hufflepuffs: Cedric Diggory, Ernie MacMillan, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Professor Sprout Hufflepuff 83% Ravenclaw 71% Gryffindor 67% Slytherin 42% Which Hogwarts House do you belong in? created with QuizFarm.com

h/t Meryl Yourish for the next one

You scored as Ron Weasley, You often feel like second best and as a result don't have an awful lot of self confidence, but a truer more capable friend would be hard to find. Ron Weasley 85% Sirius Black 70% Remus Lupin 65% Harry Potter 65% Lord Voldemort 55% Albus Dumbledore 55% Severus Snape 50% Draco Malfoy 50% Ginny Weasley 45% Hermione Granger 30% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

I'd like to thank Galley Slaves for linking to me a second time this week. And check him out for other last minute predictions. Also thank to Harry Potter Prognostications for linking and check out their final Podcast. (No spoilers!) The Book Club at Slate is discussing possible endings for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Harry Potter by the Numbers

More Harry Potter on Soccer Dad.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Landmark Hearing for Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries

LANDMARK HEARING FOR JEWISH REFUGEES FROM ARAB COUNTRIES: Here is the summary of the article by Andrew Bostom that appears on American Thinker:

Recognition for the Silent Jewish Refugees
By Andrew G. Bostom
Summary

The bicameral Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) will hold a landmark hearing on Thursday July 19th regarding the hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to flee their communities in the Arab Muslim nations as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Oriental Jews suffered profound violations of their basic human rights under the Islamic regimes throughout North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf Region.

This persecution -- including pogroms and expropriations -- caused their subsequent flight despite longtime residences in these countries. The two decades following World War II witnessed a rapid dissolution of the major Jewish communities in the Arab Muslim world (and beyond, including Afghanistan, as well as the significant attrition of the Jewish population in Turkey). Even the first decade after World War II saw a reduction by half in the overall Jewish population of the Arab countries.

The July 19, 2007 congressional hearing on Jewish refugees has an immediate, practical goal of providing US legislators with preliminary information before voting on House Resolution 185 and Senate Resolution 85. Under the proposed legislation, the US president would be required to instruct all official representatives of the United States that "explicit reference to Palestinian refugees be matched by a similar explicit reference to Jewish and other refugees, as a matter of law and equity." The historical legacy of this mass Jewish exodus elucidates the bare minimum equity provided in these resolutions. This Thursday's CHRC hearings provide a unique window on the legacy of dhimmitude and Islamic antisemitism which caused the tragic exodus of some 900,000 Jews from the Arab (and non-Arab Muslim) nations, liquidating most of these ancient communities.

But the occasion of these hearings should also serve as a clarion reminder that this is a living legacy for those vestigial remnant Jewish populations still living within the Arab Muslim world, as well as the larger populations of Jews in both non-Arab Iran (in particular), and even Turkey. Finally, it must be acknowledged that this same animus-born of general anti-dhimmi attitudes and specific Islamic antisemitism-has reached genocidal proportions when directed at the Jews of Israel, nearly half of whom are Oriental Jewish refugees and their descendants.

[Hat tip: Larwyn]
by Daled Amos
Read the entire article.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Congressional Human Rights Caucus and CHRC and Jewish Refugees.

The long view

Yesterday I expressed my skepticism towards President Bush's proposed conference for Middle East peace (and quote a few others who were similarly skeptical.)

But since then Michael Oren has looked at President Bush's speech and seen a lot to like about it. In The Bush Doctrine Lives, Oren writes

In addition to the prerequisites stipulated for the Palestinians, Mr. Bush set unprecedented conditions for Arab participation in peace efforts. He exhorted Arab leaders to emulate "peacemakers like Anwar Sadat and King Hussein of Jordan" by ending anti-Semitic incitement in their media and dropping the fiction of Israel's non-existence. More dramatically, Mr. Bush called on those Arab governments that have yet to establish relations with Israel to recognize its right to exist and to authorize ministerial missions to the Jewish state.

Accordingly, Saudi Arabia, which has offered such recognition but only in return for a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders, will have to accept Israel prior to any territorial concessions. Mr. Bush also urged Arab states to wage an uncompromising battle against Islamic extremism and, in the case of Egypt and Jordan, to open their borders to Palestinian trade.

However later on, Oren writes

Unfortunately, many of these pioneering components in Mr. Bush's speech were either implicitly or obliquely stated, and one might have wished for a more unequivocal message, such as that conveyed in his June 2002 speech on the Middle East.

There are a few problems with Oren's optimism.

Israel Matzav

And one thing he is apparently not after is a replacement for Abu Mazen, who represents the same old-line, corrupt, cowardly, terror abetting 'Palestinian' politician that Arafat represented. Instead, Bush refers to Abu Mazen as a 'man of peace.' He is anything but a man of peace. And the 'Palestinians' still have not taken one step towards filling the prescription that Bush gave them in 2002. But instead of telling the 'Palestinians' to go back and do their homework, the President is giving them another opportunity to get to steps 2 and 3 (Israeli suspension of settlement construction homebuilding and an international conference) without them first fulfilling step 1 - fighting terrorism.

Daled Amos

If the US is not going to state clearly what it expects to happen in the area, how are we to expect the PA--or future US administrations, for that matter--to live up to commitments in the area? Or is Israel the only one who should be committed...?

JoshuaPundit

In two words, I think Oren is indulging in wishful thinking.

He's imputing :

(1) That Israeli concessions would come after `recognition', which is not how the Arabs have ever played the game...and the Saudis have explicitly said that the Israelis had better take the whole bundle, including the right of return nonsense or face war. There's nothing in the speech that would lead me to read that into it

(2) That those territorial concessions, even without the right of return would be to Israel's benefit.

A conference on Middle East peace is a showpiece. It has to produce results. What makes this an appropriate time to push for one? The President said

To realize this vision, these leaders are striving to build the institutions of a modern democracy. They're working to strengthen the Palestinian security services, so they can confront the terrorists and protect the innocent. They're acting to set up competent ministries that deliver services without corruption. They're taking steps to improve the economy and unleash the natural enterprise of the Palestinian people. And they're ensuring that Palestinian society operates under the rule of law. By following this path, Palestinians can reclaim their dignity and their future -- and establish a state of their own.

The problem is that any progress on those fronts has yet to be realized. Abbas, all along, has been part of the problem. He was Arafat's #2 ever since Arafat was allowed into Gaza in 1994. He never objected to Arafat's betrayal of Oslo. He never stood up. Except when his own dignity was at stake. But he never objected to the terror.

Any progress made before the President's conditions are fulfilled will be meaningless. And yet the President seems to be pushing for a conference unconditionally.

The lack of clarity in the President's speech is another major problem.

Take the recent news item about the Israeli release of prisoners. Originally in Oslo, the prisoner releases were meant as a good faith measure to signify that the PLO had changed and was no longer involved in terror. So anyone who was in jail only for political activity would be freed. However (at Arafat's insistence) it morphed into something else. It became a get out of jail free card for even those involved in terror after the Oslo Accords were signed. So prisoner releases went from being a symbol of the PLO's reform to a confirmation of its continued involvement in terror.

Any aspect of President Bush's speech that isn't clearly defined (and even some that are) will be defined in a way that is inimical to Israel's interests.

A more specific criticism of President Bush's speech is his continued reference to a "contiguous" Palestinian state. There's no way that it can be contiguous. And if it is contiguous, there's no way that Israel can be. That's basic geometry.

As if to answer my question about what's changed, Mark Helprin argues

Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and Palestinian president, is weak in many ways, but he has decisively isolated the radicals.

It didn't look to me as if he isolated the radicals though. It looks as if he was forced to flee when the radicals took over. At best, they isolated themselves.

Be that as it may, Helprin argues further

The starving and oppressed Gazans who watch Hamas fire rockets, the chief effect of which is to summon Israeli tanks, may soon see a prosperous West Bank at the brink of statehood and at peace with its neighbors and the world. The quarantine of Gaza will cast a bright light upon the normalization of the West Bank. And although Hamas leaders portray Mr. Abbas as a collaborator, it is they who may be held to account for keeping more than a million of their own people hostage to a gratuitous preference for struggle over success.

That is a little more plausible and he concludes

In the heat of a failing war, historical processes have unfrozen. If Israel and the Palestinian Authority can pursue a strategy of limited aims, concentrating on bilateral agreements rather than a single work of fallible grandeur, they may accomplish something on the scale of Sadat’s extraordinary démarche of 30 years ago. The odds are perhaps the best they have been since, and responsible governments should recognize them as the spur for appropriate action and risk.

True, but that's hardly an argument for a conference that will raise (false) expectations of a "major" breakthrough and have its success judged on that basis.

Let the Palestinians show (against the weight of historical evidence to the contrary) that they can build a functioning government that's devoted to the welfare of its people and not the destruction of Israel, and then there will be reason to talk. There's little point in doing so now.

More in support of Michael Oren's view at Michael Totten.

president bush, israel.

Harry potter and the big oops

The spell is broken (from the Baltimore Sun)

And in Maryland, one surprised customer opened his mail to find his own copy -- delivered four days before the official worldwide release. Jon Hopkins, a 25-year-old software engineer, said he has no plans to divulge the book's secrets.

"I couldn't believe it," he said yesterday after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows arrived at his Davidsonville home. He had ordered the book from DeepDiscount.com on June 3. On Friday, he received an e-mail saying his order had been shipped. He never thought it would come this early.

I e-mailed this article to my wife who called me later and reminded me that her father had ordered us a copy via DeepDiscount. I said that I knew that and wondered if we'd be receiving our copy early also.

Sure enough I got a phone call when she got home, "It's here."

She also told me something else. Apparently Scholastic had gotten hold of a shipping list from DeepDiscount and had called my father-in-law offering him a gift certificate in return for a promise not to read the book until Saturday.

Needless to say, as the article tells us, Scholastic was none too pleased with what happened.

So the publisher wasn't happy to hear of the case of Harry Potter and the Early Delivery.

"You're kidding me," said Kyle Good, a Scholastic spokeswoman. The company has spent millions orchestrating the launch of the last Potter book -- and Internet leaks or early delivery of the novel could spoil that plan.

Apparently DeepDiscount also realized that it had messed up.

Broggi said DeepDiscount.com is in the process of shipping an unspecified number of Potter books from its warehouses in Chicago based on estimated delivery times provided by the U.S. Postal Service. Shipping from Chicago to New York is estimated to take five days. Shipping to Maryland and points south takes even longer.

"Apparently, this one streamed through incredibly quickly," Broggi said of Hopkins' copy. He didn't know how many other copies would arrive early. "It's a freak accident. I would say all we ask is for it not to be read or to keep the ending to yourself."

My guess is that a lot more than one "streamed through incredibly quickly." DeepDiscount used MediaMail which doesn't guarantee a specific delivery time but that the item will be delivered between 2 and 21 days.

At Scholastic, after Good looked into the early delivery yesterday, she said she was satisfied that a "human error at the distribution level" had caused the book to be shipped earlier than it should have been. Asked whether DeepDiscount would suffer for its transgression, she said, "We'll have to talk with them about how we handle it."

Well by now we know that Scholastic has initiated legal action against DeepDiscount. (The NY Daily News article on the topic shows the cover of the Bloomsbury edition of "... the Half Blood Prince." Anyway , Dumbledore is holding his wand in his left hand.)

Apparently, though, DeepDiscount could have worked with the Post Office instead of guessing about delivery times. I'd also guess that unlike the Sun's or Daily News articles. there are many more copies of the book out there than Scholastic initially estimated.

Thousands of copies of the book are in the U.S. Postal Service pipeline. But postal workers have been warned to hold the books until Saturday, said spokeswoman Monica Suraci. The post office expects to deliver about 1.8 million Harry Potter books.

"Our mandate is to hold them so nothing goes out before Saturday," she said. "We've done a great deal of internal outreach on a lot of different levels to reassure that our folks are containing Harry Potter and do not go before that date."

The Wall Street Journal has a lot more including a link to the text of the lawsuit and details about how distributors would ensure that the books would not arrive early.

Those familiar with the direct-mail business weren't shocked that some customers have gotten early copies, but said some would be upset. "This is a big oops," says Denny Hatch, who writes an enewsletter called BusinessCommonSense.com. John Schulte, president of Minneapolis-based National Mail Order Association, a professional organization of people involved in direct marketing, says mistakes happen. "Everything is run by humans, and if somebody typed in the wrong ship date, then you have a problem," he says.

The New York Times reports that

Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic’s trade and book fairs division, said the company had a list of people who had ordered “Deathly Hallows” from DeepDiscount.com and was currently calling them to ask them to put aside the book until 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

That is consistent with my father-in-law's experience.

More Harry Potter on Soccer Dad.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Submitted 07/18/2007

The watcher's council has submitted its articles for this weeks' voting.

Leading off this week's lineup is Pangloss by Done with Mirrors. He refutes the argument that there's no reason to fear terrorism because it is so rare. He argues that we ought to fear it because of the intent its perpetrators possess to do us harm.

Next up is Colossus of Rhodey.Hube's Mutants, Civil Rights and Fundamentalism in which he critiques the argument of Chris Claremont author of the X-men that the conservatism of the Reagan years could have led to his totalitarian fantasy of government hunting down mutants. (Yes, he thinks the argument ridiculous.)

In Another one that flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Education Wonk tells the story of Francisco Rodriguez. In a Kafka-esque twist of fate he finds himself on the hook for paternity payments for a child, who has been shown by DNA testing, is not his. Rodriguez missed the filing date to contest paternity. Of course that was because he was informed too late to make the deadline.

In Harry Potter and Ostrich Syndrome, Bookworm room explores the popularity of books that have heroes facing evil enemies with no excuses for the evil, just an understanding that it must be defeated. (To be fair The Half Blood Prince does go into Voldermort's background; but it doesn't excuse it.) She draws lessons from this for our own post 9/11 world.

Right Wing Nuthouse asks Are Conservatives Really Hoping For Another 9/11? Short answer, "no." Slightly more detailed answer: It's not that conservatives/Republicans are hoping for another 9/11, it's that they want the nation/world to unite behind their view that there are evil people out there capable of pulling off another 9/11 and that we need to confront and defeat them. The problem is

Of course, this throws up all sorts of questions about the leadership of President Bush, Republicans in Congress, and conservative intellectuals who have failed miserably in making the case for this wider war on terrorism to the American people.

Okie on the Lam says "Kiss my prius ...," or how he stopped worrying and learned to love global climate change. Just because the Prius runs cleaner doesn't mean that it doesn't introduce environmental challenges all its own. (In fact a little while ago someone discovered that building a Prius was a lot less environmentally friendly than building a regular gas guzzling car.)

In Pope reaffirms teachings of Vatican II, Rhymes with Right defends the Pope against political attacks from those who don't understand Church doctrine.

Cheat Seeking Missiles looks at What's wrong with this story, specifically an opinion piece by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley that got placed on the op-ed page under "Opposing Viewpoints." There's nothing wrong with Hadley's piece except its placement, the opposing editorial though is a bunch of incoherent nonsense.

The Glittering Eye tries to imagine Two Stories or, perhaps, two scenarios: one of an American victory and the other of an American defeat in Iraq. In the end he argues that the only consideration must be what is good or bad for the American interests. While he didn't think that the invasion of Iraq was a good idea, he doesn't see a withdrawal furthering American interests. (In fact he sees it as a disaster.)

Big Lizards is happy that Bush muzzled Sturgeon General .... He points out that the reorganization of the office of the Surgeon General came about with significant help from Democrats in Congress, so the President hardly took the action alone. He also points to some of the more unusual views of recent Surgeon General's past, arguing that they ought to come under some sort of control.

Like me JoshuaPundit takes aim at President Bush's recent statement on the Middle East in President Bush and Peace in our time. It's an argument I agree with wholeheartedly. I won't summarize the article but this paragraph is it in a nutshell

If the Palestinians want to elect a terrorist, Islamist government to represent them, they have every right - just as we have every right not to give them a dime, notwithstanding the current occupant of the White House and his desire to prove to his Saudi `allies' how even handed he is when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict .

and by all means, read the whole thing.

My entry this week is A president's legacy quick fix playground - the middle east in which I, too, argue that President Bush's push for a conference is an unfortunate repeat of the actions of his predecessors to score a diplomatic victory at Israel's expense.

I guess it's only right that I should point out that this morning I received and an article that Michael Oren has written article defending and praising President Bush's initiative, The Bush Doctrine Lives. Oren argues, rather than traveling down the path of appeasing the Arab world at the expense of Israel, President Bush defined very clear red lines demonstrating his appreciation of Israel's position.

According to Mr. Bush, the Palestinians can only achieve statehood by first stopping all attacks against Israel, freeing captured Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, and ridding the Palestinian Authority of corruption. They must also detach themselves from the invidious influence of Syria and Iran: "Nothing less is acceptable."

In addition to the prerequisites stipulated for the Palestinians, Mr. Bush set unprecedented conditions for Arab participation in peace efforts. He exhorted Arab leaders to emulate "peacemakers like Anwar Sadat and King Hussein of Jordan" by ending anti-Semitic incitement in their media and dropping the fiction of Israel's non-existence. More dramatically, Mr. Bush called on those Arab governments that have yet to establish relations with Israel to recognize its right to exist and to authorize ministerial missions to the Jewish state.

Accordingly, Saudi Arabia, which has offered such recognition but only in return for a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders, will have to accept Israel prior to any territorial concessions.

I can see Oren's argument to a point. The problem I still have is that a conference brings with it, its own pressures, especially the pressure to accomplish something. President Bush's commitment to Israel may be beyond question, but given his politically weakened state and the way the conference is likely to be portrayed there is little doubt that it will amount to little more than pressuring Israel to make concessions while getting precious little (if anything) in return.

And if I may point out, right now the story that Iraqis are entering the U.S. across the Mexican border is gaining attention due to a story on the Blotter (via memeorandum). This past week us watcher's council voted an earlier incarnation of that story the top post of the week. It's nice to be ahead of the curve!

Read. Enjoy. Be informed.

watcher's council.

Deadline deals

Now is the time when major league teams will decide if they have a realistic chance of making the playoffs or not. If they do they will look for players who can strengthen a weakness. Still teams need to balance their immediate needs against their long term needs. If they give up too much in a trade and don't make the post-season will they regret the move?

Ken Rosenthal gets to the crux of the problem.

"Prospects are overvalued," one general manager says. "Four to six years ago, perceived certainty (from veterans) was overvalued, and zero-to-six players weren't nearly valued enough.

"Now it's completely changed. The attrition rate on prospects isn't being valued or properly considered. There's zero regard for the attrition rate right now."

The attrition rate, of course, is one reason that teams stubbornly hold onto prospects, knowing that not all will produce.

But shrewd teams — most notably, the Braves — evaluate their youngsters objectively and trade players they determine to be marginal.

(The anonymous GM is speaking too generally. There are still a number teams where experience is over-valued.) But it's not always so easy to see the future. Still nowadays the tools are there for evaluating talent more accurately than in the past.

Dayn Perry gives a rundown of what various contenders (and near contenders) need. Sometimes his suggestion is to sit pat and wait for a player to improve or to use a player already on the roster more frequently.

More interesting still is Keith Law's (free preview) overview of the borderline contenders and what they need. For the seven teams he evaluates, he makes specific recommendations.

Obviously this is one of the hardest parts of the game. In 2000 the Orioles had a selling spree, trading off a number veterans: Mike Bordick, Mike Timlin and B.J. Surhoff, and the only player of value they got back in return was Melvin Mora. (The supposed "crown jewel" of all these trades was oft-injured pitcher Luis Rivera from Atlanta. He never made it to the bigs due to injuries. Nor did the Orioles learn their lesson when they traded Sidney Ponson, the key player to the deal was the injured Kurt Ainsworth.)

Right now the Orioles have a few players that could be attractive to the right team: Keith Millar, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker. Can the Orioles get anyone of value in return. None of these three is likely to bring more than one prospect in return. Hopefully, if the Orioles trade anyone they won't be looking for help this year and will take a chance on a AA player with an upside instead of a AAA suspect. Recent history hasn't been encouraging.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

baseball, baltimore orioles.

Potter bits and pieces

1) Writing in the Washington Post Ron Charles laments Harry Potter and the Death of Reading (via memeorandum)

Of course, it's not really a question anymore, is it? In the current state of Potter mania, it's an invitation to recite the loyalty oath. And you'd better answer correctly. Start carrying on like Moaning Myrtle about the repetitive plots, the static characters, the pedestrian prose, the wit-free tone, the derivative themes, and you'll wish you had your invisibility cloak handy. Besides, from anyone who hasn't sold the 325 million copies that Rowling has, such complaints smack of Bertie Bott's beans, sour-grapes flavor.

Amazing. This guy considers Harry Potter a cult that enforces a loyalty oath?! Where's Harold Bloom?

The Moderate Voice rebuts this kind of immoderation nicely

And the idea that popularity equates to a debased cultural conformity simply skips right past the simpler explanation that a book might just occasionally be popular because its author has tied into a set of shared common experiences in a way that genuinely appeals to people.

Pretentiousness has morphed in recent years to take the form of belief that lack of popularity is an indicator of quality. Many indie music fans begin from the assumption that more popular forms of music are mass-produced and contrived by focus groups and ad agencies and, therefore, that indie music is superior. The much simpler explanation — that much indie music is not popular because it is terrible music — is overlooked on the rush to pretentious self-congratulation.

2) In Harry Potter and the Grumpy Old Dude, Baseball Crank offers his review of movie of the "...Order of the Phoenix." The one actor he can't abide is Michael Gambon who hasn't even bothered to read the books!

But that brings us to the larger flaw that could utterly sink the sixth film if not repaired: Michael Gambon is an awful Dumbledore, taking a vividly drawn character and reducing him to just another grumpy, gruff old guy who can do some magic. All the things that make Dumbledore so impressive on the page - including those aspects that Richard Harris brought so ably to life in the first two films - are missing here: the sense of commanding power, the wry and mischievous humor, the serene confidence, the Fred Rogers level of gentleness.

He also notes that Kenneth Branagh wasn't in the movie. I realize it wasn't a big part, but I also believe that if Lockhart had had his scene in the movie it would be the first time Branagh and Emma Thompson appeared in a film together since their divorce. I know that's worthless trivia.

3) The Almanac of Miscellaneous Merriment reviews the film in Sir Kenelm Digby's Birthday, or The Day We All Should Go Watch Harry Potter, July 11th

Even with the rushing, I think they got all the important characters, plot elements, and themes covered. I liked that this really wasn't a children's story any more. It's the beginning of a dark time for Harry and his friends and the colors in the film and play of light present that mood well. The editing and story-flow was a little choppy, but I hope there will be an extended version that will smooth that out a bit. Umbridge was perfect. Bellatrix was perfect. I even liked how they worked with Snape's character.

4) In Six, Five before Seven Elie's Expositions presents some random thoughts about Harry Potter including

A Jewish, religiously observant Hogwarts student - or any Wizard for that matter. Imagine the questions! Can "Incendio" be used to light Chanukah candles? Can you Apparate to shul on Shabbos? Where do you get kosher-certified ingredients for potions?

I also wondered about this in the world of superheroes. Could the Human Torch ignite himself on Shabbos? Would it make a difference if he did it in anger? I'm guessing that simply changing forms - like Ant Man - wouldn't involve any prohibitions of work on Shabbos, though.

More Harry Potter in Soccer Dad.

A president's legacy quick fix playground - the middle east

Whenever a President needs to consider his legacy, he turns his attention to the Middle East, seeking the Holy grail of Middle East peace. Given the number of burning wreckages of Middle East Peace processes it's amazing that anyone still thinks that he can convene a conference or negotiations and produce a significant result. The problem isn't that such an approach hasn't been tried before; it has many times. The problem is that there's an element that's still something missing from one of the parties. So what prompted President Bush's speech last night?

Regardless, the media cheer leaders for "doing something" are ecstatic. The New York Times reports Bush to Bolster Abbas and Seek Peace Talks

President Bush announced an initiative on Monday to shore up the Palestinian president and to begin building a Palestinian state, signaling that his administration will use its remaining months to make a major push for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr. Bush called for a regional peace conference this fall to be led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that would include high-level Arab envoys and their counterparts from Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. He exhorted Israel’s Arab neighbors to open talks with Israel and to show leadership by “ending the fiction that Israel does not exist” and “stopping the incitement of hatred in their official media.”

He also urged them to send cabinet-level visitors to Israel, a request directed implicitly at America’s closest Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, which has refused to do so.

“With all these steps, today’s Arab leaders can show themselves to be the equals of peacemakers like Anwar Sadat and King Hussein of Jordan,” Mr. Bush said.

He even took a rare jab at Israel, using the word “occupation” to refer to the Israeli presence in the West Bank.

It's good that the President apparently wishes Saudi Arabia to acknowledge Israel. However that should have been stated explicitly. The "jab" at Israel, is, of course, every peace processor's obsession: the occupation. But then the article goes on to explain the reasoning behind the President's initiative.

For several years, the Bush administration has eschewed direct engagement in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and has refused to press Israel to dismantle settlements or to sit down at the table with Palestinian counterparts to discuss a future Palestinian state.

But now the United States is mired in Iraq and looking for a way to build good will among Arab allies that have pushed for America to re-engage in Middle East peace talks. Administration officials also are hoping to capitalize on growing anti-Hamas sentiment among leaders in Egypt and Jordan. Both of those countries have diplomatic relations with Israel; the big question remains whether Saudi Arabia, which does not, will embrace the administration’s approach.

The point of the proposed conference is not to achieve peace but "... to build good will among Arab allies." This is what's been wrong with most peace efforts to date. Good will among Arab allies involves putting diplomatic pressure on Israel, the only party to these conferences or efforts subject to diplomatic pressure. (Since the Israeli public wants peace, an Israeli leader defies American pressure at his own risk. Netanyahu believed that agreements meant something and that Arafat not be given a free pass when he violated past and present agreements. Clinton believed that the peace process must go forward regardless and that Netanyahu - and his insistence on compliance - was an obstacle to peace, so Netanyahu suffered an ignominious defeat at the polls in 1999. Ironically, it could be argued that in the post Oslo era, "the peace process" was most effective during Netanyahu's term as Prime Minister. There was less terror and the Palestinians benefited from the strongest economic ties with Israel during those years. A Palestinian keeps his "credibility" with his constituency by refusing to compromise. This sets up an impossible imbalance in the process. Palestinians are rewarded for refusing to compromise; Israelis are punished.)

The Washington Post gives some background in Bush renews Mideast Peace Efforts

The idea has come together only in recent days, and administration officials were scrambling to figure out details yesterday, such as where and when the conference would be held. More important, they acknowledged that they have no guarantees that any of the key players will attend. After his speech yesterday afternoon, Bush hit the telephone to call the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

Given the complexity of the issues involved, it's not at all encouraging that the plan for this conference was hatched in a few days. A lawyer, it is said, should never ask a question of a witness that he doesn't know the answer to; a peace negotiator, similarly, should never start a negotiation unless he's reasonably assured of success. (See President Clinton, Camp David 2000, for a counter-example) The background maneuvering to make such an event successful is extensive. Clearly there's been not much background work done yet.

A paragraph earlier the Post expresses concern that

Unlike his father, the president invited only those that "recognize Israel's right to exist," seemingly excluding potent actors in the region such as Iran and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

While we can debate how much the Palestinians, for example, really accept Israel's right to exist (this debate would also extend to the Egyptian or Jordanian "streets" and quite a bit of their elites too), keeping those who are explicitly against Israel's right to exist away, is a good idea.

In Context asks if President Bush is brain dead.

Israel has taken difficult actions, including withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Palestinians have held free elections, and chosen a president committed to peace. Arab states have put forward a plan that recognizes Israel's place in the Middle East. And all these parties, along with most of the international community, now share the goal of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state -- a level of consensus never before seen on this crucial issue.

Only one of those statements is true. Does he truly not know this?

Israel Matzav spells out some of the problems with the "president committed to peace" assertion.

On October 3, 2006, Abu Mazen told al-Arabiya and 'Palestinian' television, "It is not required of Hamas, or of Fatah, or of the Popular Front to recognize Israel." I know that you said last night that "nations that support a two-state solution, reject violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and commit to all previous agreements between the parties" would be invited to your conference in the fall. If that is the case, how will you invite Abu Mazen? He doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist!

On January 11, 2007, Abu Mazen was reported by the Jerusalem Post to have said, “We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation ... Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation.” And on February 5, 2007, Abu Mazen said, “We must unite the Hamas and Fatah blood in the struggle against Israel as we did at the beginning of the intifada. We want a political partnership with Hamas.” Is that a 'rejection of violence'?

On January 11, 2007, referring to the so-called ‘right of return’ of 'Palestinian refugees' and their millions of descendants which, if implemented would end Israel as a Jewish state, Abu Mazen said, "The issue of the refugees is non-negotiable.” Is that supporting a two-state solution?

You also said that those who want to attend your conference have to commit to all previous agreements between the parties. But those agreements require Abu Mazen to disarm all terrorists and fight terrorism. According to a statement that he made on May 26, 2006, Abu Mazen regards terrorists as heroes and in January 2005 he said that disarming them is "a line that may not be crossed."

All of these statements were made in the last two years, most of them within the last six months.

This is perhaps why, Daled Amos wonders if Abu Mazen got the message.

"Now was that confront the terrorists and protect the innocent...or protect the terrorists and confront the innocent...think, think..."

Powerline finds the speech disappointing and critiques its style.

Heavy on the subjunctive (advising various parties what they "should" do), the speech is a farrago of nonsense, wishful thinking, counterfactual assertions, and policy contradicted by previous commitments made by Bush himself ("[u]nder the roadmap, Palestinians must undertake an immediate cessation of armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere, and all official Palestinian institutions must end incitement against Israel").

Jewish Current Issues notes that the President's remarks violate his own stated principles from April 14, 2005.

Since then, Gaza has been turned into Hamastan (starting on Day One and well-advanced by the end of Week One), thousands of rockets have been launched into Israel, massive weaponry has been smuggled across borders un-policed by the Palestinians, not a single terrorist organization has been dismantled, the premier terrorist organization was elected to run the Palestinian government, tunnels were dug into Israel and a soldier kidnapped and held hostage and incommunicado now into the 13th month, the governing terrorist organization took over all of Gaza in a brutal armed coup, Mahmoud Abbas’s 60,000 American-trained “police” did nothing (and fled instead), Abbas himself has repeatedly rejected any provisional Phase II state, and both Abbas and Fatah have repeatedly reiterated that the “right of return” is “non-negotiable.”

In the face of all this, George W. Bush now decides the next step is to sponsor an international conference, to be chaired by Condoleezza Rice (and endorsed by the Quartet later this week), to address final status issues -- without prior fulfillment even of Phase I of the plan he promised Sharon the U. S. would enforce.

It's hard to look at what President Bush said last night and conclude anything other than that he's looking to rescue his legacy by bringing peace to the Middle East. But before he invests too much time into this new initiative he might consider that the peace between Israel and Egypt was mostly achieved before President Carter brought the parties to Camp David. Similarly the Oslo Accords were mostly negotiated before the United States got involved.

(This isn't a comment on the effectiveness of those agreements. Those events show that American involvement - or pressure - is less necessary than conventional wisdom hold. I'd argue that "doing something" is often worse than letting the parties work things out themselves.)

During Clinton's presidency furthering the peace process was done at the cost of actually achieving peace. If this conference is being convened to garner good will among Arab allies, it will only repeat the mistakes of the previous administration.

israel, peace process, palestinians, president bush.

When you absolutely must know

... about the Iditarod check out The Glittering Eye. Especially read his memorial tribute to Susan Butcher, who, during the 80's, was sort of like the Lance Armstrong of the race.
... about the Tour de France, check out the Fire Ant Gazette.

iditarod, tour de france.

The hogwarts express of indiana

While readers young and old count down the minutes until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale, Crawfordsville resident Sally Lynch has been counting the late night trains running in front of her house. The RR Donnelley publishing plant is her neighbor.

Lynch says there has been a measurable increase in rail traffic.

"Usually there's only about three carts on the train at night. But lately there's been about six, seven carts at night going through every 15 to 20 minutes," she said.

Ed Short says something is obviously going on.

What's going on?

"Well, I know that it was supposed to be a real secretive thing," he told Eyewitness News.

Short says those trains Sally Lynch is referring to are carrying out copies of the seventh and final installment in the smash series by J. K. Rowling from printing company RR Donnelley.

And it sounds like the printing got security as strict as that of a military installation.

Crawfordsville's biggest employer was about to institute drastic security measures when Short's temporary work ended there 12 weeks ago.

"They were talking about blacking out the windows. They have armed guards at the doors. (They) check your lunchboxes and stuff when you go in and out. You couldn't have a camera phone or anything like that."

Indeed, these days RR Donnelley's 1500 men and women get checked as they leave. They even get written up if they're caught pausing to read. They're forbidden to speak to the news media, but many told their families. And some of those family members told Eyewitness News.

Donnelley sent us away without saying anything. And the book's publisher, Scholastic, in New York, said it can't reveal where the book is being printed for security reasons.

Maybe stricter!

(h/t Mrs. Soccer Dad)

harry potter.

Project to Help Sderot By Rosh HaShanah

Please participate.
From an email I received:

The city of Sderot is suffering - in many many aspects, and I'd like to present to you a simple way for you and your community the show that you care and support their efforts and daily struggles.

'Connections Israel' was founded in 1998 as an independent, educational, non-profit organization that provides services for Jewish communities and schools around the world enabling them to help show support for Israel in a variety of ways.

If you'd like to see recommendations, organizations we work with and documentations - please e-mail us.

We are heading a project that this Rosh Hashanah each of the 10,000 families in the Sderot area will receive a large holiday gift basket with a personalized letter from a different family from communities all over the world.

Every community's name and contribution will be marked in a major event that will take place in Sderot before Rosh Hashanah and will show the support, care and solidarity from the Jews around the world.

In appreciation for your efforts we will send to your community photos of the event, a movie and a thank you letter from the Sderot municipality.

While the cost of each basket is only $36, we encourage each community to choose their level of involvement for the amount of baskets they want to send.

We are looking for volunteers who'd like to take on this project in their community/organization and individual who would like to simply donate and show they care (http://connectionsisrael.com/donate).

If you feel you cannot donate for this cause - write a card to the families and send it to us.

Get involved and involve your community and friends for this wonderful cause !!!

Take the time to read this testimony : http://connectionsisrael.com/archives/31

Posted by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Israel and Sderot.

The idf and the peace process fallacy

The Jerusalem Post has an excellent story Officer who defied death prefers to recall soldiers' heroism.

Lt.-Col. Effie Deffrin was leading his troops through Wadi Saluki when his tank was hit by a hail of antitank rockets.

He was rushed by helicopter to Safed's Rebecca Ziv Hospital in critical condition, and an officer was sent to his wife, who had given birth to their third child two weeks earlier. "They told her to bring the baby and come to the hospital to say good-bye to me," Deffrin told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Wounded in the lungs and head, doctors were not certain he would live through the night. But two weeks later, the 35-year-old was back in command of the Eshet Battalion.

Lt. Col. Deffrin also witnessed other acts of extreme bravery.

One combat support soldier from the Ordinance Corps, Dimitri Kamishlin, "jumped out of the tank that he was in, ran without any cover into a burning tank nearby, and pulled out the entire crew," Effie said. "People don't realize the quality of this generation. We don't value them enough. People say that they have no ideology, no beliefs. But I saw otherwise."

Last year the IDF was hamstrung by an indecisive, ill-prepared government and yet it was able to inflict severe damage upon Hezbollah. Gen Yaakov Amidror didn't agree with the conventional wisdom that Israel had lost the war militarily.

* Hizballah casualties were not less than 500 and may have reached 700 - a figure greater than all the casualties Hizballah has suffered during the last twenty years. It will take Hizballah at least two years to rebuild its capabilities and to recruit and train new people.

* Israel also developed a system which made Hizballah's long-range rocket launchers good for one use only. Within less than five minutes of launch they were destroyed by Israel's air force, an unprecedented achievement in modern warfare.

* The determination of Israel's government to respond and to retaliate is a very important factor in restoring deterrence. Now those around Israel understand that Israel has certain red lines, and that if these lines are crossed, Israel's retaliation will be intentionally disproportionate. As a small country, we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of reacting proportionally.

* Middle East leaders understand that Israel is prepared to use military force, and that in the future we are not going to be as tolerant of attempts to act against us.

* Nasrallah said at the beginning of the war that there would be no international forces and no Lebanese army in south Lebanon. The entry of these forces is, from the Israeli point of view, the greatest success of the war.

It is because of soldiers like Deffrin and Kamishlin that these successes were possible and increase Israel's security. Unfortunately there are also plenty of people like Aaron David Miller who are willing to do all they can to undermine the security of Israel by their silly peace processing.

First, the viability of an authoritative, pragmatic Palestinian center is at serious risk. Some, of course, argue that it never existed. But my view is that between 1993 and 2000, Palestinians had a leader who, together with four Israeli prime ministers, collaborated on a process of peacemaking that got them further than ever before.

It is true that, at the end of the Camp David summit, Arafat still refused to negotiate for anything less than a Palestinian state created on the June 4, 1967, borders with Jerusalem as its capital. But the fact remains that he was the undisputed and authoritative leader of a people increasingly willing to live in a state alongside (rather than instead of) Israel — and he was there at Camp David, engaged in talks that broke taboos and created a basis for serious progress. The Arafat conundrum — that it was hard to do a deal with him but impossible without him — is a better situation than what we confront now.

Actually it is the Arafat conundrum that brought exactly to where we are. The peace processors like Miller (and Ross and Indyk etc.) placed their bet on the wrong horse, Arafat. It was said that only Arafat could make a deal. It was said that only Arafat's terms could bring peace. And then when presented with 99% of those terms, he didn't say let's negotiate more, he unleashed a so-called intifada.

Rather than acknowledge that Arafat and the ideology he represented wouldn't countenance a Jewish state in the Middle East, Miller laments the absence of Arafat and plainly wishes for a new one.

There may always be another chance to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, but we shouldn't push our luck. Events in the last several years have moved us dangerously close to a point beyond which the two-state solution — and perhaps any solution — will no longer be available to end the conflict. To even have a chance of a breakthrough, the United States, together with the Arab world and the international community, would have to step up and launch a comprehensive effort to end the violence, promote economic recovery for Palestinians and create a negotiating process to tackle the core issues. Like it or not, Hamas would have to be a part of that solution.

Actually creating a Palestinian state dedicated to the destruction of Israel, is not a solution. It will, as we have seen over the past 14 years, use its territorial and materiel gains to launch attacks at Israel. A two state solution where the second state is dedicated to the destruction of the first, is no solution.

Miller and his like minded colleague need to stop looking at appeasing extremists as a way to peace. What's needed for peace is for extremists to be marginalized, destroyed or changed. Their prescription will accomplish none of those objectives. All it will do will empower another group of extremists and prolong the conflict for the foreseeable future.

Ironically it is the Israeli soldiers who fought Hezbollah and Hamas who do more to advance peace than the slick, well paid, "expert" peace processors like Miller whose ideas have never worked outside the ivory towers they reside in.

israel, peace process, second lebanon war.

Orioles minor league road trip

The Baltimore Sun had a series on the Orioles' farm teams. Following an itinerary mapped out here, it's especially relevant now that the Orioles have all their farm teams clustered reasonably close by.

The first profile was of Bowie. The Bowie Baysox are now in their 15th year. (Their first year, 1993, they played in Memorial Stadium. Tippy Martinez had a barbecue stand.) Since 1997 I've taken my children to at least one Baysox game each year. It is great family entertainment and somewhat less expensive than major league baseball. (Given the performance of the Orioles during this time, there is little reason to shell out the money to see their games.)

The first game we went to in 1997 featured the Baysox of David Dellucci and Calvin Pickering. Dellucci was the hero of the game we attended hitting a 12th inning double that drove in the winning run against the Reading Phillies.

After going to a few games I realized something: most foul-pops go to the right side. (For the physics explaining this see here.)
So we started sitting along first base. The first year we did that, 2001, Bowie first baseman Franky Figueroa hit a foul. I remember following it with my eyes. I don't know that I moved much, but when it landed, I was in position. The ball bounced on the bench in front of me and I reflexively bare handed it on the bounce. (My children were impressed.) In 2001, the Baysox were terrible, and we were there late in the game when most of the fans had left, that gave me an extra edge.

In 2003, someone from the grounds crew saw my son, and tossed him a ball. After the game we were treated nicely and got autographs from a few players and coaches including Kris Wilken, former #1 pick Darnell McDonald and coach Butch Davis. That game wasn't just a game, it was an experience and the children loved it.

Last year we got a foul ball. Had we been a bit quicker, we might have gotten a second. And then after the game they let the children on the field to run around the bases. When they finished, they were given a t-shirt. Needless to say the children had a great time again.

Other nice aspects of Bowie are the carousel and the free admission for children wearing a uniform. (I believe that all the Maryland farm teams have these.)

Among the players we've seen at Bowie have included Augie Ojeda, Jerry Hairston Jr., Brian Roberts, Mike Fontenot, Willie Harris, Howie Clark (who had an incident with A-Rod earlier this year), Aaron Rakers, Luis Matos and Jayson Werth. Here are a couple of posts related to the Baysox.

Anyway, back to the Sun article, At Bowie, zany promotions take fans' breath away

When a team like the Baysox hovers around the .500 mark and players are being called up and sent down, building a reputation for entertainment and good service is paramount to survival. The Double-A Orioles affiliate will stop at nothing - or almost nothing - to put fannies in the seats.

That means staging last week's Bad Breath Night, three Bark in the Park events for pooches this season (the last will be Aug. 26), a Tribute to Toilet Paper Aug. 31 and fireworks, fireworks, fireworks - 22 dates over the five-month season.

If a homeowner wanted to stage a similar 10-minute pyrotechnic display by Zambelli Internationale, it would set him back almost $5,000. By contrast, an adult general admission seat at Bowie is $9.

I believe that once the Baysox tried to get into the Guinness book of World records by giving everyone a whoopee cushion so they could have the biggest collection of people sitting on whoopee cushions at the same time. So yes some of the promotions are silly. But people enjoy them and will go as much for the promotions as for the game.

The next article in the series tells of Fans, players share special relationship between the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds and their fans. They're somewhat more accessible than the AA players at Bowie.

There's Gil and Joyce Dunn, booster club leaders, who take Delmarva Shorebirds into their home, steer many of them through their first steamed crab dinner, cheer them when they're slumping and cheer for them when they're riding high.

And Hannah Seward, who started a Web site for the team four years ago when she was 12 -- to profess her undying love -- and ended up creating a site where the parents of players can see how their boys of summer are doing.

And Bob and Donna Cummings, long-time season ticket holders, who sit just behind the visitor's dugout and admit that geography makes them tighter with the opposing players and coaches than the home team. But that doesn't stop them from honking away on a small noisemaker when their favorite Shorebirds come through.

(From what I've read having local families hosting minor league players is not unique to Delmarva. I believe that also happens in Bowie. I suspect that it's a pretty widespread phenomenon.)

If you'd like to keep up with Delmarva, Monoblogue features a Shorebird of the week, every week of the season.

Frederick fans sing a different tune tells of Keys fans who sing

We're the Frederick Keys

Come on out support your team

Baseball is back in town

You can hear the shaking sound

Bring the family

Unfortunately other than the Key's theme song and how the grounds crew had to fix the field, there's not much else to the Frederick article.

The Bluefield article about the Orioles rookie team, Bluefield offers rare throwback atmosphere tells of the no frills nature of the lowest rung in the system ladder, but the one with, perhaps, the most history.

But Bluefield's humble status belies its place in Oriole history.

"This is where Cal Ripken got on the bus to start his career," says Bruce Adams, a minor-league baseball aficionado who, with wife Margaret Engel, wrote the book, Ballpark Vacations: Great Family Trips to Minor League and Classic Major League Baseball Parks across America. "Bluefield is the one most people haven't experienced and if they love baseball, they should."

In addition to Ripken, who played in Bluefield in 1978, there's Eddie Murray, Boog Powell, Don Baylor and Bobby Grich. Dean Chance, signed by the Orioles in 1959, passed through town on his way to the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft and a Cy Young Award in 1964.

Last Sunday, Grich returned to town for the first time in 40 years to celebrate the Golden Anniversary and conduct a baseball clinic for local kids.

But if the 50 year relationship between the Orioles and Bluefield shows the rich history of the franchise, the article about Norfolk, In Norfolk, Tide turns from Mets to O's tells of the Orioles' less than sterling recent past. Four years ago the Orioles lost their affiliate in Rochester, because the Red Wings were tired of poor showings. This past fall the Orioles lucked out, because Norfolk decided that it wanted to be the location of the O's minor league team. Norfolk terminated its longtime association with the Mets to do so. Having a farm team in Norfolk is much better than having one in Ottawa, but it serves as a reminder that not only have the Orioles been failing their fans, they've also been failing their affiliates.

Owner Ken Young was wooed by the Nationals and the Orioles, both looking for a Triple-A affiliation closer to home.

"It was hard to make the decision even before we knew it was the Orioles," says Young, a food service mogul and baseball traditionalist who wears a 2000 Mets National League championship ring on his right hand. "I joked that the hardest part was that I might lose out on some more hardware."

But Young, who also bought the Bowie Baysox and Frederick Keys in the offseason, gave up little in the switch. Season ticket sales are up slightly, the team store is selling more Orioles apparel than it did Mets gear. And with the MASN sports network on the Norfolk cable system, fans can follow their favorite players up to Baltimore.

The Orioles gained, too.

In abandoning fan-less Lynx Stadium in Ottawa in favor of Harbor Park, they gained a 12,000-seat gem along the banks of the Elizabeth River that serves as one of the anchors of a revitalized waterfront. Trains roll by the left-field fence and ships and barges glide by right field. The ballpark, 15 years old, looks a third its age because crews power wash it daily.

Norfolk's GM David Rosenfield has some positive words for the big league team

But Rosenfield, 76, runs a tight ship, which means clean and well-lighted restrooms, a full-service restaurant down the right-field line and a huge picnic area. It's exactly what you would expect from a man voted the "King of Baseball" at the 2004 baseball winter meetings.

Rosenfield praises the Orioles' minor-league brain trust.

"At this level, you have some players on the downturn just hanging on. The Mets last year had six or seven guys in their mid-30s and they played like it. That's not what the minor leagues are supposed to be about. You're not supposed to be hanging on for a paycheck," Rosenfield says. "The Orioles don't put up with that."

The oldest players on the Tides are Alberto Castillo, 37, who had two stints as backup catcher with the Orioles this season, and pitcher Tim Kester, 35. The rest of the players are 30 or younger.

With the Tides currently languishing in 3rd (out of 4 places) in their division at 45-49 and few prospects worthy of the name on the roster, I wonder how long the honeymoon will last.

Finally in If you build it they will come, the Sun reports on what it's like to attend Cal Ripken's Aberdeen Ironbirds.

It also includes a bit of a primer what teams look for at the lowest level of the minor leagues and at succeeding levels.

As Orioles assistant general manager and director of minor league operations, David Stockstill spends his summers on the road pruning the farm system.

"At the beginning, they're very, very raw," he says. "As hitters we want them seeing the pitches, judging the rotation, judging speed. When they can do that, they're able to move up a level and then we'd like to see them hit the ball all over the field and hit the ball with authority, the breaking ball as well as the fast ball. That should get them up to the Double-A area. After that, it's more adjustment pitch to pitch as the pitcher adjusts to them."

Stockstill also watches how players mature and deal with stress and being away from home: "Can they handle having 10,000 people yelling at them and come back and perform?"

Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer says at lower levels, the emphasis is on athleticism, good control and movement on the pitches: "Does he have a wind-up he can repeat?"

"As they go up, you want to see how they read bats," he says. "If the batters are on their fastball, do they recognize that and go to something else? How do you do when things don't go well? That usually happens at some point in the minors. Do you maintain your composure when it does?"

Making sure players have the fundamentals down at Double-A is important, says Stockstill, because many players skip over the highest level of the minors on their way to the majors. These days, a city that pays for construction of a 12,000-seat Triple-A stadium wants a winning team in return. So the age and experience of players has increased as parent clubs try to maintain good working relationships.

However Minor League, Major Troubles tells of mistakes the city of Aberdeen made in luring the Ironbirds. Certain development that the city was counting on never materialized. Now the city is seeing none of the expected benefits of having the minor league team in town. It doesn't change the fact that the Ironbirds are thriving financially.

It was a good idea to give an overview of the Orioles' minor league system. The illogical route taken is a function of scheduling. (Sometimes the scheduling's a little odd. Recently we had considered taking in a Frederick or Bowie game but neither team was home that week. The different leagues ought to work things out so there are options of catching one or another team on a given day.)

I can only hope that it won't be long before it will be interesting to see games at each level for the baseball and not just for the gimmicks.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

baltimore orioles, norfolk tides, bowie baysox, frederick keys, delmarva shorebirds, Aberdeen Ironbirds, bluefield orioles.

Yalkut tzvi ha-yotzer

My friend has written Jewishly Ever After: Harry�s Epic Journey for the New York Jewish Week. What elements of Harry Potter would relate to the Medrash?

In other words, you overcome loss by becoming, in part, the person you lost, and continuing their work. Carried forward, this means that the visit Harry intends to make to Godric�s Hollow, where his parents had lived, will arm him with more of their gifts, with which to defeat Voldemort. Look for the gifts of James and Lilly, Sirius and Dumbledore to play their roles when Harry has that fateful encounter.

It�s the midrashic way, too. When Joseph, deprived of his father, is tempted towards sin by the wife of his master Potiphar, the midrash says that the only thing that prevented him from yielding was seeing the image of his father before his eyes. Some commentators have speculated that Joseph actually looked like his father, and in fact saw his own reflection, which evoked the memory of his father.

Moreover, Dumbledore must stay dead for Harry to stay alone. Alone is important, because each book ends in a test that Harry must face � alone. How Jewish: The concept of nisayon, the trial of man, requires that one who is tested be totally alone, armed only with his faith and what he has learned along the way. The ultimate test � the Binding of Isaac � took place away from the public glare.

Meanwhile one of my friend's favorite authors, Orson Scott Card reviews the movie of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

For me, something happened that took me by surprise. Even though I know these stories backward and forward by now, I found myself getting caught up in the story and moved emotionally to a point where, when Daniel Radcliffe writhed on the floor in the climactic inner struggle, I bought it completely -- I was emotionally inside him, which is a place where filmmakers can almost never take their audiences, no matter how much they wish they could.

If we had had better movies this year, it would not be so easy for me to say that this is the best movie, artistically and emotionally, so far this year. Few movies have tried to accomplish what this one does.

(h/t Almanac of Miscellaneous Merriment for pointing out Orson Scott Card's writings on Harry Potter.)

The NY Times presents Harry Potter and the 4 Directors, a look at the 5 films as a whole. Plus a number of video retrospectives of the movies so far.

harry potter.

Hit the road jack?

I wasn't too happy two years ago when my favorite Oldies station changed formats.

Now I see at Elie's Expositions, that the JACK experiment may have run its course.

It's interesting because in recent months DC's oldies station changed formats to classic rock. And the classic rock station, in response, became a world class rock station. World Class Rock apparently differs from classic rock in that having been on the charts isn't as much of a requirement now. (This includes a rather annoying change to including a social conscience. I listen to music for enjoyment.)

I wouldn't mind JACK if it were an option to go alongside a classic rock and an oldies station. But I really like my oldies and didn't at all like not having an oldies station. Will Baltimore's Jack revert? I can only hope, though it won't happen for at least another 5 days when the current station has its summer concert.

Yes it's nice when a station doesn't have a playlist and the JACK format apparently marked a realization among the radio bean counters that most listeners agree. But a decade ago the conventional wisdom among radio programmers as that people enjoyed repetition. So if the JACK format hits the road, will we see oldies stations that have more variety than in the past?

UPDATE: Some perspective at the Daily News.

When the decline seemed to continue, management had the playlist tightened - from maybe 1,200 songs "back in the day" to more like 300. That is, just the biggest hits, the ones everyone loves in the focus groups, played over and over.

This can induce burnout in people who listen to the station a lot, the core listeners - and the truth is that in the months before the format change in June 2005, a whole lot of listeners were complaining that they were tired of hearing "Happy Together" every couple of hours and that with more and more '70s ballads creeping into the mix, it didn't feel like their station any more anyway.

There are many who feel another programming approach might have worked better. Moot point. While WCBS-FM was still a profitable and popular station in June 2005, new CBS Radio President Joel Hollander decided to make a pre-emptive strike.

The company would change the format before WCBS-FM turned into the late popular standards station WNEW-AM, whose listeners were also incredibly loyal, but on the average were also well past the age where most advertisers are interested.

WCBS-FM would become Jack, whose music was centered in the '80s and thus would by definition attract a younger audience.

Whether you agree with the decision or not, that's why Hollander made it - and looking at it purely from a business standpoint, he wasn't being vindictive or irrational. Especially when you remember that WCBS-FM wasn't his only concern in June 2005.

He also knew that come December 2005 several dozen of his CBS stations were going to lose Howard Stern, who he estimated brought in 10% of the radio division's revenue. That's a huge hit, and it meant the company was much less able to absorb declines at a WCBS-FM.

jack radio format, oldies.

Haveil havalim #125 is UP!

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UPCOMING EDITIONS

July 22 - #126 - R' Chaim HaQoton

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Tehran Times: "today Zionism is talking through Angela Merkel"

Angela Merkel, who received one of Ahmadinejad's famous letters to world leaders, you will recall, recently said some critical things about Iran. Tehran Times replies:

In an undiplomatic and provocative speech at a school of Jewish studies in Heidelberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the anti-Zionist statements of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and said that the threat can only be eliminated by isolating Iran.

At first glance, it seems the German chancellor’s statements could have been influenced by the fact that politicians usually try to mention points which the audiences of such meetings expect to hear.

However, nowadays the world expects high-ranking officials to analyze the situation and take others’ views into consideration when they make statements.

Angela Merkel has made a number of statements about the Holocaust issue since taking power, which can be viewed from various angles.

"Various angles"? Perhaps she took "others’ views into consideration."

Although the Zionist regime has been playing the Holocaust card to take advantage of other nations’ emotions for years, the rest of the world is finally catching on to the game.

Using history as a tool to appease a particular group only creates more divisions between nations.

As a major industrialized country, Germany, has been yearning to play a role in the international arena by seeking to build consensus among nations.

However, it seems the chancellor’s biased statements about the Iranian president, which are a result of Zionist pressure, will cause a loss of prestige for Germany in the world, and in Europe in particular, and will negatively affect the longstanding ties between Iran and Germany, which had been expanding in recent years.

Indeed, Merkel’s indiscreet statements are in line with the interests of the Zionists, to the detriment of the interests of Iran and Germany. In other words, today Zionism is talking through Angela Merkel.

Such statements are regrettable, since throughout the history of Iran-Germany relations, the interests of the two countries have always been prioritized over short-term issues.

Over the course of history, leaders have always tried to make amends for the bitter chapters of their country’s history by making speeches, especially to minorities, in order to gain their support, often playing to the people’s emotions in order to escape from political and psychological pressure.

Merkel’s threatening tone can be viewed in this light.

Whatever Merkel’s motivations may have been, her position will now be deemed as threatening and hostile by other nations and governments.

It seems that Merkel selected her words in such a way so as to appease the Jews in her country and make amends for the dark events of Germany’s past, in which she and the members of her generation actually played no part.

No generation is immune from Fake Regime machinations!

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Why does everybody hate Hillary?

"Why is she hated by progressives and right-wingers alike?" The Independent's title asks. This is more puzzling to The Independent than it should be:

She is probably the most competent in the field. Virtually everyone agrees that she should have the best chance of wresting the presidency from the Republicans in 2008 and repairing the damage from the wrecking ball (omega) of the Bush presidency. She also has Bill Clinton by her side, a formidable campaigner who took to the road for the first time in Iowa this month.

But behind the scenes, Americans are deeply worried at the prospect of having Hillary (and Bill) back in the White House. While she inspires ordinary women voters, men are not so moved and she has the highest voter-disapproval ratings of any top-tier candidate in the race. She also has a big problem with left-wing feminists.

According to the sub-title:

They say she is a scheming control-freak who will stop at nothing in her bid to become the first Mrs President.

Jane Fonda is also quoted, calling her a "ventriloquist for the patriarchy with a skirt . . . " That's what Hillary gets for trying to disguise her leftism as centrism. The radicals scream with rage and everyone else senses that she is a phony, and a not particularly charismatic one at that. Did I mention that she wants to bring back the 55 miles-per-hour speed limit?

Crossposted on Judeopundit

TimesOnline: "Carlos the Jackal sneers at Al-Qaeda’s ‘amateur’ killers"

Despite The Times' catchy title for this item, we learn little about Carlos Ilich Sanchez's fairly recent support for Al Qaeda. According to Amir Taheri, Sanchez's 2003 book "Revolutionary Islam"

urges "all revolutionaries, including those of the left, even atheists," to accept the leadership of Islamists such as Osama bin Laden and so help turn Afghanistan and Iraq into the "graveyards of American imperialism."

Taheri adds that "Carlos is wholly dedicated to inciting Muslims to hate the United States and not at all interested in inspiring them to change the regimes that oppress them." According to The Times:

In his first telephone interview with a newspaper, the Venezue-lan-born Vladimir Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, 57, said he was saddened by any loss of life in London, where he lived as a young man. He also attacked what he called a lack of professionalism in some cells linked to Al-Qaeda.

A number of paragraphs later the article again touches on the recent failed terror attacks:

He condemned Al-Qaeda followers without specific targets, saying: “They are not professionals. They’re not organised. They don’t even know how to make proper explosives or proper detonators.”

Sanchez was a self-styled “professional revolutionary” who studied in Moscow in the 1960s before signing up with a Palestinian guerrilla movement . . .

Again, the image of the professional sneering at amateurs is catchy, and the author does point out that Sanchez "showed no remorse" for his crimes, but is Sanchez still promoting the ideas in "Revolutionary Islam"? Inquiring minds want to know.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Progress on the euphrates potomac

Initially we were told that the report on progress in Iraq would have nothing good to say, as Maryland Conservatarian notes

MSNBC loves to talk with “officials”. A few days ago, they reported on an impending “Initial Benchmark Assessment Report” and their “Official” source was not optimistic:

“A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.” July 9, 2007: Official: Report will say no goals met in Iraq - Politics - MSNBC.com

(…and a mid-season progress report on the Boston Red Sox has concluded that they have not yet met any of their 2007 goals of winning the AL East, the AL Pennant or the World Series.)

Despite the language of "not met any" Big Lizards observed that

Elite media reporting: not so good, vast room for improvement.

Contrary to the report above (and in agreement wtih the headline,) the progress report is actually more hopeful

The White House has released its first, preliminary assessment of Iraq's progress during the counterinsurgency, Operation Phantom Thunder; and considering how short a time the operations have been fully manned and actually under way (only since June 15th), Iraq has already made quite remarkable progress.

Fortunately, we're talking about Baghdad and not as Don Surber blogs, Washington D.C.

Public Opinion: Few people have any confidence in either the executive or legislative branches of government. While public opinion polling remains largely speculative, they consistently show that less than a third of the people approve of the job done by the president and less than a quarter approve of the job of the legislators.

Despite these failings, I remain optimistic and hope to see progress in the near future.

Therefore, I see no reason to remove American troops from U.S. soil.

But Don's still optimistic!

iraq

The aiding and abetting media

Deja Vu references a study of the Iraqi Insurgent Media

Writing in OpinionJournal, Daniel Heninger observes

There is no more unchallenged verity in our times than that the World Wide Web, the Internet, is a boon to mankind. But as with nuclear or biological warfare, the Web is a dual-use technology. Technically adept Muslims, using out-of-the-box PC software and hardware, are outputting an electronic torrent of slick Web sites, discussion forums, videos, e-magazines and long-form movies, all with one purpose--to incite Muslims to join the jihad against the enemies of Islam in Baghdad, London, Glasgow or New York. Forget those Iraqi attack videos on YouTube; this is a sophisticated, globally distributed propaganda operation.
As always with the Web, anything done in the analog past--the propaganda of World War II or the Cold War--can be ramped up exponentially by Islamic jihadists on the Internet. In March, at least 11 self-identified insurgency groups posted 966 "statements" on the Web about battles and engagements, looking much like those put out by the U.S. Army. Their casualty claims often have no basis in reality, but that's not the point. The point is to convince credulous minds in their world that they are a potent, thriving force.

Mere Rhetoric draws one conclusion from this

The problem is that current US diplomacy is driven by this delusional State Department belief in marketing ourselves to the Muslim world - as if the problem is that they misunderstand us. Never considered: the Muslim world understands us only too well, and they just don't like what we are. Because if that was ever considered, then we'd have to start confronting the possibility that this war is going to last a long time, and it's going to involve more than diplomatic niceties.

Later he notes

We can use our own outlets and sometimes be reasonably persuasive. But we have almost no penetration in Arab media markets - not least of which because we've made the reasonable choice not to speak the Arab and Muslim lingua franca of Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. So naturally that makes us much less persuasive. Again, it's not packaging. Without that pathological content, we just don't seem credible.

The jihadists, on the other hand, get to use both their own media outlets and the editorial pages of bastions of sophistication like the Washington Post. To say nothing of their access to the news pages of Reuters and AP, thanks to the charming not-entirely-anti-jihadist stringers employed by the news wires. So yeah, they do have a bit of an advantage don't they?

So the question is, granted that the Jihadists (and yes that includes even moderate ones like Hamas) have their own distribution system, what need is there to for the Western media to give them a platform?

Barry Rubin's outrage is understandable.

Once upon a time (May 1993) the Times re-published a manifesto of Hamas (originally published in Harper's) , titled the "Hamas way of Death" with unvarnished details of what Hamas was (and is) about.

Only one collaborator has ever been executed without an interrogation. In that case, the collaborator had been seen working for the Border Guard since before the intifada, and he himself confessed his involvement to a friend, who disclosed the information to us. In addition, three members of his network of collaborators told us that he had caused their isqat. With this much evidence, there was no need to interrogate him. But we are very careful to avoid wrongful executions. In every case, our principle is the same: the accused should he interrogated until he himself confesses his crimes.

A few weeks ago we sat down and compiled a list of collaborators who are active in al-Nusseirat and the neighboring camps, to decide whether there were any collaborators who could be executed immediately, without interrogation. And although we had hundreds of names of collaborators against whom two or more witnesses had testified, still, because of our fear of God and of hell, we could not mark any of these men--except for the one I just mentioned--for execution.

When we execute a collaborator in public, we use a gun. But after we abduct and interrogate a collaborator, we can't shoot him--to do so might give away our location. That's why collaborators are strangled. Sometimes we ask the collaborator, "What do you think? How should we execute you?" one collaborator told us, "Strangle me." He hated the sight of blood.

How humane.

(Elder of Ziyon makes an important related point:

In fact during that conflict there were over 1000 PalArabs killed by each other, and in 1991 more Palestinian Arabs were killed by other PalArabs than by Israelis. It is an amazingly consistent fact of Palestinian Arab history that any long-term violence against Jews inevitably ends up with more Arab-on-Arab violence.

In other words if the world really cares about the Palestinians, it would discourage them killing Jews! The revolution until victory eventually eats its own.)

terrorist propaganda, media bias, hamas.

I voted for the general before i undermined him

In Deserting Petreaus (or here) Charles Krauthammer today hammers Senators who just a few months ago voted to confirm Gen Petraeus, and our now seeking to undermine him.

We don't yet know if this strategy will work in mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods. Nor can we be certain that this cooperation between essentially Sunni tribal forces and an essentially Shiite central government can endure. But what cannot be said -- although it is now heard daily in Washington -- is that the surge, which is shorthand for Gen. David Petraeus's new counterinsurgency strategy, has failed. The tragedy is that, just as a working strategy has been found, some Republicans in the Senate have lost heart and want to pull the plug.

It is understandable that Sens. Lugar, Voinovich, Domenici, Snowe and Warner may no longer trust President Bush's judgment when he tells them to wait until Petraeus reports in September. What is not understandable is the vote of no confidence they are passing on Petraeus. These are the same senators who sent him back to Iraq by an 81 to 0 vote to institute his new counterinsurgency strategy.
...
Just this week, Petraeus said that the one thing he needs more than anything else is time. To cut off Petraeus's plan just as it is beginning -- the last surge troops arrived only last month -- on the assumption that we cannot succeed is to declare Petraeus either deluded or dishonorable.

Unfortunately Senators Lugar et al. may have political survival at the forefront of their considerations, not winning the war. Of course their fleeing from their votes for Gen. Petraeus only feeds the anti-war sentiment.

Sen. McCain, who has little to gain from supporting the war, (at this point he also may have nothing to lose) though took aim at the standard bearer for retreat, the New York Times.

He said that the soldiers in Iraq he has visited "understand the purpose" of the war. "I wish I could say the same of our journalist friends in New York," he added.

McCain belittled the paper's claims that the U.S. presence was only making matters worse and denounced its call for talking to Iran, which wants to fill any "power vacuum." He said things could get "far, far worse" in Iraq, and pointed to what happened in Cambodia in the 1970s.

The worst aspect of this war on the home front has been communication. The administration has not effectively communicated the need for the war and thus the war has come to be defined by its opponents. Alas there aren't enough politicians who have done what Sen. McCain has done. If the US loses Iraq, it will be, at least in part, a failure of our political leadership. Those who are silent will be no less culpable than those who ran.

d

Council speak 07/13/07

The council has spoken and determined that Big Lizards' takedown of Peggy Noonan, High Noonan. The winning non-council vote was my submission, View from a Height's Interview with Tod Bensman about the origins of many illegal aliens coming over from Mexico.

The runner up among council members was The NYT Run Away Run Away!!, JoshuaPundit's fine critique of the NYTimes' surrender mentality deliciously illustrated with a scene from the Holy Grail. Among non-council members Zombietime's Anti-American July 4th. It is a disturbing collection of photographs from people who believe that President Bush ought to be killed non-violently and other disturbing views.

watcher's council.

Vying with vi

Tonight WBAL's Steve Davis interviewed Cal Ripken Jr.'s mother, Vi Ripken, as part of the station's celebration of Cal's election to the Hall of Fame.

It was very interesting listening as Vi Ripken betrayed no recollection of amazement of her son's ability while he was growing up. She told once of how her husband had once called and she told him that there were 16 scouts watching their son. He was amazed that so many scouts were checking his son out. (And remember Cal. Sr. was a longtime coach, someone who had the ability to judge baseball talent.) Unless I'm wrong, I read that Cal was scouted as a pitcher.

But her answers reminded me of two things.

1) I read in the paper a few years ago that Cal and his father had a plan. Cal would give baseball until a certain time (maybe until he was 20 or 21) and if it wasn't clear that he'd be a major leaguer by that time, he would go to college. In other words the Ripkens were pretty grounded. Nothing would be taken for granted. Perhaps it's the result of Cal Sr.'s experiences that involved wandering the country as a minor league coach and manager, that encouraged the family to make sure that the children had a life plan.

2) Vi Ripken's answers were neither cliched nor practiced. Many sports figures have a list of cliches that rattle off to answer interview questions. Cal wasn't like that. He put thought into his answer and didn't resort to cliches. It was a refreshing aspect of his personality.

baltimore orioles, cal ripken.

Zionist operative infiltrates Egypt

Mission accomplished!The seeds of complete societal collapse have been planted:

A seminar organised by Ain Shams University's Centre for the Study of Contemporary Civilisations (CSCC) ended in uproar when several participating Egyptian professors discovered that Robin Firestone, the American professor delivering a paper on the "Problematic of the Chosen in Monotheistic Religions", was a rabbi.

"Although Firestone promised at the beginning of his speech to be neutral he failed to be objective while presenting his thesis," claimed Khaled Fahmi, a professor of Phonetics at Menoufiya University. Fahmi added that he had not been informed before the seminar that Firestone was a rabbi.

Firestone did not, says Fahmi, deal with the idea of chosenness in Islam on an equal footing with the same concept in Judaism, and described the passage in the Quran which talks about Muslims as the best nation brought forth for humanity as unclear. Firestone also adopted the Christian and Jewish view that it was Isaac, son of the Prophet Abraham, who God ordered to be sacrificed, and not, as Muslims believe, his stepbrother Ismail.

The insult to Islam is only the tip of the iceberg. Neural programming was implanted in Egyptian brains at the time of the Lavon Affair. This programming has remained dormant all this time, but it is activated by references to Isaac as the one bound on the altar.

Mohamed El-Hawwari, head of the CSCC, defended the choice of Firestone as a lecturer. Interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly El-Hawwari stressed that Firestone, while entitled to call himself a "rabbi", does not work in the religious field. "He is an American academic professor and it was in this capacity that he was invited to deliver his lecture."

In a statement issued once the row had become public, El-Hawwari described Firestone as a professor of Jewish history at Hebro Union College, California, and the author of many books on both Jewish and Islamic history.

"I have known the guy for more than 20 years. He has never attacked Islam, which he respects and appreciates," said El-Hawwari. "His lecture was based on texts derived from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Talmud. [...]

"Our main problem is that we still cannot accept the other. Whoever differs with us becomes our enemy," El-Hawwari continued. Yet the aim of holding such lecture series is to help in understanding the views of the other "in the hope this will facilitate a rapprochement between cultures and civilisations".

El-Hawwari dismissed allegations that the lecture's real aim was to provide propaganda for normalising relations with Israel as nonsense, and an insult to the integrity of Egyptian academics.

El-Hawwari's tone of voice was strangely mechanical when defending Firestone.

The furore has caused ripples beyond academia, with 20 parliamentary members quick to jump on the bandwagon and demand that the speaker of the People's Assembly summon members of the parliament's Educational Committee for an urgent meeting to determine who is responsible for the convening of such seminars.

They have also demanded that Hani Helal, the minister of higher education, be sacked.

"We are not going to allow Jews to desecrate our universities, spread their Zionist views and brainwash our students," railed independent MP Gamal Zahran. [...]

Too late, Zahran. (Hat Tip: EOZ)

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Finally, An Op-Ed That Condemns Terrorism

While the LA Times, New York Times, and Washington Post are eagerly serving as mouthpieces for terrorists defending the murder of civilians, The Baltimore Sun takes the novel approach of giving an op-ed opportunity to a Moderate Muslim to actually condemn terrorism.

Javeed Akhter, is a physician and a founding member of the International Strategy and Policy Institute, a Chicago-based Muslim-American think tank. He writes:

Suicide bombing has gained a cult status among some groups. The Tamil Tigers, a Hindu faction fighting the Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka, have a hero status among some Tamils. This is similar to the status of suicide bombers among some Muslims in Palestine and now in Iraq. Those who practice or sanction suicide bombing consider it a form of martyrdom. But suicide by any name is still suicide and is explicitly prohibited in Islam. Injunctions of the Quran and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad prohibit it in unequivocal terms. Similarly, killing of innocents is expressly prohibited. It is not collateral damage but callous murder.

...We in the United States need to redouble our efforts to immunize our young against mutant ideologies that romanticize suicide bombing and to encourage political engagement and civil nonviolent protest. This may be accomplished through Islamic teachings for, after all, the Quran says, "If you have taken an innocent life, it is as if you have killed all humanity."

Read the whole thing.

[Hat tip: The Corner]

By Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Glasgow and Moderate Muslims and Javeed Akhter and Terrorism.

3 points of light

The first half of the Orioles' season has been, as it has been since 1998, dismal.

To take a look at how the individual player have done check out beat writer Jef Zrbiec's Report Card. Or The Hardball Times Win Share chart for the team. (Win Shares measure the contribution a player makes to his teams wins based on a calculation developed by Bill James.) By either measure there are only three players who stand out above the rest: All Star Second baseman Brian Roberts and starting pitchers Erik Bedard and Jeremy Guthrie.

Before the season there were rumors that the Orioles were exploring trade talks with Atlanta that involved Brian Roberts and pitcher Hayden Penn for Marcus Giles and Adam LaRoche. In the end Peter Angelos nixed the deal, which, looks pretty wise.
Marcus Giles SDG .242 .313 .338 .651
Adam LaRoche PIT .239 .324 .439 .763

Brian Roberts BAL .322 .405 .443 .848

The problem was that he didn't nix the deal for baseball reasons but because Brian Roberts is one of his favorites. At the time I criticized the interference.I had thought that Roberts' decline last year a greater concern than Giles' decline. It appears that the opposite was true. Roberts currently has the second highest OPS for AL second basemen behind Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox.

I'm glad that Angelos nixed the deal, but appalled that, once again, he did it for the wrong reason.

Erik Bedard has been a pretty solid pitcher for most of his career. But this year he's moved his performance up another notch. Currently he leads the AL in strikeouts and has a sterling 4 to 1 K:BB ratio. And he's coming off a 15 strikeout complete game shutout of the Texas Rangers that garnered a game score of 98, the highest in baseball this year.

Brian Roberts has settled in as a very good second baseman and Erik Bedard has reached the level of an elite pitcher. Jeremy Guthrie, though, has come out of nowhere to have an excellent season (except for last night) after being a disappointment in Cleveland. Here's what he'd done as of June 26:

Since the Orioles inserted him into their rotation on May 8, Guthrie has made nine starts and has been arguably the American League's best starting pitcher. He leads the league in ERA (1.63), base runners allowed per nine innings (6.92) and innings pitched (66 1/3 , tied with C.C. Sabathia) since becoming a regular starter.

Guthrie has pitched at least seven innings in eight straight starts, never once allowing more than three runs. He hasn't lost since becoming a starter, throwing well enough to become a potential all-star as a 28-year-old rookie.

The article also portrays Guthrie as a real prince.

At a recent game, Guthrie wanted to sign autographs and chat with a church group that was seated in the upper deck at Camden Yards. Guthrie asked a team official how to find them from the clubhouse.

"Why don't you wait, we'll send someone up there for you," came the response.

"No, that's fine," Guthrie said. "I'll find them myself."

Guthrie got directions, found the group and signed autographs. "You don't find many ballplayers walking by themselves to the upper deck," Duquette said.

While the Post article notes that Guthrie's doing well, it doesn't exactly explain how he is doing so well. John Sickels recently did a prospect retro on Jeremy Guthrie. Sickels writes

Guthrie opened 2003 in Double-A and did well, going 6-2, 1.44 in 62.2 innings. However, his K/BB ratio was just 35/14...a very low strikeout rate. Promoted to Triple-A, he was blasted for Buffalo, going 4-9, 6.52 in 18 starts. I saw him pitch late in the season. . .it was very strange. He was hitting 93-94 MPH, and his breaking stuff had a lot of movement, but he wasn't fooling anyone. It was hard to understand how a pitcher with such good stuff could look so poor, especially since he threw strikes. Command wasn't the problem. I gave him a Grade C+ in the '04 book.

If there was no obvious reason Guthrie wasn't succeeding with Cleveland, Sickels attempts to answer that mystery and suggests that Guthrie may have found himself in Baltimore.

His stuff was back up into the low-to-mid-90s and his breaking stuff had more bite again. But he was now 27 years old, and kept getting hit hard in the majors, with a 6.98 mark in 19 innings last year. I wrote that a change of scenery and a switch to relief would be the only things that would save his career.

Guthrie got the change of scenery and so far he's been quite a revelation for the Orioles: 2.42 ERA in 81.2 innings with a 56/14 K/BB. He's been a bit hit-lucky I think, giving up just 59 hits, but he's pitching genuinely well and is now living up to the expectations generated back in his Stanford days. He's pitching the best ball of his career right now. What's the explanation? He's always had the stuff. I think it was a matter of confidence and location, and clearing his mental and emotional palate after his struggles in Cleveland. If he continues to throw quality strikes, I think it's sustainable.

I'd like to know how often someone with Guthrie's minor league record succeeds in the majors, but no one's looking at that now. Right they're (rightly) marveling that he's turned his career around. I guess, if nothing else we're witnessing the Mazzone effect. If so, the Orioles better do all they can to make sure that Mazzone stays in Baltimore.

There little hope for this year. And no real hope for the immediate future. Hopefully the front office under McPhail can build from these three and progress towards respectability in 3 to 4 years. It won't be sooner than that.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

baltimore orioles, brian roberts, jeremy guthrie, erik bedard.

Debate and terror

Honest Reporting offers a rebuttal to Moussa Abu Marzouk's recent op-ed in the LA Times.

There is, of course, no excuse for media outlets giving a platform to a terrorist organization. Of course the media moguls will nobly claim that they are providing a service by provoking debate, they are doing more than that.

Nicholas Goldberg in his remembrance of Daniel Pearl wrote

Before 9/11, the groups that Americans widely considered "terrorist" were wising up: They had young, U.S.-educated spokesmen who were reaching out to the media, speaking our language. Hezbollah's press spokesman had lived in the United States, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on Edgar Allan Poe. Hamas political leaders would invite us into their Gaza living rooms and hint seriously at support for a two-state solution.

Sure, there were killers and rejectionists and crazies, like the old Shiite mullah I met in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon who told me that he'd never met a Jew but that if he did, he'd know it instantly and kill him. We knew that all was not well in the Muslim world, but it felt, somehow, like such people were on the fringes, not in the ascendancy.

The idea of talking directly to the American people and political class while using their idioms is a strategy used to mask the Jihadists true nature. Media who allow themselves to be used toward this end are aiding and abetting terror organizations. Whether or not that's illegal aid to a terror organization as Honest Reporting suggests is not as certain. (Not that it shouldn't be.)

This article from last year suggests that only actual financial dealings are outlawed. Providing value may not be enough.

The op-ed prompted rumors that the Hamas leadership had hired a public relations firm to make its pitch.

Abington said he doubted that, saying it would be illegal under current anti-terrorism laws for an American firm to advocate on behalf of the group, he said. But he agreed that the Hamas leader is getting some expert help.

That doesn't make it right. Media folks are quick to say that it's important debate is important and that it's important to give lesser known views publicity. They'll say that it's important to see grey areas. Well let me respond, maybe there are grey areas (at least) when it comes to debate. I'm reasonably certain that no major paper allowed Joerg Haider (or one of his spokesmen) op-ed space. Clearly there are some views the media doesn't deem worthy of debate.

Why giving a platform to organizations that reject the very freedoms that the media claim to celebrate is a virtue is beyond me. But it isn't a huge leap from giving op-ed space to determining that one's interests coincide enough with these terror organizations. BBC has made the leap.

Submitted 07/10/07

This weeks' Watcher's Council nominations are up.

The Glittering Eye writes What's in a name (Al Qaeda edition)? His argument is that too often terrorism is attributed to Al Qaeda when it ought not to. I had some doubts about his thesis, thinking I remembered that Daniel Pipes had written that Al Qaeda was diffuse without a strong structure. (Thus it could be involved in a lot of terror, even if not associated with Bin Laden.) I didn't find that article, but I did find Daniel Pipes making much the same argument three years ago.

In North vs. South, Colossus of Rhodey.Hube looks at some speculative, post-apocalyptic science fiction. I hope he's feeling better and over that flu bug.

In Independence Day, Done with Mirrors considers the contradictory American impulses for freedom and for (moral) standards.

In High Noonan, Big Lizards expresses high dudgeon at Peggy Noonan's latest broadside against President Bush. He argues that Reagan would have understood the Islamist threat and not retreated to the isolationism of many of his followers.

Okie on the Lam synopsizes the latest shocking Baqubah Update from Michael Yon.

Rhymes with Right writes about Another Human Rights Atrocity in Malaysia in which a woman's religious freedom is trampled on by the authorities.

Education Wonk considers his responsibility and re-considers his role as an influencer in recommending the military as an option to students given his own ambivalence to the way the war is being run in Army Recruitment and the Influencers.

Bookworm Room's Bad Medicine is a refutation of Michael Moore's "Sicko."

Cheat Seeking Missiles sets the Clinton records straight on presidential pardons in Hillary's Grand Failed Coverup.

JoshuaPundit takes down last week's notorious editorial advocating withdrawal from Iraq in NYT Run Away! Run Away!

Right Wing Nuthouse writes about the difficulty of succeeding in Iraq if the Iraqi government does nothing to help politically in Success in a vacuum.

My own contribution to the Council is High class terror in which I write about the presence of the middle class and upper middle class among the ranks of jihadists.

Read. Enjoy. Be informed.

watcher's council.

Impending Lokshen Shortage!

Bad news for the ketchup manufacturers but good news for potato growers? From Der Spiegel:

Italian pasta makers say bad harvests and competition from biofuel manufacturers have led to a durum disaster. Consumers will be paying for it by summer's end.

Pasta prices are going up. And it's not just the truffles.
Mamma mia! The price of a plate of pasta is expected to rise 20 percent this summer as a bad wheat harvest and increasing competition from biofuel manufacturers send the price of delicate, delicious durum wheat skyrocketing.

Italian consumers, accustomed to paying 70 euro cents ($1) for a pack of the good stuff -- half the cost of a cup of coffee -- will be the first to feel the pinch, but the Italian Pasta Manufacturer's Association will be passing the costs on to export customers as well. "Pasta producers have tried, with growing difficulty that has now become no longer sustainable, to absorb the high cost differentials," the Association announced last week. "But this situation cannot go on any longer in the face of the dynamics of the durum wheat market."

Italy's famous macaroni makers are the latest to find themselves at the wrong end of competition from the booming biofuel industry, which converts corn, sugar, wheat and other crops to fuel and energy. As biofuels catch on, governments are increasing subsidies. Farmers are finding themselves in an unfamiliar position: a seller's market. Courted by food manufacturers and energy firms alike, they're raising prices and shifting production to crops that can be used to make ethanol for cars, heat homes or generate electricity [...]

Berlin biofuels expert Bjoern Pieprzyk . . . admits that it may take a long time -- 15 years or more -- for production to catch up to demand. In the meantime, spaghetti dinners may no longer be synonymous with cheap eats in Italy or elsewhere.

And the race is on to develop alternative kugel!

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Harry potter and the wannabe pundit

Yesterday, Best of the Web Today used my suggestion for Wannabe Pundits (in which he highlights writers in other fields who feel the need to be relevant by injecting gratuitous political judgments into their writing. My nominee was from Michael Sragow's movie review in the Baltimore Sun.

Critic's corner: "Even when it isn't laugh-out-loud funny, the movie gives off the crackle of humorous audacity. With a wicked deadpan rather than a wink, it draws parallels between Umbridge's assault on student freedoms at Hogwarts and some of our own leaders' attempts to curtail civil liberties post-Sept. 11."--Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun, reviewing "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Since Sragow's almost certainly talking about the Administration, which is made up of Republicans, I think it's only right to look at some other implications of the series.

1) Rita Skeeter (and the rest of the Daily Prophet) staff put themselves in the service of the Ministry of the Magic faithfully reporting just what and how the Ministry wants them too. Sure seems similar to the way the MSM faithfully reports from the Democratic point of view.

2) Democrats (and alas a few Republicans) and the MSM were quite pleased with the McCain Feingold bill that limited who may contribute ideas to a political campaign. This directly parallels the Ministry of Magic's edict at Hogwarts to limit the narrative of Voldemort's return to the officially approved Daily Prophet. Like those who support McCain Feingold the Ministry wishes to allow only its narrative among the population.

3) The exchange between the students and Professor Umbridge about Defense against Dark Arts is extraordinary. Umbridge takes the stance that the students need not be able to protect themselves, only to learn the theories behind the discipline. Umbridge is someone who would support gun control laws as a way of solving crime.

It's true, the Harry Potter series is more of an argument for libertarianism than for conservatism. (Though Bookworm Room makes a case that it promotes conservative values.) Still Republicans are more likely - though, unfortunately not certain - to object to the ways of the Ministry of Magic than Democrats.

In addition to yesterday's reviews - I was wrong, in re-reading the Sun's review online it appears that the review is complete - the Washington Post has now posted Desson Thompson's review and it is very positive. (Thompson is the Post's 3rd string reviewer; why the top 2 - Anne Hornaday and Stephen Hunter - didn't get assigned Harry Potter, I have no idea. Thompson seems to be their Harry Potter reviewer, even if the others get the other blockbusters.)

Leaner than its cinematic predecessors at 138 minutes, the fifth Potter film has trimmed Rowling's garrulous, character-crowded novel (at 870 pages, it's her chunkiest installment) into an urgently paced thriller that modulates adroitly between psychological darkness and cartoonish slapstick. But director David Yates, a British filmmaker who formerly worked in television, and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, both newcomers to the "Harry" franchise, have not cut away the story's powerful thematic underpinnings.

Alas Thompson can't totally stay away from the punditry either.

(Audiences can infer any number of contemporary parallels.)

Though I suppose he's general enough not to be too preachy.

harry potter and the order of the phoenix

For This You Need a PH.D?

The New York Times reports on a new approach that will revolutionize the Democratic Party's political chances:

[Emory University Professor of Psychology] Dr. Westen takes the unlikely position that the Democratic Party should, for the most part, forget about issues, policies, even facts, and instead focus on feelings. [emphasis added]

Of course, this calls for the complete revamping of the approach that Democrats have been carefully following till now:

What he calls “the dispassionate view of the mind which has guided Democratic thinking for 40 years” is deeply flawed, Dr. Westen argues. What decides elections, he maintains, are people’s emotional reactions, even if they don’t know it.

What a novel idea! Of course, we'll have to coin a new word to describe this new technique. Maybe we could name it in honor of the Democratic Party...

I know: Demagogue!

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Drew Westen and Democratic Party.

Gaydamak for pm?

From Persia's Press TV
Israeli-Russian billionaire to topple Olmert

An Israeli-Russian billionaire has said he is creating a new political party to topple prime minister Ehud Olmert's unpopular government.

"There is an urgent need to change the current government that justifies the creation of a party," the Russian-born businessman, Arkady Gaydamak, said in an interview with AFP.

Gaydamak has been implicated in police investigations in Israel and abroad.

Count on the Persian press to bring up the bad.

Gaydamak has criticized Olmert and his government over waging war against Hezbollah.

Well I think the criticism was more along the lines of not waging the war effectively.

He said the party, which already has some 1,400 activists, will hold its first meeting in al-Quds on Thursday.

Al-Quds, how quaint. Not unexpected from Persia these days I suppose.

From The Jerusalem Post
Gaydamak launches Social Justice party

A spokesman for Gaydamak said the party already had 1,400 supporters and that they hoped to win at least 20 Knesset seats. A recent survey commissioned by Gaydamak showed that his party could receive anywhere between 17 and 23 seats.

In private interviews, Gaydamak has boasted that his party could garner 30 or 40 seats if he decided to "dedicate" himself fully to the political cause. He has not yet revealed where his party would fall on the political spectrum, but his suggestions that he would sit in a coalition with Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman have led many to believe that Social Justice will be a right-wing party with a focus on immigrant issues.

Perhaps I ought not to write that even the 17-23 seats seems a bit high, I've been underestimating Olmert's and Kadima's staying power for quite some time now. My best guess for his popularity is not just that he's a fresh face, but that he's stepped up and done something when the government didn't.

Gaydamak has already shaken up the political scene by using his vast personal fortune to help communities that he claims the government is ignoring. In two highly-publicized events this year, Gaydamak offered all-expense paid vacations for residents of Sderot, who have been living with frequent rocket barrages, and aid for communities in the North who suffered damage during the Second Lebanon War.

Gaydamak's charity was met with criticism by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who pointed out that the 54-year-old was facing accusations of money laundering and international fraud.

And of course staying in the business news, no doubt helps him keep a high profile.

Arkady Gaydamak, israel.

Mild and wild about harry

Reveiws for Harry Potter and teh Order of the Phoenix

NY Times by A.O. Scott

“Order of the Phoenix” has its grim, bleak elements, but it is also, after all, an installment in a mighty multimedia entertainment franchise. And like its predecessors, it manages to succeed as a piece of entertainment without quite fulfilling its potential as a movie. Perhaps by design, the films never quite live up to the books. This one proves to be absorbing but not transporting, a collection of interesting moments rather than a fully integrated dramatic experience. This may just be a consequence of the necessary open-endedness of the narrative, or of an understandable desire not to alienate “Potter” readers by taking too many cinematic chances.

Although “Order of the Phoenix” is not a great movie, it is a pretty good one, in part because it does not strain to overwhelm the audience with noise and sensation. There are some wonderful special-effects-aided set pieces — notably an early broomstick flight over London — and some that are less so. People waving wands at one another, even accompanied by bright lights and scary sounds, does not quite sate this moviegoer’s appetite for action. But the production design (by Stuart Craig) and the cinematography (by Slawomir Idziak) are frequently astonishing in their aptness and sophistication. The interiors of the Ministry of Magic offer a witty, nightmarish vision of wizardly bureaucracy, while Harry’s angst and loneliness register in Mr. Idziak’s cold, washed-out shades of blue.

Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow

What could have been grim in lesser hands becomes Grimm and expansive in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Even when it isn't laugh-out-loud funny, the movie gives off the crackle of humorous audacity. With a wicked deadpan rather than a wink, it draws parallels between Umbridge's assault on student freedoms at Hogwarts and some of our own leaders' attempts to curtail civil liberties post-Sept. 11. Radcliffe has said, "Somebody described her as a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Freddy Krueger." The way Staunton plays her -- brilliantly -- she's an academic and a paper-pusher operating under the delusion that she's a queen, or maybe an imperial president, whipping a slack democracy into shape.

Much of what Umbridge does is simultaneously ominous and hilarious, especially when she institutes a "back to basics" approach to the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts. She's got the quick-tongued yet status quo repartee of the quintessentially thoughtless, even before she turns into a mini-Mussolini. And she's got the metronomelike pseudo-grace of the innately graceless: You can see it in the way she stirs her tea. When Umbridge needs to be an outright threat, Staunton makes her as vicious as they come. Staunton lifts everybody's game, including, in their few scenes together, Maggie Smith's McGonagall, who expresses a real class act's disdain at Umbridge's upstart arrogance, and Emma Thompson's Trelawney, who whips up a tangy comic pathos in mere seconds.

The Sun's review was missing sections that were in the paper. But there's a nice profile of Imelda Staunton who plays Prof Umbridge. It starts like this ...

Two years before she was offered the role of Dolores Jane Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a friend of Imelda Staunton's called her up to say he'd just read J.K. Rowling's book and that there was a part in it she'd be perfect for. "So I read it," Staunton says, "and thought, 'Small, squat, ugly, toadlike woman - thanks a lot.'"

The Washington Post doesn't have an online review at this time.

harry potter and the order of the phoenix

Deadly cappuccinos

The caption to this photograph was interesting ...

While armed militias rule the streets of Nablus and Gazans largely survive on U.N. food handouts, residents of Ramallah take yoga and Salsa dance classes or sip cappuccinos and beer in mixed groups — behavior that could get them killed ten miles outside of town.(AP Photo/Rachael Strecher)

Sipping cappuccinos could get one killed. By who or what?

Last summer's war continues

Fuel for Lebanon's Next War (NYT, June 29, 2007)

But as an alarming report to the Security Council made clear this week, that flow of deadly arms continues unimpeded. To let things go on this way is to accept the inevitability of another, devastating war. The Security Council, whose main job is supposed to be preventing wars, needs to move quickly to help Lebanon control its border, and it needs to pressure Syria into finally cooperating.
...
Mr. Assad seems to believe that Syria’s international clout is strengthened by a well-armed Hezbollah and a Lebanon unable to control its borders. The Security Council needs to summon the will to convince him that he is wrong.

Buildup in Lebanon (WaPo July 4, 2007)

When Resolution 1701 was adopted, Israel urged the Security Council to deploy international forces or monitors along the Lebanese-Syrian border to prevent such weapons deliveries. Intimidated by threats of attacks on U.N. troops, the council refused. The result is that Syria and Hezbollah once again are positioned to rain missiles on Israeli cities, to wage war on the Lebanese government or to assault the foreign troops deployed in southern Lebanon. The Security Council has been fully informed; will it do anything to prevent another war?

These editorials from the past few weeks show that the recent incursion into Lebanon by Syrian troops, has been building. (There was also the killing of some peacekeepers and the launch of rockets into Israel.)

The editorial from the Times is troubling for it supposes that a few well worded resolutions from the UN would get Bashar Assad to back down. Assad has a lot riding on events in Lebanon and the UN. He didn't suffer for last year's war on Israel. He has no reason to listen to the UN.

The Washington Post at least argues that the UN should have been policing the Lebanese/Syrian border. But still neither paper was supportive of Israel's war against Hezbollah last summer. Both were interested in stopping the war not in defanging Syria. A year later, Syria appears ready to make mischief again.

At some point Israel (or the United States) will have to act, or Iran's pawn, Syria, will once again extend its control over Lebanon, just as it did more than 30 years ago. Israel may have temporarily deterred Hezbollah last year, but it didn't address the more substantial threat.

Now Syria's back and the cost of deterring Syria will be more expensive this year.

syria, israel, lebanon, hezbollah.

Not perfect but worth reading

They honor us with their hate by Richard Cohen

Still, the chief reason for the cheering on Sept. 11 was U.S. support for Israel. Sometimes that support has been mindless and sometimes it has been over the top, but fundamentally it is based on certain truths. The first is that Israel is a legally sanctioned state, created by the United Nations in 1948 and recognized soon after by most countries, including -- amazingly enough -- Cold War adversaries the United States and the Soviet Union. The second truth is that at least one Islamic state (Iran) and a host of militant organizations -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and, of course, al-Qaeda -- fervently wish for Israel's destruction. There is no way the United States could appease these groups and not, in the process, trample on its own moral values. Israel on occasion is wrong -- and the settlements are an abomination -- but its existence is right.

Glad to see that he seems to be over his Israel is a mistake period.

UPDATE: Further comments at Bookworm Room. Thanks to Israel Matzav for the citation and who writes what I only implied.

I'm annoyed that Richard refers to American support for Israel as sometimes being 'mindless' and 'over the top' and I vehemently disagree with his characterization of the 'settlements' as an 'abomination,' (one day, I would like to spend half an hour explaining to Richard why Ariel Sharon was correct when he compared Netzarim to Tel Aviv).

Taking Sheehan seriously

John Nichols, in one of the blogs featured on The Nation website, surely seeks to answer the various flippant and frivolous right-wing responses which have appeared to Cindy Sheehan's challenge to Nancy Pelosi. What prompted Sheehan to deploy her giant-like moral authority against Pelosi? Pelosi's assault on the constitution itself!

Before last year's election, Pelosi announced that impeachment was "off the table." It is probably good that she did not try to nullify another section of the Constitution -- say, the part about freedom of speech. But Pelosi did serious damage to the system of checks and balances when she declared that her House would not use the tool created by the founders to assure that the legislative branch could keep errant executives in line.

Does that have anything to do with trying them for high crimes and misdemeanors? Here are Nichols' concluding paragraphs:

. . . Sheehan's notoriety would make the race a more serious one than the easy runs Pelosi has enjoyed since she won her House seat in a 1987 special election.

Could a Sheehan challenge actually upset Pelosi? That's a long shot -- and Sheehan, who is far more savvy about politics than her critics recognize, knows this.

But she also knows that politicians are most likely to respond to political pressure. So Cindy Sheehan is turning up the heat on Pelosi with a political threat that George Bush -- after his long and bitter experience of tangling with the "Peace Mom" -- would undoubtedly advise the Speaker to treat with a good measure of seriousness.

That's the key: seriousness. Not flippancy.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Iran Daily: "Enemies Wanted to Use Gasoline Weapon"

Did I mention that Ahmadinejad has been facing criticism for his economic policies? Never mind--it's all been cleared up! Look at those smiling faces!

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday enemies wanted to threaten Iran with gasoline.

Talking to reporters who accompanied him during his provincial visits, the chief executive noted that gasoline use should be optimized and reduction of gasoline consumption needs improvement of public transportation, IRNA reported. Noting that gasoline consumption should be reduced, Ahmadinejad said high gasoline imports create many problems, including gasoline smuggling, excessive consumption and unnecessary journeys.

Imagine all the journeys to gas stations that can be eliminated!

“We do not agree with selling gasoline in the free market. We believe that gasoline should be imported in the right manner because gasoline accounts for 80 percent of journeys taking place in the country,“ he said.

He pointed out that reducing gasoline consumption can help the government build 1,000 kilometers of railroad annually.

Asked whether he believes his rivals will use the issue of rationing gasoline against him, the chief executive said the people elected him to serve them and he is nobody’s rival.

“Setting free market price for gasoline is harmful to the economy, under the present circumstances,“ he said.

The president noted that the gasoline rationing scheme saves a minimum 100 billion rials per day, which will exceed 40 trillion rials per year.

And the Revolutionary Guards will undoubtedly be happy to visit anyone wanting a closer look at where the numbers came from.

He enumerated establishment of gasoline refineries and railroads, strengthening social security insurance and paying financial aid to the unemployed as cases that can be promoted from the gasoline saved.

Commenting on the possibility of holding the second round of Iran-US talks on Iraq, Ahmadinejad pointed out that he will do whatever he can to assist the Iraqi people.

“The notion of justice and strengthening the spirit of serving people depends on the national will and on adopting a national perspective toward the country’s media,“ he said.

Referring to his visit to 29 provinces, Ahmadinejad pointed out that more than 780 sessions were held for provincial tours and a total of 29,000 person-hour of work was accomplished.

In other words, "No unnecessary journeys there!"

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Musical monday 4

Guess the songs and theme from the following lyrics

1) I'm living for giving the devil his due

2) If I could only see that familiar sunrise through sleepy eyes

3) Wouldn't you give your hand to a friend?

4) And I nearly died from hospitality

5) It's stopped rainin' Everybody's in a play

6) Ain't love a funny thing, one day you're givin' up the dream

7) She's got high-heel shoes and an alligator hat

8) Money talks But it can't sing and dance

9) Do you want to hear me beg you to take me back?

10) When I smile, tell me some bad news

11) Give me no reasons, give me alibis

12) Can't afford to pass it by, Guaranteed to make you cry

13) Girl you just don't realize what you do to me

14) A long, long time ago, On graduation day

15) You pay for this but they give you that

16) Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list

17) you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart

18) Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,

19) They wouldnt listen to the fact that I was a genius

20) As she spells out regret in perfect time

21) A new day is comin' people are changin'

Musical Monday 3's answers are here. The theme was Life on the Road, or slightly better life of a musician
1) I live in hotels tear out the walls
Life's been Good - Joe Walsh
Elie's Expositions,
2) And we proceeded to tear that hotel down
We're an American Band - Grand Funk Railroad
Elie's Expositions, Mr Cosmic X
3) Back at the hotel, ... we got such a mess
What's your name - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Elie's Expositions, Fiery Spirited Zionist,
4) all the same old cliches is that a woman or a man
Turn the page - Bob Seger
Elie's Expositions, Fiery Spirited Zionist
5) Someone got excited, had to call the state militia
Traveling Band - CCR
Elie's Expositions (1/2 credit),
6) Johnny was a schoolboy When he heard his first Beatles song (could have included it last time!)
Shooting Star - Bad Company
Elie's Expositions, Fiery Spirited Zionist
7) His leather jacket had chains that would jingle
Into the great wide open - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Robert
8) I've got my poor old gray-haired Daddy Drivin' my limousine
Cover of the Rolling Stone - Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
Judeopundit, Malibu Stacy
9) they sit at the bar and put bread in my jaw (should be jar - ed.)
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Elie's Expositions, Mr Cosmic X, Fiery Spirited Zionist
10) Crazy Larry sang the baritone
Street Corner Serenade - Wet Willy
11) Heading down to Houston For a show on Saturday night
(Given everyone's record on country music, no one's going to get #11)
Chasing that neon Rainbow - Alan Jackson
Suggested by Elie's Expositions
12) "We've got country and western on the bus, R&B, we've got disco, 8-track and cassettes and stereo..."
The Load Out - Jackson Browne
Next 3 suggested by Malibu Stacy
13. Perfect strangers call you by name
That's why I'm here - James Taylor
14. I got the powder but not the gun, I got the dog but not the bun
Big in Japan - Tom Waits
15. That decibel meter doesn't seem to be reading low
Venus and Mars - Wings
Fiery Spirited Zionist

Jacksons deals

Jackson Diehl writes in "Mideast policy in a fantasy world" about an Israeli diplomat whom he spoke to.

In other words, Israeli policy is counting on Gaza's impoverished and largely uneducated population to stage the first popular revolution against a domestic government in the modern history of the Arab Middle East. It also assumes that people suffering from extreme privation will respond by demanding a more moderate government.

The extreme privation is a matter of dispute as a number of sources saw to it that he Hamas run PA received even more aid in 2006 than it did in 2005. The problem cannot be solved as Diehl asserts:

In reality, probably the only way forward in the Middle East is for Israel and Hamas to start to come to terms with each other, however provisionally, while accepting that Hamas's formal recognition of Israel, and Western acceptance of Hamas, will come at the end rather than the beginning of the process. Only if they decide on a full-fledged cease-fire will there be a chance to end the violence -- and head off the growing risk of another multi-front war in the Middle East. Only if Hamas agrees to free the Israeli soldier it is still holding hostage, Gilad Shalit, will there be a major Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners. If Israel is to stick to its promise to reduce roadblocks and illegal settlements in the West Bank, it will need Hamas's tacit cooperation -- one suicide bomb by Hamas would quickly reverse any Israeli retreat. And Western governments will find it difficult to do even rudimentary business with Hamas unless Israel goes first.

Actually as reported before, Israel is set on a major release of prisoners, 250, to be exact and Gilad Shalit is just as captive as he ever was.

His assertion to the end of the paragraph that "...one suicide bomb by Hamas would quickly reverse any Israeli retreat" has been disproved so many times it's laughable that he'd even suggest that.

For a short history lesson let's go back to 1996. 2 and a half years after Israel and the PLO signed a peace deal, including a commitment that the PLO would fight terror, Hamas launched a series of terror attacks that killed more than 60 Israelis in ten days. The mantra at the time (from the Israel government, the American government etc.) was that they wouldn't let the terror "kill the peace process." There was no acknowledgment that the terror was the result of PLO non-compliance and that therefore the PLO was an illegitimate terror organization. And the peace process continued giving the PLO more money, territory, and weapons. The intifada of 2000 occurred because promises of peace trumped good sense.

In 2000 Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon. Instead of inspiring Hezbollah to lay down arms because it no longer had a cause to fight Israel, Hezbollah used its freedom to build up its offensive capacity leading to last summer's war.

And of course the withdrawal from Gaza strengthened the terror forces and made the undisputed Israeli city of Sderot a regular target of terrorists firing from Gaza.

So what exactly does Israel have to gain by recognizing Hamas? Hamas won't prevent terror. Neither did the presumed "moderates" of Fatah. The reason for this is simple, Palestinian nationalism does not countenance the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. As long as Israel exists Fatah and Hamas will dedicated to its destruction. The "peace process" just allows them to further those goals with Israel's assistance.

Though I am always suspicious of the Arab League, this article suggests that perhaps they're changing. But until the Arab League and the Palestinians unconditionally accepts Israel's right to exist there won't be any peace. Diehl has not been paying attention to the recent history of the Middle East.

Judicial review palestinian style

There's something that's both quaint and incongruous about this report:

In the meantime, Palestinian lawyers who were involved in drafting the Palestinian Basic Law, or interim constitution, were disputing the legality of Mr. Abbas’s emergency government, Reuters reported.

Anis al-Qasem, who oversaw the writing of the Basic Law, and a fellow independent Palestinian constitutional lawyer, Eugene Cotran, told Reuters that Mr. Abbas had the power to dismiss Ismail Haniya of Hamas, the prime minister of the previous Hamas-led unity government.

But they said the law did not grant Mr. Abbas the power to appoint a new government without legislative approval or the right to suspend articles of the Basic Law pertaining to the need for parliamentary approval, as he did last month.

I guess, given the chaos, I should be grateful that someone wonder about such legal niceties. However Mr. Abbas's authority to fire a government and appoint another in its place really doesn't much matter when his thugs are telling Hamas politicians, not to show for work.

The next day, scores of Fatah gunmen arrived at city hall with a simple order: Hamas officials should leave and not return. But Shaheen, a bespectacled engineering professor, was back at his office within days and continues to ignore subsequent telephoned threats by Fatah's armed wing.

And let's not forget the kneecappings and hits going on in Gaza, is Hamas fretting over the legality of those actions?

10 months

At 1:15 this morning she turned 44 weeks old.
What can I say? I've probably never seen a month in which she has grown so much. She was just starting to crawl last time I wrote. Now she doesn't stop. She pulls herself up with ease. With a little encouragement, if I'm holding her hands she might take a step or two. But can't keep her balance past that point.
She clearly understands some words and will respond to them. If we say "dance" there's a pretty good chance that she'll start swaying back and forth. I'm still trying "ugly face." That's something I used to do with her sister at about this age and her older sister would contort her face.
She's played peek-a-boo pulling her blanket over her face and then uncovering her face when I say "Where's ____?"
From a personal perspective, I'm thrilled because she has become more attached to me. No, I don't rank as high as my wife, but she doesn't reject me as frequently as she used to.
Her babbling is frequent. Occasionally we seem to hear words - "baa" may be "bottle" - and she occasionally mimics sounds.
Last week unfortunately she had to get tubes. But she's been fine since then. And even though the (minor) surgery meant that she couldn't eat in the morning, she really maintained a good composure until the surgery started.
Well this past month has been a wonderful revelation and I'm looking forward to the surprises of the next month.
Previous related posts: 9 months,eight months,seven months, One month, two months, three months, four months and five months, six months.

Iran about to become even more repressive?

Iran's official news agencies often sound like the voice of a government that long ago crushed all opposition. This isn't true, evidently, but Iran seems to keep taking steps in that direction. According to the Guardian:

Allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have accused the media of trying to depose him in a "creeping coup", raising fears of a fresh clampdown on opposition newspapers and websites.

The accusation, from the president's allies, coincides with disclosures that Mr Ahmadinejad has authorised aides to establish a special team to counter "black propaganda against the government".

It is thus interesting that Mehr News, not a website known for even admitting that Ahmadinejad has critics, is reporting that Ahmadinejad is meeting with critical "economic experts":

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad will hold a “frank and friendly” debate with a number of economic experts who have criticized his government’s economic policies, the press department of the presidential office said on Sunday.

The meeting will take place at the president office on Thursday at 16:30 local time.

The press department said the president will elaborate on his government’s economic policies and will discuss the opportunities and challenges facing his government.

Last month, 57 economists signed an open letter warning about the government’s economic policies.

The president office said it has invited all the signatories of letter to meet the president on Thursday afternoon.

In an earlier announcement on June 25, the president expressed his readiness to meet experts who warned his economic policies risked plunging the country into financial chaos.

The experts claimed the economic policies have fuelled inflation, hurt the poor and laid the seeds of future crises.

The letter - whose signatories included former economic advisers to previous governments and an ex-head of the Tehran stock exchange - also accused the government of lavishing Iran's oil revenues into ill-conceived projects while masking its economic failures behind falsified statistics.

"The price of decisions that have no scientific basis is very high and irreversible, in particular for those who are worst off," the letter said.

Elsewhere on Mehr, we see the usual presentations of the Government line:

The head of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization (IIDO) said Sunday that gasoline rationing will prevent the depletion of national resource.

Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mehdi Khamushi added that gasoline rationing helped people perceive the value of fuel and use it appropriately. [...]

Are Iranians about to take great leaps forward in appreciating the "value of fuel"? Stay tuned.

Update: "President: Fuel rationing, a timely, proper tactic to thwart enemies plots"

Crossposted on Judeopundit

No good deed goes unpunished

You always have to go on High Irony Alert when one of these hostage releases takes place. According to Times Online, Alan Johnston's kidnappers are disgusted that there is just no gratitude in this Allah-forsaken world:

[...] The kidnappers expressed bizarre resentment that Johnston, 45, had done nothing to thank them for their hospitality while they held him at gunpoint in a tiny cell.

“We used to give him everything he wanted,” Abu Zobayer, an aide to Dagmoush, said.

“We spent £70 on his food every week. The Matouk restaurant [one of the best eateries in Gaza] got rich because we had to feed him.”

Johnston has said that he fell ill from the food he was served. Zobayer commented: “It’s not our problem that we gave him everything and he only ate a little.”

I hear the Hostage Journalist's Plate comes with a free drink.

Although they did not torture him physically, the kidnappers seemed to have no concept of the psychological torture they were inflicting on the BBC correspondent.

“We had people with him all the time to try to help him to relax,” said Zobayer.

“We gave him a radio so that he could listen to his own channel. I myself sat with him to try to make him feel comfortable and feel that he will be released.” [...]

(Hat Tip: Discarded Lies)

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Palestinian Terrorists and Japanese Kamikazes

Are there comparisons? Japanese Kamikazes are making a comeback in Japan--as role models for Japanese youth:

Long a synonym for the waste of war, the suicidal flyers are now being glorified in a film written by Tokyo's governor, Shintaro Ishihara, a well-known nationalist and co-author of the 1989 book "The Japan that Can Say No." And a museum about the kamikazes in the southern town of Chiran, near the airstrip where Uchida and others took off, gets more than 500,000 visitors a year.

One difference between the kamikazes and the Palestinian terrorists of course is that kamikazes are a memory--and even an inspiration for Japanese youth--but apparently not an actual goal.

...No one is publicly calling for young Japanese to kill themselves for the nation these days. But the renewed hero-worship of the kamikazes coincides with a general trend in Japanese society toward seeing the country's war effort as noble, and mourning the fading of the ethic of self-sacrifice amid today's wealth.

Then again, there are certain similarities between today's Palestinian terrorists and the kamikazes. There have been indications for a while that not all suicide bombers are driven by ideology. The same is true of the kamikazes of WWII:

Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, a University of Wisconsin anthropologist and author of "Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers," said that the pilots' private writings and other evidence show that rather than stoic warriors, many of them were tortured souls, browbeaten and abused into flying to their deaths.

Of course, while today's Japanese have only memories of WWII and are therefore able to glorify the kamikazes, there is a very different memory of WWII that Japan to this day tries not to glorify, but to forget--or deny: the memory of Nanking. In Denying History, Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman write:

Nanking was only one of many atrocities committed by the Japanese between 1931 and 1945, in what Iris Chang has called "the forgotten holocaust of World War II," the subtitle of her disturbing book The Rape of Nanking...As in the Nazi mass murder of the Jews, totals of the numbers killed vary, ranging from 1,578,000 to 6,325,000, with a mid-range moderate estimate of 3,949,000 people exterminated as a direct result of Japanese crimes against humanity (i.e. noncombatants). When total Chinese deaths are calibrated to include Japanese military actions through looting, starvation, bombing, medical experimentation, and battle deaths, historians estimate that the figure may be as high as 19 million...the Nazis did not hold a monopoly on human cruelty. There seems nothing the Nazis did to Jews that would have shocked their Japanese counterparts. (p.232)

The difference between the Japanese and the Palestinian leadership is that while the former denies the murders of civilians, that latter remains at a level where the murder of civilians is glorified--and why not. Japan knows that to admit such atrocities is to bring world judgment to bear: perhaps even more than merely metaphorically. On the other hand, Fatah and Hamas have long realized that they have a free hand. They have the world's implicit assent, if not their financial assistance.

Personally, I think it is instructive to compare the Arabs and the Japanese directly--as Raphael Patai does in his book The Arab Mind. At one point in his book, Patai writes about old Arab poems:

Compared to the value of honor[,] that of a human life was minor--an attitude exemplified by numerous stories, both old and new, telling of how the hero fulfills a pledge, which is a matter of honor, or protects or restores his honor, even though it requires that he sacrifice the life of his own son or of one or more of his subordinates. As a widely read Arab friend of mine once remarked in a critical vein, both the Japanese and the Arabs are ready to kill in order to regain their lost honor; but the Japanese will kill himself, while the Arab will kill somebody else. [Emphasis added; p.224]

And that is the point.

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Japan and Kamikazes and Palestinians and Terrorists and Raphael Patai.

Haveil Havalim #124 is UP!

Haveil Havalim #124 is UP! at V'HeChadash Yitkadesh so please check out Haveil Havalim #124. And poor me, I can't even think of a creative edition name! Help me out! Thank to V'HeChadash Yitkadesh for hosting and hoping that he enjoyed it too!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of haveil havalim
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Technorati tags: haveil havalim, blog carnival.

UPCOMING EDITIONS

July 15 - #125 - (Birthday Boy) Yid With Lid
July 22 - #126 - R' Chaim HaQoton

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The cycle

Last week Aubrey Huff hit for the cycle in a losing cause for he Orioles. He became the third player this year, after Mark Ellis of the Athletics and Fred Lewis of the Giants to hit for the cycle.

The Giants have had players hit for the cycle 24 times. (Lewis's cycle put them ahead of the Pirates.) Luke Scott of the Astros became the first rookie to hit for the cycle, when he accomplished the feat last year. Gary Matthews Jr. was the most recent player to hit for the cycle in order when he was with the Rangers last year.

The Twins had eight players hit for the cycle between 1970 and 1986 but none since.

Does the name Tyrone Horne mean anything to you? Well he's the only professional baseball player ever to hit for the home run cycle. Baseball Guru adds

Horne's four homers and 10 RBI helped the Travelers rout the Missions, 13-4. Horne went on to win the Texas League home run crown with 37 that year, also driving in 139.

But get this: Horne never made it to the majors in the U.S. (He did play in the Korean Major Leagues, though.) I'd add that this isn't necessarily surprising. For someone to lead a minor league level in HR (or any counting stat) for a season, he'd have to play nearly a whole season, at least, in that league. That would mean that his team never saw that he had progressed enough to go to the next level.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

baseball, hitting for the cycle.

B'Rechovot Kiryah

I just saw this blog, B'Rechovot Kiryah about a group of students from Toronto who are going to Rechovot on a six week mission. Here's the introduction to the blog:

B’Rechovot kiryah…these two words come from Megillat Eicha which we read on Tisha B’av,the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, to commemorate the destruction of the temple. Eicha is a book written from the depths of a soul facing persecution, poverty, hunger and abandonment.

In the town of Rechovot, Israel there is indeed a Kiryah. Kiryat Moshe is a mostly Ethiopian community, a community which has faced a life of persecution in their home country, a grueling journey across miles and miles to reach the country of their dreams, and abandonment when they arrived. It is a poverty stricken community with many of its older residents lacking the skills required to join the work force and what would be a bleak future for the area’s youth. Thanks to the generosity of the UJA all over North America as well as the Jewish Agency, changes are being made to Kiryat Moshe giving new hope for the young generation. My name is Alan Richter and I am leading a group of seven university students from Toronto on a 6-week volunteer mission to Kiryat Moshe. Working in a day camp and a Youth Group for ‘at risk’ youth we are trying to make a difference in this poverty stricken community, as well as to raise awareness in both the North American and Israeli community of their story and plight. The following blog will track our activities as well as act as an outlet for both the group members and my thoughts as the six weeks progress.

I see that the Toronto connection to helping out in Kiryat Moshe (Rechovot) is a strong one.

israel, ethiopians.

Cohen's grasp of reality

Roger Cohen of the IHT and NYT interviews Israeli's FM Tzippi Livni, in Her Jewish State. Cohen can't resist getting some gratuitous digs of Minister Livni.

But Livni can be relentless— a “nudnik,” or nagger, in the words of Igal Galai, a friend of Sharon’s. When Livni called me back after our first meeting, something else was eating at her: “I was minister of immigrant absorption in 2004, and I convinced Sharon that it was important that I go see Condoleezza Rice in Washington. So I went, and I saw how she was interested in the depth of the conflict, in finding a real process and doing what was right and just. I had the opportunity to convince Rice, then national security adviser, and so make a contribution to the statement President Bush made soon after.”

In that groundbreaking statement of April 14, 2004, George W. Bush declared: “It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel.” No American leader had ever so explicitly trashed the “right of return” of the Palestinians. “That was my contribution,” Livni revealed to me. “I did the right thing — and so did Bush.”

Livni seems to share many things with Rice, who calls the foreign minister a “friend” and a woman of peace. They have the same intensity and work ethic, the same difficulty in thinking beyond a doctrine once it has been formed, the same disciplined intelligence that sometimes appears to lack the subtlety of wisdom and the same penchant for talking about “values” and what is “right.”

But I found myself thinking, What good was the “right thing” or plans for Palestinian refugees festering in camps or Bush’s two-state road map or Rice’s principles or Livni’s good intentions, when the whole area — spiraling downward with a devilish energy, developing ever-more-divergent Israeli and Palestinian narratives, splintering and radicalizing in the image of Iraq, threatened by a resurgent Iran, permeated by jihadists without borders — was going up in recrimination-clogged smoke? I believed in Livni’s good faith, her energy, her honesty, her determination. What I was not sure about after our first meeting was her grasp on reality. The fact is, Israelis and Palestinians have parted company. I could see little evidence that Livni, for all her lucidity, was any exception to this.

Livni's support of a Palestinian state makes her accommodating of Palestinian nationalism. There is no parallel on the other side. And yet Cohen sees this as lacking a "grasp on reality?"

Since 1993 all Israeli efforts to accommodate Palestinian aspirations have been subverted. Oslo didn't work because all the territory and aid that Israel (and the rest of the world) gave the Palesitnians was used to launch a second intifada.

Presumably a grasp of reality means would mean not supporting an ideology (in this case the "right of return" for Palestinians) that means the destruction of one's own country. Given that there's no way to square the Palestinian right of return with the existence of Israel, why is that ideology, in any way, realistic?

UPDATE: Israel Matzav critiqued Minister Livni's views in Feigele's Reality. He wrote that he didn't understand my point. Simply put: Cohen was taking FM Livni and arguing that her view denying the Palestinian "right of return" (for example) made her very much a Likudnik. (A condemnation in Cohen's lexicon.) He argued that her views made reconciliation between the Palestinians and the Israelis less likely. I find it hard to believe that after 13 years (almost 14 years) of broken Palestinian commitments that anyone can believe that Israeli hardliners are responsible for the failure to achieve peace. Hardliners were correct about not trusting Yasser Arafat, the dangers of withdrawing from southern Lebanon and Gaza. The effort to make Livni part of the problem is simple dishonesty on Cohen's part.

UPDATE II: Powerline makes the case I had hoped to make. (via memeorandum)

Israel.

Daughters tricked out of martyrdom

One of the more dramatic stories to come out of the "Red Mosque" stand-off. From Times Online:

[...] For one family at least there was a happy ending of sorts. As a gun battle raged late on Friday, with snipers on the roof of the mosque forcing the army back to its lines 100 yards away, Khan, the father who had been pleading with his two daughters to leave, called them on their mobile phone and told them their mother was outside. She had been taken ill and lay unconscious on the pavement, he said.

It was a lie but it worked. The two girls quickly left the compound and found their waiting father in the crowd. “I’m taking them back to our village,” said Khan. “They were ready for martyrdom and they’re very angry with me. I’m just happy I’ve got my daughters back, and sorry for those whose daughters are still in there.”

Saima, in a bitter, fanatical voice that belied her 10 years, told The Sunday Times her father had cheated her of martyrdom. “The teachers taught us about martyrdom and that it is a great achievement,” she said.

“I could see the fighting was in front of me and I could understand that we would die. I felt real anger about what my father did. He tricked me.”

Is there some sort of father-of-the-year award?

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Latest Pilgerization: "These are Brown's bombs, too"

John Pilger, the journalist who inspired the coinage of the word "pilgerize," evidently does not think that Muslims are angry enough:

Just as the London bombs in the summer of 2005 were Blair's bombs, the inevitable consequence of his government's lawless attack on Iraq, so the potential bombs in the summer of 2007 are Brown's bombs. Gordon Brown has been an unerring supporter of the unprovoked bloodbath whose victims now equal those of the Rwandan genocide, according to the American scientist who led the 2006 Johns Hopkins School of Public Health survey of civilian dead in Iraq. While Tony Blair sought to discredit this study, British government scientists secretly praised it as "tried and tested" and an "underestimation of mortality". The "underestimation" was 655,000 men, women and children. That is now approaching a million. It is the crime of the century.

In his first day's address outside 10 Downing Street and his statement to parliament on 3 July, Brown paid not even lip service to those who would be alive today had his government - and it was his government as much as Blair's - not joined Bush in a slaughter justified with demonstrable lies. He said nothing, not a word.

He said nothing about the added thousands of Iraqi children whose deaths from preventable disease have doubled since the invasion, caused by the wilful destruction of sanitation and water purification plants. He said nothing about hospital patients who die every day for want of equipment as basic as a syringe. He said nothing about the greatest refugee flight since the Palestinians' Naqba. He said nothing about his government's defeat in Afghanistan, and how the British army and its Nato allies are killing civilians, including whole families. Typically, on 29 June, British forces called in air strikes on a village, reportedly bombing to death 45 innocent people - almost as many as the number bombed to death in London in July 2005. Compare the reaction, or rather the silence. They were only Muslims. And Muslims are the world's most numerous victims of a terrorism whose main sources are Washington, Tel Aviv and London.[...]

The Big, Little, and Medium Satans.

Further thought: Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed writes "Anyone who seeks to present some kind of political justification for such crimes is in fact an emotional accomplice to these criminals considering the gravity of the damage inflicted upon millions of Arabs and Muslims and advocates of real causes."

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Encouraging terror

Bradly Burston may be a bit optimistic in arguing the terror is on its way out of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, but he's right about the forces that have fanned its spread and enhanced its effectiveness over the years.

Through it all, it must be said, a newly electronically enabled world media effectively spurred the bloodshed, offering monsters a magnifying mirror, and instant access to billions across the world.

As anti-Muslim intolerance mounted in much of the West, there was a tendency in the press, as in academia, to coddle Islamists, to sidestep thorny questions, to refrain from pursuing the kind of relentless probing that, locally for example, had for decades yielded reams of newsprint on "How Israel Has Lost Its Soul," or "How Jews Suffered at the Hands of Nazis, and Now Palestinians are Suffering at the Hands of Israelis."

Many journalists, steering clear of value judgments or words like terrorism, saw themselves as implementing a kind of affirmative action of the mind, telling the untold story of disadvantaged and despairing Muslims, the subtext being: this is the root problem, the World Trade Center and the 18 Jerusalem City Bus were but the symptoms.

So we must be concerned when Gerard Baker writes that Hamas won the Propaganda war this week

With Hamas, however, whose worldview and geopolitical ambitions are exactly the same as those fireball physicians, it’s all very different. Thanks to their efforts in the past few months, they are the stabilisers, the people who have brought peace to Gaza. Their transformation into popular heroes was completed this week when they pulled off the release of a kidnapped BBC man. The whole world now loves them.

What I especially admired about the choreography of the Alan Johnston release was the way Ismail Haniya and his friends had clearly learnt the lessons of Britain’s recent little hostage crisis in Iran; play the magnanimous saviour for the TV cameras and you’ll have them eating out of your hand. Unlike Tehran, Hamas made sure not to commit the mistake of crass overkill, and avoided sending Johnston off with a goody bag and a poly-cotton suit. We are left in awe of their magnanimity and a renewed respect for their role as pivotal players in the Middle East drama.

While I don't agree with everything he writes, his conclusion is apt.

But we need to be much less naive about Hamas. That is not its real goal. Its members want to destroy Israel and wage war on the West. Just as we buy into the Islamist propaganda on Iraq, so we risk signing up for the Hamas propaganda in Palestine. Do we really think our acceptance of their leadership will be treated by them as an act of magnanimity on our part? Or will they see it as another critical triumph on the path to their ultimate victory?

Let’s never lose sight of a simple chilling fact that unites the suicidal maniacs in Britain and the sweet reasonable hostage-saviours in Gaza. Hamas was the big winner this week. That makes us all, whether we’re sipping beers in pavement cafés in Israel, boarding planes in Glasgow or out for a ladies’ night in the Haymarket, much, much less safe.

Let's hope that Hamas's media, academic, political and diplomatic enablers are listening.

israel, terrorism, hamas.

High class terror

That Doctor would be part of a Jihadist plot shouldn't be surprising.

Daniel Pipes addressed the issue in 2002, God and Mammon: does poverty cause militant Islam?

But the empirical record evinces little correlation between economics and militant Islam. Aggregate measures of wealth and economic trends fall flat as predictors of where militant Islam will be strong and where not. On the level of individuals, too, conventional wisdom points to militant Islam attracting the poor, the alienated and the marginal-but research finds precisely the opposite to be true. To the extent that economic factors explain who becomes Islamist, they point to the fairly well off, not the poor.

Take Egypt as a test case. In a 1980 study, the Egyptian social scientist Saad Eddin Ibrahim interviewed Islamists in Egyptian jails and found that the typical member is "young (early twenties), of rural or small-town background, from the middle or lower middle class, with high achievement and motivation, upwardly mobile, with science or engineering education, and from a normally cohesive family." In other words, Ibrahim concluded, these young men were "significantly above the average in their generation"; they were "ideal or model young Egyptians." In a subsequent study, he found that out of 34 members of the violent group At-Takfir w'al-Hijra, fully 21 had fathers in the civil service, nearly all of them middle-ranking. More recently, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service found that the leadership of the militant Islamic group Al-Jihad "is largely university educated with middle-class backgrounds." These are not the children of poverty or despair.

Other researchers confirm these findings for Egypt. In a study on the country's economic troubles, Galal A. Amin, an economist at the American University in Cairo, concludes by noting "how rare it is to find examples of religious fanaticism among either the higher or the very lowest social strata of the Egyptian population." When her assistant in Cairo turned Islamist, the American journalist Geraldine Brooks tells of her surprise: "I'd assumed that the turn to Islam was the desperate choice of poor people searching for heavenly solace. But Sahar [the assistant] was neither desperate nor poor. She belonged somewhere near the stratosphere of Egypt's meticulously tiered society."

Scott Atran - many of whose views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict I disagree with noticed this too:

As logical as the poverty-breeds-terrorism argument may seem, study after study shows that suicide attackers and their supporters are rarely ignorant or impoverished. Nor are they crazed, cowardly, apathetic or asocial. If terrorist groups relied on such maladjusted people, "they couldn't produce effective and reliable killers," according to Todd Stewart, a retired Air Force general who directs the Ohio State University program in international and domestic security.

In the suicide bombing of a cafe in Tel Aviv last week that killed three bystanders, for instance, the bomber and the man accused of being his accomplice grew up in Britain, in relatively prosperous circumstances, and attended college.

The Princeton economist Alan Krueger and others released a study in 2002 comparing Lebanese Hezbollah militants who died in violent action to other Lebanese of the same age group. He found that the Hezbollah members were less likely to come from poor homes and more likely to have a secondary school education.

Nasra Hassan, a Pakistani relief worker, interviewed nearly 250 aspiring Palestinian suicide bombers and their recruiters. "None were uneducated, desperately poor, simple-minded or depressed," she reported in 2001. "They all seemed to be entirely normal members of their families."

The fact that it's still surprising that Jihadists come from the ranks of the middle and upper middle class is unfortunate as Transterrestial Musings observes

We are winning the war on the ground, and losing it where it really matters, in the media, and political establishment. The enemy understands the nature and value of their information war, but our side remains clueless.

Barry Rubin (among others) gives a history of other doctors who made careers out of terrorf.

Indeed, the No. 2 leader of al Qaeda is Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri - who was previously a stalwart of the Muslim Brotherhood in his native Egypt. Zawahiri made the connections that led to his role in al Qaeda when he went to Afghanistan in 1980 to provide medical care for jihadists fighting the Soviets. Later, he was a key architect of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed hundreds of innocents, and of the 9/11 attacks.

Other Islamist MDs include two recent leaders of the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Abdel Aziz Rantisi graduated first in his class from an Egyptian university in pediatrics; he succeeded slain cleric Ahmad Yassin as Hamas' chief in March 2004 - only to perish himself a month later. After him came Mahmoud al-Zahar (who had helped found Hamas in 1987), an Egyptian-trained surgeon who today is the most powerful man in the Gaza Strip.

Even before the rise of Islamism, there were secular doctor-terrorists. Dr. George Habash, a founder and for three decades leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), is now still active though enjoying his semi-retirement in Syria. The PFLP was one of the most bloodthirsty terrorist groups in history, with exploits such as a 1978 attack at Orly Airport in Paris and the 2002 shooting of five (including a mother and three children) in Itamar on the West Bank.

j

The name he (and others) left out was that of Fahti Shkaki the founder of Palestinian Islamic Jihad who was killed on Malta, apparently by Israeli agents.

But the infamous "Engineer" Yihye Ayyash was an engineer. And many of the leaders are similarly university educated and not from the lower (economic) classes.

There is a temptation to argue as Michael Ledeen did recently (and seconded by Yid With Lid) that suicide terrorists aren't very smart.

But there's evidence otherwise.

Daniel Pipes wrote in Arafat's Suicide Factory

Every inquiry into Palestinian suicide attacks, and especially Nasra Hassan's remarkable report in a recent issue of The New Yorker, finds that these do not just happen spontaneously but result from a large and sophisticated infrastructure.

This infrastructure exists for one reason: to make normal men want to die. Because Islamic law prohibits suicide, a suicidal person cannot be recruited to go on a mission. Rather, it is (perversely) necessary to dispatch only those who are not suicidal.

Islamic Jihad, which along with Hamas trains the suicide killers, explains: "We do not take depressed people. If there were a one-in-a-thousand chance that a person was suicidal, we would not allow him to martyr himself. In order to be a martyr bomber, you have to want to live." The same strange logic applies for Hamas, which rejects anyone "who commits suicide because he hates the world."

Convincing healthy individuals to blow themselves up is obviously not easy, but requires ideas and institutions. The process begins with the Palestinian Authority (PA) inculcating two things into its population, starting with the children: a hatred of Jews and a love of death. School curricula, camp activities, TV programming and religious indoctrination all portray Israelis in a Nazi-style way, as sub-human being worthy of killing; and then deprecate the instinct for self-preservation, telling impressionable young people that sacrificing their lives is the most noble of all goals.

Though it's counterintutive, suicide terrorists too, came largely from among the successful, not the lower classes. The training requires a large degree of discipline and brainwashing. A stupid or unskilled suicide terrorist is not likely to be successful.

It is time to realize that it isn't the desperation of the Palestinians that leads them to terror. It is their hatred of Israel. Until that changes we can't look forward to peace in the Middle East.

terrorism, israel.

If ... you must 07/06/2007

If you haven't read Baseball Crank's The Libby Verdict; you must.
If you haven't read Just One Minute's Anniversaries ; you must.
Remember Joe Wilson. He's celebrating the 4th anniversary of his day in the sun. Just One Minute reminds us that he was lying. Alas it wasn't in a court of law. There is, however, a good chance that his wife lied before Congress. No doubt Henry Waxman will vigilantly get the truth of the matter.
If you haven't read Ocean Guy's More Jacksonville Jihad; you must.j
When the story broke, I wondered if he was going to cover it. He didn't disappoint.
If you haven't read DC Retrocession Redux 2 at Outside the Beltway; you must.
Make DC a part of Maryland? Make the Democratic lock on the state even more intractable. Yikes!
If you haven't read The Global Warming-Radical Islam convergence at LGF; you must.
And to think it will be just another Saturday night.
If you haven't read From Munich to Gaza at Melanie Philips Diary; you must.
Just as the hostage taking (and killing) in Munich started a media trend of "understanding" the PLO, so to the taking of Alan Johnston has started a trend of understanding Hamas. Don't they realize that Hamas was complicit in the initial kidnapping? (h/t Power Line Gerard Baker has it right (h/t memeorandum)
If you haven't read the Futility Closet's Oh; you must.
If you haven't read Mr Rogers; Public Enemy #1 at Cheat Seeking Missiles; you must.
If you haven't read Monoblogue's Constitutional Convention; you must.
This is policy wonkishness at its best. But hang around. He makes assertions at the beginning and backs them up at the end. So read it to the end. It's worth it.
If you haven't read Baseball Crank's 70 years ago; you must.
And after you've read the consequences of something that did happen read about what might have happened What if the Braves had signed Willie Mays?If you haven't read ; you must.

if ... you must, baseball, scooter libby, joe wilson, terrorism.

Blaming bush for the economy

Newsbusters has an item that according to a couple of "respected" indices, the economy now is better than any time in the past 30 years. I'm not familiar with those indices, but I'm aware that the economy, despite inflation, has been going well lately. So well in fact it rarely gets reported, lest it distract from the "Bush is bad at everything" meme.

But I'm more familiar with job creation, and once again the economy has posted an impressive number of new jobs - 132000 for the month of June.

Of course it's also true that the economy has been better for some senators than for others.

economy, bush.

The Dar Al-Victimhood

Irshad Manji, writing in The Austrailian, makes an interesting distinction between "Moderate Muslims" and "Reform-minded Muslims":

Moderate Muslims denounce violence in the name of Islam but deny that Islam has anything to do with it. By their denial, moderates abandon the ground of theological interpretation to those with malignant intentions, effectively telling would-be terrorists that they can get away with abuses of power because mainstream Muslims won't challenge the fanatics with bold, competing interpretations. To do so would be admit that religion is a factor. Moderate Muslims can't go there.

Reform-minded Muslims say it's time to admit that Islam's scripture and history are being exploited. They argue for reinterpretation precisely to put the would-be terrorists on notice that their monopoly is over.

Denial that religion has anything to do with terror is one side of the coin. The other side is that many Moderate Muslims, using a vocabulary of concepts supplied by the Western Left, have embraced the politics of victimhood. And it is not just that Muslims thereby let religious extremism off the hook--political extremism also involves hatred of the West, and religious extremists can recruit among an already enraged population. A recent Al-Ahram editorial (entitled, of all things, "In a state of denial") presents a wide-spread view of the world divided into the Dar Al-Colonialism and the Dar Al-Victimhood:

Following unsuccessful car-bomb attacks in London and Glasgow on the first day in office of the new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, debate in Britain revolves around two main issues: are Muslims justified in arguing that Islam and Islamic countries are victims of a Western plot of domination and aggression, and is the invasion and occupation of Iraq the cause of the radicalisation of Muslim youth and the growth of militant Jihadi networks planning attacks in Britain?

This is posed as a question, but the author conveys no sense that it is a real question. Of course there is a "Western plot" . . .

What is at stake is the very relationship between the Muslim communities, the white community and the British state.

The process of mutual understanding and dialogue will escape us so long as the British government, the mainstream media and the public are in denial over the fact that strained relations between the Muslim community and the British state must be seen primarily within the context of British government policy vis-à-vis Muslims and Islam across the world, especially in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. Further violence and conflict will continue both in Britain and the Middle East if this state of denial and lack of mutual respect continue.

We should note the implied justification of terrorism here, but then move on to the next step and realize that Muslims insistance that extremism is caused by U.S. or British foreign policy tells us something else about what is going wrong in the Muslim community.

In the post-WWII period, it was the war in Vietnam which epitomised the relationship between not only East and West, but also North and South. Since the collapse of the Socialist Bloc this relationship has been symbolised by the wars and occupations of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Indeed the 1990 US-led aggression against Iraq was the US's signal to the rest of the world that it was establishing its world hegemony, or New World Order in the words of Bush Senior. The Middle East continues to be the epicentre of this battle between the poor and rich nations, the North and South. The attacks in London and Glasgow took place against a stark backdrop of occupation and resistance in the Middle East . . .

Instead of a reasoned public debate about the root causes of Arab and Muslim anger against Western foreign policy, Blair set the boundaries of the public debate in blaming the victims. In what was probably the most vicious of a long line of attacks on Muslims and their identity and beliefs, Blair insists: "it's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified." This is typical of Blair, the ideological spokesperson of the West's "civilising mission" against Muslims and Arabs . . .

The underlying cause of the growth of political Islam is Western policy in the Middle East. Instead of recognising this simple fact, the terrorist activities of a handful of frustrated militants are used to trivialise any notion that Muslims may have a convincing case for their concerns . . .

The subtext is that Western tolerance towards Muslims and Islam requires that they confine themselves to praying quietly, dressing as they like, and respecting the law, but in no way should Muslims or anyone else support the rights of Arab and Middle Eastern people to end occupation. If they do, they are branded terrorist sympathisers. Rather, Muslims and the public in general are told time and time again that there is no project to dominate the Middle East, whilst every season sees a new campaign against a Middle Eastern country. Attacks in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, regime- change threats against Sudan, Syria and Iran, a secret international network of US prisons for Muslim men, women and children, the obscenity that is Camp X-Ray, and the sadistic humiliation and torture at Abu Ghraib prison... What else is necessary to prove that Arabs and Muslims who stand up for the independence of their countries and their identity are being victimised?

The Middle East was the last region of the world to be conquered by the colonial powers. It continues to be the most difficult to subdue, but is a crucial region for the West to control due to its geographical proximity and oil. It is so important, and acquiescence to control it is so important, the very act of resisting US, British and Israeli aggression and occupation is therefore in effect a crime in the eyes of the West.

In this context and due to the related terrorism laws here, most of the Muslim community is afraid to get involved in legitimate democratic political activity. Those who are involved, even the most mainstream organisations, have to constantly defend themselves from attempts at criminalisation from the more hawkish sections of the British state. Rather than victimising dissenters, true believers in British democracy should be trying to show that democracy can work; they should involve them in consultation with the authorities and in light of this apply a wiser policy in the interests of all parties. [...]

So besides noting Manji's distinction between the Moderate and "Reform-minded" Muslim, we should also realize that religious moderation does not equal political moderation. Moreover, this is going to be very difficult to combat. Leftist extremism tends to be more intellectually respectable in the West than rightist extremism. (See, for instance, the current incitement in Counterpunch.) Why should the Muslim community give up the belief in Muslim victimhood when half the Infidels also believe in it?

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Dating advice for john kerry wannabes

John Kerry made his fortune the old fashioned way. He married it. Would you like to emulate him? Here's what to do.

Council speak 07/06/07

The council has spoken and it has voted JoshuaPundit's Guess where your President was Wednesday morning ... a criticism of one of President Bush's biggest weaknesses, his inability to recognize the extremism that runs through "mainstream" Muslim organizations among council entries. The runaway winner in the non-council portion of the competition was Michael Yon's harrowing (warning: gruesome picture and descriptions) report of a massacre American and Iraqi troops uncovered, Bless the beasts and the children.

This week's competition was quite keen as there were 4 (count 'em) second place finishers on the council side. They were: With Snark by Done with Mirrors - a plea for substantive debate instead of sound bites; This I Believe a conservative/llibertarian manifesto by The Education Wonks;
Condescension As Bigotry by Bookworm Room, a look at the Democratic debate and the way the candidates treated race; and
Quote of the Day: Islamophobia Edition by Cheat Seeking Missiles, similar to JoshuaPundit's entry, but directed at new British PM, Gordon Brown.

The runner up in the non-council portion of the competition was the very important Understanding Current Operation in Iraq in the Small Wars Journal. It's written by Australian Gen. David Kilcullen one of the deputies of Gen Petraeus.

watcher's council.

Dar Al-Hayat on the Doctor Plotters

Someone (Richard Hofstadter?) once observed that John Birch Society members tend to be educated, but not in the topics which the conspiracy theories focus on. This probably applies to anyone with a conspiracist world-view, such as all those doctors who have evidently embraced jihad. There is a kind of intellectual arrogance that readily accepts the idea that the conspiracist is one of the enlightened few who know what is really going on in the world. Elias Harfouche, writing in Dar Al-Hayat, joins the list of those who ponder the phenomenon of jihadist doctors:

There has been a public outcry in Britain over the fact that many of the would-be perpetrators of last week's bombings in London and Scotland hail from the medical profession. These doctors were given the chance to practice medicine in Britain's hospital in order to give the a chance to both improve their professional skills and cater to the needs of the variety of ethnicities seeking the services of public hospitals.

For these reasons, aspiring doctors have been given special leniency in the requirements for eligibility for a medical job in Britain. Granted, several journalists and news networks pointed out that several were under direct observation by British internal and external intellegence agencies (the MI5 and MI6) due to their contacts with other previous suspects. However, statements by the doctors' colleagues indicate that intelligence had little idea about the extremist and takfiri beliefs they held personally.

This seems indicative of a distinct Western phenemomen encompassing incompetence and gullibility on the part of formal institutions in addressing the threat posed by such ideologies on the one hand; and the insistence by these institutions on the possibility of coexisting with the members of the community that espouses these ideas. This for the simple reason that formal institutions wish to get closer to the community's members or believe they have little to fear from those who embrace humanitarian professions like medicine, teaching, nursing and the like. We have seen this kind of thing in the past, a vivid example being that of the pilots of the September 11 operation who so willingly took the lives of their innocent passengers and who up to that point were assumed to be carrying on with their lives as ordinary members of the community. In reality, their passengers ended up as charred corpses along with the other three thousand people who lost their lives as they were going about their daily jobs like good citizens. We saw another example in the July 7 London bombings, when several men - including a school teacher of cultural studies (!) - detonated the explosives strapped to their bodies aboard subway trains filled with passengers of all religion and race in an effort to kill as many of them as possible.

Today we face a group of 'doctors' targeting airports frequented by ordinary citizens or planting car bombs on public roads in order to kill clubbers and restaurant-goers, for the simple reason that the latter are engaged in activities or lifestyles that do not conform to the extremists' convictions, or because the terrorists are disenchanted with the general conduct of the society in which they live.

We hear that the perpetrators of these crimes invariably harbor grievances against Western foreign policy, particularly towards Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine - the implication being that they were acting out of a sense of revenge for lack of any other effective mechanisms to voice their grievances! This explanation not only represents a subtle justification of such operations - for its adopters are hesitant to come out openly in defense of such heinous crimes that make no distinction between the innocent man on the street and the policy-makers and the troops carrying out their orders. It also rationalizes and paves the way for future attacks of a similar or worse nature - so long as the last attempt fails out of pure bad luck, and so long as their remain grievances against policies towards Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine till God alone knows when.

This brings us to an issue that transcends politics and speaks to our values and the principles involved in participating in a human community. For we live in an age were there exist certain principles governing the conduct protest against policy - principles differing from those of blind and wanton murder. It follows that those who engage in, condone or turn a blind eye to such murder would do well to remember that the societies they target on the grounds that they are depriving them of their rights are the same societies that abstain from retaliating against those who seek to murder them without distinction between the innocent and guilty. It is precisely this trait that gives these societies strength and resilience and drives them to come to the defense of their values and principles - principles which emphasize acceptance of the other regardless of religion or race.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Managing improvement

Sunday's Baltimore Sun had an article by Dan Connolly, "Help Wanted" about what the Orioles need in a new manager.

The Orioles have hired a new manager every few years for the past decade or so. They've tabbed World Series champions and big names. They've developed their own and dipped into the hot-prospect well.

They've done just about everything but find the right manager at the right time to point them in the right direction for the long term.

I guess the problem with the article starts at the very beginning. When a team's problems extend a decade, the manager is probably not the main problem. Since avey Johnson quit, the Orioles have had Ray Miller, Mike Hargrove, Lee Mazzilli, Sam Perlozzo and, now, Dave Trembly as managers. They've also had Pat Gillick, Frank Wren, the late Syd Thrift, Jim Beattie/Mike Flanagan and Mike Flanagan/Jim Duquette as general managers. Given the lack of continuity in those running the team it's not hard to see that the problem extends beyond the manager.

But the Orioles aren't yet sure exactly what or whom they are looking for. Perhaps a mix of energy and attitude from a good, old-fashioned taskmaster could stop the spiral of losing. It would be a change, but in this era of baseball, that style is on the endangered list, if not extinct.

What's more likely is a new hybrid, a custom fit that will work in Baltimore, but maybe not in other places. That, however, will take time, research and risk, because as Orioles fans have seen, things don't always go as expected.

The problems is that none of this illuminates the Orioles' biggest woes: the inability to identify and develop talent. Earl Weaver was a great manager but there was only so much he could do in 1986. He probably kept that team afloat for 3/4 of the year. But the talent wasn't there and collapsed terribly in the last quarter of the season leading the first last place finish in the franchise's history.

In reviewing the Orioles' managers past, Connolly, only once puts his finger on the manager's quality.

Then there was Davey Johnson, a superlative tactician with a contagious swagger who didn't care if he irked players or management. He's the only one of the recent lot to have won here, but he did it with a star-studded roster, not the collection of complementary players that has defined the Orioles for nearly a decade.

"Superlative tactician" refers to a guy who had Aaron Ledesma replace Rafael Palmeiro at first base when the team faced Randy Johnson. And it marked the only season - including playoffs - in which Randy Johnson lost five times to the same team.

But that's how I describe tactics. Not calling for steals, hits and runs and double switches, it's a matter of matching up players to opponents and situations to maximize their value to the club. If a player is weak against left handers then a good manager benches him against lefties and only starts him when a righty is starting against his team.

That's why the term manager as a job description is appropriate. A manager manages the talent the front office has acquired. This also means that if the talent is limited, so too is the manager.

For most of the season the Orioles have had a slugging percentage of under .400. If that's the case, unless the team has an ERA under 3.50, it won't do well. The Orioles just don't have the talent to compete and even bringing back Earl Weaver at the height of his powers (if that were possible) won't make this a winning team.

Later on Connolly refers to a poll of Sun readers

The Orioles haven't had a screaming, in-your-face general since the most successful manager in club history, Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, hung up his dirt-kicking spikes in 1986.

Because of Weaver's success, however, the perception here is that winning and a fire-breathing leader are as intertwined as hardshell crabs and Old Bay seasoning.

In last week's Sun/baltimoresun.com baseball poll, readers were asked what trait they most wanted in a manager, and more than 40 percent said "a fiery mentality," easily trumping "ties to the Oriole Way" and three others.

The problem again, is that Weaver didn't win because he was fiery. Perhaps his personality motivated some players, but the underlying talent was there. Weaver knew how to exploit the talent to his advantage. He maximized the output of the players he had in his charge because he understood platoon splits and the value of a walk and the (negative) value of an out.

(Famously, Weaver supposedly responded to the late Pat Kelly's admonition that he "... walk with God" with "Pat, I want you to walk with the bases loaded.")

In other words, Weaver was using the same sort of analysis that Bill James popularized, 25 years before MoneyBall appeared. (Davey Johnson did too.) And the Orioles during Weaver's tenure were excellent at developing talent.

True the Orioles now have some offensive talent in Brian Roberts and (hopefully) Nick Markakis. And some pitching talent in Eric Bedard and Jeremy Guthrie. (Daneil Cabrera for all the hype, has not as yet been any better than average. He still allows too many base runners. The Orioles best hope for Cabrera is for him to have a breakout year and then trade him to a team that gambles that Cabrera will sustain his success.) Of those four only Markakis is young. Counting on Adam Loewen at this point is ridiculous. But there still isn't reason to hope that the Orioles lack of success is coming to an end any time soon.

Mike Flanagan might be ranked as the 10th best General Manager in baseball by Forbes, but his record so far from a baseball standpoint is not the so encouraging.

It's true, that I'd probably prefer a General Manager who subscribed to Bill James's ideas, but that isn't necessary. Brian Sabean has had success with the Giants (despite statistically inclined naysayers) and Bill Stoneman has had success with the the Angels, though neither seems much enchanted with statistical analysis. Still each has shown an ability to evaluate talent effectively and build a consistently good team.

As far as manager is concerned, the one person I'd love to see wearing an Orioles uniform in the dugout right now, is Larry Dierker. He did a great job with Houston in part because he's statistically inclined. (He did have a lot of talent to work with.)

The Orioles may wonder which manager will help the team the most, but unless the Orioles get a General Manager who is effective in recruiting and developing talent, the Managerial revolving door will continue, because all the team is doing is addressing the symptom, not the cause of the futility.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

baltimore orioles, baseball.

Easing the pain

Aside from asking why Hamas should stand to gain anything from the release of Alan Johnston, I wonder about this from No fast gain for Hamas after release of journalist:

Public workers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip received only partial salary payments from the Authority since Hamas came to power through elections in early 2006. Its victory led to an international embargo on direct financing of the Palestinian government.

European aid sent directly to non-security employees of the Authority, bypassing the government, helped ease some of the hardship, and aid in 2006 actually exceeded that of 2005.

If the aid was actually greater in 2006, what hardship exactly was there due to the "embargo?" Doesn't seem like there was much of an embargo in the end was there?

hamas.

(North) Korean News: "Superiority of Korean Language"

This would be charming, reverberating vowels and all, if it was just ordinary linguistic chauvinism and not totalitarian boasting:

The Korean language has a long history with the formation of the Korean nation.

With the creation of Hunminjongum (the Korean alphabet) in 1444, the Korean people have used it in writing. The Korean spoken language is fluent and gentle to hear. It has also good intonation.

It, with rich pronunciation, can express correctly any difficult and complicate pronunciation.

The Korean alphabet consists of 21 vowels and 19 consonants.

The vowel not only reverberates loudly but also constitutes the core in a syllable, the smallest unit of the pronunciation.

Only when it is combined with the vowel, can the consonant form a vivid syllable and clearly reverberate in well harmony with the before and behind words.

The vowels and consonants of the Korean alphabet can express the general meanings and minute differences of the objects, phenomena and processes. Therefore, it is possible to pronounce all the foreign languages correctly.

There are more than 5,000 languages in the world, none of which can compare with the Korean written and spoken languages delicate in expression, rich in meaning and abundant in vocabulary.

I wonder how long it took to review all those languages. Can I really say this isn't true? It would certainly explain why all that enthusiasm for the Dear Leader's field guidance seems to lose something in translation.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Submitted 07/04/07

This week's Watcher's Council's nominations are in.

In That Reason should Rule, The Glittering Eye takes arms against an article in Newsweek arguing that Republicans do a better job of exploiting emotions than Democrats and asks that we allow reason to govern our important choices. (Would it be wrong to point out that Cheat Seeking Missiles and I have also responded to the article?

In the wake of the defeat (for now) of the immigration reform package, Big Lizards argues in Spin City Here we Come that it would be folly for Republicans/conservatives to run against the President, given that, despite his faults and failings, he has mostly followed a conservative agenda.

Done with Mirrors hunts the Snark.

In Democrat debate thy name is irony, The Colossus of Rhodey.Hube does a nice systematic job of pointing out the ironies (or hypocrisies) of the positions taken by the Democrats at their recent debate at Howard University.

In a similar vein, Bookworm Room criticizes certain explanations of racial behavior in Condescension as Bigotry.

Okie on the Lam mocks rock star Al Gore - A pompous ... for his feel good-do nothing Live Earth concert scheduled in a few days.

Cheat Seeking Missiles seeks out and destroys PC idiocy with the quote of the day: Islamophobia edition.

Rhymes with Right argues that The Libby Commutation was the wrong move because it hurts Libby's appeal. This is something I hadn't thought about.

In This I believe, Education Wonk lays out his political beliefs in a very appropriate Independence Day post.

JoshuaPundit does a fine job of pointing out the unintentional endorsements President Bush gave while he visited a mosque last Wednesday in Where your president was Wednesday morning insh-allah.

In Cage Match: Assimilation vs. Multiculturalism Right Wing Nuthouse takes on the beast that is diversity.

My own contribution to the Watcher's Council this week was the Terror under the Carpet, a look at how one reporter finds blame for the situation in Gaza in everyone's actions except those of the Palestinians.

Read. Enjoy. Be informed.

Adams, jefferson and the meaning of the fourth

The beginning of July is notable for some significant events in American History. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1 - 3 1863. But of course the most important event in American history during this time of year was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams wrote some of his recollections of the decision to choose Thomas Jefferson to write the founding document.

The subcommittee met. Jefferson proposed to me to make the draft. I said, 'I will not,' 'You should do it.' 'Oh! no.' 'Why will you not? You ought to do it.' 'I will not.' 'Why?' 'Reasons enough.' 'What can be your reasons?' 'Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can.' 'Well,' said Jefferson, 'if you are decided, I will do as well as I can.' 'Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting.'

Actually the Declaration was written on July 2, 1776 leading Adams to write

"The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

The Declaration's signing is celebrated two days later, but other than that, Adams got it right.

The story of Adams and Jefferson wouldn't be complete without acknowledging their respective deaths on July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day of their greatest achievement. Over the years the men had been both rivals and close friends. Jefferson had also been close with Abigail Adams. And since it was Adams who got Jefferson to write the founding document of our country perhaps it is fitting that their stories ended on the same day.

I had hoped to write a more substantial post on this topic in honor of Independence Day, but when I saw Right Wing Nut House's Liveblogging the Continental Congress - July 3, 1776 I knew I couldn't do any better. So why not read his history with a (delightful) twist.

john adams, thomas jefferson, declaration of independence, july 4.

British academics resolve not to report suspicious behavior

This is a report of a motion passed before the recent terror attacks. UCU, you will recall, recently received attention by calling for a boycott of Israel. From Muslim News (UK):

Britain’s university lecturers and academics have voted unanimously to reject Government plans to join a “witch hunt” against Muslim students. A motion condemning the controversial proposals, first mooted last year, was passed by delegates at the inaugural congress of the University and College Union (UCU) in Bournemouth on May 29.

The UCU, the country’ biggest professional organization for university staff, called on its 120,000 members to “resist attempts by Government to engage colleges and universities in activities which amount to increased surveillance of Muslim or other minority students and to the use of members of staff for such witch-hunts.”

“Congress resolves to oppose the ethnic profiling of students and staff for the purposes of immigration control or security purposes,” said the motion. It added it would “challenge incursions of the security and immigration services onto university and college campuses” and defend the right of its members to refuse to cooperate with attempts to “transform education into an extension of the security services.”

The motion expressed outrage at the “continuing and escalating demonisation” of Muslim and other minority communities. “This campaign of vilification is apparent in both media and government pronouncements and threatens to impinge on the proper business of education,” it warned.

The rejection of the Government’s plans, issued in new guidelines for universities last November, was welcomed by the largest umbrella Muslim organization in the UK, Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). “Our universities must remain institutions which facilitate and encourage rigorous intellectual inquiry and discourse,” said MCB Secretary General, Mohammed Abdul Bari. “The role of lecturers must be to facilitate and encourage critical thinking, not to stifle it or abort the process,” he said.

UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt, said that delegates made it clear they will oppose Government attempts to restrict academic freedom or free speech on campus. “Lecturers want to teach students, if they wanted to police them they would have joined the force,” Hunt told the congress. She said staff had a “pivotal role in building trust” and that these proposals, if implemented, would make that all but impossible.

Universities, the General Secretary said, must remain “safe spaces for lecturers and students to discuss and debate all sorts of ideas, including those that some people may consider challenging, offensive and even extreme.” She said the last thing needed was “people too frightened to discuss an issue because they fear some quasi-secret service will turn them in.”

The new guides ask university staff to log suspicious behaviour by Muslim students and societies, claiming that “violent extremism in the name of Islam is a real, credible and sustained threat to the UK.” In April, it was also reported that British authorities were also planning to introduce new security measures at universities to vet all non-EU postgraduates applying to study a range of potentially sensitive subjects. [...]

Can't have that.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Without violence

Hamas is reaping some significant PR points by gaining the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston. The NYT reports

Alan Johnston, the BBC Gaza correspondent who was kidnapped March 12, was freed early on Wednesday morning and is now in the hands of Hamas officials.

Mr. Johnston, looking wan and thin and dressed in a pair of blue jeans, his hair grown out over his ears, was released without violence after negotiations between Hamas, which now runs Gaza, and his kidnappers.

(emphasis mine)

Later on though the Times tells us

Hamas has been negotiating with the Dagmoush clan and the Army of Islam, surrounding the Gaza neighborhood, al-Sabra, where the clan lives, and attacking or kidnapping a number of key clan figures in an effort to press for Mr. Johnston’s release.

(emphasis, again, mine)

The Washington Post reports

It remained unclear when the 45-year-old journalist would be turned over to British officials or to representatives of his company, who have been working vigorously for months to win his release.

The hopeful development followed several days of pressure brought on the kidnappers -- a large clan known as the Dagmoush family -- by Hamas forces.

Let's go back a couple of weeks to Avi Issacharoff's Shock, Awe and Dread in Ha'aretz:

Hamas was not using a random hit list. Every Hamas patrol carried with it a laptop containing a list of Fatah operatives in Gaza, and an identity number and a star appeared next to each name. A red star meant the operative was to be executed and a blue one meant he was to be shot in the legs - a special, cruel tactic developed by Hamas, in which the shot is fired from the back of the knee so that the kneecap is shattered when the bullet exits the other side. A black star signaled arrest, and no star meant that the Fatah member was to be beaten and released. Hamas patrols took the list with them to hospitals, where they searched for wounded Fatah officials, some of whom they beat up and some of whom they abducted.

Aside from assassinating Fatah officials, Hamas also killed innocent Palestinians, with the intention of deterring the large clans from confronting the organization. Thus it was that 10 days ago, after an hours-long gun battle that ended with Hamas overpowering the Bakr clan from the Shati refugee camp - known as a large, well-armed and dangerous family that supports Fatah - the Hamas military wing removed all the family members from their compound and lined them up against a wall. Militants selected a 14-year-old girl, two women aged 19 and 75, and two elderly men, and shot them to death in cold blood to send a message to all the armed clans of Gaza.

When I first heard of Johnston's release I suspected that perhaps Hamas had kneecapped or killed some of the Dagmoush family. The words 'kidnappings' and 'pressure' I think are understatements. Something more drastic had to have taken place.

Daled Amos quoting AllahPundit surely has it right.

Take a lesson from people who would know — this is how you deal with jihadist threats.

The release of Johnston give lie to this headline: Haniyeh says hopes Shalit affair will end soon as well

He doesn't need to hope. He needs to do. And he doesn't need anything in return. Consider it a "confidence building measure." (That he only hopes, shows that Hamas will not act to free Gilad Shalit. That won't happen unless Israel brings pressure to bear.)

The celebratory tone in the media - see Elder of Ziyon for his disgusted review of CNN's coverage - though is disturbing for another reason (other than the PR it gives to Hamas): the methods Hamas used to free Johnston would no doubt appall these very same people in any other context. In other words, extremism in the pursuit of freedom for a single journalist is a virtue. But to prevent violence against others, the government must play certain rules. (Please understand, I'm not sympathetic to the Dagmoush family, but it's offensive to sugarcoat the methods of Hamas to enforce order.)

Check out more news and comment at memeorandum.

alan johnston, hamas.

A Lesson From The Release of Alan Johnston

MSNBC reports on how it was done:

Hamas gunmen on Tuesday took up positions around the stronghold of the shadowy group holding Johnston, stepping up the pressure to secure his release.

Members of Hamas’ 6,000-strong militia moved onto high-rise rooftops and deployed gunmen in streets in the Gaza City neighborhood of the Doghmush clan.

Allahpundit gets it exactly right:

Take a lesson from people who would know — this is how you deal with jihadist threats.

Now it's Israel's turn to free Gilad Shalit.

Something to keep in mind on the 31st anniversary of the Entebbe Rescue.

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Gaza and Gilad Shalit and Alan Johnston.

Juan Cole on understanding educated terrorists: "three kinds of sociological theory need to be synthesized"

Juan shows off his theoretical chops!

[...] Why would highly educated and relatively well off professionals behave this way? I think this sort of cell suggests that three kinds of sociological theory need to be synthesized in order to understand contemporary social movements--Social constructivism, resource mobilization theory and European new social movement theory.

Here I'll just concentrate on one, social construction in the Jurgen Habermas (left) and the Peter Berger/ Thomas Luckmann (right) traditions. Groups construct life-worlds within which social action becomes plausible to them. This cell of highly networked professionals had developed a narrative about the world that required they do these horrible things. They weren't motivated by poverty, or class grievances. Their ideas came out of a logic of self and other, such that they likely included Fallujah in "self" and all British foreign policy in "other."

Gradually the shape of that narrative may emerge, though actually there are impediments to our understanding these hothouse terrorist ideologies. The perpetrators often kill themselves, taking most of the details with them. Mainstream media often are little interested in tracking down the details, and government spokesmen are positively eager to downplay or dispute the internal motivations of the criminals. All this is understandable, but it does law enforcement and the public discourse a disservice. [...]

It's tough. Just as the shape of the narrative emerges--bam!--it's blown to smithereens.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Update: A synthesis of "three kinds of sociological theory"--cluster sociology? Isn't that disproportionate?

Ahmadinejad: "if you are angry with the nations' friendship, go die of this anger and sadness"

From Fars News. (Which still resizes browser windows and which may try to do who knows what else to World Arrogance hard drives.) The actual title is "Iran, Venezuela Stress Resistance against Bullying Powers." Classic stuff:

Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution and Iran's Islamic revolution have the message of peace and brotherhood for all nations while they both stress powerful resistance against bullying and expansionist powers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

Speaking during a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in southern Iran on Monday, Ahmadinejad described Chavez as a revolutionary and decisive man and voiced pleasure in his visit to Iran.

He also viewed the two countries' relations as profound, extensive, durable and brotherly, saying that both nations are revolutionary and have new, great and humanitarian ideas.

"As we have both frequently announced, there resides no impediment to the expansion of the two countries' relations. We view mightiness and progress of Venezuela as those of our own and due to the same reason the two governments and nations are moving on the path of construction hand in hand and with maximum power and strength," the Iranian president continued.

He further said that the two countries have many joint projects on their working agenda, and mentioned that the agreements and contracts signed during the present visit to Iran by Hugo Chavez will cause a giant leap in Tehran-Caracas ties.

Ahmadinejad underlined that cooperation, solidarity and unity of Iran and Venezuela serve the interests of both nations and will be beneficial to world security, peace and friendship.

"I am proud to say that under the intelligent and revolutionary management of Mr. Hugo Chavez and due to the efforts and decisiveness of the Venezuelan people, that country is now on the threshold of a technological, scientific and industrial revolution," he said, adding that the two states will always side with each other in all the different arenas.

"For those who are upset with the friendship of nations, we have just one sentence which is, if you are angry with the nations' friendship, go die of this anger and sadness," the president said.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Tehran Times explains why Iran is rationing gas

All the World Arrogance scoffers should be very ashamed of themselves. Now we see that it is perfectly reasonable of Iran to ration gas. Low gas prices were causing traffic congestion! Via Mehr News:

It may be asked why Iran, which has the second largest oil reserves in the world, has been forced to introduce a gasoline rationing system.

The answer is very simple: Iran was selling gasoline at a very low price and this had led to extravagant gasoline consumption, the waste of public funds, and many other problems such as choking air pollution and heavy traffic congestion.

When the government and parliament were reluctant to free up gasoline prices, fearing more inflation and public discontent, the only remaining option was to ration it.

Nothing causes public discontent like low gas prices.

Just a few days passed since the rationing was introduced, the majority of the citizens, especially in big cities, seem to be happy with the policy as there is less traffic congestion and less air pollution.

Now the money saved from importing gasoline, which stood at 5 billion dollars last year, must be used to develop an effective and modern public transportation system and end the artificial petrol prices at the earliest time and resolve inevitable problems which are already emerging from rationing.

Let's see, the money saved by gas rationing will help them solve the problems "already emerging from rationing." It all makes perfect sense.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

More potter

MSN Movies has a special Harry Potter section. It includes Order of the Phoenix trailers (very good) and Now and Then pictures (great!).

And if you live in Iowa they're looking for Harry Potter fans for a special feature.

harry potter

The unseen victories

QandO asks why is it amateur hour among terrorists?

One of the more underreported aspects on GWoT has been the success that the West has had in decimating the ranks of al Qaeda. It think it is worth remembering that the al Qaeda of 9/11 no longer exists in that form anymore. And many of its most experienced leaders and operatives are dead or in prison. Much of what is left of al Qaeda is engaged in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. With no real safe sanctuary, and heightened security making travel problematic, those leaders and experts who are left simply aren’t able to help groups like those who attempted to make the most recent bombs in the UK.

On a local level this happened with Israel too. When Israel killed higher ranking members of terror organizations, we'd hear the mantras of "there's no military solution" and "there'll be someone to replace him." Then the organization whose leader was dispatched would launch a number of unsuccessful terror attacks. Recruiting and training are skills too. Not everyone has them.

Remember how Hamas promised to open the Gates of Hell in response to the killings of Yassin and Rantisi? Well terror declined after their deaths. They were not easily replaceable.

Libby's pardon

The New York Times weighed in on President Bush's pardon of Lewis "Scooter" Libby

Judging from his decision yesterday to commute the 30-month sentence of I. Lewis Libby Jr. — who was charged with perjury and convicted — untarnished ideals are less of a priority than protecting the secrets of his inner circle and mollifying the tiny slice of right-wing Americans left in his political base.

Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to federal agents investigating the leak of the name of a covert C.I.A. operative, Valerie Wilson. Mrs. Wilson’s husband, Joseph Wilson, was asked to investigate a central claim in Mr. Bush’s drive to war with Iraq — whether Iraq tried to purchase uranium from Africa. Mr. Wilson concluded that Iraq had not done that and had the temerity to share those conclusions with the American public.

It seems clear from the record that Vice President Dick Cheney organized a campaign to discredit Mr. Wilson. And Mr. Libby, who was Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, was willing to lie to protect his boss.

I'm still waiting for the liberal outrage over being lied to by Joe Wilson.

This is just so silly (if predictable). What's clear from the record is that Joseph Wilson lied about what he discovered on his trip to Niger. He found a paper credulous enough to publish his charges (the NYT). When the identity of his wife became known he then raised a false alarm that the revelation was retaliation against him.

It turns out that it was nothing of the sort. At least the Washington Post acknowledges that much in Too much mercy.

Yet there were mitigating factors in this case. After two years of investigation, special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald charged no one with a crime for leaking Ms. Plame's name; he never demonstrated that a crime occurred. Early on, the prosecutor had learned that the primary source of the disclosure to columnist Robert D. Novak was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, who was not charged. Mr. Libby's trial provided convincing evidence that the revelation of Ms. Plame's identity was not the result of a conspiracy to punish her husband, administration critic Joseph C. Wilson IV -- the allegation that caused all the partisan furor surrounding the case and that led to Mr. Fitzgerald's appointment. Advocates for clemency point to President Bill Clinton, who lied under oath but was not removed from office or put in jail, and to Mr. Clinton's former national security adviser, Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who lied to investigators about sneaking documents from the National Archives but who also received no jail time.

. . . But Mr. Bush, while claiming to "respect the jury's verdict," failed to explain why he moved from "excessive" to zero. It's true that the felony conviction that remains in place, the $250,000 fine and the reputational damage are far from trivial. But so is lying to a grand jury. To commute the entire prison sentence sends the wrong message about the seriousness of that offense.

I was surprised by the severity of President Bush's words. And the Post, usually the first to advocate for more pardons, suddenly has a problem with this one, even though it acknowledges in the beginning that President Bush was essentially following the advice of a former federal prosecutor.

Don Surber compares Libby's fate to that of the man who leaked the information, Richard Armitage.

This was a witch trial. America should be ashamed that it allowed this “special” prosecutor to ignore his mission — finding out who blabbed to Bob Novak that Joe Wilson’s wife was CIA — and instead the prosecutor went after Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. Richard Armitage, who actually leaked the information, walked. Disgusting.

Juggling carnivals 07/02/2007

Incoming Carnivals

The latest Harry Potter Carnival is up. No I didn't submit anything, but with the upcoming movie and final book, this is a good time to check out all things Potter. And while you're at it check out the 10th anniversary post at Pensieve. I think I'd only been marginally aware of Harry Potter until the Goblet of Fire came out. If it hadn't been for my children, I don't think I would have started reading them. But I'm glad I did. Check out A score before: Potter predictions at Elie's Expositions. Some fine dead pool speculation. And finally some interesting links (and a podcast) are available at Harry Potter Prognostications.

Check out the latest Carnival of the Insanities. I'm flattered that my post got linked near the very top.

Mr. Bagel J-Pix #10 featured some of my pictures of my traveling to and from Israel and lots of other really nice photos.

The Baleboosteh hosted the 19th Kosher Cooking carnival.

And I believe that I've missed mentioning two Carnivals of Maryland. #9 was at Technosailor and #10, yesterday, was at Mike's Nether Land.

Yerushalayim anamolies

In the Old City of Jerusalem, there are cars. And I know I've seen air conditioning units. But the satellite dish against the backdrop of old stones, just seemed even more out of place.

They've refurbished the area immediately north of the Kotel plaza, including lining several walls with finished wood bookcases. The bookcases also looked out of place a bit. (The books are blurry, I think, because the camera likely focused on the section of ark in the foreground. I probably should read up on aperture control.)

Among the mostly Hebrew religious books (and some Hebrew/English books) was this. A Torah (or Bible) in Amharic.

IRNA: "the mankind are under the media onslaught"

Iran is very excited to be launching its new English satellite news channel, Press TV. According to Ahmadinejad, "The message of media is the same as that of prophets," and as an article at IRIB proclaims, "Honesty guarantees Press TV success." We are therefore pleased indeed, at the World Arrogance flagship blog (and also its principal satellite blog), to present a veritable feast of totalitarian blather--or as the IRI President says, "positive interactions at intellectual and logical scenes":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday at opening ceremony of Iran's first 7-24 English news satellite television, Press TV, "Creating an atmosphere of positive interactions at intellectual and logical scenes is among the duties of this justice seeking media."

The president added, "The literature employed at justice seeking media is different from the one used at one that is after strengthening the pillars of hegemony, since the first one is the literature of loving the mankind, defending the oppressed, and safeguarding the nobility of humanity, while the second one is after looting the nations."

The president elaborated, "There are two reasons why we need to enter the scene today: firstly, because both us, and the mankind are under the media onslaught, and secondly, because due to our Islamic beliefs, we cannot remain indifferent to the fate of the mankind." Ahmadinejad pointed out that despite fake claims on free flow of information and respect for the personality of the individuals, the western media are moving in the opposite direction today, serving as a tool at the service of the world oppressor powers.

All I'm askin' is some "respect for the personality of the individuals" when I come home.

He set example as the Western media's role in paving the path for the occupation, and for stabilizing the status of the occupiers at the world scene.

President Ahmadinejad focusing on the beginning of Press TV's official media activities, said, "This media should be the standard bearer of peace, friendship, and lasting security in the world." According to IRNA Political Desk reporter, the IRI President added, "Our media should be fully free from all vices that have polluted the world."

Stressing that for us, the goals do not justify taking advantage of all possible means, he said, "This media should be a model for the rest and if its staff would act properly, the enthusiasts, and those who wish to enter this scene, would follow suit."

Al last the enthusiasts will have a proper role model.

The president added that all those wishing to launch media today take models from the Western press, trying to imitate even their anchors and reporters gestures and moves, but the Press TV can present a different model, of news dissemination, reporters' conduct, and anchor men's style.[...]

We should, of course, never forget that Iran leads the world progressive movement (whenever North Korea isn't leading it). Certainly Press TV will fulfill its progressive destiny:

IRNA: "President: 'Press TV' should be close to world oppressed people":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the message of justice seeking media is 'Informing people', adding Press TV which is born here today should be beside the world oppressed people.

Speaking in the inauguration ceremony of satellite English language TV network "Press TV" which began its work here on Monday afternoon, President Ahmadinejad said, "The message of media is the same as that of prophets."

He went on, "All efforts should be directed so that borders between "truth and false", "selfishness and divinity", and "loving mankind and oppressing, threatening them" could be clearly in front of world people's eyes."

The borders have been hidden too long.

Ahmadinejad called such news dissemination as a "diligence and struggle" and said, "The TV which is born today should be beside to the world oppressed people."

Just walk "beside to the world oppressed people" and be their friend.

The president underlined "Disseminating correct and timely news, and presenting correct analyses and disclosing behind scene of the mankind's enemies propaganda networks are among new TV's basic duty."

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Mehr News: "Ahmadinejad’s advisor rebuffs Stone’s request calling him 'part of the Great Satan'"

I was going to do a post based on the recent appearance of Chavez, Castro, and Mugabe in the Iranian Press, but who needs heads of state when you can blog about Oliver Stone?

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s media advisor has rejected Oliver Stone’s request for making a biopic on the president at the same time calling him a part of the Great Satan.

“I sent Dr. Ahmadinejad’s negative response to Oliver Stone. It is true that he is known as a dissident in the U.S., but he is still part of the Great Satan,” Mehdi Kalhor told the Persian service of Fars News Agency on Sunday.

This is a family-oriented blog, so we won't tell you which part of the Great Satan.

“The sources of the report on Stone’s request for making a film on Ahmadinejad are several well-known (Iranian) filmmakers who perhaps intended to improve Stone’s chances through spreading rumors and creating a specific atmosphere,” he added.

The report was published on June 29 by the Iranian producer Alireza Sajjadpur, who is regularly consulted by the president’s art and cultural advisors.

Sajjadpur had described Stone’s request as a “good proposal”, adding, “I would like the request to be accepted.”

On June 30, Ahmadinejad’s art advisor Javad Shamaqdari said that a positive response from President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s office for Oliver Stone to make a documentary about him depends on a positive response on the part of President George Bush’s office allowing an Iranian director to make a film about President Bush.

They were thinking of giving the assignment to Michael-Haddad Mooristani

“If Mr. Oliver Stone can generate the conditions for an Iranian director to make a film on Bush, the likelihood that he will be allowed to make a documentary on the president of the Islamic Republic, Dr. Ahmadinejad, will increase,” he noted.

However, he added that Stone’s request was being investigated.

Kalhor announced on July 1 that he sent a negative response from Ahmadinejad at the very beginning of proceedings.

“I should say that Ahmadinejad was personally opposed to the issue and when I sent the negative response of Ahmadinejad to Stone, much effort was made to change circumstances in favor of the U.S. filmmaker, but we believe that the U.S. cinema is devoid of culture and that their art is only a stratagem,” Kalhor said.

“Global arrogance has made many attempts over the past two years to portray its desired image of Ahmadinejad, rather than an authentic one, but such tactics are old tricks which have been repeatedly used by the U.S. media on various occasions over the past 50 years,” he added.

Don't worry, Juan Cole won't let them get away with it.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

The terror under the carpet

Some fine reporting from Scott Wilson of the Washington Post today:

The election of Hamas to govern the Palestinian Authority a year and a half ago has contributed to the growing instability in the Middle East. Rather than abide by the terms of the Oslo Accords, Hamas has overseen the growth of the anti-Israel terror infrastructure in Gaza leading to frequent rocket attacks into the Israeli city of Sderot. According to retired General Yaacov Amidror Hamas has also developed operational ties to Al Qaeda affiliated terror groups, including one that kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston.
And despite an increase in funding for the Hamas led PA in violation of international sanctions against the terror group, the standard of living in PA controlled areas has continued to decline.
The UN has contributed to the growing instability by allowing armed Hamas affiliated militias to operate within camps that it controls.

I guess you realize that's not what Wilson reported, here's part of his report.

Former generals say Israel now has a wider range of military options to contain rocket fire from the strip. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, and the government it is running in Gaza has not been recognized internationally.

this too

In domestic court filings, the Israeli government argued that its military occupation of Gaza had ended, freeing it of responsibility for the welfare of the people who live there. The United Nations still classifies Gaza and the West Bank as Israeli-occupied territory.
...
But Kevin Kennedy, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said last week that 65 percent of Palestinians now live on less than $2.41 a day. He said the number of Israeli military checkpoints, barriers and obstacles in the West Bank has increased by 43 percent since Israel pledged to reduce them under a 2005 agreement brokered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Kennedy said that with Hamas in charge of security on the Gaza side, the Gaza passages are now effectively sealed. The Israeli military has been allowing daily aid convoys to supply Gaza with food staples, medicines and fuel, but a humanitarian crisis looms unless trade can be normalized.

"Israel, as the occupying power, is responsible for the health and welfare of the occupied population in Gaza," Kennedy said. "Whether they do it on their own or have someone else do it for them, that's another matter."

So instead of placing blame on the Palestinians for electing Hamas, Hamas for remaining committed to terror and the UN for allowing it too, it is to those sources or a number of experts sympathetic to them that Wilson goes for his story.

I'd say that Bloodthirsty Liberal has it about right

Sometimes it is useful to read the Washington Post’s coverage of Israel and the Palestinians—not for any edification, mind you, but to see how the liberal establishment still tries to sweep the crimes of the Palestinians under the rug:

That's about the size of it.

Joining Outside the Beltway's Traffic Jam 07/02/2007

The njdc's big tent

When checking out what the NJDC blog yesterday, I noticed an item about embryonic stem cell funding.

I left a comment.

But apparently the NJDC won't brook any dissent.

I made two points. Politely. And the comments are nowhere to be seen.

So for those who wish to see dissent to the leftist views of the NJDC here are my points.

1) As yet, embryonic stem cell research has not resulted in any successful therapies. All stem cell research that has produced therapies has been from adult stem cells. So to argue that the lack of federal funding for extending embryonic stem lines will hinder research into finding cures for diabetes and other diseases is, at this point, hyperbole. In fact recent advances in the treatment of diabetes used stem cells from umbilical and adult stem cells.

2) The NJDC after raising the alarm about the lack of federal funding for embryonic stem cells research cites 3 Jewish organizations that support the increase in such funding. One of those organization is the Orthodox Union. However, unlike the NJDC, the OU has written about respecting the religious beliefs of those who disagree on this issue. Joseph Loconte wrote at the National Review

Nevertheless, the statement by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations opposing Bush’s veto is a model of sober and civic discourse in a debate saturated with vitriol. “We recognize that those who oppose this research and this legislation do so upon the basis of deeply and sincerely held moral beliefs,” writes the UOJCA. “We appreciate the President's position on this matter which allows this research to proceed when privately funded and his principled reservations against allowing taxpayer funds to support it.” The organization goes on to “respectfully disagree” with the president's position.

Notice what is missing: No conspiracy theories about a theocratic takeover. No chatter about the eclipse of Enlightenment reason. No specter of religious extremism haunting the political landscape. No contest between scientific progress and medieval superstition.

This is not the tone of the NJDC, and to use the OU as support for its own position strikes me as rather cynical.

These posts are also a little longer (and more detailed) than my comments were. Also the NJDC has disable trackbacks, so if someone dissents, no links will appear at the NJDC blog informing readers of the dissent.

(I realize this latter issue could be the result of fighting spam. But regardless, the deletion of a critical comment shows an unwillingness to engage in debate.)

UPDATE: In fairness to the NJDC, commenter Sabba Hillel points out that they did eventually show my comments and even inserted the trackback. I still think something's fishy, as I've had comments disappear there before and the trackback was almost certainly generated manually.

njdc, stem cell research.

Gwynne Dyer: Don't "obsess" about Terrorism

This is the sort of thing one reads frequently from the Left: let's compare the chances of dying from a terrorist attack to traffic fatality statistics or whatever and stop worrying. Of course, this is the same Left that points to the large number of terrorist attacks in Iraq as evidence of Western defeat. I doubt that it was originally published there, but this is from Tehran Times:

[...]If the silver Merc that was left in Haymarket had actually exploded and killed some people it would not be an appropriate time to say this, but an occasional terrorist attack is one of the costs of doing business in the modern world. You just have to bring a sense of proportion to the problem, and in general people in Europe do.

Most major European countries had already been through some sort of terrorist crisis well before the current fashion for 'Islamist' terrorism: the IRA in Britain, the OAS in France, ETA in Spain, the Baader-Meinhof Gang in Germany, the Brigate Rossi and their neo-fascist counterparts in Italy. Most European cities have also been heavily bombed in a real war within living memory, which definitely puts terrorist attacks into a less impressive category. So most Europeans, while they dislike terrorist attacks, do not obsess about them: they know that they are likelier to win the lottery than to be hurt by terrorists . . .

In almost all of these countries, despite the efforts of some governments to convince the population that terrorism is an existential threat of enormous size, the vast majority of the people don't believe it.

Whereas in the United States, most people do believe it. A majority of Americans have finally figured out that the invasion of Iraq really had nothing to do with fighting terrorism, but they certainly have not understood that terrorism itself is only a minor threat. There has been only one major terrorist attack in the United States since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and that one, on 9/11, is now almost six years in the past. So how have Americans been persuaded that their duty and their destiny in the 21st century is to lead the world in a titanic, globe-spanning 'long war' against terrorism?

Inexperience is one reason: American cities have never been bombed in war, so Americans have no standard of comparison that would shrink terrorism to its true importance in the scale of threats that face any modern society. But the other is relentless official propaganda: the Bush administration has built its whole brand around the 'war on terror' since 2001, so the threat must continue to be seen as huge and universal.

Ridiculous though it sounds to outsiders, Americans are regularly told that their survival as a free society depends on beating the 'terrorists'. They should treat those who say such things as fools or deliberate liars not worthy of a moment's attention, but they don't. Which is why the manipulators of public opinion in the White House and the U.S. media will give bigger play to the London bombing-that-wasn't than Britain's own government and media will.

So far the British press is treating the recent bombing attempts as big news.

Further thoughts: Perhaps some explanation of what Dyer means is in order. When he writes "an occasional terrorist attack," he means actually quite a lot of attempted terror attacks, most of which are either thwarted by the police or foiled by the appalling drooling stupidity of the would-be terrorist himself while the occasionally successful terror attack is greeted by most members of the group from which the attacker was recruited with thoughts such as "It's all very unfortunate and regrettable and of course I disagree with it, but you have to understand that such attacks are inevitable as long as Great Britain maintains diplomatic relations with the Vatican, India, and East Timor." Pithy fellow, that Dyer.

Crossposted on Judeopundit

Pictures for posterity

To read the NY Times review of HBO's Hothouse, you'd think that the documentary is somehow ambivalent about the topic of the conflict between Israel and the Palesitnians. Adorned with a publicity shot of Ahlam Tamimi, it focuses little on the nature of those prisoners whom the documentary is about. Though it tells how Tamimi

recalls the day she dropped a suicide bomber off at his target, then coolly went on television to report on the resulting bombing.

the second paragraph is telling of the reviewer's perspective

Mr. Dotan, who grew up in Israel, is so successful at revealing the world inside the prisons, where about 10,000 Palestinians are held, that by the end of “Hot House” you may feel more than a little annoyance at the two sides in this endless conflict. These enemies know each other absurdly well. They learn from each other, and talk openly about doing so. Yet they can’t seem to break the cycle: a cat and mouse addicted to their own game.

But HBO in its own publicity seems a little less ambiguous

Dotan interviews inmates who are committed to negotiations as well as others who are shockingly unrepentant about their involvement in planning suicide bombings. The cold-blooded testimony of a female Hamas leader, proudly serving 16 life sentences for blowing up a pizzeria in Jerusalem, is perhaps the most chilling.

A review at Zionism on the Web similarly notes that allowing the prisoners to talk for the themselves makes for some very revealing moments.

Dotan remained a largely invisible force in the film’s physics. At one point, in his interview with a major Hamas leader, he asks about the party’s willingness to accept the 1967 borders as viable boundaries. Dotan reminds the Hamas leader that he has he has been quoted as retracting that acceptance. The leader acknowledges that he has changed his mind, cackles for several chilling moments, and then after his ominous laughter subsides, he pauses and says something to the effect of, ‘in the future we will see what will be.’

Then, towards the end of the film, there is an interview with a female Hamas prisoner that is also quite revealing. The woman, a Palestinian television news anchor at the time, drove a suicide bomber to Yaffa Street in Jerusalem in August of 2001, where he carried out a horrendous bombing in a crowded Sbarro Pizzaria at lunchtime. Sixteen people were killed in the attack, and many more wounded. The prisoner’s testimony was eerie for its cold-blooded detachment. A vacuous smile rarely left her face. When Dotan quietly asked her if she knew how many children had been killed, she volunteered that she thought the number was three. He corrected her, noting that the actual number was eight. She seemed perversely delighted to hear this, and smiled again, saying, “really?”

I'd have to say I still have misgivings about the project. The complaint at This Ongoing War holds sway.

Neither the New York Times nor HBO are likely to give even a moment's attention to the victims of the barbarians who destroyed the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and the lives of so many victims. So we would be grateful if you would pass along this link to some pictures of our daughter whose name was Malki. She was unable to reach her twenties - Hamas saw to that.

Though she was only fifteen years old when her life was stolen from her and from us, we think Malki was a beautiful young woman, living a beautiful life. We ask your help so that other people - far fewer than the number who will see the New York Times, of course - can know about her. Please ask your friends to look at the pictures - some of the very few we have - of our murdered daughter. They are at http://www.kerenmalki.org/photo.htm

Obviously I think that the NYT is much more guilty than HBO, but the idea that we ought to remember the victims of terror rather than its perpetrators is a strong one.

Similar thoughts: Smooth Stone, Israel Matzav, Deja Vu, Boker Tov Boulder, and Solomonia.

hbo's hothouse, malki roth.

Play ball (in Israel)

The Israeli Baseball league's first season is underway, and a few bloggers have posted their impressions.

A mother in Israel Took her family out to the ballgame. She doesn't say much about the game but meets some players watching in the stands - he quit his job as an investment banker to play ball in Israel! For those interested 25 Shekel is roughly $6 right now, so the cost of a game is about that of a minor league game. (Actually I believe the price for a Baysox ticket now is $9 and $6 for children.) The cost of the baseball hat is as expensive as a major league hat. I'd guess they're being priced for collectors.

Guest Blogger at SerAndEz, Eliezer StrongBad writes comprehensively about the Boychiks of Summer. The game experience left something to be desired. He notes that the players range in age from 17 - 51, so I suppose there's still time for me to retire early and become a professional ballplayer. He did like the radio broadcast.

Life in Israel brings news updates from the league including the first no-hitter and the first game played under protest. I wonder how many lawyers are in the league.

(h/t Life in Israel)

And who knew, the inaugural game was broadcast on WNET!

For full information about the league, check out its website

Crossposted on Soccer Dad and OTB Sports.

israel baseball league

Emotional decisions

I encouraged Cheat Seeking Missiles to write about "This is your brain on politics" by Sharon Begley of Newsweek, promising to weigh in on the article too. And then ... I forgot! He came through, wonderfully and a second time too.

I get annoyed when I read things like this:

Westen’s thesis is simple. “A dispassionate mind that makes decisions by weighing the evidence and reasoning to the most valid conclusions bears no relation to how the mind and brain actually work.” That’s true when it comes to choosing a significant other, buying a car, and choosing a president. Madison Avenue has known this for decades. Democrats haven’t.

In response, Cheat Seeking Missiles writes:

... Westen will have to find a Dem who's up against a candidate who actually holds that belief, and he's going to have a hard time doing that. You have to know the issue before you can write effective talking points -- emotional or not -- and Westen fails because he hasn't bothered to find out what the pro-gun positions are. Ironically, he's accepted as true his emotional perceptions of what the positions are.

Now I'm not the world's most rational thinker, but I like to think that sometimes I apply critical thought to my choices. I also know when I can spot an illogical emotional appeal when I see one.

Colossus of Rhodey.Hube noticed the ironies of Thursday night's Democratic debate at Howard University including:

Clinton drew a huge cheer when she suggested there was a hint of racism in the way AIDS is addressed in this country. "Let me just put this in perspective: If HIV-AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34 there would be an outraged, outcry in this country."

But as Outside the Beltway observed AIDS spending has increased tremendously since President Bush took office. Heck, even Bono, not exactly known as a Tory has praised President Bush's efforts. I believe that he's compared the current president's record against that of his predecessor and found that the husband of NY's junior senator comes up short. I haven't found a link to those comments though.

And then there's the matter of global warming that liberals regularly tells us with be the death of our world. (Latest the Roman ruins will decay faster because of global warming. We'll lose our future and our past!)

But then there are the inconvenient (emotional) truths of Al Gore such as

For example, Gore claims that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking and global warming is to blame. Yet the September 2006 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate reported, "Glaciers are growing in the Himalayan Mountains, confounding global warming alarmists who recently claimed the glaciers were shrinking and that global warming was to blame."

This leads QandO to ask:

Anyone out there holding their breath for a new Gore release entitled "An Inconvenient Truth: Revised?"

I'd point out that OceanGuy has also been weighing the evidence and concluding that global warming isn't the threat it's being made out to be, and questions if it's even science that was the driving force behind the debate.

And I just experienced a campaign where Michael J. Fox impugned Michael Steele for objecting to a cure for his Parkinson's. Until now, there has not been a single effective therapy derived from embryonic stem cells. There have been quite a few derived from adult stem cells. The Washington Post reported on the ad this way

The Fox commercial makes those ads seem shallow by comparison, said Paul S. Herrnson, a University of Maryland political science professor.

"I think it's aimed at cutting through all the platitudes that normally accompany campaigns and says, 'Here's an issue that affects people's real lives,' " Herrnson said. "You look at him, and you see the effects."

The expert they consult doesn't talk about the scientific merit of Fox's claims, but how it's an "...an issue that affects people's real lives." i.e. Cardin is campaigning on a serious issue.

The problem is that, as yet, no successful therapies have been derived from embryonic stem cells. Quite a few have been derived from adult stem cells - apparently because they are more stable. Charles Krauthammer whose paralysis could be cured by embryonic stem cells (if one believes the hype) wrote:

Second, if the cure for spinal cord injury comes, we have no idea where it will come from. There are many lines of inquiry. Stem cell research is just one of many possibilities, and a very speculative one at that. For 30 years I have heard promises of miracle cures for paralysis (including my own, suffered as a medical student). The last fad, fetal tissue transplants, was thought to be a sure thing. Nothing came of it.

In AIDS, global warming and stem cells we regularly see Democrats adopting the emotional approach to attack their opponents. It really doesn't matter if the science behind those attacks is definitive or not. Begley may claim that the Republicans have a monopoly on emotional, non-factual campaigning. But the evidence shows that there is no such monopoly. I would even argue that the Democrats have been much better at such campaigns than Republicans

Unfortunately the supposedly non-partisan referees in the MSM cheer on the Democratic politicians making it even more difficult to have a rational debate on the merits of many issues.

Haveil Havalim #123 is UP!

Life in Israel regales us with Haveil Havalim #123, the take me out the ballgame edition and hits a home run! (He also covers all fields, center, left and right :-) In his honor here's a picture of where the "home team" lives, Ramat Bet Shemesh.

It might not be exactly where he lives but that's a part of it that I photographed from my parents' apartment in Ramat Neria, a different neighborhood in Bet Shemesh. Anyway bring those peanuts and Cracker Jacks (if they're Kosher) and enjoy the best in Jewish blogging this week.

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