Archive
Straight-Talk
With A "Certain Firmness”
February 14, 2009
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he hopes Obama "launches talks [with Iran] with a certain firmness." Story here.
Which begs the question, what kind of talks have France and its European partners been having with Iran for the past 5 years?
(btw, as to Sarkozy's declaration that "Kuwait can count on France", memo to Kuwait: For your own protection, do not, we repeat, do not under any circumstances hold your breath...)
[Posted by R.S.]
New U.S. Office?!
February 5, 2009
Why worry about "creeping" sharia, when here in the U.S. we've got in-your-face sharia?!
The Muslim Brotherhood - i.e., the ideological and inspirational godfather of radical Islamic movements like al Qaeda and Hamas - whose disciples include Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's #2) and other such wonderful folk, now has an official Washington, DC presence. See New U.S. Office of Muslim Brotherhood News Portal Interviews U.S. Congresswoman.
Stay tuned to see if al-Qaeda opens an official NY office (to complement its existing footprint there), and in the immortal words of our new VP, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Gird Your Loins!
[Posted by R.S.]
Truly Fitting Tribute
November 19, 2008
While sooo many words come to mind when viewing the picture below, suffice it to say, it is truly a fitting and well-deserved tribute to a vital institution, i.e., the U.N.
It is also a great reminder of where American taxpayer money (which supports this oh-so-stellar institution), ultimately ends up.
Spiegel Online: Wednesday, Nov. 19 is "World Toilet Day" and Berlin
marked the occassion by placing 50 toilets outside its Central Station. The
United Nations declared 2008 the "International Year of Sanitation" in order
to draw attention to public health issues around the world. The average
person in the West goes to the toilet between six and eight times a day, but
around the world 2.5 billion people live without adequate sanitation, according
to figures from the World Health Organization. AP
[Posted by R.S.]
Stick It In Your Ear
July 22, 2008
Read these:
- A Palestinian bulldozer driver goes on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem today, wounding at least 16 people, in an apparent copycat of a recent deadly attack which occurred just weeks ago (more here).
- Israeli Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin warned today that Hamas has been exploiting the terms of the truce by bolstering its military strength in the Gaza Strip, and developing missiles capable of reaching past the northern Negev town of Kiryat Gat. Palestinians have been firing Qassam rockets and mortar shells at the Negev town of Sderot, some 5 kilometers from the Gaza border, for the past seven years. Recently, however, they have been able to reach Ashkelon, some 12 km away. Diskin's assessment is that they have now doubled their range (more here).
Then read these:
- The United States security coordinator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, retired General James Jones, is preparing an "extremely critical" report of Israel's policies in the territories and its attitude toward the Palestinian Authority's security services. Jones was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following the Annapolis peace conference last November (more here).
- State Dept. complaints are irking Israeli officials. Senior officials in the U.S. State Department, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have been repeatedly complaining to Israel recently over relatively minor Palestinian issues (more here).
And then decide:
Should Israel respond to Condi Rice, James Jones and the U.S. State Department the same way Ambassador John Bolton responded last night in an interview regarding the New York Times' refusal to publish a McCain op-ed, i.e., "If they'd have come back to me with that kind of comment, I'd have said stick it in your ear..." (more here)???
Evil Incarnate
July 18, 2008
Below is a picture worth 6 million words (and counting...):
Convicted terrorist Samir Kuntar on Wednesday vowed to continue his 'resistance' against Israel, speaking at a Beirut rally welcoming his return and that of four Hezbollah men Israel released as
part of a [Killers-for-Bones] swap deal with the Lebanon-based guerilla group, in which Israel
received the bodies [i.e., bones] of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah guerillas in a cross-border raid that sparked the 2006 war. [More here]
So who is Samir Kuntar? Kuntar is the guy who smashed the skull of a 4-year-old Israeli girl after shooting her father in front of her very eyes.
In the dead of night on April 22, 1979, Kuntar and three other gunmen made their way in a rubber dinghy from Lebanon to the sleepy Israeli coastal town of Nahariya, five miles south of the border.
There, they killed a policeman who stumbled upon them, then burst into the apartment of Danny Haran, herding him and his 4-year-old daughter out of the house at gunpoint to the beach below, where they were killed.
The attack is seared in Israel's collective consciousness because witnesses recounted that Kuntar shot Danny Haran in front of his child, then killed her by smashing her skull against a rock with his rifle butt.
Haran's wife, Smadar, who had fled into a crawl space in the family apartment with her 2-year-old daughter, accidentally smothered the child with her hand while trying to stifle her cries.
[Posted by R.S.]
Notable Quotables
"Mr. Netanyahu is one of the most media-savvy politicians on the planet. On Friday he appeared live via video link on 'Real Time with Bill Maher,' taking the host’s alternately sardonic and serious line of questioning with gazelle-like alacrity."
~ Anthony Grant, jourrnalist who has written for many major newspapers and worked in television at Paris and Tel Aviv, interviewing former PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, at the outset of Mr. Netanyahu's new book (more here).
And Then Some
Dangling Israel
March 24, 2022
New Global Leaders
March 23, 2022
Ukraine Can Learn From Israel
January 31, 2022
