Various and sundried topics

So before I get to the more substantive news, below, I'll share a few pictures. First, there's the bounty of the garden. I could add a comment about how Jerry McNerney has done nothing to protect the environment, but that would be a bit of a non-sequitor. Since you brought up McNerney, though, don't forget to vote in the poll, a few posts below this one. As of the time of this post, there were 60 votes in the first poll and 45 in the second and third. A good showing but I'd like to see more.

So here's a picture of produce from the Zhid's garden. It's a basket of apricots, fresh from the tree, as well as the lettuce that has been growing in the salad tray discussed earlier.
We'll probably turn the apricots into preserves and have been eating the lettuce as quick as it grows. Quite delicious, home grown lettuce has a very unique silky texture, unlike store bought. We're still waiting on the tomatoes and grapes to ripen and there are a few persimmons that may make it to the table. Click for a larger image of the luscious fruits and vegetables.


Next, the Zhid took his Springfield M1A to the range today. It was a very windy day and the Zhid has been trying to get the Leupold Mark 4 scope he put atop the M1A dialed in properly. It's been a long process to get the scope set to perfection, as the M1A scope mounts are notorious for their inability to stay set. The Zhid's Smith M21 mount worked itself loose a few months ago and that caused the Zhid to break out the loctite and have to start from scratch with getting that scope set up.

Today, with the wind blowing to 30mph+, the targets were bouncing all over the place (and the bullets were being buffeted a bit too). The first 20 rounds were not acceptable, as the Zhid was dialing that scope up and down, left and right, trying to get it on the bullseye. After the target change, though, with the scope close to being dialed in, things changed.

As you'll see from the picture below, the first five shots (Zhid was using the 5 shot clip to prevent him from blasting off 20 rounds at a time, like the grinning idiot he is) were a bit low and wandering, but the final shot was perfectly lined up from a windage point of view. The second set of five shots were a string to the left of the center of the target, a pretty good group for non-match ammo on a windy day. The third set of five (the set without a retarded box drawn around it) was pretty much dead on center, given the wind whipping things around a bit. Zhid was pleased. Click on the picture to get a larger image that allows you to see the descriptions added to the image.


And here is a picture of the M1A's bore all light up with a fluorescent light stick. Again, click for a large image of this work of art.



Now, on to the news. This first story is one Affe will have to answer for. I'm sure that there will be riots in the streets of Jerusalem, with the chasids urging mohels to use their tools to behead Catholics. Aren't riots and calls for violence the proper response to a perceived religious slight? That seems to be what the NY Times has told us.

Pope to revive 'anti-Semitic' Mass
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 30, 2007

The Vatican is expected to publish this week a document authorizing the use of a controversial Latin Mass, parts of which are deemed anti-Semitic, the Holy See announced Thursday.

According to a report in Britain's Independent newspaper, some clergy fear that if the Latin Mass were brought back into common use, it would limit the Church's dialogue with Jews and Muslims, as well as create a schism among Catholics worldwide.

The 16th-century Tridentine Mass - recited every Good Friday - refers to Jews as "perfidious," and claims they live in "blindness" and "darkness." The Mass prays that God might "take the veil from their hearts" so that Jews can come to acknowledge Jesus Christ.

Rev. Keith Pecklers, an expert on Jesuit liturgy, told the Independent that elements in the Church who embraced the old Mass tended to oppose "collaboration with other Christians and [the Church's] dialogue with Jews and Muslims."

Currently, priests who wish to recite the Latin Mass, which was replaced in 1969 with liturgy in the vernacular, must receive permission from their bishops.

Pope Benedict's decision, some believe, is an attempt to bring the ultra-traditionalist Society of St. Pius X group back under the auspices of the Vatican. The move has been opposed by many senior representatives of the Catholic Church in Britain, including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, as well as Jewish leaders.

The next story is a beaut... Read this and you'll see just how free the Palestinian state would be. How many times has Israel banned the BBC or any of the other news agencies that have a clear anti-Israel bias? Has any reporter ever gone into hiding in Norway to escape threats from Jews in Israel? This is yet another example of the open, free Palestinian society. These people are among the most self destructive beings on the face of the earth.

Tell me, am I the only one shaking my head at this quote, it coming from a Fatah leader? ""Al-Jazeera is a partner in the crimes that are being perpetrated by the terrorists of Hamas's armed wing against our people" Imagine that, all of a sudden the press is a conspirator in terror...but ONLY in this once case. It couldn't be, you know, that for the last, say, 30 years, the media was a "partner in the crimes that are being perpetrated by the terrorists" when Israel and Jews were the target. Right?

Top Palestinian journalist seeks asylum in Norway
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 1, 2007

A prominent Palestinian journalist from the Gaza Strip has sought political asylum in Norway, Palestinian journalists said Saturday.

Seif al-Din Shahin, the correspondent for the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel network, left the Gaza Strip together with his family, they said, noting that he had received many death threats over the past few months.

Shahin's request has yet to be approved by the Norwegian government. Several other Palestinian journalists are also reported to have fled the Gaza Strip out of fear for their lives.

Earlier this year, masked gunmen set fire to the offices of Al-Arabiya in Gaza City, causing heavy damage to furniture and equipment. Although no group claimed responsibility, Palestinian journalists blamed members of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

The group was also responsible for beating Shahin in two separate incidents in 2001 and 2004. The second assault followed Shahin's live broadcast of a rally held on Fatah's anniversary. The report angered Fatah leaders who had instructed Shahin and other journalists to report that tens of thousands had participated.

In 2003 he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces because of his reporting. Al-Arabiya's offices in Ramallah have also been attacked by Fatah gunmen on a number of occasions.

Shahin's brother, Muhammad, confirmed that his brother had left the Gaza Strip, but said he was unaware of the reports that he had asked for political asylum. "My brother left for personal reasons," he said.

Shahin's decision to seek political asylum in Norway comes amid a campaign that is being waged by Fatah against Al-Arabiya's rival, Al-Jazeera.

Fatah leaders have even called for closing down the Al-Jazeera offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, accusing the Qatari-owned TV station of serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas and other radical Islamic groups.

"Al-Jazeera is openly biased in favor of Hamas," said a senior Fatah leader. "This station must be banned from working in the Palestinian territories."

Muhammad Dahlan, the former Fatah security commander in the Gaza Strip, is said to be spearheading calls for banning Al-Jazeera. Last week he told Palestinian journalists that Al- Jazeera had been doing everything to drive a wedge and encourage schism among Palestinians. "This station has become an organ for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top PLO official closely associated with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accused Al-Jazeera of endorsing Hamas and its terrorists. "Al-Jazeera is a partner in the crimes that are being perpetrated by the terrorists of Hamas's armed wing against our people," he said.

Muhammad Hourani, a senior Fatah operative in the Gaza Strip, said Al-Jazeera was no longer an independent and objective source for news. "They are a party to the conflict [between Hamas and Fatah]," he said. He said that Al-Jazeera had refused to cover atrocities committed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip over the past few weeks and was providing a platform for Fatah's enemies.

Two weeks ago, Fatah militiamen set fire to the home of Hassan al-Titi, the Al-Jazeera correspondent in Nablus. One of the station's correspondents in the Gaza Strip, Hiba Akileh, came under fire from Fatah for allegedly ignoring the fact that Fatah gunmen had participated in the fighting against the IDF last week.

Fatah gunmen have also torched two vehicles belonging to Al-Jazeera in Ramallah. The attack came after Al-Jazeera ignored demands to cover a Fatah rally in the city.

And finally, this gem. How dare he say that the Japanese gave the US little choice but to drop the nuclear bombs! How dare he imply that if the bombs weren't dropped there would have been far greater casualties from an invasion of Japan! The Japanese were victims, don't you know?

Bombs Ended World War II, Says Kyuma
By CHISAKI WATANABE,AP
Posted: 2007-06-30 14:42:38

TOKYO (June 30) - Japan's defense minister said Saturday that the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war, drawing criticism from atomic bomb survivors.
"I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped," Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a speech at a university in Chiba, just east of Tokyo.

Kyuma's remarks drew immediate criticism from Nobuo Miyake, director-general of a group of Japanese atomic bomb victims living in Tokyo.

"The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved American lives," said Miyake, 78. "It's outrageous for a Japanese politician to voice such thinking. Japan is a victim."

Kyuma said later that his comments were misinterpreted. He told reporters he meant to say the bombing "could not be helped from the American point of view."

"It's too bad that my comments were interpreted as approving the U.S. bombing," he said.

Defense Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment Saturday.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people in the world's first atomic bomb attack. Three days later, it dropped another atomic bomb, "Fat Man," on Nagasaki. City officials say about 74,000 died.

Japan, whose military had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.

Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver diseases.

Kyuma, who is from Nagasaki, said the bombing caused great suffering in the city, but he does not resent the U.S. because it prevented the Soviet Union from entering the war with Japan, according to Kyodo News Agency.

In January, Kyuma raised eyebrows in Washington by calling the U.S. decision to invade Iraq a "mistake," saying it was based on the false premise that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

He later backtracked, saying he thought the decision should have been more cautiously made.

And just as a test...

Body parts led to Santa Clara suspect's murder trial
By Rodney Foo
Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched:06/18/2007 01:34:59 AM PDT


The cops who were looking for Dolores Gonzales at her Santa Clara apartment thought there was something a bit odd about her boyfriend, Alexandre Laurent Hochstraser.

Officers described him as "emotionless," "evasive" and "spacey" when they asked him if he had talked to or seen her recently. On a couch, they found several Sawzall reciprocating saw blades - one blade's paint was scuffed. The odor of bleach or chlorine permeated the apartment, police said.

Minutes later, officer Earl Amos checked the Volkswagen Jetta that Hochstraser, 48, had borrowed from his mother. A tarp covered the car's floor. Rubbermaid bins, containing plastic garbage bags, sat on the rear seats and a front seat.

Amos lifted the lid off a bin and opened the bag that was inside it. He peered in. Months later, he would testify in a Superior Court hearing about what he saw.

"I found a mound of human flesh," Amos said.

Police had discovered the dismembered remains of Gonzales, a 43-year-old mother.

Now, a little more than two years after his arrest, Hochstraser is about to stand trial in the killing of Gonzales. The case, awaiting to be assigned to an available judge, is scheduled to begin this week. The jury trial is expected to last several weeks.

The prosecution already has a particularly damning piece of evidence: A taped jailhouse phone conversation in which Hochstraser confesses to his mother that he killed Gonzales. The tape was entered as evidence at his preliminary hearing.

One facet of the case - whether police unlawfully entered Hochstraser's apartment and conducted an illegal search - was questioned by Hochstraser's attorney, Kenneth W. Robinson. A motion to suppress evidence based on the officers' actions was denied in January by Superior Court Judge David Cena. An appeal to the 6th District Court of Appeal was denied in April, paving the way for the criminal trial.

Robinson said his client is not guilty of premeditated murder and hinted that Hochstraser, a former admissions and records assistant for De Anza College's international students program, acted in self-defense. The coroner cited blunt-force trauma as the cause of Gonzales's death.

"I think sometimes the coverup is worse than the crime," Robinson said. "Once all the evidence is presented I believe the jury will be in the position to determine what actually occurred in the apartment that evening and who initiated the assault."

But, Deputy District Attorney Ted Kajani said the case is properly charged.

"We see this as a serious case and I don't see it as anything less than murder," Kajani said.

The events surrounding Gonzales's death began on a Saturday evening, June 4, 2005, when she and Hochstraser got into a fight. Gonzales suffered a cut on her chin. Hochstraser would tell police that when they pushed each other, she fell and was cut, according to court documents.

On the morning of June 5, Gonzales, who worked for Mission College's human resources department, called her mother in Hollister to tell her about the fight. Hochstraser told police that Gonzales left the apartment. He took their 2-year-old son, Daniel, to Hochstraser's mother in San Francisco. There, Hochstraser borrowed his mother's Jetta because it was larger than his car and he needed to move some items, court records said.

Meanwhile, Gonzales's mother phoned her granddaughter Christie Gonzales, who lives in the Sacramento area, to tell her about the fight.

Worried about the safety of her mother and Daniel, Christie Gonzales phoned police asking them to check her apartment on Malabar Avenue.

When officers arrived at 9:46 p.m., they found a darkened apartment. No one responded to their shouts or knocks on the door. But an unlocked window was open by about an inch. After conferring with his supervisor, an officer lifted the window up and entered the house. He then opened the front door to let more officers in.

In the dark, they found Hochstraser in a bedroom, sitting on a bed with his back resting against a wall. He wore earplugs. His face was red and there were cuts on his hands, police noted.

Officers asked him if he knew where Gonzales was.

On a table, officers found a fanny pack that contained Gonzales's cell phone, sunglasses, keys and identification. Later, police would inspect the Jetta.

Robinson argued before Cena that the police entry into the apartment through the window violated Hochstraser's constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure. But Cena thought otherwise.

Cena said the officers entered the apartment on the premise that someone might be injured and unable to respond, not to investigate a crime.

But, the judge noted, "The situation quickly transferred to the belief that the police had stumbled upon the probable scene of a crime."

M-I-C..."See you in paradise..."

Res Ipsa Loquitor...

Farfour Mouse dies in last episode


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Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 29, 2007

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Hamas TV on Friday broadcast what it said was the last episode of a weekly children's show featuring "Farfour," a Mickey Mouse look-alike who had made worldwide headlines for preaching Islamic domination and armed struggle to youngsters.

In the final skit, Farfour was beaten to death by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, Farfour called the Israeli a "terrorist."

"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.

The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV.

Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs.

Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he didn't know yet what would be shown instead.

Israeli officials have denounced the program, "Tomorrow's Pioneers," as incendiary and outrageous. The program was also opposed by the state-run Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which is controlled by Fatah.

"Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs." Perhaps it will be a new show called "Teleterrorists", featuring suicide bombers in colorful bomb vests.

The Quagmire of Integration

Further to the post below, I read Breyer's dissent and was quite amused at the following passage, where Breyer is speaking to the importance of a concept that he says goes by many names, including "diversity" and "racial balancing" and "integration".

Regardless of its name, however, the interest at stake possesses three essential elements. First, there is a historical and remedial element: an interest in setting right the consequences of prior conditions of segregation. This refers back to a time when public schools were highly segregated, often as a result of legal or administrative policies that facilitated racial segregation in public schools. It is an interest in continuing to combat the remnants of segregation caused in whole or in part by these school-related policies, which have often affected not only schools, but also housing patterns, employment practices, economic conditions, and social attitudes. It is an interest in maintaining hard-won gains. And it has its roots in preventing what gradually may become the de facto resegregation of America’s public schools. See Part I, supra, at 4; Appendix A, infra. See also ante, at 17 (opinion of KENNEDY, J.) (“This Nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all of its children”).

Read this carefully. What Breyer is saying is that he (and I assume he's speaking for liberals everywhere) believes that unless the government is allowed to step in and force the races together, the races will naturally remain separate.

Let's assume this is true. What then is the point of diversity and integration programs? If the races will separate as soon as the government stops forcing them together, we either have to accept that there will always be government intervention in our lives in this regard or we have to question whether there is really an end game to all of the efforts to put the races together.

It's funny that after about six months of war the liberals were screaming that the lack of a comprehensive victory indicated we were in a quagmire and must retreat and concede defeat, but after decades and decades of attempts to force the races together we are nowhere near the point that we can stop wasting massive amounts of government money on programs that have produced no long term results.

If I'm wrong, and all of those programs have produced long term results, then why do we still need the programs?

If I'm right, and integration is the real quagmire in American society, why aren't we admitting defeat, as the liberals want us to do in our struggle for freedom from terror and learning to embrace the separation of the races, as the liberals want us to embrace Islamic hate of the west?

Perhaps the answer is that Breyer can't bring himself to admit what follows from his writings. He writes that when government programs to force integration are terminated the races re-segregate naturally. Has he ever wondered why this is?

Perhaps what we need, rather than never-ending government programs to force races into situations that they naturally resist, is an acknowledgement that when people want to be together, they will be together, but government programs are nothing more than contrived, short term "solutions" that have been proven to not remedy the underlying desires and inclinations of people.

One of Breyer's final statements is this:

And what of respect for democratic local decision making by States and school boards? For several decades this Court has rested its public school decisions upon Swann’s basic view that the Constitution grants local school districts a significant degree of leeway where the inclusive use of race-conscious criteria is at issue. Now localities will have to cope with the difficult problems they face(including resegregation) deprived of one means they may find necessary.

My response is: And what of respect for the natural inclination of people to resist the meddling of government into the natural preferences and dispositions of people to choose who they associate with? Is the desire of a school district to meet some nebulous percentage more important than the demonstrated desire of people to choose who they associate with?

One of the great lines from Supreme Court History

The case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District, is here. It was a case about two school districts that were using the race of children to make decisions as to enrollment. The court found that the use of race to make these determinations was unconstitutional. I'll avoid discussing the merits of the majority and dissent opinions (read them, especially Thomas' concurrence, as they are a great primer on modern race relations and theories) other than to say that the court did NOT find that segregation was acceptable (this is what the UK paper, the Times, had as a headline...fucking British retards).

What I will say is that there are two lines in the opinions that are utter classics. They strike at the heart of the harm that the feel-good white liberal "oh, the poor blacks, we have to give them things because they can't achieve anything without the special treatment we good whites can lavish on them" policy has done.

First, from Chief Justice Roberts:

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

Next, perhaps one of the great digs of Supreme Court history, from Justice Thomas:

"Indeed, if our history has taught us anything, it has taught us to beware of elites bearing racial theories."

Et Tu, Jerry?

When I first raised the issue of Jerry McNerney's failure to protect the local environment from development his shills (and his own office, through the letter to my neighbor) claimed that Jerry didn't have power over local issues, as he was a federal politician.

I, of course, pointed out that Jerry had incredible power over local issues through his use of earmarks, which are federal funds spent in the district. Through control over which projects he chooses to support, Jerry can direct federal funds to the local areas and thus he can exert power over those local governments. To wit, if he didn't like how, say, Pleasanton was allowing rampant development, he could tell Pleasanton's city government that he would not support federal funds being spent in Pleasanton and thus exert influence over local planning.

Jerry and his shills remained silent to that fact, and now there is proof, from Jerry himself, of how much federal money is being sought by Jerry for local projects. If Jerry truly did care about saving ag and open space in the district he'd refuse to support any earmark for a city that was engaging in irresponsible development practices.

But, of course, since Jerry really isn't concerned about the environment, he's refusing to use the powerful tool he has available.

Details of his earmarks are available here.

And don't forget to vote in the McNerney poll below!

Calling all 11th District Voters...

**ANOTHER FRAUD UPDATE***
7/3/07
McNerney's shills are at it again. Why is Jerry McNerney afraid of letting his district speak for itself? Why is Jones & Stokes working to defraud polls?

***update***
6/24/07
As I should have expected, a McNerney shill spent over half an hour here last night to load up votes for McNerney. The shill came from IP 76.173.7 and cast about 40 votes, all for McNerney.

This obviously speaks volumes about the integrity of those who put McNerney into office. They have none.

And isn't it oh-so-typical for a Democrat to engage in vote fraud.

So, thanks to the McNerney shill, I will now have to restrict voting to a single vote per IP. Good job, McNerney shills.

With this kind of behavior from Democrat operatives, I can see why Congress has the lowest favorable ratings in history.

Just as McNerney was elected by a group of outsiders who came to the 11th District to sandbag the incumbent and put a stealth liberal into office, those same outsiders are afraid of letting those who live in the 11th District express their beliefs. The McNerney shills would rather cheat and obfuscate than let the people determine who their leaders are.
***end of update***

The first ever Vengeful Zhid poll. Actually, there are three polls below.

This first poll is, of course, about Jerry McNerney.

So is the second poll.

And the third poll is the one that will be most interesting.

Hamas as a pincer?

Here's something to consider: The Hamas offensive that resulted in the collapse of Fatah's power in Gaza was part of Iran's pre-war planning.

If you don't know the geography of Israel take a look at a map. Gaza is a rectangular area south of Tel Aviv and while it is technically in the west edge of the center of Israel it is actually at the bottom of the habitable area of the state. If you draw a line from Gaza east, all of the area south of that land is sparsely inhabited desert.

From Gaza it is about 40-50 miles to either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Hizb'allah, of course, is right at the northern border of Israel.

Both Hamas and Hizb'allah are backed by Iran. Both are radical Islamic terror organizations that have never talked about living in peace with Israel. In fact, they exist to destroy Israel.

If you were, say, Iran, and had been spoiling for a fight with Israel, and had used your proxy in Lebanon (Hizb'allah) the prior year to test Israel with a war of relatively short duration, and came away with the sense that you could inflict serious damage on Israel, what would your next move be?

Box Israel in.

Have your proxy military covering the northern and southern borders, with ocean to the west and a hostile group to the east (the West Bank Palestinians, primarily Fatah) that would likely be willing to align with you once you have started the attack Israel.

At that point you would have proxies on three sides. Whether the goal is to simply cause destruction to Israeli civilian centers or to actually an invasion of Israel is hard to know at this point, but I think it's pretty clear that Iran is pre-positioning its proxy forces for battle with Israel.

Gaza is far closer to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem than the Lebanon border is to those cities. Thus, Hamas doesn't need the longer range missiles that Hizb;allah would have needed to hit the two primary cities in Israel. In fact, a missile with a 40 mile range is something that can be small, easily smuggled and easily hidden once in Gaza. Imagine tens of thousands of those in Hamas' hands, an equal or greater number of larger missiles in Lebanon with Hizb'allah, and you have an Iranian wet dream. All of Israel could be hit at will.

If you think this is a crazy theory, read the story below. It's clear that Ahmadinejad is ramping up the rhetoric and he's bold. He went to war last year and the blood has made him hungry for more.

Oh, and note what the senior Iranian politician, Moosa Ghorbani, said, highlighted in bold, in defending Ahmadinejad's speech. It sounds a lot like what I posted a few days ago. In fact, compare what I said and what he said:

Zhid:

How can they? The entire Muslim world is built atop the ruins of the Jewish world. Remember, folks, Islam is a recent invention. It was the last of the big three monotheistic religions. The Islamic holy sites were built atop the ruined Jewish sites precisely because muslims saw Islam as the successor to the prior two religions and thus it had to destroy and reinvent the holy sites in the Islamic mold.

Ghorbani:

Rather than condemning the president for words which could cause offense and hostility, Ghorbani instead condemned other former presidents for not making similar statements. He went on to say that “Islam completes other religions” and that therefore “other religions are not accepted by God”.

I'm telling you, Ahmadinejad is willing to sacrifice millions of Arabs to destroy Israel and he's in the final phases of planning his assault. I grant that there may be a less apocalyptic reason for the actions, such as putting in place forces to exact revenge if the Iranian nuclear plants are hit, but I suspect the goal is much grander.

Mahmoud Wants War

PJM Tel Aviv
June 17, 2007 7:50 AM


Increasingly, the angry speeches of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reveal a desperate president in need of a conflict. Just a few days ago, he crossed a key rhetorical red line by expressing open hostility towards both Judaism and Christianity.

By Meir Javendanfar


While his rhetoric may seem completely reckless to the western world, in the past, there have been certain limits beyond which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not dare to venture.

But this past week, he crossed a line which should be taken as a warning signal.

In the past, the Iranian has claimed that his problem is with political ideologies and not religion. Jews and Judaism, when kept in their place were just dandy, he said – his problem was with Zionism and Israel’s existence. At no time, before, or after his presidency, had Ahmadinejad made such a statement, which could be interpreted as hostile against the monotheistic religions which the Koran has declared as holy.

But on Friday, June 15th speaking at an Islamic seminary school, Ahmadinejad charged that “ideologies deviating from God’s teachings are being spread with dollars in the name of Judaism and Christianity around the world. Those who are doing this are saying they want to save humanity, whereas the only way to save humanity is Islam”.

This is the first time that Ahmadinejad has made a statement in which he has accused Jews and Christians of spreading blasphemy, without even bothering to include a hint that it is rogue groups within such religions who are responsible. This is unprecedented.

What is even more worrying is that these comments, which were reported by the Iranian news agency Aftab News, won the support of Moosa Ghorbani, a senior member of the Iranian parliament.

Rather than condemning the president for words which could cause offense and hostility, Ghorbani instead condemned other former presidents for not making similar statements. He went on to say that “Islam completes other religions” and that therefore “other religions are not accepted by God”.

The good news is, it is unlikely that his words will inspire an increase in anti-Semitic and anti- Christian activity in Iran, because most Iranian people do not share these radical beliefs.
On a day-to-day level Iranian Jews and Christians live relatively comfortably in Iran. Iranian people are very tolerant of them. Jews and Christians openly pray in their churches and synagogues. Iranian Jews are even allowed to travel to Israel, despite the country’s president’s repeated threats and predictions about the destruction of the Jewish state.

Ahmendinejad hatred of all things Israeli is not new. Even Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic never harangued and provoked Israel verbally as much as Ahmadinejad, beginning with his speech in the city of Zahedan in December 2005, in which he called the Holocaust a “myth” and climaxing with the controversial Holocaust denial conference a year later in Tehran.

But Ahmadinejad always insisted on the clear distinction that the “enemy” was Zionism, and not Judaism. In a perversion of history, he associated the Holocaust with Zionist ideology, and nothing to do with Judaism. To help validate his position, he made sure that members of the Neturei Karta, a Jewish anti Zionist group were invited to the Holocaust denial conference and he was photographed embracing them warmly.

In this context, the new statements hostile to Judaism and Christianity made by Ahmadinejad, and the fact that they were backed by the parliamentary leadership should grab the attention of the international community. (Until now, they have not been reported in the international press in English)

There are a number of reasons why Ahmadinejad could have crossed this line.

First and foremost, it could have simply been because he got overexcited. On the same day, he had been handing out graduation awards to students at the Imam Khomeini foundation, run by his mentor, the extremist messianic Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. The Yazd born Ayatollah is well known for his radical views and statements against the West. Perhaps by making some of his own, Ahmadinejad was showing him that he still is devout follower, and still grateful for the fact that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi helped his presidential campaign by issuing a fatwa which supported his presidential bid.

The more threatening reason could be his own isolation. Ahmadinejad is a cornered man, who is losing popularity at a ferocious pace inside Iran, mainly due to the failings of his economic policies. He may feel that provoking a war with the West, in hopes of inspiring a public rallying around the flag will be his only saving grace. Otherwise, he stands very little chance of winning the 2009 presidential elections.

The more threatened Ahmadinejad feels, the more he will be looking for a conflict to survive. The Western world needs to think very carefully before giving him what he wants.

Front Sight Firearms Training

What's not to love about a place run by a guy named Ignatius Piazza?

All of us Mets fans will always hold the name Piazza in a special place.

And if you haven't read the classic book "A Confederacy of Dunces" then perhaps the name Ignatius doesn't bring a smile to your face. The solution, of course, is to read it.

Speaking of reading it, read these links. I'm not affiliated in any way with Front Sight but based on a post I saw here and Affe's encouragement (and link), I figured it was worth a try. And I do not intend to be an underwriter, Affe.

• Front Sight Firearms Training Institute


• Ignatius Piazza - founder of Front Sight


• Ignatius Piazza blog site


• Front Sight - in Cybercast News Service


• Ignatius Piazza - in El Mercurio


• Ignatius Piazza - in Gun World


• Front Sight - in Gun Web


• Ignatius Piazza - in Handvapen Guiden


• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Sun


• Front Sight - in Los Angeles Times


• Ignatius Piazza - in San Francisco Chronicle


• Ignatius Piazza - in Small Arms Review


• Front Sight - in The Mail on Sunday Review


• Ignatius Piazza - in Times Democrat


• Front Sight - on BBC News


• Ignatius Piazza - in Chicago Tribune


• Front Sight - on CNN


• Ignatius Piazza - in Fort Worth Star Telegram


• Front Sight - in Guns & Ammo


• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Life


• Front Sight - in New York Times


• Ignatius Piazza - in Playboy


• Front Sight - in Satna Cruz Sentinel


• Front Sight - in US News & World Report


• Ignatius Piazza - in Washington Post


• Front Sight - in London Times


• Ignatius Piazza - in National Enquirer


• Front Sight - in Financial Times


• Ignatius Piazza - in Forbes Magazine


• Front Sight - in Black Belt Magazine


• Front Sight - in Sierra Times


• Ignatius Piazza - on Reform America


• Front Sight - in Icon Magazine


• Front Sight - in El Pais Seminal


• Front Sight - on USA Today


• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Mercury


• Front Sight - in Pajaronian Register


• Ignatius Piazza - on World Net Daily

Let them kill each other

I mentioned to Affe yesterday that the current Palestinian civil war is the seed of Ariel Sharon's brilliance.

I am an unabashed fan of Sharon and thought that his withdrawal from Gaza was a brilliant tactical move. I've blogged about it before, but I think think that Sharon approved the withdrawal with the current events clearly in mind.

So Affe gave a nod to that and then said something to the effect of "ok, then what?"

I gave Affe a flip response like "bury the corpses and build hothouses atop them."

The point is that there is no such thing as a victory or an end to the violence between Jews and Palestinians/Muslims in the middle east. The only thing that can be done is to continue working on strategies to minimize the damage the Palestinians can do, minimize the disruption they can cause, give up as little land as possible and be vigilant.

These people still talk about the Crusades as if they were yesterday. They're not going to go away simply because they have lost a battle. So what you have to do is keep them occupied killing each other, and that's the brilliance of Sharon. He knew this.

Anyone who thinks that there is peace possible between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arab countries is delusional. The Arabs want Israel to be gone. They may, strategically, have periods of calm, but they never will accept the existence of Israel.

How can they? The entire Muslim world is built atop the ruins of the Jewish world. Remember, folks, Islam is a recent invention. It was the last of the big three monotheistic religions. The Islamic holy sites were built atop the ruined Jewish sites precisely because muslims saw Islam as the successor to the prior two religions and thus it had to destroy and reinvent the holy sites in the Islamic mold.

So if you think that all of a sudden they are going to begin accepting the very thing that they were created to destroy, you're nuts.

Thus, the solution is to keep them fighting each other for as long as possible and never let your guard down. And that's why what is happening now is in Israel's best interest and the west's best interest.

By the way, please note how worthless any agreement is with the Palestinians. Let's say that the Clinton proposal had been accepted and the bulk of the west bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza were handed over to Arafat with certain understandings. You know what? Today that agreement would have been utterly worthless with Hamas in power. You don't trade land for empty promises. Nor do you arm your enemy. Nor do you fund your enemy.

Raise your hand if you hate Howard Matis

...and once you've raised your hand, please explain to me why you hate Howard Matis. There has been a spate of hits here from people looking for negative press on Howard Matis. I have one post about him and it wasn't even about Howard Matis per se, it was about him as a representation of what is wrong in the Oakland Hills.

If you don't like Howard Matis, please leave a comment explaining why. It's not that I'm defending, I'm just curious what brings y'all here.

Gaza, where the sewage in the streets has been replaced with blood

Following up on yesterday's post, I was shocked, absolutely shocked, to arrive in downtown San Francisco this morning to see a calm and quiet Market Street. After yesterday's massacre of Palestinian women and children in Gaza, the destruction of Palestinian homes by an aggressor force and the desecration of mosques by that aggressor force, I expected all of the usual ANSWER and similar types to be back on the streets protesting to stop the bloodshed and condemn those behind it.

This is what usually happens when Israel takes action against Palestinian terror, you know. The Bay Area liberals take to the streets to denounce Israel, not because of a hate of Jews but out of a concern for Palestinian lives.

So today, call me confused. There has been more loss of Palestinian life in the last week, more destruction of Palestinian homes, more desecration of Palestinian mosques, than at any time in the recent past. Yet, silence in the streets of San Francisco.

I wonder why. Please, readers, help me understand this.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Hamas has taken to summary executions of Palestinians. Surely, this is worse than anything that Israel had done. When will the protests in SF start?

Read this from today's news:

Hamas: Documents from GSS HQ prove Fatah links to CIA


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Khaled Abu Toameh and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 14, 2007

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At least 25 Palestinians were killed and 80 were wounded as Hamas fighters overran two of Fatah's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and shot them to death gangland-style in the street in front of their families.
The headquarters of the General Security Service, commanded by Ramallah-based General Tawfik Tirawi, fell to Hamas gunmen. Hamas said documents it found there prove that the Fatah-affiliated security apparatus has close ties with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Hamas said it would show the documents on television in the coming hours.

Elsewhere, the capture of the Preventive Security headquarters was a major step forward in Hamas's attempts to complete its takeover of all of Gaza. Hamas followed up that victory by demanding Fatah surrender another key security installation.

Meanwhile, media reports said that the headquarters of the Fatah-allied Voice of Palestine radio station was on fire.

Hamas also overran the southern city of Rafah, the second of Gaza's four main towns to fall into the Islamic group's hands.

Later Thursday, an explosion rocked Gaza City, and smoke was seen rising from a security post. Fatah security officials said forces positioned at the post had redeployed elsewhere and blown it up as they left, rather than let Hamas take it over.

Earlier, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, for the first time in five days of fierce fighting, ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back. But his forces were crumbling fast under the onslaught by the better-armed and better-disciplined Islamic fighters.

A Hamas military victory in Gaza would split Palestinian territory into two, with the Islamic extremists controlling the coastal strip and Fatah ruling the West Bank. Israel was watching the carnage closely, concerned the clashes might spawn attacks on the southern border.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a weekly meeting of security officials that Israel would not allow the violence to spread into attacks on southern Israel, meeting participants said.

The battle for the Preventive Security complex brought the day's death toll to 25 by mid-afternoon, hospital and security officials said. About 90 people, most of them gunmen but including children and other civilians, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war.
Fatah said Hamas shot to death seven of its fighters outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range.

A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed before their wives and children.
"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview, declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

As Hamas took this major battle spoil, the Palestine Liberation Organization's top body recommended that Abbas declare a state of emergency and dismantle Fatah's governing coalition with Hamas. Abbas said he would review the recommendations and make a decision within hours, said an aide, Nabil Amr.

After the rout at the Preventive Security complex, some of the Hamas fighters kneeled down outside, touching their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Others led Fatah gunmen out of the building, some shirtless or in their underwear, holding their arms in the air. Several of the Fatah men flinched as the crack of gunfire split the air.

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a Hamas spokesman, told Hamas radio. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

Sami Abu Zuhri, another Hamas spokesman, heralded what he called "Gaza's second liberation," after the 2005 disengagement.

Gunmen and civilians were looting the compound, hauling out computers, documents, office equipment, furniture and TVs.

Hamas had been tightening its ring around the Preventive Security complex for three days, stepping up its assault late Wednesday, with a barrage of bullets, grenades, mortar rounds and land mines that continued until the compound fell. Electricity and telephone lines were cut, and roads leading to the complex were blocked. Hamas claimed it confiscated two cars filled with arms sent as reinforcements.

The Islamic group was also training its guns Thursday at three other key command centers in Gaza City.

In a broadcast on Hamas radio, the Islamic fighters demanded that Fatah surrender the National Security compound by mid-afternoon. Light clashes were taking place there when the ultimatum was delivered.

Rocket-propelled grenades were also being fired toward Abbas's Gaza compound, provoking return fire from his presidential guard. For the first time since the fighting began, Abbas ordered his guard to go on the offensive against Hamas at the compound, and not simply maintain a defensive posture, an aide said.

The intelligence service compound was under siege as well, with Hamas firing dozens of rocket-propelled grenades in its direction.

In Gaza's south, Hamas trounced Fatah in Rafah, taking over the Preventive Security building in that town. It was the second main Gaza city to fall to the Islamists, who captured nearby Khan Younis on Wednesday.

"I can see the Preventive Security building in front of me. Hamas has raised its green flags over it," a civilian resident, who identified himself only as Raed, said by telephone. "There are men carrying away equipment from inside. ... (The Fatah-allied) National Security men ran away."

Hospitals were operating without water, electricity and blood. Even holed up inside their homes, Gazans weren't able to escape fighting that turned apartment buildings into battlefields.

Moean Hammad, 34, said life had become a nightmare at his high-rise building near the Preventive Security headquarters, where Fatah forces on the rooftop were battling Hamas fighters.

"We spent our night in the hallway outside the apartment because the building came under cross-fire," Hammad said. "We haven't had electricity for two days, and all we can hear is shooting and powerful, earth-shaking explosions.

"The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a real-life horror movie," he said.

Shaher Hatoum, a nurse at nearby Al Quds Hospital, said the facility had no electricity, water or blood, and that wounded were propped up on ward floors. Hundreds of bullets flew through windows, and fighters ignored the hospital's appeals to hold fire just long enough to have the generator and water pipes fixed, Hatoum said.

"We are waiting here for our end," Hatoum said.

In Syria, meanwhile, a senior Hamas official warned Fatah to keep the violence contained to Gaza.

"This is very dangerous for our people," Moussa Abu Marzouk said by telephone in Damascus, where several top Hamas leaders live in exile.

But don't think that Fatah is taking this laying down. In the West Bank...

W. Bank: Fatah nabs 36 Hamas activists


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Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 14, 2007

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Palestinian security forces allied with Fatah arrested three dozen Hamas activists in the West Bank on Thursday, as the Islamic group neared a military takeover of Gaza.

Fatah leaders said a decision was made by security commanders to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank, to prevent it from taking any positions in that territory, a Fatah stronghold.

"Last night, there was a decision by the leaders of the security forces to go after Hamas and to arrest them, before they think of bringing the war here," said Issam Abu Bakr, a Fatah leader in the West Bank city of Nablus. "This is true for all of the West Bank. Perhaps it was a belated decision, but now we can stand against Hamas and defend ourselves."

Arrests of Hamas activists were reported in the West Bank towns of Jenin, Nablus, Jericho, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

In Bethlehem, security forces wore ski masks, to avoid being identified, as they seized Hamas activists in their homes and businesses, witnesses said.

In Nablus, masked security agents and Fatah gunmen rode together in cars, searching for Hamas members, and broke into several homes of Hamas activists. In one area, a brief firefight erupted.

Also Thursday, Fatah gunmen seized a Hamas preacher from a West Bank village and shot him in the legs, security officials said. Later, Fatah activists kidnapped three more Hamas activists from a building in downtown Ramallah.

In Ramallah's Al Quds University, Fatah-allied students kicked out Hamas supporters and forced a suspension of teaching, the officials said.
In Nablus, dozens of gunmen set fire to the third-floor office of several Hamas members of parliament and threw furniture into the street.

Gunmen pulled one man into the street and hit him when he fought back, witnesses said.

But remember, it's NOT a civil war.

Try to remember this grand experiment in Palestinian sovereignty the next time someone claims that the root of terrorism is the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Try to remember what is happening now when the left demands that the cure to all problems is Palestinian self rule.

If you want to know what a Palestinian state would look like, look at Gaza today. Butterflies, puppies and kids flying kites, right?

UPDATE

This picture was just on the NY Times website. It shows Fatah gunmen firing at Hamas terrorists in the West Bank. Please note the Palestinian child cowering in this picture. Note where his head must have been right before he began to cower. You can see just how concerned Palestinians are with the welfare of their kids by what is shown in this picture. The adults are firing their assault weapons (and these really are assault weapons, unlike the "assault weapons" that liberals want to ban in the US) with a kid standing right in front of the barrels. Or, perhaps, they have put that kid in front of them to act as a shield. Either way, amazing. Yes indeed, Palestinians care about their children...


Further update

The picture above is all too similar to the cartoon below...

It's the Jews!

From today's news on the Palestinian, er, non-civil war:

In another dramatic battle in Gaza City, hundreds of members of the Fatah-allied Bakr clan, which had fought fiercely for two days, surrendered to masked Hamas gunmen and were led, arms raised, to a nearby mosque. Footage broadcast on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV showed some of the Bakr women trying to enter the mosque. Hamas gunmen later drove off with some of the Bakr fighters, witnesses said.

Two women from the clan tried to leave the area to take a sick girl to a hospital and were shot and killed by jittery Hamas gunmen, a clan member said.

After nightfall, Hamas militants blew up the house of one of the Bakr clan's leaders, witnesses said.

Women with children being killed as they attempted to reach a hospital...desecration of a mosque...destruction of the homes of those who are fighting...

You know, all of those left wing American protesters who take to the streets against Israel won't even have to change their protest signs tomorrow when they protest against Hamas' actions. They will be out tomorrow to protest, won't they?

The UN Security Council and the sound of crickets chirping

I hope someone is feeding all those crickets chirping at the UN Security Council...

Nothing to see here, no civil war, keep moving along...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Fierce battles over key security positions spread Wednesday to central Gaza, with Hamas fighters wresting control of the coastal strip's main north-south road - and putting themselves in position to cut off reinforcements to beleaguered Fatah forces.

Hamas leaders blamed the Gaza fighting on President Mahmoud Abbas, saying his security forces were corrupt and riddled with criminals. Abbas, of Fatah, called the fighting "madness" and appealed to Hamas' exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, to end the violence.

Gunmen also fought for control of high-rise buildings in Gaza City that serve as sniper positions. Six militants died in clashes near the besieged house of a senior Fatah commander in Gaza City, in addition to four killed there Tuesday, Hamas said. Two other people died of wounds sustained in earlier fighting.

A mortar shell hit the home of a deputy Cabinet minister from Hamas in the nearby Shati refugee camp, setting it aflame, security officials said. No one was hurt, and the official was not at home, officials said.


(AP) A Palestinian militant from Hamas takes cover during a gun battle with Fatah militants in Gaza...
Full Image


Violence in Gaza between the two factions, which nominally share power in the Palestinian government, has rapidly spiraled toward all-out civil war, with more than 50 reported killed since Monday. Hamas has systematically taken control of security positions in the north and south, apparently leaving the main battle for the strip's security and political nerve center in Gaza City for last.

An announcer on a Hamas radio station said the offensive would proceed to the presidential compound and the national security headquarters in Gaza City.

Hamas demanded Fatah-allied security forces in the north relinquish their weapons by 7 p.m. (noon EDT) Friday, or risk having them taken by force. The ultimatum was delivered in text messages and radio announcements.

Shops in Gaza City were closed and streets were mostly empty as terrified residents huddled in homes. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency announced it couldn't distribute food to the 30 percent of the Gaza Strip that relies on international aid.

Abbas urged an end to the bloody confrontations. He spoke by phone with the Damascus-based Mashaal to try to stop the crisis, said Abbas aide, Nimr Hamad.


(AP) A Palestinian militant from Hamas takes cover during a gun battle with Fatah militants in Gaza...
Full Image


"This is madness, the madness that is going on in Gaza now," Abbas told reporters.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, said the clashes could have been avoided if Abbas had given the Hamas-led Cabinet control over the security forces, which he blamed for a wave of kidnappings, torture and violence in Gaza.

"'The president bears complete responsibility for the current crisis," he said. "Because of the president's hesitations and his inability to move to deal with the issues, we had to take this step. This could have been avoided with only one decision from the president."

The mounting bloodshed touched off protests in two main Gaza towns.

Several hundred tribal leaders, women, children and Islamic Jihad militants turned out in Gaza City for a protest initiated by Egyptian mediators. Some demonstrators scattered after masked Hamas gunmen fired in the air, but others pushed on, carrying Palestinian flags and shouting, "Do not shoot" and "national unity" over a loudspeaker.

Witnesses said Hamas gunmen shot at the protesters as they approached the house of the Bakr family - Fatah loyalists - in Gaza City, trapping the demonstrators.

Protester Bilal Qurashali said he saw a man shot in the head.

Health officials said one protester was killed and 14 others were wounded and taken to the hospital in civilian cars because ambulances couldn't navigate the heavy fire.

Separately, Hamas gunmen opened fire from a high-rise building at about 1,000 protesters in the southern town of Khan Younis, wounding one and breaking up the protest. A Fatah-affiliated officer was shot to death at the National Security compound in the town.

Confrontations have turned increasingly brutal in recent days, with some killed execution-style in the streets, others in hospital shootouts or thrown off rooftops. Both sides have been arming themselves by smuggling weapons through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

On Tuesday, Hamas gunmen scored a key victory when they overran the headquarters of a Fatah-allied security force in northern Gaza.

Hamas reported another strategic win Wednesday, saying it seized a Fatah post on the main north-south road, where security forces often stopped cars carrying Hamas loyalists. Hamas said it brought a bulldozer to flatten the post, made up of a mobile home and several shacks.

Hamas also seized control of a Fatah post on Gaza's coastal road - another main artery for reinforcing Fatah troops.

Hamas and Fatah have waged a power struggle in fits and spurts since Hamas won parliament elections last year, ending four decades of Fatah rule. On Tuesday, Hamas ignored pleas by Abbas and exasperated Egyptian mediators to honor a cease-fire, and appeared to be moving ahead according to a plan.

Abu Zuhri said Hamas did not intend to stop the fighting.

"We are going ahead with the steps we have taken in confronting all the security posts and to clear the security posts," he said.

In contrast, Fatah commanders complained they were not given clear orders by Abbas to fight back and that they had no central command. Fatah's strongman in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, has spent the last few weeks in Cairo for treatment of a knee injury. Other leading Fatah officials left Gaza for the West Bank after earlier bloodshed.

"There's a difference between leading on the ground and leading by mobile phone," police Col. Nasser Khaldi said of Dahlan's absence. "Hamas is just taking over our positions. There are no orders."

The power struggle escalated Tuesday when Fatah suspended the activities of its ministers in the coalition government and warned it would pull out of the government if the fighting doesn't stop.

There was concern that fighting might spread to the West Bank, where Fatah has the upper hand.

Late Tuesday, Fatah gunmen wounded four Hamas activists in the West Bank city of Nablus, Fatah said. On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen opened fire at a Hamas school in the West Bank city of Ramallah, security officials said. No one was injured.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed stationing international forces along the Gaza Strip's volatile border with Egypt to prevent arms from reaching Palestinian militants, including Hamas. However, he ruled out assistance to Abbas' forces.

The State Department, warning of a "very dangerous security situation" in Gaza, advised journalists not to travel there and urged U.S. journalists there to leave.

What Would Arafat Do?

(1) Yeah, it's not a civil war...
(2) It's Israel's fault...
(3) These people would never do this if they controlled the West Bank and Jerusalem too.

Gaza on verge of becoming Hamastan


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Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 12, 2007

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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused Hamas of staging a "bloody coup" to try and take full control of the Gaza Strip.

His allegations came as thousands of Hamas militiamen launched a full-scale attack on Fatah figures and institutions in most parts of the Gaza Strip. Hamas fighters captured the headquarters of the Fatah-backed security forces in the northern part of the Strip.

Twenty-one people were killed in this battle, which involved hundreds of fighters from both sides.

At least 28 Palestinians were killed in Tuesday's clashes throughout the Strip, including some senior members of Hamas and Fatah. Sources in the Gaza Strip said most of the casualties were Fatah activists and members of the Palestinian security forces.

The death toll from two days of fighting reached 37.

The Fatah central committee, meeting in emergency session in Ramallah Tuesday night, decided to suspend participation in the national unity government until the fighting stopped.

"The hospitals are full of bodies," said Ahraf Abu Baker, a nurse at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. "We are running short of blood and we have appealed for donations. We have wounded people arriving every minute."

PA officials here told The Jerusalem Post that the Hamas offensive was the biggest one by the group in the Gaza Strip thus far.

"Hamas has declared war on Fatah and the Palestinian Authority," said one official. "The rules of the game have changed and we will have to act in accordance with the new threat."

Another PA official expressed deep concern over Hamas's success in taking control of several Palestinian security installations. He revealed that Hamas managed to lay its hands on large amounts of weapons belonging to the Fatah-controlled security forces in many parts of the Gaza Strip.

"They have seized thousands of rifles, large amounts of ammunition and dozens of vehicles, including armored jeeps," he said. "This is really bad news for all."

Abbas told Fatah leaders during an emergency meeting in Ramallah that "political and security" leaders of Hamas were determined to take control of the Gaza Strip by force.

"Hamas is mistaken if it thinks that it can take control of the Gaza Strip through violent means," he said. "We are witnessing the first signs of a cruel civil war."

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah operative in the West Bank, urged Abbas to dissolve the Palestinian Authority and call early elections.

"It is inconceivable that our authority become a nightmare for our people," he said. "Hamas is currently launching a coup against the Palestinian Authority and all the Palestinian factions. External parties are also involved in this scheme, because they want to kill our dream of statehood and freedom."

Hamas legislator Salah Bardaweel said his movement was determined to win the battle against Fatah.

"We have decided to fight to the end," he stressed. "We are determined to eliminate those elements in Fatah that have been killing and torturing our men."

Bardaweel described Fatah as a Lahad Army, referring to the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army under Antoine Lahad.

"We have decided to clean the country from these ferocious dogs who have long been serving their Israeli masters," he said. "This is a final decision and we won't backtrack."

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, dismissed allegations that his movement was trying to stage a coup against Abbas as "lies."

"Hamas won the parliamentary elections and formed a legitimate government," he said. "Fatah is the one that is conspiring against the legitimate government with the help of the US, which is providing them with weapons and millions of dollars."

Fatah officials admitted that Hamas was now in control of the entire northern part of the Gaza Strip following a series of attacks on Fatah figures and PA security installations over the past three days. Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, declared the northern Gaza Strip a "closed military zone" and warned PA security personnel against entering the area.

Hamas militiamen also stepped up their attacks on the homes of Fatah leaders in different parts of the Gaza Strip. Sources close to the movement said Hamas militiamen have received orders to kill some 30 top Fatah officials who are allegedly involved in a US-backed plot to remove Hamas from power.

About 200 Hamas militiamen raided the home of former PA foreign minister Nabil Sha'ath in the Sudaniyeh neighborhood of Gaza City and shot one of his bodyguards in the legs.

Sha'ath, a senior Fatah operative, was not at home during the attack. Hamas militiamen also detonated a 120 kg. explosive charge outside a building where Maher Miqdad, a senior Fatah official, lives in Gaza City.

Miqdad, who has escaped several attempts on his life over the past few weeks, was not hurt.

Local journalists told the Post that at least 60 houses belonging to Fatah and Hamas officials have been severely damaged in the fighting since last Saturday.

Earlier, Hamas accused Abbas's Presidential Guard of firing rocket-propelled grenades at the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in the Shati refugee camp. Haniyeh and members of his family were at home during the attack, but no one was hurt.

In response, Hamas launched a massive attack on Abbas's headquarters in Gaza City, using various types of weapons.

At least four of Abbas's security officers were killed.

The fighting later spread to Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, where the bullet-riddled body of Nabhan Rantisi, a 20-year-old Hamas member, was discovered. In response, Hamas occupied several PA security and civilian institutions in the town.

"The streets of the Gaza Strip are full of hundreds of gunmen belonging to Fatah and Hamas," said Ayman Abu Sharkh, a lawyer from Gaza City. "People are afraid to leave their homes, because this is a real war and they are killing each other mercilessly. We never imagined that the day would come when we would see Palestinians slaughtering each other in the streets." •

Maybe Hamas should get Fatah to adopt a Star of David

Is that the sound of a cricket chirping from the UN Security Council?

10 dead as Hamas-Fatah clashes spread to hospitals


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Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 11, 2007

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Hamas and Fatah took their fight to two Gaza Strip hospitals on Monday, killing 10 people and wounding more than 25. Separately, a Palestinian was thrown from a tall building in Gaza City in the second incident of its kind in 24 hours.

Hamas claimed that the latest cycle of violence had been initiated by a number of top Fatah officials with the aim of bringing down the Hamas-led coalition governing the Palestinian Authority. Hamas leaders said the Fatah officials, led by PA National Security Adviser Muhammad Dahlan, were receiving support from the US and Israel.

According to a senior Hamas official, Dahlan recently established a new militia called the Fatah Executive Force to fight Hamas. The official said Dahlan's force consisted of several hundred heavily armed Fatah men.

Eyewitnesses said four Palestinians were killed in fierce fighting inside the Bet Hanun Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Among the victims were Eid al-Masri, and his sons, Faraj and Ibrahim.

Doctors said they were forced to close the hospital because of the fighting, which caused a power outage.

A similar gun battle erupted between Hamas and Fatah militiamen at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the Strip, where two people were killed. One of the victims was identified as Mazen Ajour, a commander of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam.

Hamas said Ajour was killed execution-style after being kidnapped by Fatah gunmen and PA security officers.

Local reporters told The Jerusalem Post that dozens of families living close to the hospital fled their homes out of fear for their lives.

The Palestinian Doctors' Union called on all militiamen to immediately withdraw from the hospitals, saying the fighting was threatening the lives of hundreds of patients. The union also appealed to the PA leadership to intervene to stop the fighting between Fatah and Hamas.

Another top Hamas operative, Muhammad Muhjez, was killed outside the home of senior Fatah official Jamal Abu Jadian in Bet Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Abu Jadian, who is one of the commanders of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, was later assassinated by Hamas militiamen.

Hamas men shot and killed Yasser Baker, an officer in the PA's General Intelligence Force.

Earlier, Hamas accused Fatah militiamen of opening fire at the offices of the PA government in Gaza City. No one was hurt in the attack. In response, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called off the weekly cabinet meeting.

In a statement, the PA cabinet strongly condemned the shooting attack, saying it was yet another sign of the growing anarchy in the PA-controlled territories.

Hamas also accused Fatah of trying to assassinate PA Minister of Sports and Youth Bassem Naim of Hamas. A group of masked men fired several shots at his office at the ministry, but no one was hurt. The minister fled the area together with his aides and bodyguards.

Husam Abu Kainas, 26, was killed early Monday after being thrown from the 12th floor of a building in Gaza City. Hamas said he had been kidnapped a day earlier by Fatah militiamen who suspected him and his family of belonging to Hamas.

On Sunday, Muhammad Sawariki, a member of the PA's Force 17 "Presidential Guard" and a Fatah supporter, died when he was thrown from the 18th floor of another tower in Gaza City.

From being in bed with them to being mistaken for them...

Not that this post hasn't been covered elsewhere, but I wanted to keep this picture and the caption handy for when Israel shoots up a car full of journalists. The Palestinian terrorists have now put all journalists in the category of suspected terrorists.

An Israeli soldier is seen through the shattered window of an armoured vehicle marked "TV" at the Kissufim crossing, just outside the Gaza Strip, June 10, 2007. The Palestinian journalists' union criticised militants on Sunday for using a vehicle marked with a "TV" sign to approach Gaza's border with Israel and attack an Israeli military position across the frontier. One militant was killed in Saturday's attack, jointly claimed by Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah faction.

And for those of you who read the NY Times, here's the latest update on what would have been front page news, with pictures, had Israelis been involved. Since it's just the Palestinian civil war, something the NY Times refuses to admit exists, it will be buried into some other stories and no pictures of the casualties will be published.

GAZA CITY (AP) -- Rival Palestinian forces clashed in Gaza on Sunday, killing two militants by throwing them out of high-rise buildings.

Hamas militants kidnapped an officer in a Fatah-linked security force, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him off. Mohammed Sweirki, 25, from the Presidential Guard of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, was killed in the plunge.

That set off skirmishes through the city, including gun battles and shelling. Fatah militants surrounded the house of a Hamas mosque preacher and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the four-story building.

They then entered, shooting at preacher Mohammed al-Rifati, 40, and taking him away. Later, his body was brought to a hospital. Hamas pledged revenge.

Just before midnight, a Hamas activist was thrown off the 12th floor of a building and killed, security officials said. Four other Hamas men in the building were shot and wounded, bringing the day's toll to three dead and 36 wounded, medical officials said. Also, a Hamas militant wounded on Friday died Sunday.

Palestinian TV reported that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called on gunmen to pull back from streets and rooftops to allow about 24,000 Gaza high school students to start their final exams on Monday.

A truce declared two weeks ago was meant to end Palestinian infighting. But last week, the fighting reignited around the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

On Sunday, three houses in Rafah were destroyed, and Hamas militants remained on rooftops. Later Sunday the fighting stopped, shops opened and people were out in the streets.

Fighting had stopped for several days as Israeli-Palestinian clashes resumed. On Sunday, Israeli political and military leaders pledged to keep up the pressure on Gaza after a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants, a failed attempt to capture a soldier.

Meanwhile, 26 years ago...(from the IDF website, perhaps this story was posted as a warning to Iran, given that Israel launched a satellite today, the Ofek 7, whose orbit takes it over Iran every 90 minutes)

4 pm, the evening before the Shavout holiday, 1981, orders were given to begin operations. At 5:35.a squadron of IAF F-16 fighter aircraft flew over Iraqi skies and dropped a number of bombs. The nuclear reactor was completely destroyed. Mission accomplished. One after another, the pilots shouted the code word "Alpha" into their radios, signaling their success. Zev Raz, Amus Yadlin, Chagi katz, Amir Nahumi, Yiftach Spector, Yisraeli Shapir, and Ilan Ramon- changed history, erasing the nuclear threat of the enemy.

Today, the 7th of June, the IDF commemorated the 26th anniversary of the Iraq nuclear reactor bombing- the surgical strike was nicknamed- "Operation Opera".

"A large clock is hanging over us, ticking."
Iraq established a nuclear program in the 60's and with the cooperation of the USSR built a nuclear reactor ten km's southeast of Baghdad. 16 years later, Iraq began to broaden their nuclear programs and were supported by France who provided them with a nuclear reactor. The reactor consisted of two buildings, the "Tamuz" 1- the first reactor that produced uranium, and the "Tamuz" 2. The Israeli government convened to discuss the growing nuclear threat in that region. Israel was doubtful abou Iraq's claims that the nuclear program was for the benefit of its citizens. Their doubt increased when the IDF Intelligence Branch published intelligence reports that Iraq's operations posed a real threat to Israel's very existence- and Israel was forced to draw up plans to destroy the reactor.

On the 14th of May, the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, authorized the bombing of the nuclear reactor. Ezer Wiezmen, the then Defense Minister, opposed the operation and resigned from the government two weeks later. On the 28th of October of that year, the plan was finalized. During a cabinet meeting the plan was formally authorized by Begin. "A large clock is hanging over us, ticking. Iraq's intent to produce nuclear weapons poses a great danger to every man woman and child in the state of Israel", the prime minister remarked.

The plan was kept in complete secrecy. From the get-go it was understood that the most effective way to implement a successful mission would be one conducted by the Israeli Air Force. It was decided that the operations would be done by F-16 fighter aircrafts that the IAF had received the year before. An Israeli Air Force squadron of 8 F-16's heavily armed, as well as a number of F-15's providing air cover and fighter support would implement the mission. One of the primary focuses during the planning stage was which direction the planes would fly. (11,000 km each way), over hostile territory and with a limited supply of fuel dictated the flight path. The plan was set for the seventh of July, zero hour-30 minutes before sunset.

"We flew over the Tigris river, looking down we saw the nuclear reactor. Our target lay before us clear as day."
The pilots that participated in the mission were selected for their impeccable flight records and were trained in secret and requested to implement the operations with no second thoughts. In the afternoon hours of the 6th of June, the plan was set in motion. All the members of F-16 squadron were called up for duty. On the morning of June 7th, 1981 8 F-16 fighter aircrafts left Israeli airspace heading west towards the Tigris River, next to Baghdad. The flight to Iraq took upwards to an hour. Radio transmission was silenced. The Iraqis were caught completely off guard. The Iraqi radar system was incapable of picking up on the impending danger.

Major General Amus Yaldun, one of the eight combat pilots that participated in the mission and now head of the IDF Intelligence Branch, related, during an interview with IAF journalists, about the famous flight. "Each aircraft flew with three full tanks of gas, two air to air missiles and two bombs each weighing one ton. We flew in two groups of four. The first group was led by Colonel (res.) Zev Raz, the "First Jet" squadron leader, and the second group was lead by Brigadier General (res.)Amir Nehomi, commander of the "Northern Knights". I was number two in the first quadroon. We headed south of the Jordon River, passing over the Saudi desert. We reached the Tigris River in a short amount of time. The blast of the first bombs echoed in the distance. One of them hit the center of the reactors roof. Once the bombs were releases, I felt the impact of the explosions shaking my plane. This was the end of the Iraqi nuclear reactor "Tamuz" 1." The Israeli planes made a roundabout turn west, heading home. "The direction home was facing the sun as to prevent the enemy from following us. We received report of the second squadron's attack on the reactor. We felt great. A- Because of completing the mission and B- Because all of us, the whole squadron, had come home in peace."

What's worse than watching developers destroy the earth?

I'm not sure whether this is worse than seeing developers at work, but on Thursday night of last week the Zhid had one of the most intense kidney stone attacks he's ever experienced.

The background will be brief...over the past few months the Zhid has had back pain that wrapped around the hip and he suspected that it was kidney stones. The suspicion became more of a certainty when he began noticing blood in urine, went to the doctor and the doctor concluded kidney stones PLUS a kidney/urinary tract infection (and a bad one at that). Cipro was prescribed and the Zhid went on his way.

So a week after the doctor visit the Zhid is at work and he feels the pain again. It gets worse over time, but Zhid is scheduled to fly to Seattle on Friday for a family event, and Zhid tries to suck up the pain.

Thursday night arrives and the Zhid comes home from work in severe pain. He whines to Mrs. Zhid but tries to go about as best as he can. The pain hits hard during dinner, but then Zhid takes a vicodin and the pain ebbs a bit. Zhid finishes dinner, says he's feeling great, and then collapses onto a sofa as the pain starts again.

Zhid crawls upstairs to bed to lay down and put a heating pad around his kidney area, which helps a bit, and takes a second vicodin. Then the pain amplifies to record levels. From about 9 pm until after midnight, the Zhid is wracked by a pain that can only be described thusly (cribbed from an email Zhid sent to Affe today):

Having a spiked, flaming ball bearing move from your kidneys out your huj [penis in Polish-ed.] over a period of three hours may be beyond the pain of any torture

.

That's about as good a description as the Zhid can come up with. It probably makes it sound less painful than it was. The Zhid passed out twice from the pain and came close to puking once. The only thing that can be done is either go to the emergency room for a shot of morphine (which is what the Zhid sister had when she was hit by kidney stones, which she described as "making giving birth a walk in the park") or curl up in a ball, grit your teeth and wait for the stone to pass as you wonder whether this is what it is like to be beheaded from the inside out.

Finally, around midnight, the pain subsided and the urge to pee took over. The Zhid was nervous about this, as there was likely blood in the urine (which, if you haven't had the pleasure of peeing blood, is a shocking experience). Sure enough, more blood than ever before. And a very odd sensation as the urine passed of having that ball bearing rattle around the huj, as you can feel it rolling down along the urine out of the bladder.

The Zhid didn't look into the bloody bowl of urine close enough to see if there was a visible stone, but hopefully it did pass. Since then, there hasn't been much more than some straggling pain and no blood in the urine.

When the Zhid is done with the Cipro, he'll go back to the doctor for a follow up to see whether the Cipro should be continued and whether there is anything else to do.

This has been a public service announcement from the Vengeful Zhid.