Boker tov, Boulder!

Bastard

One more thing before I go retrieve my dogs from Club Pet.

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the world to come to terms with the demise of the “filthy” Jewish state.

Ahmadinejad made his latest statements in a speech given in the southern Iranian town of Bushehr, where Iran’s first light-water nuclear reactor is being built by Russia. The speech was broadcast live on Iran’s state-run television. He addressed world nations, advising them to "abandon the filthy Zionist entity which has reached the end of the line."

Seeming to search for various synonyms to remove doubt sown by apologists that question the translation of his call to erase Israel “off the map,” the Persian leader said: "[Israel] has lost its reason to exist and will sooner or later fall. The ones who still support the criminal Zionists should know that the occupiers' days are numbered…Accept that the life of the Zionists will sooner or later come to an end."

Ahmadinejad said that the “final chapter” has begun in which the Arabs of Israel, together with “regional nations” will confront Israel and bring about “Palestine.”

In the same speech, Ahmadinejad declared that nothing will stop his nation from pursuing nuclear capabilities. "[Iranians] will not back down one iota in defense of their rights," he said. "The nuclear issue was the most important challenge since the revolution but with the help of G-d and your resistance, it is ending in favor of the Iranian nation."

"I am addressing leaders of two or three powers,” Ahamdinejad said, who invited other nations to assist Iran in becoming a nuclear power. “Do you remember I sent you a message and told you to stop be stubborn? If you think that you can block the movement of the Iranian nation, you are wrong…If you will not come, this nation will build nuclear plants based on its own resources and when you come some four years later it will reject your request and not then give you any opportunity.”

Iranian Energy Commission chairman Kamal Daneshyar announced Wednesday that his nation plans to operate 20 nuclear facilities in the coming years.

And the world is responding with the usual deafening silence.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gestures to a crowd on his regular provincial visit to southern Iranian port of Bushehr, where the first light-water nuclear power plant of the country is under construction by Russia, 1200 kms (720 miles) south of Tehran, Iran, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. Ahmadinejad Wednesday urged western powers to participate in construction of nuclear power plants for his country saying it will be late if they do not decide immediately, state television reported.
(AP Photo/ISNA, Ruhullah Vahdati)

POLITICS: Slick Willie

photoshop ~ from Worth1000.com

Interesting that the NY Times would run this on the front page:

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them.

Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.

Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom.

The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world’s largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said.

Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.

I've always thought that the Times prefers Obama. See also Florida's Jews throw support to Clinton @ JPost.

In national head-to-head polls, McCain beats them both, but not by much.

Just for fun: Exhuming Hillarycare by Cal Thomas

Deep and Critical Processes

Winograd Report, quoted at JPost:

In one of its central assertions, it noted that Israel "cannot survive in this region" without "the political and military leadership, military capabilities and social robustness" to deter and, if necessary, overcome its enemies....

"Systemic and deep changes" are needed "in the modalities of thinking and acting of the political and military echelons and their interface, in both routine and emergency, including war. These are deep and critical processes," the committee stresses. "Their significance should not be obscured by current affairs, local successes or initial repairs. A persistent and prolonged effort, on many levels, will be needed."

Duh.

For some real insight, see Carl in JerusalemIsrael:

The Talmud says that in the times immediately preceding the coming of the Messiah "the generation's face will be like that of a dog."

Our rabbis interpret this to mean that just like a dog runs ahead and keeps looking back to make sure that its master is following, so too the 'leaders' of the generation will run ahead and keep looking back to make sure that the people are following along. It's an apt description for Israel's current leadership's relationship with Israelis. Hence our obsession with polls.

What ever happened to Khalil Gibran Internat'l Academy?

PipeLineNews:

With no real curriculum, not much in the way of books pertinent to the schools stated focus and a management team apparently in disarray, KGIA looms as a failed experiment. It is a disaster imposed upon Brooklyn by an arrogant DOE which now maintains the effort out of sheer spite, defiant to the last that the program's critics, which now have been proven right, will not be allowed to triumph.

Also at PipeLineNews, they don't like McCain much, and get this:

Pro-Taliban Pakistani Imran Khan
Meeting With Senate Democrats

Groan. Need more coffee. And a sedative.

Where have all my readers gone?

Yeshiva Son told me it snowed in Jerusalem yesterday! And no, that's not my son in the photo. Courtesy of al Reuters.

BtB is back, but I have a lot of catching up to do. I was completely out of touch for the last week - no innernut, no nothin' - but it was very relaxing, not knowing....

I've already noted a couple of major disappointments - Giuliani giving up the race and the Winograd report being released for naught.

Feeling exonerated over his decision to order a major ground operation during the final 60 hours of the Second Lebanon War, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert characterized the Winograd Committee's report as "lifting the moral stigma from me."

Sources close to Olmert said that the prime minister was "moved to tears" by the chapters that dealt with the ground operation.

And this seems bad news. We'll have to see what the reactions are.

The final Winograd Committee report on the Second Lebanon War has categorically laid blame for the failings in the war on the Israel Defense Forces - criticizing nearly every arm and unit. With particular reference to the ground forces, the committee wrote, "They failed to meet most of the missions and challenges they were assigned."

Jewish Current Issues has more; see especially Michael Oren quoted there:

Israel lacks a constitution but is bound by an unwritten social contract. . . . Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Menachem Begin resigned in the aftermath of disappointing wars, though both were exonerated of incompetence. By ignoring these precedents, Mr. Olmert, whose culpability began before the war, when he appointed a defense minister devoid of military experience, threatens to break the contract.

Glancing at my other big fave blog, Mere Rhetoric - Rice went out of her way to screw Israel - I'm not so sure about coming back to all this. Do I really want to blog the bad news every day? For what?

And for whom? All my readers seem to have fled while I was feeding the birds (and chickens and sheep and horse). NB: Cows don't get fed; they eat grass.

I can't blame you for leaving, I just need to figure out if we should pick it up again... And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with my inbox. It shouldn't take more than half a day :)

BtB temporarily closed ... for VACATION

I have a play date with my grandson. See you in a week.

NY Times selling Doom & Gloom

Someone called Kevin Sack is rallying the troops at the Times.

... even beyond the emergence of war and national security as pre-eminent concerns, there has been a profound reordering of domestic priorities, a darkening of the country’s mood and, in the eyes of many, a fraying of America’s very sense of itself.

"I used to be master of my universe. Now I work for this soul-less corporation. I used to make the rules. Now I have to follow them."

ROBERT W. JENNINGS, a Kansas City landlord who had to take an hourly job to pay the mortgage on his building.

.... Americans feel a loss of autonomy, in their own lives and in the nation. Their politics are driven by the powerlessness they feel to control their financial well-being, their safety, their environment, their health and the country’s borders. They question whether each generation will continue to ascend the economic ladder. That the political system seems so impotent only deepens their frustration and their insistence on results.

As she considers this campaign, Susan C. Powell, a 47-year-old training consultant who lives in a Kansas City suburb, said that what she feels is not so much hopelessness as doom.

“I know plenty of people who are doing worse than they were,” Ms. Powell said, “and nobody’s helping them out. People’s incomes are not keeping pace with inflation. People can’t afford their homes. People in their 30s and 40s, middle-income, and they don’t have jobs they can count on or access to health care. How can we say that we’re the greatest country on earth and essentially have the walking wounded?”

.... In the 2000 campaign, it was possible for Mr. Bush to deride Mr. Gore’s environmentalism to considerable effect. Eight years later, Mr. Gore is a Nobel laureate, and coiled light bulbs and hybrid cars are status symbols.

“Before, I didn’t feel personally guilty if I left a light on,” said Meg Campbell, director of a charter high school in Dorchester, a working-class neighborhood in Boston. “It just wasn’t in the drinking water back then. Now it’s almost a religion.”

.... Some of those interviewed, like Raymond E. Dixon, a Kansas City computer programmer, said they were confident their children would not enjoy the same standard of living they had, calling it a reversal of the American dream. Several said the force of such rapid change, reinforced by the foreboding symbolism of airport security lines and orange alerts, had left the country gimlet-eyed, and wary.

Much to my surprise, gimlet-eyed is a real word. According to the American Heritage Dictionary it is an adjective, meaning "having keen vision" ... Dictionary.com sez it's "an eye that appears to give a sharp or piercing look."

If you suffer this American Malady, I'm sure the New York Times would like to hear from you. The only thing is, you'll have to get in line behind the poorpalestinians; they get first dibs on the front page.

Dhimmedia: Duped by Hamastinian Farce?

Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

"They had closed the curtains in the rooms to create the impression that Hamas leaders were also suffering as a result of the power stoppage," one journalist told The Jerusalem Post. "It was obvious that the whole thing was staged."

Another journalist said he and his colleagues were told to wait for a few minutes before entering the chamber of the Palestinian Legislative Council so that each legislator would have time to light his candle. He said that when he saw that the curtains had been closed to prevent the light from entering, he realized that Hamas was trying to manipulate the media for political gain.

A Palestinian man sells candles in his shop in Gaza city, late Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. Gaza's only electrical plant shut down Sunday after Israel blocked the shipment of fuel that powers them, plunging Gaza City into darkness and sending already beleaguered Gazans to stock up on food and batteries in anticipation of long, dark, cold days ahead at the already impoverished territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Ahmadinejad in the news

BAGHDAD (al Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit Baghdad, Iraq's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, a landmark trip that would make him the first leader of Iran to visit its former foe.

Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war in the 1980s in which hundreds of thousands were killed, but relations have improved since Saddam Hussein was ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and a Shi'ite Islamist-led government came to power.

"President Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation from President (Jalal) Talabani to come to Iraq," Iraqi deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi told Reuters.

An aide to Ahmadinejad, who asked not to be identified, said: "We have heard about it but no date has been scheduled."

Both Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have visited Shi'ite Iran, which some Middle East analysts say exerts greater influence in Iraq than the United States....

Do children play outside in Gaza?

Kol hakavod to Noam Bedein for telling us what reality is like.

This is Sderot Reality
by Noam Bedein

(IsraelNN.com) "Over 250,000 Israelis now live under the threat of the Kassam missiles." - Head of Israeli military intelligence to the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, January 1, 2008.

Since the first day of January until January 20, over 430 Kassam missiles and mortars were launched towards Sderot, the Western Negev and Ashkelon, according to the IDF spokesman.

In 2007, over 2,300 missiles and mortars were launched towards Israel from Gaza.

How many thousands of Kassam missiles will be launched in the year 2008 towards Israel?

Living through 200 rockets in the past few days.... Hearing the screeching siren - "Color Red" - every time a rocket is launched.... Running for cover in the 15 seconds left.... Hearing the whistle and, a few seconds later, an enormous explosion.... And listening to that laconic newscast on the Voice of Israel: "No damage, no injuries, a few were treated for shock." This is Sderot reality.

Watching a five-year-old boy who was crying after he saw his mother blown away from the explosion of a Kassam that hit directly into his play room; where he was playing on his computer with his five-year-old neighbor.... Witnessing both boys evacuated to the ambulance, both shivering with shock.... This is Sderot reality.

190,000 are under the threat of these missiles today, including Ashkelon, Netivot and 20 kibbutzim and moshavim. 45,000 Israelis are daily bombarded by these missiles.

Officially, 20,000 residents, out of a normal population of close to 24,000, are left in Sderot, although there are those who say that it is probably less than 17,000 residents. Each and every resident has experienced an explosion of a rocket in the past few years.... This is Sderot reality.

The feeling of helplessness once the siren goes off.... Seeing young soldiers who were sent to "protect" Sderot running and covering the heads with their hands, their weapons useless.... Feeling that my only weapon is my video camera, to try and document this weird reality so that some one would be willing to watch and listen.... This is Sderot reality.

Driving around Sderot with no seatbelt because the seconds spent unfastening it might cost me my life.... Hearing the siren go off, jumping out of the car and running for cover to the closest reinforced bus stop shelter.... Holding the hands of a grandmother and her grandchild until we reach the bus stop, which is already crowded with parents and their children on their way to school.... This is Sderot reality.

Trying not to panic in front of the children, thinking to myself that this bus stop would be a death trap if it suffered a direct hit.... Only two months ago there was an investigative report showing bus stop shelters do not qualify as bomb shelters, since they are built with only 20 centimeters thickness of cement, when 40 centimeters is required to withstand a direct hit. And now there are 52 lethal bus stop shelters like these scattered around the town, where dozens of people take cover from the missiles.... This is Sderot reality.

Ten missiles exploded in Sderot on Thursday morning, while children were on their way to school and kindergarten. My younger sister Liora, who moved to Sderot to work with the children, described their panic. As they ran to the shelter, she grabbed three young children, escorted them to the safe room and started to sing out loud so they wouldn't hear the missile exploding nearby. That safe room contained over 25 children. This was the only activity room where they have been spending their playtime in the past few days. For safety's sake, they are not allowed to play outside. This is Sderot reality.

Hearing from families I know that they all sleep together, parents and children in one bed.... The fear of the siren going off and no shelter to run to, since 752 homes in Sderot have no shelter or safe room.... This is Sderot reality.

Friday, January 18, there was a memorial in Sderot's cemetery for Ella Abukasis, who was murdered when she was only 17, three years ago, by a Kassam rocket. It struck her as she huddled over her younger brother, who was 11 years old at the time. This is Sderot reality.

Will there be any end to this terrorism of missiles being launched towards civilian neighborhoods?

How can Israel defend its own citizens without being condemned? Ninety-seven percent of the targets of Gazan missiles are our civilian population centers, while the Gazans fire their missiles from behind the human shields of their own civilian population.

What about the hundreds of tunnels dug beneath the Philadelphi Corridor, through which Egypt routinely delivers ammunition, army equipment, terrorists and cash to Gaza? When will Israel hold Egypt and these Palestinian terror leaders personally responsible for the suffering of the people of Sderot?

When will Sderot reality change?

UPDATE: I finish posting this, and what's the next thing I see? An email from the folks at Stand With Us about rallies against Israel planned for the week ahead. Makes me feel like my head's on backwards. But here they are anyway.

-Washington DC: Friday, Jan. 25 (time tba), at the Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Dr. N.W.

-San Francisco, CA: Friday, Jan. 25, 4-6 p.m., Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St. (near California)

-Anaheim, CA: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m. 512 S. Brookhurst St. (Between Orange Ave. & Broadway)

-New York, NY: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m., at the Israeli Embassy, 43rd St. and 2nd Ave.

-Chicago, IL: Tues., Jan. 29, 5pm at the Lakeshore Theater, 3175 North Broadway

-Seattle, WA: Friday, January 25, 4 p.m., Westlake Park, 4th & PineSt.

-Philadelphia, PA: Saturday, January 26 (time tba)

-Boston, MA: Thursday January 24, (time tba). Israeli Consulate, Park Plaza Hotel.