Al Qaeda's Syrian Franchise ISIS Gets Stripped of Its Official Zawahiri Seal of Approval

Supposedly, the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, ISIS for short, got to be even too "savage" and "draconian" for Al Qaeda's taste. But, really, it sounds as though ISIS was becoming way too popular, and that that posed a threat to AQ HQ.

Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead, Aged 46; Drug Overdose Suspected

He was one of my favorite actors because he looked like a regular shlub and because of scenes like this one:

 

Update: He was found with a syringe still stuck in his arm, so deeming it an overdose isn't much of a stretch.

The "Sham" of Jihad Highlighted in New Study About Indonesian Young'uns Waging Holy War in Syria

It's all about the "end of time," don't ya know:

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  The report said the Indonesian militants have traveled to Syria to help extremist groups trying to create an Islamic state there.

The report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, based in Jakarta, said that the Syrian conflict, approaching its third anniversary in March, had “captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before.” 

“The enthusiasm for Syria is directly linked to predictions in Islamic eschatology that the final battle at the end of time will take place in Sham, the region sometimes called Greater Syria or the Levant, encompassing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel,” the report said. 

Sidney Jones, the institute’s director, said the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on information from the Syrian government, estimated that at least 50 Indonesians had traveled to Syria via Turkey to take up arms since 2012. While she emphasized that the figure was “a guesstimate,” the report warned that the numbers could increase. 

As many as 11,000 foreign fighters have poured into Syria by way of the Middle East and North Africa. The fighters include radicalized young Muslims with Western passports from Europe, North America and Australia...

From the Jewish perspective, the worst thing about those "end times" is that Jewry will have to be wiped out as a prelude to and a precondition for the messianic era. Looking on the bright side, at that stage Israel will no longer have to put up with John Kerry's "peace-making" antics. Man, is that guy a noodge.

The Bland Leads the Blind in Capitulating to Sharia "Norms"

There was a huge to-do in the U.K. recently having to do with people being grievously "offended" by that infamous Motoon of Islam's founder with a bomb in his turban. An article in leftist rag The Independent describes the incident and the ensuing ruckus. In weighing whether "free speech" means you can do and say things which you know will make people feel really, really awful, the writer--rather ironically, his name is Archie Bland--concludes that if

it is true to say if so many people will be upset, and in particular if those people already have a justified sense of alienation, you better have a very good reason for defying their sensibilities. The upset is not just some abstract concern about blasphemy; it is about the sense that their norms are fodder for point-scoring ridicule by the majority.

No it isn't, you daft lefty. It's about lampooning that which those who embrace sharia "norms"--"norms" which abjure Western freedoms--deem un-lampoonable. Accommodate their hurt feelings and "norms," and soon enough your own "norms" will no longer be "normal" while their "norms" will be the "norm." And, oh yeah, free expression will be kneecapped, and everything you read in the paper will be exceedingly and excruciatingly bland.

With "Friends" Like John Kerry, Who Needs Islamic Eliminationists?

John Kerry--mega-feh!

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday threatened Israel that a failure in the peace talks would lead to global boycotts and delegitimization of the Jewish state. The warning comes as no surprise to those familiar with reports earlier in the month, which revealed that Kerry is orchestrating the European boycotts against Israel. 

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon responded to Kerry's threats of boycotts, saying "we respect Secretary of State Kerry but will not hold talks with a gun to our head. Friends don't put ultimatums on the security of the state of Israel." 

Speaking at a security council in Munchen, Germany, Kerry also mentioned Defense Secretary Moshe Ya'alon's comments calling Kerry "messianic" and "obsessive" in trying to force Israel to submit to a peace deal, which would include massive territorial withdrawals and an Arab capital in Jerusalem. 

"I'm a little surprised by the articles quoting statements on obsession or a fanatical effort to try and achieve peace," remarked Kerry. "We're just working hard, and I still am full of hope that our efforts will succeed and bring a peace agreement." 

At the same time that he rejected accusations of "fanaticism," Kerry stated "we're working hard, because the consequences of failure are unacceptable to us." Kerry's plan reportedly includes Israeli withdrawals along the 1949 Armistice lines...

Gee, is there any way we can boycott, divest from and sanction this messianic, obsessive doofus?

Decoding the Latest Cover of Zany Local Khomeinist Zafar B.'s 'Zine, Crescent International

Okay, so "takfir" is the age-old Islamic practice whereby one Muslim declares another Muslim to be un-Islamic, and therefore a "kafir"--an "infidel." The three little infidels on  the lighter side of the seesaw (which, please note, has Islam's crescent moon as its fulcrum) are an exceedingly skinny Barack Obama (to show he's a real lightweight?), Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Bibi Netanyahu, who's dressed like he's getting set to take part in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The much larger--and heavier--hand, middle finger extended in an upside down eff you, is decorated in the flags of, from top to bottom, "Palestine," Hezbollah and Iran. The imagery represents the Khomeinists crowing that they have bested, and are now much stronger than, their "takfiri" enemies--Great Satan, Little Satan and the Wahhabis, who are grouped together in/as a "brigade".

Is Europe's Zionhass a Function of Its Trying to Expiate Residual Guilt for the Holocaust By Projecting It Onto Israel?

Well, that's one way to look at it:

The acclaimed British novelist Howard Jacobson opened his speech at the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem last October with piercing sarcasm: “The question is rhetorical. When will Jews be forgiven the Holocaust? Never.”

However, there has been a shift in the underpinnings of anti-Semitism. Israel has become the collective Jew among the nations, as the late French historian Léon Poliakov said about the new metamorphosis of Jew-hatred.

Jacobson was piggy-backing on the eye-popping insight of the Israel psychoanalyst Zvi Rex, who reportedly said: “The Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.”

The anti-Semitic logic at work here is Europe’s pathologically guilt-filled response to the Holocaust, which, in short, is to shift the onus of blame to the Jews to cleanse one’s conscience. Two German-Jewish Marxist philosophers – Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno – coined an esoteric sociological term for what unfolded in post-Shoah Germany: Guilt-defensiveness anti-Semitism...

I think that's only part of it, though. As David Nirenberg posits in his brilliant book, Anti-Judaism, Western culture as well as Islam evolved to a great extent by distinguishing itself from "the Jews." More often than not, that effort had little to do with real, live Jews and everything to do with that idea that "Judaism" was the epitome of all that was wrong and bad, and that "we," whoever "we" are, are cognizant of that "truth." Therefore, the stuff "we" believe, because it (supposedly) represents the antithesis of Judaism, must be correct. Pre-Holocaust, that conviction--and animus--could only affix itself to "the Jews." Post-Holocaust, when it's unacceptable in polite society to hate Jews qua Jews, it has attached itself like a toxic barnacle to Israel, the Jewish state. Thus, Israel is held out as the exemplar of all that is bad/rotten/evil in the world while "we"--again, whoever "we" are (and these days the "we" is most likely to consist of leftists and/or Islamists")--are not at all like Israel, and are therefore unquestionably virtuous/sensible/on the right track.

In essence, it's the same sort of nuttiness, updated for our time.

Oxfam Responds to the ScarJo Defection

The British-based outfit wants you to know that it's exquisitely "even-handed" when it come to the Israel-Palestinian situation, and that its sole issue with Israeli factories in the West Bank that employ hundreds of Palestinians, who work happily alongside hundred of Israelis, is that it's a cosmic wrong for Israel to build these facilities in contravention of "international law." Here's how an Oxfam mucky-muck puts it in a letter in the National Post:

Oxfam does not, and has never, supported a boycott of trade with Israel. Nor do we support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, or promote its objectives.

Oxfam funds Israeli and Palestinian civil society organizations that work to reduce poverty and address injustice through a rights-based approach. 

Oxfam opposes trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank because these settlements are illegal under international law. We believe these settlements exacerbate the injustice and poverty that Oxfam addresses in its ongoing programs. 

We also support the right of consumers to know the origin of the products they purchase. Oxfam therefore urges the Israeli government to ensure distinct labeling of Israeli products and settlement products so that consumers may clearly differentiate between the two.

Oxfam hopes to see a just and lasting settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, and calls for a comprehensive negotiated solution based on international law. 

We support the two-state solution and condemn violence against civilians on both sides of the conflict.
Robert Fox, executive director, Oxfam Canada, Ottawa.

To translate from the Oxfam lingo (which requires some reading between the lines): It supports the internationalista's  plan for Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders, ones which would weaken it to such an extent that it would become well nigh impossible to maintain an effective defense. In other words, an "international" plan to compel Israel to kill itself for the sake of "justice" (ha!) for Palestinians.

If Oxfamers were really intent on improving conditions for Palestinians and raising them out of poverty, they would call for more--not fewer--Israeli companies like SodaStream. But since this is really about an inherent animus to Israel which, dammit, continues to thrive while failing to live up to the impossible "social justice" standards set for it by the likes of Oxfam and others, Oxfam must pretend to be for that chimerical two-state solution which they insist is the only just, right and proper way ahead.

How I wish these lefty charities, intoxicated by their own good intentions and sense of virtuousness, would butt out and go "fix something" somewhere else.

Update: Join Oxfam Canada's "Cuban Revolution Cycle" :

This cycling expedition begins in the Cuban capital of Havana and ends by the Caribbean Sea in Trinidad some 350kms later. Most of the cars on the road are large American Chevys and Buicks from before the revolution, and buildings have remained untouched for more than half a century. You can't help but be touched by the friendliness and pride that the Cubans feel for their country. 

Outside of Havana, there are very few vehicles on the road and as Cuba has a strong biking culture, you will fit right in. You will pass villages separated by colourful fruit orchards, sugar plantations and tree-lined avenues. You will also see the monument to Che Guevara as you pass through Santa Clara. 

You will cycle through Cienfuegos, which sits in a bay facing the Caribbean Sea and has attracted pirates through the ages, and continue to the magnificent Sierra del Escambray before finally reaching Trinidad. 

You can spend your final evening dining and salsa dancing before returning to Havana.

And the fact that Cuba is run by a dictatorship and remains one of the world's big-time "human rights" violators, jailing journalists and others who dare to defy the dictatorship and detail its short-comings: that's no biggie to the Oxfam poverty fighters.

The reason, of course. Oxfam lefties looove that revolution and its poster corpse, Che Guevara. So instead of tut-tutting the way "human rights" are trampled in the land, they grab their bikes, genuflect before a Che memorial and salsa dance the night away in Havana.

Nothing hypocritical about that, right?

Furthermore, one can't help but think that if Cuba was fortunate to be run by Israelis, the place would be thriving, and these Oxfam pity/let's-feel-virtuous tours would become a thing of the past.

Update: NGO Monitor has an excellent run down of Oxfam's history of butting into the Israel-Palestinian situation, and invariably doing dirt to Israel and siding with the Palestinians. All of which makes Robert Fox's contention that Oxfam hopes to see "a just and lasting settlement" for both sides sound more than a little ingenuous.

Update: Jason Kenney tells Brian Lilley that he wants to buy a SodaStream machine and that Oxfam has lost him as a donor.

The Sad, Sick Joke of "Human Rights" in Our Time: Iran's Terroristic Revolutionary Guard Sponsor a Report on "Human Rights" Violations--in the U.S.

I'm wondering if they can somehow shoehorn this one into Canada's "human rights" edifice:

Unveiling of report on violations of human rights in USA in 2013, sponsored by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Basij Mobilization Resistance Force was held on Monday at the auditorium of the College of Laws and Political Sciences of the University of Tehran and the two speakers at it were the representatives of the judiciary and legislative forces.

The report included facts an figures on violations of human rights in US prisons in 2013, including the one in Guantanamo, and sexual abuse of the female officers in the US army both at home and during their missions aboard. 

Clearly, irony is lost on these thugs.



Update: Speaking of Khomeinist thugs, in Ontario, apparently, it's okay (i.e. not an official "hate crime") for a Zion-loathing Khomeinist at a large public gathering to call for Jews to be shot on sight. (Given that green light, the next Al Quds Day seethe-a-thon at Queen's Park is sure to be a real humdinger of hate.)

The Funniest (Also Lamest) Excuse Yet for the O-Care Calamity

An Obama speechwriter says it's not that his boss, allegedly the smartest-ever occupant of the Oval Office, lied about his signature piece of legislation ("If you like your doctor/health care, you can keep 'em," and all that bollocks). It's that he simply "didn't understand it."

Hey, that makes two (out of untold millions) of us, Barry. (What, did he think he had to pass the legislation to understand the legislation, to paraphrase the terrifying Nancy Pelosi?)

How "Wide" are the "Gaps" as the First Round of Syria Talks Wrap Up in Geneva?

Gaping. Chasmic. So "wide" you can't get around 'em (as PP&M used to sing way back in the Inside Llewyn Davis era).

Funnily enough, two other tunes on that long ago folky LP--Rocky Road and Quit Your Low Down Ways--also seem applicable to these fruitless discussions.