Today In Appeasing Weasels/Weasely Appeasers...

Swedish foreign minister calls on EU to engage in new, broad dialogue with Iran

When It Comes to Defending the Indefensible (the Cock 'n' Bull Story About a Mo' Film Inciting Benghazi; Boycott-Booster John Kerry), Susan Rice Is Shameless

I'll say this for Ms. Susan Rice:
She's certainly paid a big price.
To maintain visibility
She's lost all credibility.
Can she be believed? No dice!

Update: The "personal" attacks condemned by Ms. Rice make perfect sense when one considers this:

If anything is “unacceptable” then it might be argued that it’s Kerry’s comments, not the backlash to them. In making these kind of remarks, Secretary Kerry may not be endorsing these moves against Israel, but he serves to legitimize them by suggesting that they are the natural response, only to be expected, if Israel won’t find a way to make a deal with the Palestinians. Indeed, one has to ask: if Kerry is serious about presenting the two sides with a fair offer then why the need for all these thinly veiled threats? If the deal genuinely offers Israel peace and security, we can be confident Israelis will jump at it. These threats would suggest Kerry knows he won’t be able to get the Palestinians to give the Israelis a fair deal, so with no carrot, it’s going to have to be all stick from here on in.

Moolah for Mullahs

Sickening. Insane. Suicidal.

Andrew Cohen Gets It Wrong, Wrong, Wrong Re Canadian Jews Who Support Israel

The leftist who teaches journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa claims that Harper-supporting Jews are beating up on (bullying?) poor, Harper-loathing Jews like former chief Official Jew Bernie Farber and Ceeb talking head Evan Solomon.

The heart bleeds.

Solomon recently displayed his leftist bona fides by questioning the appropriateness of appointing Vivian Bercovici, a Jew, to be Canada's ambassador to Israel. As for Farber, who, in his former guise as head of the now defunct Canadian Jewish Congress, was all about the Holocaust, he speculates that the reason American Jewry is more open to the likes of faux-Zionist Israel-basher Peter Beinart is because it

has the confidence of having been in America for generations. In Canada, many Jews are survivors of the Holocaust or their descendants.

Yes, and because of that, perhaps they know something that the American Jews--who are leftists, first and foremost--don't know: i.e. that just because you're comfortable in and assimilated to your homeland (whether it's America or Germany), it doesn't necessarily mean you're safe.

Which is to say that Canadian Jews "get it." They support Israel qua Israel, in good times and bad times, whether its government tacks left or right, and even though it has not yet achieved "social justice" perfection and become, yes, Jewtopia.

American Jews, on the other hand, cannot love Israel as it is, an entity that does not look, think and act exactly like they do. 

That is their misfortune, and, I would suggest, their downfall.

"Then There Was His Smell; Not B.O., Exactly. More Like a Ripe Smell, Like Dirty Feet or French Cheese..."

The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman elicits a powerful--if repellent--sense-memory of Lester Bangs, the rock music critic Hoffman portrayed in Almost Famous.

Bangs, BTW,

died in New York City on April 30, 1982, of an accidental overdose of Darvon, Valium, and NyQuil.

In other words, poor man's heroin. It did him in when he was only 33.

Dear Foggy Bottom Spokesbody: Your Freudian Slip is Showing, Sweetie

Re John Kerry's obnoxious boycott remark, here is one of his articulate factotums:

When asked about the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement at today’s State Department press briefing, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said “we are absolutely opposed, we have been opposed at boycotts boycotting Israel.” 

“Secretary Kerry, himself, personally — who of course is the world’s chief — or the United States’ chief diplomat at this point — has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” Psaki continued. 

“…There is no greater advocate, or opponent, I should say, to boycotts, or proponent of Israel’s security and their future.”...

You got it right the first time, Jen.

Update: An Open Letter to John Kerry (h/t VF).

Sunny Daze in Saudi Arabia as the Natives Suffer From a Vitamin D Deficiency

If there is one thing Saudi Arabia has plenty of--aside from oil and sand, that is--it's sunshine. And yet, according to this Arab News article, many Saudis suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency, meaning they are not getting enough exposure to the sun.

The Arab News piece attributes the lack of exposure to such factors as the Saudi tendency to stay indoors, place sun shades on their car windshields, and eat too much junk food. What it fails to mention, however, is that much of it has to do with how Saudis dress; if you're encased in an all-encompassing black shroud with only your eyes showing, you can stand outside all day and never soak up enough Vitamin D.

Flower Power

A "feel good" story for easily-gulled infidels who know nothing--nothing!--about Islam. From the Ceeb, of course:

About a dozen young Muslims stood outside at [Montreal's] Phillips Square on Saturday, handing out single roses to passersby. 

The roses, given out to mark the recent anniversary of Prophet Mohammad’s birth, were a subtle gesture of goodwill meant to spread the message that the Islamic faith is a peaceful one. 

“We want to show to the world that [Islam] is not a bad religion. It’s not, like, terrorists; everybody thinks that but we are not. I’m like everybody in the world. I’m a human,” said Massouma Al-Bahely, one of the organizers of the event. 

This is the second year in a row that members of Muslim Youth Montreal have given out roses. 

It also coincides with the second annual World Hijab Day.

And, of course, you can always find a willing Jew to validate the nonsense: 

McGill University professor Daniel Weinstock specializes in political philosophy. He said gestures like this do help, but also have a limited audience. 

“Nobody should have to be put in the positions that Muslims are put in today, which is have to remind people that at the end of the day there are just like everybody else,” Weinstock said.

Just like everybody else--except for the supremacism written into Islam's core texts, of course, and the fact that the vast majority of observant Muslims, whether they live in Canada or in, say, Saudi Arabia, take such teachings literally.

A Huge Loss for Israel Advocacy: Barry Rubin Succumbs to Cancer at 64

Sad news, indeed. He remained remarkably productive right up until the end. Condolences to his family. He will be missed.

Why Obamacare Could Have Worked--In Sweden

But since the U.S. of A. is not Sweden and is in no way like Sweden, it is failing--big time. And that, writes Michael Barone, ought to provide a cautionary tale for all central planners:

The trouble that has resulted—from the architects' apparent failures to anticipate the behavior of fellow citizens who don't share their approach to the world, and the architects' determination to impose their mores, such as contraception coverage, on a multicultural nation—is a lesson to national policy makers, conservative as well as liberal. Govern lightly if you want to govern this culturally diverse nation well.

John Kerry: The "Busy"-Body With the Gibungous Carbon Footprint--And Nothing Much to Show For It

Re the Sec'y of State keeping a running tally of the air miles he's racked up since taking office a year ago (as of last Friday, it stood at 320,961), Jeff Jacoby writes:

Kerry is certainly a hard worker. He keeps busy; he racks up the miles. But busyness is not effectiveness. It is no myth that US foreign policy in recent years has been premised on the conviction that Washington must intervene less and be constrained more. The Obama administration may call this "leading from behind" or "pressing the reset button" or having "more flexibility." It may praise itself for recognizing that there are "Good Reasons to be Humble," as Princeton's Anne-Marie Slaughter — who would later be tapped by Obama as the State Department's director of policy planning — argued in a 2008 essay. The world sees it as retreat, and reacts accordingly.

Actually, leading from behind is something Kerry does really well. No surprise there since he is a horse's ass.