Some Thing Is Up!

For the first time ever in history of any country, Israel is recalling ALL of its Ambassadors home.

First-ever Heads of Missions Conference at the MFA

24 Dec 2009

Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues at a conference to be held next week in Jerusalem.

(Communicated by MFA Spokesperson’s Bureau)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, will host a conference next week (27-31 December) for Israeli Heads of Missions. At the conference, Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues.

This is the first time a conference for all of Israel’s Heads of Missions has been held. The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country’s leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting the State of Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat.

A major part of the conference will be devoted to examining Israel’s integration and potential contribution to items on the world agenda such as the environment, renewable energy, water and sewage treatment, and new technologies. The participants will discuss how to develop and promote Israel’s foreign relations and its image as a country that contributes to creating a better future for everyone. They will also talk about the rise of new global powers and how to deal with them.

On Monday, 28 December, the Heads of Missions will be guests of President Shimon Peres at the President’s Residence.

Foreign Minister Liberman will open the conference. Other officials invited to attend include Prime Minister Benyamin Natanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, and senior officials of Israel’s diplomatic and security community.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to make the Heads of Missions Conference an annual event, as it is in other leading foreign ministries in the world.

There are quite a few reasons that this could be happening.  Here are a few:

1. There is a move in the United Nations to throw Israel out of the United Nations, declare Palestine (governed only by Muslims) as the sole nation in the region.  This is being supported by the EU under the leadership of Sweden.
2. Israel will finally attack Iran.  This meeting is in preparation for the likely media and diplomatic nightmare that will ensue.
3. An excuse for the greatest New Year's Eve Party EVER!  NO BYOB HERE!  Top shelf drinks and food.  Free for all Israeli Ambassadors, their wives, their staff and spouses.

For some reason I don't think it is #3.  Do you?

In a few days the options of talking to Iran to end their nuclear program is suppose to run out (of course with the idiots cowards in the White House don't expect any real threats).  And I think that Netanyahu is just waiting to see if the Iranians take the outstretched hand.  The only wild card in this scenario are the protestors in Iran.  If they can manage to bring down Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs, and then either take the US offer or stop their nuclear program, it will be a small miracle.

Israel is a land in which miracles happen!

Christmas in Bethlehem Destroyed by Israel?

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

I guess I haven't been paying attention the past few years. I didn't know that Israel has destroyed life for Christians in the town of Bethlehem to the point that Christians have left in a "massive flight."

Bethlehem - Manger Square

WorldNetDaily has this story, and I found it via AmerIsrael. According to WND's Aaron Klein, Reuters, the GuardianUK and others, are in the habit of reporting, each year at this time, the terrible treatment of Christians by Jews in Bethlehem. If you do not have time to read the portions below, or time to go directly to WND to read the entire piece, read the three paragraphs in bold text below, and you will get the idea.

TEL AVIV – Like clockwork, every year at this time reporters file misleading and, in some cases, outright false reports about the state of Christmas in Bethlehem [blaming Israel for the demise of the Christian population]. 

They claim Israeli policies have wreaked havoc on the city's economy and that Israel is responsible for the massive flight of Christians from Bethlehem. Yet the news media completely ignore Muslim intimidation and get their facts wrong on documented history and the true state of affairs in this ancient town.

A widely circulated Reuters article, for example, laments "Christmas cheer hasn't spread to all of Bethlehem's residents," squarely blaming "an Israeli wall" for the town's misfortunes. Britains' Press and Journal also paints a dismal picture of Bethlehem, claiming the city is "divided by a huge wall" and that the "26ft-high security wall completes the isolation of Bethlehem and prevents it from ever expanding." The piece also wrongly states that about 2 percent of Bethlehem's population is Christian.

An opinion piece by Austen Ivereigh in the London Guardian, meanwhile, also claims Bethlehem is "shuttered and depressed" by an "Israeli separation wall."

"I don't just mean the structure itself – 30 feet high, bristling with watchtowers and formed of grey concrete slabs – but where it is built, deep into the town itself, far into the West Bank, severing Bethlehem from Jerusalem and ensuring the relentless expansion eastwards of Jewish-only settlements built on land seized from Palestinian farmers," the Guardian piece claims. Regarding the "wall" that "surrounds" Bethlehem: Israel built a fence in 2002 in the area where northern Bethlehem interfaces with Jerusalem. A tiny segment of the barrier, facing a major Israeli roadway, is a concrete wall that Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists....

Amazingly, Ivereigh's piece in the Guardian falsely claimed: "Bethlehem is shuttered and depressed not because of Koran-wielding thugs but because the wall has smashed its economy. The town has become a ghetto, severed from lands to the north and west by the wall, and to the south and east by settler-only roads and a forest of checkpoints, leaving it barely able to trade."

Simple demographic facts disprove this contention entirely. Israel built the barrier seven years ago. But Bethlehem's Christian population started to drastically decline in 1995, the very year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the holy Christian city in line with the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords.

Bethlehem was more than 80 percent Christian when Israel was founded in 1948. But after Arafat took control, the city's Christian population plummeted to its current 23 percent. And that statistic is considered generous since it includes the satellite towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. Some estimates place Bethlehem's actual Christian population as low as 12 percent, with hundreds of Christians emigrating each year.

As soon as he took over Bethlehem, Arafat unilaterally fired the city's Christian politicians and replaced them with Muslim cronies. He appointed a Muslim governor, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabar, and deposed of Bethlehem's city council, which had nine Christians and two Muslims, reducing the number of Christians councilors to a 50-50 split.

Arafat then converted a Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus, into his official Bethlehem residence.
Suddenly, after the Palestinians gained the territory, reports of Christian intimidation by Muslims began to surface.

Christian leaders and residents told this reporter they face an atmosphere of regular hostility. They said Palestinian armed groups stir tension by holding militant demonstrations and marches in the streets. They spokes of instances in which Christian shopkeepers' stores were ransacked and Christian homes attacked. 

They said in the past, Palestinian gunmen fired at Israelis from Christian hilltop communities, drawing Israeli anti-terror raids to their towns.

In 2002, dozens of terrorists holed up inside the Church of the Nativity for 39 days while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure....

Some Christian leaders said one of the most significant problems facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs.

One religious novelty store owner recently told WND that Muslim gangs regularly deface Christian property.

"We are harassed, but you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims. This is why Christians are running away."

 The City of the birth of Christ, the birth of King David, and the tomb of Rachel is under Palestinian governance, and has a Muslim majority population.

In 2007 the city had approximately 25,000 residents with Christians making up 20% of the citizenry. With life made difficult for Christians, and the fact that Christians propagate at a much slower rate than Muslims, the Christian presence in Bethlehem is dwindling.

Read about Christmas observances by Christians in Bethlehem here and about the Church of the Nativity and the birthplace of Christ here.

Israel's WTF Awards For 2009

Every nation has them.  The crazy stories of the year.  And Israel is no exception.  So without further ado, here are some of the wacky stories from Israel for 2009.  Each one guaranteed to make you laugh.

The prize for weirdest move taken by Israeli politicians in 2009 probably goes to Netanya's city elders, who in August decided to dress up the city center with a fresh coat of bright purple paint on the main thoroughfare. By October the pricy paint job had faded in the Middle Eastern sun, reverting to black asphalt.

A close runner-up in the category goes to the Hadera municipality, where a $ 5 million facelift for the city's congested central traffic circle added not just entry and exit lanes, but planned to have traffic lights playing Hebrew songs.

I see that pork is just as popular in Israel as it is in Washington DC.  Even considering that it isn't even kosher.

The award for the strangest Supreme Court case goes to an Israeli named Shlomo Avni, who petitioned the high court for the right to be eaten by wild animals after his death, saying he was only repaying a debt to nature as a lifetime consumer in the food chain.

In their 772-word decision, three Supreme Court judges wished the 80-year-old plaintiff a long life and unanimously rejected Avni's petition. The justices quoted Jeremiah 9: 21 and the prophet's warning of dreadful times when " carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field."

Avni said he'd take his case to the international court at The Hague.

I would love to see the judges reactions when they discover that this case is not about so-called Israeli abuses upon Palestinians, but rather an old man wanting to be eaten by lions after he dies.  I could see a judge glance towards heaven and cry:  "Lord, why me?"

The best item related to Israel's water crisis goes to the residents of a north Tel Aviv apartment building who found themselves paying huge water bills that were 10 to 100 times those of similar dwellings. After investigation, it was discovered that an underground connection from the apartment house was watering an adjacent municipal park.

I have to wonder if the municipality gave the residence a rebate of their money or did they play Democrat on them claiming it isn't an extra tax, just a fee adjustment.

While 2009 demonstrated no shortage of silly twobit crooks and goofy cops - including one nearsighted specimen who ticketed a driver because her Saint Bernard wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

Notice to owners of Saint Bernards:  Buckle that dog up or face a fine.
Notice to Saint Bernards:  Woof, growl, growl, woof!

The strangest theft occurred at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital.

The hospital staff was puzzled when a huge oil painting by a well-known Israeli artist vanished from the walls of a well-trafficked corridor.

Before they could canvas the hospital for the missing canvas, another large painting by another wellknown Israeli artist disappeared, and then another canvas 24 hours later.

Security cameras revealed that the same middle-aged woman had nonchalantly been taking down the canvases and coolly walking out the front door, no questions asked. She hung the works in her nearby apartment.

And this will instill confidence in the patients who come for treatment there?  If they are ignoring the woman carrying the large painting out the door, what else are they ignoring?

One candidate in the Softhearted Sabra category stands out among many. A court re-possessor who knocked on the door of a poor family in the western Galilee took one look around at the impoverished household and made a snap decision: Rather than taking whatever he could find of value, he scribbled " Nothing to repossess" on his form, opened his wallet and handed the head of the household $ 25.

I would like to believe that many people around the world would do this.  Don't you?

The Loose Cannon award is a toss-up among a group of overzealous religious residents in Ashkelon. Several months after the end of the Gaza war in January, they decided to let everyone in their neighborhood know of Shabbat's arrival by sounding private sirens from their balconies minutes before sundown on Fridays - causing widespread panic by residents who mistook it for an air-raid siren.

I think I would have personally killed each one of the assholes.

One story that really takes the cake involved the trend of turning birthdays into full-scale productions. A Netanya resident decided this would be a lucrative sideline and offered his business premises as a venue for kids' parties. The problem: the venue in question was a pistol range. Fliers promised target shooting with live ammunition - up to 51 .22 caliber bullets per child - at $ 20 a shot.

I don't know. Given the right age group, classes in gun safety, and the right neighborhood, this would work in the US.

The prize for nutty motorists is given to the fellow pulled over for zigzagging down the highway to Petach Tikvah at 5:30 am. Not only was the driver three times above the amount of alcohol permitted while operating a motor vehicle, he also was engaged in an activity with his passenger that is usually reserved for the back seat. The driver argued - to no avail - that he was zigzagging only because his lady friend had blocked his field of vision.

Wouldn't they also ticket the woman for not wearing her seatbelt.

In the category of Israeli ingenuity, one Israeli created a DNA test for steer that could track a stolen animal even if it already had been reduced to hamburger.

Cattle Rustlers Beware!!

The most incredible dilemma of 2009 came during the Gaza war last January: How do you feed two frightened and famished lions solely with battle rations? As an army unit hunkered down near an abandoned Palestinian zoo amid the fighting, its brigade commander frantically sought to move the lions out of the war zone or find a way to feed them.

The Israel Defense Forces has some weird posts - including two stand-up comedians and a full-time magician - but who thought the army would need a lion keeper? One idea was to mobilize personnel from the Ramat Gan Safari into the IDF, then embed them with the infantry unit on special assignment.

Nobody knows exactly how the IDF did it, but by the time the army pulled out of Gaza the lions were in their cages and doing fine.

I do believe that feeding lions battle rations is in violation of the Geneva Conventions of War.   But feeding lions Hamas warriors dolts, while not very nutritional, is permissible under said Conventions.

All in all it has been an interesting year for wacky news.  I wonder what stories will emerge in 2010?

Holiday Greetings!

Sincere holiday wishes to you, the truth seekers of this world, from all of us here at Monkey in the Middle. 

May the upcoming New Year bring you Prosperity and Good Health.

Season's Greetings from the IDF

and

Christmas Blessing by President Shimon Peres

A Visit From Saint Nick AND A Chaser!

First the poem.

By Clement Clarke Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Now the chaser.

Merry Christmas!!

He Is Coming To Town...

And once again NORAD will be tracking him.

NORAD started tracking Santa in 1955, when by accident (or was it?) the special phone number set up to call Santa by a local Sears turned out to be that of CONAD. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

Each year the men and women of NORAD, their families, and volunteers man the Santa Tracking Desks through out the day of Dec. 24th until Santa safely returns home to the North Pole.  And for those mean, grinch Moonbats, no federal or military funds are used to track Santa.  So you idiot, Santa-hating liberals need not worry about your tax dollars being spent on a "religious" event.  There are plenty of Santa-loving corporations who love to sponsor,and do this yearly event.  I can give you some guesses on who will be getting lumps of coal in their stockings.



Some Really Cool Facts About Santa's Sleigh:
Designer & Builder: K. Kringle & Elves, Inc.
Probable First Flight:  Dec. 24, 343 A.D.
Home Base:  North Pole
Length:  75 cc (candy canes) / 150 lp (lollipops)
Width:  40 cc / 80 lp
Height:  55 cc / 110 lp
Note: Length, width and height are without reindeer
Weight at takeoff:  75,000 gd (gumdrops)
Passenger weight at takeoff:  Santa Claus 260 pounds
Weight of gifts at takeoff:  60,000 tons
Weight at landing:  80,000 gd (ice & snow accumulation)
Passenger weight at landing:  1,260 pounds
Propulsion:  Nine (9) rp (reindeer power)
Armament:  Antlers (purely defensive)
Fuel:  Hay, oats and carrots (for reindeer)
Emissions:  Classified (Suspected to be Organic in nature.)Climbing speed:  One “T” (Twinkle of an eye)
Max speed:  Faster than starlight

NORAD has been keeping the United States and Canada safe since May 12, 1958.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the monitoring of man-made objects in space, and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands. Aerospace control includes ensuring air sovereignty and air defense of the airspace of Canada and the United States. The May 2006 NORAD Agreement renewal added a maritime warning mission, which entails a shared awareness and understanding of the activities conducted in U.S. and Canadian maritime approaches, maritime areas and inland waterways.

To accomplish these critically important missions, NORAD continually adjusts its structure to meet the demands of a changing world. The commander is appointed by, and is responsible to, both the U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister. The commander maintains his headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. The NORAD-U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) Command Center serves as a central collection and coordination facility for a worldwide system of sensors designed to provide the commander and the leadership of Canada and the U.S. with an accurate picture of any aerospace threat. Three subordinate regional headquarters, located at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, Canadian Forces Base, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, receive direction from the commander and control air operations within their respective areas of responsibility.

The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center is fully operational beginning at 4:00 a.m. MST on December 24. You can call 1 877 HI-NORAD (1 877 446-6723) to talk directly to a NORAD staff member who will be able to tell you Santa’s exact location!

Yes! On December 24, you can send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com. A NORAD staff member will give you Santa’s last known location in a return email.

Yes Santa Claus is coming and the men and women of NORAD, various members of the world's Air Forces and millions of children will be tracking him through out the night.

Merry Christmas To All!

The Great TV Debate On Arab Universities

This debate centered around the fact that of the 500 universities listed as the best, not one of them was from the Arab world.  Not one Arab University even came close.

In TV Debate on Arab Universities, Arab Students' Union Head Ahmad Al-Shater Says Western Universities Are 'Laboratories for Weapons... Who Created Swine Flu, Bird Flu, & the Financial Crisis?'; Jordanian Professor Adib Al-Zu'bi Says Arab Countries 'Imported All the Prostitutes [After the U.S.S.R. Fell]... Scientists Imported by Israel & the U.S'



Following are excerpts from a television debate on the state of Arab universities, with Jordanian university professor Adib Al-Zu'bi and Arab Students' Union head Ahmad Al-Shater. The debate aired on Al-Jazeera TV on November 24, 2009.


To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2283.htm.

Moderator Faysal Al-Qassem: "How come not a single Arab university has managed to be classified among the leading 500 universities in the world? Because our Arab universities are a reflection of the Arab reality of wretchedness, tyranny, and backwardness.

"How can a nation make progress if some of its leaders are semi-illiterate, who make grammatical errors? How can a nation possibly make progress, when the money it spends on its mules, its camels, its yachts, its pleasures, its entourages, and its hunting dogs exceeds the money it allocates to science and scientists, as a critic has said?

"Once, an Arab teacher wanted to get married, and he asked for the hand of a young woman in marriage. Her father asked him what he did for a living, and he said he was a teacher. The girl's father responded: 'Hah! I rejected three taxi drivers, so how can I possibly accept a teacher?'"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "In all these studies, the Arab universities are at the tail end of the list – both in the internal and external studies. The main reason is the lack of willpower among the decision makers to elevate Arab education to the international level. Our universities have become an extension of our elementary schools, in their teachings methods of memorization and learning by rote, and of killing and burying Arab creativity.

"The Arab allocation per capita for research is four dollars per annum, whereas the general world average is about $1,000 per annum. Israel allocates approximately $972 per capita, while we allocate four dollars.

"My question is simple: Where is all the Arab money? Where does all the money go? It goes, as you know, to line the pockets of the top officials and to stockpile weapons in rusty storehouses, which have nothing to do with war or with defending the Arab homeland."

Ahmad Al-Shater: "All the fuss that my colleague was talking about was because of a classification conducted by some company in Spain, or some British newspaper, or some university in Shanghai. None of these companies have anything to do with education and its quality. They have never visited Arab universities, and they know nothing about them.

"Allow me... They are publicity offices that disseminate propaganda, and are out to make a profit. These companies go to the university website, and compare how many students, doctors, and researchers it has, and it is imperative for you to have won a Nobel Prize for them to place you at the top of the list.

"In my opinion, one of these days or months, some company, called Ishtir or Ikhbikh, will come and say that the Arabs are a species of dinosaur and must be wiped off the face of the earth, and they will start to annihilate us, because there are a billion people whom the Americans and Zionists want to destroy. These evaluations have nothing to do with academic quality.

"The budgets of all the Arab countries and their universities in 2004 were not equal to the budget of the American Harvard University."

Al-Shater: "Universities in the West Are Laboratories for Weapons... Who Created the Swine Flu, the Bird Flu, the Donkey Flu, and the Financial Crisis?"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Why not?"

Ahmad Al-Shater: "Because the universities in the West are laboratories for weapons, experimented on me and you, in Iraq and in Palestine."

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "They cure cancer..."

Ahmad Al-Shater: "They cure cancer for money, not for free. You studied there for two months, and you want to tell me who they are?! Who created the swine flu, the bird flu, the donkey flu, and the financial crisis? And now, they don't want to give people the vaccination. These universities are against humanity.

"Why did they kill all those scientists? Because they were Arabs and Muslims. Why did they slaughter 4,000 Iraqi scientists? They were not slaughtered by the Americans or the Zionists, but by the death militias. After that you dare say there are no Iraqis in Arab universities?!" [...]

Moderator: "The Arab Countries Spend Billions On Weapons that are Scrap Metal – And On the Children of Top Officials"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "How do you explain the fact that the Arab countries spend billions on weapons that are scrap metal and on the children of the top officials? Half the Arab budgets, half the money that enters the Arab countries – nobody knows where it goes. They tell you about half of the money, and you don't know what happened to the rest."

Ahmad Al-Shater: "Let me respond. There is a rich Arab in Britain, who had a horse worth $5 million. After a disagreement with the stable owner, it turned out that the horse wasn't a horse. Turns out it was a mule – the offspring of a horse and a donkey.

"There are wealthy Arabs with amazing hotels all over the place, wealthy Arabs with yachts, and so on. Let them bring all those billions, which they spend in the West. One has a cat in London, living in its own wing [of a mansion]. To hell with them all."

Al-Zu'bi: "We Imported All the Prostitutes [After the Fall of the Soviet Union]... The Scientists Were Imported by Israel and the U.S"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Soccer is more important to us than any research. The example I gave you, about the fall of the Soviet Union, when we imported all the prostitutes... There is a culture of complete humiliation in the Arab world... "

Faysal Al-Qassem: "What are you trying to say? What did we import?"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "We imported whores, sir."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "From the Soviet Union?"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Yes."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "And the scientists?"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "The scientists were imported by Israel and the U.S. They competed over them, and dragged them by the hand."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "What exactly did we drag?"

Al-Zu'bi: "In the Arab World, There Is a Culture of Humiliation for Science and Scientists; Countries That Invest in Scientific Research Are the Ones That Rise"

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "In the Arab world, there is a culture of humiliation for science and scientists. Countries that invest in scientific research are the ones that rise to the rank of the most advanced countries. I don't want to talk about the U.S. or Israel. They can go to hell. I'd like to talk about Malaysia, about Korea, and about other Islamic countries that are not part of the Arab world. Where there is corruption, there is no scientific progress, no knowledge, no scholars, no research, and no progressive culture."

Ahmad Al-Shater: "This is a great campaign against Arabism and against Islam – this campaign on our universities and scientific research, because of this classification by Ikhbish, or whatever they are called, from the end of the world.

"Let me finish. This Spanish office, QS, should go to Seville and to Granada, and see the archaeological remains of Arab science, in astronomy, medicine, biology, and physics, instead of evaluating Arab universities."

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "There is a well-known example from an Arab country, which goes like this... A teacher asked: Who can give me the name of a creature that flies? One student said: A cow. The teacher said: You idiot, cows don't fly. Whose son are you? The boy said: I'm the son of so-and-so, who's a colonel in the army. So the teacher said: Cows fly, but they don't rise up from the ground. That is the situation."

Ahmad Al-Shater: "These are Zionist stories."

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Zionist, right. Whatever..."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "There's nothing left but to thank our two guests – Dr. Adib Al-Zu'bi and Mr. Ahmad Ambarak Al-Shater. We will meet again next Tuesday evening. Until then, this is Faysal Al-Qassem... "

Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Why did you curse?"

Ahmad Al-Shater: "God forbid... "

Faysal Al-Qassem: "... greeting you from Doha. Goodbye. Shake hands."

[Adib Al-Zu'bi and Ahmad Al-Shater get up to shake hands and embrace, arguing all the while]

If you noticed in the transcript, the first comment made on this criticism of the Arab world is:

This is a great campaign against Arabism and against Islam

Followed by:

These are Zionist stories.

Code words to the masses that there is nothing wrong, it is a Jewish plot to destroy Arab self-worth.  We lead the world in everything.

Funny how they didn't mention Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid's miracle cure for everything.   Using the one thing Saudi Arabia has plenty of:  Camel Urine.

That is the height of Arab scientific achievement.  Using concepts that they have no clue about, producing "scientific papers" with results that no one can replicate, and then blaming the failure of the world noticing their results (more like laughing their asses off) on Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and the Jews.

The Academic Ratings of World Univerisities (ARWU) can be found here.  These are the top 20:

1. Harvard (US)
   
2. Standford (US)
   
3. University of California,Berkley (US)
4. University of Cambridge (GB)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)(US)
6. California Institute of Technology (US)
7. Columbia University (US)
8. Princeton University (US)
9. University of Chicago (US)
10. University of Oxford (GB)
11. Yale University (US)
12. Cornell University (US)
13. University of California,Los Angles (US)
14. University of California,San Diego (US)
15. University of Pennsylvania (US)
16. University of Washington (US)
17. University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)
18. University of California, San Francisco (US)
19. The John Hopkins University (US)
20. The University of Tokyo (JAPAN)

In contrast to their Arab neighbors, Israeli Universities were thrilled that they were ranked:

#64  Hebrew University of Jerusalem
101-150 for Technion (Haifa) and Tel-Aviv University
151-200 for Weizmann Institute of Technology (Tel-Aviv)
303-401 for Bar-Ilan and Ben-Gurion University of the Negav
402-502 for University of Haifa

My advice to the Arab world is to stop whining and blaming others for your ignorance and lack of ambition.  Change your teaching methods, your attitude towards science, and spend your money on wise research not jackasses.

I know they won't do any of those things.  And they will fail wonderfully when they try.  All the while living on their dreams of past glory and supposed accomplishments.

Wednesday's Hero

With only two days until Christmas, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and to remind you to keep our men and women that are not able to be with their friends and families this time of year in your thoughts a prayers. They do so much without ever asking for anything in return.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

In Memory!

Of our dear friend Roger W. Gardner, founder of Radarsite.

Roger Gardner was diagnosed with Leukemia September of 2008.  The doctors gave him 2 weeks to live, but  G-d had other plans for him.  Roger survived 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year.  All the time fighting for his life, and this nation he loved so well.

I find it hard to write this.  Roger was a friend and mentor.  His death is a loss to the fight for justice, freedom and decency.  We will all miss him very much.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.  May G-d bring comfort to his family.

Roger W. Gardner

1936-2009

An True American Patriot!

Scroll down for newer posts.

Auschwitz!

Polish police find stolen Auschwitz sign.

Reid's Moment Of Truth

It has finally been announced!

After weeks of negotiations.
After weeks of protests.
After weeks of bickering within the Democratic Party.
After shutting out the Republicans from having any voice.

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is decending upon the  Senate, like Moses, bearing the long awaited changes to the Senate version of the Healthcare bill.

Emerging from marathon talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and White House officials late Friday night, Nelson said "real progress" had been made toward his call for greater restrictions on abortion within the legislation.

Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to unveil a final package of changes in the long-debated legislation on Saturday "and is confident that it will prevail," his spokesman, Jim Manley, said in a late-night statement.

Reid made no comment to reporters, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., another participant in the talks, sounded pleased. "I've been in Harry Reid's office for 13 hours and I'm glad to get out of there," he said. "But I'm particularly glad with what has happened in that office."

With Nelson's vote, President Barack Obama's Senate allies would have the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster by Republicans.

That gave Nelson enormous leverage as he pressed for concessions that included stronger restrictions on abortions to be covered by insurance policies offered in a newly overhauled health care system. Officials said he was also seeking to ease the impact of a proposed insurance industry tax on nonprofit companies, as well as win more federal funds to cover Nebraska's cost of treating patients in Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the administration and Democratic leaders had offered concessions on those points.

The Nebraska Democrat has already rejected one proposed offer on abortions as insufficient, and the presence in the talks of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., indicated additional changes were on the table.

The legislation would expand coverage to 30 million people now uninsured and try to curb rising health care costs. Insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with health problems, or charging them more. All Americans would be required to have health insurance, or eventually face fines. The nearly $1 trillion, 10-year cost would be paid for mainly with Medicare cuts and new taxes on insurance companies and other parts of the health care industry.

The week saw an intraparty brawl among Democrats, with liberals seething over the compromises Reid has already made to keep the bill moving.

Gone is a government insurance plan modeled on Medicare. So is the fallback, the option of allowing aging baby boomers to buy into Medicare. The major benefits of the bill won't start for three or four years, and then they'll be delivered through private insurance companies.

Read the full story here.

Oh happy day!  A compromise that leaves out 35 million Americans, will cost over $1.5 Trillion (That is Trillion with a T), will start to tax everyone immediately, won't provide any coverage for 3 to 4 years, and is unConstitutional.

Other than all those reason, it is a wonderful plan.

Just wait until the House gets it.  Without the public option or increase of Medicare, it won't stand a chance with Pelosi.

But it will get the votes by Christmas.  Just do you think that the Members of Congress will get the votes next November?

Humor For A Sabbath Morning!

The Great Debate

Several centuries ago the Pope decreed that all the Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy.There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community so the Pope offered a deal.

He would hold a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy. If the Pope won, they'd have to convert or leave.

The Jewish people met and picked an aged and wise rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, as the rabbi spoke no Italian and the Pope spoke no Yiddish, both sides agreed that it would be a "silent" debate.

On the chosen day the Pope and rabbi sat opposite each other. The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers.

The rabbi looked back and raised one finger and shook it at the Pope.

Next the Pope waved his finger around his head.

The rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat.

The Pope brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine.

The rabbi pulled out an apple.

With that, the Pope stood up and declared himself beaten and said that the rabbi was too clever. The Jews could stay in Italy.

Later the cardinals met with the Pope and asked him what had happened.

The Pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up a single finger, shaking it to remind me there is still only one God common to both our beliefs.”

"Then, I waved my finger around my head to show him that God is all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God is also right here with us.”

"I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin.”

"He beat me at every move and I could not continue."

Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the rabbi how he'd won.

"I haven't a clue," the rabbi said. "First, he told me that we had three days to get out of Italy so I shook my finger saying no.”

"Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews and I told him that we were staying right here."

"And then what?" asked a woman.

"Who knows?" said the rabbi. "He took out his lunch so I took out mine."

A New Age Noah

A new flood is foretold by the world's weather specialists and they say that nothing can be done about it. In three days, the waters will wipe out the world.

The Dalai Lama appears on television and pleads with everybody to turn to Buddhism. That way, they will at least reach enlightenment.

The Pope goes on television and says that the world must accept Christianity in order to attain salvation.

The Chief Rabbi of Israel takes a slightly different approach: "We all have three days to learn how to live under water."

Have A Good Weekend!

The Year Of The Buycott

That is correct.  Buycott.  It started in April with the call to boycott Israeli wines for Passover.  A boycott that not only fell flat, but backfired upon the organizers as seen by the pictures here (hat tip to Israel Matzav).  For every time that a call to boycott Israel came alive in Canada, the community was notified, and they came out to buy Israeli products.

It has spread from Canada to the US when there was a boycott of Ahava products called from the idiots whores of Code Pink.  That has failed.

On World Refugee Day Pity The Idiot, Murdering Arab Day, there was a call to boycott Israeli Products at Trader Joe's.  According to the company, they saw their greatest one-day sales profits on that day.

Yes. The tactic of boycotting Israeli Products is working well in Canad and the United States.

Another anti-Zionist attempted boycott in Canada has backfired, with Israeli products enjoying sales rates much higher than usual.



Anti-Israel groups had threatened MEC – Canada’s Mountain Equipment Co-op - with a boycott because of its inclusion of Israeli products in its inventory. But barely anyone showed up for the boycott, and instead, large crowds of Israel supporters came to buy Israeli products.

The Canada Jewish Tribune reports that several MEC stores across Canada experienced unusually high sales for its Israeli products on Sunday of last week. Shelves with Israeli-made products – numerous styles of seamless underwear and hydration systems products – had to be re-stocked a couple of times each day.

What had been planned as giant demonstrations against Israel in Toronto and Vancouver resulted in tiny-to-small groups of protestors who were dwarfed by crowds of Zionists purchasing Israeli items. B’nai Brith and the Canada-Israel Committee joined forces to organize a “buy-cott” in response to the boycott.

Salomon Rayek of B’nai Brith Canada in Vancouver reported total success, saying that only three anti-Israel demonstrators showed up at the MEC store in Calgary on Saturday, while the next day, “a large number of Jews and Israel’s supporters showed up at the stores and spent a good chunk of money buying Israeli products... I understand that in Toronto about 20 protesters showed up to protest, and on the next day there was a very large Jewish and pro-Israel presence [coming] to buy Israeli goods."

Shades of April 2009

The story appears to be a repeat of what occurred in April of this year at a Toronto liquor store.

After a Jewish non-Zionist group tried to organize an anti-Israel protest in front of the store, asking Passover celebrants to mark their holiday without Israeli-made wines, hundreds of pro-Israeli consumers took the opportunity to hold a pro-Israel festival and bought up the store’s entire stock of Israeli wine.

Brands such as Carmel, Barkan, Golan Heights, Gush Etzion (Efrat), Binyamina, Baron, Segal Dalton and others were sold out within a matter of hours.

What started as a way to counter the anti-Semantic idea of boycotting Israeli wines, is turning into a movement to counter the hate.

BUYCOTT ISRAEL!

It is time to take action!  Time to put your money where your mouth is.  To find out how, click here.  Do it for your conscience.  Do it to stick it to Code Pink.  But most importantly:  Do it because it is the right thing to do!

Buy Israel!

The Lost Bush E-Mails

Millions of e-mails that were thought to be lost from the Bush Administration (Bush 43 not his father) have been recovered.  Various left-wing groups went to court to recover the e-mails (with the hope of bringing criminal charges against George W. Bush), but their hopes for that outcome were dashed when the e-mails were placed in the National Archives and will not be opened for 50 years (Some pesky law written during FDR's Administration keeps such papers locked up that long.  Damn those liberals!)

I do have a good source at the Archives who allowed me to glimpse the majority of these e-mails.  They say this:

From: mohamed bulus [mailto:ahmedbulus@zdnetmail.com]
Sent: August 19, XXXX 6:38 AM

Subject: proposal private and strictly confidential

from: Alhaji Ahmed Bulus

dear sir,

I am Alhaji Ahmed Bulus, an accountant general with the nigerian national petroleum corporation (nnpc), and also the chairman of contract award committee (cac). i was well informed of your stronghold in business over the years, an incentive that induced me writing you to seek your ability at sustaining the conclusion of a pending transaction for our mutual benefit.

We have put in place instrument of payment for US$32M (THIRTY TWO MILLION US Dollars only), which is now in a dedicated account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The above fund came from the over-invoicing of contracts awarded to a consurtium of foreign firms in 1994 for the construction of the Eleme/Chemical and Liquefied Natural gas plant in Port-Harcourt worth US$1.2 Billion. The contract has been executed and the original contractors paid in full. Hence, the US$32M in question is therefore free to be transfered overseas upon proper application without any risk whatsoever.

IN THE COURSE OF DISCHARGING MY DUTIES,I DISCOVERED THAT SOME GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN THE PAST, COMMITTED SOME IRREGULARITIES IN THE FORM OF OVER INVOICED CONTRACT VALUES WHICH EVENTUALLY GO INTO THEIR PRIVATE BANK ACCOUNTS. WHAT INTERESTED ME MOST AND FOR WHICH REASON I AM WRITING YOU IS THAT THIS PARTICULAR CONTRACT WAS AWARDED TO A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR WHICH WASOVER ESTIMATED TO THE TUNE OF US$32million(thirty two million dollars) IN OUR RECORDS HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND COMMISSIONED. THIS CONTRACTOR HAS RECEIVED FULL PAYMENT FOR THE CONTRACT EXECUTED FOR MY CORPORATION, LEAVING BEHIND THE SUM OF US$32million WHICH REPRESENTS THE OVER ESTIMATED CONTRACT VALUE CURRENTLY LYING AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.

BECAUSE OF THE HASTE WITH WHICH THE LAST GOVERNMENT WAS REMOVED FROM OFFICE, THESE MEN HAD NO CHANCE TO COLLECT THIS MONEY BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE. BUT AS A RESULT OF UPDATED PAYMENT ADVISE AT THE CENTRAL BANK, IT HAS BEEN AWAITING TRANSFER TO A FOREIGN ACCOUNT. IN MY REPORT, I RECOMMENDED THAT THIS FUND SHOULD BE PAID BUT ON THE CONDITION THAT THE CONTRACTOR SHOULD BE INFORMED.

MY RECOMMENDATION WAS ACCEPTED AND THERE WAS A MANDATE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE FOREIGN CONTRACTOR, BUT SINCE THE CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN FULLY PAID FOR THE JOB, I NOW WANT TO DIVERT THIS MONEY TO ANOTHER FOREIGN ACCOUNT.

Due to the nature of accrual of this fund, it has to be applied for by a foreign contractor/company and payment can only be made into a foreign account hence this contact is necessary to accomplish this deal. You (or your company) shall be compensated with 30% of the amount as the account owner, 5% shall be used for the reimbursement of all expenses that will be incurred by both parties during the course of this financial transaction.

The remaining 65% is for us.

We shall urgently require of you the following by fax or email:

1.Name, Telephone and/or Fax Numbers of beneficiary

2.Name, and full address of the company.

3.Complete particulars of the bank account where you wish the funds to be transfered. This should include the account number, bank, address, the telephone, fax and telex number of the bank.

My colleagues and I have had some fruitful discussions with relevant top officials of both the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and they have agreed to cooperate with the transfer. An application for fund transfer shall be made at the appropriate Ministries in favour of the beneficiary (you or your company). Thereafter, your company shall be officially regarded as having executed the contract for the Nigerian National Petroleum company (NNPC) for which payment is being made.

This process makes the operation legal and according to the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

however, before further details of this laudable transaction will be revealed to you. i must be convinced of your integrity, transparency and honest, because this is highly, business transaction that requires someone with experience, exposure and more than average means of livelihood. please treat this transaction as strictly confidential as we are civil servants who would not want any exposure.

Be expecting your soonest reply. PLEASE CONTACT ME THROUGH MY PRIVATE TEL/FAX NUMBER 123-4-555-5555 Email: ahmedbulus@zdnetmail.com AND I WILL FURNISH YOU WITH THE FULL DETAILS OF THE TRANSACTION.

Best Regards.

ALHAJI AHMED BULUS

What Is Up With Seattle?

On July 28, 2006 at 4:00 pm (1600 hours), Naveed Afzal Haq opened fire at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. His attack injured 5 women, killing Pamela Waechter.

Haq like the Mumbai killers, purposely chose a Jewish target for his attack. Shortly before 4 p.m., Haq is reported to have forced his way through the Jewish Federation building's security door armed with two large-caliber semi-automatic pistols, a knife, and extra ammunition. Police believe Haq entered the lobby of the building and grabbed the 14-year-old niece of Federation employee Cheryl Stumbo. Haq allegedly held a gun to the girl's back and forced her to use the intercom in order to gain entry to the Federation's offices.

With a gun to her back, Haq reportedly told the girl, "Open the door," and "careful", as she was buzzed into the building. Haq then said, "I'm only doing this for a statement," and proceeded to follow the girl up the stairs to the second floor. Haq stopped to ask receptionist Layla Bush about speaking with a manager, at which point the girl walked to a bathroom and locked herself inside. At this point, Cheryl Stumbo asked fellow employee Carol Goldman to call 911. But, before Goldman could complete a call, Haq shot her in the knee.  Her niece, in the bathroom, heard her and dialed 911.

Witnesses reported that Haq began shouting "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel" before he began his shooting spree.

He is a Muslim on a killing spree, therefore he is not responsible for his actions as he must be insane.  The first jury hearing his case almost bought into that conclusion brought forth by his dimwit, Moonbat defense team.  But not all of them did.  So Haq was retried.

The verdict is in on this second trial.

A jury on Tuesday declared Naveed Haq guilty of murder in his second trial for the 2006 shooting spree at a Seattle Jewish center.

Haq was found guilty of all eight counts against him. The 34-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Haq showed no reaction as the verdict was read, but victims in the courtroom hugged and clasped hands.

Jurors on Tuesday rejected Haq's defense that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers acknowledged that he committed the shooting but said his mental illness kept him from understanding what he was doing.

They also conceded he poses a danger to the public and should never be free, but asked jurors to send him to a state mental hospital rather than prison. They declined comment after the verdict.

Prosecutor Don Raz said he was pleased the verdict would bring closure to the victims.

Raz argued Haq wasn't insane - just angry - when he stormed the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

"He was tired that no one was listening to the Muslim point of view. He wanted that point of view heard," Raz told jurors as Haq's second trial opened in October.

Read the full story here.

Why is it that this story is not beinjg carried by the American press?  Can it be that the American press is afraid of publishing a story in which a Muslim is found guilty of murdering Jews without being found insane?  How can they get CAIR to deny spin this to the leftist, anti-Semetic way.  So instead they choose to ignore it.

I wonder if the attacks on Mumbai and Fort Hood had an effect on this jury that the last one didn't have.  And it is too bad that Washington does not have a death penalty any more.

But for the victims, justice has been served.

Middle East News Round-Up 2

Just some articles I have found showing the last 24 hours.

Former Foreign MinisterLivini has been indicted by a British Court for Operation Cast Lead.  Thus the Dhimmitude of Great Britain is coming along smoothly.

Hebrew University Disease Center is to receive $5 million for research into Black Fever.  The grant is from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dutch Officials studying Ahava products to see if they are produced on "stolen Arab lands".  I wonder if they are also checking to see if any US products are made on stolen Indian lands.

Russian commercial liner nearly crashed at Ben-Gurion airport.  Mistook the highway for the runway.  Pilot must have been trained by Northwest Airlines.

Global Anti-Semitism ‘Alive and Kicking’. Good news for those neo-Nazis, Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jeremiah Wright, David Duke, Cynthia McKinney, and the entire Muslim world.

Iran says it successfully test-fired upgraded Sajjil-2 missile. Iran said it has successfully tested an upgraded version of its longest-range solid-fuel missile, according to a State TV report on Wednesday, without providing details on the test of the Sajjil-2 missile. The last time Iran claimed to have had a successful launch, this was the result:

The PA will not sit down at the negotiating table unless Israel gives them the 67 borders including the Kotel.  It is time for Bibi to immediately end the "freeze" and give Abbas and the rest of the Arabs 48 hours to get their asses off of Jewish land.  As of yesterday Oslo, The Peace Process and the 2-state solution is dead!!

President Obama is demanding that 1701 be enforced.  Just don't ask him for any troops to do it.  They are busy elsewhere.

That's the news folks!  Have a good day!

Where In The World Is....

...Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrah


Given 3 months to live 9 months ago, and sent home to Libya by those compassionate dhimmified idiots in Scotland (The British were given lucrative drilling rights in Libya for him), it seems that dear old Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrah is missing.

Yes, my friends, he is missing from his home, the hospital, the market.  The Scots cannot find him any where.

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.

Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.

Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed anger about al-Megrahi’s disappearance. Richard Baker, Labour’s justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said the whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland’s reputation at risk. “This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire Council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising al-Megrahi’s conditions of licence,” he said.

Relatives of the victims were furious in August when Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, released al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he was expected to die of prostate cancer within three months.

On Sunday evening The Times called at the bomber’s home in suburban Tripoli. A policeman sitting on a plastic chair outside was asked to deliver a message to al-Megrahi. He spoke no English, but indicated that al-Megrahi was not there.

The next day The Times visited the Tripoli Medical Centre where alMegrahi was treated soon after his return to Libya. The receptionists said he had left the hospital some time ago.

Back at al-Megrahi’s home, there was no sign of activity. One of three security officers sitting in a grey Mercedes car outside said: “They’ve all gone.” He refused to elaborate.

Alerted by The Times, Jonathan Hinds, of East Renfrewshire Council, tried to telephone al-Megrahi at his home yesterday. He spoke to a Libyan man who said al-Megrahi was too ill to speak to him.

Mr Hinds has called al-Megrahi every other Tuesday since August, and has always been able to speak to him. Yesterday was not one of the regular Tuesdays, so al-Megrahi would not have been expecting a call.

“We will continue to attempt to call Mr Megrahi tomorrow and will then consider the situation,” a council spokesman said. If there were grounds for suspecting al-Megrahi was breaching the terms of his release, “we would report that to the Scottish Government and it would be up to them to decide what action to take”.

Read the full story here.

The British claim that they had no idea this would happen when they released him.  Right and I have a bridge for sale.  She is an antique, you have to pay shipping costs, but she is in very good condition:

Bridge For Sale, Cheap!

It is time for all you sleuths out there to join forces and track down al-Megrah.  You will have to search the desert of Libya to find him.

A Fine Way To Search The Desert!

In Those Days, At This Time!

Which was a bigger miracle?

The military victory or the eight days of oil?



 View video here.

Now that is an interesting question for Chanukah.

Which is the more important aspect of the Chanukah Holiday?

The Maharal of Prague explains that both are true. The actual event for which we give thanks is the salvation of the Jewish people. We won a war against all odds. However, it wasn't clear that the victory was a miracle. To the people living in those times, military success was attributed to Jewish resilience and bravery. It didn't appear that God had delivered us from the hands of the Greeks; rather, it appeared as if the victory came about (as the verse in Deut. 8:17 warns) through the soldiers’ "might and strength of their arms."

It was only through the miracle of the oil that the Jews came to appreciate the miracle of the battle. Once people saw the oil last eight days -- an overt miracle from God -- they then understood that their success on the battlefield was from God as well. The miracle of the oil revealed to them the miracle of the war.

No Standing Army

This explanation of the Maharal, however, becomes difficult to understand when we take into account a basic historical overview.

The events of Chanukah take place in the second century BCE, around the middle of the era of the second Holy Temple. A few hundred years earlier, when the Babylonians had destroyed the first Holy Temple, the Jewish people began to lived under the reign of non-Jewish monarchies. We were a vassal state under foreign rule, and our right to exist and our form of government was decided by the ruling parties. So when the Greeks entered Jerusalem, the Jewish people did not even have a standing army.

This wasn't a war of a stronger army against a weaker opponent. It was a war in which the most powerful empire in the world was pitted against a band of unorganized, unarmed, private citizens.

While the war itself lasted three years, during the first year of fighting, there were no formal battles. Two armies were not squaring off against each other -- because there was no Jewish army! The fighting consisted of guerrilla skirmishes. Some Jews would sneak up on a lone detail of Greek soldiers, kill them, and take their weapons. Bit by bit, more Jews would join Judah the Maccabee. But at every point, the Jews were far outnumbered, outgunned and preposterously less battle-ready than their enemies.

Even more startling is that almost all of the original fighters had no battle experience. The leaders of the rebellion were kohanim, priests in the Holy Temple. A kohen is a Torah teacher who guides the Jewish people in matters of spirituality. So this was a war led and fought not by soldiers, but by the rabbis. Imagine a venerated sage leading his yeshiva into battle against the U.S. Marine Corps!

How could anyone not see the miracle of the war? No intelligent assessment of the situation would have predicted a Jewish victory. How then is it possible that the Jews at the time saw these events as anything other than the miracles that they clearly were?

The Oil Event

The answer to this question seems to be that when one is many years away and far removed, he gains a historical vantage point. He is able to see an event in context and can easily recognize it as a miracle. But to those living in the day-to-day heat of the battle, it is much more difficult to see the event from that perspective.

To those involved, it seemed to be a natural course of events. Granted, the odds were slim, but the Jews won. Skirmish after skirmish, battle after battle, the Maccabees came out victorious. There is no question that they did well, which is why it seemed that their skill and cunning won those wars. As such, to the people living in those times, the miracle was hidden.

Until another event focused their sight.

When the kohanim returned to the Temple and took out that little bit of oil that couldn't possibly last for eight days, and saw it remain aglow night after night, everyone knew this was miraculous. The miracle of the oil reshaped the previous three years in their minds. They then recognized the battles as the miracles that they truly were.

In Our Times

In our own times, we witness an eerie parallel to these events and to the same mistaken interpretation.

For almost 2,000 years the Jewish people -- universally hated and oppressed -- have existed as a lone sheep amongst 70 wolves. Yet we have somehow survived. And now, after long centuries of wandering, we find ourselves back in our homeland.

Since 1948, the Jewish nation has witnessed profound miracles in the repopulation and development of Israel: world-class hospitals, road, schools; a burgeoning hi-tech industry; vast amounts of high-level Torah study.

But it is the survival of our people that is the greatest miracle.


In 1948, the Jewish population in Israel numbered approximately 650,000, surrounded by some 50 million Arabs. On May 15, 1948, one day after the State of Israel was declared, five Arab nations attacked, each with well-trained armies and air forces, each alone capable of annihilating the small band of Holocaust survivors. At the time there was no Jewish army, navy or air force. Yet, against all odds, we won that war, and against all odds we continued to win war after war -- until now, ironically, the Jews are considered the superpower in the region.

To the average witness to these events, this appears -- not as a demonstration of the hand of God -- but rather as the normal ebb and flow of history.

The lesson of Chanukah is to see behind the veil -- to tune our sight into the true cause of events, and to see that it is God Who runs the world, and God Who fights our wars. Then as now.

On this, the 5th day of Chanukah, let us remember that the miracle of the holiday is not that the sacred oil stayed lit for 8 days, thus allowing more oil to be consecrated, but that a small group of yeshiva students, men without training, without weapons, without ever being in battle, but with God leading them, defeated armies that were 6, 7, 8, 9 and even 10 times their size.

A Great Miracle Occurred There!