Monthly Archives: August 2009

Cash for clunkers program buying SUVs

Here’s a big surprise: The ostensible reason for the Cash for Clunkers program—to get gas guzzlers off the road and replace them with better-mileage vehicles—is achieving exactly the opposite of what it set out to achieve. And the government, as … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, The One | Tagged | 1 Comment

Huzzahs for Hussam

Reading Isabel Kershner’s Fatah postpones elections but Extends Conference, I wonder if I’m missing anything. Kershner informs us that the younger members of Fatah want a greater say in its governance. Are they more moderate? She doesn’t tell us. But … Continue reading

Posted in Media Bias, palestinian politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Friday SNB

(That’s Snark News Briefs, to those of you who haven’t been paying attention.) Fatah blames Israel for Arafat’s AIDS: Not really. Fatah refuses to even consider the idea that their dead (and unmourned) leader did not die because of Israeli … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Movies, News Briefs, palestinian politics, Pop Culture | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

A moment for John Hughes

John Hughes was THE writer/director of the 1980s. He didn’t just create his own genre and influence millions of American teens, he launched the careers of a host of actors. He died yesterday of a heart attack. A native of … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Welcome to World Hypocrisy 101

Say, folks. Let’s take a look at the ongoing peace talks between two sides of a country that’s been occupied for 35 years. “We haven’t set a timeline,” Alexander Downer, the top U.N. official on the war-divided island, said in … Continue reading

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time, The One, United Nations, World | Comments Off on Welcome to World Hypocrisy 101

Ethnic smearing

Earlier this week, Israel evicted a group of Palestinians from a building in Jerualem. The New York Times reported: Thirty-eight members of the Ghawi family were removed from six apartments that made up one of the houses. There are 17 … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 2 Comments

HRW: Even condemning Hamas shows their anti-Israel bias

Human Rights Watch finally released a report condemning Hamas for firing rockets at civilians. Several questions come to mind, and NGO monitor asked them: Why did it take HRW 6 months to issue a report that covers no new ground … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Well, that explains a lot

I’m getting something like 40% of my traffic from feeds now. I don’t mean referrers from people like Sammy and Elder (though I am very grateful to them both). I mean from people getting my posts via their newsreaders. That … Continue reading

Posted in Site news | 6 Comments

Wednesday SNB

Human rights, shmuman rights: The U.K. is perfectly fine with backing an economic pact between Syria and the EU in spite of its “concerns” about Syria’s human rights violations. Because after all, the almighty Euro is more important than the … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israeli Double Standard Time, Syria, Television, The One, World | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

After 20 long years they let them out of the home

In the NYT Isabel Kershner reports in Abbas Urges ‘New Start’ at Fatah Conference : The day was filled with contradictory messages reflecting the disarray in Fatah. A huge poster on the wall bore the legend “Resistance is the legitimate … Continue reading

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Tuesday SNB

Gush Shalom: With friends like these… The background: Israel is looking into making it illegal for foreign countries to fund organizations that actively work against Israel, such as Breaking the Silence, the discredited organization that uses anonymous soldiers without any … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Lebanon, Politics, The One | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fatah con 2009

The players Barry Rubin wrote an informative roundup of the personalities who will be participating. Most importantly he observed: Of the Fatah Central Committee’s seventeen surviving members, only three can be classified as relative moderates. At least seven can be … Continue reading

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The Fatah convention: War is peace

Mahmoud Abbas, the “moderate” leader of Fatah, declared today that the Palestinians reserve the “right” to “resistance.” But of course, he mouthed enough platitudes so that the anti-Israel media can pretend that he wants peace. “Although peace is our choice, … Continue reading

Posted in AP Media Bias, palestinian politics, Terrorism | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Fatah convention: War is peace

Monday SNB

Fatah old guard: Hey, we’re old, we’re rich, we’re corrupt, and we ain’t movin’: The old guard won’t let the young guard horn in on their territory. Not surprising; the old guard has its lovely villas in the West Bank … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel, News Briefs, palestinian politics, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism | Comments Off on Monday SNB

The Nanny State: Alive and well in the U.K.

What if, instead of taking children out of the homes of lousy parents (drug addicts, alcoholics, abusers), there was a way you could monitor the family 24/7 and try to influence their behavior that way? Do you think that American … Continue reading

Posted in American Scene, World | 2 Comments