Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Madly for Mahdi

The NYT reports on the extent of Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon in Generation Faithful. There is a network of schools– some of them run by Hezbollah, others affiliated with or controlled by it — largely shielded from outsiders. There is … Continue reading

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Predictable prescription from poobahs past

In today’s Washington Post Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft serve up perfectly predictable “Middle East Priorities For Jan. 21” After expressing their glee with the election of President-elect Obama, they tell us the advantage his election presents at this time: … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, palestinian politics | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Rule of law in Egypt

There’s an observation in this article, Court in Egypt Annuls Deal With Israel on Gas Supply, worth mentioning: The case has raised difficult political issues for Egypt. Officials must walk a tightrope between maintaining relations with their neighbor and mollifying … Continue reading

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Unintelligent sharing

Deja Vu observed the other day: Never mind, Miliband holds a joint news conference with the Syrian FM who blames Israeli bombs for the processed uranium UN inspectors uncovered. Miliband assures reporters that Syria is a good country, a true … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel, Syria | Tagged | 1 Comment

Redneck Orthodox Jews

Rabbi Reuven Tradburks as “Are we Jewish rednecks?” – referring to the Orthodox Jewish community – and effectively answers “yes.” His point is that Orthodox Jews, overall, did not vote for President-elect Obama and he attributes that to a simplistic … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

Walkin’ on J-Street

In a poll this past summer pro-Palestinian lobbying group, J-Street, found (MS Word file): Jews want America to be much more aggressive in its Middle East peace efforts than it is today. We conducted an extensive exercise in the survey, … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 3 Comments

Who are going to believe, AP or your own eyes?

At least now they’re a little more careful than they were two months ago. They actually bothered to empty the shelves before this picture was taken. The crisis persists. Doesn’t it? Elder of Ziyon reports the un(der)reported: It appears that … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

Murdoch to media: miscreants

Instapundit quotes Charles Cooper quoting Rupert Murdoch. “With newspapers cutting back and predictions of even worse times ahead, Rupert Murdoch said the profession may still have a bright future if it can shake free of reporters and editors who he … Continue reading

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Names will never hurt me – the double standard

Recently a number of bloggers got bent out of shape by comments made by incoming Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel’s father, “Obviously, he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The bunker mentality

I bring your attention to the following three recent news summaries from the NYT as visible through Bloglines. November 14, 2008 Deadly Gaza Border Clash Threatens Truce By By ISABEL KERSHNER on Hamas Four Hamas gunmen were killed in a … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

Canning spam ^ 2

A tale of two meanings. This spam is canned. Immediately after McColo was unplugged, security companies charted a precipitous drop in spam volumes worldwide. E-mail security firm IronPort said spam levels fell by roughly 66 percent as of Tuesday evening. … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Miscellaneous, Pop Culture | Tagged | 4 Comments

What me worry?

Just One Minute wonders: Here’s a gloom-inducer – as of Election Eve in 2004 it became obvious that Bush would get a second term and we would elect a new President in November 2008. That gave Al Qaeda (and anyone … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

The jihad against blasphemy starts with interfaith understanding

Irony pervades this lead paragraph: Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Islamic kingdom that forbids the public practice of other religious faiths, will preside Wednesday over a two-day U.N. conference on religious tolerance that will draw more than a dozen world leaders, … Continue reading

Posted in Religion | Tagged | 1 Comment

Not learning from mistakes – diplomacy in the Middle East

The short version. A longer version. Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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The new Abbas is the same as the old boss

The guy being promoted as the great “moderate” hope of the Palestinians remembers his maximum leader quite fondly. During the memorial, held at Abbas’ Mukataa compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian president said, “The path of … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, palestinian politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment