Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Elder of ZiyonHave a good evening!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Elder of Ziyon
A couple of weeks ago I reported that an Islamic leader in the territories claimed that Israel was preparing to create an artificial earthquake to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and build the Third Temple in its place.
Today a variant of this plan has come to light, thanks to the extensive intelligence network of the Islamists.
From Qudsmedia:
Today a variant of this plan has come to light, thanks to the extensive intelligence network of the Islamists.
From Qudsmedia:
An expert in the affairs of Al-Aqsa warned of Israeli plan he described as "very dangerous" that targets the holy mosque and paves the way for a takeover by Jews and the extension of their control by the year 2020. The expert said that Israel is using 28 earthquake experts who are taking part in the planning to provoke an earthquake from underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque, which would be "the beginning of its demise."I wish I was one of the 28 experts dedicated to setting off an earthquake under Al Aqsa - precisely enough not to damage the Kotel - but I'm sure that the cunning Zionists managed to find just the right people to hatch this villainous plot.
The expert explained this during a symposium on Israeli plans to demolish al-Aqsa at the University College of Applied Sciences that the earthquake against al-Aqsa would be set off in 2020.
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From Arabian Business in a story I missed last week:
(h/t Yoel)
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region,” following Kuwait’s moves to ban their construction.Elliott Abrams adds:
Speaking to a delegation in Kuwait, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, stressed that since the tiny Gulf state was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was necessary to destroy all of the churches in the country, Arabic media have reported.
Saudi Arabia’s top cleric made the comment in view of an age-old rule that only Islam can be practiced in the region.
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is the highest official of religious law in the Sunni Muslim kingdom. He is also the head of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas.
This report brought back memories of a trip to Saudi Arabia that I took in January 2001, before joining the Bush Administration. I travelled there as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the delegation (which included Cardinal McCarrick) met with government officials and religious authorities. To several, we made the argument that as Saudis claim to value religious faith and practice so deeply, surely they could understand the terrible hardship they were creating for the many Christians who lived in the Kingdom by forbidding them to worship. They can worship at home, came the reply (somewhat disingenuously, for we knew that the religious police often broke up such private religious services). That isn't enough, we argued, especially for Roman Catholics whose religion includes the sacraments that only a priest can administer. And there are roughly a million and a half Catholics, mostly Filipinos, here in Saudi Arabia, we said. Too bad, came the reply; they knew our rules before they came, and the rule is no religion other than Islam in Arabia. No churches. Period.Will this statement be vehemently condemned by the Western world? Will the UN hold a special session to denounce this bigotry and intolerance? Will other Muslims rise up in disgust and strongly oppose the Mufti's words, saying that he does not speak in their name?
Well, we noted, there are churches in every other country on the Arabian Peninsula: Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. You are the only exception. Are you suggesting that all those churches should be closed? Yes, came the reply. Every one of them.
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
X-washing
From Ha'aretz:
She does look scarily skinny.
Here are some of the 55 other Israeli models from Fashion Model Directory. Unfortunately, they do not mention the models' weights, so I cannot calculate which ones would be affected by this law. You guys will have to do the exhaustive research yourselves.
(h/t Dan)
The Knesset yesterday passed a law banning the use of underweight models in advertising. The so-called "Photoshop law" also requires that any ad agency digitally altering photos to make models look thinner must disclose the fact in the advert.As every Israel hater knows, this is a transparent attempt on the part of Knesset to distract the world from Israeli crimes. It is pukewashing.
The legislation is an effort to change idealized perceptions of beauty that, according to evidence presented to the Knesset, encourages eating disorders such as anorexia.
The law also bars the use of overly thin images from foreign advertising here, as defined by the commonly used medical measure of body mass index. Models with an index of 18.5 or less - or who appear to have such a low index - will not be allowed to appear in advertising.
Data from the Knesset's Research and Information Center presented at legislative hearings revealed that there are about 1,500 children, including teenagers, diagnosed with eating disorders in Israel annually. Evidence presented to the Knesset showed that exposure to idealized media images of bodies is one risk factor in developing an eating disorder, by glorifying the thin body.
Alisa Gourari, an 18-year-old model who was runner-up in the World Super Model competition, has modeled for Max Mara and Valentino. She has starred in a number of Israeli advertising campaigns but is too thin to meet the requirements of the new law. She said the debate over underweight models is important, but she too said the law applied limits without regard to whether the model was healthy at his or her weight.Here is Gourari:
Here are some of the 55 other Israeli models from Fashion Model Directory. Unfortunately, they do not mention the models' weights, so I cannot calculate which ones would be affected by this law. You guys will have to do the exhaustive research yourselves.
 |
| Israela Avtau |
 |
| Elinor Gal |
 |
| Yael Goldman |
 |
| Shelly Hazan |
 |
| Hial Marin |
 |
| Tehila Rich |
 |
| Tal Shomron |
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From The National (UAE):
How do I know she is a liar? Because when she gave a presentation about her thesis (not even a scholarly paper) at the request of the PA, IMPACT-SE demolished it by looking at the very same textbooks she felt were problematic.
It seems unlikely that her research methods have improved much since then.
I excerpted parts of that report in this post last year, in response to her interview in The Guardian then.
As the IMPACT-SE report concluded:
One asserts that Israel's Palestinian citizens shun modernisation and are building houses illegally. Another alleges the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank steals water from Israel. And elsewhere, that Palestinians have been a "terrifying demographic problem" for Israel.Variants of this article will start appearing momentarily, even though the book is still a month away from being released. This means that Nurit Peled-Elhanan's vitriol and lies can be unopposed for quite some time before anyone can take the time to prove that her research is biased and often blatantly dishonest. And how many people will spend the $80 to actually read it? They will read the articles in Al Arabiya and The Guardian and believe that they know what they need to know about the book.
Such statements are part of mainstream schoolbooks in Israel that teach an "anti-Palestinian" approach in a bid to prepare Jewish children to be aggressive towards Palestinians once they serve in the army, according to a new book.
To be released this month in the UK, the book - Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education - is the first to publicly provide evidence that Israeli schools have racist textbooks, said Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University who has researched dozens of Israeli schoolbooks published since the 1990s.
"I was looking for reasons of why nice Jewish boys turn into monsters when they join the army," said Ms Peled-Elhanan, in an interview at her home just outside Jerusalem.
"They never meet Palestinians face-to-face as children, so the textbooks are all they know."
How do I know she is a liar? Because when she gave a presentation about her thesis (not even a scholarly paper) at the request of the PA, IMPACT-SE demolished it by looking at the very same textbooks she felt were problematic.
It seems unlikely that her research methods have improved much since then.
I excerpted parts of that report in this post last year, in response to her interview in The Guardian then.
As the IMPACT-SE report concluded:
From what we have shown, it is clear that Dr. Peled-Elhanan set out with the objective of labeling the Israeli curriculum racist. Motivated by her personal political agenda rather than an investigative spirit, she shot her arrow and then drew a target around it – or stated her preconceived thesis and then tried to find evidence for it. That was not an easy task, since Israeli school textbooks do not contain significant racist material, but she was not deterred by this problem. She made a formidable effort to find supposed evidence, whatever the cost.
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
But the "cease fire" is still holding, as long as your definition of "cease fire" is one-sided:
A two-day lull in Gaza rocket fire came to an end on Monday morning when a Qassam exploded in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.And today:
The Color Red alert sounded in several area towns around 9:50 am, and residents were urged to seek shelter. The rocket hit shortly after.
A mortar shell fired from Gaza exploded in an open area in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
This week is the annual meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee on Assistance to the Palestinians in Brussels. At this conference, the PA is presenting a paper, entitled "Equitable Development: Moving Forward Despite the Occupation," which includes this recommendation:
Their press release accompanying the paper was a bit more explicit:
The Oslo accords, of course, says that the final borders were up for negotiations, and until that is solved Area C is under exclusive Israeli control. Some 97% of Palestinian Arabs live in Areas A and B. When the PA is telling its Western donors to pay money to develop Area C, they are telling them to defy Oslo.
Beyond that, this idea has nothing to do with state-building. It is purely political, and meant to pressure Israel. The PA knows quite well that structures built without cooperation with Israel are often destroyed, and it also knows that Israel would face criticism when destroying illegally built structures funded by the EU.
The proof comes from a widely cited Guardian article last week:
In fact, the entire village is illegal, and was built only in recent years:
This idea of funding illegal development projects in Area C did not originate with the Palestinian Arabs. As the incident above illustrates, it was first thought of by European NGOs, working outside the framework of the Oslo accords.
And last year, the EU itself released a paper showing that they also want to sidestep Oslo and use these gimmicks to pressure Israel politically.
The new PA document mirrors the EU recommendations from last year of bypassing Oslo and Israeli law and building in Area C without coordination or even a master plan.
The intent is clear: to embarrass and pressure Israel. The Guardian played its role perfectly. After all, who can be against clean solar energy? Only a monster, it seems, would demolish solar panels sorely needed by a village that sprung up sometime in the past decade.
Interestingly, the EU officially says that it does not want to circumvent existing agreements between Israel and the PLO:
The PA's announcement yesterday must be seen in the entire context of a major international attempt to circumvent the Oslo accords and to pressure Israel. If only the same effort would be made to pressure the PLO to go back to the negotiating table.
Obviously, when the PLO feels that Europe will do all their work for them, they won't even consider negotiations. These initiatives are meant to bypass talks and to go straight to the PLO-demanded final solution of taking land without any compromise or concessions. It is no wonder that the PLO feels that it can ignore peace talks - it knows that Europe is backing them up.
To tackle proactively the growing phenomenon of inequitable socio-economic conditions and quality of life driven by constraints on our ability to implement our development agenda throughout the land within the June 1967 borders – in particular, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the ‘seam zone’, the Jordan Valley as well as all other parts of the so-called ‘Area C’.
Their press release accompanying the paper was a bit more explicit:
This paper sets out the policies the government will take in the latest stage of our journey towards our own free country, an independent Palestine. While Israel, through its demolition and annexation policies on the ground, is destroying the possibility of reaching a two state solution, the paper calls on the international community to step up their efforts in Area C and East Jerusalem, if they are still committed to the idea of the two state solution.
The Oslo accords, of course, says that the final borders were up for negotiations, and until that is solved Area C is under exclusive Israeli control. Some 97% of Palestinian Arabs live in Areas A and B. When the PA is telling its Western donors to pay money to develop Area C, they are telling them to defy Oslo.
Beyond that, this idea has nothing to do with state-building. It is purely political, and meant to pressure Israel. The PA knows quite well that structures built without cooperation with Israel are often destroyed, and it also knows that Israel would face criticism when destroying illegally built structures funded by the EU.
The proof comes from a widely cited Guardian article last week:
Two large solar panels jut out of the barren landscape near Imneizil in the Hebron hills. The hi-tech structures sit incongruously alongside the tents and rough stone buildings of the Palestinian village, but they are fundamental to life here: they provide electricity.World newspapers and bloggers seized on the idea that Israel was heartlessly demolishing the power source for this tiny village.
Imneizil is not connected to the national electricity grid. Nor are the vast majority of Palestinian communities in Area C, the 62% of the West Bank controlled by Israel. The solar energy has replaced expensive and clunky oil-powered generators.
According to the Israeli authorities, these solar panels – along with six others in nearby villages – are illegal and have been slated for demolition.
Nihad Moor, 25, has three small children. The family live in a two-room tent kitted out with a fridge, TV and very old computer. She also has a small electric butter churn, which she uses to supplement her husband's small income from sheep farming.
"The kids get sick all the time. At the moment, because of a change in the weather, they all have colds. Without electricity I wouldn't even be able to see to help them when they need to use the [outdoor] toilet at night," Moor says. "I don't want to imagine what life would be like here if [the panels] were demolished."
Imneizil's solar system was built in 2009 by the Spanish NGO Seba at a cost of €30,000 to the Spanish government. According to the Israeli authorities, it was built without a permit.
In fact, the entire village is illegal, and was built only in recent years:
Major Guy Inbar, a spokesman for Israeli military authorities, said of the demolition orders: "All the tents and buildings have been built illegally. Of course the solar panels were also built illegally. Using the backing of international assistance does not give immunity to violations." He stressed, however, that no final decision has been taken yet regarding the fate of the panels and turbines and that a subcommittee of military administrators is studying the matter.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denies that Israel is harming peace prospects through its policies in Area C. "We are acting in the framework of signed agreements. We were willing to move forward to sign more agreements, but that is not happening because the Palestinians refuse to negotiate." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has made an Israeli freeze on settlements in the West Bank a precondition to resuming peace talks.
This idea of funding illegal development projects in Area C did not originate with the Palestinian Arabs. As the incident above illustrates, it was first thought of by European NGOs, working outside the framework of the Oslo accords.
And last year, the EU itself released a paper showing that they also want to sidestep Oslo and use these gimmicks to pressure Israel politically.
State building efforts in Area C of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the EU are therefore of utmost importance in order to support the creation of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state. Full and effective Palestinian development of Area C will require the re-designation of Area C to Areas A and B. This objective has to be pursued at the political level. Enabling measures should, however, be pursued in the interim to support Palestinian presence in and development of this area.Among the EU report recommendations:
Supporting development projects in Area C including by for example building new schools, community centers, clinics, municipal buildings, roads, irrigation, water and other infrastructural projects.
Supporting Palestinian private sector development in Area C in areas such as tourism, site protection, industrial parks, wastewater treatment, solid waste, landfills, water pipelines, electricity infrastructures etc.
Enabling the PLO/PA to plan and develop programs in Area C.
The new PA document mirrors the EU recommendations from last year of bypassing Oslo and Israeli law and building in Area C without coordination or even a master plan.
The intent is clear: to embarrass and pressure Israel. The Guardian played its role perfectly. After all, who can be against clean solar energy? Only a monster, it seems, would demolish solar panels sorely needed by a village that sprung up sometime in the past decade.
Interestingly, the EU officially says that it does not want to circumvent existing agreements between Israel and the PLO:
From the Commission prospectives, beyond this emergency situation, its is important the framework established by the Tripartite Action Plan must not be destroyed. The achievement of Paris meeting of 9 January 1996 must not be cast aside.
The PA's announcement yesterday must be seen in the entire context of a major international attempt to circumvent the Oslo accords and to pressure Israel. If only the same effort would be made to pressure the PLO to go back to the negotiating table.
Obviously, when the PLO feels that Europe will do all their work for them, they won't even consider negotiations. These initiatives are meant to bypass talks and to go straight to the PLO-demanded final solution of taking land without any compromise or concessions. It is no wonder that the PLO feels that it can ignore peace talks - it knows that Europe is backing them up.
- Tuesday, March 20, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
- unrwa
In 1966, Congressman H. B. Frelinghuysen and Senator Edward Kennedy both demanded that UNRWA stop giving food and other aid for any members of the Palestinian Liberation Army, the military wing of the PLO.
From the New York Times, June 13, 1966:
This became a particularly touchy issue for the US when the PLA announced that it would fight alongside the Vietcong.
UNRWA, however, didn't understand the problem with providing free aid to people who wanted to destroy Israel. At this time UNRWA was already thoroughly biased as it wholeheartedly identified with the Palestinian Arab cause against Israel. Its response to the US demand is remarkable in how clueless UNRWA was even then.
From JTA, October 17, 1966:
UNRWA: part of the problem in the 1960s and still part of the problem today.
From the New York Times, June 13, 1966:
This became a particularly touchy issue for the US when the PLA announced that it would fight alongside the Vietcong.
UNRWA, however, didn't understand the problem with providing free aid to people who wanted to destroy Israel. At this time UNRWA was already thoroughly biased as it wholeheartedly identified with the Palestinian Arab cause against Israel. Its response to the US demand is remarkable in how clueless UNRWA was even then.
From JTA, October 17, 1966:
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees admitted to the General Assembly here today that it is providing rations to refugees who are members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the group sworn to make war against Israel and receiving military training for that sole purpose.A couple of weeks later, the US condemned UNRWA for its tone-deaf response:
Strong objections to such UNRWA activity was voiced here by many governments at the Assembly last year. Among the opponents to UNRWA aid for the PLO were not only Israel but also the United States, which contributes 70 percent of the UNRWA budget. However, Laurence Michelmore, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, which provides relief, housing and education for the Arab refugees, reported to the Assembly today:
"A special aspect of the question of ration rolls deserves mention. Doubts have been expressed by some Governments about the propriety of the Agency's issuing rations which may be consumed by young men in military training under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The host governments (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon) do not consider that these doubts are well-founded. In the light of these differences, arrangements have been made for special added donations to the amount of $150,000 which meets the total cost of any rations consumed by the young men in question.
"The Commissioner-General is satisfied that these arrangements provide a practical means of disposing of the problem insofar as the Agency is concerned. Contributors to UNRWA, who may have been concerned about this matter, may thus be assured by the Agency that their contributions will not be used to furnish assistance to refugees receiving military training under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization."
It was noted here immediately that Mr. Michelmore did not disclose the source of the $150,000 worth of "added donations," which, it is believed, come from the Arab countries. However, it was observed that he has made it clear that, whatever the source of the extra funds, the monies are being channeled through the United Nations agency in the form of rations.
A highly placed spokesman for the Israeli delegation, asked about Mr. Michelmore's statement regarding the furnishing of UNRWA rations to military trainees in the PLO, stated: "It is outrageous that the United Nations lends itself as an instrument in this sort of operation."
The United States Government strongly condemned today the provision of United Nations relief to Arab refugees serving in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the failure of the United Nations organization in charge of refugee relief to remove from its ration rolls the large number of refugees who are not entitled to U. N. aid.In the end, nothing happened. The US continued to fund UNRWA and UNRWA continued to provide aid to terrorists. In fact, in response to an incident after the 1967 war where Israel forced some 4000 PLA members to leave Gaza, UNRWA went out of its way to say that they were still refugees under its rule and as such should continue to get aid. I don't know all the details from the episode, but the UNRWA report for 1966-67 says:
These statements were made by U.S. Ambassador Harding F. Bancroft, the American representative in the General Assembly's 101-member Special Political Committee.
Referring then to the problem of aiding members of the PLO, Mr. Bancroft told the Committee: "Since the Palestine Liberation Army came into existence, many young men on the agency's ration rolls have been recruited into it -- and yet have remained on the ration rolls. The United States delegation made clear last year that we consider it inadmissible for a U. N. agency to supply rations to men serving in an army dedicated to the solution of the repatriation question by armed force and, indeed, to the overthrow of the government of a member of the United Nations."
He recalled that the United States objected last year to the provision of UNRWA aid to members of the PLO and told the Assembly: "My government's position as stated last year is one of principle. We believe the Assembly should not give the impression that it condones or regards with indifference the involvement of any United Nations agency with an organization which avows such purposes."
[B]etween three and four thousand young men among the registered refugees in Gaza were forced to leave the Gaza Strip because the Israel authorities believed them to be members of the Palestine Liberation Army. They are now housed in a government-run camp in the Tahrir Province. UNRWA regards this group as falling under paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) and has at the request of, and in agreement with, the Government of the United Arab Republic, undertaken to give assistance to the group.
UNRWA: part of the problem in the 1960s and still part of the problem today.
Monday, March 19, 2012
- Monday, March 19, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
- BDS
Often, co-op meetings are sparsely attended and as a result the anti-Israel crowd can take over and force their opinions on the entire group. Only people who are members of the co-op can attend and vote at the meeting, and the anti-BDS organizers are trying to get as many members to come as possible to ensure that the measure is defeated.
If you are a member of the co-op, or if you know someone who is, please encourage them to attend (and to RSVP to the pro-Israel organizers.)
More information here and here.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From the American Jewish Yearbook archives for the years 1902-1903:
September 17, 1902: 17. A year old ritual murder charge revived at Port Said, Egypt, and the alleged abductor of a child sentenced to sixteen months' hard labor.
March 25, 1903: The Jewish quarter of Port Said, Egypt, invaded and despoiled, in consequence of a ritual murder charge. (See September 17, 1902.)
Egypt wasn't the only Arab country where Jews were made to feel less than welcome. They also had problems in Morocco:
To be sure, the oppression of Jews in Arab countries were much, much less than in Europe at the time - during the same time period 49 Jews were killed in the Kishinev pogrom, 14 were killed in Czenstochow, Poland, and there were blood libel charges in Hungary as well as other Eastern European countries.
But that doesn't mean that Jews were safe in Arab countries.
September 17, 1902: 17. A year old ritual murder charge revived at Port Said, Egypt, and the alleged abductor of a child sentenced to sixteen months' hard labor.
March 25, 1903: The Jewish quarter of Port Said, Egypt, invaded and despoiled, in consequence of a ritual murder charge. (See September 17, 1902.)
Egypt wasn't the only Arab country where Jews were made to feel less than welcome. They also had problems in Morocco:
To be sure, the oppression of Jews in Arab countries were much, much less than in Europe at the time - during the same time period 49 Jews were killed in the Kishinev pogrom, 14 were killed in Czenstochow, Poland, and there were blood libel charges in Hungary as well as other Eastern European countries.
But that doesn't mean that Jews were safe in Arab countries.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
Today, Catherine Ashton - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission - gave a speech to Palestinian Arab youth.
At the end of this speech which had the usual platitudes, she decided to be topical:
To begin with, while she mentions children's lives who are lost in accidents - like the Belgian bus tragedy - she seems to place those killed in Gaza in a different category. She puts it in present tense, as if they are being murdered daily, in the same way she describes Syria; she is not framing it as kids killed because their leaders decided to pursue a policy of genocide against the Jews of the Middle East but as kids who are being targeted by...those awful bloodthirsty Israelis.
She would no doubt disagree vehemently. She probably thought that she was just talking about how tragic it is when children's lives are lost, no matter what the circumstances. But even if you are being charitable and think that she was not referring to Gaza as a Israeli policy targeting kids, it is still a hugely offensive statement.
A bus accident is a tragedy. The deliberate murder of children, as in Norway and Toulouse, is an outrage. To compare the two is to cheapen the lives of those whose lives were lost because of hate.
One of the more maddening themes one comes across on public forums is the idea that "it doesn't matter how they died, they are still just as dead." This is a sick way of thinking. It reduces people's lives to a flip of the coin, and it minimizes the one factor that changes a tragedy into an outrage - the intent of the killer. There is a good reason why the penalties for murder and involuntary manslaughter are different. If you equate the two, you are revealing your own depravity, and you put a murderer same moral plane as defective car brakes. It is the worst kind of moral relativism.
Ashton, by putting all dead kids in the same big bucket, is not respecting the lives of children. She is cheapening them. She is saying that the proper response to any child who dies, no matter what the circumstances, is "Oh, how awful!" An honor killing is awful, an anti-semitic hate crime is awful - but so is a bus accident, and so is cancer. When every death is the same, then there is no reason to get angry when children are mowed down in cold blood.
Ashton's statement shows that in her own warped mind, there is no difference. The next logical step is that it is not reasonable to blame anyone or to hold anyone accountable; "these things happen."
Some acts demand outrage; but in Catherine Ashton's universe, there is no room for outrage.
(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)
UPDATE: The transcript of her speech now mentions he children of Sderot as well, and apparently she really did say that.
At the end of this speech which had the usual platitudes, she decided to be topical:
We are gathered here because we have recognised the potential of the youth of Palestine. Against all the odds, they continue to learn, to work, to dream and aspire to a better future. And the days when we remember young people who have been killed in all sorts of terrible circumstances - the Belgian children having lost their lives in a terrible tragedy and when we think of what happened in Toulouse today, when we remember what happened in Norway a year ago, when we know what is happening in Syria, when we see what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world - we remember young people and children who lose their lives. Here are young people who are asking not to be leaders of the future, but to be taken seriously as leaders of today. And it is to them that we should look and to them we should listen and it is to them that I pay tribute.
To begin with, while she mentions children's lives who are lost in accidents - like the Belgian bus tragedy - she seems to place those killed in Gaza in a different category. She puts it in present tense, as if they are being murdered daily, in the same way she describes Syria; she is not framing it as kids killed because their leaders decided to pursue a policy of genocide against the Jews of the Middle East but as kids who are being targeted by...those awful bloodthirsty Israelis.
She would no doubt disagree vehemently. She probably thought that she was just talking about how tragic it is when children's lives are lost, no matter what the circumstances. But even if you are being charitable and think that she was not referring to Gaza as a Israeli policy targeting kids, it is still a hugely offensive statement.
A bus accident is a tragedy. The deliberate murder of children, as in Norway and Toulouse, is an outrage. To compare the two is to cheapen the lives of those whose lives were lost because of hate.
One of the more maddening themes one comes across on public forums is the idea that "it doesn't matter how they died, they are still just as dead." This is a sick way of thinking. It reduces people's lives to a flip of the coin, and it minimizes the one factor that changes a tragedy into an outrage - the intent of the killer. There is a good reason why the penalties for murder and involuntary manslaughter are different. If you equate the two, you are revealing your own depravity, and you put a murderer same moral plane as defective car brakes. It is the worst kind of moral relativism.
Ashton, by putting all dead kids in the same big bucket, is not respecting the lives of children. She is cheapening them. She is saying that the proper response to any child who dies, no matter what the circumstances, is "Oh, how awful!" An honor killing is awful, an anti-semitic hate crime is awful - but so is a bus accident, and so is cancer. When every death is the same, then there is no reason to get angry when children are mowed down in cold blood.
Ashton's statement shows that in her own warped mind, there is no difference. The next logical step is that it is not reasonable to blame anyone or to hold anyone accountable; "these things happen."
Some acts demand outrage; but in Catherine Ashton's universe, there is no room for outrage.
(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)
UPDATE: The transcript of her speech now mentions he children of Sderot as well, and apparently she really did say that.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
You wouldn't think hockey players could learn much from Israel, a country that is hardly known as a hockey powerhouse.
But you would be wrong.
From NHL Insider:
Amazingly, the IntelliGym games are very low-tech, with graphics that look like they came out of the 1980s.
As the report mentioned, the technology was developed for use in the military. Pilots improved their performance by 30% after using the program for only 10 hours.
Another result is that people who use it seem to have fewer injuries as they are more aware of their surroundings and possible dangers.
Here's something else for BDSers to protest. I look forward to the pickets outside sporting events.
(h/t Gamblor)
But you would be wrong.
From NHL Insider:
Muscles can be toned, endurance can be refined, leadership qualities can be taught. But how do you train a hockey player's brain? Can a coach work the areas of a player's brain responsible for awareness and intuition?The same technology had dramatic results in basketball, where a 30% improvement on the court (points, assists, rebounds, turnovers, etc.) is the average result expected in the first year of training.
The Israeli Air Force, of all people, has the answer.
More specifically, the answer comes from Applied Cognitive Engineering, or ACE, an Israeli technology company that has worked with the Israelis and the U.S. Air Force, as well as NASA and the American military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Originally used to train fighter pilots, ACE's IntelliGym is now being adopted by more and more hockey coaches.
The cognitive training system develops players' awareness and ability to make fast-paced decisions and has already made its mark on the hockey world in just three years.
"We had no idea what to expect. It kind of looked like a video game. Sure enough, you could see how it related to hockey and increased your awareness and knowledge," said Michael Cornell, a junior defenseman and alternate captain at the University of Maine, whose team used the IntelliGym last season. "I think it was one of those things where it became almost second nature. I read this play differently because of the tools I've been using. It helped develop a high level of awareness for me."
In the sports world, IntellyGym was first harnessed by a number of big-time basketball coaches, including Hall-of-Famer Hubie Brown, who now sits on ACE's advisory board. When the team behind the IntelliGym noticed the incredible speed and action of hockey, they saw another area where they could provide a vital training tool.
"We were asking coaches how they train athletes to make the right decisions," said Danny Dankner, ACE's chief operating officer. "For many of them, they thought being a smart player was a born trait. Either you were born that way or not. But, just like training your muscles, everyone can train their brain fundamentals. The percentage of improvement for pilots in on-air performance was tens of percent on average. If you want to train situational alertness and read-and-react skills and pattern recognition, these are skills that are harder to train."
While other schools, including the United States Air Force Academy, have adopted IntelliGym in their hockey programs, the greatest results so far have been with the United States' National Development Team Program. In perhaps the greatest testament to the merits of the program, last summer's draft boasted an impressive 16 selections who had trained with the IntelliGym, including top picks J.T. Miller, Connor Murphy, and Tyler Biggs.
But the number of NHL prospects is not the only statistic ACE boasts in touting the efficiency of its program.
Since adopting the IntelliGym, the United States national Under-18 team has gone from winning 29 percent of its games to a whopping 70 percent. Because the U.S. program has only used the IntelliGym for three years, the sample size for these statistics is rather small. But in the world of hockey, it's championships that are the ultimate metric. And considering the U.S. U-18 team is a three-time world champion and the U-17 and U-18 teams have combined to win 10 of their last 13 tournaments, the results seem to be indisputable.
Amazingly, the IntelliGym games are very low-tech, with graphics that look like they came out of the 1980s.
As the report mentioned, the technology was developed for use in the military. Pilots improved their performance by 30% after using the program for only 10 hours.
Another result is that people who use it seem to have fewer injuries as they are more aware of their surroundings and possible dangers.
Here's something else for BDSers to protest. I look forward to the pickets outside sporting events.
(h/t Gamblor)
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