I’ve been looking for Anne Rice since Katrina hit. And Van der Leun found her for me! Of course, if Anne Rice was hiding in the pages of the Times, she’d be rather obvious except, well, I don’t read the times anymore. Say, Gerard, like my shiny new blog?

Michele’s got a great charity for victims of Katrina: She’s buying school supplies and sending them to evacuees. Here’s the latest information. And here’s the main page.

Ilyka is being Ilyka, which means, man, you don’t want to get on her bad side. She’s positively Hulk-like sometimes. Er, not that she’s big and green. Just angry.

Lynn’s with me on the Condi Rice situation: She is not Israel’s friend.

Lair, it’s obvious you want her. Find her owners and make your crew a foursome again. (Wow, could that sound more obscene? Cats! Kittens! We’re talking four-legged kitties!)

That’s enough for today. Rejewvenated, indeed. How many posts is this today? I’ve lost count.

I have wanted to have this more prompt for the longest time, because now I can write about things that only women are interested in, and not get grief from the guys about it. Because, gentlemen, you don’t have to read the post. Ergo, the more prompt. Go. Shoo. Seeya.
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Have you read Bill Whittle’s latest, much-linked piece yet?

I haven’t.

I sort of stopped right here:

Now please pay attention to this, because I’m not going to state it again, and if you don’t hear it now much mischief will follow:

I believe that the human animal – the raw material of our physical bodies – is essentially interchangeable. By this I mean that I could take the children of Fallujah and turn them all into Astronauts, convert Jewish babies into fanatical, mass-murdering SS guards, and shake a generation of the poorest Voodoo-worshippers in Haiti into a cadre of top-flight nuclear physicists, chemical engineers and computer scientists.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Can you see the problem with these examples?

He takes the children of Iraqis from the heart of the “insurgency,” and turns them into Astronauts.

He takes the poorest of the poor from Haiti and turns them into physicists, engineers, and scientists.

He takes Jews and turns them into Nazis.

Which of these things is not like the other?

Bill, I have a suggestion for you: Edit, edit, edit. Because your point is not being made.

Am I being too sensitive? Perhaps. But when the anti-Israel left is filled with remarks about “zionazis,” and when Ariel Sharon is likened to Hitler, I think that pointing out a truly offensive example comparing Jews and Nazis is not out of order.

It seems to me that if Bill is trying to make a point, he should perhaps turn the Nazi into a Jew. Or choose someone else to pick on.

My tribe gets bashed enough from our enemies. We don’t need it from our friends.

The old index.html file has been deleted, and you should be directed here. If any of you have the full address, including the index.html part, you need to get rid of that last. So, no updating the link unless you’re fond of directing people to the index file instead of the site default.

Tell your friends, and do me a favor and tell me if the RSS feed is working or not. In fact, tell me if anything isn’t working right.

One more time, I’ll point out you only have to register if you are going to post comments. And you should post a comment immediately upon registering, because I have to approve your first comment before you can comment freely.

I know, sounds confusing. But it’s simple, really. And it keeps spammers and idiots at bay. Of course, I might approve an idiotic comment just so we can laugh at it.

So. I would very much like to hear from folks. Is my Netscape 4.7 reader still with me? I haven’t tried to rebuild the email yet, so I don’t have access to your email address. As I recall, you can read the posts on 4.7, but they’re really, really ugly. At least, they were on The Jewish View.

I haven’t finished the blogrolls yet, not by far. Nor is this going to be the permanent design. We have a way to go on that.

I think I need a new tagline, too. Suggestions welcome. Hubris, no obscenities, please.

The title of this post came from a conversation with Larry and Sarah on the way to Jake’s soccer game yesterday. I was telling them that the new software seemed to have “rejuvenized” me, but I knew that was the wrong word, finally realized it was “rejuvenated,” and then Larry said that “ReJewvenized” would be a great name for a Jewish blog.

Anyone out there wants it, it’s yours. I’m keeping the name I started with.

The AP is busy blaming Israel for what turned out to be a “work accident.” Let’s parse the bias, shall we?

Israel denies strike on Hamas

ATTACK FOLLOWED ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TOUR OF EVACUATED GAZA SETTLEMENTS

Wow, that’s some headline and subhead. It’s a denied “strike,” then it’s an “attack.” Let’s look at the lead:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A mysterious blast after nightfall Monday leveled a building in Gaza City, killing four people and wounding at least 30, residents and hospital officials said. The militant Islamic Hamas group blamed Israel, but the Israeli military said it was not involved.

The explosion came hours after Palestinian security forces got their first look at demolished Jewish settlements in Gaza, touring the area ahead of Israel’s formal hand-over in mid-September. The joint tour by Palestinian commanders and Israeli military officials marked the first time Palestinian authorities were allowed into the settlements, which were evacuated two weeks ago.

Several things to note: First, they’re quoting Hamas, a group the AP usually says is “sworn to Israel’s destruction.” Either the reporter felt it wasn’t worth his time to ask the IDF if they had sent a missile into a Gaza home, or the Mercury News cut it out. I can’t find the original AP article. My gut is that it was the former. This is a great example of an entirely biased story, no balance whatsoever.

Regarding the second paragraph, what does the fact that the explosion happened after the tour of the demolished settlements have to do with anything? It doesn’t. But hey, way to get another jab in at Israel.

The blast in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shajaiyeh destroyed a house where known Hamas members lived. Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, charged that an Israeli missile hit the house, with a group spokesman, Munir al-Masri, accusing Israel of continuing its “dirty assassination policy, which gives us the right to respond and to defend ourselves.”

Once again, we are quoting murderers devoted to the cause of destroying the Jewish state, and all the Jews inside it. Once again, there is no quote from Israel. And please note that the spokesman has a name. Most Israeli spokesmen have no names, and are often referred to as “the Israeli military said” or “the IDF said.”

Some residents said it was apparently a case of explosives in the house detonating prematurely as Hamas militants worked on a bomb.

Interesting. Buried more than halfway down the article, we finally get a suspicion that this may not have been Israel’s fault.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called the explosion “regrettable” and said “security is investigating the cause.”

Apparently, even Abu Mazen knew it was a “work accident” in a bomb factory, but the AP didn’t let that get in the way of blaming Israel. Let’s reach into our anti-Israel bag and grab the nearest club, shall we?

Israeli aircraft have often raided the neighborhood, targeting Palestinian militants, but the raids all but stopped after a cease-fire went into effect in February.

There’s more Israel-bashing, but it’s pretty much off the topic of the explosion. This version of the story didn’t go very far—the updated version now includes the fact that yes, it was the result of an explosion at a bomb factory (although they don’t seem to be able to find the ages, genders, and names of the dead, like they do every time the IDF kills a terrorist or any other palestinian). But it’s interesting to note how badly off-target the story was, and how, of course, the AP did not issue a correction or retraction.

What media bias? Oh, that one.

Not much time this morning. Just a few links, and feel free to post in the comments links to other news stories or trackbacks to other blogs that have more news. You’ll have to have your first comment approved before you can comment at will, so don’t get frustrated if they don’t show up right away. Work beckons.

The palestinians are not only claiming victory, they are actively working with Israel’s enemies to destroy her:

Tehran, Sept 6 - Palestine’s ambassador to Tehran Salah Zawawi said here Monday, “Beyond doubt, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza Strip was a big step, and a great victory for the Palestinian nation.

Speaking at a conference sponsored by the Iranian Society for Defense of Palestinian Nation, titled, “Zionists’ Defeat in Gaza, Reasons, and Future Developments”, Zawawi added, “The Palestinian nation is happy today having achieved this great victory, that is the fruit of thousands of martyrs’ pure blood throughout the holy occupied land of Palestine.”

Zawawi reiterated, “This is just the beginning of the way for the Palestinian nation and we will not rest at peace until full liberation of occupied Palestine.”

I certainly hope he’s on the IDF’s top ten list.

By the way, those Gazan palestinians? The ones who are getting their own state? Still firing rockets at Israel.

And, oh yeah—They’re still working on ways to make newer and better explosives to destroy Israelis. There was a major “work accident” yesteday.