Heroes, on NBC. Two words: Watch it.

If you ever liked comic books or superheroes, you’re going to love the show.

NBC is repeating it tomorrow night at 8.

I loved it.

They haven’t found the brick yet, but I’m sure we’ll get him. (For non-comics readers, the brick is the super-strong character. Hulk was the brick in the Avengers.)

This week’s Shire Network News is up, and is now officially a Hot Air affiliate.

I wonder what’s going to happen the first time I decided to go left on my contribution?

Anyway, I did not get one in this week, due to the holidays. But I’ll be back next week, and I feel a mocking podcast coming on. Meantime, Tom Paine is back with, uh, a patriotic songfest, Brian says.

Jews don’t count: Say, did you know that Israelis are still suffering from rocket attacks by terrorists? Of course you didn’t. Because the world doesn’t care about Jews getting hurt or killed, only about Jews hurting or killing others. So most news services bury the information deep in their world news stories, so that it doesn’t get published in the three-paragraph “World News” sections of most papers. Or they don’t write about it at all. I’d link to those last, but, well, you can’t link to something that doesn’t exist. Which is my point.

UN Wuss-keeping Force: The UN “peacekeeping” force isn’t going to do anything but march around wearing pretty blue helmets. Color me shocked, shocked, I tell you.

They say they cannot set up checkpoints, search cars, homes or businesses or detain suspects. If they see a truck transporting missiles, for example, they say they can not stop it. They cannot do any of this, they say, because under their interpretation of the Security Council resolution that deployed them, they must first be authorized to take such action by the Lebanese Army.

So, what exactly are they there for? Oh, that’s right. To stop the Israelis from destroying Hezbullah. My bad.

Terrorists speak truth to media, media ignores it: See, the terrorists have been saying all along that they have absolutely no intention of recognizing Israel, and, in fact, that their goal is to destroy the Jewish state—utterly. But the media keeps on pretending that the terrorists don’t mean it. Even when they say things like this:

Opposition to Palestinian unity government mounts: Four armed Palestinian organizations issued a joint statement Sunday saying they would harm any PA government that would recognize Israel, as demanded by President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Popular Resistance Committees, al-Aqsa Brigades, Abu Rish Brigades and another Islamic group (Tawhid) – said they would back any government that would not recognize Israel and fight any government that does.

Resistance Committees spokesperson Abu Abir, who spoke on behalf of all four groups, said, “Any government declaring its recognition of Israel will become a target for our fighters. We will fight such a government with all means necessary and deal with it as though it were a derivative of the occupation.”

And yet, I can have an argument with otherwise intelligent and logical people, who insist that the terrorists don’t mean what they say, and that the palestinians want peace with Israel—even as poll after poll says they do not.

None so blind, eh?

Mel Gibson, Undercover Anti-Semite: Our favorite actor (he’s right down there with shit-for-brains scientologist Tom Cruise) went to a screening of his latest film—in disguise. Please don’t stop snickering on our account. Laugh out loud, if you wish. I did.

He arrived at Cameron on Thursday morning wearing a mask and wig so he wouldn’t be noticed, university spokeswoman Amber McNeil said.

Maybe he’s a secret agent now, and that’s why he was in disguise.

Okay, I’ll stop laughing now.

Oh, no I won’t. Schadenfreude? You betcha.

This one is a must-read for Jews and non-Jews alike. Caroline Glick writes about Jews, Jewish identity, and Israel.

AS STEYN notes, today hatred against Jews is anchored on Israel. Provoked by this new form of Jew-hatred, some Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora see Israel as a burden. This is a self-inflicted tragedy. For if we look at Israel, we see that far from being a burden, our Jewish state is one of the most stunning successes of Jewish history.

Today, Israel is the home of the largest Jewish community in the world. More Jews live in Israel today than at any time in our history. And the state in which we live is one of the most vibrant, optimistic, “happening” countries in the world. We have the highest birthrate in the West. Rates of entrepreneurship are among the highest in the world.

[...] Jewish life blossoms in Israel as it has nowhere else in our history. The rates of literacy in Jewish learning in Israel are higher than they have ever been anywhere in our history. Israel is the home of some half dozen generations of Jews whose mother tongue is the language of the Bible and the Talmud.

Israel’s success stems from its serving as a vehicle that allows us to express our heritage in all facets of society. And our Jewish heritage is one of the most precious heritages known to man.

The Jewish people gave humanity the concepts of God, liberty and law. Our understanding of the fallibility of mankind has prevented us from being tempted by false prophets promising us heaven on Earth, and has allowed us to take practical steps toward improving our lot and our world.

All of the ideals that Israel represents, both spiritual and physical, have formed the foundations for human progress and freedom throughout the world for millennia. Our willingness to stay loyal to our identity and our heritage has been the key to our survival throughout the ages in the face of the countless foes who sought to destroy us both spiritually and physically.

[...] Rosh Hashana marks the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance that precede Yom Kippur. To properly atone for our sins and correct our mistakes, we must understand who we are, what we represent and what we can and should aspire to as Jews. To do this, we must reject the notion that those who hate us can tell us who we are. To do this we must embrace our Jewish identity and uphold our commitment to our collective destiny.

The fact that hatred of Jews has endured for so long says nothing about the nature of the Jewish people. What does speak volumes about that nature is the fact that through the ages our fortunes have been directly related to our ability to spurn our enemies’ distorted portraits of the Jewish people and our willingness to endure and progress as Jews in the midst of that hatred.

This one carries a read-in-full recommendation

The Arab enemies of Israel tried to get a UN resolution condemning Israel’s nuclear weapons. They failed, mostly.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Western nations foiled a bid by Arab and Islamic states on Friday to declare Israel’s reputed nuclear arsenal a threat that must be removed in a politically charged vote at a U.N. atomic watchdog meeting.

Canada sponsored a 45-29 “no-action” ballot that prevented International Atomic Energy Agency member states from voting on a motion demanding Israel use atomic energy only for peaceful purposes and help set up a Middle East nuclear arms-free zone.

But the gathering voted 89-2 for a milder resolution on Israel, also initiated by Arab states, “affirming the urgent need for all states in the Middle East to accept full-scope IAEA safeguards on all their nuclear activities.”

[...] Nineteen nations, including India and Russia, abstained over the “threat” measure, and three in the safeguards vote.

Israel and its closest ally the United States were the sole “no” votes on the IAEA safeguards resolution.

Watch for the seething and whining to occur. This was a non-binding resolution, but the world condemns Israel for not following non-binding resolutions, even while it ignores other nations (Lebanon, Iraq, Iran) for ignoring the binding UN Security Council resolutions. What time is it, kiddies?

That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time.

I filled up my gas tank yesterday. I’ve been waiting for prices to drop below $2.00 a gallon, and here in Richmond (south side), they did.

The WaWa across the street is a penny cheaper, but it’s a) on the wrong side of the street, b) always too crowded, not worth saving a whole sixteen cents per tankful, and c) doesn’t sell lottery tickets, so when I lotto-pool with Sarah I’d have to make two stops instead of one.

So Chubby’s it is, and this was the total:

You know, I realized as I was about to snap the picture that it would get one of those pictures of me in it, which weirded me out in so many ways, thinking about those creeps who like to put nekkid pictures of themselves in, like, ebay items. So I stepped to the left of the pump and stuck out my arm to take the picture. The most you’re going to find when you look closely is my right arm. Which was clothed. Short sleeves, it was near ninety in Richmond today. We always get good weather for Rosh Hashana.

I find the cheapest prices via Richmondgasprices.com. Most cities have one, either go to mine and click on the link to yours, or type your city’s name in the URL.

You’d be amazed at the difference in prices in only a few blocks.