Damn that Damian Penny! I KNEW there was something off about him.

You just can’t trust a Canadian.

He rented out space on his blog for an attack ad on me.

And he’s CANADIAN.

And that’s not the worst of it. Brian is using the attack ad as a PROMO for SNN!

I am so not going back to SNN.

How pathetic is this?

Schoolgirls marched and shopkeepers closed down their stores in Jenin on Monday in protest at the death sentence handed down against Saddam Hussein by a Baghdad court which found him guilty of crimes against humanity.

Carrying pictures of Saddam, about 250 girls from seven to 13 years old paraded through the town’s refugee camp, chanting “Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv,” the same slogan shouted by jubilant Palestinians when Iraqi rockets slammed into Israel during the 1991 Gulf War - before the marchers were born.

Under Saddam’s rule Iraq donated $25,000 per household for Jenin residents to rebuild homes destroyed in a 2002 Israeli military offensive there.

In the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, masked gunmen from a previously unknown group calling itself Arafat’s Army threatened reprisals against foreign citizens in the Palestinian territories if the sentence against Saddam is carried out.

“We warn the American administration and its collaborators not to hurt Saddam Hussein because … we will target all foreigners, especially the Americans and their British supporters,” one of the men said, without giving his name. “We warn all foreigners in the Gaza Strip, especially the Americans, that they will be kidnapped and killed in front of witnesses.”

The “previously unknown group” label is what the wire services use when terrorist from a known terrorist group—either Hamas or Fatah or their offshoots—suddenly want to kill Americans and not have the U.S. be able to point the finger back at them.

Don’t think they won’t do it. There are plenty of fools in Gaza who think that because they’re working to help the pals, they’re immune to being hurt or murdered by the palestinians. History has proven them wrong.

When I say “Israeli” and “nuts” who’s the first name that comes to mind?

I’d think after you get past the Arab members of the Knesset and a few imams holding citizenship in one pocket and hate-speeches in the other, I’d think “Uri Geller” would come high on that list:

Did a clairvoyant help U.S. commandos ferret Saddam Hussein out of his hiding place in Iraq three years ago?

Israeli-born celebrity psychic Uri Geller, best known for his spoon-bending antics, says the power of the paranormal led U.S. troops to the fugitive Iraqi ex-dictator.

“You remember when they found Saddam Hussein in Iraq? A soldier walked over to a rock, lifted it and then found a trap-door and found him in there,” Geller told Reuters.

“Well, I know that that soldier walked over to that rock because he got information from a ‘remote viewer’ from the United States.”

Yeah, just follow the trail of bent spoons, Uri.

The BBC gives us more proof of Iran’s proxy war with Israel.

A senior Hezbollah official has told the BBC that Iran is providing the group with money to help fund its reconstruction activities in Lebanon.

Kassam Allaik said Iran also had its own groups in Lebanon, rebuilding bridges, roads and mosques.

Lebanon’s Finance Minister, Jihad Azour, also acknowledged that Iranian money is going directly to Hezbollah.

[...] Mr Azour has said that he has been in talks with Iranian officials who had promised to direct funds through the Lebanese government but so far no money has been received.

“Iran is officially providing assistance to Hezbollah, but the reconstruction is done by the government,” Mr Azour said.

When you next read about Hezbullah demanding “representation” in the Lebanese government, remember that it isn’t Hezbullah that’s getting representation. It is Iran. Syria and Iran are plotting between them to destroy the nascent democracy that the Cedar Revolution began.

And the world is too busy watching Israel to pay any attention to this.

Have we heard any UN pronouncements about Syrian-Iranian meddling? No. But Kofi Annan is expressing his “concern” over the current operation in Gaza.

The palestinians remain the Middle East’s sleight-of-hand. While everyone’s watching the “Nothing up my sleeve” hand, the other hand runs the murderous thugocracies and mullahcracies that infest the region.

And only Israel gets criticized.

Another palestinian woman blew herself up today, trying to take a bunch of Israelis with her. At least she targeted soldiers. That’s more than most of the male suicide bombers can be said to have done.

A female suicide bomber approached Israeli troops Monday in the northern Gaza Strip and blew herself up, the army and Palestinian residents said. One soldier was lightly wounded in the blast, the army said.

[...] The women, who was wearing an explosive device, approached Israeli troops in the town and blew herself up near the forces, the army said.

Palestinian paramedics confirmed that the woman had been killed.

Hamas radio reported that many civilians were injured in the blast.

Oops. Must be that damned feminine emotion that those sheiks keep warning us about. Reuters had a different take on this story. Let’s see how many facts they can stuff in one sentence.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up(1,2) near Israeli troops(3) on Monday in a Gaza town(4) where Israeli forces had killed two women(5) acting as human shields(6) for militants(7), residents said.

Phew! Look at all those facts in a single, one-sentence lead. But nowhere does the Reuters story seem to have the space to report that civilians were murdered. You know, we’re not talking Israeli civilians here. We’re talking palestinian civilians. So Reuters sees fit to edit out that fact, but not the fact that two women were killed in the same town a couple of days ago.

Why, one might almost jump to the conclustion that Reuters is editing out anything that makes the palestinians look bad, but not the Israelis.

Imagine that.

Let’s start with the headline:

Syria Hints at Resistance Vs. Israel

The AP has just legitimized Syria’s claim, and added yet another story in the plus column about “armed resistance.” The lead passes on, uncritically, the terms provided by the Syrian propagandists.

Syria could resort to armed resistance if peace negotiations do not lead to Israel’s return of the Golan Heights, the country’s Information Minister said Sunday.

Mohsen Bilal said international negotiations should lead to Israel giving back the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. If that does not happen, he warned Syria could resort to “other means, which struggling people have used at various points in history, beginning with legitimate resistance.”

So you see, they’re now couching what would amount to a declaration of war by Syria—”Give us the Golan back or else we attack you”—into the revolutionary terminology that is endemic among all terrorists movements today. “Resistance fighters” is the euphemism for Hamas, Hezbullah, the terrorists in Iraq, and any other movement, apparently, that uses force to achieve its ends. It no longer carries the kind of connotation it held during WWII, when resistance fighters blew up German supply trains and killed Nazi officers. No, now it’s used for any Muslim or Arab grievance against, well, mostly Israel, but also the U.S.

But Bilal said Syrians were eager to resume talks.

“The road for peace and stability in the region and the world goes through ending occupation” of the Golan Heights, he said, opening a three-day media forum geared at highlighting Syria’s right to the Golan.

Uh-huh. Say, how did the Syrians lose the Golan anyway? Oh, that’s right. The Six-Day War. Prior to that, what was Syria doing from the Golan? Shelling civilians. But honest, all they want is peace. That’s why they keep on saying they’re going to attack Israel.

Peace. Right.

Gracie is home, has eaten, visited the litterbox, went up the stairs, used her scratching post, oh, and growled at me, big-time—for trying to remove her IV bandage.

I have to give her antibiotics, but I’m hesitating right now. Wow, she is so done with vets, and boy, did she let me know that.

As for Tig and vet smell, we are back to square one. He just hissed at the cat carrier. Gracie isn’t in it.

Someone is going to get locked in a room when I leave for work. I haven’t decided who yet.

The good news: The vet did the right thing and only charged me for the biopsy and the antibiotic drops I took home with me. Everything else they took on themselves, which they should have done, what with screwing up the exploratory first time around. Of course, Gracie’s paying for that screwup with having to have major surgery twice in a month. Which is why I’m switching vets.

The labs will come back sometime this week, and then we’ll know where to go.

The Haredi should STFU about the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem.

Last I checked, Israel was not a theocracy.

Last I checked, religious Jews weren’t extremist Muslims.

Tell me how the behavior of the Haredi protesting the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem differs from the Muslims rioting over the Danish cartoons, because I’m not seeing much of a difference—except that as yet, no one has been killed.

Last time there was a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, three people were stabbed.

Do not mistake my hawkish Zionism for approval of religious extremists exerting their opinion by violence and force.

I found out last night that the state of Israel provides buses in which the men and the women must sit separately. The reason I found out is because the Haredi seem to think they have the right to stone buses that come through their neighborhood that don’t seat men and women separately. What a load of crap. If they want those kinds of buses for the Haredi, they should pay for it themselves. But to throw stones at buses that don’t satisfy their rules? Bullshit. My grandfather was Orthodox. That’s not the Judaism I was taught.

Lynn has more on this issue.

As I said, do not mistake my hawkish Zionism for your religious bigotry. We no longer stone adulterers, in spite of the commandment that says we must. If the sages managed to find a way to interpret that commandment, modern-day sages can work on the ones about homosexuals.

I will not condone, in any way, the thought processes and actions of the Haredi regarding the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem.

Jews stoning buses for not forcing women to sit separate from men. What a great example to set for our children. What a great image to give the AP and Reuters.

Shame on those men. Shame.

Syria is again threatening war:

QUNEITRA, Syria: Syria could resort to armed resistance if peace negotiations fail to make Israel give back the Golan Heights, the Syrian Information Minister said Sunday.

Mohsen Bilal said international negotiations should lead to Israel restituting the occupied Golan Heights territory it took from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed.

He warned that Syria could otherwise resolve to “other means, which struggling people have used at various points in history, beginning with legitimate resistance.”

Normally, I would put in a sarcastic remark along the lines of, “Ooooh, I’m betting Olmert is quaking in his boots.”

But the thing is, once again, I’m seeing signs of the multi-front war. Remember that Syria has re-armed—in record time, and right underneath the noses (gasp! shock!) of the UNIFIL forces—its proxy army, Hezbullah, with Iran’s help. Know that Hamas has been working feverishly to turn Gaza into the same warren of tunnels and ammo dumps as southern Lebanon. And don’t forget that the palestinians in the West Bank have been working on smuggling and perfecting their rockets.

Then there’s the report that 92% of Egyptians see Israel as an enemy state.

There are some of us who are old enough to remember previous multi-front Israeli wars. Caroline Glick may be a doomsayer who believes in going for the worst-case scenario, but the elements of a multi-front war—east, north, south, and west—are all there, just as they’ve always been there.

War is coming. A multi-front war, perhaps as early as next summer.

Syria and Hezbollah are likely to start a war against Israel next summer, according to General Staff assessments that have been gathered during a series of meetings in recent weeks.

While there is no specific estimate concerning the timing of a potential attack, all preparations are being made to ensure maximum preparedness in advance of summer 2007.

The Hezbullah war, specifically Israel’s perceived weakness in refusing to go into an all-out ground war, has emboldened Israel’s enemies. Next summer may be worse than the one that just ended.

I hope not, for my friends’ sakes. But I’m not feeling optimistic.