The DNS is settling today, and comments will not be ported over once things are all set up at BlueHost.

Try not to be so talkative until I let you know everything has moved over.

Thanks!

From Treppenwitz, via the OU. Please add it to your seder Monday and Tuesday.

May the One Who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon, bless the kidnapped and captive soldiers, including among them Gilad ben (the son of) Aviva Shalit; Ohed ben Malka Goldwasser; Eldad ben Tova Regev; Guy ben Rina Hever, Ron ben Batya Arad; Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sarah Katz; Tzvi ben Penina Feldman; and Zecharia Shlomo ben Miriam Baumel. May the Holy One, Blessed be He, watch them and save them from all trouble and oppression and from all evil and injury.

May He be filled with mercy for them, to cause them to recover and to heal them, to strengthen them and to invigorate them, and to bring them speedily to freedom, to return to the embrace of their families. May they merit long lives and years of much strength and peace. In the merit of our forefathers, may the descendants be saved and fulfill through them the verse, ‘Release my soul from imprisonment to praise Your Name’ (Psalms 142:8), swiftly and soon, and let us all say Amen.

The difference between us and them: We praise as heroes people who save lives. Iran praises the ones who destroy it. This is a sick, sick, sick culture.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised his country’s ability to recruit “hundreds of suicide bombers a day,” saying “suicide is an invincible weapon.”

Ahmadinejad made the comments during a visit to a site south Iran used to prepare suicide bombers during the Iraq-Iran war, Iranian state television reported.

He praised Hizbullah fighters for their suicidal spirit during last summer’s confrontation with Israel.

Iran recruited thousands of suicide bombers, many of whom were children, and sent them to the frontline to face Saddam Hussein’s army.

“Suicide bombers in this land showed us the way, and they enlighten our future,” he said.

The Iranian president said the will to commit suicide was “one of the best ways of life.”

Here’s what he was talking about. This was the beginning of the Basiji, Ahmadinejad’s base of support:

During the Iran-Iraq War, the Ayatollah Khomeini imported 500,000 small plastic keys from Taiwan. The trinkets were meant to be inspirational. After Iraq invaded in September 1980, it had quickly become clear that Iran’s forces were no match for Saddam Hussein’s professional, well-armed military. To compensate for their disadvantage, Khomeini sent Iranian children, some as young as twelve years old, to the front lines. There, they marched in formation across minefields toward the enemy, clearing a path with their bodies. Before every mission, one of the Taiwanese keys would be hung around each child’s neck. It was supposed to open the gates to paradise for them.

At one point, however, the earthly gore became a matter of concern. “In the past,” wrote the semi-official Iranian daily Ettelaat as the war raged on, “we had child-volunteers: 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds. They went into the minefields. Their eyes saw nothing. Their ears heard nothing. And then, a few moments later, one saw clouds of dust. When the dust had settled again, there was nothing more to be seen of them. Somewhere, widely scattered in the landscape, there lay scraps of burnt flesh and pieces of bone.” Such scenes would henceforth be avoided, Ettelaat assured its readers. “Before entering the minefields, the children [now] wrap themselves in blankets and they roll on the ground, so that their body parts stay together after the explosion of the mines and one can carry them to the graves.”

Iran sinks to the depths of depravity, and uses Islam as its justification for every step of the way. There is nothing similar, nor has there ever been, in Judaism. Life is sacred. Children are the future. Suicide is forbidden.

And yet, Jews are the ones who are vilified. Israel is the nation that the world thinks is more dangerous than Iran. I think we may, to our everlasting regret, find otherwise before too much more time has passed.

Did you know that those racist, apartheid Israelis—the one who are accused of randomly murdering Palestinians for the sheer joy of it—sent a Magen David Adom ambulance to Ramallah to save a baby who had been poisoned?

A bullet-proof Israeli ambulance entered the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday in order to save a six-month old baby in critical condition after reportedly inhaling toxic substances.

This was the first time a Magen David Adom ambulance entered the Palestinian territories since the second intifada broke out in the year 2000.

Up until now, MDA ambulances would only go as far as the IDF checkpoints, where they would pick up Palestinian patients in need of medical care in Israel.

Immediately after receiving the Palestinians’ call for help, the Civil Administration’s West Bank division called MDA requesting paramedics from Jerusalem take on the mission. Two Arab-Israeli paramedics took the call.

The paramedics evacuated the unconscious baby, just a few hours after two other babies, who went to the same daycare center as the boy, died of similar symptoms.

MDA believes the babies were poisoned, but it is not clear with what or how.

And here are the parts of the story that should be bringing the bile down on the Palestinians, not on the Israelis:

Upon arriving in Ramallah, the ambulance was escorted by a convoy of Palestinian police, who accompanied it all the way to the hospital, and blocked roads to ensure it got through safely.

I would also like to point out that the ambulance was a special bullet-proof ambulance. Palestinian terrorists have set traps for aid workers before. That’s why this is the first MDA ambulance to enter Ramallah since the Terror War began. The MDA now makes special armored ambulances to cope with such things.

Of course, stories like this are never noted by the mainstream media. Nope. Nothing positive about Israel may be allowed.

Yeah, Gorilla Boy is at it again.

Iran’s hardline president said Saturday that Britain and its allies were “arrogant and selfish” for not apologizing over what he called the incursion of 15 captured British sailors and marines into Iranian waters.

President Bush described the 15 Britons as “hostages” in his first comments on the capture and said their seizure was “inexcusable,” calling for their release.

[...] Britain, meanwhile, appeared to be easing its stance, emphasizing its desire to talk with Iran about what it termed a regrettable situation.

“We continue to express our willingness to engage in dialogue and discussions with Iran,” Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said at a European Union summit in Bremen, Germany. I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen … What we want is a way out of it.”

Iran appeared unreceptive.

“Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches,” the country’s official news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The Lion of Britain has become a pussycat.

Witness:

Most Britons oppose immediate military action to free 15 navy personnel detained in Iran, and believe the government will resolve the crisis peacefully, a poll released Saturday suggests.

Only 8 percent of respondents to the survey for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said Britain should prepare to use military force at this stage, nine days into the crisis. Asked if force should be used as a last resort, 48 percent were opposed and 44 percent in favor.

Wow. So glad I’m not living in the U.K., for so many reasons. No use of force? Not even as a last resort? What the hell happened to “Rule Britannia”?

That’s just sad.