I scheduled a few posts for tomorrow, but I’m going on a small vacation before going into closing-on-the-condo/packing/cleaning/painting/moving hell. I shall be visiting my friends and family in New Jersey, and I’m looking forward to it. And while I’m bringing my laptop, well, I was planning on spending most of the time outside by Kim and Bob’s pool. And maybe seeing a movie. And going to my favorite restaurant in NJ. And playing with Puddin’.

I wish I had a little more time to spend in NJ, but it’s a there-and-back-again trip, so no time for Katz’s in NYC, or visiting with my New York JBlogosphere buddies. Or friends I used to work with. Too bad Drew’s next comedy club appearance is next week instead of this one.

On the other hand, if people want to come to where I plan on being on, say, Sunday afternoon (West Orange), I could meet up for a few minutes. I’m thinking of picking up some kosher steaks while I’m there. Or maybe some corned beef. Yum. Corned beef.

More than anything, though, I’m looking forward to coming back and having only days before I get out of this craphole to a place where I don’t worry about leaving my laptop for four days, and wind up taking it with me even though I have my work laptop and don’t need to take two.

September 2nd. Closing on the 2nd. Moving on the 5th. Two weeks. Only two more weeks.

“I don’t care who will stamp my passport, a minister in Gaza or the president in Ramallah,” he said. “Both are using us as tools in their internal conflicts … I wish that an earthquake would come and take both sides from our life.”

The context.

Reuters has a puff piece that pretends to be reporting about the “liberalization” of Saudi Arabian cities. Let’s take a look.

The Saudi government has a project to develop at least four “economic cities” where many expect the religious establishment will be kept at a distance from social life, the workplace and education.

Women will be able to drive in them and there may even be cinema houses.

There are already some spaces in the country of 25 million people where the religious police — charged with maintaining “public morals” — are nowhere to be seen.

Premise one: Saudis (and by extension, foreign nationals) will be able to live normal, mostly-Sharia-free lives in at least four places.
Premise two: Women will be able to drive.
Premise three: There may be movie theaters. (Hoo-boy, the Saudis are going to join the twentieth century!)
Premise four: Areas already exist where the religious police “are nowhere to be seen”.

Now let’s take apart these premises, using the rest of the Reuters piece.

Jeddah carries the slogan “Jeddah is different” and Riyadh residents spend summer holidays in the Red Sea city, where local women with uncovered faces swan through shopping malls or sit in late-night shisha-pipe dens.

“Uncovered faces” is not exactly able to drive, work, and relax in public without fear of the religious police beating them and hauling them off to jail. And we discover that the zealots are chomping at the bit to take down these dens of iniquity.

Islamists constantly fulminate against the situation in Jeddah as if it was Sodom and Gomorrah.

The religious police generally also avoid the diplomatic district in Riyadh and Dhahran in the Eastern Province that houses Aramco.

Residents of the Eastern Province say the vice squad generally also leaves the city of Khobar alone, but has a strong presence in the neighbouring city of Dammam.

Please note the words in bold. If the religious police “generally” avoid areas, that means that there is a presence, and that they are not “nowhere to be seen.” So these women are at risk of being arrested pretty much at any time.

Premises one, two, and four have all been disproven by the very words in the rest of the Reuters article. As for premise three, again, well, gee, movie theaters. That’s so 1900.

Way to shill for the Saudis, though. Yes, that liberalization of Saudi Arabia continues apace. How long before the new, and highly touted coed university is attacked by either terrorists or the religious police?

Last year, Israel released 4 Jordanian murderers of Israelis to Jordan. At the time, Israel Matzav observed:

The Olmert - Barak - Livni government is about to turn four Jordanian murderers over to the Jordanian government in return for a promise that the murderers - who have served seventeen years out of a life sentence - will not be considered for a pardon for at least eighteen months.

Well it hasn’t been 18 months, it’s been a little more than a year and the Jordanian government has shown its contempt for Israel by releasing the four early.

Jordan, under public pressure after a recent Hezbollah-Israel prisoner swap deal, on Wednesday freed four inmates handed over by Israel last year to finish their sentences at home, officials said.

Sultan Ajlouni killed Pini Levy 18 years ago now gets to embrace his mother to the cheers of adoring crowds.

Efraim Zuroff wrote about the killing last year:

THAT NIGHT, at approximately 12:10, a terrorist infiltrated our lookout and managed to get to the guard post overlooking the river. He shot Pini with his pistol, grabbed his M-16 and headed for the hut where the rest of us were fast asleep. Luckily Baruch, who was initially shocked by the shooting, came to his senses and ran to the hut to alert us and try and catch the killer.

He caught him in our kitchen, about to open the door to the room where we were sleeping. It would have been dangerous to shoot (the walls were as thin as paper), so he hit him with the butt of his rifle.

Here’s the unforgettable part:

Next day, the IDF’s top brass came to the lookout to investigate the incident. Baruch related what had happened step-by-step. After he finished the story in the kitchen, Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai, at that time head of the Central Command, asked him bluntly: “Lama lo haragtem oto?” (Why didn’t you kill him?) - to which no one gave a clear answer.

The soldiers, of course, were following the Geneva conventions. Ajilouni was disarmed, they could not kill him.

So has the release of the Jordanian murderers led to higher levels of commercial and cultural ties with Jordan? Well no.

But the release of Samir Kuntar led to the release of four Jordanian murders. It was also likely the prelude for releasing more terrorists to Fatah and, eventually, to Hamas. When Israel releases prisoners it builds confidence - that it will release even more.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

I was watching some Get Smart last night.

In one episode, Cutback at Control, a Senate sub-committee is seeking to de-fund Control. Siegfried of KAOS knows of Control’s financial troubles and recruits Max to join KAOS. When Max meets him to discuss his defection, Siegfried informs he needs to undergo training. There’s dialog that goes like this:

Siegfried:… either you graduate or we shoot you.
Max: Graduations must be confusing, you don’t know whether to bring a cap and gown or a blindfold.

I’m guessing that at Hamas graduations, they bring both.

Apparently Hamas folks don’t just learn to fight, they also learn to dance. First there was Riverdance: Gaza. Now there’s Twinkletoes.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

I told you the Iranians were lying when they announced that they could launch an air strike team on Israel. (H/T: Mike)

Fact is, the Iranian Air Force–or more correctly, Iran’s two Air Forces have serious training, equipment, airspace and logistical issues that make a successful strike on Israel almost impossible.

We’ll begin with the airspace problem. Getting to Israel from Iran means over-flying countries like Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Crossing Iraq and Jordan offers the most direct route, but that means a confrontation with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy jets–a battle the Iranians would certainly lose. Turkey and Saudi Arabia would also oppose transit by Iranian fighters headed for Israel, and both have better jets and pilots.

In fact, Iran’s most “viable” option for an airstrike against Israel would require a long, circuitous flight down the Persian Gulf, around the Arabian Peninsula, and up the Red Sea. That route would carry Iranian fighters through international airspace, but it would significantly increase flight time, in-flight refueling requirements and the probability of detection.

And, speaking of tankers, did we mention that Iran has only two–a KC-707 (similar to our own KC-135) and a modified Boeing 747. The older KC-707 flies on a periodic basis; as for the 747, there is some speculation that it has been converted for other missions, such as hauling cargo.

There’s much more. Read it all for an in-depth look at why the Iranians can barely muster enough fighter jets for an air show on “Death to the Infidels” Day.