Introducing the Hulk News Briefs

There are so many news stories pissing me off that I think I’ve gone past the “I can’t even” portion of my brain and into the naked fury bit, also known as my inner Hulk. So let’s begin with effing Russia, the country my grandparents and great-grandparents were smart enough to emigrate from (thanks, smart family!)

Oh, fuck you, Russia: Russia sells S-300 missiles to Iran. The only reason Iran wants them is to stop Israel or the U.S. from being able to take out Iranian nuclear weapons plants. Russia shrugs and says that there’s nothing to worry about. The chants of “Death to Israel”? No biggie. An Iranian general calling the destruction of Israel “non-negotiable“? Oh, don’t sweat it.

Israel (among others) downgrades the representative it’s sending to Russia to commemmorate the USSR’s victory over Nazi German? Well, that’s something to get angry about.

When even VOX says the Iran deal sucks, it sucks: Even uber-lefty “explainer” “news” site thinks the Iran deal is bad. that should tell you something. Also, this.

The way the president has set this up, he has incentivized Iran to pocket huge benefits up front.

In Wisconsin, being conservative and Republican is illegal: National Review profiles the Wisconsin “John Doe” laws, that purport to be looking for illegal money in politics but are actually intimidating conservative groups. They are secret trials that you are not allowed to mention to anyone. It’s KGB Russia in one of the most progressive states in America. But don’t think you’re safe in a red state. Here in Virginia, a Marine was arrested because of a Facebook post.

Ending on a hopeful note: David Cameron on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Read it all.

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Happy 7th Tiggerversary!

Seven years ago today, I picked up my big dumb fluffball from Wendy’s Feline Friends (head over there and kick in a few bucks if you’ve got ’em).

That was then.

Tig 3.0 in my books

This is now.
Tig at 8

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Happy Passover!

Chag Pesach sameach to my Jewish friends, family, and readers.

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A Passover video for you

I particularly love the ending.

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Have a Technion Rube Goldberg Passover

This video is great. These kids are amazing.

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When “Kill the Jews” is not anti-Semitic

British Jews are terrified. They are so terrified that they are unwilling to call an anti-Semitic attack by a group of drunks anti-Semitic.

The story is this:

A group of Jewish teenagers today told how they barricaded themselves inside as a drunken mob stormed their synagogue shouting “Kill the Jews”.

Four men and two women were arrested after the brawl in the early hours of Sunday at the Ahavas Torah synagogue in Stamford Hill, north London.

Eyewitnesses told how the mob hurled abuse as they smashed windows and punched a security guard in the face.

Note that it is now commonplace for Jews to have to have security guards in their houses of worship all over Europe. To protect them from groups of “antisocial” drunks.

The incident took place after a drunk man kicked out of a nearby house party began arguing with a group of Jewish teenagers. The man’s friends joined in and chased the boys inside.

An eyewitness account:

He said: “One girl tried to calm things down but her friend was too drunk to listen. When police arrived they legged it but police caught six of them.

“They started shouting ‘you f***ing Jews’. It’s usually fine around here. I don’t ever have to hide the fact I’m Jewish. I don’t really think it was anti-Semitic but it just got out of hand.”

They also shouted “Kill the Jews” and tried to storm the synagogue.

Here’s my problem with saying it wasn’t anti-Semitic. The men got drunk, got angry, and then went after some Jews. And when the Jews ran away, they tried to break into a Jewish house of worship to fight them, with the intention–make no mistake–of beating the living shit out of them. And yet, a rabbi–a rabbi–says that it wasn’t an anti-Semitic attack.

Scotland Yard said it was treating the incident as an anti-Semitic attack but Rabbi Maurice Davis was convinced it was not religiously motivated and was just an example of anti-social behaviour.

He said: “It was depressing what happened but it definitely wasn’t anti-Semitic. It was just anti-social. The parents of the boys whose party it was came round to apologise. They are really decent people. It’s a beautiful area here and everyone gets along.”

Look at the video and judge for yourself. “Kill the Jews” was evidently just an expression caused by the alchohol in the thugs’ systems. They didn’t really mean it. It’s not anti-Semitism. They’re just antisocial drunks.

And yet, the “antisocial” drunks managed to go after a group of Jews, chase them to a synagogue, and try to break into that synagogue to beat them up.

But it’s not anti-Semitism. No. It’s just a bunch of antisocial hooligans going after Jews because they’re drunk.

Riiight.

Posted in Anti-Semitism, World | Comments Off on When “Kill the Jews” is not anti-Semitic

Seven years of Tigger

While writing a check yesterday, the date struck me as familiar. Turns out it was Tig 3.0’s seventh birthday. I picked him up on April 18, 2008, and he was about two months old. A belated happy birthday to my third Tigger, who is currently sitting on the sofa downstairs, looking out the window at the birds. Here’s my boy watching the snow come down on Monday. May we have many more years together.

 

Tigger

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All the news except what they see fit to print

What’s missing from this New York Times article on yesterday’s strike on Hebollah and Iranians in the Golan Heights?

Context. BIG context. The New York Times elides a threat by Hezbollah to invade Israel in the next conflict.

Nasrallah said in the interview that Hezbollah was ready to fight a new war against Israel in Lebanon and renewed a threat to invade the Galilee region of northern Israel. Hezbollah fighters “must be prepared”, he said.

“When the resistance (Hezbollah) leadership… asks you (fighters)… to enter into Galilee, that means the resistance must be ready to enter into Galilee and to go even beyond the Galilee.”

Here’s how the Times spins that.

The attack, targeting two vehicles traveling in the Syrian portion of the Golan Heights, came days after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said Israeli strikes in Syria constituted serious aggression and that Syria and its allies had a right to respond.

The interview where Nasrallah threatened to invade the Galilee was broadcast days before the missile attack. The missile attack killed Hezbollah commanders–and also an Iranian general. Gee. Whatever could an Iranian general be doing on the Syrian border with Israel, we wonder?

Watch for the Iranian retaliation. They work fast, too. Last week, an Argentinian prosecutor said that Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez covered up the Iranian role in the bombing of the Jewish Center in Buenos Aires in 1994. He was found murdered in his apartment on the day he was to testify about the coverup.

But don’t worry, the Times will definitely blame any Iranian and Hezbollah attacks on Israel. For killing “fighters” on her border with Syria.

Posted in Iran, Israel, Media Bias, Syria | Comments Off on All the news except what they see fit to print

Spinning Jew hatred

YouGov took a poll of British attitudes towards Jews, which found that 45% of Brits hold anti-Semitic attitudes towards Jews. They also surveyed British Jews about how safe they feel in Britain. The following are the resulting headlines of those polls (see end of post).

Take a good, long look at the weasel-wording of most of the headlines. The poll “suggests” Brits are anti-Semitic. The poll that gets the headline is the one in which the majority of British Jews feel they have no future in Europe–not that 45% of Brits hold anti-Semitic attitudes. They reverse the cause and effect, which is a standard tactic of the media when dealing with Israel. Israel bombs Hamas, the headlines scream–noting five paragraphs down that they bombed Hamas in response to rocket or shooting attacks. That is exactly what these stories are doing about British anti-Semitism. British Jews fear they have no future in Europe, most headlines say. Oh, and by the way, nearly half of all Brits are Jew-haters. You know who has the right to concentrate on the Jewish attitudes? The last two headlines, which are from Jewish newspapers, who would naturally report the attitudes of Britain’s Jews first.

Here’s the Reuters lede:

(Reuters) – A quarter of Jews in Britain have considered leaving the country in the last two years and well over half feel they have no long term future in Europe, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

Additionally, anti-Semitic beliefs are widely prevalent among the wider public with 45 percent of Britons agreeing with at least one anti-Semitic sentiment, the YouGov poll for the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) group found.

The AFP story is the same. I can’t find an AP story on the poll. I will not be surprised if they ignore the story.

And in a commentary on the attitudes of Jew-haters worldwride, I leave this screenshot from the last lines of the Daily Mail‘s story.

Not accepting comments on artical about anti-Semitism

The headlines:
Almost half of Britons hold antisemitic view, poll suggests
The new anti-Semitism: Majority of British Jews feel they have no future in UK, says new study
Many ‘hold anti-Semitic views’
Survey shows anti-Semitic views are common among Britons
Anti-Semitic views held by half of Britons, poll suggests
45 per cent of Brits hold antisemitic views and one in four British Jews have considered leaving the UK
Warning over rising tide of anti-Semitism in Britain with one in eight people claiming that Jews talk about the Holocaust to get sympathy
Most British Jews feel they have no future in Europe – poll
Majority of British Jews Polled Feel They Have No Long-Term Future in Europe
Nearly half of British Jews fears community may not have long-term future in UK
Poll: Most British Jews feel they have no future in Europe

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Happy New Year, everyone!

2014 ended nicely for me. My free promotion of Darkness Rising on Amazon got over 2,000 downloads. Readers are already adding their reviews and buying book two. It’s a lovely way to end one year and begin another.

An emailing service called BookSCREAM (@BookSCREAM) picked up the promotion, and I’m guessing about three quarters of my downloads were due to that. So thanks, BookSCREAM, and my fellow authors, keep an eye out for them. They’re an up-and-comer worth watching.

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Book One is free through the end of the year

Darkness Rising: Book One of The Catmage Chronicles is free on Amazon through the end of the year (Dec. 29-31). Don’t have a Kindle? Doesn’t matter. There’s a free Kindle app for your phone, tablet, and even desktop.

Darkness Rising

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Eighth Light

Oh, sure, Verizon. THIS you upload instantly, but I have to wait twice while downloading episodes of Parks and Rec via my Roku.

Eight Light

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Seventh Light

Seventh Light

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Sixth Light

Sixth Light

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Fifth Light

Fifth Light

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