Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on 11/25/2010 by Meryl Yourish

This is the only post you’re getting today, I think. I’m heading over to my friend Sarah‘s to experience life at full volume (click or just mouseover the link). I’ve got the requests already in the car: A movie, my lacrosse stick, and four cans of soda for the kids so Larry doesn’t have to go out for last-minute grocery shopping. (I have their favorite flavors on hand because they’re over here so much.) I’ll call my family later today, but in the meantime, things I’m thankful for, in no particular order:

  • Good health
  • Good friends
  • Good cats
  • Good job
  • A home that does not have an underwater mortgage
  • An attached garage (so wonderful on a rainy day)
  • My Lasik surgery was successful

And last, but not least, another year blogging. Hey, if I’m blogging, I’m still here, and that’s a big thing to be thankful for.

It’s been a long, tough road to here, and I am very grateful for where I’ve gotten.

Posted in Holidays, Life | 6 Comments

North Korea, ploughshares, swords, common sense…

Posted on 11/25/2010 by SnoopyTheGoon

The headline Why North Korea attack is not a crisis is a masterpiece. It can’t fail to draw your attention from any other these days. I mean, after hearing (and seeing) how NK artillery opened up on a South Korean island, killing four (according to the latest count) and wounding eighteen human beings, it is certainly refreshing that somebody considers the situation not being a crisis.

Being ever doubtful of my mastery of this quirky language, I have checked the dictionary definition of “crisis”.  The definition gives you two options:

  1. An unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
  2. A crucial stage or turning point in the course of something

This only exacerbated my confusion: to my, obviously untrained eye, when one country shells its neighbor and kills its citizens, it seems to be a crisis. But what do I know, when two experts like these:

with such uber-intelligent, penetrating and yet open and straightforward looks, state that it’s not a crisis?
Continue reading →

Posted in Media Bias, Politics, World | 2 Comments

A head start on giving thanks

Posted on 11/24/2010 by Meryl Yourish

I’m thankful for a four-day weekend, among other things.

Tig is currently thankful that I like to keep a towel/rag on the kitchen floor to wipe up spills, because he’s lying on it.

Gracie will be thankful when I come back upstairs and skritch her.

That’s it for my house for now.

Posted in Holidays | Comments Off on A head start on giving thanks

Pre-T-day briefs

Posted on 11/24/2010 by Meryl Yourish

It’s twue! It’s twue! Looks like Stuxnet really is doing some damage to Iran’s nuclear program. It’s starting to become a meme in the MSM. Those wily Jews! Sorry, I meant Zionists!

The de-Judaizing of Israel: Now the Palestinians are saying that the Kotel has nothing at all to do with Jewish history. So, all the archeologists who say that it’s the remnants of the Temple retaining wall are wrong, and Palestinian “scholars” are right. Of course. Watch for UNESCO to back them up on this one. And get a load of this bullshit: Making up facts in action.

He added that the Jews had never used the site for worship until the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

“This wall was never part of the so-called Temple Mount, but Muslim tolerance allowed the Jews to stand in front of it and weep over its destruction,” he wrote. “During the British mandate in Palestine, the number of Jews who visited the wall increased to a point where the Muslims felt threatened, and then there was the Al-Buraq Revolution on August 23, 1929, where dozens of Muslims were martyred and a large number of Jews were killed.”

Sure. These are the people who want peace with Israel. At least, until they can use their new state to destroy the Jewish one.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. The latest AP analysis on Jerusalem. Unless you’ve never read my blog, there’s nothing for me to say that you can’t predict I would say about this piece. I’m betting you could make an Yourish.com Mad Libs by now.

The CSM: Hamas’ PR tool. This article on Gazan “collaborators” could have been written by Hamas. It doesn’t touch upon torture and false accusations until the second page, and this is the closest it comes to thinking that maybe, just maybe, Hamas isn’t arresting only “collaborators.”

Because of the secrecy surrounding the campaign, it is also unclear whether the government is using it to punish political enemies. Younis says he has not heard complaints of this, though the intelligence source said many of those arrested belonged to Fatah.

This is why I loathe so much reporting about Israel (or, frankly, about almost anything) these days. There is no real investigation, only a mild “Let’s get someone to refute this” quote. I worked harder on my investigative reports in effing college than these people do as professionals.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Iran, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias, palestinian politics | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Tuesday international briefs

Posted on 11/23/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Holy crap! War in Korea again: First North Korea announces a brand-new nuclear plant, now it’s bombarding South Korea. Gee, you think there will be a UN resolution condemning this?

Stuxnet did NOT hurt us (ow!): Iran says the Stuxnet worm did no damage at all. None. Nothing. Nada. Those calls to Russian tech support? Just business as usual. In other news, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he has proof that aliens have landed on earth, and they’re Zionists. (And they want to destroy the world.) ((Of course.))

That famous Muslim tolerance: Christians are still being murdered in Iraq, and the Iraqi parliament is thinking about issuing a statement—in response to a Christian lawmaker shaming them publicly for their lack of action towards the tolerant Muslims in Iraq who are murdering Christians. He says that Iraqis should be protecting Christians, not allowing other nations to offer safe haven. Gee. Ya think? But of course, it’s Israel that gets slammed as the intolerant nation.

Palestinians find another way to avoid the talks: The PA is telling Israel that having the Israeli populace vote on any further withdrawals from disputed territories is—wait for it—a violation of “international law.” Yeah, that famous “international law,” the one that is applied to Israelis unequally. Hezbollah in violation of UNSCR 1701? Not a violation of international law. Israel passing a bill that will only go into effect if the Knesset doesn’t get a two-thirds majority vote on withdrawing from the Golan Heights and east Jerusalem? Violation, even though there’s not even a motion on the table for either action. Hey, I have no problem with democracy in action.

Posted in Iran, Israeli Double Standard Time, palestinian politics, Religion, World | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Jewish video

Posted on 11/23/2010 by Meryl Yourish

This one is thanks to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It’s the Evil League of Evil’s application from Tur-Mohel.

Posted in Humor, Jews, Pop Culture | 4 Comments

Things

Posted on 11/22/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Thing 1: My fear of heights gets worse the older I get, so I have to have a really good reason to fly in the first place. The new TSA full-body scan or patdown choice means I won’t be flying at all, I think.

Thing 2: I am thankful that Sarah’s next-oldest son, who sat next to me at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, chose a candy I don’t care for. (Actually, it’s my diet that really is the most thankful. Back on, and losing about a pound a week again.)

Thing 3: Have I mentioned how happy I am that this is a short work week?

Thing 4: No matter how old they get, apparently, I’m going to remember each of my former students at the age of nine, which is how old they were when I taught them. Yeah, the older boys are all shaving by now, and they’re mostly all taller than me (the boys, anyway), but I look at them and I see the child in them. (But I remember to treat them age-appropriately. Nothing burned me more than people who-knew-me-when treating me like I was still that age.) It was so nice seeing so many of them yesterday. Our private screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was perfect. And we wound up getting the big theater, too. Awesomeness over awesomeness, and a memory to take with them for life. Geez, no way I’m going to be able to top this next year.

Posted in Life | 1 Comment

Spam comment of the day

Posted on 11/22/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Is it a bot, or is it someone who doesn’t speak English?

nice a day Yourish.com , i look your blog , this a nice blog and useful. Great for everyone. a lot of Iran and content. i going to plan to read and comment your blog.

Posted in Bloggers | 3 Comments

A video while you wait

Posted on 11/22/2010 by Meryl Yourish

A Yiddish “Mamma Mia.” Yes, really. H/T: My friend Janet.

Posted in Jews, Pop Culture | Comments Off on A video while you wait

Short week tired Monday morning briefs

Posted on 11/22/2010 by Meryl Yourish

The noose tightens around Hezbollah: So, as the UN actually accomplishes something, the committee investigating Rafik Hariri’s death is closer and closer to naming Hezbollah as the perpetrator. The question is, will Hezbollah take Lebanon down over the results? Secondary question: Will anyone accuse Hezbollah of being in violation of multiple UN resolutions/directives the way they always accuse Israel? (Of course that was rhetorical. I’m tired, not stupid.)

If it’s so ineffective, why do they keep writing about it? Every time I read a Stuxnet article, the experts are all, “This is so cool, it would be so awesome if it worked” and the experts in the article are all, “But it didn’t work, ’cause we know all about it now, and the Iranians are still on-target for nukes,” and yet—now they’re saying the Iranian nuclear problems could very welldue to Stuxnet. If you ask me, they just don’t want to give Israel any credit. (Yes, that was sarcasm. I’m tired, not cynical. Oh, wait. I’m cynical. Never mind.)

It’s the Jew-hatred, stupid: Barry Rubin catches the Iranian government backing a pro-Nazi website. Not neo-Nazi. Nazi. But sure, they want nukes for peaceful reasons. Here’s hoping that Stuxnet was only one of a series. (That was sincere. I’m tired, but never too tired to tell Jew-haters to go eff off.)

Posted in Iran, Lebanon, United Nations | Tagged , | Comments Off on Short week tired Monday morning briefs

The double standard, again

Posted on 11/21/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Mahmoud Abbas has said he won’t negotiate without a total building freeze, including the areas of Jerusalem that will be traded to Israel. I anxiously await the 42-minute dressing down of Abbas by Hillary Clinton, the condemnations by the vice-president, Robert Gibbs, and Barack Obama.

Oh, wait. No, I really don’t. Because in this world, every day is Israeli Double Standard Time, and the Palestinians are never punished for intransigence. In fact, the word “intransigence” is generally used only to describe the Israelis when they don’t agree to everything the Palestinians ever want.

The Palestinian president warned on Sunday that he would not accept a U.S. proposal for resuming peace talks unless Israel stops building homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.

Mahmoud Abbas’ position complicated already troubled American efforts to restart peace talks. Israeli hard-liners say they won’t accept the proposed 90-day moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank if it also includes east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians say there can’t be peace talks if Israel continues to build homes in captured territories where they want to establish an independent state. In Cairo on Sunday, Abbas said any construction freeze must include east Jerusalem “first and foremost.”

Of course, the media blames Israel. So does the administration. Blame the man who started it all by insisting in Cairo that “settlement” building had to stop? Feh. Obama bears no blame for anything. Just ask him.

Posted in Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Saturday afternoon open thread

Posted on 11/20/2010 by Meryl Yourish

No, I really don’t expect a long conversation in the comments. But I have errands to run, and people coming over, and tomorrow, I am having a private screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my former students, their families, and selected friends. I doubt you’re going to see much posting.

I can’t remember if I have any Richmond-area readers. Email me if I do. I may have an extra ticket or two.

Posted in Life | 1 Comment

What’s Meryl reading?

Posted on 11/19/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Don’t touch my junk: Read this, if for no other reason than this, Charles Krauthammer uses the word “johnson” and not in relation to Lyndon Baines. Related thought: “He said ‘johnson.’ Huh huh huh huh.”

The recovery is not very recovery-ish: This is really, really, REALLY bad. Charlie Brown’s is my favorite restaurant, ever. I love their prime rib. I’ve been going to one or the other of their franchises since I was in college at Montclair State. Now I hear that not only are they shutting down the Montclair Charlie Brown’s (oh, the pain, the pain!), but 20 other CB’s all over the northeast. Geez. The only good news in this awful piece is that the one near my friends in Hamilton will remain open. Hey, Kim, guess where we’re going for dinner next month? (Oh. Phew. Denville was saved, too.)

Bummer. You can’t recall a U.S. Senator. Well, perhaps we should add an amendment.

Posted in Linkfests | 3 Comments

Farewell to Soccer Dad, and other bloggy things

Posted on 11/19/2010 by Meryl Yourish

I wasn’t sure how public Soccer Dad wanted to make this, since he didn’t put anything up on his blog, but he’s retired from blogging, which is a huge loss for the blogosphere in general and Yourish.com in particular.

He wasn’t my first co-blogger, but he was the most committed and held the longest term of all my other co-bloggers. His posts were deeply interesting, well-written, thorough, and in the last year or so, seemed perfectly attuned with many of the posts that I was writing. Our sentiments on Israel (and other issues) match fairly well. I will miss him as a blogging partner, and this place was definitely the better for having such a talent on display.

Damn. I just realized this means I have to start reading Tom Friedman or Paul Krugman. Ew.

In any case, I’ve been going through blog ennui again, which I’m sure you’ve all noticed. I was wondering if I should look for more co-bloggers, because the solo blog is a dwindling return effort, but then I realized that I do go through periods of time when this blog bores me, and then it stops boring me again, and I still have readers. So I’m going to do what I’ve always done, which is please myself. I think you’re going to see more of the personal posts, and I’m going to try to come up with some new things, because ya know, predictability is, well, boring. (Rahel, if you put “More cat pictures” in the comments, I’m going to find someone in Israel to smack you upside the head. Consider that comment a given in any blog discussion post.)

I have to think this over and decide what to do. This spring will be my tenth blogiversary. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to give it up yet. But I am sure I need to make this thing more appealing to both you and to me.

Posted in Bloggers, Life | 9 Comments

Friday Israeli Double Standard Time briefs

Posted on 11/19/2010 by Meryl Yourish

I’m concerned that they’re concerned: Hold onto your hats. The UNHRC is expressing “deep concern” about the Iranian habit of beating, torturing, flogging, and stoning its citizens. And this year, six more states voted to be “concerned” about these evils. Meanwhile, the UNHRC investigation into Israeli “war crimes” continues on its multi-track road.

Human Rights Watch notices a country other than Israel: Forgot to mention this when it came out, but HRW has noticed that Libya is a pretty piss-poor country when it comes to human rights. Just for kicks and giggles, I searched two words in HRW’s news pages search engine. “Libya” came back with 27 pages of results. “Israel”? 40 pages. Anti-Israel bias? What anti-Israel bias?

Rockets fall on Israel, AP shrugs: A Grad rocket was fired into Israel this morning. Seven mortars have been fired into southern Israel. What does the AP have to say? Well, at the end of an article about 200 IDF soldiers’ data being put online, you get this:

Early on Friday, Gaza militants fired a military-grade rocket into southern Israel, causing light damage and no casualties.

Militants usually fire mortar shells or small rockets they manufacture themselves and only rarely use military-grade projectiles like the relatively powerful Grad launched early on Friday.

So, the AP itself states that it’s a rare occurrence, which would, you would think, make it—newsworthy. But you would be wrong. Now, if the Grad rocket fell on Palestinians and killed them, then it might be newsworthy. No, wait, that’s happened, and it’s barely a blip on the media radar. Of course, if the IDF sent a Hellfire missile up the asses of terrorists trying to fire a missile and killed them, THAT would be all over the newswires. “Israel kills Palestinians” would be the headline, and the lead would neglect to mention or downplay the fact that they were firing missiles at civilians.

What time is it, folks? See title.

Posted in AP Media Bias, Gaza, Israeli Double Standard Time, News Briefs, United Nations | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Friday Israeli Double Standard Time briefs