THE DAILY BLADE: Israel And The Armenian Question
Even as American Jewish groups were championing the Armenian Genocide Resolution, lobbyists from Turkey and Israel relentlessly pressured members of the U.S. House of Representatives to squelch the symbolic bill, which was tabled late last week by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Israel’s state policy of Armenian Genocide denial, and its fevered efforts to coerce Pelosi to back off bringing HR 106 to a floor vote, prompted many of Israel’s Armenian citizens – roughly 5,000 Christians and 20,000 Jews - to take to the streets in protest (second item). Unlike Turkey, which prosecutes its citizens for writing about or otherwise acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as settled history, Israel’s media practiced self-censorship, reports The Christian Science Monitor:
With Israel's strategic relationship with Turkey in mind, the Armenian question has become an untouchable topic. The protest went virtually uncovered by most of the local media and got noticed by foreign papers only.
And Israel’s government took a page from the Ahmadinejad Handbook Of Holocaust Denial:
[Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Namik] Tan says there is no proof to support the genocide claims and reiterated what he says is a longstanding offer to bring Turkish and Armenian historians together to study the issue.
That, says George Hintlian, historian of the Armenian community of Jerusalem, is not an option.
"For us," he says, "it's like sitting with David Irving," a self-styled British historian famous for questioning facts surrounding the Holocaust. "Do you sit with deniers?" …
"I think the totality of the Israeli public and the press sympathizes with us, but this double-standard is so embarrassing for Israeli intellectuals that it's hard for anyone here to speak about it. We have a psychological burden for the next generation. The American-Jewish community is saying that this stain should be taken away from the people of the Holocaust, but Israel is acting pragmatically."
Ironically, as Israel curries favor with the Turks it risks losing the once-unquestioned support of the American Jewish community, some of whom are worrying whether they are losing their souls by sacrificing their principles on the alter of pragmatism. The Forward interviewed a member of Anti-Defamation League’s national executive committee who was concerned that the ADL could no longer be counted on to "stand up for what’s right and wrong," and dared to ask: "[A]re our principles put through some kind of filter that involves Israel’s self-interest?"
Editorial Note: The Anti-Defamation League’s National Meeting is being held Nov. 1st though Nov. 3rd. Jewcy and No Place for Denial are joining forces to rally in front of the group’s headquarters (605 Third Avenue, at 39th Street) to "urge the ADL National Meeting to take a moral stand against genocide denial." The rally is on Thursday, November 1st from 7 to 8:30 PM. Be there or be square – oh, and bring your own signs.
Pretty Baby
Gabby Cirenza, 11, and her mother, Cheryl, went shopping for a Halloween costume. Here’s the bawdy selection of children’s costumes they had to choose from, according toThe Washington Post:[A referee outfit with] a micro-mini black skirt and a form-fitting black and white-striped spandex top held together with black laces running up the flesh-exposing sides. … thigh-high black go-go boots that could be bought as an accessory.
[T]he Aqua Fairy, a vampy get-up with a black ripped-up skirt, black fishnet tights and blue bustier that comes in medium, large and preteen. A medium fits a child of 8.
[T]he Funky Punk Pirate Pre-Teen, with an off-the-shoulder blouse and bare midriff ...
[T]he Fairy-Licious Purrrfect Kitty Pre-Teen, which, according to the package, includes a "pink and black dress with lace front bodice and sassy jagged skirt with tail. . . . Wings require some assembly." …
… Major Flirt in army green, the bellybutton-baring Devilicious and a sassy, miniskirted French Maid, pink feather duster included. …
Fishnet tights, once associated with smoky cabarets or strip joints, now come in girls' sizes and cost $3.99.
Cheryl Cirenza, who nixed all these "inappropriate" costumes tells the WaPo: "When I was their age, I was a bunch of grapes."
What’s even scarier than X-rated get-ups for kiddies is that some parents would let their pre-pubescent daughters wear them.
The Stiletto Scoops OpinionJournal’s Political Diary
Former AZ Gov. turned pastry chef Fife Symington is not the only pol who’s claimed to have seen a UFO. In her new book, "Sage-Ing While Age-Ing," actress Shirley MacLaine claims presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) "had a close sighting over my home in Graham, Washington, when I lived there." … So that explains the rationale for Kucinich’s candidacy: Instead of being commanded to take them to his leader, he was commanded to become their leader.
- The Truth Is Out There: Part III, The Stiletto Blog, October 24, 2007
Well, that explains it. According to a new book by actress Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Kucinich received inspiration and possibly policy advice from an alien life form. Ms. MacLaine, the godmother of Mr. Kucinich's daughter, writes that the diminutive Ohio congressman "had a close sighting over my home in Graham, Washington, when I lived there." ... Hmmm. Mr. Kucinich has objected to weaponizing space and many of his economic views also seem alien-inspired (assuming there's an upside-down alien universe where socialism works).
- Dennis the Extraterrestrial Menace, OpinionJournal’s Political Diary, October 29, 2007
The Other Shoe Drops: Updates To Previous Posts
† The Part About Illegal Liberals Don’t Understand: Even the progressive readers of the liberal New York Times understood that Lawrence Downes’ October 28, 2007 op-ed piece was too much to swallow. Downes and his counterparts at other liberal papers smear Americans who oppose illegal immigration as "racists," whereas JamesTaranto and his colleagues at The Wall Street Journal prefer the more subtle calumny "nativists" (last item) – but either way, their pro-illegal immigration biases prevent them from acknowledging that Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with illegal immigration and its implications to our national security, the economic well-being of citizens living at the margins and our sovereignty as a nation.
† Partial Birth Abortion Ruling Interferes With Patient Care. Oh Really?: When the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortions six months ago (Gonzales v. Carhart), abortion rights activists shrieked that "women would be harmed, physicians would be jailed, and state legislators would be energized to pass similar laws," reports Legal Times. So what happened? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zip. According to Legal Times, "those fears have not come true, with no prosecutions on the federal or state level, little legislative action, and quiet adjustments in abortion procedures that have so far kept doctors on the safe side of the law."
† Is The Iraqi Criminal Justice System More Efficient Than Ours?: GA has spent as much as $1.8 million in taxpayer funds to defend Brian G. Nichols, on trial for allegedly murdering a Superior Court judge and three others when he escaped from the Fulton County Courthouse on March 11, 2005. GA House Speaker Glenn Richardson has appointed a committee to examine DeKalb Superior Court Senior Judge M. Hilton Fuller Jr.'s handling of the case to determine how costs escalated to stratospheric levels, with a view towards impeachment – which requires a two-thirds vote of the House.
† There Goes The Neighborhood!: The New York Times publishes pretty much the same article that the San Francisco Chronicle did eight months ago:
These are wrenching times for San Francisco’s historic gay village, with population shifts, booming development, and a waning sense of belonging that is also being felt in gay enclaves across the nation, from Key West, Fla., to West Hollywood, as they struggle to maintain cultural relevance in the face of gentrification.
There has been a notable shift of gravity from the Castro, with young gay men and lesbians fanning out into less-expensive neighborhoods like Mission Dolores and the Outer Sunset, and farther away to Marin and Alameda Counties …
See my post on your article (http://therenaissancebiologist.blogspot.com/2007/10/irony.html) for another, similar viewpoint. This alone is probably the reason I don't remember ever trick-or-treating.
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