ROCKETS OVER ASHKELON AGAIN

The Hamas has resumed their attacks:

A rocket fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday night triggered air raid sirens in the Ashkelon and Hof Ashkelon regions. The projectile apparently exploded in an open area, and security forces said they had begun to search for the rocket .

The incident comes two days after the Israel Air Force struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for two Gazan rockets fired into southern Israel.

Sooner or later, they're going to have to raid Gaza by land if they really want to put an end to these horrors.

ORANGE CEO APOLOGIZES FOR THREATENING TO CUT BUSINESS WITH ISRAEL

A few days ago, the Orange Telecom corporation said they were going to cut ties with Israel. Luckily, common sense prevailed along with a backlash, and now their manager's apologized:

The top executive of a large French telecommunications company apologized to Israel’s deputy prime minister on Friday just days after setting off a firestorm of criticism by announcing plans to cut economic ties with the Jewish state.

“I spoke with the CEO of Orange, Stephane Richard, and I told him that the people of Israel are angered and hurt by his statements,” Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom wrote on his Facebook page. “I told him how it saddened me that he had turned into a tool in the struggle against Israel and that he had lent a hand to the assault by Israel-haters who are trying to harm Israel not just militarily but economically.”

“Richard apologized for his remarks that he made during a conference in Egypt and told me that he is a friend of Israel,” Shalom wrote. “He claimed that his comments were not properly understood and that he spoke only about the economic aspect [of his decision].”

“He apologized on behalf of himself and the company for the remarks, and he said that they condemn all forms of boycotts,” the deputy prime minister wrote.

If so, they would've avoided doing it in the first place, and consulted with the local service first. If they're smart, they'll let this go and just do business with Israel without allowing the BDS movement to influence them.

JAIME WEINMAN INDIRECTLY ATTACKS LEE FALK OVER "CULTURAL INSENSITIVITY"

I came upon this conversation by a Macleans columnist named Jaime Weinman about magicians and sorcerers. First, let's begin with this starting comment he made, a pretty ridiculous attack on Dr. Strange:

I know people love Dr. Strange, but I just find him so smug in his expertise and high position. He's everything that's wrong with experts.

— Jaime J. Weinman (@weinmanj) May 27, 2015

If there's any kind of person distorting contrasts between fiction and reality who really galls me, it's newspaper reporters and comics scripters, because they're supposed to set examples, and here goes Weinman placing all the blame on an imaginary wizard who never existed, and therefore can't be faulted for alleged smugness. So, how come he's blaming imaginary Stephen Strange and not criticizing Stan Lee et al for supposedly giving Stephen a personality that's "smug"? In any of the material I ever read of the Sorcerer Supreme, I never thought he was depicted acting smugly in virtually every instance. But, if that's what Weinman thinks, gee, that could easily describe Spider-Man and the Thing too, every time Peter Parker and Ben Grimm wisecrack during a battle! Yet another lemming who obviously doesn't care about the better interests of the creations. Otherwise, he'd be asking the people in charge to give them a personality modification he thinks is better. I think he confused a confident personality with smugness.

Now, here's something where he hints he dislikes the following comic strip from the late cartoonist and playwright Lee Falk, author of Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom:

You know who's even more smug than Dr. Strange? Mandrake the Muslim-torturing magician, that's who. pic.twitter.com/GtKyf0ykWY

— Jaime J. Weinman (@weinmanj) May 27, 2015

Do I sense he's ramming into Lee Falk via "projection", because he thinks the famous cartoonist was being "culturally insensitive"? Of all the cheap nerve, and I guess what we have here is somebody who's decided to put down past products because they don't adhere to his PC visions. First off, do Mandrake's magics that transform an object or being into another shape count as "torture" per se? Not really, and while turning a human into an animal might be humiliating, it doesn't count as torture unless the alleged attacker was physically assaulting the target. Second, isn't that Islamist in the cartoon a criminal whom Mandrake's interrogating? Third, is Weinman aware of any of the Koran's themes? Because if Mandrake were grilling a violent nazi/communist, I doubt he'd complain about that, so why should he make a big deal out of Falk writing/drawing a strip where Mandrake deals with a Muslim criminal? Besides, Falk wasn't the only one from his time who featured possible Islamists as baddies. Even Siegel and Shuster did in Action Comics #30 from November 1940, and, as I've noted a couple times before, Will Eisner's last graphic novel focused on the history of Muslim anti-semitism.

This reminds me that in past years, I'd read a few history articles telling how some WW2 comics would depict Germans/Nazis as "crude stereotypes" without acknowledging why the artists and writers at the time might've done it: to voice their disgust at how the Germans were conducting totalitarian invasions of other European countries and murdering Jews, Gypsies and other Europeans who stood in their way. Those journalists who wrote those articles may not have even mentioned that some of the artists who drew the illustrations they had a problem with were Jewish (Falk, Siegel, Shuster, Lee, Simon, Kirby, etc), but the corrosive effect of their biased reporting could lead to some backwards crazies putting two and two together, and using those articles as excuses for anti-semitism, by villifying famous writers even long after they've been gone. I'd guess the journalists who wrote those articles were also people who didn't have what it takes to appreciate men and women who wanted to say what they thought of European fascist totalitarians by using punishing designs.

Here's something to think about. I don't know if or how much these past writers, Jewish or not, knew about Islam. But what if they did? Were they supposed to put up with its belief system any more than fascism/communism? Of course not. If they knew what Islam's belief system was like, they could've been offended by the anti-Jewish themes in the Hadith/Koran, ditto Islam's hostility to other non-Muslim entities and women's rights, and wanted to make clear in drawing that they did not approve, just like they made clear they abhorred nazism in various WW2 comics. And Weinman competely fails to consider any of this, while at the same time he attacks a fictional character without lamenting that the characterization wasn't what he was hoping for. Suppose Falk were of Armenian descent, and he'd drawn the strip as an expression of anger over what the Ottoman Turkish jihadists did to many Armenians during WW1? Would Weinman suggest Falk was just acting out of one-dimensional intent?

Furthermore, let me also be clear here that if Falk drew a strip where Mandrake grilled a Jewish gangster like Louis Buchalter and threatened to turn him into pork slab, and "Lepke" was terrified of that, out of alleged religious observance, I wouldn't mind one bit, because a man who ran the Murder Inc. syndicate is not deserving of "cultural sensitivity". And if the crook whom Mandrake was dealing with in Falk's comic strip was meant to be anything even remotely similar, then such a criminal character isn't deserving of religious accommodations either.

I'm very disappointed with Weinman for talking down to the audience by speaking of Dr. Strange and other fictional wizards as though they were real people, and running one-dimensional attacks on the work of famous cartoonists through a closed mindset, not willing to ponder whether they have legitimate grounds for criticizing a religion they may not agree with, and overall setting a poor example for journalists and other writers who supposedly want the comics medium to be taken seriously. Clearly, he doesn't. All he's done is instill a new special respect in me for Falk, among others who didn't toe the PC line he seems to think is required both past and present.

BOSTON JIHADIST WANTED TO ATTACK PAMELA GELLER

Fox News says that one of the jihadists in Boston had plotted to go after Geller (Hat tip: Accuracy in Media):

The knife-wielding terror suspect who was shot and killed by law enforcement outside Boston early Tuesday originally targeted the activist behind last month's "Draw Muhammad" cartoon competition before turning his sights on local police, according to several published reports.

CNN and NBC, citing law enforcement sources, reported late Wednesday that Usaama Rahim had planned to behead Pamela Geller, an activist and blogger who organized last month's cartoon contest for images of the Muslim prophet Muhammad in Garland, Texas. That event was targeted by two Muslim gunmen who were killed by police.

This makes me want to vomit.

FORMER CAIR OFFICIAL ARRESTED ON CHILD SEXPLOITATION CHARGES

A CAIR community organizer was arrested in Florida for trying to exploit underaged children:

Ahmed Saleem, a Muslim youth coordinator and former CAIR community organizer, was arrested along with 100 others in a sting operation on a child sex ring in Florida, police said in a conference on Tuesday.

Saleem, pictured above with a beard, was among 22 men accused by police of travelling to the home of a minor they met online to have sex. In reality, police officers posed in a chatroom as a 12-year-old girl, and then arrested Saleem when he arrived at the house.

“He’s well known as a community outreach leader interacting with teens in and around the Orlando area,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said about Saleem.

According to investigators, Saleem’s car had a license plate which said “Invest in our children.”

It's no shock at all that they could have sick people like that working for them. All the 22 men who willfully planned child sexploitation should be locked up in isolation.

MARZ ATTACKS ORGANIZER OF ANTI-ISLAM RALLY IN PHOENIX, AND FINDS A CHALLENGER TO HIS VIEWS

Ron Marz's latest effort to cast doubt upon any sincerity he supposedly has includes attacks on organizers of a rally against Islamofascism in Arizona. For example, he posted:

Idiot who organized the Phoenix anti-Islam "bring your guns" rally is going into hiding, because he's brave, I guess. http://t.co/tRFoztbJTT

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

Simpletons, scoundrels and grifters are always the first ones to hide behind the First Amendment. #PhoenixMosque

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

And today's "Guy who doesn't follow me but is here to teach me that the Left has a double standard" has already shown up.

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

Does he also consider the 9-11 Families for a Safe America "idiots"? Point: they could've organized a protest against the Phoenix mosque too, just like they did at Ground Zero nearly 5 years back, and what would he be saying about people whose beloved relatives were lost? And if the Phoenix organizer's family was threatened, how come he doesn't condemn any maniacs who might've threatened the guy?

But soon after Marz wrote those crude little spews, he was challenged by a guy who wonders if he can really discern hypocrisy:

And today's "Guy who doesn't follow me but is here to teach me that the Left has a double standard" has already shown up.

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

Okay, so everybody can see ... why are you seeking me out to tell me I have Wrong Thoughts on the Internet? https://t.co/LspOJ3X7IG

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

I don't know you, you don't follow me, but you felt the need to seek me out and tell me I'm wrong. Or something. https://t.co/LspOJ3X7IG

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

I'm asking honestly here, because it happens all the time. Why reach out to a total stranger and look for argument? https://t.co/7ZMs0JjOSy

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

I'm more interested in why you responded. I'm no one to you, we have no relationship ... so why do that? https://t.co/QIzt1Yaps1

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 31, 2015

So a man working as a professional writer has a problem with somebody who feels he's making terrible mistakes and wants to argue why? All he's hinting is that he's uncomfy with being challenged. Then, when asked what his opinion is on the Charlie Hebdo bloodbath, his reply was:

ELON MUSK IS THE HIGHEST-PAID GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE

From the neatest elitist blog Rhymes With Cars and Girls:

Elon Musk’s secret? Taxpayer money, L.A. Times says

Musk’s companies — Tesla Motors Inc. TSLA, -0.54% SolarCity Corp. SCTY, +0.93% and privately held Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX — “together have benefited from an estimated$4.9 billion in government support…”

Hey entrepreneurs and folks who run small businesses, d’ya think you could make your business, whatever it is & however it’s doing, look viable if it had a $4.9 billion backstop?

Tesla is a government program. It’s effectively a department of the government, whether or not this is how it is treated for accounting purposes. When you see some douchebag driving a Tesla you are seeing a car you helped that buy for that douchebag.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

JOHN BOLTON SAYS ISRAEL MUST STRIKE IRAN SOON

Via United With Israel, former ambassador Bolton warns that Iran's danger is looming heavily, and that Israel's going to have to attack their nuclear facilities and autocratic dictatorship soon, because they're becoming ever more dangerous and could easily attack Israel any minute now.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND LOSES STRATOSPHERIC NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS WHILE ISLAM IN UK GAINS PLENTY MORE

The decline of Christianity in England continues, while Islam's rise there continues apace:

The Church of England has suffered a dramatic slump in its followers, shocking new figures show.

Between 2012 and 2014, the proportion of Britons identifying themselves as C of E or Anglican dropped from 21 per cent to 17 per cent – a fall of about 1.7 million people.

Over the same period, the number of Muslims in Britain grew by nearly one million, according to a survey by the respected NatCen Social Research Institute.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey warned last night that unless urgent action was taken, the Church was just ‘one generation away from extinction’.

The number of Anglicans in Britain has dropped from about 10.3 million to 8.6 million, and will raise fresh fears over the future of the Church of England, which has been in decline since the 1960s.

[...] Figures from the survey going back more than 30 years paint an even bleaker picture, with the Church haemorrhaging nearly eight million followers in that time.

In 1983, 40 per cent of the British population – or 16.5 million people – identified themselves as Anglican or C of E, but this number has now more than halved.

Alarmingly for Church leaders, the worst losses have come over the past decade, with about 4.5 million fewer people affiliating themselves to the C of E or Anglicanism between 2004 and 2014. In contrast, those who describe themselves as Muslim have jumped from 3.2 per cent of the population – equivalent to 1.5 million – in 2012 to 4.7 per cent or 2.4 million in 2014. The only Christian denomination that has remained relatively stable between the 1980s and today is Catholicism – numbers have dipped slightly from ten per cent to eight per cent.

And even that might not last for long. London bridge is really falling down, my fair lady, under the weight of political correctness that's been long in festering, and will have an impact on the country sooner or later.

A SOLUTION TO METADATA COLLECTION

Instead of having the NSA automatically collect the metadata, mandate the phone companies hold it for a period of time equal to the statute of limitation for federal felonies - at which time the metadata is transferred to the NSA for use in terror related investigations. And then have the NSA use a special metadata-devoted 24/7 FISA Court to gain access to metadata being held by the phone companies.

SNAKE FOUND AT RIOT SCENE

A poisonous snake was found at the scene of a Muslim riot:

Security forces tending to violent disturbances near the West Bank village of Silwad on Friday night were met not only by rioters, but a venomous snake.

Border Police and IDF forces discovered a viper while trying to take shelter at the scene where Palestinians rioters were throwing Molotov cocktails and stones.

The riot control forces were attempting to take cover behind a concrete barrier constructed for such a purpose, when they discovered the serpent bound over their heads to the slab in an apparent attempt to cause harm to the Israeli forces.

Police Superintendent Aharon Moyal noted that "we have witnessed various attempts to harm [Israeli] forces, but even in this case their vigilance prevented such an incident."

No injuries or arrests were reported.

Where did the scum who put the snake there even get it? From a local breeding ground, I'd guess. The authorities are going to have to search for wherever these snakes could be raised, since serpents can also make dangerous weapons.