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.

WHAT PAMELA GELLER WOULD SAY TO GARRY TRUDEAU

The Washington Post's Comic Riffs section interviewed Pamela Geller about the DC Metro's banning political ads from their stations just so they can avoid running her own ads about Muhammed drawings. And here's what she'd tell Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau in response to his defeatism:

MC: Over the weekend, I spoke with, and listened to [via panel debate], “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau — in Washington, coincidentally — on the matter of his belief that satire should strive to be “responsible,” and that free speech can be its own kind of fanaticism — and that Charlie Hebdo, in the context of France, was “punching down.” If you were debating Mr. Trudeau on this subject yourself, what would you first say in response to his statements?

PG: I’d tell him that he was making excuses for self-censorship in the face of violent intimidation. He never spoke about being “responsible” in regard to the crucifix in a jar of urine or other expressions of contempt for Christianity. He is only speaking that way about cartoons critical of Muhammad because Muslims kill over them. He is advocating surrender. And as for “punching down,” his claim that Muslims in France are a despised and oppressed minority is leftist fantasy. In reality, the killers were part of a well-financed, highly trained global network of jihadis intent upon murdering anyone who dares stand in the way of their goal of imposing Sharia in the West. They won’t have to murder Trudeau. He is already on his knees.

Trudeau's uninformed, contrived apologia reminds me of the 2010 Batman story where a Muslim was hired to be part of a Batman Incorporated group, written by a British scriptwriter who didn't seem particularly interested in being innovative. A few years later though, he seemingly changed, though even that can't be taken at face value.

MC: I’ve spoken with scores of American cartoonists about drawing Muhammad, and many who believe in the First Amendment as an absolute still decline to draw Muhammad. What do you think most motivated the cartoonists like Bosch who entered your Texas contest — beyond, of course, a $10,000 winner’s purse?

PG: First, a love of freedom. And courage, which those cartoonists with whom you spoke obviously don’t have, and a determination to show that we will not kowtow to thuggery.

Say, this just made me think of something. What about Erik Larsen? He's probably still part of same crowd referenced by Cavna, and has no intention of ever drawing Muhammed. That's why we shouldn't take his complaints about major publishers placating vocal minorities with practical outfits for women at face value. What's his point of defending the creations of fine folks more famous than he is if he can't defend other free speech values as well? I'd recommend to Geller that she pay attention to artists and writers of comic pamphlets too, to see how strong their support is or not for the kind of values she's championing, because what goes on in the comics industry can't be overlooked either.

I SUPPORT A MEDIA BLACKOUT ON THE CLINTON SCANDALS

I THINK WE SHOULD SAVE ALL THIS STUFF FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION.

BETTER TO HAVE HER LOSE THE ELECTION, THAN GIVE THE DEMOCRATS A CHANCE TO NOMINATE SOMEONE WHO IS LESS POLITICALLY VULNERABLE AND LESS LIKELY TO BE INDICTED....

ISRAEL HONORS AMERICAN-BORN WW2 VETERANS

Here's an article in the Somerset Daily American about Israel's plan to honor American-born Jewish veterans of WW2, who'd been all but overlooked until now.

THE WAR CRIMES OF HAMAS

Amnesty International, of all sources, has accused Hamas of war crimes and violence:

Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday that Hamas committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during last summer's war with Israel.

"Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of 'collaborating' with Israel and others during Israel's military offensive against Gaza," the human rights group said in a report entitled "'Strangling Necks': Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict."

According to the London-based human rights group, some 23 Palestinians were shot and killed and dozens more were arrested and tortured by Hamas.

Yet it's nothing new; years before, the PLO committed similar crimes against their own subjects. Why only now are they gathering the brains to say so? They should've said it long ago.

A DUTCH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK DISTORTS ISRAELI HISTORY

Propaganda was discovered in Holland's education system:

An official high school history book in Holland claims that during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, “Jewish militias committed murder in Arab villages. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled and arrived in refugee camps across the border.”

Barak Gorni, a 16-year-old Dutch Israeli attending the Maimonides Jewish high school in Amsterdam, was the first to notice and call attention to the false and distorted depiction of Israel’s history. In another instance, the book says that “[former prime minister] Menachem Begin entered the history books as a peacemaker, and this is surprising, because for much of his life he was known as a terrorist and a radical.”

So only an Israeli could possibly be a terrorist, and not Islamofascists. Tomorrow, there's every chance David Ben-Gurion will be subject to these blood libels too. Maybe even Michael Collins, leader of the Irish resistance in the early 20th century. The Israeli embassy and foreign ministry are already looking into this, and they should demand it be removed from classrooms immediately.

NOBODY SHOULD BE FOOLED INTO FUNDING A UN-SPONSORED COMIC

MTV wrote about the United Nations' new project called Comics Uniting Nations, which they're hoping will change the world in another 20-30 years. But with their record, and countries they have representing their human rights councils now, that change would not be for the better:

[...] You might not be familiar with these names, but The World’s Largest Lesson already has a lot of support from around the globe. Check this out: at the recent World Education Forum, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Latvia and Indonesia, among other countries, gave pledges to The World’s Largest Lesson.

Dear dear dear. I could accept Japan, Latvia, and Laos, but most of those other countries listed are a very bad lot, with gross human rights violations taking place there. For example, there's Pakistan, which has seen a horrifying number of Muslim honor murders take place. And slavemongering by Islamofacists is still prevalent in Sudan. In Indonesia, a huge percentage support jihadism. And two thirds of Muslims in Morocco and 3 of the aforementioned countries support establishing a new caliphate.

“The U.N. wants the people of the world to get invested in the Goals,” Josh Elder, Founder of Reading with Pictures, told MTV News. “We want that too, so we’ve assembled an international team of comic creators to craft a series of comics, one for each of the seventeen Global Goals. The comics will explain the challenges we all face and how every individual has a role to play in meeting those challenges.”

The project is on Kickstarter with a week to go, and a number of important comics creators’ names are already attached, including Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Katie Cook, Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey, Ron Marz, Yen Yen Woo and Janet Lee. Likewise, Comics Uniting Nations is in talks with comics companies to publish single-page PSAs to talk about the Global Goals.

I wouldn't advise anybody who realizes what the UN truly is today to plunk any money into what's bound to become a propaganda project. Nor should any publishers be wasting time and resources working with the UN on this. It'd be nothing more than a boon to autocrats and other people who don't deserve your hard-earned money. The UN's also still got quite a replete record of hostility to Israel, and they're also full of anti-Americanism today, along with failure to disarm terrorist cells in Iran & Iraq. In fact, why are they asking people outside to fund their project instead of paying for it themselves? Most people at the UN doubtless get big salaries, and I'd think they could pay for it all by themselves, rather than cheat people out of their money.

TEXAN SENATE PASSES ANTI-SHARIA BILL

Another success for freedom in another American state:

On Thursday night, May 21, the Texas state senate passed a bill that would prevent any international law from being used in Texas civil courts in deciding disputes. Radio station WOAI characterized the bill as an “anti-sharia” bill, but state Senator Donna Campbell said that her bill doesn’t mention sharia law at all, just that it guarantees that no law from “foreign courts” would be used to override American law in settling civil matters.

When pressed for clarification about just which such laws she was concerned about, and could she provide an example, she whiffed: “No foreign law [specifically].… This just provides a context for judicial discretion … that we don’t trump Texas law, American law, with a foreign law regarding family law.”

Exactly. And European governments are going to have to start showing the guts to pass similar laws too, if they want to save their continent.

SOLDIER AT FORT POLK GETS HIS LONG OVERDUE PURPLE HEART

A soldier from Fort Polk who'd been wounded by Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood has finally received the medal he should've gotten long ago:

Nov. 5, 2009, dawned like most any other day for Pvt. Alan Carroll. The 20-year-old native of Anchorage, Alaska, had recently finished combat engineer training and was assigned to the 510th Sapper Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas.

“There was nothing real significant about the day,” Carroll said. “Just a normal day.”

But by day’s end, it would be anything but insignificant as Carroll and more than 40 of his friends, fellow soldiers and Army civilians would be wounded by Maj. Nidal Hasan in a shooting at the sprawling post in central Texas.

On May 21, Staff Sgt. Alan Carroll was awarded the Purple Heart during a ceremony at Fort Polk for the wounds he received in the shooting on Nov. 5, 2009, based on recent legislation that authorized those injured in the attack to receive the medal.

Carroll recently reflected on the day that changed his life. His unit was preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan that day, and he and some of his buddies were waiting to be checked by medical personnel after receiving their smallpox vaccinations. At about 1:30 p.m., their lives would change forever.

Read the rest at the link. The top brass owe tremendous apologies to hard-working soldiers for all the negligence they caused that led to this tragedy.

EHUD OLMERT GIVEN 8 MONTHS IN TALANSKY RETRIAL

While it may be added to a 6 year sentence in the Holyland case, 8 months is far too little:

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Monday was sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court to eight months of jail time on his conviction for fraud under aggravated circumstances in the Talansky retrial. The court also fined Olmert NIS 100,000.

Olmert lawyers appealed the sentence and the court agreed to their request to hold off the sentence for 45 days for time to appeal.

The former prime minister's lawyer Eyal Rozovsky told the media at the courthouse that he respects the court's decision but there were difficulties and mistakes in it.

"We tried convincing the court of the justice of our case. Olmert isn't happy. We wanted no jail time," Rozovsky said.

Yeah, they always want these convictions to carry no jail time. And they they'll probably appeal even this sentence to forestall his entry into the pokey for as long as possible. Hopefully, he'll end up in a cell for a change, but for now, he sure is trying to stay out as long as he can. An utterly disgraceful man Olmert is.

HOW TO RESTORE THE PROPER SOLEMNITY TO MEMORIAL DAY...

Memorial day has become a holiday celebrating barbecue and the start of summer.

In part, this is because like most of or national holidays it is no longer observed on its traditional, original, significant date; it's been moved to coincide with a nearby weekend so we all get a 3 day weekend. This happened in 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

The three day holiday aspect trumped the solemnity. And instead of remembering and honoring those who died that this nation might live, the holiday morphed into a pagan holiday celebrating the start of summer.

To fix it all we need to do is move it back to May 30. No matter what day of the week it falls on.

MORE HERE.

BIN LADEN READ FAR LEFT LITERATURE

This isn't so surprising one of the worst Islamofascists of the 21st century read the work of the worst western leftists (Hat tip: Accuracy in Media):

The English-language bookshelf in Usama bin Laden’s personal library featured a collection of anti-U.S. polemics and left-wing conspiracy theories from some celebrated darlings of American academia, according to critics who analyzed the terror mastermind's reading list.

Anti-American conspiracy tomes on everything from the CIA to the Federal Reserve were among the 39 English books seized from the Al Qaeda leader’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where a team of Navy SEALs took him out in May 2011. [...]

Noam Chomsky, William Blum and Bob Woodward appeared to be among the terrorist kingpin’s favorite authors to curl up with. Chomsky, the liberal icon and MIT professor known for his disparaging view of the U.S., had two of his works in the Bin Laden collection, "Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies" and "Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance."

Depending on the situation, there's a very probably chance these crazies may have influenced autocrats overseas with their horrific viewpoints. Is it any wonder they're such a bad lot?