Howard Jacobson is the author of this piece of pseudery:

“A man lives in the sentimental apprehension of him that women carry around. And when a woman divulges this sentimental homunculus to the man of whom it is an ideation, his happiness can barely contain itself.”

So I am surprised to find that his recent article - in The Independent of all places - is worth taking seriously. Jacobson rails against the root-causery of Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas:

 As it was after 9/11 so it has been after Mumbai – hearts going out to the victims, necessity of bringing perpetrators to justice, blah blah, and in the same breath the moral exculpation of those perpetrators in one of those acts of "understanding" which in fact understand nothing but give the speaker the opportunity to inveigh piously against our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Israel's presence anywhere.  

[...]

[T]o argue that Palestine fuelled the massacre at Mumbai, that the Hindu waiter shot in the forehead after serving water to a terrorist was paying for the inequities of Gaza, that he wasn't already, in the eyes of that terrorist, expendable enough as an unbeliever, as one who had stolen Kashmir, or simply as a spot of target practice en route to a mad and misguided martyrdom, is not only preposterous, it is irresponsible.

I don't doubt that the terrorists' moral education included lessons about the vileness of Jews, along with lessons about the vileness of everyone else in the west, but we cannot be responsible for the lies people tell about us. Vileness of the Jews, note, not vileness of the Israelis. However carefully Caroline Lucas distinguishes between Jews and Israelis in her frequent newsletters and platform speeches on these and other "Green" issues; whatever her hurt at being accused of anti-Semitism when it is only a Jewish country, for God's sake, and not Jews themselves she abominates – it would appear she has not succeeded in communicating this nice distinction to the Mumbai terrorists.

Frankly, my dear, they don't give a damn. The Chabad Centre in Mumbai was a Jewish organisation, not an Israeli one. Its occupants were tortured and killed for being Jews, not for being complicit in the "strangulation" of Gaza, unless all Jews are held to be complicit in the strangulation of Gaza, in which case Caroline Lucas must be very careful where and in what language she lays blame.

Once again, "youths" are rioting in Europe. This time in Athens. Some reports link the cause to asylum-seekers' having become frustrated because it seems the applications office is overwhelmed and a man fell into a canal when a long line was turned away for the day. Others link the violence to a police shooting of a 15 year old who among a group of "youths" throwing rocks at a patrol car. It seems the officer involved may be charged with murder and the city is bracing for more violence as the funeral will be held today.

Manila, 9 Dec. (AKI) - One of the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Philippines’s largest Islamic rebel organisation, said that his group is not keen on a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said that the MILF is not opposed to the government stopping hostilities in December, but did not forget that Manila refused to call a ceasefire during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
Fighting between the MILF and the military intensified since August, after a proposed peace agreement between the two warring parties was halted by the Supreme Court on he ground of unconstitutionality.
Marine commandant Major Gen. Ben Dolorfino—himself a Muslim—said that the military are fighting against a combined force that includes terrorists of the Abu Sayyaf Group, lawless elements of the MILF, and small kidnap-for-ransom groups.
Experts have long claimed that the lines between MILF, Moro National Liberation Front—the precursor of the MILF—Abu Sayyaf and lawless groups are very misty in the Sulu Archipelago and that alliances shift fast and are mostly driven by ethnicity and family ties.

Amsterdam - A young Dutch politician and founder of a group of former Muslims is due to present a 15-minute film criticizing Islam at a secret location on Tuesday. Ehsan Jami, city council member for his one-man-party in Leidschendam-Voorburg near The Hague, is depicted in the English- language film as interviewing the prophet Mohammed who is played by an actor who remains unrecognizable.
Iranian-born Jami, 23, who announced that heresy and women's rights are central themes in the interview, says the production is not an anti-Islam film.The film showing was set for a secret location for journalists only.
The dominant interpretation of Islamic doctrine prohibits Muslims from renouncing their faith. Self-declared ex-Muslims in Europe have been threatened by orthodox Muslims for renouncing their faith publicly.
Jami, who in the summer of 2007 founded the Dutch affiliate of the European ex-Muslim movement, has among others referred to the Prophet Mohammed as a "horrible man" in several interviews.
Geert Wilders, Dutch legislator and founder of the Freedom Party PVV, was the first to present a film criticizing Islam. On Monday, Wilders confirmed reports that he would tour several countries next spring to present his 16-minute political propaganda film Fitna.

Anthony Burgess knew his onions. From Inside Mr. Enderby, with thanks to former NER writer John Derbyshire:

His breath smelt startlingly of (startling because few hosts serve, owing to the known redolence of onions, onions) onions.

Derbyshire gushes – and I don’t think he is being tongue-in-cheek:

Has anyone ever improved on that? Gone for the quadruple, I mean, without violating the rules of grammar? Yes, I know about those made-up sentences like:  "Peter, while Tom had had 'had,' had had 'had had'; 'had had' had won the English teacher's approval." I'm thinking of something more Burgessian, something in the onions line, without quotes.

You’ve been had had had. Burgess, with his unwieldy sentence and his string of onions, is not clever, but merely clever-clever. In fact, I would go as far as to say:

Burgess is, when he thinks he is clever, clever-clever. Clever-clever is not the same as clever, and there is no merit in meretricious.

There you go, Mr Burgess – that’s five clevers to your three onions. You want more onions? Sorry, that’s shallot.

 From The Copenhagen Post - the Religion of peace celebrating again, this time in Denmark.
Police used pepper spray Monday night to dispel up to 300 Muslim young people who caused disturbances outside Fisketorvet mall in downtown Copenhagen.
The youths had gathered at the shopping centre in connection with the celebration of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Bicycles were thrown onto the nearby S-train tracks, shoppers at the mall were harassed and rocks were thrown at police who arrived on the scene.
Officers managed to split the group in two and drive them away from the mall. Five youths were eventually arrested under the fracas. Just 5?

Can you "go amok", as suggested in the Danish headline linked below? I thought you could only "run amok", not walk it or saunter it. From Online Etymology:

Amok. [I]n phrase to run amok first recorded 1672, from Malay amuk "attacking furiously." Earlier the word was used as a noun or adj. meaning "a frenzied Malay," originally in the Port. form amouco or amuco.

"There are some of them [the Javanese] who ... go out into the streets, and kill as many persons as they meet. ... These are called Amuco." ["The Book of Duarte Barbosa: An Account of the Countries Bordering on the Indian Ocean and Their Inhabitants," c.1516, Eng. transl.]

Thanks to Jeffrey Imm for sending in the report from Bill Gertz:

The special assistant to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and a key player in the Pentagon's Muslim community outreach program is leaving with his boss, a spokesman for Mr. England said Wednesday.

Special Assistant Hesham Islam "will be leaving," said England spokesman Kevin Wensing. Mr. England announced this week that he will step down.

Mr. Islam, a retired Navy commander, was investigated by the Pentagon at the request of Congress after a dispute with Joint Staff analyst Stephen Coughlin in the fall of 2007 over the nature of Islamist extremism. Mr. Islam disagreed with Mr. Coughlin, a specialist on Islamic law and its ties to extremism, and later referred to him as a "Christian zealot with a pen."

A Pentagon spokesman said at the time that Mr. Islam was a valuable adviser to Mr. England and assisted the deputy defense secretary in contacts with foreign officials.

The probe of Mr. Islam was requested by three members of Congress who had raised security concerns about Mr. Islam after discrepancies were reported by journalist Claudia Rosett in an official biography of Mr. Islam posted on the Pentagon's Web site, including an assertion that Mr. Islam as a youth was in Cairo and bombed by Israeli forces in 1967. However, there are no records of bombing the Egyptian capital, only the airport near Cairo.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at the time that the investigation by Mr. England's office "concluded there is no reason to question Cmdr. Hesham Islam's credibility or his allegiance to his country."

The firing of Mr. Coughlin, a contractor who continues to consult for the Pentagon, was first reported in this space as one of the first casualties in the internal government political battle over the war of ideas against Islamic extremism.

In response to Hugh's Call for Papers on Fat-Queer Issues, Tina Trent writes:

Is there no place left in academia that is not an "intersection"?Why intersect?  Why don't they settle down somewhere for a good, long while? 

Good question. By analogy with the gay rights chant, "We are here, we are queer" a Fat Rights Group once chanted "We are here, we are spheres". This doesn't quite rhyme, but what the hell? If such matters are to be studied scientifcally, then we need another Venn Diagram:

If A is a set of fat people, B is a set of gay people and C is a set of people who are present, then "we are here, we are queer" is represented by the royal blue intersection, and "we are here, we are spheres" is represented by the green intersection. Fat poufs who are here have spilled over into the black. Absent portly poufs are red.

...and much more.  The Feds have it all on tape.

Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009.

Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both men were expected to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;

Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;

Promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and

A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Just last week, on December 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might "get some (money) up front, maybe" from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: "We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator."

On November 7, while talking on the phone about the Senate seat with Harris and an advisor, Blagojevich said he needed to consider his family and that he is "financially" hurting, the affidavit states. Harris allegedly said that they were considering what would help the "financial security" of the Blagojevich family and what will keep Blagojevich "politically viable." Blagojevich stated, "I want to make money," adding later that he is interested in making $250,000 to $300,000 a year, the complaint alleges.

On November 10, in a lengthy telephone call with numerous advisors that included discussion about Blagojevich obtaining a lucrative job with a union-affiliated organization in exchange for appointing a particular Senate Candidate whom he believed was favored by the President-elect and which is described in more detail below, Blagojevich and others discussed various ways Blagojevich could "monetize" the relationships he has made as governor to make money after leaving that office. "The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism. The citizens of Illinois deserve public officials who act solely in the public's interest, without putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions," he added...
 

From the BBC:

The graves of as many as 500 Muslim war veterans have been vandalised in northern France, in an attack President Nicolas Sarkozy said was "repugnant".

Gravestones were daubed with swastikas and letters spelling out anti-Islamic slogans at France's biggest military graveyard near Arras in the north-east.

The attack took place on the eve of Islam's Eid al-Adha festival, when Muslims visit the graves of loved ones.

Dozens of police searched the graveyard on Monday as an investigation began.

It is the third time the Muslim sector of the Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery has been attacked.

President Sarkozy called the latest incident "abject and revolting" and said it was "the expression of a repugnant racism directed against the Muslim community of France".

The cemetery holds the graves of tens of thousands of soldiers killed in World War I, including those of 576 Muslims.

This is a repugnant act and deserves unequivocal condemnation. It will get it, too: there will be little rooting around for root causes, or cries of sympathy for those alienated neo-Nazi "activists".

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t1L2b3_kyT8

Even if we must accept that Peking is now Beijing - I don't accept it, but I realise that I am the only one in step - must we refer to "Beijing Duck", as this Times restaurant critic does?

What next? Mumbai Duck? Beijinese dogs? Myanmarian cats? And when we sit on a footstool or pouffe, must we call it an Ataturk?

Some Sephardic communities to this day speak Ladino, which is similar to medieval Spanish and can be understood by present-day Spaniards. Hugh earlier today in this post.

This is the UK band Oi Va Voi who sing songs in many Jewish traditions, not just Klezmer, and some in a modern idiom. The song is called Ladino Song from their album Laughter through tears.

Yo m'enamori d'un aire,
D'un aire d'una mujer
Una mujer muy hermoza.
Linda de mi corazon.
Yo m'enamori d'un aire
Linda de mi corazon.

I fell in love with the charms,
the charms of a woman,
Of a very beautiful woman.
The beauty of my heart.
I fell in love with the charms.
The beauty of my heart

A selection from around the table at a Christmas meal last week.

Q What do you call a vicar on a motor bike?

A Rev.

Q Where is it not safe to park in the jungle?

A On a double yellow lion.

Q Why did the spaceman go to the optician?

A Because he had stars in his eyes.

Q  What do you get if you cross a rasher of bacon with a spaceship?

A  An unidentified frying object.

That's all folks!

That's quite enough you all answer.

A speech delivered by Dr. Andrew Bostom in Fairfield Connecticut to the Congregation Beth El, December 7, 2008.

more>>>

I was emailed by a friend this item, that appeared today at the website of Lenny Ben-David: 

"Palestinians Overjoyed at Making It to the Holy Land"

London, Dec 9, 2008 / 03:49 am (CNA).- Words associated with Christianity have been removed from an Oxford University Press children’s dictionary for the United Kingdom. Editors justified the changes by citing declining church attendance and multiculturalism.

Lisa Saunders, a mother of four from Northern Ireland, compared various editions of the Oxford Junior Dictionary after discovering that the words “moss” and “fern” had been removed from her son’s edition, the Daily Telegraph reports.

She discovered that many words associated with Christianity had been removed, in addition to words associated with the monarchy and the natural world.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the deleted Christian words include abbey, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, and vicar.

New words were inserted based on word frequency and included the words allergic, curriculum, celebrity, and MP3 player.

Vineeta Gupta, who is in charge of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, described the aims of the Junior Dictionary to the Daily Telegraph.

"When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance,” Gupta said. “That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as ‘Pentecost’ or ‘Whitsun’ would have been in 20 years ago but not now."

Gupta said the publishing company produces 17 children’s dictionaries with different selections and numbers of words.

Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the center for education and employment at Buckingham University, argued that the word selections reflect the way childhood is moving “away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.”

“We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,” he continued.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1zvCDTtBE

Bob Spencer of Jihad Watch had asked me to supply a little more information for a post to accompany the photo of Rebecca Bynum and Dr. Andrew Bostom taken by my friend and former fellow congregant, Dr. Richard L. Rubenstein, see here, following a talk in Fairfield, Connecticut at Congregation Beth El this past Sunday.  The presentation, by Dr. Andrew Bostom, was based on his latest book, "The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism." (Rebecca Bynum has posted Bostom's rermarks here.) Those attending included Rebecca Bynum, New English Review editor, her fellow NER contributor Hugh Fitzgerald, and Dr. Richard L. Rubenstein,  theologian, author, distinguished Lawton Professor emeritus at Florida State University, and former President of the University of Bridgeport, in Connecticut. Rubenstein introduced Bostom before his lecture. And both before, and after the talk, Rebecca had a chance to discuss with Rubenstein possible future contributions of articles by him to New English Review.  Whether fortuitous or premeditated, such encounters of the generally like-minded, at talks or meetings or conferences, or even in local delicatessens -- no expensive resort hotels needed or even desired  --  are there to be taken advantage of whenever possible, by those eager to share anti-Jihad understandings, and to promote joint future undertakings.