New Cause Of Iranian Earthquakes, Grandfather Barred From Bar Mitzvah

Kathleen Parker
Patrick Jansson

"Fears that anger could escalate into action beyond the ballot box are not misplaced. Ninety-nine percent of angry Americans might be perfectly satisfied to rail at their television sets -- or to show up at a Tea Party rally -- but it takes only one." - Kathleen Parker

Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't the only one in Iran who acts silly and talks off-kilter. Nope, there is also Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi , who recently proclaimed that: "Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,"

Further proving that you evidently don't need to be very smart or educated to become an Ayatollah in Iran: "Calamities are the result of people's deeds. We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers." Just for fun, we should all write to the good cleric and ask him to explain more causal relationships in our world. I'd love to hear him elucidate on quantum physics... Although I think I already know the answer - we have no way but conform...

Oh yeah, Mahmoud is calling for the US to be kicked out of the IAEC because we are the only country to have used an atomic bomb, including depleted uranium in bomb casings in Iraq and Afghanistan. I keep hearing that depleted uranium is supposed to be harmless and to ignore those increased birth defects, but so far no proponent has ever volunteered to take the test - to sleep with five pounds of depleted uranium in their pillow for three months to demonstrate how safe it really really is...

The problem with the US and Iran ever reducing hostilities between them, is which one will be seen to have the dominant role in the relationship. The US would like Iran to cooperate with us and not be so overtly pig-headed in addressing the rest of the world. Iran would rather have the US cooperate with them and agree with all of their stated intentions to the world. The question is, who is being more honest with their explanations, and whom could you trust? Too bad we will never get to one of mutual trust and admiration - well, we can't even get our Democrats and Republicans to get to that point, how can we ever base a foreign policy on it? Damned idealist drinking too much much coffee...


I used to think that it was only Pakistan who was the paranoid one in their relationship with India, but now I see that it is definately a two way highway, from the Asia Times: "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with United States President Barack Obama this week in Washington came as Delhi strategists were fuming at Obama's policies for South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Let down by America's closer ties to Pakistan, India is also not happy with US plans to talk with the Taliban or Obama's embrace of China. - M K Bhadrakumar " To make Mr Singh a happy man, we will sell him some more war toys, like we did the last time. Those negotiations always take place behind closed doors, and for Mr Singh to come back to the US so soon after his last visit, there must be something specific and nuclear on his mind...

Another story involving silly, hypocritical human behavior comes from South Africa, involving one of its most respected jurists, who evidently came to a wrong conclusion, one that involved leveling some criticism at Israel : "For the past few days, many South African Jews have concerned themselves with a question perhaps better put to Talmudic scholars: Is it ever right for protesters to keep a grandfather from his grandson’s bar mitzvah?


That grandfather is Richard Goldstone, one of this nation’s most eminent jurists and head of a United Nations investigation that said it found evidence of war crimes during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Many of his countrymen not only took issue with the findings, they called the judge a traitor who had sold out his Jewish brethren." The synagogue where his 13 year old grandsone is going to have his bar mitzvah is debating whether to allow it to be held there, or to just allow protesters outside the synagogue when its being held. As of this moment, Mr Goldstone has elected not to attend so that the ceremony will go ahead smoothly.

"In early 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council selected him to lead an investigation into possible violations of international law during the three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. He said he was “shocked, as a Jew” to be chosen.


The Goldstone Report, released last September, concluded that, based on the available evidence, both Israel and Hamas had taken actions amounting to war crimes. But the findings focused mostly on the Israelis." The reason there was more emphasis on Israeli actions is simple, the UN had access to more information from the Israelis than from Hamas. To have a respected Jewish judge go over the information is actually to Israel's benefit, unfortunately, the right wing wackos in Israel howled more loudly than Michelle Bachmann at a tea party rally... Hey, it's not like he published a report critical of the Pope or anything like that...