the arab spin...

I hate these fuckin' people!

Is the world still going for this stuff or are most people out there (I mean in the non-Jewish world) just sick and tired of this "palestinian" bullshit at this point???

On The War... (that might not have been if not for the disengagement) (or, Thanks Sharon, Olmert, and Livni for that disengagement thing!)

I begin with a quote:

"...for in such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.”

--General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)

a skeptical prelude to further comments:

I have no trust in Olmert, Livini, or Barak. They will foul this up. I just can’t believe that the 3 of those knuckle heads working together wont fuck things up. They are still the same assholes that they have always been and people really don’t change. When it’s over we will all be wondering why they did it the way they did and hate them even more for it. I am sure of this. If I am wrong then I will be happy to be proven as such, but I think we all know the truth here. As happy as any of us might have been with some of the tough talk so far we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop…which it most certainly will, wreaking of the same old shit that we have been stepping in until now. All we have to tide us over is the hope that they will finally get it right...

Further comments:

I really have nothing insightful to offer here, probably the same thing everyone else is thinking right now.

During the week after that the Tadiyeh had expired there were calls from right to left for action. The center to left was most interesting. Even groups as extremely deluded as Meretz were calling for action…and that left me incredibly suspicious.

I cannot remember a single call to arms by Meretz ever. The fact that they were pushing the issue only proved to me that the left is so desperately afraid of Bibi as prime minister that they were willing to go so far as to engage the enemy in battle to out maneuver him politically by proving that the Left (primarily Kadima) can be as tough as he allegedly can be.

This was especially prudent vis-à-vis Bibi’s apparent strategy of attempting to present himself and the Likud as an similar yet somehow superior alternative to Kadima.

I was disgusted to consider that Kadima would consider what would result in another half assed attempt at war in order to score points against Bibi.

Nevertheless when the bombs first dropped I was really excited. We have been taking it for a long time and it felt great to up our stats. This is why I made Aliyah.

I was initially under the assumption that the commitment to the engagement on our side would be put to the test and fold pathetically when the time came to decide whether to commit ground troops or not. If we really want a victory on the ground in terms of intelligence, prisoners, and deterrence, we would need to commit ground forces before the air bombardment had become completely exhausted.

I also definitely figured that once the UN voted on a resolution or some country offered or tried to broker a ceasefire that Livni or Olmert could spin to their advantage then they would end the engagement stopping short of accomplishing anything truly significant and try and spin a victory here in the press, like they did in Lebanon with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

So far though we are committing ground forces and are not accepting any ceasefire, and it seems that this operation is going to dig in deep.

In a way this really makes me wonder what would have happened in Lebanon if it were during an election period. Left always turns right during a campaign, and I think that this is probably the biggest lesson to learn here.

I am sure that Olmert wants this to be his own Operation Defensive Shield and that we can only hope that Olmert is very consumed with a real victory in the south, after the debacle in the north.

It was an especially nice Chanukah present I have to say. Even if I didnt like the people who gave it to me.

Finally, after having served during the Lebanon war, I made the decision to seriously avoid serving politically driven wars called by incompetent leadership, as I believe all of us should refuse to do. After all, we are not to act as sheep lead to the slaughter, not in the Diaspora and not here. I say this as a soldier who swore on the Tanach to protect this country and who will never cease to do so.

This time, if they call, I'll be there.

Enjoy the Frankness!

Election day results!

Let's see if my google trends theory stands up.

Here's today's data:



Google trends tells me that Obama wins.

Let's see..

Israeli Kids Like to Fight!

I guess this is good news.

Israeli boys like to fight, far more than their American counterparts. 1 in 4 boys get into fights. I can relate with that.

I often complain about how disrespectful and troublesome Israeli youths are, but I suppose that kids who fight this often aren't as likely to go as quietly into the night like so many of our ancestors.

Frank

Shana Tova!

Another new year is here and its sure to be a good one for Israel!!!

I just know that Hashem will grant us another great year if we all have the right emunah and study lots of Talmud! Learning as much as we can about the goat and the ox is sure to defeat our enemies, and if evil does fall upon us its clearly because we haven't been saying enough tehilim!

with love,

Frank

Obama, McCain, Google Trends, and the Russo-Iranian Quagmire...

I'm someone who puts a premium on the web.

So far this is what Google trends have to say about web activity for the two of them, and as you can see Obama (and even Hillary Clinton until recentely)is beating the pants off of McCain on the web. It's kind of sad really:




You can rationalize and reason away about why Obama is flying so high and McCain so low, but in the end you can't argue with the fact that Obama's exposure is monumental. BTW this traffic is drawn almost exclusively from within the US.

Obama is taking a bit of a dip lately, which is really what matters, so perhaps we are in for a bit of a convergence in traffic.

Will this predict the results of the election?

Maybe.

Does it matter really matter for Israel who wins Israel?

Maybe.

The air of Schadenfreude which courses through my veins kind of wants Obama to win just to see how bad things can get.

But…The way I see it, the biggest problem either can pose for Israel would be in how they would handle the following scenario:

Israel may attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear aspirations. The US may elect to support Israel militarily. This could result is a massive backlash, in an increase in mid-eastern oil prices, leaving the Americans hurting (and crying like children). Russia may choose to intervene to protect Iran (its client state). The result: Big problems.

The question is: Which presidential candidate will benefit Israel more under these circumstances?

I think it's clear that McCain would be the popular choice.

But in my heart I believe that neither would matter because both of them will more than likely become paralyzed on the horns of the said dilemma. The US is a diminished power in the eyes of the world. They are vulnerable to oils shocks. Russia is resurgent. ANd most of all, they are going to look out for number one no matter what position Israel finds itself to be in (which is understood). Things do not look good.

But maybe this is just what the US needs to get its juice back.(Not).

Israeli hackers penetrate Hamas website

I love this!!!

Hamas should be forcefully penetrated on a regular basis!!!

(Oh, wait maybe they are!)

I have often wondered when our Zionist hackers would start making a public showing against the enemy.

When asked if he believes that hacking can lead to change, he said, “We want to convey the message that there are still people who care and who are sick and tired of governmental apathy. We believe in all ways of fighting back and our means is the Internet. We will do anything that causes damage.”

Amen!

On engagements, negotiations, and solutions:

Hey folks,

We all know how stupid Israeli attempts at problem solving and conflict resolution are in the political/military arena. I have always seen Israeli’s conflict resolution tactics as little more than futile attempts at applying tried and true salesmanship and business principles to the resolution of the local violent conflict.

It really appears as if they are doing no more than applying The One Minute Manager combined with How to Win Friends & Influence People (great books in and of themselves, unfortunately they haven’t yet gotten to The Gift of Fear) in order to create peace with fanatical Islam. It’s ridiculous. But that’s probably why business works in Israel and politics does not.

Here is a great little piece by Barry Rubin (I like his stuff; you can find more of it at gloriacenter.org) on what I would call straight up Israeli Realist common sense:

Let me say it again: despite the mountains of speeches, conferences, articles, committees, foundation grants, projects, currencies of every description and policies expended on it, there is no solution in sight for the conflict. It will continue for decades.

Afterwards read this other piece by Rubin:

ENGAGEMENTS, OF course, have effects other than direct success. One is to buy time for someone. But for who? If one party subverts other states, builds nuclear weapons, demoralizes the other's allies and sponsors terrorism during talks while the other side... just talks, the first side clearly benefits far more.

Then tie them all together with this little tidbit from the economist on the futility of going overboard essentially on problem solving and negotiation:

What this shows is that even with one negotiator having perspective-taking abilities it can produce a better overall outcome for both sides. “You want to understand what the other side's interests are, but you do not want to sacrifice your own interests,” says Dr Galinksy. “A large amount of empathy can actually impair the ability of people to reach a creative deal.”

As a bonus, take a good read of Caroline Glick's interview with the National Review:

The shackled warrior is Israel. Between the Israeli peace movement, the local and international media, the U.N., Europe and the U.S., Israel is both forced to fight the war being waged against it with both hands tied behind its back and to believe that it bears responsibility for the genocidal anti-Semitism that has taken over the Islamic world.

Enjoy the Frankness!

Column: JDL - 40 years later

Being that Rabbi Meir Kahane has never received objective treatment in Israel for any of his contributions, Libby Kahane’s article in the Jpost this past week was a very pleasant surprise. I cannot imagine another mainstream Israeli publication being fair enough to have printed her words, so Kol Hakavod to the Jpost for having the decency to do so.

I personally have tremendous reverence for the Rabbi and I know that his work and indeed existence played a pivotally crucially positive role in my development as a Jewish human being.

He was a sheepdog amongst the sheep, and I will respect anyone of us who takes on that noble and most thankless mantle. He was one who said that yes we may have been weak, but need not succumb to weakness. He was one who said that even though we may be sheep, we need not be food for the wolves.

And whether you like or agree with every thing he said or not there are two things he did for us which are irrefutable: he completely redefined the Israeli right wing in the public consciousness, and best of all unlike so many other leaders of our people from past to present from start to finish he never lied to us.

Rabbi Meir Kahane allowed me to believe that a Jewish future is possible and that angry men like me have their place in it too.

God Bless his memory.

Jewish Train Etiquette

This is a unique insight so pay attention.

Train is the best way to travel in Israel. It truly is. I have often tried to put my finger on what exactly makes traveling by train in Israel just so delightful and have finally come up with the reason.

Having used the train system here well over a thousand times I can say that, with rare exception, the trains here are clean, quiet, and well air conditioned. Everyone seems to relax on the train and just mind their own business. It’s like taking a mini vacation to some quiet foreign countryside.

Thus, the reason people love riding the train in Israel is because it is one of few places here that actually allows you to forget that you are in Israel at all.

The trains provide a temporary bubble of normalcy where one can escape the cruel realities of Israeli roadways and interpersonal interactions.

However, there is something that has disturbed me from day one; something so vile that it spoils the experience for me every time and leaves me cringing and grinding my teeth, and that is the way we board and disembark from the trains.

Though the ride itself is much more pleasant that a typical bus ride, like the bus lines people crowd the car doors and entrances trying to force and shove their way on to the train without any concern for anything else whatsoever. This is usually at the expense of the people who are trying to get off, who are all at once overwhelmed in wave of over eager train boarders more than willing to run them down for a shot to get on that train. (I once saw a guy carrying a baby trying (and screaming in horror) to get off the train nearly trampled by a group of people too impatient to wait for him to get off until one Good Samaritan jumped in to save the baby from falling.)

So what is it that really bothers me?

It wasn’t that many years ago that fuckin’ Nazi’s packed us on and off trains shipping us to and fro from Ghetto’s, slave labor and death camps. It is my opinion that we Jews shouldn’t be over eager to get on any train, ever. The notion of Jews crowding on to trains is not something I relish to enact in life, ever—and certainly not in the Jewish state.

I think that there should be signs on the trains that read something like:

Relax and take your time boarding, there were those who could not.

So what I do is I wait. I will not push. I wait until the pandemonium calms down, even if the train is packed and I risk (gasp) having to stand.

Our honor and dignity are worth it.

Enjoy the Frankness!

FY on FB!

Plebeians,

You can now check the Frankness out on Facebook. You may also fan the Frankness.

The fan page is equipped with a discussion board too, so let the good times roll!

Enjoy the Facebook Frankness!

Caroline Glick on forcing Israel's elites from power?

In this piece Caroline Glick breaks down a bit knowledge on this country’s illiberal leftist crypto-fascist elites—which is always important reading in my book.

I’ve got to be honest and say that I believe that her final statements approach something akin to the Frankness.

These excerpts are pretty golden:


In a sad twist of fate, Israel's current elites are the direct descendents not of their Zionist predecessors, but of the exile elites their predecessors fought. Sixty years after statehood was declared, Israel is led by men and women who oppose Jewish power and embrace instead the Diaspora model of ingratiating themselves with foreigners through appeasement.


And…


THE ELITISTS' passion for pieces of paper - or even just negotiations about them - is a general one. Anyone who is willing to talk about signing one, whether they are American presidents or Syrian dictators, is a friend and a partner. And anyone who questions the elitists' stubborn belief in agreements as Israel's ultimate goal in all things is an enemy of peace.


And especially…


But of course, the elites are not the entire country. They aren't even the majority, just a powerful minority. There can be little doubt that in due time the stubborn Zionist Jews will force our elitists from power and secure our country for the next 60 years.


I have to ask: is she verging here on a Frank musing? Or does she mean something else by “force our elitists from power”…?

Religious Fetish Update:

The Name Changer:

The name changer is an irritating annoyance of a filthy fetishist.

The name changer is person who late in life suddenly decides to start referring themselves by a name other than the one they are popularly known by. People who for years are known by a more secular name insist that everyone they know only refer to them by a religious name—regardless how stupid the name sounds, like Shloimy, Label, Channa Rachel, or Shprintzeh Leyah.

The notion of name changing is done only to appease the religious in group and nothing to do with anything else, ever. This fetish is usually associated with BTS.

Never accommodate a name changer—it will only contribute to the proliferation of more religious name fetishists.

If you ever sniff one out just stop 'em and say: "Ay fetishist! Keep your name right where it is, you will not become a new person by changing your name in some neurotic fetishist fervor!!!"

Enjoy the Frankness!

Expertvillage.com

Expertvillage.com is great!

I love this site so much I have to give it a plug!

It has everything on it from Martial Arts moves to how to bake a Hallah!

It can get quote creative in its scope.

Check it out.

The Irony of 60

I find it funny.

In the Talmud one who dies before 60 is considered as if he was "cut off" (Karet) from his people by God—in an act of divine justice for certain insufferable wrongdoings. 60 being the half way point to 120—which is considered an ideal life span.

Israel is 60—I wonder: will we make it to 61?

I find it funny.

61 people are all it takes to form a government in Israel. 61, being the majority of our 120 person Knesset. Are the insufferable wrongdoings of 61 people all it takes to lead us to our doom—nuclear or otherwise?

Will 61 of 120 MK's get us over the 60th year hump to set us on our way to 120?

The Matzav in a nutshell

What can I say; the nuances of this report provide enough material to wax endlessly Talmudic about the insanity of our local predicament well into the next 60 years.

As usual Strategypage.com merits a full reproduction:


Arabs Fed Up With Palestinians

May 8, 2008: The Palestinians are fragmenting into dozens of mutually antagonistic factions. The new West Bank police, organized by Fatah, has found themselves battling clan, political and religious militias. Hamas continues to support attacks on Israel, which comes down to several crude Kassam rockets fired into southern Israel each day, plus several attempts to attack Israeli troops guarding the border between Gaza and Israel. Hamas continues to insist that, long range, they will destroy Israel. Because of that, Israeli military leaders do not want to have any ceasefire with Hamas, believing it will be used to pile up more rockets and fortifications for their next major attack on Israel. But the U.S., Europeans and Arab nations want a cease fire, so the Israelis continue to negotiate. Everyone understands that a ceasefire would not be an absolute halt to violence. Several Palestinian terrorist groups would refuse to participate in any ceasefire, and the Israelis would go after key terrorist personnel after such attacks.

Since these peace talks began six months ago, nearly 500 people, most of them Palestinians, have died in terrorist attacks and counter-terror operations. Currently, the UN is demanding that Israel resume fuel shipments to Gaza, despite Hamas attacks on the fuel transfer gate and facilities. Hamas is using the fuel shortage to keep their security forces moving, while denying mobility to the anti-Hamas groups in Gaza.

More Arab diplomats are privately telling the Palestinians (both Hamas and Fatah) that the Arab world is fed up with Palestinian squabbling, corruption and general inability to move forward. This is not expected to change anything, and avoids the fact that the Arab nations caused many of the Palestinians problems by not allowing Palestinians to migrate to other Arab nations after 1947 (the Palestinians could only stay as refugees). Israeli traditionalists see all this as an opportunity to take control of more land in the West Bank (which they see as part of "Greater Israel") and East Jerusalem (traditionally the Arab side of town). The Palestinians insist on removing all Israelis from areas they have moved into since 1967 (when Israel conquered the West Bank). That is not likely to happen because the small religious parties in the Israeli parliament are crucial for forming a government.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah has become increasingly violent, using groups of masked men to attack similarly outfitted pro-government (Sunni and Christian) gangs. Neither side is willing to spark another civil war, yet both sides are becoming more aggressive.

Religious Fetishism! (Or, The Fetishes of Israel)

The religious fetishist is an individual who elects to place remarkable sentimental emphasis, elaborately display, broadcast overtly, or obsess upon the role of religious devices, rituals, superstitions, clothing/adornments, music, ideas/concepts, or religious scholarship within ones life.

To be clear, religious fetishism, like all things, exists within a spectrum.

So for example, one who maintains a specific superstitious sentimentality for a certain type of Kippah to the exclusion of all others may be said to have a Kippah fetish, specific to the type one wears—more specifically, as Kippah wearing itself is a generally standard or universal practice within “religious” Jewish life and is rather commonplace and essentially unremarkable in virtually any Jewish community or circle, Kippah wearing as a general practice in itself scores a virtual (if not absolute) zero on the religious fetish scale.

However, wearing a large Breslov type Kippah with large letters proclaiming a slogan of some kind in place of a more common place Kippah leads to a significantly higher score on the scale of religious fetishism. Add some long curly side locks and you have an individual who scores higher yet. A person clad in a Kippah that covers the entire head topped of with a tassel or pompom at the crown accompanied by prominent curly side locks is making a personal and very public statement about the religious importance/value/correctness of their appearance, as well as their fixated preference for it in opposition to other options: their elaborately displayed (and specifically selected) appearance takes on a remarkable sentimental ritualistic emphasis (with supernatural implications), which in turn broadcasts a specific preference for unusual or atypical lifestyle choices, or in other words: it’s the display of a Religious fetish.

Due to my dissatisfaction with religious fetishism of almost every kind I would like to highlight those that perturb me most:

The Haredi:

Haredim are religious fetishism incarnate. They even have rival fetishist gangs whose entire goal in life is to proliferate their own fetishes while suppressing those of rival fetishists. Their fetishes range from: side lock fetishes, hat fetishes, holy book fetishes, Shabbat kugel fetishes, chulent fetishes, unemployment fetishes, obscurantist fetishisms, elitist fetishisms, and various misogynistic fetishisms. Some have Palestinian/Islamic fetishes. ALL have a European alter heim fetish.

The Ba’al Teshuvah (BT) with Ba’al Teshuvah Syndrome (BTS):

The Ba’al Teshuvah with Ba’al Teshuvah Syndrome is one of the most annoying of the religious fetishists, quite generally they obsess upon religious minutia too openly for comfort and to a degree intolerable to FFB’s and people who are in general more well balanced and casual about religious minutia. They incessantly ask stupid questions that they wouldn’t ask if they had a half-ounce of dignity (in which case they would just pick up a few books on basic Jewish laws and really learn them). To be fair its not always out of stupidity and indignity that they persist so, often they know the answer to their question but make the error in thinking that all people in the real world are as interested in their religious metamorphosis as their rabbi’s at BT school were—and are more often than not just trying to impress the rest of us with their religious fetishism (an undo their years of non-religious life). Its funny how I never think of BT’s who don’t have BTS as Ba’al Teshuvah’s—I suppose that BT is in itself something of a pejorative term.


The Minyan Addict:

The Minyan Addict is a nuisance no different than a housefly or mosquito. You are likely to encounter a minyan addict at malls, public events, on airplanes, on busses, on trains, etc—anywhere they can easily enough (and tortuously enough) subject you to their addiction. There you are minding your own business enjoying yourself with your friends or family and some overly enthused stranger with a minyan fetish jumps into your life asking something like: “have you davened mincha yet?” ARRRGH. This one really grinds my gears. The only retort to somebody like this is to say, “Well if I hadn’t I wouldn’t make it your problem” or “If I hadn’t it would be me bothering you instead of it being the other way around” or just lie and say yes. I have tried these all and they all work, but occasionally I give in to guilt and join all the other guys who this minyan fetishist duped into getting involved in his addiction. (Ever notice the faces on the other guys there? They feel stupid for saying “no” too).

The Halachist (or the Halahick obsessive fetish):

“I’m not sure you’re allowed to do that… That’s Asur…According to [insert rabbinical authority] you shouldn’t watch TV/listen to the radio/use the internet/read secular books/live in Israel/etc… Can you say Vayechulu with me? … I don’t think you can eat that… That’s not Da’as Torah”… It’s too late to daven now…mamesh…takeh…gevalt… rahmanah letzlan… you cant eat that now… we can’t understand even one hair off the top of [insert rabbinical authority]’s head… that’s still not Da’as Torah…blah, blah, blah.” They have a religionist/Halachah/worshiping fetish, whereby they view Judaism as being solely defined by Halachah. These are Halachah worshiping orthodox practitioners of Jewish ritual who worship worshiping.

The Carlebach/orthodox hippy Fetish:

The Carlebachnik is a weird type. By and large their most obsessed over item is their scarf, which they wear in all types of weather (never wearing a coat with it; wouldn’t want it to become concealed) in a manner that can only be reminiscent of a flamboyantly homosexual fighter pilot. They love to quote “Reb Shlomo” who is to them a sort of Prince of Peace whom they hagiographize by the moment—tales of Reb Shlomo are increasingly and deliberately taking the form of Hassidishe Maisess. Avoid the direct wild-eyed gaze of guitar playing ones…their guitars and flutes are another weird obsession. They have a quasi-spiritual/hippy fetish.

The Spiritual/Kaballah Fetish:

These are the types who wax mystical about klipot and tikunim. At advanced levels they begin to obsess over wearing the color white, often with a hood and dark sunglasses. They are useless imbeciles whose only true ambition in life is to lead a cult. They have a perverse spirituality fetish.

The Redemption Fetishists:

They are religious/spiritual/kiruv/messianic fetishists all in one; a one stop shop of absolute weirdness. Their messianic fetishism usually takes the form of personality cult over a living or deceased rabbinic figure, as did their ancient religious/spiritual/kiruv/messianic antecedents and predecessors: the Christians. They have a redemption fetish.

The Authenticist Fetish:

They ramble on and on about authentic Judaism (there is no such thing). Their fetish is some sort of “Authentic” Judaism. Simple enough.

The Apikoras Fetish:

One who delights in denouncing aspects of Judaism and waxing iconoclastic, especially with the more traditionally sacred aspects of Judaism. Yours truly, the Frankness is indeed guilty of indulging in this tasty fetish.

So next time someone lousy religious fetishist gets in your face, just look him or her straight in the eye and say: you have a religious fetish and I won't tolerate it, so F**k off!


Enjoy the Frankness!

Yom HaShoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Or, send in the clowns)

These are days of awe.

On Yom HaShoah we lament those who were eradicated and praise those who chose not to be as easily so.

On Yom Hazikaron we esteem and grieve our fallen defenders.

On Yom Ha’atzmaut we celebrate the reconstitution of our place on this earth.

However, every other day of the year we mockingly undermine those events, the great spirit of our reconstitution, and especially the fallen.

Therefore I say, that on these very days of pageant commiseration we mock them still—mock them with our moments of silence, mock them with our shallow commemoration, and mock them with our flags.

I am incensed by our feeble annual symbolisms and by how hollow the root causes of these days echo in our minds as they pass by, year by year by year.

We have accomplished so much in these last 60 years but have yet to undo that self-destructive thing within us that we still allow to dwindle our numbers, devastate our spirit, and jeopardize our Birthright: an existence exceeding a contentment with life hanging constantly in the balance.

Our Birthright is dignity. Our Birthright is life. Our Birthright is grand legacy.

All of the parties, barbecues, religious services, ceremonies, and dusty flags unfurling are just more and more bread for the ever-growing circus that the state of Israel has become, and of which we are growing increasingly dim and oblivious.

It is my passionate hope that we merit 60 more years, but that within them we tire from the notions of mere survival and pragmatics defined by an acceptance of Jewish collateral damage. But most of all, that we begin exercising the Birthright through our own will to power.


Enjoy the Frankness!