Train Wreck

Check out our previous posting on Iran's runaway train.

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Ooops!

No Brakes?

The Train (1984)

The current news is about Ahmadinejad's declaration that Iran is a train that has "no brakes or reverse gear". An interesting image. He could have said "Iran's enemies can't stop the train".He could have said "We won't stop the train". He didn't say either. He said "the train has no brakes"
The man clearly sees a train wreck ahead!

- - - - - - - - - -This Friday Dry Bones cartoon from 1984 used a train image to explain that somehow Israel had "left the tracks". We were stuck in the mud of Lebanon, the secular and religious communities of the Jewish state were bumping up against each other, the "Peace" with Egypt was cold, the economy was in the toilet, and to top it off, there were rumors of a Jewish anti-Arab underground gang.

Not a train hurtling towards an explosive crash. Not a train without brakes. Just a train that had somehow wandered off track on its trip to the reality we want to build... A society which will be a "light unto the nations".

Moslem against Moslem

Shiites attack Sunni mosques, Sunnis attack Shiite mosques. HEY GUYS!!! Is this what George W. Bush told us was The Religion Of Peace?

And for a complete rundown on the origin of "Religion of Peace" here's Wikipedia's entry.

Israeli Q and A

Okay so today's cartoon shows what I think. So what do you think? Will Israel's Arab neighbors recognize and face the Iranian threat?

Or will they just roll over?

Nu? Your thoughts please?

Iranian Moderates (2000)

Today's golden Oldie is from Feb 22 2000. Seven years ago we were being sold the same story they're trying to sell us today. The Iranian public has had it with the extremist government. Let's not do anything rash, change is happening from within. Yeah, right.

Here's what LeMonde told us back in 2000:

"A wind of freedom is blowing in Iran after the Iran Participation Front’s overwhelming victory in the national elections held on 18 February 2000. It is estimated that 70% of the seats in the coming parliament will go to the reforming friends of President Mohammad Khatami. Following on the triumphs in the presidential elections of May 1997 and the municipal elections of March 1999, this landslide confirms the strength of the desire for change that is now sweeping Iranian society, 21 years after the Islamic Revolution." -more

Last month the Associated Press tried to peddle the same "reform is coming, don't worry" story:

TEHRAN, Iran: "Conservatives and reformists are openly challenging President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hard-line nuclear diplomacy tactics, with many saying his provocative remarks are doing more harm than good.

The unprecedented criticism comes after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran last month for refusing to halt uranium enrichment."-more

- - - - - - - - - -Mr. Shuldig wasn't buying the story back in 2000 and he's not buying it now.

Are you?

Australian Light Bulbs

"Australia today became the first nation to ban traditional light bulbs, requiring that consumers and businesses install high efficiency lighting to cut energy use and fight global warming. A month ago a liberal Los Angeles state assemblyman was widely ridiculed for proposing a similar ban on incandescent bulbs in California. But in this case it's the conservative government of Australian Prime Minister John Howard that is flipping the switch on traditional lighting in a nation of 20 million people. Incandescent light bulbs will be phased out by 2010, cutting Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 4 million metric tons annually by 2015" -more

Palestinian "Moderate" (1978)

Today's Golden Oldie was originally published on January 4, 1978. A cartoon that I drew twenty nine years ago! At that time Arafat, the terrorist chieftain of the PLO. was posing as a "moderate" (for American consumption).

At the time of this posting things have changed!

What has changed is that the name of the terrorist chieftain of the PLO who is now posing as a "moderate" (for American consumption) is Abbas and not Arafat.

The Islamist Koran

This cartoon is the second one I've done recently about the "New Theology" and the Islamist movement.
The previous one is here.

Hmmm.

Could (should?) this be the start of a series?

Israel in the EU

Israel to join the EU?

Europe to become Islamic?

So what's YOUR prediction?

Will Israel Join the EU? ...or NATO? What about Eurabia? Will Europe go Islamic?

Nu? So what's your guess?

Rival Demonstrations (1999)

I usually try to find Golden Oldies that deal with topics that are currently in the news. Two days ago when I last had to post a cartoon from the archives, I was feeling lazy. So lazy that I just looked for a old Dry Bones cartoon that had been published on the same day of the month. That cartoon, by chance, turned out to be amazingly appropriate.

Today's news is about rival street demonstrations in Beirut, but I decided to just go with the "Pick Em By Date" technique, and BINGO! We hit again!

The cartoon from February 15, 1999 deals with rival street demonstrations. The 1999 demonstrations were in Israel. The Haredim (usually and incorrectly identified as ultra-orthodox) are clannish, follow their leaders, and consider TV to be sinful. Secular Israeli Jews (i.e. non-observant) are becoming couch potatoes.

Global Warming

The predicted higher sea levels caused by Global Warming will threaten millions around the world. Especially hard-hit will be island dwellers like the folks on Fiji or the Island of Manhattan. The following coverage of the new report is from the Fiji Times.

"A new report by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says global warming is "very likely" man-made. This is the most powerful language ever used by the worlds leading climate scientists. The group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 countries unanimously portrays the science of global warming as an existing and worsening threat" -more

No one has yet suggested a linkage between stopping Global Warming and pressuring Israel. What this means is that no one has yet asked Jimmy Carter or James Baker.

Silly Season (1994)

Today was warm and sunny. A lovely taste of spring to come. I got a haircut at my local barbershop and strolled home with a kind of bounce in my walk. The world seemed beautiful. Life was good.

When I got back to my studio I began searching for a Golden Oldie for today's posting. Caught in the grip of premature spring fever and facing a deadline, I took the easy way out... I did not search for a topic or a theme that would be relevant to current events. I just looked for a cartoon that had been published in the past on February 13. Today's date.

I found this one from 1994.

And was shocked!

Thirteen years ago on another February 13, there was Mr. Shuldig reading a book of optimistic drivel and fairy tale parables to his dog Doobie, exactly as he did in yesterday's cartoon.

Thirteen years ago on another February 13, a spring-like day had put a smile on my face and had filled me with hope.

And then, as now, the pragmatic Doobie had listened in grim disbelief.

- - - - - - - - - -Just for the record, spring begins on March 21 and in 2007, the first night of Passover is not until April 2, 2007, while Easter falls on April 8, 2007.

Hamas and Abbas

When I sat down to do this cartoon about Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, an old limerick popped into my head.

There once was a lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They returned from the ride,
with the lady inside
And the smile on the face of the tiger

I eventually chose to go with the fairy tale approach. At first I planned to have Condoleeza Rice as Little Red Riding Hood but then decided to have Mr Shuldig read the Palestinian fairy tale to Doobie, his dog.

- - - - - - - - - - For those of you who don't know about the Palestinian "Unity government", here's the story as it's now being reported in the Lebanese Daily Star:

"In Gaza, senior Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri said a unity government would enjoy 'full Palestinian, Arab and Islamic legitimacy.' As a result, he said, 'the entire international community, the Zionist enemy and the US administration" would have no choice but to deal with a new reality'.

Abbas said that he planned to ask Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya to tender his Cabinet's resignation to open the way for him to form a new government.

A political adviser to Haniyya said on Saturday the new government, expected to be unveiled in the coming days, would not recognize Israel" -more

And here's Yid with a Lid's coverage:

"As predicted, the new united terrorist government of Palestine will not recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist as democratic Jewish nation. In the press you can see the headlines "Israel unsure about agreement," or "Israel frosty about the agreement". It kind of makes you want to hijack a TV network just so you can scream across the world, "HEY WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF IT WAS YOUR KIDS?" Would you be "frosty" if there was a merger of two terrorist organizations that wanted to kill your family? Would you be unsure if they refused to recognize that your country had the right to exist? What if both groups had destroying your county as part of their constitutions?" -more

SleepyHead

According to to Middle East Newsline:

HIZBULLAH RECEIVES SA-18 MISSILES FROM SYRIA-more

According to YNet:

Assad Gave Hizbullah Antitank Missiles
"Syria continues to transfer advanced antitank missiles to Lebanese Shiite group, in defiance of UN resolution, Jerusalem officials say. 'Hizbullah is again growing in strength before our eyes, and we're doing nothing about it,' official claims " -more

According to JustSixDays:

"Long-range missiles as well as truckloads of advanced anti-tank missiles originating in Iran and Syria have been smuggled to Hizbullah in Lebanon..." -more

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And a happy weekend to us all.
:-)

The Old "Aksa is in Danger" Trick (2000)

In September of 2000, Arik Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. A place "Holy to Christians, Moslems, and Jews". The visit seemed to spark wild rumors of an attack on Al Aksa. Al Aksa is the Mosque built (between 709-715 C.E.) over the ruins of the temple built by Solomon almost 3,000 years ago and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., and later of the second temple, razed by the Romans in 70 C.E..

The irrational hysteria built, rioting spread, and ballooned into the grotesque violence called "the Al Aksa Intifada."

Months later that we discovered that the whole operation had been carefully planned in advance.

As I write this commentary, in February of 2007, wild rumors of an attack on Al Aksa are once again being spread. The hysteria is, once again, building rapidly.

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Maxwell Smart was the funny American Secret Agent in the 1960's "Get Smart" TV comedy. Each week Max would fall into some outlandishly improbable trap. Then, showing his professionalism, he'd explain that he had fallen for "The Old Roller Skate on the Stairway Trick" or "The Old Bomb in the Pizza Trick" or whatever. Funny enough, but without fail, the real belly laugh came when poor Max would get tricked again ...the same way!

As I read of the new rumors of a Jewish attack on Al Aksa, in my mind I hear the voice of Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent number 86.

What he's saying is: "It's the Old 'Aksa is in Danger' Trick, ...Again."

And So It Begins

The title of the cartoon is "And so it begins". By that I meant the turning away from the Bush administration's pro-Israel, anti-terror position.

News Item:

Rice ripped for avoiding terrorist label on Hamas

A US Jewish group on Monday demanded US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice immediately retract remarks she made during a press conference in Europe two weeks ago in which she called Hamas a "resistance movement." - more

Many of us expected more from Condi:

"To the State Department Arabists, Jewish blood in Israel was always expendable. That’s why when Dr. Rice became the Secretary of State, there was a collective sigh of relief, as everybody (based on her past record) thought she would clean up the Department from all the old extra baggage… alas, instead they have “reeducated” her…" - more

So what do YOU think?

Was this:

1. Just a slip of Condi's tongue?

2. The State Dept. has re-educated Dr. Rice?

3. Bush is ready to betray us and this is the first step?

Thoughts? Opinions?

Nu?

Palestinian Terror (1983)

Today, in 2007, the world is (once again) rushing to save the "good terrorists" (Abbas and the old PLO crowd) from the threat of the "bad terrorists" (these days it's Hamas).

It's like a weirdo game of "good cop/bad cop". That's when two police interrogators deceive a suspect by playing roles. One cop pretends to be mean, violent, and potentially dangerous ...while the other cop suckers the suspect by broadcasting "understanding", friendship, and an alternative to violence.

Today's golden oldie from 1983 shows how the trick worked almost 25 years ago

The Gift

Current joke here in Israel:

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the Tel Aviv/Jerusalem highway. Nothing is moving in either direction. Suddenly a man knocks on his window.
The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What happened, what's the hold up?"

- "Terrorists have kidnapped Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz, and their chief of staff. They are asking for a $100 million ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, taking up a collection."

The driver asks, "On average how much is everyone giving?"

- "About a gallon."

Happy Tree Day

Yup. Plant a tree and save the world.

Tu B'Shvat (Tu BiShvat, Tu BeShvat, etc.) is a festival that expresses our link to the land of Israel. It's customs started in ancient Israel. Later, after our cruel expulsion from the land, on this holiday we would put the "seven species" of fruits wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates on our tables. A reminder of the land of Israel... and of our hopes to return to it.

Now that we are back home, Tu B'Shvat (the New Year of the Trees) is a day when trees are planted. As the bible commands,(Leviticus 19:23):"And when you shall enter this land, you shall plant fruit-bearing trees".

Midrash Tanhuma comments on this verse :

"you plant trees for your descendants. And let no one say: I am already old, how much longer shall I live? Why should I strive on behalf of others, if tomorrow I may die? Therefore a person may not evade this duty, even if he plants trees in old age, to add to what has already been planted."

This year Tu B'Shvat falls on Shabbat, February 3, 2007... therefore many of the holiday plantings took place yesterday, Thursday, February 1. Other tree-plantings will take place after the close of Shabbat (Saturday night)

We've posted two Tu B'Shvat "golden oldies" this week. One (from 1997) was called Optimism. The other (from 1993) was called Tradition.

Happy Tree Day to us all!

Tradition (1993)

Our Hebraic tree-planting tradition reaches its most intense expression on the holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish "New Year" of the trees.

For a previous explanation click here

...but since the holiday starts tomorrow evening, stop back tomorrow to see this year's Tu B'Shvat cartoon.