Presidential Visit

According to Israel HaYom:

Lieberman invites Morsi to Jerusalem

"A surprising invitation was extended to Cairo on Tuesday, when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi visit Israel, while speaking at a legal conference in Tel Aviv. Lieberman expressed his pleasure at hearing Morsi's statements in a recent interview in which he reassured Egypt's neighbors that they need not worry about Egyptian forces in Sinai.

"I was happy to hear President Morsi speak about his commitment to peace with Israel, the Camp David Accords and fighting terrorism," said Lieberman. "This is very important news; but those who talk about peace and stability must also understand that it is not just a hypothetical idea. Peace has tangible aspects to it, too. It is not a telepathic connection. This is why we hope to see President Morsi receiving Israeli delegates. We want to see him give interviews in the Israeli media and we want to see him in Jerusalem as President Peres' guest."-more

American Pressure (1987)

August 18, 1987

Today's cartoon is from 1987.
Twenty five years ago this month.

Back in 1987 Israel was being pressured by the U.S. to abandon the development of the Lavi fighter plane.

Thirteen days after this cartoon appeared, Israel gave in to the pressure... as reported in the New York Times:

"After months of wrenching debate, the Israeli Cabinet voted today to halt development of the Lavi fighter jet, which was to be Israel's main advanced combat aircraft for the 1990's.

A slim majority of the Cabinet was finally persuaded to abandon building the Lavi as a result of pressure from the Reagan Administration..."-more

Hurricane

It turns out that planning to hold the 2012 Republican National Convention during hurricane season in Florida was not the wisest of decisions.

Atomic Threat (2002)

August 30, 2002

Today's cartoon is from 2002.
Ten years ago this month.

I could do this cartoon today without any changes. Of course the nuclear threat being ignored today is the Iranian Islamist threat.

School Days

A new generation of college freshmen (including a grandson of mine) is preparing to face the future by equipping themselves with an education. The speed with which the world is changing is astounding.

I believe that these kids would be best prepared for the future by studying the past, a difficult task because history is so rapidly being rewritten.

So do YOU have any advice for this year's freshman class?

Insider Attacks in Afghanistan

The latest from the USIP ( The USIP is an "independent, nonpartisan conflict management center created by the US Congress to prevent and mitigate international conflict without resorting to violence".:

"Both NATO and the Afghan government have taken steps recently to stem a growing number of “insider” attacks by Afghan soldiers against their Western counterparts. Thirty-two such attacks have killed 40 coalition service members this year, according to the AFP, amounting to 13 percent of all international coalition deaths in 2012. As the U.S. and other coalition nations move from an active military role to a mentoring one, these so-called “green-on-blue” attacks could pose a serious threat to the partnerships that will be crucial for building Afghan capacity ahead of the 2014 drawdown of U.S. forces."-more

Heat Wave (1987)

August 13, 1987

Today's cartoon is from 1987.
Twenty five years ago this month.

Back in 1987 we were having a blistering heat wave... in the days before global warming.

21st Century Islamism

The roots of today's cartoon are in a song that Pete Seeger and other "folk singers" sang during those long-ago years when I was starting college and folk music was all the rage. Those long-ago years were SO far back in time that leftist folk singers in America proudly sang Israeli folk songs as part of their rousing repertoire.

One of the ditties in their song bag was a song called "Old Man Atom", written by Vern Partlow. The song was comical, timely, and fun, in spite of its subject matter (the Atomic Bomn). The song was recorded and rerecorded by many artists, including the famous mainstream country group, Sons of the Pioneers.

One line in the catchy and controversial song was:

"The people of the world must pick out a thesis
Peace in the world, or the world in pieces"

When I sat down to do today's cartoon, that old song popped into my head.
For more of the story of the song click on Old Man Atom.

So are you so old that you can remember that song?
Nu?

Road Carnage (1997)

August 25, 1997

Today's cartoon is from 1997.
Fifteen years ago this month

...and they're still launching missiles at us.
... and we're still killing ourselves on our highways

At the Wheel

In the old days we just had to worry about idiots reading newspapers or putting on makeup while driving.

The View from our Windows

Two different views through our two different windows, and yet the approaching threat and the approaching election are so intricately connected.

Glasnost (1987)

August 26, 1987

Today's cartoon is from 1987.
25 years ago this month!

Back then, the mighty Soviet Union was coming apart!! We were all watching and the media explained it all with a Russian word. It was used over and over again. The word was "glasnost". I don't believe I've ever heard it used again since then.

So are YOU old enough to remember glasnost?

A Positive Attitude

According to the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) I am wildly and irrationally optimistic about the future, I on the other hand, am constantly trying to pry her out of what she sees as "realism".

After a "philosophical discussion" between the two of us in which I futilely tried to get her to see the current situation with a "positive attitude", I decided to draw this two-guys-talking cartoon.

I hope that she, and others like her, will find this cartoon amusing, if not funny.

Rosh Hashana, Once Again (2002)

August 2, 2002

Today's cartoon is from 2002.
Ten years ago this month!
Ten years have slipped by and and "once again" I'll be hoping the same hope.

* * * This year Rosh Hashanah begins in the evening of Sunday, September 16, 2012, and ends in the evening of Tuesday, September 18, 2012

"Free Gaza?!"

According to Al-Jazeera:

Can Egypt secure Sinai Peninsula?
August 10, 2012
As Egypt boosts its military presence at the border with Israel we ask what this really means for regional security

"Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president, has sacked several high-ranking officials including the country's intelligence chief and the governor of North Sinai.
The decision came after 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed in an attack in the Sinai near an Israeli border checkpoint.
Both Egypt and Israel blamed 'militants' from the Gaza Strip and the Sinai for the attack.
The claim could hurt ties between Hamas and Morsi, and has raised concerns over whether Egypt can secure the Sinai region.
Egypt closed the Gaza border crossing indefinitely after Sunday's attack, a move Hamas says amounts to a collective punishment" -more

And according to the JTA:

Deputy speaker of Norwegian parliament salutes activists sailing to Gaza
August 10, 2012
(JTA) --The deputy speaker of Norway’s parliament expressed his "respect" for pro-Palestinian activists sailing to Gaza.
Akhtar Chaudhry met the 17 activists at Oslo’s port on Tuesday, according to the website Ship to Gaza Sweden. The ship, SV Estelle, sailed from Umea on Tuesday, sailed to Oslo Wednesday and then Kristiansand. The activists plan to reach Gaza in October in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade.
“It is a fantastic way to put focus on the longstanding, illegal and brutal occupation and in later years also blockade on Gaza,” Chaudhry said, according to the ship's website.
He also told the Norwegian news agency NTB, “I truly respect those who have volunteered for this action.” -more

Iranian Attack Dog

The latest according to the Arab Times (Kuwait):

Iran Suicidal In ‘Sinai’ Bid
"Now that the regional doors and international windows have been closed in the face of Iran, it has started trying to use the Egypt-Palestine borders as a backdoor to show it can still influence regional politics and exert power outside whenever it feels like it. Iran has chosen the Sinai desert as its backdoor; oblivious to the fact that any terrorist operation on the Egypt-Palestine borders will only lead to further humiliation because the mask, which the terrorists had used to cover themselves, had Iran’s signature all over it. -moree

And this just in from the Associated Press:

Gunmen attack police station in Egypt's Sinai
CAIRO (AP) — "Gunmen sprayed a police station in Egypt's Sinai with bullets Thursday, setting off a brief firefight with policemen before speeding away in their truck, the latest in a series of attacks against security forces in the increasingly volatile peninsula, security officials said.
Meanwhile, the military sent additional armored and other army vehicles to boost its strength in a hunt for militants in the wake of a deadly weekend attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers.
The security officials also said army engineers were making preparations to destroy or shut an elaborate underground tunnel network linking Sinai and Gaza that is used to smuggle weapons, people and basic goods to circumvent border restrictions imposed against the Hamas-controlled territory by Israel and Egypt. -more

Albright, Pollard, Israel, America (1997)

August 22, 1997

Today's cartoon is from 1997.
Fifteen years ago this month!

Madeleine Albright was the woman secretary of state for President Bill Clinton. Fifteen long years have gone by, Hillary Clinton is now the woman Secretary of State, Barack Obama is now the President, Jonathan Pollard is still a prisoner, and the outrage of Jonathan's continuing punishment is that much more outrageous!!

Syrian Civil War

Everyone has an an answer to the question "what should be done about Syria?". But each is based on the media reports that they see.

Is YOUR media telling YOU that this is:
1.A popular uprising against a cruel dictator
2.A Saudi/Al Queda/U.S. attack on Syria's Iranian-backed government.
3.An Alawite/Sunni war.
4.A Sunni/Shi'íte war
5.The beginning of the War between Iran and the West.
6.A Civil War
7.All of the above
8.Some of the above
9.Other

Nu?

Arafat's Money (2002)

August 18, 2002

Today's cartoon is from 2002.
Ten years ago this month!

Seven years later, in 2009,According to a CBS 60Minute report:

Arafat's Billions
By Tricia McDermott
"Yasser Arafat diverted nearly $1 billion in public funds to insure his political survival, but a lot more is unaccounted for.
Jim Prince and a team of American accountants - hired by Arafat's own finance ministry - are combing through Arafat's books. Given what they've already uncovered, Arafat may be rethinking the decision. Lesley Stahl reports.
"What is Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority worth today?" asks accountant Jim Prince. "Who is controlling that money? Where is that money? How do we get it back?"
So far, Prince's team has determined that part of the Palestinian leader's wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to $1 billion -- with investments in companies like a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian cell phone company and venture capital funds in the U.S. and the Cayman Islands.
Although the money for the portfolio came from public funds like Palestinian taxes, virtually none of it was used for the Palestinian people; it was all controlled by Arafat. And, Prince says, none of these dealings were made public.
"Our whole point is to bring it out of control of any one person," Prince says.
That's what happened with the portfolio money, which is now under the control of Salam Fayyad, a former World Bank official who Arafat was forced to appoint finance minister last year after crowds began protesting his corrupt regime." -more

Banking Bloopers

I've come to believe that more damage has been done in more areas by human stupidity than by conspiracy.

The Minority Candidate

Changing times?

Terrorizing his own Citizens (1992)

August 28, 1992

Today's cartoon is from 1992.
Twenty years ago this month!

Twenty years have passed and the West still does not understand "How Arab governments work".

The Arab head of State back then was Iraq's Saddam Hussein. The Arab head of State surprising the West these days is Syria's Bashar Assad.

Likes and Links

I love Mr. History.
He gives me a chance to look objectively at the bizarre age in which we live.

So do YOU like him?