Good News Bad News

1. The Good News: The classic Hardcover Dry Bones Haggadah is now available at Amazon.com!

2. The Bad News: If you live outside of the United States, shipping can be really expensive! But by ordering NOW you can have them shipped to you at a reasonable rate. So if you live in America there's no rush but . . . If you're not in the USA you should order yours now to receive by Passover. To see the Haggadah and perhaps buy one click on Dry Bones Passover Haggadah.

Promises, Promises

President Trumps is surprising us all! He's doing what he promised.

Mr. Shuldig and his dog Doobie

The story according to the Algemeiner:

‘This Man Is a Spite Machine’; Obama Blasted on Social Media for Appointment of Ben Rhodes to Holocaust Memorial Council

Outgoing President Barack Obama’s choice on Tuesday of top aide Ben Rhodes to serve on the US Holocaust Memorial Council drew a slew of online ire over Rhodes’ controversial record on Israel-related issues.

Rhodes — whose role as Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications will come to an end on Friday with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump — was a leading advocate of the Iran nuclear deal and a vocal critic of Israeli settlement policies.

“So Ben Rhodes, who is a veritable enemy of Israel, Obama appoints to Holocaust Memorial Council,” American Spectator Managing Editor Melissa Mackenzie tweeted. “The man is a spite machine.” - more

Can President Trump Dig up the Evidence?

President Trumps two tweets, First:

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD,
including those registered to vote in two states, those who are
illegal and....

And then:

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a
long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting
procedures!

They'll Miss Him

The story according to the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking.

A State Department official and several congressional aides said the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning. The official said former Secretary of State John Kerry had informed some lawmakers of the move shortly before he left the State Department for the last time Thursday. The aides said written notification dated Jan. 20 was sent to Congress just hours before Donald Trump took the oath of office.

In addition to the $221 million for the Palestinians, the Obama administration also told Congress on Friday it was going ahead with the release of another $6 million in foreign affairs spending, including $4 million for climate change programs and $1.25 million for U.N. organizations, the congressional aides said. The aides and the State Department official weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity

You Can't Blame Them.

Nope, you can't blame them.

The Women's Marches for Equality.

Massive marches by women to protest the denial of basic human rights and equality for women? So why are they not protesting female genital mutilation, the oppression of women in Islamic States, etc.?

Out and In

We are witnessing an amazing pivot in American history.

Our "most unpopular" President-Elect.

The official media seems to be on a wild "Not my President" trip.

Silly French Authorities

At the start of 2017 we're still looking back at 2016.
Today's cartoon is based on a story reported in many places including Israel National News:

Paris rejected Israeli software which could have stopped attack
Report claims anti-Israel boycott movement stopped France buying technology which could have prevented massacre.

A groundbreaking Israeli security system could have helped French authorities prevent the Paris massacre last November - but authorities balked at the deal under pressure from the anti-Israel boycott movement.
Speaking to Fox News, an Israeli counter-terrorism source with intimate knowledge of both the software involved and the deal itself said that after the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attack the previous January an Israeli company offered to provide French authorities with special terrorist-tracking software, which could well have enabled them to flag the ISIS terrorist network operating under their noses. But although the French were initially very keen on the idea, they ultimately rejected it, the source said. "French authorities liked it, but the official came back and said there was a higher-level instruction not to buy Israeli technology," he told Fox News.

"The discussion just stopped." The technology enables intelligence agencies to "connect the dots", by aggregating and analyzing fragmented intelligence from multiple sources to provide a clear, comprehensive assessment. It has already been shared with the US and other Israeli allies, and helps to pinpoint terror suspects and other persons of interest to investigators. The source claimed it could well have helped stop the Paris attacks, and potentially the more recent Brussels attacks as well, which were carried out by the same ISIS terror network".more

Not Their President?!

The "Not my President" campaign seems to pose a real challenge to American Democracy.

Tit for Tat

The Temple of Solomon stood on the top of a mountain in Jerusalem. A mosque called Al Aksa now stands on that "Temple Mount", however the entire Temple Mount is now called Al Aksa by the Arabs and that includes the strange and beautiful structure that stands there and which is called called the Dome of the Rock.

Today's cartoon deals with the threats of retaliation voiced by local Palestinian leadership to the idea of America moving its embassy to Israel's capital City.

Swan Song

The Latest: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/15/paris-conference-to-send-warning-over-israel-and-palestinians

The New Cigar Club?

Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of accepting gifts of expensive cigars for years from a Hollywood producer and businessman.
The reaction in Israel has been a sudden peak n the popularity of expensive cigars.

There have also been reports of secret meetings with Sunni Arab officials and representatives of African States.

All of this swirling together resulted in today's cartoon.

Jewish Liberal Broadmindedness

Our American Cousins.

John Kerry's Advice

John Kerry's thoughts and advice should be ignored.

Who is a Jew?

According to Haaretz:

Sign Marking Mixed Prayer Space at Western Wall Removed by Jerusalem City Officials

Non-Orthodox worshippers were shocked to discover Sunday morning that a sign marking their temporary mixed prayer space at the Western Wall had been removed by Jerusalem city officials. The sign, at the entrance to a platform at the southern expanse of the Western Wall, had been posted more than three years ago by the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs, headed then by Naftali Bennett, chairman of Habayit Hayehudi. Bennett had also constructed the makeshift platform that has been used since then for mixed-prayer services by Conservative and Reform Jews.

The sign was removed in response to a complaint from Betzedek, an ultra-Orthodox organization that opposes mixed prayer services at the Jewish holy site.In recent months, other Orthodox groups have made a point of encroaching on the space, deliberately holding their prayer services there rather than at the much larger, gender-segregated platform on the northern side of the Western Wall. When conducting services in the designated egalitarian area, known as “Azarat Yisrael,” the Orthodox worshippers bring a partition with them to separate men from women.

“Removing the sign should be seen as part of their struggle to undermine the government plan to create a permanent egalitarian plaza at this location,” said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, executive director of the Reform movement in Israel. “It is a direct outcome of all the government’s foot-dragging in implementing this plan.” The non-Orthodox movements – together with Women of the Wall, the feminist prayer group – have petitioned the Supreme Court demanding that the government either build them a permanent egalitarian space, as promised, or redivide the existing gender-separated spaces to make room for mixed-prayer services.

Spy versus Spy

The anti-Bush people criticized him for believing the Intelligence community and the anti-Trump folks criticize him for NOT believing the Intelligence community. I used the delightful Spy versus Spy images of MAD Magazine in today's cartoon.

Pentagon Generals

Waiting for the Donald.

According to CBS: Chicago saw more 2016 murders than NYC, LA combined

CHICAGO -- One of the most violent years in Chicago history ended with a sobering tally: 762 homicides, the most in two decades in the city and more than New York and Los Angeles combined.

The nation’s third largest city also saw 1,100 more shooting incidents in 2016 than it did in 2015, according to data released Sunday by the Chicago Police Department. New York, the nation’s largest city, logged 334 homicides in 2016, according to the New York Daily News, while the country’s second-largest city, Los Angeles, saw 294, reports the LA Times.

The Chicago statistics underline a story of bloodshed that has put the city at the center of a national dialogue about gun violence.

The numbers are staggering, even for those who followed the steady news accounts of weekends ending with dozens of shootings and monthly death tolls that hadn’t been seen in years. The increase in homicides compared to 2015, when 485 were reported, is the largest spike in 60 years.Police and city officials have lamented the flood of illegal guns into the city, and the crime statistics appeared to support their claims: Police recovered 8,300 illegal guns in 2016, a 20 percent increase from the previous year.Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said during a news conference Sunday that Chicago is among many U.S. cities that have seen a spike in violence, including in attacks on police.

Several of the top 10 largest U.S. cities saw a spike last year in homicides. San Antonio police say they investigated 151 homicides in 2016, marking the deadliest year in the Alamo city in more than two decades. The homicide count - up 61 percent from a year ago - is the highest since 142 homicides were reported in 1995. Last year, the tally was 94. In San Jose, 47 homicides were reported in 2016, a 25-year high, reports the San Jose Mercury News. San Diego and Dallas also saw upticks in murders last year, but year-end data wasn’t immediately available.While New York City saw a slight decrease in homicides and Los Angeles a slight increase for 2016, both have hit historic lows in the past several years. Philadelphia, which has also seen a dip in murder rates overall, saw a small decrease for 2016.

Johnson said anger at police, including in the wake of video released that showed a white Chicago officer shooting a black teenager 16 times, has left criminals “emboldened” to violent crimes.He also said it’s becoming clearer to criminals that they have little to fear from the criminal justice system.“In Chicago, we just don’t have a deterrent to pick up a gun,” he said. “Any time a guy stealing a loaf of bread spends more time pre-trial in jail than a gun offender, something is wrong.” -more

North Korea Views Trump

North Korea will be on Trump's plate..

Those Darned Russian Hackers!

Obama and the Russians, Shuldig explains.