From creeps to class acts. Drew Bledsoe took out full-page ads in the Boston dailies thanking the fans and team owner Robert Kraft.

KRAUTHAMMER HAMMERS SOMMARUGA

        Sommaruga is worse than I thought. Charles Krauthammer, proving why he's the best columnist around, reminds us....

As former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Sommaruga spent 12 years ensuring that the only nation on earth to be refused admission to the International Red Cross is Israel. The problem, he said, was its symbol: "If we're going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?"

Some people have complained that the quote was taken out of context. What context would make it better?

        German law enforcement officials have egg on their ruddy bratwurst-stuffed faces. Seems that in the wake of recent anti-Semitic, some soon to be unemployed official took time out from the usual Euroweenie practice of deploring Israel for ensuring its survival and suggested the Jews not look so... well, Jewish, lest it attract malign attention from 'guest workers.'


        Naturally, when word leaked the scatological material struck the air circulation device and the asinine remark is currently inoperative.


        I'm going to give the German cops some free advice....

GROW A DAMN PAIR! THEN GO AFTER THE BAD GUYS!

        Now, I do realize the Germans, still bearing the Mark of Cain, have reason to be tentative when asked to clobber someone. So I will offer a useful definition. The bad guys are the ones committing the violent crimes.


        Bad guys also support violent crime, like this sleazy creep photographed at an anti-Israeli demo in *ahem* Berlin.

        Us primitive `Mericans feel the best way to prevent crime is to go after potential perps. Europeans are so much more enlightened.
Europe is increasingly crime ridden. While the US homicide rate fell over 40% in the 90s, it has increased all over Europe, including Germany.

        In America we understood the 'broken windows' theory. In Europe it remains Kristallnacht.

        (OK, it was a cheap shot, but the pun was irresistible.)

        Glenn Reynolds continues to suggest the Polish partition of the West Bank. I remain agnostic. It may be a good idea, but back in 1970, the current monarch's daddy had to boot Yassir's goons out when they threatened his Bedouin power structure. I doubt the son wants more Palestinians as subjects.

        Finally after too long a drought in the feminine companionship department, I finally get a blind date. C and I met for dinner and a movie. (Hey, first meeting... I will be conservative). We went to John Harvard's then to the Cineplex. Normally I do not go to 'chick flicks' without a date. My Y chromosome is not mocked.

        Interestingly C. was up for watching 'The Scorpion King.' Having wrestled in high school, I dislike the goofy yet grotesque farce of pro-wrestling. I voiced a disparaging comment about 'The Rock.' She blew the paper covering off her straw, hitting me on the head in retaliation for my effrontery.


        C. is definitely a keeper. <G>


        Fortunately, she enjoyed the movie I chose... Kissing Jessica Stein, a very cute New York comedy about love, lust and friendship. It is so nice to see a good-natured flick.


        Now for the rant. Before the previews the theater showed a few commercials. The first time I saw commercials in a movie theater was in 1982 at a crummy hole-in-the-wall theater in Boston, which, unfortunately, was the only one showing 'Dune.'


        Recently it has restarted. Commercials on TV are a necessary evil. But I paid to get into the theater and paid their exorbitant prices for the concessions. Do I, a member of a captive audience, have to be subjected to pitches? Gah!

The Islamofascist slave traders in Sudan are launching a new offensive against the perennially recalcitrant south. M. Sommaruga and pals send their regrets, but they have smaller first to fry.

Israel sends a big Francis Urqhart [1.5 point ref] to the UN, rejecting the team they wish to send to investigate Jenin.

Sharon is saying, ‘Bleep you, world community.’ And he can get away with it because of the previous, incessant hypocritical and unwarranted attacks on the Jewish state. The UN and similar collections of clowns are like the doctors who find their antibiotics useless from over-presription. Israel has built up a tolerance from criticism that emanates from the Turtle Bay Sewage Plant. I look forward to more naked contempt of the UN as well as its increasing impotence.

Perhaps Kofi would care to send the troika to Zimbabwe.

        Well, the UN is sending its ‘fact finders’ to Jenin. Cynicism is merited. Among the three wise guys heading there is Cornelio Sommaruga of Switzerland, former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. M. Sommaruga symbolizes much of the problem of reflexive anti-Israel bias among international institutions.


        In Israel the ambulance service is the Magen David Adom (Red Star of David). Because of objections by Arab members, the IRC will not let the Israelis use the symbol and be members of the ICRC. So the MDA remains unrecognized, even though Israel is a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Convention.


        M. Sommaruga has noted, “It is a matter of regret that the issue of the emblem prevents formal recognition of the MDA.” He proposed a red circle be used by the Israeli first aid society. I’ll give the man credit. He seems genuinely clueless as to why it would be an insult.


        It is pathetic that an institution that lists “Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Unity, and Universality,” as its fundamental virtues still singles out Israel for discrimination and second-class status.


        Dr. Bernadette Healy of the American Red Cross declared, "This situation is something we must correct lest the exclusion of Magen David Adom be perceived as partial, biased, discriminatory or politically driven."


        Too late.


M. Sommaruga and the ICRC could increase their moral stature if they at least condemned the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s practice of using ambulances to smuggle explosives and terrorists. Or would that go against "Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Unity, and Universality?"

        For more information on this subject, try this study by the American Jewish Congress.

The indispensable Glenn Reynolds does not like the term Saudi Arabia and makes a good rhetorical point not to use it. And in a similar vein, we should describe that kingdom’s inhabitants as ‘Subjects of the House of Saud.’.


But serf may be more appropriate, though not technically accurate.

"Thanks for the sample, but I'll stick to breathing through my gills."

        About Le Pen… When the France bashers stop snickering we should take an important lesson from this. Jospin and company rammed through the European union, ignoring any concerns. They soft-pedaled the wave of anti-Semitic attacks running throughout the country, lest the uncomfortable issues of crime and immigration become significant. The voters decided to register their disgust with the disgusting candidate.


        When legitimate concerns are stifled in the mainstream, extremists thrive.

        I set up a DVD player for my parents and let them borrow my copy of Ride with the Devil a movie about Missouri Confederates in the Civil War. The movie depicts the infamous raid on Lawrence by Quantrill's raiders. It struck me that during the raid, the Bushwhackers, while killing all the men they could find, spared the women and children. The Palestinian suicide bombers target women and children- note the Sbarro and Dolphinarium atrocities. When Bloody Bill Anderson can legitimately claim moral superiority it may be time to reconsider your tactics.


        Of course the reason the Palestinians use suicide bombings that almost exclusively target civilians and non-combatants is because they do not do so well when facing off against the IDF- even in the days the IDF was a poorly equipped militia.

        As for the flick itself, it is highly underrated gem of a war movie directed by Ang Lee. Tobey Maguire, who will portray your friendly neighborhood Spiderman this summer in Sam Raimi's blockbuster, does an excellent turn in this flick. Jewel (who does not sing until the closing credits), Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright and Tom Wilkinson also shine.

So I added a frew links. So sue me.

        Drew Bledsoe is an ex-Pat.  Pity.  I am a Pats' fan and have always liked him.  To me, he's symbolized the franchise's resurrection after Bob Kraft bought the team.  He was always a tough player, rarely missing games.  He took incredible blows in the pocket and on the run. In fact it was while he was running along the sidelines to make a first down when the Jets' Mo Lewis smacked into Drew.  The blow sheared a blood vessel in his lung and would prove to be a devastating, indeed life-threatening injury.

        Then Tom Brady stepped up and the rest was history, even after Drew recovered.  Granted there was the Pittsburgh game, when Bledsoe had to take the field again.  And ran down the sidelines again, straight into a linebacker… AGAIN!  Many a New England Partisan found himself in the fetal position after seeing a near replay (minus the ending, thankfully!) of the Jets' game.


        But it was clear that Brady would be the one, long before the Super Dome Super Bowl confetti settled.  In fact the season was dominated by the whisperings as Brady racked up the 'W's. It just goes to show that today's champion is tomorrow’s crocodile s**t. [2 point ref]


         Bledsoe handled the whole affair with class. He tutored and mentored the man who he knew would replace him. In this day of selfish petulant overpaid jocks, it was nice to see someone making a major sacrifice for the team.  And it was nice to see a player who stood in too many collapsing pockets earn a ring.


        Now Bledsoe has moved on to greener pastures… er turf.  I wish Drew all the best in Buffalo… except when he plays the Pats, of course.

        Even the Guardian admits there was no massacre in Jenin. Instead there was brutal urban fighting between two determined foes. Shrill analogies to the Nazis were, as ever, inappropriate. Thoughtful comparisons to Hue would have been better. That is why I ask everyone to...

STOP METAPHOR ABUSE NOW!

        My first big piece that I will put up in an analysis of the recent IDF counteroffensive in the West Bank. While many may bring up the Tet analogy (the losing side winning in the long run by propaganda). However, I disagree. First, the Arab world is less potent militarily and economically than it was in the 70s. They may like keeping the mob's mind off the current shabby and/or deteriorating state of their societies. However the price of failure- especially with Islamic fundamentalists lurking in the wings- is too high. Second, Arafat faces an America that has good reason not to countenance or tolerate his usual tactics of terror and an extremely unsympathetic administration. Also, Israel is far less willing to compromise. If they are to be condemned either way, the Israelis prefer the war to be on Arab land. And lastly is the pure destruction brought by the IDF, both physically, and the havoc wrought upon the PA institutions and Arafat's lieutenants.


        America resurrected Arafat after the Gulf War, when he was trapped in his own shrinking room with no means of escape. [3 point ref]. He had an opportunity to create a future for the Palestinian people that would take them out of occupation, probably scrap the settlements and to statehood. Instead, the Chairman (or should we say the General) turned to the tool he knew best… terror. Engineers build computer models. Porcupines stick people with quills [2 point ref]. Terrorists blow up civilians. Arafat did it in Jordan, he did it in Lebanon and he is doing it in the areas given to him under Madrid and Oslo. It looks like the ending will be the same as with the first two installments. Exile.


        Representative John Cooksey of Louisiana (an MD) believes that Arafat is undergoing the onset of senile dementia. Even if the Congressman's diagnosis is incorrect, the analogy is perfect.

IT STARTS NOW!   HONEST

        Ladies, Gentlemen and others, I welcome you to my blog.  Hopefully I will update it on a regular basis, though I am not optimistic, judging by my past performance.

        So, who am I and why should you listen to me?

        I am a writer and a law school graduate. However I tried journalism instead of the law, then drifted into the web design field. Now I am working the graveyard shift as a concierge at a downtown Boston hotel, and studying for the bar.

        I don't presume to be an expertise beyond that of the average news junkie, though I do keep up with a wide range of fields and I will be touching on them. Of course, as is the nature of blogs, I will also touch upon whatever strikes my whimsy and may even inflict samples of my fiction on you. You have been warned.

        Speaking of whimsy, you will notice I offer 'points' for references, usually pop culture. I picked this up from the Usenet group rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc. If you get the ref, I will pay you out from my secret point slush fund. The number of points is determined by my subjective judgement as to the reference's obscurity. The winner will be the first to reach me with the correct answer.

        I welcome all feedback and correction. Really… I won't cry if you find bad grammar, typos or misspellings.

        Honest.


        Well, so much for the intro. I hope that I can enlighten, inform, entrain and challenge you. I also hope to make my mark in the blogsphere and even gain recognition from others in the field. (Andrew Sullivan! You Heterosexual! [1 point ref] <G>)