The false narrative of the supposedly innocent “aid flotilla” attacked by Israel (when in reality the only violence which took place occurred when IHH terrorists attacked Israeli commandos with the goal of creating this story) is lending fuel to an already-burgeoning global movement of boycotts and divestment that poses a very real risk to Israel’s survival. From the Wall Street Journal:

Israeli officials point to a significant toughening by many allies on important Israeli strategic issues, such as peace efforts with the Palestinians and the country’s nuclear program. But the fallout has ricocheted beyond diplomacy as well, they say. It is reflected in incidents including British grocery chains dropping products produced in Israeli settlements; Scandinavian pension funds divesting from an Israeli defense company; and the spread of an annual “Israel Apartheid Week,” backed by mostly left-leaning Western organizations, to 50 cities world-wide. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn
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Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, addressing a gathering of Bible-based Christians in her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, said the following:

“They ask me all the time, ‘What is your favorite this? What is your favorite that? What is your favorite that?’ And one time, ‘What is your favorite word?’ And I said, ‘My favorite word? That is really easy. My favorite word is the Word, is the Word. And that is everything. It says it all for us. And you know the biblical reference, you know the Gospel reference of the Word.”

“And that Word,” Palin said, “is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word. The Word. Isn’t it a beautiful word when you think of it? It just covers everything. The Word.

“Fill it in with anything you want. But, of course, we know it means: ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.’ And that’s the great mystery of our faith. He will come again. He will come again. So, we have to make sure we’re prepared to answer in this life, or otherwise, as to how we have measured up.”

Get it? “Public policy that would be in keeping with the value of the Word.” What incredible theocratic narrow-mindedness. This is what Sarah Palin would impose on the entire nation, in the name of her own personal and absurd religious beliefs?

Well, it would be, except it wasn’t the Wasilla Republican Sarah Palin who said any of the above. It was the San Fransisco Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

(Has she really been asked, by the way, as she claims, “What is your favorite word?” In some ways, that particular piece of insanity is the most disturbing part of all this. How important does she really believe she is?)

From section: Commentary, News, Politics by Sean Curnyn
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Hamas fired two Kassam rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip earlier today, but that’s far from the most serious attack being made on the Jewish state. Unable to defeat Israel in a direct military assault, her enemies have become well practiced at tactics that seek to damage her in the court of world opinion, to strip her of support (or even tolerance) and to encourage the kind of opposition that could ultimately break the nation’s spirit.

The inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank receive more international aid per capita than any [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, News by Sean Curnyn
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A local TV station in Santa Barbara, California is reporting that a dog named Sydnee has been taught to count (up to ten and numbers in-between) by her owner, Maxine Davis. The dog barks the requested number of times and then receives a raisin as a reward. Hmmm. You can watch the video from KCOY-TV below. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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There are those, certainly not me, who are very qualified to handicap the voting scheduled for this Sunday on the health care bill, like John McCormack at this link. All I know is that they don’t have the votes now in the House of Representatives, and that it’s not passed until and unless it actually is passed. There is still a mountain to climb and the real hope, from my point of view, that some rocks will fall down on those clambering their way up. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn
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Why does the story of vitamin D interest me so? I swear, I’m not one of those vitamin-popping freaks. I’ve never been a vitamin C zealot, nor a loud advocate of ginseng, royal jelly or even wheat germ. Yet, the continuing story of how vitamin D levels have been massively overlooked by the scientific and medical communities as a vital factor in human health fascinates and compels me because it is a singular example which illuminates a much bigger picture.

Science is wonderful. Medical science has saved so many lives and every day works what would have been considered miracles not very long ago. It is to be greatly valued and scientists and doctors are to be admired and encouraged to continue in the same vein. All of that is true, and yet, it is even more important not to forget one underlying fact: Everything that scientists and doctors think they know could actually be wrong. Everything. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Health and Living by Sean Curnyn
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From the book How to Raise a Dog in the city and in the Suburbsby Dr. James R. Kinney with Ann Honeycutt (illustrated by James Thurber):

Due to their feeble-mindedness about eating anything and everything that comes their way, dogs let themselves in for all kinds of stomach upsets. Many of these upsets are minor. The dog eats something undesirable, the stomach rebels, vomiting follows, and that’s all there is to it. Any dog should be allowed to vomit once or twice with no questions asked. If he continues though, try to diagnose the trouble. Continued vomiting can mean worms or a foreign object in the stomach or throat; it can be a symptom of oncoming distemper, hepatitis, or other diseases, poisoning, constipation, or kidney disorder.

The treatment, of-course, depends upon the cause, but the first step in any case is to take the dog off food for twenty-four hours. Don’t give him water either, just cracked ice occasionally. The next step is to clean out his system and quiet his stomach down. Give him an enema and a dose of milk of magnesia. If he vomits up the milk of magnesia, don’t repeat it — just give the enema. Use warm water for this with bicarbonate of soda, a teaspoonful to a pint. Use any ordinary human rectal syringe or an infant-sized one, depending on the size of the dog. To settle his stomach, give two and half grains each of bismuth subnitrate and cerium oxolate in the white of an egg, or, if you haven’t this, or can’t get it, give rhubarb and soda or plain bismuth in the white of an egg, with a little whisky. This treatment should be given every two hours until the vomiting stops. If it doesn’t stop and the dog seems to be weakening fast, if there is blood in the vomitus, or if the vomitus is black or a dark brownish green, or if there is a temperature, get professional help at once.

Of-course, any book which recommends giving your dog whisky as part of a concoction to settle its stomach must be my favorite book on dog-care, and indeed this one is. I was lucky enough to pick up the 1953 edition in a used bookstore and I heartily recommend it if you can get it via Amazonor somewhere else. In particular, I recommend forwarding this extract to anyone you know who needs to be put off the idea of getting a dog in the first place.

While I truly love passages like the one above for their sheer literary value, I don’t necessarily endorse the implementation of that precise regimen when your dog throws up. In the first place, as the good doctor himself says, a little throwing up is no reason for panic. In cases of continued distress, vomiting, and/or diarrhea, I do tend with my own dog to lean on Pepto-Bismol (cherry-flavored) and — especially if eating is not taking place — a little Gatorade to keep the strength up. I have never attempted, well, treatment from the other end, and may God be between us and all harm.

However, each situation is different and of-course you should always consult with your local veterinarian, as my legal team reminds me. As to rye, bourbon, scotch or Irish, I think that decision properly rests between you, your pooch and your bartender.

…

If your dog will not stop vomiting get a cash advance and take them to the vet! After all, while giving your dog whisky may sometimes be a good cure, the vet may have a better treatment!

From section: Health and Living by Sean Curnyn
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As much as I might look askance on the styles and practices of other dog owners at the local park, the very idea of the government testing and regulating and taxing dog ownership to this extent is utterly horrifying. Yet it is at least under consideration in Britain, according to [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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Interesting poll via CNN, the results of which put a finger on much of what is misunderstood about the electorate in the United States of America. The headline is: Majority says government a threat to citizens’ rights.

A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn
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Now, I know that Randy Newman is some kind of darned liberal, and (based on media reports I’ve seen) was quite recently in possession of a very fine case of Bush Derangement Syndrome. I don’t like him for his politics, but I do genuinely enjoy his artful and ironic way with a song. And all I know is that his song Mr. President (written around 1974, but with something of an aura of 1934) has never been a more relevant and sharply-aimed arrow than it is at this very moment. Today, President Barack Obama, in the face of so much incredulity — on both sides of the aisle, mind you — and in the face of so much frustration on the part of average Americans, continues to pursue his ideological goal of getting the hands of the federal government firmly around the U.S. health-care system. On this particular day he is doing it by means of a televised “summit” with Democrats and Republicans from Congress, as if all of the issues have not had more than their due airing over the past 13 months and more; as if he has just not had sufficient time to make his arguments. He persists in this vein while the U.S economy continues to descend in its death spiral, with real working Americans (and once working Americans) continuing to suffer in ever greater numbers, and with no real recovery even in sight. [Read more →]

From section: Commentary, Politics by Sean Curnyn
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