treppenwitz

The Glory and Splendor

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been truly enjoying the pageantry, traditions, rivalry and commentary over the past week or so.  

There are some storied names to follow, as well as new faces hoping to write their own page in history... but enough time has gone by that it all seems fresh and innocent again. 

Best of all after a long cold winter are the images of bright sunshine on green grass... shirtsleeves and ball-caps... and the sharp slap of horsehide on leather.

Wait, what?  You thought I was referring to the Winter Olympics in Sochi? [~yawn~]?!

Nah... I was talking about the fact that pitchers and catchers reported to spring training camps.  And once again, all is right with the world.

Palestinians Planning New Airport

It's really a bit much... the people who refined airborne terror to an art-form, are planning an international airport.  I mean, let's face it, back in the 1960s and 1970s few people bothered to use the cumbersome terms 'Palestinian Hijacker' or 'Palestinian Terrorist' because of the obvious redundancy.

But you have to admire the overreaching ambition of the Palestinian Authority in planning an airport which will presumably be named for their founding father; Yassir Arafat.

The Yassir Arafat International Airport.  Kind of trips off the tongue, doesn't it?  For short it will be called YAIA (sort of like the last sound passengers might make as they tumble through the debris of their exploded aircraft).  I can hear the reservation agents asking departing passengers:  "Will that be hijacking or non-hijacking?".  

The grisly irony is almost too much... kind of like Jeffrey Dahmer (if he were still alive), opening a chain of fast food restaurants.

Then again, this plan isn't all that surprising or ironic... if you take into account that the same entity that sent terrorists to slaughter the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics has been welcomed with open arms into the family of Olympic nations.

The upside of all this is that the European powers will be forced to show if they are really pro-Palestinian or simply anti-Israel.  The proof will be in how many (if any) of their national carriers commit to booking regular air service to and from YAIA.

Let's see how far this actually goes... and if the donated funds for the project actually make it to the ground, or are diverted to PA officials' Swiss bank accounts.  I'm betting on the latter.

The UN Grows a Sense of Purpose... Sort Of

The United Nations has just come out with a withering condemnation of the Vatican (and by extension, the Catholic Church), for "…adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades", and urged it to open its files on the pedophiles and the churchmen who concealed their crimes".  [source]

As positive a sign as it may be that the UN might actually be taking an interest in real world issues, I can't help but wonder why they didn't find the time or wherewithal to also criticize Muslim regimes where homosexuals are routinely executed, women's rights are non-existent, pre-pubescent child brides are married off to old men and sometimes die as a result of internal injuries sustained on their wedding night, rape victims are stoned to death as 'adulterers', and 'honor killing' of daughters and wives is a widespread and accepted practice.

Oh, I remember now.  Despite hosting an organization (The UN Human Rights Commission), specifically created to address such heinous institutional/systemic crimes carried out by member states, they will never get around to even mentioning such crimes committed by Muslim regimes for the simple reason that it would be disrespectful of their ancient and peaceful culture. After all, if a simple disrespectful cartoon was enough to spark worldwide riots that resulted in thousands of injuries and more than 200 deaths globally, what would be the result of a formal condemnation?

Not to worry, it will never be necessary to test my theory because the moment the UN would criticize the Muslim world for their 7^th century behavior, it would be a tacit acknowledge that Israel is the only country in the entire region with a successful and positive human rights record for practicing first world legal norms, protecting women, children, homesexuals and disabled from discrimination/persecution, and assuring the autonomy and freedom of religious and ethnic minorities.