– Larry “Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm” David on why he can’t see gay western “Brokeback Mountain”.
– Patrick Cockburn on the year that Iraq fell apart. Unlike many hacks, Cockburn spends much of his year in Iraq and still travels around relatively freely.
– In a rare piece of dissent, the Jerusalem Post publishes an account of settler fanaticism in the occupied territories. Ze’ev Sternhell further expands on these points in Haaretz and concludes that the rule of law is not enforced in the territories. US academic Stephen Zunes explains the double standards when discussing the conflict in the US.
– Despite only receiving around 0.5% of the recent Iraqi vote, fraudster Ahmed Chalabi is once again heading the country’s oil reserves.
– London mayor Ken Livingstone claims that there is no international conspiracy to attack London, but rather groups of disaffected individuals.
– Daniel Pipes thinks the West should educate the Muslim world and suggest it emulate our values. Somehow I suspect Pipes may be disappointed with the reception to such ideas.
– A friendly message to those worried about a “war on Christmas.”
– Britain’s chief Rabbi claims there is a “tsunami of anti-Semitism” moving across the world. Using such terminology around the time of the first anniversary of the Asian tsunami shows the hysterical nature of the claim. Secondly, his inability to acknowledge the effect of Israeli brutality on attitudes is telling. While anti-Semitic attacks are slightly on the increase (especially in parts on Europe) the reasons for this are far more complex than the Rabbi dares to tell.