Thanks, But No Thanks

SecState Lurch was politely, but firmly and repeatedly, advised that his presence at any peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel was not needed.

Secretary of State John Kerry offered numerous times to fly to Cairo or Jerusalem to assist in cease-fire negotiations but was told that the sides “didn’t need American mediation,” according to an account of events by Haaretz.

Senior Israeli officials told Haaretz that Kerry offered to come to directly join the talks in each and every call during the attempted brokering of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas on Monday, but was “politely rejected” by all sides.

Story here and here.

Just The Right Man For Administering ObamaCare

Coming soon to a medical evaluation board near you! The Death Panels - earnest bureaucrats, not medical doctors or nurses - who will determine who gets the new hip, the pig heart valve, the expensive cancer treatment drug or your dead aunt's cornea.

This will be a high stress job and there are few people who can take the strain of such a position. That's why Hajj Abd Al-Nabi is Obama's go to guy for ObamaCare.

In a revealing interview, Egypt’s chief executioner spoke of his childhood past-time that led to his career taking the lives of those sentenced to death in the Muslim-majority country. Hajj Abd Al-Nabi, who serves as the chief warrant officer in the Egyptian prison system, claims that he has executed approximately 800 persons during his days as chief executioner. Speaking on television, Al-Nabi said “I have placed [the noose] around some 800 heads – tough people, big people, young people … All the despicable crimes—killing, adultery, premeditated murder, and so on.”

It's a busy day in Nooseville for the Hajj-man!

Al-Nabi has the experience, the will, the aptitude and most important, the lack of compassion required to get the job done.

Al-Nabi said that as a child he was accustomed to strangling cats and dogs. “When I was young, about 13 or 14 years old, … my hobby was to watch a cat, to place a rope around its neck, place a rope around its neck, strangle it, and throw it into the water,” Al-Nabi said. “I would get a hold of an animal—even dogs. I would strangle these animals and throw them into the water, even dogs.”

“Strangulation was my hobby,” said Al-Nabi smiling.

And now he may have a new hobby - denying health care benefits.

It's far easier than finger painting and the sound of a terrified, howling 72 year old retiree who is going to lose both his legs is immensely more satisfying than hearing a kitty get snuffed.

His parents told him he would go to “hell” for killing animals, but he persevered in his hobby. “It’s a gift,” he explained. “I was a little Satan.” Once he was hired as Egypt’s chief executioner, Al-Nabi told himself “Congratulations, now grow a mustache.”

And what a beauty it is! Al-Nabi has strangled a half dozen cats, dogs and a ferret with his mustache.

Egyptian Army Promises To Rebuild Coptic Churches

The Obama administration backed the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Morsi in the recent Egyptian elections and is now playing slap-tickle-hide-the-pickle with General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. But General Sisi doesn't play with terrorists nor does he play with weak American Presidents.

Western allies warned Egypt's military leaders right up to the last minute against using force to crush protest sit-ins by supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, arguing they could ill afford the political and economic damage.

A violent end to a six-week standoff between Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the armed forces that toppled Egypt's first freely elected president seemed likely once the new authorities declared last week that foreign mediation had failed.

But the United States and the European Union continued to send coordinated messages to army commander General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei during the four-day Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday that ended on Sunday, pleading for a negotiated settlement, Western diplomats said.

"We had a political plan that was on the table, that had been accepted by the other side (the Muslim Brotherhood)," said EU envoy Bernardino Leon, who co-led the mediation effort with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

The position taken by the US government is: Waaaahhhhhh! We talked to the terrorists and they liked us! They really, really liked us! And you don't like us! Waaaaahhhhh!

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was unusually forthright in condemning the imposition of a state of emergency - a throwback to the nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule under U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak, toppled by a popular uprising in 2011.

News flash for our SecState! While Europe (inhabited mostly by Christians) evolved into democratic forms of government, the Near East (inhabited mostly by inbred Muslims) was under autocratic rule since ... ooh 700 AD or thereabouts. Remember the Ottomans (the Turks, not the foot rests)?

And of course let's just ignore the fact that the "democratic" supporters of Morsi are burning dozens of Christian Coptic churches and massacring their parishioners. After all, they're just acting out what the Democrats in America are thinking.

And while the America SecState ignores the pillaging of the Coptics by radical Muslims, General Sisi has already responded:

The Egyptian defense minister has ordered the repair and reconstruction of all churches that suffered damage in the country’s violent demonstrations since the Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi from power last month.

Defense minister Col. Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi intends to fix the damage to Coptic churches at Rabaa Adaweya and Nahda squares, according to a report by the Mid-East Christian News.

Dozens of churches were attacked and burned in riots after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities to demand the end of what they call military rule, following the removal of Morsi on July 3. Many of Morsi's supporters have voiced criticism at Egypt's Christian minority for largely supporting the military's decision to oust him from office.

“The Egyptian defense minister ordered the engineering department of the armed forces to swiftly repair all the affected churches, in recognition of the historical and national role played by our Coptic brothers,” read a statement that aired on Egyptian television.

Bishop Mousa thanked Sisi for his efforts to repair the damaged churches.

“We thank Col. Gen. Sisi for commissioning the brave Egyptian armed forces to rebuild the places of worship damaged during the recent events,” Bishop Mousa said on Twitter.