El-Masri’s CIA abductors entered Spanish territory using forged British passports, according to the prosecutors.

I did a quick search on Google News and found only a few article which discussed the recent Spanish investigation. Of these articles, only one mentioned the forged British passports. As far as I know, no American diplomats have been expelled from England, nor has the American ambassador been giving a scolding from the Foreign Office. Let’s not forget the words of the British Foreign Secretary about a similar case.

“Such misuse of British passports is intolerable,” Miliband said, adding that the fact that Israel was an ally of the United Kingdom “only adds insult to injury.”

As a wise man once sang,

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully

Pointing out the hypocrisy of how Israel is treated is different than deciding whether or not the other passport-related affair was a smart move. See the recent comments by Avraham Shalom in this article about the capture of Adolf Eichmann.

Update: The BBC is reporting the Britons are taking fewing trips abroad. I am pretty sure it’s because they’re afraid someone will mistake them for some CIA extraordinary rendition team.

Update II: This angle of the story has been reported in the British press and the Foreign Office said that

We have just been made aware of the claim that British passports may have been misused. We have not yet seen the evidence for this claim. As soon as we do so, we will of course look into it. We attach great importance to the integrity of British passports.

Update III: Two Iranians were detained in Bahrain for trying to enter with fake British Passports.

Here are a few posts from around the web and blogosphere from the past week or so.

1. Freakonomics links here to a number of recent studies about the role of the religion in people’s lives.
2. The SBL has given bloggers official status. (hat tip)
3. Good, Bad, My Lai, and Human Nature at the Questionable Authority.
4. Is Halakha Insensitive to Non-Jews? The Case of Fraud at the new Text and Texture. (hat tip)

Who are you calling fat, eh?

The myth about exercise? Gimme a break.

How much water do I really need when I exercise?

I say “bizarre” because the Verizon Wireless rebuttal didn’t address a SINGLE ONE of the points I made! It’s as though I’d writtten, “Verizon Wireless is a terrible singer,” and his rebuttal was, “That’s absolutely not true! I speak three languages!”

Personally, since I hardly ever use a cell phone, I refuse to pay for a monthly plan and have a phone through Tracfone.

Are you ready for the summer, are you ready for the sunshine?

Today’s NYT had a nice article about Riverdale, interviewing Rabbi Judith Lewis of the Riverdale Temple and David Winter who is the executive director of the Riverdale Jewish Center. The article ended with the following.

Rabbi Lewis’s response to the bomb plot was one of simple resolve: “My message is we go on with our mission.” On Thursday morning, for example, she woke early to take two candidates who are converting to Judaism to a ritual bath, called a mikvah. “The first thing I asked them was, ‘Are you sure you want to do this after what you saw last night — to tie your fate to a people frequently under this kind of threat?’ ” she said. “They said, ‘Even more so now.’ I cried.”

Her words echoed what is found in the Talmud on Eruvin 47a.

Our Rabbis taught: A (potential) convert who approaches to be converted at this time, they say to him: “Why have you decided to approach (us) to be converted? Do you not know that the Israelites at this time are pained, oppressed, harassed, and torn, and that afflictions come upon them?” If he says, “I know and am unworthy,” they accept him immediately.

Whether it is four terrorists or a NYC tow truck, I’m not going to let them prevent me from being thankful for what I have.