The original of this mirror site is HERE. My Blogroll; Archives here or here; My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here. Other mirror sites: Greenie Watch, Political Correctness Watch, Education Watch, Immigration Watch, Food & Health Skeptic, Gun Watch, Socialized Medicine, Recipes, Tongue Tied and Australian Politics. For a list of backups viewable in China, see here. (Click "Refresh" on your browser if background colour is missing)
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30 June, 2007

The Salman Rushdie lesson was not learnt

Excerpt from Mark Steyn

So many of our problems with Iran today arise from not doing anything about our problems with Iran yesterday. Men like Ayatollah Khomeini despised pan-Arab nationalists like Nasser who attempted to impose a local variant of Marxism on the Muslim world. Khomeini figured: Why import the false ideologies of a failing civilization? Doesn't it make more sense to export Islamism to the dying West?

And, for a guy dismissed by most of us as crazy, Khomeini made a lot of sense. The Rushdie fatwa established the ground rules: The side that means it gets away with it. Mobs marched through Britain calling for the murder of a British subject - and, as a matter of policy on the grounds of multicultural sensitivity, the British police shrugged and looked the other way.

One reader in England recalled one demonstration at which he asked a constable why the "Muslim community leaders" weren't being arrested for incitement to murder. The officer told him to "f--- off, or I'll arrest you." Genuine "moderate Muslims" were cowed into silence, and pseudo-moderate Muslims triangulated with artful evasiveness. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, who went on to become leader of the most prominent British Muslim lobby group, mused about the Rushdie fatwa: "Death is perhaps too easy."

In 1989 Salman Rushdie went into hiding under the protection of the British police. A decade later he decided he did not wish to live his life like that and emerged from seclusion to live a more or less normal life. He learned the biggest lesson of all - how easy it is to be forced into the shadows. That's what's happening in the free world incrementally every day, with every itsy-bitsy nothing concession to groups who take offense at everything and demand the right to kill you for every offense. Across two decades, what happened to Rushdie has metastasized, in part because of the weak response in those first months. "Death is perhaps too easy"? Maybe. But slow societal suicide is easier still.

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The very strange "American Conservative Union"

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), has been moving, along with several other paleo-conservatives like Dinesh D'Souza, towards a partnership with Saudi-funded, pro-Hamas institutions. A forewarning was the appointment of Grover Norquist to the ACU board. A second forewarning was the appointment of Suhail Khan to the ACU board.

Then Tuesday, David Keene joined United for Peace and Justice, the ACLU, the Communist Party-USA, as a speaker in the "Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice" to:

"call on Congress to restore habeas corpus, fix the Military Commissions Act, end torture and rendition and restore our constitutional rights. Activists from all fifty states will gather at Upper Senate Park on June 26, 2007 and deliver tens of thousands of signatures to Congress, urging the restoration of our rights."

Source

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ELSEWHERE

Immigration amnesty bill killed by protests from the people: "Ding dong, the bill is dead. I confess that right now I feel kind of overwhelmed by happy emotion. I've participated in democracy in the best, most hopeful way. In the past I've made phone calls for candidates. I've contributed money and gone to meetings. I'm on my town's Republican Committee. But, doing my small part to fight a bad piece of legislation, and witnessing on-line my fellow citizens doing theirs, is one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. Has there every been a moment in American history to match this one, when all the force of professional government has been stymied by a determined citizenry? There has been much talk in recent years comparing the invention of the internet with the invention of the printing press on freedom and government. It may still not be strictly true, but the comparison now has greater validity."

The destruction of Israel: look who's okay with it: "Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana) has been a stalwart supporter of the American-Israel alliance. He recently introduced an amendment to the foreign aid bill that would prohibit groups that deny Israel's right to exist from receiving American (taxpayer dollar) foreign aid. The amendment passed 390-30. Of the 30 members of Congress who have no problem with giving money to groups that advocate and plan for the destruction of Israel, 27 of them were Democrats."

Baghdad Christians: “It was a kind of genocide killing”: "The 70 houses of this tiny village spring from the treeless, arid plain here in the northern tip of Iraq with the uniformity of an army camp. Built over the past four years of war, they house Christian refugees from some of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighborhoods: Dora, New Baghdad and Mashtel. There the residents did not know one another, busy with their city lives. Now a barber, a bank manager, a news anchor and an electrician are comrades in the misery of flight. “We saw everything a human can see,” said Majida Hamo, a mother of four who came from Mashtel recently. “It was a kind of genocide killing.” “We were saying to Jesus, ‘See us and save us.’ ” The Iraqi exodus is one of the largest displacements in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948. Many have fled to Jordan and Syria, countries where Arabic is spoken. Others have stayed within Iraq’s borders, moving into the largely peaceful Kurdish north, which is more foreign to them than neighboring countries because the main language is Kurdish, not their native Arabic."

Honour killings now coming to America: "A Bucks County father was accused of going to extremes to break-up his daughter's romance. Police said the father and his son tried to kidnap her fiance by beating him up and tossing him into a sport utility vehicle. "The victim advised me that his fiancee's family was trying to kill him, drag him into a car and take him somewhere, where he believed he was going to be killed," Webber said. Webber said the alleged victim told him his fiancee's family was upset the two had moved in together. He said there were cultural differences and that's why 48-year-old Mohd Nasher and his son 20-year-old Mohammed Nasher were allegedly gunning for the fiance. "The father and son came in, grabbed our victim, pulled him outside, began choking and beating him. Drug him into the back of a Ford Explorer and that's where they advised him that they were going to take him somewhere. He jumped out the other side window in fear for his life and as he went to run away the father told him, 'I'm going to find you and I'm going to shoot you.' The son went and grabbed a bat and went to chase after him," Webber said"

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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29 June, 2007

More pseudo-psychology with the same old pseudo "findings"

Newsweek has just given a big plug to a book called "The Political Brain" (by Drew Westen of Emory University) that purports to tell Democrats how to win elections. The writer of the review does not know the difference between "discreet" and "discrete" so the intellectual level to be expected is not high -- and so it turns out. Note the paragraph below . It combines very old news with a bald-faced assertion:

"When voters are hooked up to brain-imaging devices while watching candidates, it is emotion circuits and not the rational frontal lobes that are most engaged. When voters assess who won a campaign debate, they almost always choose the candidate they liked better beforehand. The rationality circuit "isn't typically open for business when partisans are thinking about things that matter to them," Westen notes. Yet "this is the part of the brain to which Democrats typically target their appeals."

So emotions matter in politics! Give the writer a cookie! But what is the proof for the second assertion -- that Democrats target their appeals to rationality? As far as I can tell it is the opposite. For instance, "All men are equal" may be emotionally satisfying but it has no status as a fact.

Hot Air and Ace have some further comments.

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BUSH HAS LOST IT

Post lifted from Gates of Vienna. See the original for links

President Bush gave a speech this morning at a Wahhabist mosque called the Islamic Center of Washington DC. I listened to most of it on C-Span streaming video, and it was about what you'd expect, a mixture of boilerplate and outreach and platitudes and dhimmitude. It was too dispiriting to write much about.

However - one of the things he mentioned was a future "democratic Palestine, living side-by-side with Israel in peace".

What planet is he living on? What has he been smoking? The only democracy that will ever come to "Palestine" is the democracy of AK-47s and homemade bombs. The only peace that "Palestine" will ever allow Israel is the peace of the grave.

President Bush is either being stupid, or cynical, or is saying something he knows is not true for reasons of statecraft that are too arcane and subtle for an ignorant boob like me to understand.

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ELSEWHERE



There is some good information here about how Democrat hero FDR worsened the Great Depression by his ignorant "New Deal" policies.

Norway winks at barbarism: "For many years it has been speculated that Norwegian-Somali girls are circumcised when they go back to their homeland on the summer holiday. NRK can now document for the first time that women who work in circumcision confirm that to a great extent they circumcise girls who live in Western Europe. And not least: they say that Norwegian-Somali parents are good customers - every summer - after school ends in Norway. Parents from Norway are among those who pay best. The price for circumcising a girl is 150 kroner. Since January 1st, 1996, it is illegal to circumcise girls in Norway. It is also forbidden for people living in Norway to circumcise their daughters abroad. Breaking the law could lead up to 8 years in jail. But nobody has ever been indicted or convicted for this in Norway."

Israel: A Hotbed Of... Investment : "You might think that Israel's continuing strife with the Palestinians would be a red flag for investors. Yet amid escalating violence, many of the country's companies are thriving, pushing the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to record levels. Even the takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Islamist Hamas movement in mid-June hasn't slowed the momentum. The TA 25 index is up by 21% this year, reaching an all-time high on June 17. The market's strength is a sign of how well Israel has been able to protect its economy from the crisis. A big part of Israel's recent economic success is due to improved security. Suicide attacks have dropped sharply, largely the result of imposing walls and fences that separate Israel from Gaza and the West Bank. Nearly six years after the start of the second intifada, shoppers are feeling safer and are out in force, helping to push annual growth to 5% for the fourth straight year."

Another innocent turnip farmer is gunned down after his release from Gitmo: "Two men, who were on Russia's wanted list as suspected members of illegal armed groups, were killed in a special operation near the central mosque in downtown Nalchik, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino- Balkaria, a local law enforcement source told Interfax. One of those killed might be Ruslan Odizhev, a former Guantanamo base prisoner, the source said."

Rice calls Hamas 'resistance movement': "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice twice referred to Hamas as a "resistance movement" during a meeting with reporters from the New York Daily News earlier this month, but the newspaper did not report her remarks, WND has learned. Rice's interview is transcribed in full on the State Department website. Rice's statements mark the second documented time in recent months she called Hamas a "resistance movement" during unscripted chats with journalists".

Only 400,000? And many of their relatives are undoubtedly in the USA: "About 400,000 Mexican police officers are under investigation by the Attorney General's Office for corruption and suspected links to organized crime, La Jornada reported June 26, citing government sources. Most of the officers are from Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Baja California, Guerrero, Michoacan, Mexico and the federal district"

Obama's church: "A very liberal and fast declining United Church of Christ (UCC) celebrated its 50th birthday, with rousing speeches from Senator Barack Obama and PBS commentator Bill Moyers, both of whom are UCC members. Both speakers fingered the "Religious Right" as a threat to American democracy. Moyers specifically warned against the Institute on Religion and Democracy for supposedly attempting to disrupt the UCC. Neither speaker offered any criticisms that might apply particularly to their left-leaning UCC audience. The 1.2-million-member UCC has lost nearly one million members over the last 40 years. Its decline has accelerated since its formal endorsement of same-sex "marriage" two years ago."

Vote early and vote often still applies: "A Washington State woman thought that voter registration requirements were too lax so she signed up her dog to vote. Her dog Duncan voted in 3 elections and signed each time with a paw print before officials caught on."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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28 June, 2007

Police run riot in Arkansas

Despicable acts of police brutality appear to have been committed on Go Skateboarding Day by the Hot Springs, Arkansas Police Department. Young skateboarders were choked and knocked around for skateboarding. Video of the incident here. After you watch it, help flood their phone lines and email their police chief with complaints regarding the main policeman involved, Officer Joey Williams. Data: Hot Springs Arkansas Police Department, Phone: (501) 321-6789, Fax: (501) 321-6708, Chief of Police, Bobby Southard, 641 Malvern Avenue.

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Brookes News Update

Why the Democrats' tax program could send the US economy South: One only has to reflect on the damage the Hoover-Roosevelt tax increases inflicted on the US economy to realise how destructive the Democrats' policy on taxation and spending really is
Can expectations neutralise the side effects of loose monetary policy: According to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory the artificial lowering of interest rates leads to a misallocation of resources because businesses undertake capital projects that prior to the lowering of interest rates weren't considered as viable. This misallocation of resources is commonly described as an economic boom
Australian economy: Government confusion about productivity, growth and jobs: Despite the Government's glee over an OECD report that falling productivity was caused by falling unemployment, it is ignoring that one pillar of its labour market reform policy promised increasing productivity. For years Brookesnews has been pointing out that productivity would fall when unemployment fell while our so-called `new right' promised the opposite. So what really happened?
Stock market troubles and Macbeth's witches: The recent erratic behaviour of China's stock market has exposed the inability of market analysts to explain what is really happening. This inability can be a severe wealth hazard
Iraqi and British troops launched a successful strike at Iranian secret cell: Why is the news about always bad? Is because our `objective' journalists are deliberately spiking stories that involve economic progress and Coalition victories? This article will help put the war in perspective by telling you things our journalist keep to themselves
An Open Letter to Norway's Foreign Minister: Who would have thought that in the first decade of the 21st rabid anti-Semitism would be sweeping through Europe? It is now clear that even in this day and age hatred of Jews is just bubbling below the surface of Europe's urbane veneer. We now have Gruppenfuehrer Jonas Gahrs Store, - aka Norway's Foreign Minister - parroting neo-Nazi Jew-hatred. Thank God I live in Australia - a real liberal country
NBC's Tourism pitch for Castro: How nice and sophisticated: Andrea Mitchell and Matt lauer defending Castro, a tyrant who tortures and murders children, who allows for the sexual humiliation of women and who keeps political prisoners in the most barbarous conditions. Perhaps that's really why the left love him. He's doing what they secretly wish they could do
Anti-Semitism: Israel's weakest Link: Anti-Semitism is the world's most enduring hatred - and it's back. Leftwing British academics and journalists launched a vicious assault on Jews that even Goebbels would have admired. And what did these paragons of tolerance use to justify their hatred of Jews? Islamic terrorist propaganda. There is no doubt about - anti-Semites are utter scum Israel and Gaza: one or four states solution
There is no difference between Hamas, Fatah or any other so-called Palestinian terror group: They all want the same thing - the extermination of every Jew on the planet

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ELSEWHERE

BBC employs Hamas member: "Despite Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) opposition and per the request of the BBC, the coordinator of government activities allowed a Hamas member who works for the BBC to enter the Gaza Strip last week to assist in efforts to release kidnapped journalist Alan Johnston. Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post that a week ago, a request came from the BBC asking that a Palestinian employee of the news company who is believed to be a close associate of senior Hamas officials be allowed to enter Gaza."

Running the airport gauntlet: "A few months after 9/11, my wife and I passed through an airport on the way to some destination that escapes me now and that I would probably have preferred skipping anyway. At the gate, the security guards pulled a pretty teenage girl aside for some obviously excessive extra attention. My wife and I hung back from the boarding line to keep an eye on the guards and the girl they were fondling. We weren't subtle either. The guards let the girl board after a few minutes of attention and a couple of glances in our direction. I haven't seen anything so egregious since then, but the intrusive and pointless security procedures always grate on my nerves. My wife knows when to take a tight grip on my arm to forestall an eruption when we're being herded like cattle through the metal detectors. I've mellowed over the years, however, and there's little chance of me staging a pointless confrontation with some TSA goon unless I suddenly develop a hankering for a body-cavity search. It could be worse, I keep telling myself."

Comment on the hypocritical British boycotters of Israel: "The PACBI boycotters and their UCU fellow travellers would deny to Jews the rights that they upholds for other, comparable peoples. They adhere to the principle of national self-determination, except in the Jews' case. They affirm international law, except in Israel's case. They are outraged by the Jewish nature of the State of Israel, but are untroubled (say) by the Islamic nature of Iran or of Saudi Arabia. They regard Zionism as uniquely pernicious, rather than as merely another nationalism (just as earlier generations of anti-Semites regarded Jewish capitalists as uniquely pernicious, rather than merely as members of the capitalist class). They are indifferent to Jewish suffering, while being sensitive to the suffering of non-Jews. They dismiss anti-Semitism as a phantasm exploited by Jews to pursue their own goals."

The Radical Evil Of The Palestinian Arab Population: "Ah, the fabled Palestinian people. The Palestinian people, who simply want "a better life." The Palestinian people, who, President George W. Bush has repeatedly informed us, "long for a society in which they can raise their children in peace and hope." The Palestinian people, who support, fund and execute suicide bombings. The Palestinian people, who dress their toddlers in bomb belts and then take family snapshots. The Palestinian people, who cheered on September 11 as the World Trade Center towers fell. The Palestinian people, who followed terrorist extraordinaire Yasser Arafat, supported Saddam Hussein, shredded the blooming rose that was once Christian Lebanon, and almost toppled the Western-friendly Jordanian monarchy. The Palestinian people, who destroy relics on the Temple Mount, openly call for the destruction of the state of Israel, ally with Syria and Iran, and elect Hamas. The Palestinian people, who teach their children that the Holocaust is a fairy tale, and that Jews routinely poison Palestinian candy. The Palestinian people, who stage injuries in order to solicit Western media sympathy, and then roar madly as they hold up their hands, red with the blood of murdered Israeli soldiers.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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27 June, 2007

Obama condones antisemitism

While many Christians, notably the evangelical community, are deeply supportive of Israel, the leaders of a few Christian church groups in America have issued anti-Israel resolutions over the last few years. These are often established groups that are politically liberal (and often have become so secular that they are suffering a decline in membership). The anti-Israel Resolutions are typically one-sided and blame Israel for the problems of the Palestinians....

Among these churches is one that does not fit the mold of established liberal Protestant groups: the United Church of Christ (UCC). The UCC, primarily an African-American denomination, has taken a pronounced lead in anti-Israel invective. So pronounced that a broad coalition of major Jewish groups has publicly rebuked (usually these types of disagreements are not aired publicly) the United Church of Christ for its unbalanced treatment of Israel. The coalition noted that the UCC failed to mention Israeli peace overtures, Palestinian rejection of those overtures, and the "brutal Palestinian campaigns of terror aimed at innocent Israeli children and families".

It so happens that aspiring Presidential candidate Barack Obama is a prominent - almost certainly the most prominent - member of the United Church of Christ. Obama has made political hay from emphasizing the role that his church and his faith have played in his life and career. He has credited his Pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, for being his inspiration and spiritual mentor.

But now that Obama is in the midst of his political campaign and raising money and support from prominent Jews among many others, he has tried to bury this relationship, because Wright's philosophy and teachings have a very pronounced anti-Israel bias and are divisive on the issue of black-white relations in America. These views of Obama's church would have significant political repercussions for Obama, if they were more widely known. Even Pastor Wright recognizes that this history would be a problem, noting that he has been temporarily shunted aside because his views and relationship with Obama would hurt Obama's image....

This past Saturday, Obama spoke to a group of 300 delegates at the United Church of Christ state convention in Iowa. He delivered his usual bromides, including an attack on the "Christian Right." He did not mention Israel or the controversial anti-Israel positions that the United Church of Christ has taken. Not a word. Here is a man who preaches tolerance and the coming together of people, a man whose voice is a powerful instrument and can be used to heal wounds. He chose to remain silent about the bias within his own church.

More here

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ELSEWHERE

For what interest it may have, there is an example here (or here) of an idiotic credit-card offer from American Express. I am not sure whether I should condemn them for their negligence or give them credit for trying.

China has blocked blogspot again but China Hand is keeping on blogging. There is a mirror of his blog that IS readable in China here.

I have for some time had up on the web reproductions of original Nazi posters that show how Leftist Nazism was (See here or here). I also have up some similar information on Nazism in the Netherlands during the period of Nazi control there. I have just added to the information on the Netherlands a reproduction of a 1941 official Dutch newspaper announcement that was sent to me by a reader who actually had his birth announcement in the same issue of the newspaper. The official newspaper announcement could just as well have been Soviet as Nazi. See here or here

One Leftist who still likes Hitler: "You could argue that even the world's worst fascist dictators at least meant well. They honestly thought were doing good things for their countries by suppressing blacks/eliminating Jews/eradicating free enterprise/repressing individual thought/killing off rivals/invading neighbors, etc. [The Huffington Poster who wrote that is Peter Mehlman, one of the Hollywood Left]

NYT says it's all Israel's fault: "Here he blames Israel and America for the failure of the Palestinians and the rise of Hamas. How does Israel in particular play into this dynamic? By "bombing Gaza last summer (in retaliation for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers), a move that further weakened Abbas and his Fatah party". Feldman does not even deign to report the fact that Israel had completely removed itself from Gaza, turning it over to the Palestinians, lock, stock, and barrel. Nor does he mention that any bombing attacks against Gaza were not acts of "retaliation" ( a word with pejorative connotations), but were meant to suppress the thousands of missiles launched into Israel from the Gaza that were meant to terrorize, maim and kill Israelis. His wording makes it seem as if Israel were engaging in collective punishment and was indiscriminate in its targeting. In fact, Israel exposes its pilots to greater danger by trying to be very precise and deliberate in its targeting-only aiming to stop the terrorist and focusing on minimizing the damage while trying its utmost to minimize civilian casualties. He did not even mention these endless rounds of rocket attacks; not a single word."

Unusual sense for San Francisco: "Citing environmental concerns, Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order prohibiting city departments from buying bottled water. In a decision announced yesterday, Newsom says the ban will go into effect July first and extend to all city and county water coolers by December first. A spokesman for the San Francisco public utilities commission says Newsom's decision will save tax payer money and combat global warming."

African brains less active: "Slow wave activity (SWA), a stable trait dependent marker of the intensity of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is lower in young healthy African-Americans compared to Caucasians who were matched for age, gender and body weight, according to recent research. Dr. Esra Tasali and colleagues at the University of Chicago collected overnight polysomnographic data from 12 African-Americans and 12 Caucasians, none of whom had any sleep complaints or disorders. The authors found that African-Americans had markedly lower SWA as compared to Caucasians."

Economic ignorance often goes with economic arrogance: "Interview with Bryan Caplan, author of The Myth of the Rational Voter. Caplan: "I[f] people were merely ignorant about economics, I wouldn't be worried. After all, if you never studied a subject, we'd expect you just to be agnostic about it. The real problem is that people have strong opinions about economics even though they've never studied it -- and their strong opinions tend to be the opposite of what you'd learn in an economics class. As you indicate, I identify four main ways that people's beliefs about economics tend to go wrong. I call them anti-market bias, anti-foreign bias, make-work bias, and pessimistic bias."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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26 June, 2007

Baltic beacon of economic sanity

Anyone interested in seeing first-hand what a simple and fair tax system can help accomplish should visit Estonia. After gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the little Baltic country first tried its luck with the kind of progressive tax system so popular in the West. Productive people were punished with higher tax rates, and savings and investments - the lifeblood of future prosperity - were subject to double-taxation. Not surprisingly, Estonia did not prosper. To be fair, the tax system was just one of many problems plaguing the nation. But it was ironic that Estonia hindered its economic recovery from communist enslavement by using a fiscal regime - progressive taxation - advocated by Karl Marx. No less ironic is the fact that most capitalist economies have adopted that counterproductive taxation model as well.

Seeking a new approach to jump-start its economy, Estonia adopted a 26% flat tax in 1994 and never looked back. Combined with other free-market reforms, the flat tax has helped Estonia become one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Tallinn is now a boom town, filled with expensive cars, elegant shops, trendy restaurants and new construction. Estonia's system is not a completely pure version of the flat tax model. But it is remarkably free from distortions, exemptions, loopholes and penalties. The flat rate applies to both personal income and business income. And since one of the key principles of a flat tax is that income should be taxed only once, there is no death tax, no wealth tax and no double-taxation of savings or dividends.

With such a simple and fair tax system, it is hardly surprising that Estonia is now the Baltic Tiger, growing faster than every other post-Soviet economy. In the last six years, growth has averaged nearly 9%. And that's after adjusting for inflation.

More here

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Brookes News Update

Getting it right on recessions and the 'wealth effect': I honestly cannot think of a single conservative commentator who recognizes the fundamental role money supply plays in the so-called boom-and-bust cycle. This failure to understand the power of money can have devastating consequences for an economy
Utility, means-ends and consumer choices: Contrary to mainstream thinking the Menger-Mises framework shows that it is the importance of various ends that determine the selection of goods by individuals. The means-end framework also shows that the prices of goods are not set mechanically by some kind of supply demand curves but by goal seeking individuals
US recession and technology: another economic fallacy: When every so-called technological breakthrough and invention immediately attracts investment think of the South Sea Bubble. John Stuart Mill sadly remarked that these booms left many businessmen and eager investors "to repent at leisure". And that was written about 178 years ago
Economic growth is under attack by greens: The two great power cults of the last century were Marxism and Nazism. Between them they probably killed some 150 million people. Another power cult has now emerged and it's called green movement and it has already killed millions of Third World peasants
Yeah, the Media are the Message - A Lying, Stinking, Deceitful One: The American media are the most powerful force on Earth. They can make the world hate George Bush and love the tragedies that are Jimmy Carter and Billy Clinton. They can hide the story of Muslims killing 2 million Christians in the Sudan in the 90s and displacing millions of "Black" Muslims in Sudan's Darfur
I'm suing gayHarmony: It looks like homosexual militants are getting nastier and nastier: attacking the right of free speech, free association, freedom of religion - and even attacking those who want stronger laws against sexually molesting children
Does a fall in the US saving rate point to troubles ahead?: According to US Government data the personal savings rate stood at negative 1.3 per cent in April against a negative rate of 0.7 per cent in February. This was the 25th consecutive negative savings rate. Do these figures presage trouble for the US economy?

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Paul Krugman has recently drawn attention to the fact that people in at least some European countries are now on average taller than Americans. He couples that with the undoubted fact that severe nutritional deficits stunt growth and concludes that Americans must be doing something wrong -- with a bony finger pointed at McDonalds, of course. That is pretty hilarious, however. Far from suffering from hunger, Americans are clearly OVER-nourished, as their waistlines attest. One thing Krugman would appear to be ignoring is the large number of people now living in America from South of the Rio Grande. Nobody denies that they are often short (See above) and must hence drive down the average American height. I looked at the issue in more depth three years ago.

More daring Danes: "Today is Midsummer's Day - Saint Hans' Day in Denmark - and the traditional Danish midsummer custom is to burn an effigy of a witch in order to banish evil from the country and ensure the good fortune of the people in the coming year. This year there's going to be a slight variation on the usual ritual. According to SIAD, a previously secret group is planning to burn an effigy of Mohammed instead of a witch, to symbolize the need to rid Western Europe of a new kind of evil. Tomorrow the group will release a video of tonight's Midsummer bonfire."

It is our traditions and customs that have made us rich: "Douglass North's economics looks at the formal rules and informal norms that affect economic behavior. As I pointed out in the previous essay, North refers to these rules and norms as institutions. (This use of the term "institutions" differs somewhat from ordinary language, where we tend to use institutions to refer to tangible enterprises, such as universities or hospitals.) Institutions change slowly. They are conditioned on the past and on other institutions. Therefore, when better outcomes depend on institutional improvement, the challenge is much more difficult than is assumed in standard economics.

There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up. Chris notes that the British "Conservatives" are now to the Left of Labour in many ways.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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25 June, 2007

THE SOURCE OF MUSLIM HATRED

Here's why much of the region is so unhinged - and it's not because of our policy in Palestine or our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. First, thanks to Western inventions and Chinese manufactured goods, Middle Easterners can now access the non-Muslim world cheaply and vicariously. To millions of Muslims, the planet appears - on the Internet, DVDs and satellite television - to be growing rich as most of their world stays poor. Second, the Middle East either will not or cannot make the changes necessary to catch up with what they see in the rest of the world. Tribalism - loyalty only to kin rather than to society at large - impedes merit and thus progress. So does gender apartheid. Who knows how many would-be Margaret Thatchers or Sandra Day O'Connors remain veiled in the kitchen?

Religious fundamentalism translates into rote prayers in madrassas while those outside the Middle East master science and engineering. Without a transparent capitalist system - antithetical to both sharia (Muslim law) and state-run economies - initiative is never rewarded. Corruption is.

Meanwhile, mere discussion in much of the region of what is wrong can mean execution by a militia, government thug or religious vigilante. So, Middle Easterners are left with the old frustration of wanting the good life of Western society but lacking either the ability or willingness to change the status quo to get it. Instead, we get monotonous scapegoating. Blaming America or Israel - "Those sneaky Jews did it!" - has become a regional pastime.

And after the multifarious failures of Yasser Arafat, the Assads in Syria, Muammar Gaddafi, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Saddam Hussein and other corrupt autocrats, many have, predictably, retreated to fundamentalist extremism. Almost daily, some fundamentalist claims that the killing of Westerners is justified - because of a cartoon, a Papal paragraph or, most recently, British knighthood awarded to novelist Salman Rushdie. The terrorism of Osama bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban is as much about nihilist rage as it is about blackmailing Western governments to grant concessions.

Source

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Britain gives up control of its own foreign policy: "While Blair left Brussels insisting he had preserved Britain's control over its foreign policy, the small print of the treaty prepares the way for a powerful new EU diplomatic service with ambassadors worldwide. They will report to a "high representative" who will be vice-president of the European commission and will chair meetings of EU foreign ministers. The treaty commits the EU to a "common foreign and security policy". Member states must support the policy "actively and unreservedly, in the spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity". They are barred from taking any action -- such as launching military strikes or declaring war -- that could damage the EU's standing. Downing Street said an annex to the treaty ensured it would not affect foreign policy. But opposition politicians said the annex was a "declaration" rather than a legally binding "protocol". They demanded the treaty be put to a referendum."

Gentleman Fred: "In the battle for the women's vote, Fred Thompson has a secret weapon against Hillary Clinton - the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president. The Hollywood actor and former Tennessee senator racked up an impressive list of conquests during his swinging bachelor days in the 1990s, but he appears to have achieved the impossible and kept their friendship and respect. Lorrie Morgan, a country singer who dated Thompson and considered marrying him in the mid1990s, told The Sunday Times: "I couldn't think of a bad word to say about Fred if somebody put a gun to my head. "Fred is a perfect example of chivalry. He's the kind of man little girls dream about marrying, who opens doors for you, lights your cigarettes, helps you on with your coat, buys wonderful gifts. It's every woman's fantasy."

The British airforce is still relying on the military version of the De Havilland Comet -- the first passenger jet ever flown (in 1952): "The station commander of a Nimrod spyplane that exploded over Afghanistan warned a year earlier that an "unexpected failure" was likely with a similar ageing plane already 10 years past its out-of-service date. The comments were made in August 2005 at the end of an internal report into a leak of superheated air in the bomb bay of a Nimrod. In the report, an unnamed group captain says the leak was "a particular concern as the ageing Nimrod MR2 is extended beyond its original out-of-service date" of 1995. The leak of the hot air was not the first time there had been an unforeseen failure of a piece of equipment on board a Nimrod "in recent months" as a direct result of the aircraft's age, he added." [OK: I know the B52 has been going since 1955]

The brave Taliban "freedom fighters": "A group of girls returning home from school in Afghanistan's Logar province recently did not for a moment expect what lay ahead. As they walked down a dirt track, insurgents sprang out of the parched farms and began firing on them. Some of them fled into the farm, but two girls, one aged 13, the other 10, were killed in the ambush. Three of their friends were wounded. ... In the past 13 months, 226 schools, many run from tents, have been burnt down by the insurgents. A total of 110 teachers and students have been killed in incidents of indirect violence and another 52 wounded, officials say."

Gaza got what it voted for: "There's an old saying cynics invoke whenever complaints arise about the shoddy state of our public life: You get the politicians you vote for. Someone should tell that to the Palestinians. Last week, the Sword of Islam conquered the Gaza strip, that miserable stretch of land that will be made all the more miserable now that religious fascists rule the roost. If any lesson can be learned about the Arab-Israeli conflict these past few weeks, it's that Palestinian terrorists are just as happy to kill their fellow Palestinians as they are those perfidious Jews. But before the world sheds a collective tear on behalf of the Palestinians - a people who have received more foreign aid, per capita, than Europeans under the Marshall Plan - we ought to remember that they brought this horror upon themselves. In January 2006, Hamas overwhelmingly won the Palestinian legislative election, taking 56 percent of the seats in the legislature."

NYT digging dirt on Murdoch: "The New York Times is currently undertaking a major news investigation, led by managing editor Jill Abramson, into News Corp.'s business dealings throughout the world, according to a source with knowledge of the project. Currently, Ms. Abramson is working outside of the newsroom, recovering from injuries sustained during a traffic accident last month. But, as she told The Observer in an e-mail on May 26, executive editor Bill Keller has kept her quite busy. 'Bill has asked me to lead an investigative project for the next month, which I'll mainly do from home,' Ms. Abramson wrote at the time."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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23 June, 2007

'Live and let live' is a foreign idea to the Left

Excerpt from Ted Nugent

Especially here in the great Republic of Texas, a smiling, drooling preference for succulent, protein-rich, nutritious backstrap over aromatic mesquite coals is as American and natural and right as Mom, apple pie and the flag. It's beautiful, really. But a culture war rages against such universal, self-evident truths. It would be laughable if it were not so deranged. Some weirdos actually are on a crusade to outlaw the consumption of flesh.

I have musical touring associates who have been fired from their jobs with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney for sneaking a hamburger. You heard that right. Fired for eating meat by an animal-rights maniac, hard-core vegan bass player. The entire agenda of the gazillion-dollar-financed joke known as PETA literally is dedicated to outlawing meat.

Neither I, nor any hunter or meat eater on the planet, has any desire whatsoever to influence any vegetarian's choice of diet or to force them to eat meat. We are the friendly, tolerant Americans. This is but one of many issues that represent the line drawn in the sand between liberals and conservatives.

Our own intrepid opinion editor at the Trib, my friend John Young, doesn't want to simply make the choice to be unarmed and helpless for himself. He has again recently insisted that you and I must also comply with his soulless condition of unarmed helplessness in "gun-free zones." Nobody from our side wants to force anybody to have a gun or defend themselves. It is us, the conservatives, who are for individual choice.

As for the American left: One hears the words of Mao Tse-Tung come broiling out of the mouths of its heroes, when Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton et al unflinchingly push for "redistribution of wealth." Central Texas' own Chet Edwards has the audacity to support taxing the after-tax life savings of American families following the death of a loved one. The unfair, un-American, unconstitutional death tax literally destroys mom-and-pop businesses across the land. Think about it.

The wall that once symbolized communism is down, yet some still want to give it a shot. Dear God in heaven, help us.

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Charlie Foxtrot has a most graphic example of how the media manipulate the news.

Obama's macaca moment (or it would be if the media played it the same way it played Senator Allen): "'Obama Just Got Less 'Brown' Friendly,' reads the Indian American blog Sepia Mutiny. The US-India Political Action Community, having elicited one tepid pseudo-apology from the Barack Obama campaign, then demanded an acceptably contrite expression of contrition. Barack Obama's macaca moment is hardly the campaign killer that George Allen's proved to be, but the spectacle of a Kenyan Kansan would-be president deflecting criticism from pro-trade Indian Americans is at least more interesting. Last week, Obama's campaign sent out a not-for-attribution memo to media professionals, slamming Hillary Clinton for courting Indians and the Indian American Community. The dossier, delicately titled 'Hillary Clinton (D-Punjabs)'s Personal Financial and Political Ties to India,' suggests that Clinton's pro-trade, pro-India proclivities will compromise her commitment to Americans. It's Lou Dobbs-level rhetoric, straight from the platitudinous fluff-factory known as the Barack Obama Campaign. Obama has since apologized for the memo, calling it a 'screw-up on the part of our research team.'"

At Wal-Mart, a Back Door Into Banking : "Wal-Mart said yesterday that it would rapidly expand the financial services offered in its vast network of stores, extending the reach of its retailing empire into its shoppers' wallets and the traditional turf of the American banking industry. Over the next year, the company plans to introduce a prepaid debit card, intended for low-income consumers, and install money centers - which currently offer check cashing, bill paying and money order services - into at least 1,000 stores, up from 225 now. The moves are seen as a precursor to even wider offerings, like mortgages and home equity loans, which could turn Wal-Mart into a significant force in the banking world... The introduction of such services is something of an end run around the federal government, which was considering Wal-Mart's application to open a bank last year when the retailer withdrew its bid. The new products, like the prepaid debit card, will be offered through third-party partners, allowing Wal-Mart to sell banklike services without a government license. Given Wal-Mart's penchant for squeezing costs out of every business it enters - from changing oil to dispensing prescription drugs - the move is expected to jolt the financial services industry.... Analysts said there was ample evidence that Wal-Mart would lower the costs of banking in the United States. The chain has already cut the cost of cashing checks by 50 percent, and its financial services saved customers $245 million last year, according to company executives.

Bibi not losing focus on Iran: "Opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday will embark for the U.S. on a visit aimed at increasing financial sanctions against Iran to get it to drop its nuclear program. During his visit, Netanyahu is slated to meet a New York State financial official, asking him to withdraw or freeze hundreds of millions of dollars the state pension funds have invested in Iran. Netanyahu will then arrive in Washington where he will meet for talks on the Iranian issue with Vice President Dick Cheney, Democratic Party presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, and Republican Party presidential hopeful Fred Thompson. The Likud chairman was recently involved in Florida's State assembly's passing a law sanctioning investments in Iran."

Brits lose another al Qaeda suspect after turning him loose with a "control order" : "A suspected Al Qaeda recruiting sergeant is on the loose in Britain after becoming the seventh control order suspect to abscond. The Iraqi asylum seeker, a follower of dead Al Qaeda warlord Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, vanished from his home on Monday. His disappearance leaves the policy of using control orders to monitor terror suspects in tatters. A minister admitted that the orders cannot prevent "determined" suspects escaping. The missing man is alleged to have been part of a six-man recruitment team sent to Britain by Al Qaeda in Iraq to enlist volunteers to join attacks on British and U.S. troops serving there. He managed to gain a foothold here by claiming to be fleeing persecution in Iraq."

Scottish nationalism peeping out: "This, apparently, is the beginning of Scotland and Northern Ireland becoming a force or, maybe, two forces in the world: asking for more money from the poor benighted English taxpayer. It is at times like this that I begin to appreciate the arguments in favour of an English parliament, though I remain at heart a Unionist. Anyway, so far Alex Salmond, temporary leader of the Scottish Assembly (his share of the vote is considerably less than overwhelming) has not said anything of any interest on his ideas for foreign policy, beyond pointing out that the Nordic countries have an alliance and it has a certain clout in the world. Of course, the Nordic countries pay for their own alliances and diplomatic services. One assumes that is at the heart of this and subsequent statements. Scotland wants its own diplomatic service and its own negotiators. Who will pay for this? Need you ask?"

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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22 June, 2007

Serious debate on the Right. Simplistic formulas on the Left

From Jeff Jacoby

What do liberal Democrats think about the war in Iraq? That's easy: It was a blunder that has become a debacle, and it should be brought to an end as soon as possible. What do conservative Republicans think about the war? That's not so easy.

The right has been fighting over the war since well before it began. The American Conservative -- a biweekly magazine launched in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, a former aide to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and twice a Republican presidential candidate himself -- has vehemently opposed the Iraq campaign, regarding it as the worst kind of nation-building, a squandering of blood and treasure for no vital American interest. By contrast, The Weekly Standard -- a conservative journal edited by William Kristol, an influential Republican strategist -- was among the earliest advocates of invading Iraq, and continues to vigorously defend what it calls "The Right War for the Right Reasons."

Tune in to a Republican presidential debate, and you'll hear views on Iraq that range from John McCain ("if we fail and we have to withdraw, they will follow us home") to Sam Brownback ("we've got to put forward a political plan to create a three-state solution") to Ron Paul ("it was a mistake to go, so it's a mistake to stay"). The Democratic candidates, on the other hand, debate only the purity of one another's antiwar stance: Whose denunciation of the war came first? Whose goes the furthest? They squabble over style, but when it comes to substance, as Hillary Clinton said during a recent debate, "the differences among us are minor."

Iraq is not an anomaly. On one important issue after another, the right churns with serious disputes over policy and principle, while the left marches mostly in lockstep. Liberals sometimes disagree over tactics and details, but anyone taking a heterodox position on a major issue can find himself out in the cold. Just ask Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat dumped by his party for the sin of supporting the war.

In the liberal imagination, conservatives are blind dogmatists, spouters of a party line fed to them by (take your pick) big business, their church, or President Bush. (A classic expression of this idea was the Washington Post's description of evangelical Christians in a Page 1 story some years back as "poor, uneducated, and easy to command.") Yet almost anywhere you look on the right these days, what stands out is the lack of ideological conformity.

Take immigration. National Review, an old and distinguished address on the map of American conservatism, has long championed a restrictionist immigration policy and a tough-minded crackdown on illegal immigrants; it furiously opposed the recent Senate immigration bill. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, an equally venerable conservative voice, favors more immigration, not less, and regards the crusade against illegal immigration as contrary to America's best interests. On May 31, in an editorial on their popular website, the editors of National Review threw down the gauntlet: "We hereby challenge the Journal's editors to debate the immigration bill in a neutral venue with a moderator of their choosing -- two or three of us versus any two or three of them. . . . We urge them to come out of the shadows, and hope defending the bill in this forum is not another one of those jobs that no American will do."

It isn't only within the conservative media that immigration policy is hotly debated. The GOP presidential field runs the gamut from McCain, co-author of the immigration bill, to hard-liner Tom Tancredo, who calls the bill "the worst piece of legislation to come down the pike in a long time." In the think-tank world, a leading advocate of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is Tamar Jacoby (no relation), an expert at the conservative Manhattan Institute. One of the most implacable voices *against* any such "amnesty" is Heather Mac Donald -- also of the Manhattan Institute.

Another example: abortion. The GOP platform has been pro-life for decades, yet the unabashedly pro-choice Rudy Giuliani leads most of the Republican preference polls. Try to imagine a pro-life Democrat as a front-running candidate for the White House. Or health insurance: The Massachusetts healthcare law that takes effect next month is highly praised by the Heritage Foundation and fiercely critiqued by the Cato Institute, two of Washington's most influential right-of-center think tanks. From school vouchers to stem cell research to racial preferences to torture, the American right bubbles with debate and disagreement, while the left, for all its talk about "diversity," rarely seems to show any.

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If the attackers had been white it would have been a KKK event!: "A Texas man was beaten to death by enraged onlookers after the car in which he was riding struck a four-year-old girl, said police in Austin. Investigators believe David Rivas Morales, 40, was beaten by two or three men on Tuesday night after the girl was struck in the car park of an apartment building, said an Austin police commander. The girl was treated at an Austin hospital and released. The men initially attacked the driver of the car but turned on Mr Morales after he got out of the vehicle to try to stop the assault, said Commander Harold Piatt of the Austin police homicide unit. The driver was able to leave the area in his car and was cooperating with homicide detectives. While Mr Morales is Hispanic and his attackers were black, police said they don't believe the attack was racially motivated. "This wasn't a hate crime," [OH NO! Blacks don't commit hate crimes!] Cdr Piatt said. "This wasn't a racist crime. There is absolutely no reason to think race had anything to do with this."

BBC supports those it calls "freedom fighters": "Politicians reacted in disbelief to the revelation that for over two hours yesterday, the BBC News website carried a request for people in Iraq to report on troop movements. The request was removed from the website after it sparked furious protests that the corporation was endangering the lives of British servicemen and women. According to accounts last night, a story on a major operation by US and Iraqi troops against al-Qa'eda somewhere north of Baghdad contained an extraordinary request for information about the movement of troops. Last night the BBC confirmed the wording of the request was: "Are you in Iraq? Have you seen any troop movements? If you have any information you would like to share with the BBC, you can do so using the form below. A spokesman was unable to offer a detailed explanation of why anyone at the BBC should be seeking such information"

This will REALLY help lower gasoline prices: ""A proposal to hit oil companies with $29 billion in new taxes advanced in the Senate on Tuesday, targeting the money to energy conservation, wind turbines, electric hybrid cars and clean coal technology. The massive tax package, double what Democrats had discussed as recently as last week, is 'designed to promote clean and sustainable energy,' said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee that approved the measure by a 15-5 vote. It is expected later this week to be added to energy legislation being considered by the full Senate." [Has anybody ever told these morons that it is Joe Average who pay these taxes in the end?]

Mass democracy fails in Gaza: "The civil war between the Fatah and Hamas parties in Gaza and the victory by Hamas militants is yet another example of the dismal failure of mass democracy. The main purpose of democracy is to prevent civil war. Large communities require leadership, and the two ways of selecting the leaders are with force or with choice. Democracy provides a means for the people to peacefully choose their leaders. But for that to work, the people must agree to accept the outcome. For democracy to work well, the population must sympathize more with the concept of democracy than with their favored parties, ideologies, and policies."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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21 June, 2007

LEFTIST PRINCIPLES

From Tom Delay

In one controversy after another, Democrat leaders in the last 40 years have shown themselves almost wholly without any compass other than partisanship.

Nixon obstructed justice to cover up a scandal, Democrats hounded him from office; Clinton did the same thing, Democrats rallied to his defense.

G. Gordon Liddy tried to steal stuff from the DNC, he's a pariah; Sandy Berger successfully stole stuff from the 9/11 Commission, he's a hero.

Ronald Reagan says he wants to reform welfare, he's a racist; Bill Clinton says he wants to reform welfare, he's a visionary.

Sen. Robert Torricelli quits his reelection race in New Jersey, Democrats demand the party replace him with a better candidate; I quit my reelection race in Texas, Democrats demand that Republicans not be given the same opportunity.

Clarence Thomas is incredibly accused of sexual harassment, Democrats fly into a rage; Bill Clinton is credibly accused of sexual assault, Democrats play deaf.

Bill Clinton says Saddam Hussein needs to go, Democrats rattle their sabers; George W. Bush actually does something about it, Democrats howl.

Source

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(Above) How low can you go? (H/T Texas Fred)

I have up on FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC some rather amazing news about blood transfusions that has tremendous civil liberties implications. Laws were passed in many places to force transfusions on Jehovah's Witnesses despite their religious objections. But it now seems that survival rates in similar illnesses are better WITHOUT blood transfusions. The Old Testament wisdom that the JWs followed was right after all. What that says to me is that we MUST resist the constant attempts to force official wisdom (about "obesity", "global warming" and much else) upon us.

Nifong again: "A judge suspended District Attorney Mike Nifong effective immediately Tuesday after learning the prosecutor disbarred for his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case intended to stay in office for another month. The sheriff immediately stripped Nifong of his badge and the keys to his office. Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill went to Nifong's house with a deputy to serve the order Tuesday morning. "We took his keys and his badge that gave him access to the building," Hill said. "We'll make arrangements to help him get his personal belongings later." Candy Clark, Nifong's legal assistant, said the one case he was handling was being reassigned... Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said Nifong will still be eligible for his full retirement benefits - a pension and health care - that he accrued while working as a state employee for nearly 30 years."

Supreme Court: 4th Amendment covers passenger searches: "Police who illegally stop a car can't hold the passengers for questioning and possible searches, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in a case from Northern California. The unanimous decision said a passenger has the same right as a driver to argue in court that police had no legitimate reason for a traffic stop. The California Supreme Court ruled in the same case last June that only the driver can challenge the legality of the stop. If the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed, police who stopped vehicles illegally or at random could have detained any passengers for at least a brief period. Police could have conducted a pat-down search if they had reason to believe a passenger was carrying a weapon, and they could have arrested a passenger if they saw incriminating evidence in the car."

Six states defy law requiring ID cards: ""Six state legislatures are defying a federal law requiring new driver's licenses that aim to prevent identity theft, fraud and terrorism. The states have passed laws in the past two months, saying the federal law has a steep cost and invades privacy by requiring 240 million Americans to get highly secure licenses by 2013. The 9/11 Commission urged the first standards for licenses to stop fraud and terrorists such as the Sept. 11 hijackers, who lied on residency statements to get licenses and state IDs."

Despite promises, few in House make earmark requests public: "Despite the new Democratic congressional leadership's promise of 'openness and transparency' in the budget process, a CNN survey of the House found it nearly impossible to get information on lawmakers' pet projects. Staffers for only 31 of the 435 members of the House contacted by CNN between Wednesday and Friday of last week supplied a list of their earmark requests for Fiscal Year 2008, which begins on October 1, or pointed callers to Web sites where those earmark requests were posted."

Paris Hilton a victim of hate? "Hilton was sentenced to 45 days' imprisonment for driving with a suspended license. When the local sheriff did something that has been done for thousands of other nonviolent offenders in L.A. County's overcrowded jails, releasing her early to serve her term under house arrest, the cry went up that this was unconscionable, and a tearful, hysterical Hilton was hustled back to a cell. After L.A.'s city attorney joined the chorus calling for her reimprisonment, it came out that his wife had gotten off with a fine after committing a similar offense. He insisted the situations were not comparable, and indeed they weren't: When his spouse got in trouble, no mob was baying for her blood."

Slow-motion Tet: "Last week, a group of tribal leaders in Salah-ad-Din, the mostly Sunni province due north of Baghdad, agreed to work with the Iraqi government and U.S. forces against al Qaeda. Then al Qaeda destroyed the two remaining minarets of the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra, a city in the province. Coincidence? Perhaps. But al Qaeda is clearly taking a page from the Viet Cong's book. The terrorists have been mounting a slow-motion Tet offensive of spectacular attacks on markets, bridges, and mosques, knowing that the media report each such attack as an American defeat. The fact is that al Qaeda is steadily losing its grip in Iraq, and these attacks are alienating its erstwhile Iraqi supporters. But the terrorists are counting on sapping our will as the VC did, and persuading America to choose to lose a war it could win."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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20 June, 2007

Inequality is economically beneficial

Big executive pay goes with increasing prosperity. "Fairness" no more works in America than it did in Russia

After World War II, many executives strove to refurbish the image of Big Business, badly battered in the Depression. Managers and professionals received more than production workers, but legal and bureaucratic filters narrowed the gaps. By the 1980s this generation of business leaders had mostly retired. Companies increasingly paid what the market would bear or they could afford.

Pay gains diverged. In early postwar decades, compensation increases crudely paralleled productivity gains -- improvements in efficiency. From 1950 to 1973, productivity rose 97 percent. Over the same period, median compensation of male high school graduates aged 35-44 rose 95 percent (after inflation); for college graduates 35-44, the increase was 106 percent. Those in the top one-half of 1 percent received only a 37 percent gain. From 1980 to 2005, productivity increased 71 percent. Median compensation for high school graduates dropped 4 percent, and compensation for college graduates rose only 24 percent. For those in the top one-half of 1 percent, it jumped 89 percent.

Comparisons such as these evoke images of greedy CEOs and hedge fund managers. But the story is more complicated. On the whole, the economy that produces these growing inequalities outperforms the one that created more statistical equality. The norms and practices highlighted by Levy and Temin collapsed mainly because they no longer worked. The idea that everyone's wages should reflect inflation plus a few percentage points worsened both inflation and stability. There were four recessions between 1969 and 1981; by then, inflation was 10 percent and mortgage rates 15 percent. Productivity growth had plunged.

Greater competition -- from imports, deregulation, new technologies -- also doomed pattern wage-setting. Companies with lax pay practices lost sales and profits. Consider GM, Ford and Chrysler as Exhibit A.

Economic inequality is an intellectual quagmire, because its origins and consequences are so murky. Contrary to popular belief, for example, it has not prevented most Americans from getting ahead. Consider families with children. A study by the Congressional Budget Office finds that from 1991 to 2005 income gains averaged 35 percent for the poorest fifth of these households, 19 percent for the middle three-fifths and 53 percent for the richest fifth. But their gains have decreased slightly since 2000. Here's another twist to the discussion: Today's immigration aggravates inequality, because so many new immigrants are poor and unskilled.

In 2008, economic inequality could become a political flash point, because the income gains at the top seem so outsize and gains elsewhere are so choppy. The very uncertainty means that, even amid great prosperity, Americans feel anxious. Whether the debate becomes an empty exercise in class warfare or a genuine search for ways to reconcile economic justice and economic growth is an open question.

More here

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FRED FOR PREZ!

Fred Thompson is a small town guy who made it from the agricultural communes of south-central Tennessee to Capitol Hill and our TV sets. And while we admire the accomplishments of this distinguished lawyer, Senator and actor, we admire the man even more for seeming to remain grounded to his roots.

Faced with a media establishment that has heightened its opposition to presenting news that makes Republicans look good, Fred Thompson has that rare and invaluable quality of speaking directly to ordinary Americans, saying what needs to be said.

He has ties to Hollywood but is not of Hollywood, which adds legitimacy to his insider knowledge of our media based culture. He is giving voice to that which vexes many of us, that liberal politicians and media elitists increase the risk to this country by downplaying the tyrannical and terrorist enemy in order to win political power. Pointing this out is a talent that has long failed President Bush.

Can anybody imagine President Bush saying what Fred Thompson did a few days ago?

"I listen to the Democratic congressional leaders and I hear them talking about how many (House and Senate) seats they're going to pick up because of this war.... I listened to one of their presidential candidates talk about that this is a phony war, the war on terror. This is what passes for policy today in the Democratic Party."

Can anybody imagine President Bush telling Michael Moore so publicly that the political system he admires in Cuba is nothing but a brutal tyranny? Thompson talked about Castro's abysmal treatment of Cuban journalists, a direct shot at the hypocrisy of the "video-journalist" Moore. The fact that Moore had no memorable response says it all; Thompson scored a direct hit and everybody knew it.

Many of us who loathe Michael Moore cheered silently. Thompson has slyly asserted himself as the easy going but tough guy of the right who also happens to be media savvy, more John Wayne than Reagan. And oddly enough in American politics, it all strikes many of us as genuine.

Much more here

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"Democrats" oppose secret ballot in union elections: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has decided to hold a vote this Wednesday on perhaps the most unpopular element of the Democratic agenda. The Employee Free Choice Act has already passed the House, but now it faces real hurdles in the Senate because, contrary to the name, it undermines workplace democracy. Under the so-called card-check bill, a company would no longer have the right to demand a secret-ballot election to certify a union, thus stripping 140 million American workers of the right to decide in private whether to organize. Republican senators, except possibly Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, are uniformly opposed to the idea. "We went to the secret ballot in the early 1800s in this country for a darn good reason: If somebody's looking over your shoulder, your ballot doesn't mean much," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says, noting fears of intimidation by unions should the bill pass."

British academic ban on Israel antisemitic: "The Anti-Defamation League, a movement which fights anti-Semitism, has placed some dramatic newspaper advertisements to underline its case that the singling out of Israel by British academia--at a time of terrible misdeeds in Darfur, Zimbabwe and Iran--can only reflect prejudice. Menachem Klein, a political scientist and veteran of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives, says academic boycotts are not always wrong--but Israel's misdeeds had not merited such a harsh response".

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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19 June, 2007

"Five years ago, Middle Eastern extremists were killing Israelis and Americans. Today they are killing each other. Why is it that some people persist in claiming that Israel's and America's Middle East policy is a failure?" -- Alan Chamberlain

A friend in Israel notes that, during the previous week, whenever the television news would announce a possible ceasefire between the Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah, her husband would shout towards the television, "No! No! Don't do it!" True to their schools of bloodlust, they didn't. And in victory finished off what enemies they could in classic Palestinian style, forced surrender followed summary execution in the streets, in front of the fighters' wives, mothers, and children whenever possible. No Gitmo for these combatants.

The same friend also notes that rooting for the fighting to continue in Gaza is one of the secret or not-so-secret joys of being an Israeli this June. Rush Limbaugh in one of his waggish moments this morning noted that global diplomats relished the civil war because it would bring about a need for a three-state solution. Israeli defense officials were not quite so jovial in public, but did note that one of the future benefits of the "triumph" of Hamas in Gaza and elsewhere would be a target-rich environment. Yakov Katz, writing in the Jerusalem Post, wisely notes:

"From a military perspective, some defense officials actually said there was reason to be thankful for Hamas's takeover of the Strip. Before the recent round of intra-Palestinian violence, Israel had to distinguish between Fatah and Hamas gunmen in Gaza and make sure that that the former, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's loyalists, were not targeted. Now, according to this view, there is no longer any need to draw such distinctions, since all gunmen are Hamas and therefore fair game." -- Jerusalem Post

Fair game indeed and one hopes there will be some followup. But with or without Israel, the Palestinians will go on killing each other in increasing numbers. Why? Because its what they do. After 60 years of hate, it is all they know. Killing is their destiny. It might seem strange that the only "entity" that can now save the Palestinian people from themselves is the "Zionist Entity," but "that's the fact, Jack." Given the triumphant announcement that the moment of Islamic Rule had finally arrived in Gaza, it is just going to be one fresh hell one day after another for any innocent people trapped there.

More here

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Don't laugh! We read here of a black Episcopal priest who says that she is a Muslim as well as a Christian. In the Anglican conception of Christianity I am sure that is perfectly possible and reasonable. After all, Anglican bishops have been saying for years that God is dead so why not say Allah is alive?

Salvation of no interest to Anglicans: "The other day, six Anglican archbishops called for the church to bless the unions of same-sex couples. The Anglican Church of Canada is about to have a big vote on the issue, and depending which way they swing it will either deepen the schism within the worldwide Anglican Communion or further isolate the Episcopal Church of the United States. But never mind all that. What struck me was the rationale the archbishops came up with. This gay thing, they sighed. We've been yakking about it for years. Let's just get on with it, and then we can get back to the important stuff. "We are deeply concerned that ongoing study," they fretted, "will only continue to draw us away from issues which are gradually destroying God's creation - child poverty, racism, global warming, economic injustice, concern for our aboriginal brothers and sisters and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor." [And they claim to be followers of a man who said: "My kingdom is not of this world"!]

Latin mass back: "The Pope has signed a document that re-opens the way to the optional use of the old Latin Mass, replaced by liturgy in the local language in the late 1960s, it was reported yesterday. The document is expected to be published within the next few weeks. Known as a motu proprio, signifying that it is the Pope's personal initiative, it reflects Benedict XVI's thinking on the subject since long before he was elected pontiff. While, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he repeatedly expressed sympathy for those Catholics who felt nostalgia for the traditional Latin rite which dated back to the Middle Ages, although when it came to discipline he took stern action against the ultra-conservative Catholic splinter group led by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and for whom the use of the Latin Mass was a banner."

The hypocritical Left-dominated media: "Gaza the fighting between Fatah and Hamas has escalated to the point of all-out civil war, replete with dead women and children, kneecapping, and handcuffed prisoners thrown from roofs. Meanwhile in Lebanon, the Lebanese army continues to shell a Palestinian refugee camp, with who knows how many civilian deaths. Arab is killing Arab, Muslim is killing Muslim, and the world basically is shrugging its shoulders. How different from the intense media attention and the U.N.'s hysteria over Israel's attempt to root out terrorists in Lebanon last summer. This obscene double standard that strains out the gnat of Israeli self-defense while swallowing numerous camels of Muslim-on-Muslim violence cries out for explanation."

Nifong can never practice law again: "In a case that has brought one surprise after another, a disciplinary hearing panel found Michael B. Nifong, the Durham County district attorney, guilty today of ethical violations while pressing a false accusation of sexual assault against three former Duke University lacrosse players. The panel then ruled that Mr. Nifong should be disbarred. But the ruling was almost an anticlimax to the case because in the penalty phase of the five-day ethics hearing, David Freedman, one of Mr. Nifong's lawyers, told the panel that Mr. Nifong believed that disbarment was "the appropriate punishment in this case." The state also said it felt disbarment was appropriate. After deliberating for less than an hour, the panel stated that any punishment short of disbarment would not be appropriate in the case. In a lengthy statement, F. Lane Williamson, chairman of the disciplinary committee, said that Mr. Nifong had received due process, "and that's what was nearly hijacked in the case of the Duke lacrosse defendants."

Media Ignores President's Commemoration of the Deaths of 100 Million Victims to Communism: "On Tuesday President Bush condemned the past and present evils of communism during the official commemoration of a new memorial. Shaped like a woman holding a flame, the statue was dedicated in honor of over 100 million people who died within just one century as the result of communism. During his commemoration speech, the president said that the number of victims sacrificed to this ideology is "staggering". Communism has swept through many nations, including China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Cambodia, Africa, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Eastern Europe. Addressing a crowd that included ambassadors, diplomats and many who had suffered under communist rule, Bush compared communists to the radical terrorists of September 11, 2001. He also pointed out that the battle for the life of innocent people still continues today".

A poke in the eye for Muslims: "Salman Rushdie, who went into hiding under threat of death after an Iranian fatwa, has been knighted by the Queen. His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and a bounty was placed on his head in 1989."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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18 June, 2007

MURTHA CORRUPTION

Johnstown, Pennsylvania's "Showcase for Commerce" started in 1991 as a small trade show for area businesses, but since then it has grown into one of the U.S. defense industry's most important events of the year. Many big names are represented - Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin all have booths within a few yards of each other - but the star of the show is John P. Murtha, Johnstown's U.S. congressman, who attends every year and visits every exhibit booth. An entourage follows Murtha around the crowded arena, including a photographer, several senior staff members, and one assistant whose sole job appears to be gathering promotional materials and taking copious notes. At each booth, powerful defense-industry executives greet him with smiles and handshakes, eager to show him their latest prototypes and proposals.

The showcase is symbolic of Johnstown's transformation from a hard-hit former steel town into, as one contractor who attended this year's showcase put it, "the beating heart of the U.S. defense industry," or at least one of its major regional hubs. Murtha gets a hero's welcome at the showcase, not just because it was his idea, but also because his position as chairman or ranking member of the defense appropriations subcommittee for the past 18 years has a lot to do with the defense industry's interest in the region.

In turn, Murtha's patronage for his district has made him one of the most powerful members of the House of Representatives and a huge roadblock standing between the Democrats and the kind of meaningful ethics reform they promised during their 2006 "culture of corruption" campaign. The money he secures for Johnstown comes back to him in the form of campaign contributions, which ensure his reelection and provide him with surplus cash to give out to other members. Murtha has been reelected 16 times, giving him seniority in the House and the plum committee assignments that go with it. His chairmanship of the defense subcommittee gives him control over half of the earmarks in every defense appropriations bill, which buy him even more loyalty and influence in the House. On top of all that, Murtha has a strong relationship with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, dating back to when he helped get her a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee. He is an integral part of the new Democratic majority - and it cannot be the party of institutional reform as long as he is in power.

Much more here

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Love it!: "Enraged Fatah leaders on Saturday accused Hamas militiamen of looting the home of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. "They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal," said Ramallah-based Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman. "Hamas militiamen and gangsters blew up the main entrance to the house before storming it. They stole many of Arafat's documents and files, gifts he had received from world leaders and even his military outfits."

Ah, the joys of self-rule: "Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister who conceived the disengagement plan, had a brilliant insight: "Why not let them have it? They want it? It's theirs". After all, over the course of Israel's 38 years of occupation, fewer than 10,000 Jews actually sought to live in Gaza - and their settlements required tens of thousands of other Israelis to risk their lives protecting them. The Palestinians spent decades professing their detestation of Israeli occupation and demanding self-rule . . . so Israel gave them their heart's desire. Gaza is Judenrein - emptied of all Jews, just as Hitler dreamed Germany would be. No Jews live in Gaza. No Jews patrol Gaza. It's Jew-Free-by-the-Sea, with a charming Mediterranean coast worth billions of dollars in tourism and trade. So what's the problem? The problem is that the Jews weren't the problem. The problem is that the Palestinians are the problem: They are drenched in an ideology of blood and murder and suicide."

Latest Haditha Prosecution Implosion: "The Marine officer who will help decide whether Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt should face trial expressed doubt yesterday about the prosecution's assertions that Sharratt killed defenseless Iraqis execution-style. Lt. Col. Paul Ware said he was having "a great deal of difficulty understanding the prosecution's theory" that Sharratt and another Marine led four Iraqi men into a house, then executed them Nov. 19, 2005, in the city of Haditha. Ware is scheduled to make his recommendation on whether to court-martial Sharratt by the beginning of next month. The prosecution's arguments aren't supported by forensic and other evidence, Ware said during the final day of Sharratt's preliminary hearing at Camp Pendleton".

The land of the free or the land of political favours?: "Jose Martinez left Mexico around 1988 and toiled for years in a patchwork of fields here, harvesting berries and lettuce and barely making ends meet. In 2002, Mr. Mart-nez took advantage of a city law created to help novice entrepreneurs start businesses related to the city's largely Hispanic cultural heritage. He bought a taco truck, one of 31 licensed mobile catering vehicles in Salinas, and built it into a modestly profitable operation. But the City Council, responding to a business group and its most vocal members - the owners of Mexican restaurants - is poised to vote next month on a draft ordinance to ban taco trucks and other catering vehicles from Salinas, a farm town about 120 miles south of San Francisco. The proposed ordinance, which is still subject to revision, is the latest round in a two-year debate that some say has created a rift in this community, placing poorer Mexicans who are looking to better themselves at odds with longtime residents whose families emigrated years ago."

What the UAW has done to U.S. manufacturing: "Long-term, it seems certain that more of us will be driving small cars. The big question is whether manufacturers will build any of these vehicles in this country or whether plants in Korea, China, Eastern Europe and elsewhere will grab most of the business. The domestic manufacturers are already sourcing a large number of passenger cars from outside the U.S. Ford Motor builds its Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ in a Mexican factory. Ford's Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis come from a Canadian plant that will also take over assembly of the Lincoln Town Car. Chrysler builds its PT Cruiser in Mexico and its Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger in Canada. General Motors also builds some passenger cars in Canada--including its best seller, the Chevy Impala--and will soon import the Saturn Astra from Europe and the Pontiac G8 from Australia."

Wal-Mart promotes marriage: "When Wal-Mart Stores discovered many of its betrothed customers were having difficulty finding venues for their July 7 -- or 7/7/07 -- weddings due to the popularity of a "lucky 7" date, they joined G-Squared to provide a solution. In addition, the cost of the average American wedding can be overwhelming at $22,000(1). The answer was the "Lucky in Love Wedding Search" to provide seven couples their local Wal-Mart lawn and garden area as the colorful backdrop for the ceremonies and receptions. After reviewing more than 400 entries from across the country, William and Kymberlie were selected to say "I do" at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 1205 E. Admiral Doyle."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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17 June, 2007

Arabs massacre Arabs -- so you knew it had to be the fault of the Jews!

Post lifted from Taranto. See the original for links

The Boston Globe editorial board looks at the Gaza civil war, and finds it's the fault of the Jews:

The people of Gaza are the true victims of the civil war most of all because the fighting is destroying their future. With the military wing of Hamas poised to seize complete control of Gaza in what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rightly called a "coup attempt," Gaza's residents stand to lose whatever hope remained of achieving independence and a decent life in a viable Palestinian state.

The Hamas campaign to eradicate Fatah from Gaza is certainly not the sole cause of Gazans' misery. They long suffered from Israel's suffocating occupation, and then from Ariel Sharon's foolishly unilateral withdrawal in 2005, a move that allowed Hamas to bid for power with the misleading claim that its rockets and suicide bombings had driven Israeli soldiers and settlers out of Gaza.

According to the Globe, Israel is to blame both for its "occupation" and for having ended it--the latter of which "allowed Hamas to bid for power." But "the people of Gaza" are innocent victims. It somehow escapes the Globe's notice that Hamas came to power because Palestinians voted for it. The Globe denies that Palestinians are responsible for their own actions, and thereby dehumanizes them under a pretense of compassion.

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ELSEWHERE

Lessons from Gaza: "Wonder what Iraq would look like if we left to morrow? Take a look at Gaza today. Then imagine a situation a thousand times worse. We need to stop making politically correct excuses. Arab civilization is in collapse. Extremes dominate, either through dictatorship or anarchy. Thanks to their dysfunctional values and antique social structures, Arab states can't govern themselves decently. We gave them a chance in Iraq. Israel "gave back" the Gaza Strip to let the Palestinians build a model state. Arabs seized those opportunities to butcher each other. The barbarity in Gaza has become so grotesque that not even the media's apologists for terror can ignore it (especially since Islamist fanatics began to target journalists).... Educated Palestinians flee, if they can. Civilians cower, wondering where the next rocket-propelled grenade will hit. And, amid the carnage, students risk death to take their final exams so they can qualify to study abroad - and get out. The indiscriminate violence is the Palestinian version of democracy: Every citizen gets a chance to be killed. And there's humor in Hell: The Islamist madmen behind Hamas call Fatah fighters "the American Jew Army." ... Meanwhile, back home, the get-out-now crowd pretends that, if only we pull out our troops, Iraqis will magically settle their internal grievances (presumably, the way the Palestinians have). The left doesn't care how many Iraqis die, as long as President Bush can be humiliated."

Two, Three, Many Palestines: "I've got to say that I don't share the concern over Hamas' takeover of Gaza. First, it was a foregone conclusion once Israel scraped Gaza off its boots; I'm only suprised it took so long. The consequence is, as Martin Indyk put it today: "Whatever transpires, Gaza has become Hamas's problem. It's a safe bet that the real attitude of Abbas and Fatah is: Let Hamas try to rule Gaza, and good luck." As I wrote several years ago, worse is better - the Islamist nuts need to be allowed to take power because the only way that Islamic society will ever evolve in a constructive, pro-modern direction is to allow the only remaining alternative, theocracy, to prove its complete inability to cope with reality. Iran is well on the way to that end, with the Islamic faith itself becoming increasingly discredited there. It's a risky strategy, but it actually has a chance of working, unlike the nation-building mirage we've been chasing for several years now."

The disgusting Nifong resigns at last: "Choking back tears on the witness stand, Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong announced his resignation Friday after testifying about missteps he made in the Duke lacrosse rape case. The embattled prosecutor, testifying at his own ethics trial in Raleigh, N.C., said he made mistakes in the prosecution of three Duke lacrosse players - Reade Seligmann, Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty - after an exotic dancer claimed they raped her at an off-campus party on March 13, 2006. However, he maintained he never lied to the state bar association over any facts of the case. "To the extent my actions have caused pain to the Finnertys and the Seligmanns and the Evanses, I apologize. To the extent that my actions have brought disrespect or disrepute to the bar, to my community, I apologize," Nifong said. Earlier in the proceedings, Seligmann broke down in tears as he testified how the rape accusations by Mangum and Nifong had forever changed his life. On the day he was told the accuser had named him as one of her attackers, Seligmann said, "my dad just fell to the floor and I just sat on the ground and said `my life is over.'"

A touch of firmness brings Muslim cabbies into line: "For Mahamed Jama, a Minnesota taxi driver, the Islamic restriction on drinking alcohol is a seamless rule for life. "He who carries alcohol, he who drinks and he who sells it are the same thing," he says. That belief could affect his livelihood. The commission that runs the Minneapolis airports in May began enforcing a new policy allowing it to revoke the licenses of drivers who refuse to ferry passengers carrying alcohol - something that has happened to 4,854 travellers trying to get a cab at Minneapolis International Airport in the last five years. "The increased penalties appear to have brought drivers into compliance," airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said of the policy - a 30-day license suspension for a first infraction and a two-year license revocation for a second."

A small victory for conservative union members: "States may restrict when public-employee unions use the fees collected from non-members for the unions' political purposes, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The unanimous decision endorsed a unique Washington state law that bars unions from using non-member fees for political advocacy without first getting explicit consent from the non-members. "Unions have no constitutional entitlement to the fees of non-member employees," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court as it rejected the Washington Education Association's First Amendment challenge to the state law. The case had been closely watched by unions, business groups and others who wondered whether the court would use it to broadly rule on labor relationships or campaign-finance regulation. The decision was narrow, though, and Washington state recently rewrote the law in question".

Blacks defend black crook: "Supporters of a Democratic congressman charged with bribery and money laundering harkened to their civil rights days on Wednesday as they denounced the allegations against U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. The group, including ministers and the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, alleged the 16-count corruption indictment was the work of a Republican White House and Justice Department scheming to target black Democratic leaders and shift attention from legal troubles of Republican congressmen."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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16 June, 2007

The "offspring of pigs and monkeys" at work

Israel, a nation the size of New Jersey, can only lay claim to the following achievements:

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.

Israel has the second highest output of books published per citizen in the world.

Israelis hold more patents per person than do citizens of any other nation.

More than 85% of all solid waste in Israel is treated in an environmentally sound manner.

Israeli companies, Amdocs, Comverse and Nice pioneered voicemail, SMS and other cellular phone services.

Israel has the highest concentration of high tech companies industries in the world, relative to it's population.

ICQ, the technology that powers AOL Instant Messenger, was developed in 1996 by a team of 4 young Israelis.

Israeli start-up company TransChip developed the first high resolution camera that fits on a single electronic chip, for use in cellular phones.

Israel is one of only eight countries in the world capable of launching their own satellites into space.

Israelis developed the world's first cellphone at the Motorola research lab in Haifa, that companies largest research center in the world.

Israel ranks third, after the US and Canada, in the number of publicly traded companies on Wall Street.

Israel has more scientists and engineers per capita than any other nation in the world.

American industry giants such as GM, Ford and Lockheed Martin manage their manufacturing facilities using software written by Tecnomatix, an Israeli company.

Israeli company Given Imaging developed a video camera small enough to fit inside of a pill. The camera helps doctors diagnose digestive tract diseases.

Israeli scientists developed the first computerized radiation free diagnostic scanning device for detecting breast cancer.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation in the world.

Palestinians have the greatest number of suicide bombers per capita, as well as the largest number of openly terrorist organizations in the world.

There are more copies of Mein Kampf sold in Arabic today than in any other language. In fact, the only volume more popular in Arab homes is the Quran.

The Arab world has the lowest standard of education in the world, save for sub Saharan Africa.

Source

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In today's epoch making news we read that scientists have found that voluntary giving gives more satisfaction than being taxed. I am sure all conservatives knew that but maybe Leftists needed to be told.

Will the UK boycott Palestinians? "War crimes, eh? Throwing civilians off the top of buildings? Attacking the wounded in hospitals? Using press insignia as camouflage for attacks, thus putting all journalists at risk? Dozens and dozens of civilians murdered, including children? So where's the call for a boycott of the Palestinians? To those for whom Israel is the cosmic villain of our times - even though it has never behaved in such a barbaric fashion - the implications of these terrible events in Gaza are simply unprocessable. Their extreme discomfiture is evident in their silence. If Israel kills Palestinians in its attempt to defend its civilians from being blown up in pizza parlours or pulverised by rocket attack, the media descends into an instant frenzy of (unjust and distorted) condemnation. But presented with this orgy of Palestinian violence in Gaza, there is little more than an embarrassed shuffling of feet."

Poland refuses to knuckle down to Germany (shades of 1939!): "Poland is ready to let next week's EU summit collapse rather than accept a new constitutional treaty that eats away at its voting power, President Kaczynski told The Times. The Polish leader said that he was not going to buckle under the diplomatic pressure that is piling up on Warsaw. "Poland has the right to protect its raison d'‚tat, its interests," he said. Europe could come to agreement, but "cooperation with and within Europe should not be dependent on agreement with Germany".... The Poles are proposing the "square-route" system, which will give nine votes to Germany (which has a population of 81 million) and six to Poland (more than 36 million). This, say the Poles, is a reasonable snapshot of the balance of power between Berlin and Warsaw. "That is already a compromise," the President, 57, said, speaking in the Poniatowski Palace. Everything that diluted Polish rights guaranteed under the Nice Treaty represented a weakening of Polish clout. The Poles were not willing to go any further. He stopped short of threatening to veto the treaty, but said: "I do not exclude the possibility"

Bush Sides With Mexican Killers Against U.S.: "The State Department's top legal adviser told international lawyers on June 6 that President Bush is so committed to the primacy of international law that he has taken his home state of Texas to court on behalf of a group of Mexican killers. The Mexicans had been sentenced to death for murdering U.S. citizens, including young children. John B. Bellinger III, legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, cited the case, Mexico v. United States of America, in trying to convince the attorneys that the administration is doing what it can to enforce international law in U.S. courts. In the case, Bush has come down on the same side as the U.N.'s International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled 14-1 on behalf of Mexico against the U.S. The ICJ was headed at the time by a judge from communist China, who also ruled against the U.S."

GOP forces openness on the Democrats: "House Republicans banded together this week to force Democrats to restore GOP earmark reforms that brought real transparency and accountability to the budget process. Faced with a united Republican Conference, the Democratic leadership backed down on their plan to hide earmarks in a series of multi-billion dollar slush funds and, effective immediately, agreed to allow Republicans to challenge wasteful spending in appropriations bills on the House floor. As part of the deal completed after extensive negotiations that ended late today, Republicans agreed to allow two appropriations bills (Homeland Security and Military Quality of Life) - bills that include few or no earmarks - to move forward immediately. All 10 remaining appropriations bills will come to the floor later with their earmarks fully disclosed and subject to challenge by any lawmaker - a key element of the 2006 GOP reforms".

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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15 June, 2007

Some excerpts on why the U.S. Senate should NOT ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty

The Law of the Sea Treaty, formally known as the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS III, was adopted in 1982. Its purpose is to establish a comprehensive set of rules governing the oceans and to replace previous U.N. Conventions on the Law of the Sea, one in 1958 (UNCLOS I) and another in 1960 (UNCLOS II), that were believed to be inadequate.2

Negotiated in the 1970s, the treaty was heavily influenced by the "New International Economic Order," a set of economic principles first formally advanced at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). That agenda called for "fairer" terms of trade and development financing for the so-called under-developed and developing nations.3 Another way the New International Economic Order has been described is "redistributionist."

The Law of the Sea Treaty calls for technology transfers and wealth transfers from developed to undeveloped nations.4 It also requires parties to the treaty to adopt regulations and laws to control pollution of the marine environment. Such provisions were among the reasons President Ronald Reagan rejected the treaty in 1982. As Edwin Meese, U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan, explained recently, "...it was out of step with the concepts of economic liberty and free enterprise that Ronald Reagan was to inspire throughout the world."5

In additional to the economic provisions, the treaty also establishes specific jurisdictional limits on the ocean area that countries may claim, including a 12-mile territorial sea limit and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone limit.6 Some proponents of the treaty believe that the treaty will establish a system of property rights for mineral extraction in deep sea beds, making the investment in such ventures more attractive.7

One of the concerns raised by critics of the Law of the Sea Treaty is that it could be used to sharply limit U.S. military operations. Among the examples they cite is Article 20, which stipulates: "In the territorial sea, submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on the surface and to show their flag."8

Opponents of the treaty also contend that it could inhibit the U.S.'s ability to pursue international terrorists and prevent the transportation of weapons of mass destruction on the sea.14 They appear to be correct.

Article 110 of the Law of the Sea Treaty specifies military ships are "not justified in boarding [a foreign ship] unless there is reasonable grounds for suspecting that: (a) the ship is engaged in piracy; (b) the ship is engaged in the slave trade; (c) the ship is engaged in unauthorized broadcasting...; (d) the ship is without nationality or (e) ...the ship is, in reality, of the same nationality as the warship." Boarding of ships involved in the illicit drug trade is also permitted.15 Note that boarding of ships engaged in "unauthorized broadcasts" is considered to be justified, but boarding ships carrying terrorists or weapons of mass destruction is not.

Finally, opponents of the Law of the Sea Treaty contend that Article 88 of the treaty, which stipulates that "the high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes" together with Article 301's requirement to refrain from "any threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state" have the potential of unduly constraining U.S. defense operations on the high seas.22

Opponents of the Law of the Treaty believe that environmentalists are using the treaty as a vehicle to achieve through international institutions that which they can't achieve through domestic ones - namely, more onerous environmental standards. This is consistent with the statements and actions of environmental groups to-date. Greenpeace, for example, has said, "The benefits of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea are substantial, including its basic duties for states to protect and preserve the marine environment and to conserve marine living species."35 The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), for its part, cited the Law of the Sea Treaty's environmental provisions as an argument in its challenge of the Navy's use of so-called "intense active sonar" several years ago. The NRDC said, in part, "The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention... requires States 'to assess the potential effects... on marine environment'... of systems such as high intensity active sonar, and to take all measures 'necessary to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from any source'... The danger to marine life from... sonar... is clearly documented." The Navy ultimately agreed to scale back its use of this sonar technology.

Ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty appears to carry with it the risk that the United States - and other parties to the treaty - may lose control of their environmental laws.

Much more here

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Saudi family tortures maid to death: "A woman schoolteacher, one of the suspects in the murder of an Asian housemaid in March, has admitted to her torturing the maid until she was dead. The Saudi sponsor of the maid who took her to hospital and the sponsor's schoolteacher wife were both arrested in Jizan in March following a hospital report about the death of the maid, whose nationality has not been revealed to the press. According to the report of the Samita General Hospital in Jizan, a Saudi man brought in an expatriate woman who died shortly after she was admitted. The hospital report attributed the death to internal and external injuries. The teacher told the investigators that she and her husband used to punish the maid in various forms such as beating, branding and locking up while denying her food and water for days on end."

Christian converts not allowed in Pakistan: "A new draft bill before a committee of Pakistan's National Assembly would require men who leave Islam to be put to death. Women convicted of "apostasy" would be sentenced to life in prison. Under the Apostasy Act 2006, the testimony of two adults that another person has left the Muslim religion - or a confession by the accused - is all that would be needed for conviction if the bill is adopted into law. The accused would be given up to 30 days to renounce the decision and return to Islam, yet even then still could be punished by up to two years in prison. All property belonging to an offender would be forfeited to Muslim relatives as well as custody of their children."

Republicans resist Democrat about-face on slush: Minority Leader John Boehner threatened Democratic leaders Tuesday, vowing to slow down legislative activities in the House until Democrats agree to open up earmarking policy so that lawmakers disclose their pet projects earlier in the bill-making process. "Republicans today are going to declare war on our Democratic majority over these secret slush funds," Boehner told reporters on Capitol Hill. Republicans are hoping to hold Democrats to an earlier promise to make earmark requests more transparent by revealing where earmarks are designated and which lawmaker is requesting them before spending bills reach the House floor. Democrats want to release that information during the conference committee process, well after the House votes for appropriations. Boehner, R-Ohio, said he is upset over the change of heart, and Democrats need to "realize the errors of their ways."

Hysterical Democrat resistance to voter ID (I guess that tells you plenty): "Appointments to the Federal Election Commission rarely draw attention. But at a confirmation hearing today, there's likely to be some fireworks over Hans von Spakovsky. Mr. von Spakovsky has already amassed an 18-month long, largely uncontroversial record at the FEC as a recess appointment. But that's not likely to stop Senate Democrats from grilling him about his time at the Justice Department during President Bush's first term. The aim will be to portray him as a partisan who mishandled voting rights cases. Exhibit A will be his support for state voter ID laws. Specifically, the accusation is that, under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, DOJ has pursued a political agenda by enforcing laws to curb voter fraud. Last week, Judiciary Committee Democrats held a hearing aimed in part at discrediting a 2005 Justice lawsuit seeking to force Missouri to cull ineligible voters from its rolls. But while the Missouri case was thrown out by a district judge, similar Justice lawsuits in Indiana and New Jersey led to voter rolls being cleaned up."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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14 June, 2007

NAVY TO THE RESCUE



ABOARD THE USS NIMITZ IN THE GULF - A secret aircraft that debuted in Vietnam and usually protects U.S. fighter jets is getting a new type of task over Iraq - trying to stop the scourge of roadside bombs by jamming ground signals from mobile phones and garage door openers. The EA-6B Prowler is thought to be one of the most effective U.S. weapons against the bombs, the biggest killer of American service members in Iraq. But no one can be sure: Even supporters say its effectiveness is hard to measure.

The aircraft debuted at the tail end of Vietnam and was used in Kosovo and the 1991 Gulf War, escorting U.S. attack jets while jamming hostile radars, air defense batteries and military radios aimed at them. These days the Prowler focuses its jammers on smaller signals: those of mobile phones and garage door openers that are used to trigger roadside bombs in Iraq, said U.S. Navy Capt. David Woods, 49, of Ogden, Utah.

Often, it's hard to prove that a roadside bomb failed to explode because of Prowler jamming signals, Woods said. Still, he's confident the plane is making a difference against the bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. "When it's flying we have greater success and fewer IEDs going off," Woods said. "It's kind of an insurance policy."

Woods, the commander of Carrier Air Wing Eleven and one of the Navy's most experienced Prowler pilots, says few people understand the EA-6B's mission, which is to control the electromagnetic spectrum so allies can use it - but not enemies. The Prowler and its electronic warfare system is so valuable it has never been exported - even to close allies. Details about the training of crew members are secret.

The Prowler is a homely plane, hung with torpedo-shaped pods and covered in tumor-like bumps packed with a bewildering array of computers, transmitters, antennae and receivers that can analyze and block ground transmissions. A sinister-looking prong protruding from its nose is a refueling nozzle. The EA-6B's bulbous nose cradles a crew of four: a pilot and three electronic countermeasures officers who operate the jamming gear. Outside experts say the Prowler remains the world's most effective electronic warfare aircraft, but the aging U.S. fleet of about 120 aircraft is overworked.

Still, the Pentagon considers the Prowler critical enough to ensure no U.S. aircraft carrier heads to battle without four or five. There are two squadrons now at sea in Mideast waters: one aboard the carrier USS John C. Stennis, the other aboard the Nimitz. Another two land-based Prowler squadrons are in Iraq, Woods said.

According to outside experts, receivers inside the Prowler's tail collect radio signals from the ground, which are analyzed by an on-board computer. As threats are identified, the plane's crew floods the area with electromagnetic energy that blocks the signal.....

More here

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Rather encouraging to see in a British Leftist periodical a relatively balanced evaluation of Communism. He points out however that Britain's major Leftist organ is still Stalinist ("revisionist"). The comment thread attached is interesting too.

There is a disgraceful story here of how a U.S, soldier was deployed into Iraq without a working rifle. Everybody knew it but nobody cared. He eventually had to buy the parts he needed himself over the internet! He was in Iraq for a month before he was fully armed! Fortunately, he was assigned to a training post when he got there.

U.S. lawyers kill U.S. troops: "There may be an unlimited supply of explosives in Iraq, but there is not an unlimited supply of people who know how to wire the detonators. In 2004, CIA operatives in Iraq believed that they had identified the signatures of 11 bomb makers. They proposed a diabolical -- but potentially effective -- sabotage program that would have flooded Iraq with booby-trapped detonators designed to explode in the bomb makers' hands. But the CIA general counsel's office said no. The lawyers claimed that the agency lacked authority for such an operation, one source recalled."

Tony Blair gets this one right: "He said that newspapers no longer respected the division between reporting and comment, surprising many in the audience by singling out The Independent, the left-of-centre newspaper highly critical of Mr Blair over Iraq, as a metaphor for modern journalism. "[ The Independent] started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views not news. That was why it was called The Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper."

Palestinians long for Israel occupation in Gaza: "The general collapse of government functions in the Gaza Strip Tuesday urged several senior Palestinian figures to seriously contemplate Professor Ali Jarbawi's advice to disband the Palestinian Authority. Even before the civil war which Hamas and Fatah are starting in the Strip, Professor Jarbawi of Bir Zeit University maintained that the Palestinian Authority was a mere illusion of power: occupation under the guise of self government, and therefore useless. On Tuesday, a Palestinian journalist likened the Palestinian Authority to a smoke-belching car wreck, adding that it was time to toss the keys to the Israelis. His view is shared by many Palestinian civilians in Gaza, who in recent days have told the media that they are fed up. "We've had enough, we should be so lucky as to see the return of the Israeli occupation."

Fears for NYC revealed: "The NYPD has stepped up its inspections of trucks at checkpoints to protect against radioactive, biological or chemical bombs entering the Big Apple, officials said. Enlisting an array of new detection tools, New York's Finest, working with a host of federal and state investigators, have launched a two-pronged assault against terrorists trying to slip bomb-making materials into the city. On Sunday, about 40 cops using radiation detectors stopped some 50 trucks, trying to determine whether there were traces of radioactive isotopes - the type that would indicate a dirty bomb. They were also looking for other potential explosive ingredients, such as hydrogen peroxide or chlorine, which are favored by al Qaeda".

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

****************************

"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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13 June, 2007

RECENTLY UP ON ICJS

Sordid dance to a dead end with the devil we need
Desperate for Enlightenment
Israeli watchdog finds alarming level of indoctrination
Malaya: PEX COURT UPHOLDS SUPREMACY OF SHARIA FOR MUSLIMS
Irshad Manji: US shared values includes Muslims
ABC's balancing act
Islamist mob hits church
Ahmadinejad in new attack on Jewish state:
Hydra-headed foe:
JFK bomb plot was 'home-grown' :
Muslim students seek clerics' jihad advice :
Rudd vows bipartisan board for the ABC :
Massive terrorist plot NYT See page 30 :
Islamists claim responsibility for attack on Somali PM:

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The peaceful Palestinians that Israel is supposed to deal with: "Rival Palestinian forces clashed in Gaza on Sunday, killing two militants by throwing them out of high-rise buildings. Gunmen fired shots at the house of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack early Monday on Haniyeh's house in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City. The attack, apparently by the rival Fatah faction, was the first time in a month of infighting that Haniyeh was targeted. In an especially grisly incident, Hamas militants kidnapped an officer in a Fatah-linked security force, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him off. Mohammed Sweirki, 25, from the Presidential Guard of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, was killed in the plunge. That set off skirmishes through the city, including gun battles and shelling. Fatah militants surrounded the house of a Hamas mosque preacher and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the four-story building. They then entered, shooting at preacher Mohammed al-Rifati, 40, and taking him away. Later, his body was brought to a hospital."

Fatwa: Palestinians Can't Emigrate: "Alarmed by the growing number of Palestinians who are emigrating from the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority's mufti has issued a fatwa [religious decree] forbidding Muslims to leave. Sources in the PA Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post..."According to our statistics, there are at least 45,000 emigration applications being reviewed by different countries."

Indian troops to fight Taliban: "India is doubling its deployment of highly trained commandos to combat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The commandos, from the crack Indo-Tibetan Border Police force that specialises in high-altitude operations in the Himalayas, are being sent to guard about 300 Indian road builders working on the 218km Zaranj-Delaram highway, which will connect Afghanistan's second city, Kandahar, with the Iranian border. The highway, part of an Indian aid project, traverses the heart of the Taliban badlands and engineers working on the project have been the target of frequent attacks. The new deployment meant almost 400 commandos would be in the area to combat Taliban attempts to halt construction of the highway, Indian news agency PTI reported. The move suggests New Delhi is prepared to take on a more significant role in security operations against the Taliban within Afghanistan"

"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!": "The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem. The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty. Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor. Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need"

British Muslims at work: "An Islamic religious leader and his wife flew into the UK with missile blueprints and bomb recipes to be used against the West, a court has heard. Yassin Nassari, 28, was caught carrying instructions to build the same rockets used by the Palastinian terrorist group Hamas as well as a chilling library of extreme Islamic documents, jurors heard. The Old Bailey heard his wife, Bouchra El-Hor, 24, actively encouraged her husband to become a terrorist and had offered herself and the couple's five-month-old son for martyrdom. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee said: "It is the prosecution's case that they are not merely radicalised Muslims but that Nassari was going to engage in what he and others like him would call a 'jihad' but what the law describes as terrorism."



Antiwar faker now in jail: "A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record. Jesse Adam Macbeth, formerly of Phoenix, garnered much attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque. His story was contradicted by his true discharge form, showing that he was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 because of his "entry level performance and conduct." A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration... His past criminal history includes "false emergency reporting, criminal trespass, domestic violence and fraud, and he is wanted by the Safford County sheriff's office in Arizona for illegal credit card use."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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12 June, 2007

AT LAST: SOME ATTENTION IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA TO BLACK ATTACKS ON WHITES

The widespread outrage among bloggers over the media coverup of the horrific murders of a young white couple -- Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom -- by blacks has at last got the attention of one mainstream paper. The Chicago Trib has put out quite a good coverage of the whole matter. Of greatest interest, however, is the summary of statistics at the end of their article:

On one hand, African-Americans bear the brunt of violent crime in the U.S.: In 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, blacks were more than twice as likely as whites to fall victim to serious violent crime, most often at the hands of other blacks.

Blacks are also the overwhelming majority of victims of attacks recorded by the FBI as hate crimes. In 2005, blacks were the victims in 68 percent of nearly 5,000 hate-crime incidents nationwide, while whites were the victims in 20 percent of the cases. Whites accounted for60 percent of known hate-crime offenders, while blacks accounted for 20 percent.

But on the other hand, when overall cross-racial violent crimes are tabulated-including incidents not formally classified as racially motivated hate crimes-Justice Department statistics show that blacks attack whites far more often than whites attack blacks.

In 2005, there were more than 645,000 victims of cross-racial violent crimes between blacks and whites in the U.S. In 90 percent of those crimes, black offenders attacked white victims.

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Another Sarko landslide: "President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party has won a sweeping victory in the first round of parliamentary voting. According to TNS-SOFRES estimates, the right wing won between 405 and 445 seats, compared with 120-160 seats for the left."

US should attack Iran base: "US senator Joseph Lieberman said today his country should seriously consider a military strike against Iran because of Tehran's alleged involvement with Iraqi insurgents. "I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

Britain shreds marriage: "Cohabiting partners who split up are to get similar rights to divorcing couples under plans to be outlined next month, The Times has learnt. Unmarried women and men will be able to make claims against their partners to demand lump-sum payments, a share of property, regular maintenance or a share of the partner's pension when they separate. They will also be able to claim against their partners for loss of earnings if they gave up a career to look after children. The reforms are to be published by the Law Commission, the Government's law reform body.It is expected to drop any proposal for a time stipulation, so that only couples who had lived together for, say, two years, could bring a claim; or any bar on childless couples."

At last: Arrogant Muslim cabbie banned: "A cab driver who refused to let a blind customer bring her guide dog into his car has been disqualified from driving. Liakath Ali, 21, shouted "no dog" at Paula Thomas, of London, leaving her distraught as she tried to enter the taxi, Westminster magistrates heard. It has been compulsory for licensed taxi drivers to carry guide dogs since the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Ali, of Woodstock Road, Bedford, was banned for seven days for refusing to carry a person with a guide dog."

Antisemitics architects in Britain too: "Leading British architects have joined the academic world and have accused their counterparts in Israel of complicity in schemes that contribute to the "social, political and economic oppression of Palestinians," the British The Guardian reported Saturday. The architects, including Will Alsop, Terry Farrell, Richard MacCormac, Royal Institute of British Architects president Jack Pringle and president-elect Sunand Prasad, have signed a petition organized by the group Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine. "APJP asserts that the actions of our fellow professionals working with these enterprises are clearly unethical, immoral and contravene universally recognized professional codes of conduct," a spokesman said. "We ask the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) to meet their professional obligations to declare their opposition to this inhuman occupation."

Legal attack on British antisemites: "A top American lawyer has threatened to wage a legal war against British academics who seek to cut links with Israeli universities. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor renowned for his staunch defence of Israel and high-profile legal victories, including his role in the O.J. Simpson trial, vowed to "devastate and bankrupt" lecturers who supported such boycotts. This week's annual conference of Britain's biggest lecturers' union, the University and College Union, backed a motion damning the "complicity of Israeli academia in the occupation [of Palestinian land]". Prof Dershowitz said he had started work on legal moves to fight any boycott. He told the Times Higher Educational Supplement that these would include using a US law - banning discrimination on the basis of nationality - against UK universities with research ties to US colleges. US academics might also be urged to accept honorary posts at Israeli colleges in order to become boycott targets."

Bigoted British journalists show their colours: "The utter hypocrisy of the British National Union of Journalists, which recently voted to boycott only Israel, has now become evident in the face of the silence over the recent move by Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez to suppress dissent by the media in his leftist regime. General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistantoo has now imposed massive press censorship. In many other of the hard left's favored countries - Cuba, China, Iran, North Koreaand Zimbabwe- suppression of the press is routine and imprisonment of journalist is common. But there is not a peep about these countries from the British National Union of Journalists who seem to admire tyranny and condemn democracy and openness. Only Israel, which has among the freest presses of the world, is being targeted for sanctions."

There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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11 June, 2007

Lawmakers with no respect for the law

It becomes ever more amazing to see the lengths to which proponents of the Bush/Kennedy/McCain immigration "reform" compromise bill will go in their increasingly desperate effort to gain passage. Consider Thursday's defeat of an amendment requiring that Congress certify that all current laws on the books regarding border security and immigration are being enforced before any new amnesty-like processes can begin for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. Offered by Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the amendment was defeated 54-42.

Some important names are found among the 54 senators who voted against the amendment, including Democratic presidential candidates Joseph Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. Among Republican presidential hopefuls, Sam Brownback of Kansas voted against the amendment, and John McCain of Arizona missed the vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont also opposed the amendment, as did the Judiciary Committee's ranking minority member, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

It seems especially peculiar to see men and women who aspire to become the chief enforcer of the law, as well as the two leading members of the committee with jurisdiction over federal courts, opposing a measure that simply required that existing statutes be enforced.

In light of this vote, it is legitimate to now wonder whether there are any other laws these solons would vote to not enforce. Indeed, we wonder whether, in light of this seemingly new precedent, there are any promises these lawmakers have made or will make that can be trusted. True, any law can be repealed, but that's not the same thing as declining to enforce one that remains on the books. Bankers call such an action defaulting on a loan, and they frequently impose rather unpleasant consequences on consumers who break their promises.

Source

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Heads up from David Thompson "Some of you may have seen Vanessa Engle’s witty BBC4 documentary series, Lefties, screened in February last year. The 3-part series revisits the “alternative politics” of the 70s and 80s, when the far left was an all-too-serious force in British political life. Among the gems to savour are the endless factional disputes over exactly how capitalism should be toppled, the farcical mismanagement of the News on Sunday, an earnest exposition on “penile imperialism”, and interviews with former self-styled radicals, now sitting by private swimming pools, fretting about fridge ownership or planning to work on lama farms. The three episodes – Property is Theft, Angry Wimmin and A Lot of Balls - can be viewed online here. Given a generation of young lefties with little, if any, experience of what their dreams entail when applied in the real world, it’s worth casting an eye over what happened when Socialism wasn’t just something people laughed at.

The Victims of Communism Memorial: "To be located at the busy intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues (and 'G' Street), NW, in Washington, D.C., the Memorial will feature a statue modeled on the 'Goddess of Democracy' used by the Chinese students in Tiananmen Square in 1989, that statue itself deliberately reminiscent of our own Statue of Liberty. Its inscriptions, front and back, will read as follows: 'To the more than 100 million victims of Communism and to those who love liberty,' and 'To the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples.' The memorial and its lessons are long overdue."

Moral questions for our liberal friends: "'We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.' What precisely, is the moral principle that allows this? Think for a second about what that statement really means as a practical matter. It asserts that a majority of people can decide to coerce you with the armed, police power of the state, to take away your property if it benefits them. It doesn't matter if you don't want the property to be taken. It doesn't matter if you disagree that the perceived benefit is worth such coercion. Essentially, the position taken by many on the Left is that they can simply take your property from you by force, if they think its necessary. So, what is the moral basis for this position?"

Another Fredhead: "George Bush is supporting Fred Thompson for president - George P Bush, that is, the nephew of the White House incumbent and son of Jeb, the former governor of Florida. The young Bush, a 31-year-old property developer who is thought to have political ambitions of his own, is urging the actor and former Republican senator for Tennessee to run and is encouraging friends to contribute to his campaign. Mary Matalin, a former aide to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, and Lawrence Lindsey, Bush's former economic adviser, are also backing Thompson, who is likely to enter the race formally in July.... Thompson is also developing a rowdy fan club of "Fredheads" among Republican activists on the internet. According to Matalin, they are in every state. "Everywhere we go there are Fredheads," she said."

If only they said this about Iraq: ""Defeat is not an option," Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said. Unfortunately, he was talking about giving blanket amnesty to 12 million, law-breaking, illegal aliens, the Rocky Mountain News reported. On Iraq, he was one of 48 white-flag-raising Democratic senators."

Haditha Cases Continue To Crumble: "The Associated Press reports that according to the attorney for Captain Randy Stone, legal officer for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, charged with failing to report or investigate the deaths at Haditha, the investigating officer, Major Thomas McCann, for the Article 32 hearings (military-type grand jury) is recommending to 1st Marine Division commander Lt. Gen. James Mattis that the charges be dismissed".

Islam-wary Swiss to ban minarets: "Members of the right-wing Swiss People's Party, currently the largest party in the Swiss parliament, have launched a campaign to have the building of minarets banned. They claim the minaret is not necessary for worship, but is rather a symbol of Islamic law, and as such incompatible with Switzerland's legal system. Signatures are now being collected to force a nationwide referendum on the issue which, under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, would be binding. The move has shocked Switzerland's 350,000 Muslims, many of whom have been campaigning for decades for more recognition for their faith. A recent opinion poll for one Swiss newspaper found that 43 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of a ban on minarets".

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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10 June, 2007

The great tug-of-war

An EXCERPT below from Arnold Kling -- who tries to make sense out of what Leftists appear to believe. That they are motivated by a wish to destroy rather than anything rational, he is courteous enough not to consider. In the full article, however, he heads his essay with a quote that shows that it is hatred that really motivates Leftists

Franklin D. Roosevelt's economic policies during the 1930's were a terrible failure. Why, then, is he so revered in history? I believe that Roosevelt's restrospective halo is derived in part from the fact that he catered to the anti-capitalist trend among intellectuals. This trend long preceded Roosevelt, and it persists to this day. Historians are predominantly anti-capitalist, which inclines them to favor Roosevelt. And if historians do nothing else, they do influence our view of history.

This essay is about the history of polarized intellectual views of capitalism. I make no claims that my thesis is original. On the contrary, it is a central theme in a number of recent books, including Jerry Z. Muller's difficult but highly rewarding treatise The Mind and the Market, Deirdre McCloskey's erudite and offbeat The Bourgeois Virtues, and Brink Lindsey's just-published perspective on capitalists, beatniks and hippies The Age of Abundance.

McCloskey talks about the anti-capitalist "clerisy," as she describes the academics and others who hold the bourgeoisie in contempt. Lindsey describes the way that post-WWII affluence in the United States helped foster widespread cultural experimentation and criticism, with protestors attacking the very capitalist institutions that enabled such experimentation and criticism. Muller offers an intellectual history of the controversy about capitalism. He shows, for example, how Joseph Schumpeter predicted exactly the sort of critical rebellion against capitalism that Lindsey chronicles.

GMU economist Robin Hanson notes that ideological positions tend to come in "clumps." He writes: "The policy world can thought of as consisting of a few Tug-O-War "ropes" set up in this high dimensional policy space. If you want to find a comfortable place in this world, where the people around you are reassured that you are "one of them," you need to continually and clearly telegraph your loyalty by treating each policy issue as another opportunity to find more supporting arguments for your side of the key dimensions. That is, pick a rope and pull on it."......

Jerry Muller points out that anti-capitalism can be traced as far back as the Greeks and to ancient religious tradition. Throughout much of human history, it was natural to see wealth as fixed, so that if one person were particularly wealthy then others would be correspondingly poor. This zero-sum perspective naturally leads merchants and profitable market activity to be viewed with suspicion and hostility.

Modern P's see market activity as positive-sum. In a voluntary trade, both sides are better off. Widespread trade makes many people better off. Competitive innovation is an extreme example of a positive-sum game, leading to very large cumulative improvements in the living standards. Nonetheless, A's still see wealth in zero-sum terms. They see the rich as having too much wealth, and they see a need for redistribution.

For the P's, business success is a good thing. For any one individual, it may represent luck, but overall business success is correlated with the introduction of innovations that improve our lives. For A's business success comes from exploitation. P's look at Wal-Mart and see efficiency and lower prices. A's look at Wal-Mart and see a large, profitable firm hiring employees at low wages and benefits. For the P's, business failure is also a good thing. In order for productivity to improve, obsolete products and inefficient processes need to disappear. A's focus on the adverse consequences of firms going out of business.

Robin Hanson is pessimistic that differences such as those that exist between P's and A's will be resolved through reasoned argument. People have their identities wrapped up in their particular sides of the tug-of-war. See my essay on trust cues. Jerry Muller reminds us that over one hundred years ago, Vilfredo Pareto was equally pessimistic. In his chapter on Joseph Schumpeter, Muller writes:

Pareto's 1901 essay "The Rise and Fall of Elites," conveys two themes to which Schumpeter would return time and time again: the inevitability of elites, and the importance of nonrational and nonlogical drives in explaining social action. Pareto suggested that the victory of socialism was "most probable and almost inevitable." Yet, he predicted...the reality of elites would not change. It was almost impossible to convince socialists of the fallacy of their doctrine, Pareto asserted, since they were enthusiasts of a substitute religion. In such circumstances, arguments are invented to justify actions that were arrived at before the facts were examined, motivated by nonrational drives

Part of the A's outlook is that the economy can no longer improve. As Amity Shlaes and Jerry Muller point out, there was a widespread belief in the 1930's that capitalism had run its course. As Muller puts it:

Analysts of very diverse political hues concluded that the era of dynamic capitalism was over and that the United States and other "mature economies" had entered into a period of long-term economic stagnation. Some argued that there were no new technologies in sight for consumers to buy. Others feared that natural resources were nearing exhaustion, or that slowing population growth translated into a lack of consumer demand. Such assumptions lay behind Roosevelt's 1932 campaign address...

For pro-capitalists, capitalism offers an endless wellspring of renewal. For anti-capitalists, there seems to be an endless wellspring of reasons for capitalism's doom. The tug-of-war between the two sides is likely to be endless.

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California: Homosexual Prison Visits Provide State Supported Sodomy: "The very idea of "Gay Conjugal Visits" for prisoners sounds like a bad joke, but officials of the California penal system are to worried to laugh. Because of the state's new "civil unions" law, the gay convicts who linked themselves to partners before incarceration are now entitled to scheduled sessions of intimacy, just like their married counterparts. This means that prison staffers who spend their time in desperate efforts to prevent behind-bars gay conduct, including rape, must now assist selected prisoners with trysts involving their "domestic partners." This absurd innovation exposes the true nature of the so-called gay rights agenda: it's not about equality, it's about governmental promotion of behavior that many Americans still consider disgusting and immoral.



Left Very, Very Upset Fred Thompson Finds His Wife Sexually Attractive (Deviating from the Bill/Hillary! model they favor): "Dr. Helen wants to know: "When I look at my husband with affection, am I leering? I guess not since I'm a woman and can do no wrong except for being a right-leaning libertarian. However, if you're a man, particularly a Republican man, who looks at his wife with affection, you are now accused of "leering"--especially if you are Fred Thompson. ... This is yet another example of a woman who deep down believes that men have no right to leer at women, lest it be considered a sex offense. And she is not alone, there are many other women who feel that unless one is Bill Clinton or the object of their own lecherous desires (of course, for these women, their own desire is called empowerment--not lechery!), a regular joe has no right to look at a woman--not even in pictures--with desire in his heart."

The security bureaucracy is itself insecure: "Those recently foiled terrorist attacks aimed at Fort Dix and JFK Airport underscore the critical importance of monitoring homegrown "sleeper cells" within the United States. But they're not the only internal threats to America's homeland security. Judging by the headlines, it appears the federal government is itself a security problem. In response to criticism that it failed to "connect the dots" prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI unveiled a massive database last summer that contains information culled from its own files and those of other federal agencies, including the Treasury and Homeland Security departments. The bureau's 12,000 agents can now scan hundreds of millions of records stored in the Investigative Data Warehouse and get linked, cross-matched information within minutes. That's a major improvement over the archaic system in place before Sept. 11, 2001. However, a review of the FBI's internal network conducted by the Government Accountability Office found that, much like the nation it protects, the bureau itself remains "vulnerable to insider threats." Specifically, the GAO said there were insufficient controls to prevent the same kind of "unauthorized insider access" that allowed former FBI agent Robert Hanssen to sell secrets to the Soviets undetected for years. Thus, the possible disclosure, modification or even destruction of sensitive national security or law enforcement data clearly remains a serious problem today."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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9 June, 2007

Open Letter to the L.A.Times

By Arlene Peck

For years, I've been a working member of the press. There was a time when I looked with pride at my life's accomplishments. Of course, those were the days when such men as Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Morrow were the role models. In recent years, I've become increasingly alarmed with the trend that I've seen among those who consider themselves 'reporters' as well as those talking heads on the television's nightly news programs We listen to dumbed-down, usually attractive post-puberty 'experts' who can only speak in sound bites before they're interrupted by their co-anchor in the box. They talk about the Middle-East, but I'll bet if you put a map in front of them and asked them where that is, they wouldn't have a clue.

The CEOs of these companies wonder why their newspapers are going out of business. It's simple: it's the same as with the airlines. Lack of service. When the newspapers began to invent the news instead of reporting the news, the public had nowhere to go but to the call in to talk stations where there was at least a chance of hearing the truth.

The worst so-called" journalism" I believe, is practiced by the LA Times. For years, I've held on to my subscription if only because I am a columnist and felt that reading the morning paper was the only way to keep up with what was happening in the world so I might give my opinion on it; which is what a columnist does. A recent edition of the Los Angeles Times was the last straw! That Sunday's front page was covered with a picture of Jerusalem entitled, "The Struggle For Jerusalem." I'm surprised that they didn't use their resident anti -Semite to write the biased column against the Jewish state, but nevertheless it was pretty awful.

I'm not surprised when I see that the sympathetic slant of their series is for "the plight of the poor Palestinians." After all, that's what they do best. Everything, in my opinion, that they write has always been against Israel. For example when they write that Arab families are being "cut off for good from the city of birth" because of the "Israel barrier" which Israel "insists" is aimed at keeping out suicide bombers from entering. The concept that suicide bombers are homicidal mass murderers is foreign to the Times.

Their dumbing-down the issue is working. Israel was forced to build a fence to keep out the murderers that constantly came into Israeli cities to bomb their schools, pizza restaurants, buses and neighborhood markets at will. Prior to the barricade, we were reading in that same biased paper about how many Jews were being killed on an almost daily basis. Of course, why should I be surprised?: This is the same paper that instead of writing about how the open borders from Mexico have turned California into Mexifornia and our cities into places resembling third world countries. This same paper was also writing multi-page series about how the poor illegal immigrant families are being separated and forced to live in poverty. I wish our government had had the foresight that Israel is now showing before our country got so out of hand.

More here

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GWB has gone soft: "To his credit, President Bush is not the type to say raison d'ˆtre out loud, but he nonetheless gave one to his administration in the 2002 State of the Union address. Having summarized the intolerable threats that arise when terrorists, rogue regimes, and weapons of mass destruction intersect, and having christened Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and their like the "Axis of Evil," Bush made a pledge: "The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." That resolution - forged in the flames of September 11 and tempered by the realization that there are far deadlier weapons than jetliners - has been the central mission of Bush's presidency... Five years on, how goes the fight? North Korea has tested an atomic bomb; Iran is steadily increasing the size of its uranium-enrichment operation; and the "international community," if not quite an assembly of eunuchs, is doing its best to look like one. We should not fall into the distinctly unconservative error of supposing that every problem has a solution. It may be that, in vowing to defang Iran and North Korea, Bush set an unattainable goal. But we are right to ask whether he is doing everything possible to achieve this goal: and the answer to that question must be no."

Taiwanese dignitary gives China the finger: "The former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui, despised by Beijing for asserting the self-ruled island's sovereignty, paid his respects at the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo yesterday despite China's objections. Supporters of Mr Lee, who was educated in Japan and led Taiwan from 1988 to 2000, shouted "Banzai" (long life) when he arrived at the Shinto shrine. Some waved Japanese flags, while others shouted, "Taiwan forever." Yasukuni is seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. It honours millions of Japanese war dead, among them soldiers from Taiwan and Korea who fought for Japan, their colonial ruler at the time - but also convicted war criminals. But Mr Lee, 84, said his pilgrimage to Yasukuni was intended to pay respects to his elder brother, who died fighting for the Japanese during World War II. "It is completely personal; please don't think of anything political or historical," he said, speaking in Japanese."

Why is profit a dirty word?: "At a recent press conference Sen. John Kerry was upset as he snarled, 'Oil companies in America are reporting record profits. Record profits.' When did profit become a dirty word? I wish the oil executives would face the media. They could say something like: 'What are you complaining about? What do you think we do with our profits? Buy fancy cars and homes? Well, we do, actually, but nearly all the money goes to looking for more oil and following environmental rules that you want us to follow. You should want us to make more profit. Anyway, we make less profit per gallon than your beloved government takes in taxes.'"

Oil is not well: "As spring evanesces into summer and Americans take to the road in their gas-guzzlers, leaving their homes with air conditioners on high, it is perhaps an auspicious time to consider our energy needs. The presidential candidates, hustling for their parties' presidential nominations, tell us that they are going to make us 'energy independent.' At the same time they also tell us that $3.00-a-gallon gasoline at the pump is highway robbery. Some announce that they are going to investigate the oil companies. This is political schizophrenia. We cannot approach energy independence and maintain cheap oil prices simultaneously. In fact, in the near future neither goal is possible."

Montreal man killed by his brother for being a bad Muslim: ""He is a believer in Satan," said Najib Bellari about his brother El-Medhi, just after he stabbed him to his death at a downtown restaurant where he was working on October 24, 2005. This is what two of his coworkers declared about the 36-year-old defendent yesterday, during the trial for the murder of his brother, in front of judge Marc David. According to their testimony, from Najib Bellari's point of view, his elder brother was a bad Muslim. The man, El-Mehdi, 38 years old, was the elder brother of Najib. "It's the brother who started to speak. I couldn't hear, they spoke too low in a polite manner, then I heard Najib shout Leave! Leave!," testified Mr. Ibnzakour. Mr. Ibnzakour continued pointing out that the defendant took a kitchen knife, about thirty centimeters, and pointed it towards his brother. Mohammad Ibnzakour described the defendant as a scholar of Islam. "He has a good understanding of Islam. I would regularly ask him questions about Islam. He would answer. He taught me," he remembered. But Najib was also a conservative practitioner, who qualified those who were not observant as "deviant.""

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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8 June, 2007

A REFLECTION ON THE STORY THE NYT IGNORED

This time it was John F. Kennedy International Airport. Nothing new about big-city airports - seven years ago, Los Angeles International Airport was targeted. Nothing new about New York City, either. The World Trade Center was bombed in 1993, and finally destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. The United Nations complex, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the FBI's Lower Manhattan headquarters, the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Terminal - they've all been on the hit list. Big Western cities, in fact, are the hit list. New York, L.A., Chicago, Washington, London, Paris, Madrid . . . on it goes.

And, of course, there is nothing new about the culprit. The story is always the same: radical Islamic terror. The storyline is the same, too. But an element of Western opinion always wants to obscure it, turning a blind eye to the ideology of hate that motivates these would-be murderers. The root-causes crowd has little interest in that root cause. No, it must be poverty (even when the terrorists turn out to be comfortable, well-educated, and fully employed); or the Palestinian issue (even though organizations like al Qaeda have barely mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and some terror targets, like Bali, had no rational connection to it); or, it goes without saying, George W. Bush and "his" war in Iraq (no matter how many attacks occurred before his presidency).

A growing chorus, weary of the war at home and abroad, some of its voices resistant even to the reality that we are at war, is quick to reject the use of both military force and heightened domestic surveillance. The War on Terror is, they maintain, a war only of ideas.

The enemy's ideas are frightful: for example, its notion that mass murder is a legitimate means of pressing a socio-political agenda. This is not an aberrational belief espoused by a fringe of jihadist operatives. It is mainstream in Islamic countries and disturbingly common among growing Muslim populations in the United States and Europe.....

But even if the grand design was beyond the cell's competence, an attempt could well have killed hundreds of people. As with the recent thwarting of a jihadist plot on Fort Dix, this intended atrocity appears to have been prevented by the cooperation of federal and local law enforcement, who managed to infiltrate the conspiracy with an informant - proving, yet again, that if we are to stop terror attacks rather than react to them, there is no substitute for human intelligence.

The deepest lesson here, though, is that we are at war with an enemy that hates us, that will stop at nothing - even death - to harm us, and that we must understand in order to defeat. That is the first step in the real battle of ideas.

More here

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Why Aid to Africa Should End

"In "Aid: Can It Work?" a frustrated Kristof has detailed many a failed effort to convince Southern Africans, for example, "to grow sorghum rather than corn, because it is hardier and more nutritious." But because it has been given "out as a relief food to the poor. sorghum [has] become stigmatized as the poor man's food, and no one wants to have anything to do with it." Hand out infant formula to HIV-infected women so they don't transmit the virus to their babies via breast milk, and the women, without exception, all dump the formula before they reach home: "Any woman feeding her baby formula, rather than nursing directly, is presumed to have tested positive for HIV, and no woman wants that stigma." As a former AIDS counselor in South-Africa, I was told by my female clients what the use of prophylactics portends: African patriarchs don't like protection; African women risk battery, and worse, should they insist on their, "like, reproductive freedoms."

"In the heart of poverty-stricken Congo," avers Kristof, "wrenching malnutrition exists side by side with brothels, beer joints, and cigarette stands." Kristof admits reluctantly that the men spending their money in these fleshpots cannot be persuaded to put it, rather, toward their children. Kristof cites disturbing research suggesting education programs in Africa, also the cornerstone of anti-AIDS efforts, are ineffective. Giving people a pill, conversely, works quite well-only there is no pill against HIV/AIDS. In Africa, HIV/AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease afflicting heterosexuals, predominantly. The fight against it invariably entails the teaching of caution, restraint, and the curbing of instant gratification, to which too many Africans appear indisposed."

More here

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Brookes News Update

The international consequences of the Federal Reserve: It now appears that the current account deficit might start to shrink as US exports expand. Nothing surprising here. It is an established fact that when a country's currency devaluates its exports will expand because their prices fall in terms of other currencies.
Stock prices and the phony `wealth effect': There's an awful lot of sloppy economic ideas in our papers being passed off as economic analysis, one of which is the stock-prices-growth fallacy. That share prices can be a very misleading indicator of economic health is something that is never referred to in the media
Luis Posada Carriles: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?: On re-entering the US anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles was charged as a terrorist by the Justice Department. Federal Judge Kathleen Cardone the case out, accusing the J-D of committing "Fraud, deceit and trickery". So the same government department that refused to act against Sandy Berger had an enemy of Castro arrested. Now ain't that curious
Can technology prevent a recession?: One of the major factors contributing to a misdirection of resources is the falsification of price signals by means of loose monetary policies of the central bank
Al Gore's insolent assault on reason: Gore calls for government control over political speech. Because reason is being `assaulted' by a free and unfettered debate in the media - and particularly by the fact that Gore has to contend with opposition from the right-leaning media
US economy: 2010 Dem tax hikes a ticking time bomb: Both the Senate and House of Representatives have approved the majority Democrats' budget proposal, which contains over $200 billion in tax hikes, the largest in American history. Under their budget, this decade's astoundingly successful tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010
US economy, immigration and the fallacy of cheap labour: There is little doubt that illegal immigration has had a negative impact on US wage rates, particularly of the unskilled. A study by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center concluded that the flow of illegals drove down local wages by 11 per cent

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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7 June, 2007

Leftist whiner sends himself up

The Huffington poster excerpted below is complaining about too much choice in the supermarket. But he starts out with a complaint that he could not find HIS choice of what he wanted! HIS choice is OK. It is all those other horrible people around that are the problem. He is a typical Leftist elitist but it just comes naturally to him. He shows absolutely no awareness of what a creep he is

Have you tried buying orange juice at a supermarket lately? The other night, I visited our nearby Gristedes, an average-sized urban supermarket -- but strictly a mom-and-pop store compared to its giant suburban counterparts. I was looking for orange-tangerine juice. Couldn't find it. But, what I did find was orange juice with ... pulp, no pulp, some pulp, lots of pulp, MOST pulp, calcium, antioxidants, fiber, added Vitamin C, calcium & vitamin D. There was traditional, original, grovestand, grower's style, homestyle, low-acid, OJ light, light & healthy, farm fresh, healthy heart with Omega-3s, and healthy kids (I am NOT making this up). There was orange juice, orange-grapefruit (golden or red), orange-pineapple, orange-strawberry-banana, orange-peach-mango, orange-kiwi (okay, maybe not orange-kiwi, but, in a bigger store... ). There were also dozens of other juices, juice combos, juice "beverages" and juice drinks

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Idiot Compassion

The term "bleeding-heart liberal" has been bandied about for years, in an effort to illustrate the faux or at least hyperbolic sense of compassion attributed to those on the left. The lefties in America and Europe would like to be known as those who care, unless you happen to be a Bible-following Christian, a conservative or a fetus....

The most intriguing and brilliant analyst of the world history of spiritual practice and the melding of East and West today is undoubtedly Ken Wilber. Wilber`s insight into Buddhism in general and compassion in particular is unmatched in the West. ( Read A Brief History of Everything, for instance.) In One Taste, Wilber responds to a student's question about compassion with an illuminating view:

"[Most] confusion... in spiritual circles ....comes from confusing compassion with idiot compassion."

This term was first used by Chogyam Trungpa, a Tibetan Rinpoche who helped bring Buddhism to the West in the 70`s. Wilber continues:

"Idiot compassion" thinks it is being kind, but it's really being cruel. If you have an alcoholic friend and you know that one more drink might kill him, and yet he begs you for a drink, does real compassion say that you should give it to him? After all, to be kind you should give him what he wants, right? Giving him the drink would therefore show compassion, yes? No. Absolutely not.

"Real compassion includes wisdom and so it makes judgments of care and concern; it says some things are good, and some things are bad, and I will choose to act only on those things that are informed by wisdom and care."

Of course, here Wilber illuminates the missing ingredient in liberal "compassion." The world, viewed through the liberal's gray colored, politically-correct glasses, makes no discerning judgments, or at least incorrect ones. Hence, we get addle-brained protesters picketing to save the lives of serial killers on death row or human shields willing to give up their lives to protect suicide bomber cults and Islamic terrorists. Since all killing is bad, it must be bad to kill Islamic terrorists or convicted murderers. This idiot view, foregoes the greater good and lapses into solipsism.

The biographies of the Buddha reveal that in one of his early incarnations, he met a murderer of 1000's of men. Acting correctly and with compassion for all sentient beings, the Buddha's incarnation killed the murderer to prevent additional suffering. That is true compassion!

The "compassionate" left would rather have us believe that the detainees at Guantanamo, the murderers and rapists in our prisons, the violent Palestinians and other Islamo-fascists are the rightful and primary objects of our care and concern..... It's time we revealed this sham pretension of compassion for what it is: a reckless disregard for reason and judgment, disguised in the touchy-feely cover of political correctness. When you spot liberals pretending compassion under the guise of idiot compassion, out them!

More here

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ELSEWHERE

Media coverup: I think that the whole world has now heard of an evil New Zealand electricity company that cut off the electricity to a home where an ill woman was depending on an electrically powered machine to breathe -- killing the lady. People have been left to see this as an evil of capitalism. What almost no media reports have mentioned is that the electricity company concerned is owned by the "compassionate" socialist New Zealand GOVERNMENT. Details here.

What we are losing: "Two passengers helped subdue a passenger who was frightening Northwest Flight 720. "Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine. "I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do.'"

Pensions for congressional jailbirds: "So Democratic Congressman William "the Refrigerator" Jefferson of New Orleans was indicted. Big deal. Even if he is convicted and sentenced to all 235 years that the 16 counts against him carry, taxpayers will get screwed. Congressman Jefferson will get a $47,000-a-year pension while in prison, despite his criminal activity. One congressman called the pensions a "jailhouse ATM." According to the National Taxpayers Union, at least 20 congressional crooks receive pensions, both in and out of prison. Democrat Dan Rostenkowski now receives nearly $125,000 a year despite being one of the biggest crooks in congressional history."

Iran behind planned attack on USA? "The thing that caught our eye in the plot to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport and its oil lines concerns a detail in respect of the arrest of one of the key Guyanese suspects. It was the fact that the former member of the Guyanese legislature who was fingered in the plot, Abdul Kadir, was arrested in Trinidad on his way to Caracas, Venezuela. According to Mr. Kadir's wife, who was quoted in the Guyanese press, he was there to pick up an Iranian visa that would enable him to attend an Islamic conference in Tehran."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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6 June, 2007

The Democrat Presidential candidate debate: The ignored financial elephant

There have of course been innumerable blogospheric comments on the debate but I thought that the following comment on the financial implications made some rather overlooked but central points. I think it does highlight the usual Leftist assumption that money grows on trees

Three points about last night's Democratic debate in Manchester, N.H.:

1) Imagine a Democratic presidential debate about foreign policy where Iraq was never mentioned. That was pretty much the case at last night's candidate face-off when it came to domestic policy. Little was said about the long-term direction of the U.S. economy and what could be done to make it more innovative, competitive, and productive-the keys to raising our standard of living as we compete with China and India in the 21st century. Out of roughly 20,000 spoken words, mentions of "innovation," zero; "competitive," one (Richardson); "productivity," zero; "trade," six (Kucinich); "growth," one (Dodd); "China," six (Dodd, Kucinich, Richardson); "India," none; "middle class," three (Edwards, Clinton); "technology," three (Dodd, Obama, Richardson).

2) At one point, the candidates were asked what they would do about high gasoline prices. Most gave answers about what could be done to achieve energy independence in the long term. But as for right now, no one had much of an answer other than investigating the oil companies for collusion or price gouging. Nothing was said about the lack of refining capacity being the cause of the latest price surge. Also, none of the candidates-other than megadarkhorse Mike Gravel-suggested that high gas prices were, in fact, a good thing. If you are concerned about climate change, as the Dems say they are, shouldn't you cheer higher gas prices, since they might cause Americans to a) drive less and b) encourage greater investment in alternative energy sources?

3) The Democratic candidates continue to strangely double-spend the money they intend to get from raising taxes on Americans making over $200,000 a year. At one point, both Edwards and Obama said they would help pay for their healthcare plans by taxing the so-called rich to the tune of $50 billion a year. But guess what, advocates of reforming the alternative minimum tax-and Edwards, Obama, and Clinton certainly have that goal-usually point to higher taxes on the rich as a way of paying for AMT reform. So, AMT or healthcare: Which is it? A recent analysis by the Urban Institute put it this way:

"Blame whomever you want for today's current fiscal mess, but don't cling to any myths about how far rescinding recent tax cuts for the rich would go toward meeting the nation's many budgetary shortfalls. Our elected officials simply cannot get around the most fundamental of political dilemmas. Even if they enact additional taxes on the rich-and that would not be easy-they still must either retract many of the promises made to the middle class, increase its taxes, or both."

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ELSEWHERE



Newspaper meltdown in California: "The great majority of the 60 departing Los Angeles Times journalists made their exits this week from the downtown L.A. headquarters once known as Times Mirror Square. They wrote and edited their final stories. They packed decades' worth of files into cardboard boxes in an exodus that has become painfully routine in the newspaper business of late. The San Francisco Chronicle announced recently that it would reduce its news staff by a quarter. Reports circulated last Friday that the once-robust San Jose Mercury News would pare its staff again. At the Times, the latest departures will leave the paper's news staff at roughly 850 people, about three-quarters of its peak. "We all are caught in the greatest upheaval our industry and the institution of journalism has ever faced," Chronicle managing editor Robert Rosenthal told the newsroom last week as he tendered his own resignation."

Wal-Mart answers healthcare critics: "Linda Dillman, an executive vice president in charge of benefits and other functions, touted a recently introduced program that offers relatively inexpensive health insurance for employees. She also presented internal data showing that more than half of employees who signed up for health insurance through Wal-Mart had previously been uninsured, and 7.8 percent had come off Medicaid. Company executives also argued that Wal-Mart is seeking solutions to health care issues on a larger scale, beyond just its own employees. They pointed to plans to open more in-store health clinics as a way to provide less expensive basic health care to people who might otherwise go to emergency rooms and deal with much bigger bills. And they said the company's $4 generic prescription drug program, which many other retailers have emulated, makes some basic medications more affordable to low-income people. But executives also conceded they have good business reasons for wanting to put clinics in stores. Bill Simon, Wal-Mart's chief operating officer, said the clinics are as profitable, if not more so, than the space they are replacing in the company's big discount stores."

Trinidad, terror and terminals for LNG: "An unappreciated aspect of the NYC airport plot is that Trinidad, which seems the focus of the terror plot, is a large supplier of natural gas to America ( 65% of America's imports of Liquefied Natural Gas-LNG.) Trinidad and its sister island of Tobago have a Muslim population estimated to range from 10-15% of their total population-including a recent influx of immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan-two fertile sources of terrorists. LNG has always been considered a dangerous material; it is a highly combustible substance that is shipped to America in cryogenic form in large ships. The potential for an explosion of these ships has long haunted American experts since such an explosion not only would kill many people but render inoperable for years to come some of our busiest ports. These explosions do happen periodically"

JFK plot tip of iceberg: "The alleged conspiracy to blow up John F Kennedy airport, in New York, and a recent plot to kill soldiers at a nearby United States Army base represent only the "tip of the iceberg" of terrorist plots against America, according to US officials. "There's a lot of activity out there," a counter-terrorism official said yesterday. "Obviously, you don't want to tip off every suspect that they are being monitored. On the other hand, we are not going to wait until the fuse is lit." He said that the airport plot, which sparked a lengthy FBI sting operation, was first detected by CIA operatives in the Caribbean and South America nearly 18 months ago."

CAIR gets some legal scrutiny at last: "Federal prosecutors have named CAIR and two other Islamic organizations, the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust, as "unindicted co-conspirators" in a criminal conspiracy to support Hamas, a designated terrorist group. In a filing last week, prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." They listed ISNA and NAIT as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood." Josh Gerstein of The New York Sun reports that spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to requests for comment. This development occurred in connection with the trial, scheduled to start on July 16 in Dallas, of five officials (Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, and Abdulraham Odeh) of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, accused of sending funds to Hamas. This court filing listed some 300 individuals or organizations as co-conspirators."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

****************************

"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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5 June, 2007

EVEN SAN FRANCISCO'S HAIGHT/ASHBURY HIPPIES ARE TURNING CONSERVATIVE AS THEY GET OLDER

Sorta makes me glad I have been conservative as far back as I can remember. I got it right first time. Some excerpts below:

From his second-floor apartment at the counterculture crossing of Haight and Ashbury streets, Arthur Evans watches a new generation of wayward youth invade his free-spirited neighborhood. The former flower child was among the legions of idealistic wanderers who migrated here during the Vietnam War to "tune in, turn on and drop out." But Evans, who has lived at the same address for 34 years, says he has never seen anything like this crowd, who use his flower bed as a bathroom and sell pot outside his window.

They're known as gutter punks, these homeless kids with dirty dreadlocks and nose rings, lime-green mohawks and orange spray-painted faces, who panhandle with cardboard signs that riff on their lifestyles. "Please Help Us Get Un-Sober," one reads. Another: "Please Give Us Weed, Beer or Money." Sometimes aggressive, they block sidewalks as they strum guitars or bang on bongos. Gangs of them skateboard down the middle of Haight Street. Some throw used hypodermic needles into a nearby pond they call Hep-C Lake.

Evans, 64, says they should get help, clean up or go home. "I used to be a hippie. I wore beads and grew my hair long," he said. "But my generation had something these kids do not: a standard of civilized behavior."....

But a lot of ex-hippies-turned-homeowners are weary of the youthful intruders. They want the Haight to adopt a more mature demeanor, just as they have. Outreach services, they say, only draw more young people to the area. Many suggest sending the homeless to centers in other areas, including the inner-city Tenderloin district. "I'm sick of stepping over gangs of kids, only to be told 'Die, yuppie!' A lot of us were flower children, but we grew up," said Robert Shadoian, 58, a retired family therapist. "There are responsibilities in this world you have to meet. You can't be drugged out 24/7 and expect the world to take care of you." ...

Recently, the stance against the homeless has hardened. Residents last year resurrected the Haight Ashbury Improvement Assn. to push the city to crack down on loitering. They have started a "court watch" program to monitor cases and push judges to sentence offenders to community service and order them into treatment.

Police have also cracked down. The department has sent teens home on its own dime and maintains two full-time outreach officers to coax youths into seeking help. But now officers ticket for "quality of life" offenses, including illegal camping and drinking in public.

Source

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Israel can trust no-one but itself

An excerpt from Charles Krauthammer on the 1967 war that Israel won against all odds

On May 16, 1967, Egyptian President Gamal Nasser ordered the evacuation from the Sinai Peninsula of the U.N. buffer force that had kept Israel and Egypt at peace for 10 years. The United Nations complied, at which point Nasser imposed a naval blockade of Israel's only outlet to the south, the port of Eilat -- an open act of war.

Why is this still important? Because that three-week period between May 16 and June 5 helps explain Israel's 40-year reluctance to give up the fruits of that war -- the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza -- in return for paper guarantees of peace. Israel had similar guarantees from the 1956 Suez war, after which it evacuated the Sinai in return for that U.N. buffer force and for assurances from the Western powers of free passage through the Straits of Tiran.

All this disappeared with a wave of Nasser's hand. During those three interminable weeks, President Lyndon Johnson did try to rustle up an armada of countries to run the blockade and open Israel's south. The effort failed dismally.... we forget how perilous was Israel's condition. The victory hinged on a successful attack on Egypt's air force on the morning of June 5. It was a gamble of astonishing proportions. Israel sent the bulk of its 200-plane air force on the mission, fully exposed to antiaircraft fire and missiles. Had they been detected and the force destroyed, the number of planes remaining behind to defend the Israeli homeland -- its cities and civilians -- from the Arab air forces' combined 900 planes was . . . 12.

Israelis are cautious. They remember the terror of that June 4 and of that unbearable May when, with Israel in possession of no occupied territories whatsoever, the entire Arab world was furiously preparing Israel's imminent extinction. And the world did nothing.

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ELSEWHERE

China Hand says that central government control of China was weak even in the Communist period and that China is now ruled by corruption rather than law.

Prof. Brignell on Tony Blair's malign "legacy": "It is nothing less than quite amazing that one man has wrought so many changes in a mere decade... Some writers even claim that he made no difference. On the contrary, he has made a bigger change to his nation than any other leader who employed non-violent means. Ourselves ten years ago would not recognise the British society of today. Blair suffered from the Genesis Delusion. He thought he merely had to say "Let there be X" and there would be X. He never quite cottoned on to the truth of Bismarck's dictum that "Politics is the art of the possible." It is the inevitable outcome of electing a leader who has never run anything, but no doubt the British will do it again. In turn this is the inevitable outcome of the youth and celebrity culture." [Prof. Brignell then goes into detail]

High-tax Britain: "A triple whammy of soaring council tax, stamp duty and inheritance tax has helped Chancellor Gordon Brown raise the burden to its highest ever - with Middle Britain particularly badly hit. ...Friday June 1 marks this year's Tax Freedom Day, the date from which workers are deemed to start earning for themselves, having handed over every pound earned so far this year in tax.

U.S. poor getting richer: "A new study by the Congressional Budget Office says the poor have been getting less poor. On average, CBO found that low-wage households with children had incomes after inflation that were more than one-third higher in 2005 than in 1991. The CBO results don't fit the prevailing media stereotype of the U.S. economy as a richer take all affair -- which may explain why you haven't read about them. ...The poorest even had higher earnings growth than the richest 20%. The earnings of these poor households are about 80% higher today than in the early 1990s."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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4 June, 2007

DOES LEGALIZED ABORTION REDUCE CRIME?

This has long been a debate between John Lott and Steven Levitt. Following is a short extract from John Lott's new book "Freedomnomics". I have been following the argument since Levitt first put it forward. I think Lott has some good points but I find it hard to get past the point that anything which limits the black population (which free abortion certainly does) must also limit crime -- given the undisputedly very high rate of criminality among blacks. Lott seems to be arguing that blacks brought up in two-parent families would be less prone to crime. But that is probably true only to a small degree. As far as I know ALL black populations everywhere in the world have hugely high crime-rates by white standards

So the opposing arguments are clear-one stresses that abortion eliminates "unwanted" children, while the other emphasizes that abortion increases out-of-wedlock births. Both effects, conceivably, could be occurring at the same time. The question is: which one has the bigger impact on crime?

This must be answered empirically. Unfortunately for advocates of the "abortion decreases crime" theory, Donahue and Levitt's data were undermined by methodological flaws. As The Economist magazine noted in an article entitled "Oops-onomics," "Donohue and Levitt did not run the test that they thought they had." Work by two economists at the Boston Federal Reserve, Christopher Foote and Christopher Goetz, found that when the tests were run correctly, they indicated that abortion actually increases violent crime. I co-authored a study with John Whitley that found a similar connection between abortion and murder-namely, that legalizing abortion raised the murder rate, on average, by about 7 percent.

We find particularly troublesome problems with the "abortion decreases crime" theory when we analyze the population according to age group. Suppose that liberalizing abortion in the early 1970s can indeed explain up to 80 percent of the drop in murder during the 1990s, as Donohue and Levitt claim. Then the impact of deregulating abortion, undoubtedly, would first reduce criminality among age groups born after the abortion law was changed, when the "unwanted," crime-prone elements of these groups began to be weeded out through abortion. Yet, looking at the declining murder rate during the 1990s, Whitley and I found that this is not the case at all. Instead, the rate of committing murder began falling first among an older generation-those twenty-six and older-who were born before the Roe v. Wade decision.39 It was only later that criminality among those born after Roe began to decline as well.

This pattern is more consistent with the theory that legalizing abortion led to a rise in crime. In fact, those born in the four years after Roe were much more likely to commit murder than those born in the four years prior to Roe. This was especially the case when they were in their teens-in other words, in their "criminal prime."

And that's not all. The "abortion decreases crime" argument encounters further inconsistencies when we compare U.S. crime and abortion trends to those in Canada. While crime rates in both the United States and Canada began declining at the same time, Canada liberalized its abortion laws much later than the U.S. did. Although the province of Quebec effectively legalized abortion in late 1976, it wasn't until 1988, in a case originating in Ontario, that the Canadian Supreme Court struck down limits on abortion nationwide. If the legalization of abortion in the U.S. caused crime to begin dropping eighteen years later, why did the crime rate begin falling just three years after the comparable legal change in Canada?

In sum, even if one effect of abortion were to lower crime by culling out "unwanted" children-a conclusion derived from flawed statistics- the effect is greatly outweighed by the rise in crime that abortion causes by increasing out-of-wedlock births. It should be noted that African Americans are disproportionately harmed by the crime stemming from legalized abortion. That population has seen the biggest increases in abortion, premarital sex, and out-of-wedlock birth rates, resulting in more African Americans being raised by single parents and eventually committing crimes, mostly against other African Americans.

Thus, "legalized" abortion actually served to increase crime since the 1970s. However this effect--both among African Americans and the population at large-was more than offset by other factors that caused the massive drop in crime of the 1990s

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ELSEWHERE

There is an excellent bit of sarcasm here about the recent call by British professors to boycott Israel.

There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up.

Smart Germans fleeing high taxes and unemployment: "For a nation that invented the term "guest worker" for its immigrant labourers, Germany is facing the sobering fact that record numbers of its own often highly-qualified citizens are fleeing the country to work abroad in the biggest mass exodus for 60 years. Figures released by Germany's Federal Statistics Office showed that the number of Germans emigrating rose to 155,290 last year - the highest number since the country's reunification in 1990 - which equalled levels last experienced in the 1940s during the chaotic aftermath of the Second World War. ... Stephanie Wahl, of the Institute for Economics, based in Bonn, said that those who are leaving Germany are mostly highly motivated and well educated. "Those coming in are mostly poor, untrained and hardly educated," she added. Fed up with comparatively poor job prospects at home - where unemployment is as high as 17 per cent in some regions - as well as high taxes and bureaucracy, thousands of Germans have upped sticks for Austria and Switzerland, or emigrated to the United States."

Swedes fleeing high taxes: "Many individuals with good jobs understand that they can significantly increase their standard of living if they move to the US or the UK. Indeed thousands of Swedes with good educations already take advantage of this realization, often settling in London. .competition from the Baltic nations might very well be a more important factor for Swedish enterprise. These countries are in many ways similar to Sweden and the geographical distance is slim. Wages are still much lower than in Sweden and the traditional working ethics that to a large degree has eroded in the Swedish welfare system is very much alive on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Already many Swedish companies are choosing to establish themselves in the Baltic countries, a trend that very well might accelerate with time. .it might very well become a common phenomenon for Swedish high income takers to settle in Tallinn rather than Stockholm.

Norway worse than Sweden: "There are not many countries in which Sweden would be considered a tax haven, but one wealthy Norwegian says she plans to move across the border now that the government has scrapped wealth tax. Caroline Hagen is the daughter of Norwegian financier Stein Erik Hagen, and plans to take advantage of the less severe taxes under the new centre-right government. Her sister Camilla could soon follow. Stein Erik Hagen, whose family-owned holding company Canica has major shareholdings in a number of retail companies and consumer goods firms, said that Sweden's decision to axe wealth tax would encourage many more wealthy Norwegians to cross the broder.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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3 June, 2007

Another example of Red Cross antisemitism

The International Committee of the Red Cross is supposedly "an independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed violence". That's what they have stated for many years despite voices protesting their bias against some groups, their affinity for others. Their vaunted claims of independence and neutrality and assisting victims of war has taken another hit with the discovery that:

The passport used by notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann to enter Argentina in 1950 has been found by accident in an archive in Buenos Aires. The passport, still in good condition, was issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. Eichmann was one of the main executors of Adolf Hitler's 'final solution', the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II.

But that fits in with the ICRC's real activities which helped many Nazis escape justice after World War ll. That was then and this is now; the bias continues. As explained on their home page, they accept three emblems: a cross, a crescent and a diamond. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, the crescent represents Islam but what is that diamond? Some members of that "independent, neutral organization" totally objected to the Jewish star that is the emblem of the Israeli equivalent, Magen Dovid Adom (Red Shield of David) thus barring them from ICRC acceptance until they devised that diamond as camouflage.

Could it be that the organization isn't as neutral, as independent as they claim? And as for their humanitarianism in war zones, the victims in Darfur haven't benefited. And the ICRC still complacently accepts, without an accompanying international outcry, the refusal of the Arab countries and their ngo deadly militias to deny them access to the three Israeli hostages kidnapped last year.

Source

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In praise of money

Perhaps the world's most misquoted Biblical verse is "money is the root of all evil". The actual words are "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). But this has not stopped people from demonizing money and those who exchange and loan it. Throughout history, bankers and those involved in finance - ranging from the Medici family, the Rothschilds, to modern hedge funds - have received a generally negative press. Even a Nobel laureate in economics, former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz, has used the expression "dictatorships of international finance" to describe the malign influences he believes are exerted by Western financiers over Latin America and Africa.

Unfortunately such rhetoric encourages us to forget what may be called the miracle of money and the benefits it brings to our lives. In this instance, familiarity has not only bred contempt, but ignorance. Historians continue to debate money's origins and when money-based economies began to supersede barter-orientated systems. What is not disputed is how useful societies find money once it begins to replace barter, especially when it assumes forms such as commodity-money, fiat-money, credit-money, and fiduciary media.

One of the architects of West Germany's post-war economic recovery, the Swiss-German economist Wilhelm R”pke, once wrote that it is impossible to understand civilization's emergence without the rise of money - an event which truly merits the adjective "revolutionary." It is difficult to think, for example, of a similar instrument more capable of simultaneously fulfilling so many varied purposes. Money has, for example, macro-economic functions: it provides the framework for market allocation that we call prices; it is a causative factor in the economy; it is also a liquid asset. But money also possesses micro-economic utility. It is a medium of exchange, a store and measure of value, a means of payment, a unit of account, and a standard of deferred payment.

Perhaps one way to grasp money's crucial importance is to imagine a world without it. Most obviously, we would find ourselves faced with all of a barter-economy's limitations. Everyone would be compelled to directly exchange one or more concrete goods, such as food and tools, for other physical commodities. In barter-systems, it is easy to exchange a small number of goods without a common standard of value. The problem, as noted by the nineteenth-century economist William Stanley Jevons, is that any increase in the variety and number of commodities makes it increasingly difficult to calculate the comparative exchange-value of goods. Eventually such calculation becomes impossible, and economic growth is consequently stunted.

More here

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Articles recently up on ICJS

ICJS is devoted to countering media antagonism to Israel -- particularly antagonism emanating from Australia's public broadcasters. It assembles articles from various sources

The Islamic Reconquest of Palestine
Lebanon a launch pad for al-Qa'ida's new phase
Correspondence from Salah Choudhury to Naomi Ragen
George Soros and the problem of self-hating Hebrews
One on one: "you want to die but don't"
Interesting Times: Which occupation
Jerusalem - 40th Anniversary of reunification
The Koranic quotations trap
The Sarkozy Victory
Worrying begins at home
Infidel
The new demographic balance in Europe and its consequences



Above: Law & Order star and former Senator Fred Thompson mingles at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington on Saturday, April 29, 2006. At right is his wife Jeri Kehn, a (former?) political media consultant at the Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, and McPherson law firm in Washington, D.C. Fred is my hope for next Prez

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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2 June, 2007

ISLAMIC TORTURE COVERED UP BY THE MEDIA

The same media who splash the smallest examples of abuse -- whether true or not -- by American forces have still not mentioned what blog readers have known for days. Comment by conservative journalist Don Surber below:

IF you know about the torture manual used by al-Qaida, then you did not learn about it by reading the Washington Post, the New York Times or sadly, this newspaper. Neither the Associated Press nor Reuters picked up on the story. Fox News was the only major outlet with the story. Rupert Murdoch's newspapers in Australia republished the Fox report. The handbook was posted at the Smoking Gun Web site. It showed -- with drawings -- how al-Qaida uses drills, irons, vises and other devices to mutilate their captives. This is true torture, the same kind employed by Saddam Hussein's henchmen at Abu Ghraib. The handbook helped explain why a few days later, U.S. forces liberated 42 victims of al-Qaida torture from a location in Iraq.

But while they ignored the handbook story, the New York Times and Washington Post did not hesitate to publish a press handout from the United Nations condemning Guantanamo Bay. Why? Because the jihadis we captured are not given lawyers quickly enough. Will someone tell me the name of Daniel Pearl's lawyer? This is the same United Nations whose "human rights council" includes every dictatorship from Burkina Faso to Zimbabwe.

Gitmo has been demonized in part by the false and preposterous allegation that a guard flushed an inmate's Koran down the toilet. The New York Times published no less than 29 stories about this lie. Small wonder most Americans think Torquemada, chief of the Spanish Inquisition, runs Gitmo. Then again, the New York Times is the home of the infamous "Memos on Bush Are Fake But Accurate, Typist Says" headline. That was the headline a copy editor slapped on a story that grudgingly conceded that Dan Rather's memo disparaging George Walker Bush's military service was a fraud, a phony -- another lie.

Publishing 29 stories about a lie about a flushed Koran is bad enough. But when a newspaper then refuses to publish one story about a very real handbook on torture that is used by the enemy, that newspaper is no longer being objective. It is taking sides. And not the right side, at that.

Source

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Brookes News Update

US economy, immigration and the fallacy of cheap labour: There is little doubt that illegal immigration has had a negative impact on US wage rates, particularly of the unskilled. A study by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center concluded that the flow of illegals drove down local wages by 11 per cent
Electronic money and the money supply: another fallacy emerges: Many economists and financial markets commentators hold that in de-regulated markets whenever a central bank tries to impose control, markets create a new form of money, thereby bypassing central bank supervision. This is a serious error
Is China trying to colonise Zimbabwe?: There is something very odd indeed about Chinese goods flooding the Zimbabwe economy. Thanks to Mugabe's stupidity the economy has been devastated, the currency is worthless and unemployment is massive. So who is really paying for these goods and what's the payoff for Beijing?
Still true - Arab men treat their farm animals better than their women: Women suffocating in the black burkasthat they are forced to wear has convinced me that their humiliating circumstances has yet to change. As `special' as the Saudis are in their primitive attitude towards women, they really are not unique
The ignorance and sheer bigotry of lefty journalists: The stupidity, ignorance and outrageous bigotry of leftists journalists continues unabated. Geoffrey Barker of the Sydney Morning Herald is a fully paid-up member of that nauseating breed of so-called journalists who not only think America stinks but also their fellow Australians
Internet racing insanity to extinction: The absurd liberal belief that everyone can be reasoned with (including Islamofascists but not evil conservatives) is leading us to a disaster of gargantuan proportions
Falwell's death reveals the left is consumed by hate and self-loathing: The recent media tempest surrounding the passing of Reverend Jerry Falwell has blown away the mask of sublime compassion and tolerance worn by members of the mainstream left
Working families need a break: It's time that working families were given a fair go. Perhaps one day a Labor politician will have the guts to suggest income splitting. Furthermore, Labor could come down on state governments - all of which are labor - and demand that they stop driving up the price of land and housing

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ELSEWHERE



Surprise, surprise: "More than a quarter of Israel's Arab citizens believe the Holocaust never happened, and nearly two thirds of Israeli Jews avoid entering Arab towns, a poll by a University of Haifa sociologist showed Sunday. The poll, conducted by Sami Smoocha, a prominent sociologist at the University of Haifa, showed a wide gap of mistrust, anger and fear between Israel's majority Jews and its Arab citizens, who make up a fifth of Israel's citizens. In its most dramatic finding, the poll showed that 28 percent of Israeli Arabs did not believe the Holocaust happened, and that among high school and college graduates the figure was even higher - 33 percent."



Thompson will run! "Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing this week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico. Thompson, the "Law & Order" star and former U.S. senator from Tennessee, has been publicly coy, even as people close to him have been furiously preparing for a late entry into the wide-open contest. But the advisers said Thompson dropped all pretenses on Tuesday afternoon during a conference call with more than 100 potential donors, each of whom was urged to raise about $50,000."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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1 June, 2007

Americans will die for liberty

Excerpts from a British writer:

We are inclined, in our snobbish way, to dismiss the Americans as a new and vulgar people, whose civilisation has hardly risen above the level of cowboys and Indians. Yet the United States of America is actually the oldest republic in the world, with a constitution that is one of the noblest works of man. When one strips away the distracting symbols of modernity - motor cars, skyscrapers, space rockets, microchips, junk food - one finds an essentially 18th-century country.

The sense of entering an older country, and one with a sterner sense of purpose than is found among the flippant and inconstant Europeans, can be enjoyed even before one gets off the plane. On the immigration forms that one has to fill in, one is asked: "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offence or crime involving moral turpitude?" Who now would dare to pose such a question in Europe? The very word "turpitude" brings a smile, almost a sneer, to our lips.

The quiet solicitude that Americans show for the comfort of their visitors, and the tact with which they make one feel at home, can only be described as gentlemanly. These graceful manners, so often overlooked by brash European tourists, whisper the last enchantments of an earlier and more dignified age, when liberty was not confused with licence.

But lest these impressions of the United States seem unduly favourable, it should be added that the Americans have not remained in happy possession of their free constitution without cost. Thomas Jefferson warned that the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. To the Americans, the idea that freedom and democracy exact a cost in blood is second nature...

The Americans are prepared to use force in pursuit of what they regard as noble aims. It is yet another respect in which they are rather old-fashioned. They are patriots who venerate their nation and their flag.

The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war. It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.... when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say. These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up.

China Hand has just put up a new post on the 6 power negotiations with North Korea -- designed to get the Koreans to give up their nuclear ambitions.

"Wicked Dox" is an unusual new blog. It aims to keep in circulation good older articles of a conservative bent that have either already vanished from the net or seem to be on the way out. The Anchoress notes how often reports that the Left do not like simply vanish from the net.

Those pesky genes again: "An unexpected link between genes and language suggests that humanity's earliest conversations were conducted in a tonal language. Unlike non-tonal languages such as English, tonal languages such as Chinese and Thai use changes in pitch to convey the meaning of words. Now British researchers have discovered that although there are no "genes for Chinese" or "genes for English", people who possess older versions of two brain development genes - ASPM and microcephalin - are predominantly speakers of tonal languages. When combined with evidence that modern humans arose in Africa about 200,000 years ago and the observation that nearly all sub-Saharan African languages are tonal, University of Edinburgh linguists Robert Ladd and Dan Dediu argue their finding suggests that the first languages were tonal."

More pointless and futile legislation -- just for show: "Have no fear, summertime drivers. Now that gasoline prices are hovering at a national average of $3.22 per gallon, Congress is ready to pounce on oil companies that allegedly charge you more than you should be paying at the pump. Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would impose fines of up to $150 million for oil companies that are found guilty of price gouging. The Senate will take up a similar measure after the Memorial Day recess. Wait--haven't we seen this before? Yep. During the last two decades, dozens of bills have been introduced that would freeze gas prices, prevent price gouging or punish oil and natural gas companies that engage in this behavior"

Find the missing words: "I'd like to draw attention to today's AP article entitled "Miss. Murder Cold Case Under Way." It concerns the trial begun today to prosecute Ku Kux Klan killers for the 1964 racial-terror torture-murders of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee. The article notes that since the FBI was preoccupied with the "Mississipi Burning" investigation in 1964 they turned the investigation and prosecution of the killers over to the local authorities who promptly threw out all charges and released the suspects without further ado. Of course, the AP does not trouble to remind its readers that the Democratic Party had complete control of Mississippi government at all levels in that era."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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