Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it to Natasha, our must reads Avatar..she loves to get mail.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Today's Must Reads, 10/21/09
Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it to Natasha, our must reads Avatar..she loves to get mail.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
When Anti-Semitism Isn't ...And When It Is
I notice an interesting dichotomy in two news stories today.
The first one concerns Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
I noticed that Senator DeMint felt compelled to denounce something two GOP chairmen not employed by him wrote recognizing the value of thrift in Washington:
"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," the piece read. "By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed."
What exactly is 'anti-Semitic' about that? And why would anyone need to apologize? The Torah value of thrift used to be a virtue in America. Remember?
The sentiment behind Jim DeMint denouncing this as well as the chairmen's subsequent apologies does them honor, but as far as I'm concerned it was totally unnecessary.
One thing I find fascinating is that the articles on this nonsense all run pictures of DeMint rather than the two GOP chairmen who actually wrote the op-ed..with the result that the sort of mentality that typically doesn't pay attention thinks DeMint wrote it and is apologizing for something he did!
If you don't believe me, just check out the comments on this article or any of the others in the dinosaur media.
And speaking of paying attention, that's brings me to another piece that hit the news today.
Laura Rozen, one of the Politico's Leftist 'foreign policy experts' ran a story under this cheerful headline: "Maryland scientist arrested for attempted espionage for Israel" .
Here are some more headlines on this story:
"Moon scientist Stewart Nozette held as Israeli spy in FBI sting" ( The London Times)
"Top US scientist accused of trying to spy for Israel" (The British Telegraph)
US scientist charged with attempting to sell military secrets to Israel ( al-Guardian)
US scientist Stewart Nozette charged with trying to sell secrets to Israel (The Christian Science Monitor)
Only one thing wrong with these headlines. Israel wasn't involved in the least.
What we actually had here was an FBI sting where someone posed as a Mossad agent, and Nozette made it known that he had secrets to sell for cold, hard cash. The agent could have just as easily said he was from Britain's MI5, or the French Sûreté, or the Russians. It would have made no difference.
Some of the articles made a throwaway of the fact that Israel was not involved, some did not. Rozen's article tippy toed around it like this, implying that those evil Jooos might be involved:
The FBI has arrested a former senior NASA space scientist who worked in the George H.W. Bush White House space office for attempted espionage for Israel, the Justice Department announced today.
The complaint "does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf" committed any offense against US laws in this case, the release said
Needless to say, it made no difference,because people paid as much attention to the fact Israel wasn't involved as they did to the fact that DeMint wasn't involved. Especially in Rozen's case,where she almost made it sound like it might have been a Mossad operation. All you have to do is check out the comments sections on these articles.
Which brings me to this interesting query: whom do you think dredged up more anti-Semitism? A piece by a couple of South Carolina Republican chairmen citing Jewish thrift as a virtue or a bunch of misleading, bogus headlines and articles?
-selah-
UPDATE: Laura Rozen e-mailed yours truly and made a special point of letting me know that her intention was to inform her readers that the Israeli government was not involved, quoting directly from the Justice department release.
Well and good,and I'm sure she wasn't intentionally trying to mislead. Unfortunately, the way the article was framed coupled with a misleading headline means that she failed. All one has to do is read the comments.
The Best Explanation Of The Global Warming Scam Available
Concerned about the global warming scam but don't really understand it, how to refute it or why it's important? Here's everything you need all in one place. Lord Christopher Monckton, an expert in the field lays the whole topic out simply, superbly and entertainingly in one 90 minute slice speaking in front of the Minnesota Free Market Institute.
Long, but I assure you, you won't be bored.
Of special interest is his takedown of the proposed climate change initiative scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December by President Obama. Here's the relevant excerpt, as a teaser:
Set aside the time you would normally put aside to watch some idiot DVD or a football game and get yourself informed.And then CALL, E-Mail and FAX YOUR CONGRESSMAN.
Hat tip and a commendation to long time Joshua's Army member Zeb.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Today's Must Reads, Manic Monday Edition
Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it to Natasha, our must reads Avatar..
SecState Clinton caught 'mis-speaking' again
Ah, well. You start lying early on, it just becomes a habit and before you know it, you believe your own stories...
The US Secretary of State was in Belfast addressing the Stormont parliament when she embellished things by stating that Belfast’s Europa Hotel was devastated by an explosion when she first stayed there as First Lady back in 1995. She told the assembled politicians “When Bill and I first came to Belfast we stayed at the Europa Hotel ... even though then there were sections boarded up because of damage from bombs.”
Now the Europa Hotel was indeed bombed a number of times during Northern Ireland's sectarian conflict.
Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton, the last time it happened was in 1993, two years before President Clinton and his wife stayed there. And the last time the Europa underwent renovations because of bomb damage was in January 1994, 22 months before the presidential entourage checked in!
Whoopsie.
This whopper is on a par with her claims to have landed in Bosnia under sniper fire. Just embellishing a story to inflate yourself if you know what I mean...and always a sign of extremely low self-esteem, which explains a great deal when you look at the Clinton's marital history.
Now, as a wanna-be presidential candidate, this sort of habitual lying is one thing. As a matter of fact, I'd even be prepared to entertain the notion that of the two front runners for the Democrat's nomination, Mrs. Clinton's 'mis-statements' were far less substantial than the ones issued by the man who defeated her.
But the problem is that she isn't merely running for office now. She holds the title of US Secretary of State, and this kind of nonsense doesn't only belittle her, it effects how she and American foreign policy are perceived.
Not good.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Suicide Bomber kills 31 Of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
A suicide bomber killed six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders, including two of its top officers, and 25 other people today at a conference in the southeastern city of Sarbaz, near the Afghan/Pakistan border.
The deputy head of the Guards' ground forces, General Nourali Shoushtari, and its commander in Sistan-Baluchestan province, General Rajabali Mohammadzadeh, were among the dead.
The attack was attributed by Iran's government controlled media to a local rebel Sunni group called Jundollah (God's soldiers) whom they say claimed responsibility. The group is led by Abdolmalek Rigi.
The Iranians claim there'sd a Taliban tie, but since Iran is helping to fund and arm the Taliban (if you believe General Petraeus) just as they did insurgents in Iraq, I see it as more of a Sunni/Shia ethnic conflict
Only fifty percent of Iran's population is ethnic Persian, something that many people are unaware of. No one knows exactly how many Baluchis there are in Iran, but the numbers for Iran's Baluch minority are between one and four million people, based mainly in the region of Sistan-Baluchestan where the bombing occurred.
The Baluchis are almost all Sunni Muslims as opposed to the majority of Iran's Shi'ite population.Iran's Baluchi population frequently charges the regime in Tehran with discrimination and sectarian clashes have occurred from time to time.
The region itself is poor and underdeveloped, mainly consisting of rugged, mountainous terrain, and there is a brisk trafficking in heroin and opium-smuggling from across the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan next door.
The Iranians of course accuse the US and Britain of 'fomenting terrorism' by giving support to Jundollah and claim they will have their revenge, in a statement by the armed forces quoted by the Iranian Fars press agency.
"Not in the distant future we (Iran) will take revenge ... and Baluchis will clear this region from terrorists and criminals."
I have no support for the murder of innocent people, but I have to admit to a grim chuckle upon hearing the Iranians, the founders of Hezbollah and the supporters of Hamas up in arms about terrorism and suicide bombers.
Live by the sword and all that.
- selah -
Rush Limbaugh : 'The Race Card, Football and Me '
Rush Limbaugh has a superb piecein the Wall Street Journal telling his side of what happened to his participation in a bid to but the NFL"s St. Louis Rams:
I recommend you read it all. And here are some interesting bits that don't appear in the piece.
The phony wikipedia quotes that were used to smear Limbaugh can actually be traced.
From Flopping Aces:
A blogger named Trapdoc sent the following to Mark Steyn:
As a matter of fact, the Wiki edits appear to come from to come from an attorney named Peter Thomlinson who seems to work for that firm.
An interesting coincidence, no?
Another interesting bit is that lefty GawdFather George Soros has been a business partner of Dave Checkett in the past and may now be a part of the Rush-less group.
And finally, one of the major voices opposing Limbaugh was DeMaurice Smith, the Executive Director of the Player's Association. He was a major Obama supporter and contributor, and was part of the Obama transition team.
It's interesting how all these details come together. And I have a feeling that a number of interesting details are going to surface in the near future on this matter.
Especially if Al Sharpton follows through on his ridiculous threat to sue Rush Limbaugh for libel over the remarks Limbaugh made about Sharpton's interesting history on racial matters.
Aside from being pure comedy gold, discovery in the case could prove highly interesting.
David Checketts, an investor and owner of sports teams, approached me in late May about investing in the St. Louis Rams football franchise. As a football fan, I was intrigued. I invited him to my home where we discussed it further. Even after informing him that some people might try to make an issue of my participation, Mr. Checketts said he didn't much care. I accepted his offer.
It didn't take long before my name was selectively leaked to the media as part of the Checketts investment group. Shortly thereafter, the media elicited comments from the likes of Al Sharpton. In 1998 Mr. Sharpton was found guilty of defamation and ordered to pay $65,000 for falsely accusing a New York prosecutor of rape in the 1987 Tawana Brawley case. He also played a leading role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot (he called neighborhood Jews "diamond merchants") and 1995 Freddie's Fashion Mart riot.
Not to be outdone, Jesse Jackson, whose history includes anti-Semitic speech (in 1984 he referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" in a Washington Post interview) chimed in. He found me unfit to be associated with the NFL. I was too divisive and worse. I was accused of once supporting slavery and having praised Martin Luther King Jr.'s murderer, James Earl Ray.
Next came writers in the sports world, like the Washington Post's Michael Wilbon. He wrote this gem earlier this week: "I'm not going to try and give specific examples of things Limbaugh has said over the years because I screwed up already doing that, repeating a quote attributed to Limbaugh (about slavery) which he has told me he simply did not say and does not reflect his feelings. I take him at his word. . . . "
Mr. Wilbon wasn't alone. Numerous sportswriters, CNN, MSNBC, among others, falsely attributed to me statements I had never made. Their sources, as best I can tell, were Wikipedia and each other. But the Wikipedia post was based on a fabrication printed in a book that also lacked any citation to an actual source.
I recommend you read it all. And here are some interesting bits that don't appear in the piece.
The phony wikipedia quotes that were used to smear Limbaugh can actually be traced.
From Flopping Aces:
A blogger named Trapdoc sent the following to Mark Steyn:
As I am sure you are aware, the fake Limbaugh quotes have been traced to the Rush Limbaugh Wikiquote page, dating from July of 2005 (see the following link to see when the quotes were added). The Jack Huberman book that most people source for these quotes did not come out until the following year.
The quotes were added by a user with the IP address of 69.64.213.146. This address has been used mostly to make changes to the article about Rush, but also Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, Rush, James Dobson and Sara Palin from 2005 until earlier this year.
While others have noted this in various forums, no one seems to have made the connection that this IP address is used as a gateway by the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP (see here, for example) that all users from that IP address come from the pbwt.com… domain.)
Given the likelihood that Limbaugh will sue over this, I find it interesting that the source of these bogus quotes is probably a lawyer…
As a matter of fact, the Wiki edits appear to come from to come from an attorney named Peter Thomlinson who seems to work for that firm.
|06SDAMNY|1st|pwtomlinson@pbwt.com|Peter_Tomlinson|06:46:53|2006-03-14|69.64.213.146|
(Here's the cached link since this wasn’t coming up)
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:FkwhCWsIc1MJ:www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp%3Fid%3D1182848794525+%22Peter+Tomlinson%22+%22long+island%22+lawyer&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
An interesting coincidence, no?
Another interesting bit is that lefty GawdFather George Soros has been a business partner of Dave Checkett in the past and may now be a part of the Rush-less group.
And finally, one of the major voices opposing Limbaugh was DeMaurice Smith, the Executive Director of the Player's Association. He was a major Obama supporter and contributor, and was part of the Obama transition team.
It's interesting how all these details come together. And I have a feeling that a number of interesting details are going to surface in the near future on this matter.
Especially if Al Sharpton follows through on his ridiculous threat to sue Rush Limbaugh for libel over the remarks Limbaugh made about Sharpton's interesting history on racial matters.
Aside from being pure comedy gold, discovery in the case could prove highly interesting.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Pakistani Army Begins Assault On Al-Qaeda And Taliban Held Areas
The Pakistani Army has sent over 30,000 troops in a ground offensive against al-Qaida and the Taliban’s main strongholds in South Waziristan.
While the US government has been pushing the Pakistani government to do this for some time, it took attacks on troops and civilians that killed over 175 people in th elast few months before the Pakistanis decided to bring the army in.
This will be the third time since 2001 that Pakistan has tried to attack the insurgent controlled areas and dislodge the Taliban and their allies. Both previous encounters ended in truces with conditions that heavily favored the Taliban and left them in control.
The assault itself is fairly limited in scope and is likely designed as display to appease the Obama Administration and keep the military aid flowing rather than a serious attack on the Taliban and their allies. According to Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, it's going to be limited to recently killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud’s holdings. The area is about half of South Waziristan, about 1,275 square miles, the equivalent of about half of the State of Delaware. The Pakistani army is going to attempt to take and hold the area.
According to my sources, the US military has gifted the Pakistani Army with lots of gear designed to help out - Cobra helicopter gunships, night fighting equipment, intel equipment designed to monitor cell phone transmissions and the like.
I'd be very surprised if any of it made a difference.
There are too many factors, to put it mildly, weighing against any sort of decisive victory for the Pakistani Army, who aren't exactly the US Marines or the Tenth Mountain in the first place.
The terrain favors the Taliban. It's rocky and mountainous and cut up by hidden ravines that are ideal for ambushes and IEDs. The insurgent forces know the lay of the land intimately and they've had years to prepare their defenses.
And the area in question is almost entirely Pashtun, just like the Taliban.And like most mountain people, the locals don't like flatlanders and outsiders. Local clans like the Mehsud openly support the Taliban. They're not exactly going to cooperate with the Army and may even lend a hand fighting them off.
Another factor is that there are a number of people in Pakistan's political/military and intel establishment that lean towards the Islamists. I'd be very surprised if elements of the ISI weren't leaking intel to the Taliban an dkeeping them apprised of exactly what the army is up to.
The army could end up bogged down and taking heavy casualties in an area where they don't know the land and inhabited by a hostile population.
Nor do I expect the other Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters to simply sit back and let the Pakistani Army take part of their territory.
Aside from the fact that other Taliban might decide to launch offensive on Pakistani territory from places like North Waziristan or even join the fight in South Waziristan, there the additional factor of
Another risk for the army is that militant factions in North Waziristan might launch further attacks in Pakistan proper, like this month's raid on the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi.
And the Joker in the deck is that even if the Pakistani army achieves the unlikely objective of 'defeating' the Taliban, with winter coming on they will simply melt into the other Taliban held territories and be back to fight in the spring.
You see, when you knuckle under and give Islamist fighters a secure base, it can be hell to take it back. The Pakistani government is in the process of finding this out.
Watcher's Council Results, 10/16/09
The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies on our weekly competition and the Watcher's always persnicketty and entertaining Commentary is here.
Council Note: We currently have a seat open for a qualified blogger on the Council up for grabs. If you're interested, you may apply here...or e-mail me for details.
Council Submissions
- First place with 2 points! – Bookworm Room - What’s not to like about the Blue Angels?
- Second place with 1 points – (T*) – Right Truth - What about the women Obama?
- Second place with 1 points – (T*) – The Glittering Eye - Columbus Day, 2009
- Third place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Joshuapundit - Obama’s Nobel Prize – A Well deserved Award
- Third place with 2/3 points – (T*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - MSM in full force using lies to thwart Limbaugh’s Rams purchase
- Third place with 2/3 points – (T*), (D*) - The Razor - Lyndon Baines Obama and General Biden
- Third place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Mere Rhetoric - SF Jewish Federation Funding Rachel Corrie Screenings, Anti-Israel Hatefests [Videos]
- Fourth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Rhymes With Right - Wonder Why The First Amendment Is So Important?
- Fourth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – The Provocateur - the Unholy Alliance of Michelle Malkin and Michael Gaynor
Non-Council Submissions
- First place with 2 points! – Benjamin Kerstein/New Ledger - Obama and Israel: Betrayal in the Broken Places
- Second place with 1 2/3 points – Weekly Standard - Decline is a Choice
- Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – Atlas Shrugs - Rifqa Bary to be returned to Ohio …no, wait…… from Atlas Shrugs
- Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – Reason - The Unknown War
- Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – The League of Ordinary Gentlemen - the genuine shame of Ross Douthat’s New York Times column
- Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – John Ziegler / Big Hollywood - So, Now You Tell Us?!
- Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Amina Merchant at Washington Post - In Need of Urgent Care Hospitals Are Forced to Pay for Society’s Failures
- Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Keep American Safe - The Mission Statement
As always, congratulations not only to the winners but the participants.
A Very Different Nobel Prize Winner
While a certain Nobel Peace prize recipient may have received a great deal more press, the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner is not without interest.
She is Dr.Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, who received the Prize for over four decades of ground breaking work on protein "factories" in cells.
This research is invaluable in trying to overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria and disease prevention, among other vital applications.
Dr. Yonath is first female chemistry laureate since 1964, and only the fourth in history. And her Award marks Israel's ninth Nobel Prize and its second one in chemistry.
Not too bad for a country only sixty-one years old that's been under attack ever since it was founded...
She is Dr.Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, who received the Prize for over four decades of ground breaking work on protein "factories" in cells.
This research is invaluable in trying to overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria and disease prevention, among other vital applications.
Dr. Yonath is first female chemistry laureate since 1964, and only the fourth in history. And her Award marks Israel's ninth Nobel Prize and its second one in chemistry.
Not too bad for a country only sixty-one years old that's been under attack ever since it was founded...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Rush Limbaugh gets lynched
The news came over this morning that Rush Limbaugh had been summarily removed from the investment group he was part of that was attempting to bid for the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise.
As I mentioned earlier, his participation in the group trying to buy the Rams attracted the attention of professional race pimps like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who mounted an orchestrated campaign to get the NFL to reject any bid Limbaugh was a part of because of 'racially tinged' and 'divisive' statements.
All of the ones they cited, such as Limbaugh stating that slavery had its positive side and that Martin Luther King's assassin should get the Congressional Medal of Honor were simply bogus, but were repeated ad nauseum by dinosaur media outlets like CNN, even after the alternative media totally debunked them.
Watch below as Bill O'Reilly takes apart sports columnist Drew Sharp from the Detroit Free Press as Sharp repeats some of these Urban Legends as Gospel:
Basically, what we had here was an electronic lynching. And I'm rather surprised that Nobel Prize honoree President Obama, who's concern over racial matters extends even to a simple disorderly conduct bust in a college town didn't see fit to weigh in here.
One person who did was Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee ( D- Looonytoons) who took time to lambaste Limbaugh and his attempt to be an NFL owner on the floor of the House at taxpayer expense.
At any rate, Limbaugh was named 'too controversial' by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the other members of the bidding group led by Dave Checketts that Rush Limbaugh was a junior member of simply kicked him out.
I found it interesting to get an actual look at the NFL's standards on whom may be involved with them.
Aside from convicted felon and dog torturer Michael Vick, there have been 470 arrests of NFL players and counting since 2000, on charges ranging from DUI, narcotics offenses and reckless driving to assault, robbery and rape. Most of them are still with the NFL in one capacity or another.
As an aside, Vick had his agent make inquiries to the Canadian Football League at the time of his arrest about playing there if and when. They told him to get bent.
Obviously the NFL has the Canadians beat when it comes to appreciation of certain qualities.
And 'divisive comments'? The last time I checked NBC still had Mess NBC's resident spittle soaked wack job Keith Olbermann doing NFL commentary.
Now, Rush Limbaugh will do just fine. The American people have a basic sense of fairness, and every time the Left demonizes him, his audience and his influence simply grows because people tune in out of curiosity to see what all the fuss is about, get hooked and end up becoming fans.
I can testify to that out of personal experience, because that's how yours truly started listening to him.
But there's a bigger issue here, and this is more important than it seems.
What we have here is someone being prohibited from lawful private commerce based on his perceived political views.
This is a mainstreaming of something that has been going on behind the scenes in certain industries for years, as anyone who works in the entertainment business, many universities or certain news outlets will tell you.
It's not too far a step from that to stopping people from buying property in certain areas, opening businesses or being hired for certain jobs because of their race or ethnicity. Or their perceived political views.
For those of you who agree that this is important there's a Punt the NFL Facebook Group formed with the idea of boycotting the NFL and letting them know that you find this unacceptable.
The principle involved is an important one.
If the NFL and its sponsors choose to make certain choices, well and good. But choices also have consequences.
As I mentioned earlier, his participation in the group trying to buy the Rams attracted the attention of professional race pimps like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who mounted an orchestrated campaign to get the NFL to reject any bid Limbaugh was a part of because of 'racially tinged' and 'divisive' statements.
All of the ones they cited, such as Limbaugh stating that slavery had its positive side and that Martin Luther King's assassin should get the Congressional Medal of Honor were simply bogus, but were repeated ad nauseum by dinosaur media outlets like CNN, even after the alternative media totally debunked them.
Watch below as Bill O'Reilly takes apart sports columnist Drew Sharp from the Detroit Free Press as Sharp repeats some of these Urban Legends as Gospel:
Basically, what we had here was an electronic lynching. And I'm rather surprised that Nobel Prize honoree President Obama, who's concern over racial matters extends even to a simple disorderly conduct bust in a college town didn't see fit to weigh in here.
One person who did was Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee ( D- Looonytoons) who took time to lambaste Limbaugh and his attempt to be an NFL owner on the floor of the House at taxpayer expense.
At any rate, Limbaugh was named 'too controversial' by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the other members of the bidding group led by Dave Checketts that Rush Limbaugh was a junior member of simply kicked him out.
I found it interesting to get an actual look at the NFL's standards on whom may be involved with them.
Aside from convicted felon and dog torturer Michael Vick, there have been 470 arrests of NFL players and counting since 2000, on charges ranging from DUI, narcotics offenses and reckless driving to assault, robbery and rape. Most of them are still with the NFL in one capacity or another.
As an aside, Vick had his agent make inquiries to the Canadian Football League at the time of his arrest about playing there if and when. They told him to get bent.
Obviously the NFL has the Canadians beat when it comes to appreciation of certain qualities.
And 'divisive comments'? The last time I checked NBC still had Mess NBC's resident spittle soaked wack job Keith Olbermann doing NFL commentary.
Now, Rush Limbaugh will do just fine. The American people have a basic sense of fairness, and every time the Left demonizes him, his audience and his influence simply grows because people tune in out of curiosity to see what all the fuss is about, get hooked and end up becoming fans.
I can testify to that out of personal experience, because that's how yours truly started listening to him.
But there's a bigger issue here, and this is more important than it seems.
What we have here is someone being prohibited from lawful private commerce based on his perceived political views.
This is a mainstreaming of something that has been going on behind the scenes in certain industries for years, as anyone who works in the entertainment business, many universities or certain news outlets will tell you.
It's not too far a step from that to stopping people from buying property in certain areas, opening businesses or being hired for certain jobs because of their race or ethnicity. Or their perceived political views.
For those of you who agree that this is important there's a Punt the NFL Facebook Group formed with the idea of boycotting the NFL and letting them know that you find this unacceptable.
The principle involved is an important one.
If the NFL and its sponsors choose to make certain choices, well and good. But choices also have consequences.
Hamas rejects Fatah shot gun wedding bid
For months, the Egyptians have been midwifing attempts to get the two Palestinian mob factions to kiss and make up. The west has been pushing this to facilitate a Palestinian state, and people like the current occupant of the White House have the downright crazy idea that Hamas would suddenly become legitimized as an acceptable 'peace partner' to pump up with aid after signing a little piece of paper just like Arafat and the PLO did.And for the Arabs, Hamas signing on to an agreement it has no intention of keeping anyway would present a united front against Israel.
Credit where credit is due...Hamas has the integrity to remain true to its goals:
The Syrian-based leadership of Hamas said Thursday it has rejected an Egyptian-mediated proposal to reconcile with Fatah.
Hamas and seven other Damascus-based Palestinian factions issued a joint statement saying the reconciliation plan must be revised to include a reference to the Palestinian right to resist Israeli occupation.
"The wording submitted by Cairo to the factions makes no reference to the struggle [with Israel] and the aggression against our people," the statement said, adding the groups wouldn't sign the proposal unless it was amended.
'Struggle' in Hamas lingo means terrorist violence and the continued War Against the Jews until Israel no longer exists.Just like 'The Martyr's Oath' in their charter says.
I admire that kind of clarity and honesty.
It simplifies things, although people who still cling to the fantasy of a 'two state solution' have trouble seeing what's in front of their eyes.
Geert Wilders Wins One
Dutch MP and film maker Geert Wilders won a belated victory today when The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London ruled that Wilders should not have been refused entry to the United Kingdom in February:
The Birkenhead Society, a British organisation that promotes freedom of expression, had brought the case on his behalf.
Wilders was invited to show his anti-Islam film Fitna at the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, by a UK Independence party peer, Lord Pearson. However, the British home affairs ministry refused him entry to the country, saying his visit would “threaten community security and therefore public security”. {...}
Wilders wanted to defy the ban and flew to the UK anyway. He was detained when he arrived in London and put back on a plane to the Netherlands. {..}
In response to Tuesday's ruling, a British home office spokesman said, "We are disappointed by the court's decision today. The government opposes extremism is all its forms. The decision to refuse Wilders admission was taken on the basis that his presence could have inflamed tensions between our communities and have led to inter-faith violence. We still maintain this view."
Wilders has welcomed the ruling as “fantastic news”. He added that “The British government’s political decision has rightly been swept off the table by the British judge. This is a victory for the freedom of expression.”
The real story of course is that Wilders was denied entry explicitly because the threat of what the Home Office spokesman genteelly calls 'the threat of inter-faith violence.
That threat didn't come from Wilders but from Labour-apponted Muslim Peer and kingpin of the Muslim Council of Britain Lord Ahmed, who actually threatened to 'mobilize 10,000 Muslims' in the streets to prevent Wilders from entering London.
This is the same Lord Ahmed who who hosted a book launch in the House of Lords for a neo-Nazi holocaust denier in 2005 and who tried to deny author Salman Rushdie police protection after Rushdie became the object of a death sentence fatwa by the Iranian mullahs. .
In a country where sharia law has equal status with British common law, British police run from Muslim mobs and there are no go areas for non-Muslims in some of Britain's cities where the police only go in armed bands, Lord Ahmad's threat obviously carried some weight.
That's how bad it's gotten.
As a point of interest, I had to look through several links to find one that didn't characterize Wilders as 'far right' or 'anti-Islam' in what purported to be straight news stories. Even this one refers to him as 'anti-immigrant', which is about as true as the other characterizations of him.
Wilders is still facing politically motivated prosecution in Holland by the Socialist municipality of Amsterdam for ' inciting hatred and discrimination' . We'll see how that one goes.
A commendation to long time Joshua's Army member Dragon Dinosaur for sending this my way.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Investigating The Investigators - Rebuking the Goldstone Libel
My friend Dr. Richard Landes of the fine site The Augean Stables played a major part in unmasking the Mohammed al-Dura scam created by the Palestinians in collusion with French 'journalist' Charles Enderlin and France2 TV.
He's now turned his considerable talents towards the libelous and biased Goldstone Report and come up with a must read piece on the matter in the Jerusalem Post.
Since the JPost version ran without Dr. Landes' customary informative links bearing out his assertions, I include the following snippet from his site:
Judge Goldstone has presented his Report on Gaza and, among other recommendations, suggested that Israel conduct its own inquiry. Israeli government officials, assuming he meant an investigation, like his, into Israel’s misdeeds, declined, noting that that they have and continue to investigate their army’s behavior on a constant basis.
But after reading most of the report, another possibility presents itself. It rapidly becomes clear to any reader not driven by a thirst for “dirt” on Israel, that Goldstone’s work represents a new low in the tragically deteriorating world of international justice. It fails on every count, from it’s handling of evidence, to its legal reasoning, to its unstated but pervasive assumptions of Israeli guilt and Palestinian innocence, to its astonishing conclusion (from someone who knows the gruesome details of Bosnia and Rwanda), that Israeli behavior was so bad it might well constitute “crimes against humanity.” As a result this report takes the army with the best record in the history of warfare for protecting enemy civilians (even by dubious Palestinian statistics), and accuses it of targeting them. Goldstone makes Kafka’s Trial seem fair.
Nor is this legal and moral travesty just a “free shot” at Israel. It’s a direct assault on the right of any civilized nation to defend itself against enemies who worship death and hide among their civilians. Goldstone presents himself as someone who wants peace and decency in the world, and yet he could not have written something more encouraging to the worst war-mongers and war criminals around the globe, a roadmap for them on how to conduct an asymmetrical war with Western democracies. So the question arises: how could such an inversion of both deeds and intentions have happened, especially given Goldstone’s previously sterling reputation?
[From one point of view, the report embodies most of the major Western cognitive failures of the 21st century, failures especially acute among those who militate for human rights around the world. As one missionary for these failures noted at a party in Jerusalem, “Israel is the greatest violator of human rights, and her disappearance would constitute a victory for global human rights.” The moral inversion here is astonishing – she believes the accusations about Israel made by people who live in cultures of intimidation and scapegoating, and therefore wants to destroy the only place human rights exist in the Middle East. But, get rid of Israel, and the boot stamping on the human face triumphs. Goldstone, whether he understands or not, gives wings to that kind of disastrous Newspeak.]
Given all this, I’d like to suggest a different approach to the question of “investigation.” I propose that either the State of Israel, or an International Citizens’ Tribunal should begin an investigation into the Goldstone Fact-Finding Mission’s proceedings. In it they should ask the fundamental question: “How could this “Mission” have conducted itself with such systematic violation of the simplest rules of equity in judgment. In doing so Israel could bring to light three fundamental issues that the Goldstone Report systematically downplayed in their considerations:
- Israel’s plight (Sderot, surrounding population, long-term negative trends)
- the repugnant behavior of Hamas — human shields to maximize their own civilian casualties, indoctrination of genocidal hatred, suicidal death cult, and
- the role of the mainstream news media and the NGOs in giving credence to Palestinian claims, many of which could not stand up to serious examination.
Kol Tov, Dr. Landes...read the rest here
Oh, and he's set up a new website to fight this nonsense. \Check out www.goldstonereport.org
Today's Must Reads, 10/14/09
Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it to Natasha, our must reads Avatar..
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
What Would The Left Do Without Rush Limbaugh?
I swear, I think they'd have to invent him. A much less intelligent, witty and articulate one, of course.The real one scares them to death, which is why they have to demonize him.
Item One: Mess NBC blowhard Chris Matthews fantasizes about Rush being blown up and assassinated:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody's going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But we'll be there to watch. I think he's Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you watching, Rush?
Umm, no Chris. Rush ain't watching. And hardly anyone else is either, which is why this is the equivalent of a third grader with a tad too much Ritalin jumping up in class waving his hand and screaming: "Oooh, ooh, pick me, pick me! NOTICE me,puh-leeze!"
We just sort of hear about it, laugh, and wonder which corner of the cage the monkey is going to soil next.
Remember when this geek was frothing at the mouth over what he called incitement to political violence on the right wing just a few weeks ago?
Item Two: Al Sharpton has a new item on his agenda.
Rush Limbaugh decided on a new business venture, the purchase of the St. Louis Rams football team with a couple of partners.
Now, that could might be best described as either charity or masochism given how well the Rams actually play, but to Al Sharpton, the idea of Rush Limbaugh owning a NFL football team is cause for Sharpton to get his name in the headlines because Limbaugh is - wait for it - ra-aaa-acist.
That's right. Reverend Al, famous among other things for masterminding the Tawana Brawley hoax and the Brooklyn Crown Heights pogrom. Jew hatin', race pimpin' Al Sharpton has the nerve to call somebody else 'divisive' his code name for ra-aaa-acist!
And he's orchestrated a campaign to try and block Limbaugh becoming an NFL owner, with Jesse Jackson (what a surprise!) joining in.
As part of that, the Angry Left is deluging the blogosphere with racist comments Limbaugh supposedly made.
Here's one:
"I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
This one was 'reported' by St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell ( I'll allow you to guess about his political affiliation) and is being spread throughout the Net. Except there's no source for it whatever. Watch below as Bill O'Reilly takes apart sports columnist Drew Sharp from the Detroit Free Press as Sharp repeats some of these Urban Legends as Gospel:
Now that his stupidity is showing notice how quickly Peterson changed his tune from the beginning of the interview. Now, Limbaugh isn't making 'racially tinged remarks', he's merely 'controversial' and if the NFL chooses to block him, well, they're a private entity. And the bit about 'I haven't heard any denials out of Limbaugh's people', as if Rush Limbaugh should have to waste his time refuting an untruth - priceless!
See, with the Left, it doesn't have to be true. When you need to, just make stuff up.
The campaign against Limbaugh unfortunately has some legs, and we may see the spectacle of an American citizen denied a business opportunity simply because he exercises his First Amendment rights and certain people disagree with his opinion.One wonders what would happen if say, Charlie Rangel, Harry Reid or John Conyers were denied for similar reasons.
You can't make this stuff up.
Russians To Hillary - 'Nyet' On Iran Sanctions
Last week, Secretary of State Clinton was bloviating about how nicely things were working with the Russians on Iran sanctions now that the Obama Administration has pressed that reset button and ditched all that nasty Cold War fallout.
Ummm no, sorry.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told her in no uncertain terms that Russia was definitely not signing on to any sanctions against Iran at this point, and that they in no way backed any threats about UN sanctions for Iran's non-cooperation on its nuclear weapons program:
"At the current stage, all forces should be thrown at supporting the negotiating process," he told reporters at a joint news conference with Clinton. "Threats, sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation, we are convinced, would be counterproductive."
...Clinton, who met later with Medvedev, said she had not asked for Moscow's specific support for actually imposing sanctions. But U.S. officials said they were disappointed that Lavrov had come out against even the threat of new penalties.
One senior official traveling with Clinton said the U.S. continued to believe it is critical to get tangible signs of support from Moscow for at least considering new sanctions because the more united they are, the more likely pressure on Iran is to work. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.
I'm certain the Iranians are killing themselves laughing as they get their latest nuclear site tidied up for the IAEA 'inspection' .
Apparently throwing Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus wasn't adequate. But in all fairness, Russia's President Medvedev had been honest about that at the time.
The Russians, you see, have their own national interests and they're not going to throw them overboard just because of a silly reset button or some nifty rhetoric from a Nobel Prize Winner like President Obama.
For Russia, an aggressive Iran is a threat to US interests in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, something Russia can use for leverage in counterbalancing the US. That's especially true when you have a group of weak, inexperienced amateurs sitting in the White House.
Aside from tying down the US, Russia sees Iran as a major threat to Israel, Saudi Arabia and The Gulf States. This suits Russia's interests because it strengthens Russia's position in the region and because tensions of this sort drive up oil prices -which suits Russia just fine.
And of course, there's the huge financial benefit the Russians receive from supplying Iran with weapons, technology and nuclear know-how.
On the other hand, the Russians apparently aren't worried about an Iranian threat to themselves.
They apparently feel that they can forestall any nuclear threat from Iran, and I would guess that part of that stems from knowing exactly where everything nuclear is in Iran, how to get to it and destroy it if need be, and from a willingness to be ruthless enough to do so regardless of any fallout or civilian casualties.
I also have it on reasonably good authority from one of my notorious Little Birdies that Russia made a deal with Iran after Beslan,Nalchik, and several other incidents to regulate Iran's border with Russia to end the stream of fighters, money and arms to the Chechens and al-Qaeda in exchange for help with Iran's nuclear an dconventional weapons programs, a deal Iran seems to have kept reasonably well based on the marked decrease in incidents.
In other words, the Russians are embodying that age old principle that nations don't have friends, they have interests.
Unfortunately, that's a lesson that's apparently lost on the current administration. One can only it's a lesson they learn very quickly. The time grows short.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Today's Must Reads, Columbus Day Edition
Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it to Natasha, our must reads Avatar..
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Jackie and Dunlap On Obama's Peace Prize
In this new vid, Jackie and Dunlap get in the final word on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize..hilarious!
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