The Latest On Ferguson And Mike Brown

 

The grand jury's determination is past due, with no decision yet on whether to charge police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Mike Brown Ferguson, Missouri, two months ago. The shooting led to extensive riots and looting as well as the involvement of the usual suspects and of course, the Obama Justice Department, what with the midterms coming up and the need for a large black turnout.

The prosecution's star witness if there's a trial appears to be Dorian Johnson, who was with Mike Brown on the day of the shooting and participated in what amounted to Brown's  felony strong arm robbery of a convenience store shortly before the shooting occurred.

 



















Johnson's problem is that he's changed his story several times (at one point, he was claiming Officer Wilson stood over Mike Brown after he was on the ground and fired shots into him, something no other witness has even remotely alluded to) and Johnson's own record of making false statements under oath.

The latest witness, who remains unidentified was a black male who testified that Brown had stopped running and was moving back towards Officer Wilson when he was shot. Contrary to what Dorian Johnson and a couple of other witnesses have said, this latest witness denies that Brown had his hands up in surrender, but had them extended from his sides as he moved towards the white policeman..similar to a football rusher.

He also said that there was a scuffle in the car,  that Wilson did not fire at Brown until he was coming towards him and that Brown continued to rush towards the policemen in spite of commands to halt. This latest witness also referred to it as 'outright murder' but again, that's a subjective opinion, not evidence.

The autopsies and ballistics confirm that unlike what some witnesses have said, Brown was never shot in the back but was shot in front as he continued to move towards Officer Wilson, who was already badly injured.

 

This sort of difference in eyewitness accounts is actually very common. I recall a professor who once deliberately staged an altercation in his classroom and then assigned his class to write accounts of what had happened. The differences were astounding.

Sources with knowledge of the grand jury proceedings have also revealed that Officer Wilson has testified in front of them as to what had happened, and it hangs together with his medical records, the autopsies, and the forensic evidence to the point where even Pravda-on-the Hudson wasn't able to spin things too much.

According to the Times the officer reportedly told investigators that he was pinned in his vehicle and in fear for his life as he struggled over his gun with the 300 lb. Brown, who attempted to grab it from him after pushing him back into his squad car and inflicting an orbital fracture and other cuts and contusions on him.

The FBI performed its own forensics tests ( needless to say, AG Holder was pushing for a civil rights indictment) and confirmed the earlier tests performed by county authorities. The gun was fired twice in the car, with the first bullet hitting Brown in the arm and the second bullet discharged wildly inside the cab of the car, evidence that the was indeed a struggle for the weapon.

The fact that Officer Wilson chose to voluntarily appear for four hours before the St. Louis County grand jury also tends to back up his story somewhat, since he wasn't required to testify by law.

The struggle in the car and Wilson being injured by Brown are going to be very influential on what the grand jury does, as I predicted long ago. A police officer who has been assaulted in this fashion usually has a lot more leeway to respond with deadly force, especially when he's been injured and then can show that according to his or her state of mind at the time, there was a reasonable fear of further bodily harm...like a 300 lb. football player coming at you in spite of your orders to halt.

Pravda-on-the Hudson quotes unnamed Justice department officials as saying that while the federal investigation was continuing, the evidence so far didn't support civil rights charges against Officer Wilson. In fact, so far all the evidence on the struggle in the car supports Officer Wilson's version of events. So does the fact that Brown had drugs in his system when he committed the violent strong arm robbery and had the altercation with the police officer. No one in his right mind acts the way Mike Brown acted that day, and the only other explanation - that Officer Darren Wilson was a vicious racist simply looking to kill a black man on the slightest pretext - has no evidence whatsoever based on Wilson's past record.

As we all know, there's a distinct disadvantage in cases of this kind when there are two participants in an incident like this and one of them is dead.

The jury is claiming that they will have a verdict on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson some time in November. The 'community' is threatening massive riots and disturbances if the grand jury doesn't indict him.

I actually have a feeling they will indict him, regardless of the evidence. After all, they'd be spending taxpayer money on the trial, so it makes no difference to them personally whether Wilson is convicted or not. And of course, they'd be appeasing the black lynch mob in Ferguson and avoiding responsibility for any riots or unrest. Once Wilson is indicted, that becomes someone  else's problem.

We'll see.

Obama Picks A Political Hack With No Medical Experience as 'Ebola Czar'

 

President Barack Hussein Obama has finally made what he obviously considers a decisive move to combat a prospective domestic Ebola epidemic. Not surprisingly, it's the same move he makes on pretty much everything using an executive order. He's appointed yet another 'czar' to oversee things.

And what a czar!

 

It's none other than Ron Klain, who served as chief of staff to both Vice President Biden and former vice president Gore.Klain was also general counsel of Al Gore’s election recount committee in 2000, so there's no doubt he was one of the detritus high fiving each other after disqualifying thousands of votes from active duty military overseas.

Klain has absolutely no experience whatsoever in health, medicine or disease control. Instead, he's a fiercely partisan lawyer and lobbyist who among his other accomplishments figured prominently in the Solyndra scandal, the ultimate green energy crony capitalism scam.

It's obvious what's going on here. Rather than put someone in charge with healthcare or medical experience, this president has opted for a political operative who can be relied on to toe the party line, repeat the talking points  and 'manage' the politics, rather than the disease.

No president has ever done anything like this before in a similar situation of this seriousness,  to my knowledge.

A lot of people out there claim to be Democrats because 'they care about people like me.'

This should pretty much expose that nonsense for what it is..at least as far as the Obama regime is concerned.

Ron Fournier in The National Journal has more on this.

The Council Has Spoken!! Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.


Money doesn't talk,it screams - Bob Dylan

"Alliance - in international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third." - Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

"Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states." - Demosthenes





A great deal of attention is being placed in some circles lately about the funding and support terrorist organizations like Hamas and ISIS get from certain nation in the Muslim world. This week's winner, The Noisy Room's – The Brookings Institution and Qatar - The Money, Power and Influence Behind Global Terror addresses the role played by one of these countries in a lucid and informative piece that you definitely need to read. Here's a slice:

In 2012, when a revised agreement was signed between Brookings and the Qatari government, the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself praised the agreement on its website, announcing that “the center will assume its role in reflecting the bright image of Qatar in the international media, especially the American ones.” Brookings officials have also admitted that they have regular meetings with Qatari government officials about the center’s activities and budget. And, no surprise here, the former Qatari prime minister sits on the center’s advisory board.

Former US envoy Martin Indyk, John Kerry’s Middle East peace envoy, in his capacity as Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, cashed a $14.8 million check from Qatar this past year. The Brookings Institution’s Board is composed of distinguished business executives, academics, former government officials and community leaders — from both sides of the political spectrum. Brookings was involved in recent negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a definite conflict of interest since Qatar is widely known to fund terror in the West Bank, specifically, Hamas. Known as the preeminent sponsor of terror in the world today with their deep, deep pockets, Qatar has interests, both economic and political, with terrorists on a global scale.

Qatar is a benefactor of the genocidal armies of ISIS, al Qaeda and Boko Haram. They are involved in the trafficking of Taliban heroin through a strategic relationship with the Pakistani National Logistics Cell. Furthermore, the Qatari ruling elite profit from operating a virtual slave state, which has accepted as a fait accompli that 4,000 migrant workers will die constructing soccer stadiums for the 2022 World Cup (to be held in Doha). The ruling Al-Thani family has leveraged its relationships with violent Jihadi groups to prop up Qatar economically and politically; to the detriment of the United States, her allies and world peace. Since the Brookings Institution has a direct economic relationship with Qatar, it indicates they are not a valid, bipartisan think tank… but rather a clearing house for the funding of terror and the rise of the genocidal Islamic State.

Some background on Indyk is in order. Martin Indyk is a notorious Progressive. He was also on the Council of Foreign Relations and was Deputy Research Director for AIPAC. He is known as the framer of the US policy of dual containment which sought to ‘contain’ Iraq and Iran. Indyk was the first United States ambassador to be stripped of a security clearance. He was ambassador to Israel. Indyk was under investigation for improperly handling sensitive material at the time. His clearance was restored a month later, in October 2000, by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

One year after 9/11, the United States government decided to cozy up with Qatar. The Brookings Institution – a large, renowned think tank based in Washington, DC – founded the US-Islamic World Forum (US-IWF) with the nation of Qatar.
From the Brookings website:

The forum was launched in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Its goal was the development of research and outreach programs designed to improve US relations with Muslim states and communities. A particular challenge in that moment of tension and frustration was the virtual absence of dialogue between leaders of the United States and the Muslim world.

The formation of these outreach programs was more akin to an open invitation to bribery, spying and subversion, than improving American relations with Muslim-majority nations.
The New York Times penned an article in September of this year that outlines the influence of foreign governments through the stealth funding of US-based think tanks. The Brookings Institution is not alone by any means; however, their history of powerful connections to the White House and military analysts and brass makes them a shining star in the orbit of Qatar’s heady influence.
Qatari money buys conclusions reached by Brookings scholars in their research – conclusions that are dictated by the financier. In Qatar’s case, one that forwards totalitarian-Sharia law and a global reach for power and control. It is the prostitution of intellectual reason and financed propaganda. These think tanks are not transparent concerning their agreements with foreign governments. They have also not registered with the US government as representatives of a foreign, donor country, which is a violation of federal law. It is widely held that the practice could violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the 1938 federal law that sought to combat a Nazi propaganda campaign in the United States. Not for nothing, the Muslim Brotherhood came to maturity at the same time as, and often in direct contact with, the Nazi Party of Germany.

The Brookings Institution is a major recipient of overseas funds, producing policy papers, hosting forums and organizing private briefings for senior United States government officials that typically align with the foreign governments’ agendas. Brookings’ 2014, $14.8 million, four-year donation, from Qatar, will help fund a Brookings affiliate in Qatar, as well as a project regarding United States relations with the Islamic world. Who needs a bloody coup, when you can buy influence? The funding, which amounts to an open bribe, hushes up the criticism of research groups on Qatar and their political dealings and legal/religious systems.
From The New York Times:

“If a member of Congress is using the Brookings reports, they should be aware — they are not getting the full story,” said Saleem Ali, who served as a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar and who said he had been told during his job interview that he could not take positions critical of the Qatari government in papers. “They may not be getting a false story, but they are not getting the full story.”

Qatar hosts two massive US military bases, which are viewed as central to Qatar’s own national security. They have been especially generous in their giving to American think tanks, attempting to buy influence and sway opinion. A backer of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Qatar maintains that a Muslim Brotherhood-style political Islam is the Arab world’s best hope for democracy and they seem to have many allies in DC, including Barack Obama, who supported the Qatari-backed efforts in Egypt and Libya.

An anonymous donor at Brookings, with ties to the Turkish government, made a strong statement to a scholar there who made critical statements about Qatar by suspending their support and their money. “It is the self-censorship that really affects us over time,” the scholar said. “But the fund-raising environment is very difficult at the moment, and Brookings keeps growing and it has to support itself.” The Qatari government is the single, biggest foreign donor to Brookings. Of course, the powers-that-be at Brookings claim they have cited strict internal policies that they claim ensure their scholars’ work is “not influenced by the views of our funders,” in Qatar or in Washington. But, as evidenced by numerous insider accounts and bolstered by Brookings’ implicit backing of Qatar’s Arab Spring, big money not only talks, it controls, too.

Mr. Ali, who served as one of the first visiting fellows at the Brookings Doha Center after it opened in 2009, said such a policy, though unwritten, was clear:

“There was a no-go zone when it came to criticizing the Qatari government,” said Mr. Ali, who is now a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. “It was unsettling for the academics there. But it was the price we had to pay.

In a recent report appearing in the UK-based Telegraph, both Qatar and Kuwait were singled out for openly, and even avidly, aiding fundraising efforts for genocidal Islamic State/ISIS terrorists who are currently engaged in fierce clashes with the Syrian army alongside Israel on the Golan Heights. With Qatar’s open financing of Hamas, their ties to the Brookings Institution are even more suspect. Qatar has also been used as a proxy in Obama’s war in Syria — they are the main sponsor of the Syrian insurgency.

Much more at the link

In our non-Council category, the winner was the always fascinating Michael Totten with From Havana to Hanoi submitted by Joshuapundit.Having returned from Cuba a short while ago, Totten's next stop was Vietnam, where he compared what he saw in Havana, where socialism is still practiced with Hanoi, which has largely ditched it at least economically and where the ruling order encourages capitalism and entrepreneurial enterprise.


Here are this week’s full results. The Independent Sentinel  and Ask Marion were unable to vote this week, but neither was subject to  the usual  2/3 vote penalty for not voting:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes!– The Noisy Room – The Brookings Institution and Qatar - The Money, Power and Influence Behind Global Terror


• Second place *t* with 2 votes –VA Right! - 2014 US Senate Race – Analyzing the Polls in Close Races Plus My Prediction!


• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Joshuapundit-The Left's Latest Big Lie : "Ebola Outbreak Is Due To GOP Cuts"


• Third place *t* with 1 vote –Bookworm Room – This American life lovingly focuses on Jewish wrongs, while ignoring Muslim depredations


• Third place *t* with 1 vote –Rhymes With Right – Wendy Davis Desperately Attacks Abbott's Disability


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Ask Marion – Famous Ultra-Liberal Claims Obama’s Only Accomplishment is Being Black


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Columbus Day!


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Simply Jews – Naomi Wolf and her two sources system


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel – Rest Assured Your Government Has ISIS Under Control


• Fifth place with 1/3 vote – Nice Deb – Kurdish Female Fighters Holding the Line in Kobani

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! – Michael Totten – From Havana to Hanoi submitted by Joshuapundit


• Second place *t* with 2 votes–Stephen F. Hayes/The Weekly Standard –Failure Upon Failure, The Disintegration of the Obama Presidency submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• Second place *t* with 2 votes– Paul Rahe/Ricochet -The Centers for Disease Control Loses Its Grip submitted by Nice Deb


• Third place with 1 vote -Sultan Knish –The Progressive Missionaries of Unhappiness submitted by The Noisy Room


• Third place with 1 vote -Roger L. Simon/PJ Media -What Happens if Republicans Win? submitted by The Watcher


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Point Of No Return – When Granny had dinner with the Mufti submitted by Simply Jews


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Victor Davis Hansen/NRO-Ruins Of The Middle East submitted by Bookworm Room


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Clash Daily – 15 B.S. Research Projects That NIH Wasted $10 Million of Your Money On Instead of Studying Ebola submitted by VA Right!


• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Judith Shulevitz/The New Republic – Accused College Rapists Have Rights, Too submitted by The Watcher


• Fifth place with 1/3 vote – Jeff Nyquist – Opening Moscow's Bag of Political and Strategic Tricks submitted by The Right Planet

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Weasel Of The Week!!

It’s time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel.

This week's nominees were all slime-worthy,but in the end the unanimous winner was....

 

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control!!

 The Glittering Eye : for saying this  in an interview on Sunday about the nurse infected with Ebola in Dallas:

At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection, The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. … But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection.

In other words he went out of his way to blame the patient, getting far out in front of what was actually known about the situation. He didn't need to do that. He could've said something to the effect that they were very confident in their protocols and were exerting every effort to determine how this individual was infected and leave it at that. Now not only has he slammed the poor woman gratuitously, if it turns out that there's a problem with the protocols he will have dealt a blow to the credibility of the CDC.
Arrogance and an uncaring attitude qualify him as a weasel.

Anyone who wonders where Dr. Frieden obtained this level of arrogance and clueless bureaucratic stupor needs only to look at his history. 

His mindset was set in cement during his time at Oberlin College, generally conceded to be one of the more radical colleges in America. After graduating from Columbia Med School, and a stint at WHO, he enhanced his rep as a bureaucrat's bureaucrat as Nanny Bloomberg's very own chief health apparatchnik  in New York City, responsible for implementing all of the onerous health regs, 'sin' taxes and similar liberty destroying programs. 

Among other things, Dr. Frieden spent millions of NYC tax dollars on free condoms labeled with - wait for it - a map of the New York city subway system.

For someone who is referred to as an expert on communicable diseases, he continues to astound the world with some of his positions, such as his adamant opposition to a travel ban to the countries where Ebola is running rampant, and his silence on our open borders and some of the diseases illegal aliens have brought over the border with them. Nor did he protest back in 2010 when President Obama quietly abolished CDC quarantine regulations and programs designed to stop an Ebola outbreakhere in America. In fact, it's quite possible he may even have helped President Obama make that decision.

 This is the same man who just today said during a telephone press briefing  that you can't get Ebola by sitting next to someone on a bus...but that infected or exposed persons should not ride public transportation because they could transmit the disease to someone else.

????


I'm certain Dr. Frieden isn't making obviously ridiculous statements like that to misinform the public  because he's under orders from the Obama White House to downplay this Ebola stuff until after the midterms.

After all, even though it's a lot better from the standpoint of politics über alles to blame a nurse for 'not following protocol' (even though she insists she did) than to admit this Ebola thing has been  totally mishandled,I'm sure a dedicated health professional like Dr. Tom Frieden would never ever do anything like that.

Or...would he?

Step up and get your richly deserved Golden Weasel, Doctor Friedman! Here ya go. Oh, that saliva or whatever it is  on the base? I'm so sorry! The delivery guy was telling me about that grungy character he had to sit next to on the subway coming here. Just wipe it off with your handkerchief, OK?

Well, there it is! 

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and  remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Watcher's Council Nominations - #Hashtag Edition!

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:

The Council In Action!!

Joshuapundit's latest is up at the Times of Israel Britain And Sweden Send A Clear Message To Israel

This week, The MidKnight Review, The Pirate's Cove, The Gates Of Vienna and The Other McCain earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – The Brookings Institution and Qatar - The Money, Power and Influence Behind Global Terror


• The Independent Sentinel – Rest Assured Your Government Has ISIS Under Control


• Simply Jews – Naomi Wolf and her two sources system


• Joshuapundit-The Left's Latest Big Lie : "Ebola Outbreak Is Due To GOP Cuts"


• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Columbus Day!


• The Razor – Ebola in America: 2 Weeks In


• The Right Planet – Two Examples of Why I Can’t Do Liberalism


• Rhymes With Right – Wendy Davis Desperately Attacks Abbott's Disability


• Nice Deb – Kurdish Female Fighters Holding the Line in Kobani


• Bookworm Room – This American life lovingly focuses on Jewish wrongs, while ignoring Muslim depredations


• VA Right! - 2014 US Senate Race – Analyzing the Polls in Close Races Plus My Prediction!


• The Glittering Eye -The Accounting


• Ask Marion – Famous Ultra-Liberal Claims Obama’s Only Accomplishment is Being Black

Honorable Mentions

• MidKnight Review - ObamaCare would be a criminal enterprise in the private sector


• The Pirate's Cove - Leftists: Abortion On Demand Is Totally About Women’s Health, Ya Know!


• The Gates Of Vienna - The Terror-Funding Roads That Pass Through Qatar


• The Other McCain - Lawyer: Convicted Sex Teacher Has ‘Significant Psychological Issues’

Non-Council Submissions

• Sultan Knish –The Progressive Missionaries of Unhappiness submitted by The Noisy Room


• Stephen F. Hayes/The Weekly Standard –Failure Upon Failure, The Disintegration of the Obama Presidency submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• Point Of No Return – When Granny had dinner with the Mufti submitted by Simply Jews


• Michael Totten – From Havana to Hanoi submitted by Joshuapundit


• John Nagl/The Politico – America Needs A more Aggressive Strategy Against ISIL- Now submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Jakub Grygiel/The American Interest –Obama And Commodus submitted by The Razor


• Jeff Nyquist – Opening Moscow's Bag of Political and Strategic Tricks submitted by The Right Planet


• Volokh Conspiracy – William Howard Obama? submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Paul Rahe/Ricochet -The Centers for Disease Control Loses Its Grip submitted by Nice Deb


• Victor Davis Hansen/NRO-Ruins Of The Middle East submitted by Bookworm Room


• Clash Daily – 15 B.S. Research Projects That NIH Wasted $10 Million of Your Money On Instead of Studying Ebola submitted by VA Right!


• JustOneMinute – The Health Scare That's Always There submitted by The Glittering Eye


• TechCrunch.Com – Edward Snowden’s Privacy Tips submitted by The Watcher


• Roger L. Simon/PJ Media -What Happens if Republicans Win? submitted by The Watcher


• Judith Shulevitz/The New Republic – Accused College Rapists Have Rights, Too submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy!


Every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. And every Tuesday morning, we reveal the weeks’ nominees for Weasel of the Week, with the recipient of the famed Statuette of Shame outed Thursday.

And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

Britain And Sweden Send A Clear Message To Israel

 

Today, the British Parliament took a largely symbolic vote to recognize 'Palestine'. The motion and the vote were largely symbolic, carried out by what are known as 'backbenchers', about one third of Parliament consisting of members of the House of Commons who are not in government, mostly from the Left wing Labour Party.

This follows the remarks of new Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, head of a minority coalition of Leftist Social Democrats and Greens in his inaugural speech that "A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful co-existence. Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine."

The House of Common’s vote that urges David Cameron’s government to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution” isn't going to change British policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - at least not yet. But it is a clear sign of which way the wind is blowing.

Let's be clear about what these members of Parliament are voting for. They want Britain to recognize a 'country' with no recognized borders, ruled for the past decade by an unelected dictator who is now in a unity government partnered up with Hamas, a genocidal terrorist group.

That's what they have signaled that they favor. It isn't a 'state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel' but a state of Palestine instead of Israel, since that is what Hamas and Fatah both want.

 

Mahmoud Abbas' draft UN Resolution calls for forcing Israel to turn over all of Judea and Samaria as well as all of East Jerusalem to 'Palestine', so at the very least, they are telling the world they favor the ethnic cleansing of 500,000 Jews from their homeland, the barring of Jews from their holy sites in Jerusalem and since those borders are indefensible, eventually the eradication of any Jewish presence at all in the Middle East.

 

They are also telling the world that appeasing their restive domestic Muslim populations and garnering temporary quiet and Muslim votes means more to them than Jewish lives, most immediately in Israel but eventually in their home countries as well.

And the huge deal the EU is making over Jews building homes in East Jerusalem and even in Gush Etzion, an area legally purchased by Jews back in the 1920's should tell us something else. They are not remotely 'honest brokers.' They have accepted the PLO position in its entirety, and they are, for the most part. simply lying when they talk about favoring negotiations. What they  want is the surrender of Israel , with the Jews moving back to the ghetto that former Israeli diplomat Abba Eban famously referred to as 'the Auschwitz lines.'

That's even more true today then when he first said it.

There's no mistaking this message, and expect it to be repeated by Norway, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and a number of other EU countries. In fact, the EU is already threatening sanctions against Israel if Israel 'fails to make progress in the peace process', which given the demands of Hamas/Fatah means essentially surrendering to their diktats and committing national suicide.

But believe it or not, this is something of a blessing in disguise. And a major opportunity for Israel.

Israel now has the chance to face and accept reality. As far as much of the EU is concerned, no matter what concessions Israel makes, it will never be enough. And no matter what Israel does to defend its people, it will always be disproportionate.

There's also this simple truth. When You're dealing with blackmail, the demands never end, as long as you're willing to keep giving in.

It's time Israel realized that, and acted accordingly, both with the Palestinians and with certain nations in the EU. This doesn't call for any grand speeches, but a simple 'no' and the national will by the government of Israel to do what they were elected to do..look after Israel's interests. And that includes asserting its national rights to the land of Israel. Including building homes and infrastructure for its citizens in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria.

What kind of nation puts up with other countries telling it where it can build houses and schools? For that matter, what other country would put up with the blatant hypocrisy of the EU sticking its nose into any of the other disputed areas of the world and recognizing 'states'? For instance, do you see Britain or the EU recognizing an 'independent Tibet' or an 'independent Kashmir' and throwing billions their way? Could that be because China and India would tell them to mind their own business? In fact, India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan told U.S. President Barack Obama openly that the president was 'barking up the wrong tree' when Obama tried to 'Palestinize' Kashmir in February of 2009.

Yes, yes, I know. The EU is a prominent trade partner of Israel. In 2013, (excluding diamonds) bi-lateral trade came to around €31.4 billion (over 147 billion NIS) with EU exports to Israel reaching €17.9 billion (close to 85 billion NIS)in 2013, while imports from Israel were €13.5 billion (63.5 billion NIS). Some 32% of Israel’s exports (excluding diamonds) went to the EU and 34% of its imports (excluding diamonds) came from the EU.

But the numbers don't tell the whole story.

With the exception of Germany, many of the EU countries are in a precarious, debt ridden financial condition. Israel, comparatively, is not. And it is Germany that is by far Israel's biggest trading partner in the EU, a relationship that is likely to continue..especially when you consider Israel's oil and natural gas wealth. Britain does a fair amount of trade with Israel as well.

The amount of trade that goes on isn't because the UK has any great love for Israel.It's because Israel produces things they very much want to buy and purchases things the UK needs to seell..On the other hand, many of the things Israel buys from the UK and most other EU nations can be purchased elsewhere if necessary.

And Israel's trade with Asia is also growing by leaps and bounds, and may actually surpass trade with the US this year. In fact, with the new pro-Israel government in India and the growing trade with China, Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore, Israel's trade with Asia could easily surpass its trade with the EU in a year or two.

To put it bluntly, Israel has other markets for its goods,if it comes to that. And in spite of the threats, much of the EU needs trade with Israel economically much more than they need to continue throwing money at Hamas/Fatah...or disturbing what is a very profitable relationship. That's especially true when it comes to gas and oil not controlled by Vladimir Putin.


read the rest at  The Times of Israel

The Return! Weekend Monkey And The Real Banana Analyzes The Midterms

It's with great pleasure (I think) that I welcome back Weekend Monkey to these pages, Joshuapundit's own political guru.

R: Hello Monkey, It's good to have you back.

WM: Wish I could say the same...no offense but y'know this represents a huge pay cut for me.

R: Your gratitude overwhelms me. Look at it this way, now you're your own man..uh..monkey instead of living off the taxpayers.

WM: Baboon poop! I loved living off the taxpayers! I had my own office, my own intern..

R: Look, I'm sorry that gig as Elizabeth Warren's senior adviser didn't last. What happened, anyway?

WM: I don't wanna discuss it.

R: Monkey, c'mon. You owe your fans a true account after the long absence..

WM: Awright already! Look, that #@@#! pep talk I gave her before that big speech at the convention when Elizabeth Warren  opened for Clinton changed things around, y'know? It was a prime spot, she hit a real home run and the next thing you know she's a senator. And I was working my tail off for her too, hitting the college campuses, manning the phone banks. And we were, y'know, friends.

R: Close friends.

WM: Yeah, reee-al close. So she made me her special adviser, we're in DC and I'm picking out the decor for my office. And then, well....

R: What happened, Monkey?

WM: It just got really stressful. DC is a dirty little town, and before you know it she hired some high powered schmucks as staffers who were bitching about me being there...and it got worse as she started getting all that attention as a Shrillery alternative.She's just not the same person she was.

R: And you slipped back into your old habits again.

WM: Whadda'ya mean, old habits!!

R: Don't even, Monkey, there are lots of pictures from that drunken rampage at the Capitol Lounge:



Looks like you were mixing Bushmills and banana extract again. And there was  that poor waitress you groped and had your paws all over when the bouncer was 'escorting' you out the door.I hear that Warren's office had to pay out a couple grand so she didn't press charges and get it in the papers.From what I've been told, it wasn't the first time either.

WM: OK, so I was STRESSED, awright? I could tell stories about a coupla places you've been tossed out of.

R: Well yeah, but not as a senatorial aide.And not for referring to my boss as a..what was it you called her again?

WM: Never mind. I was pretty out of it. Anyway, I got the axe.

R: You mean, the tomahawk, hah hah hah!

WM: Lay off...you think of that one all by yourself?

R: Confession is good for the soul, Monkey. It means you can start fresh. You won't need to go back into rehab again.

WM: Nah, although I gotta admit you meet interesting people there.

R: So let's get down to politics. Do you really see Elizabeth Warren as a Hillary alternative?

WM: Maybe. You see, Shrillery is really one of the easiest people in the world to dislike. She had good approval ratings because she was out of the spotlight. The Bamster pretty much had her as a messenger girl, all the important stuff had special envoys taking care of it.And then, there's Benghazi. Even the knee-pad scribblers aren't gonna be able to get her past that one.

R: Well, we'll see. I still see her getting the nomination and running. And the Progtards? Who else are they going to vote for, a Republican? Actually, I see the Dems teaming her up with a Hispanic male or maybe a real Lefty like Warren as a sop to the base.

WM: I wouldn't even speculate this far out.

R: That's for sure. So let's talk about what staring us in the face, the Midterms.

WM: Okey dokes. Look, it's pretty obvious my Democrats are going to lose some senate seats. The way I see it, that's mostly Harry Reid's fault.

R: Really!

WM: Yeah. Y'see, He came up with the bright idea of having a buncha Democrats run to the center in 2008 in Red states to convince the local primates that they were conservative Democrats.Of course, once they got to DC Reid leaned on them to vote for all of Obama's policies including ObamaCare and the mask was off, so now with Obammy really unpopular they have to go home and face the rage of the primates. The big question is how many seats, and I think it's gonna be tighter than a lotta people realize.

R: How do you see the key races turning out? Let's go over 'em.

WM: OK, but I gotta tell you, I might change my mind on some of them before Election Day and change the odds.

R: You still booking election bets?

WM: Yeah, 3 points for the vig. OK, the races. I think we can pretty much give the ReThugs West Virginia, South Dakota  and Montana. They're all Red States where the Democrat incumbents fled rather than face the primate's wrath and they all have strong and well known ReThug candidates running against jerk offs. That puts the Rethugs half way there to winning the senate.

I see them also hanging on to Georgia.  Sonny Perdue has run a decent campaign, and let's face it..Michelle Nunn ain't exactly a Jawjuh Peech...she was raised in DC, and it shows every time she opens her yap. The fake drawl ain't cutting it.

R: And then there's that voter fraud scandal her campaign's been implicated in.

WM: Eh! So people were voting a little early and often. That's the Democrat tradition. But anyway, I see that as a ReThug hold. I'll offer 5 to 1  on Nunn.

North Carolina, I'm gonna call for Kay Hagen as a Democrat hold, 3 to 1 with 6 to 3 on Tillis. He made the same stupid mistake Romney did, allowing Hagen to demonize him and fix a negative image of him in the primate's minds.

R: You know the polls show him gaining, even tied with her..

WM: That was one stoo-pid poll. But he could be moving ahead, so I may reassess that one later.

Arkansas and Louisiana will probably go Rethug, but I'm a lot surer about Arkansas than I am about Louisiana. Obammy is biblically unpopular in Arkansas and Tom Cotton has a decent lead over Mark Pryor, who's way too tied to Obammy. 3 to 1 on Cotton winning.

In Gumboville things are a lot more volatile.For one thing, they have that weird open primary November 4 and then a runoff if nobody gets 50%. Mary Landrieu's running unopposed as a Dem but there are two Rethugs battling it out. Landrieu has been around, and she knows how to take advantage of that kind of situation, so anything could happen. I 'm not offering any odds on that one, although the polling indicates that IF Bill Cassidy  is the nominee he would probably beat Landrieu. We'll see.

R: Iowa and Colorado?

WM: Iowa and Colorado both ought to be  good opportunities for pickups for the Repugs, but I wouldn't write 'em off for a real surprise. .Iowa is another open seat where Dem Tom Harkin retired, and Joni Ernst has done a pretty good job kicking around Democrat Bruce Braley, but it's still close..and I definitely don't see Colorado as low hanging fruit for the rethugs..

R: I loved her ad about being a hog castrator.

WM: Hee hee hee, yeah!

R: And what this stuff about Colorado, Monkey? Correy Gardner's ahead in all the polls and even the Denver Post trashed Mark Udall and endorsed Gardner. And they're not exactly a Republican paper...

WM: Ah hah hah hah! Have you seen Colorado's election law, the one the my Democrats shoved through in 2013 and got the Dem governor, Hickenlooper to sign?

R: No, talk to me.

WM: Heh! You're gonna love this one. First it abolishes the usual polling place and lets the primates mail in ballots. And it allows same day registration without any kind of ID...in other, words, you can go in and register as, say, somebody you know who moved away and you're in, badda bing!

R: That's insane.

WM: Hee hee, it's get's even better. If somebody  register  online a few days before, no primate even needs to show up to register or vote. You don't even have to be in Colorado! You just siddown at the computer and create yourself  a voter and you get your ballot. ​And once that ballot is cast, the same day registration votes aren't kept separate, they're mixed in with the others and there's no way to separate 'em out if they find out later the ballot or the voter was bogus. The vote just gets counted. Other states with same day keep those votes separate until they verify they're legit, but not Colorado!

But wait, there's more. The law stopped  county clerks from reviewing new voter registrations like they used to, and since  every Colorado voter on the rolls has to receive a mail ballot, ballots are gonna be mailed  to everybody! Convicted felons, people who don't ever vote, primates with Alzheimer's,  primates who don't live in Colorado any more...oh and did I mention  the law makes it way difficult if not impossible to remove names from the voting rolls? Or that ACORN types called  “ballot harvesters” are allowed to go door-to-door and collect ballots with no oversight ..and  they get  paid based on the number of ballots they collect! How many Gardner votes you wanna bet get tossed in the garbage?

R: It's voter fraud heaven.

WM: You got it! Unless Gardner gets real lucky and wins by a real big margin, he's toast, no matter how unpopular Udall is.

R: Don't you feel bad about that kind of fraud?

WM: Nope.If the ReThugs wanna remain the stupid party, that's their problem.

R: Ummphh..let's move on.

WM: OK, what's left..Alaska and Kansas.  OK, I'll give the repugs Alaska. Begich screwed up big time with his campaign and that bogus ad, and I see Sullivan taking it 5-2. Although I'll take anybody's shekels who wants  to bet on Begich at 5 to 1 against.

Kansas is too close to call, which may mean the Dems -.and let's be honest, Orman's one of us, a Dem- have to see what they can do in Kansas City about putting together a little something to put him over the line.

R: More voter fraud.

WM: Hee hee, yup yup yup! So to sum it all up, I see the rethugs picking up 5 seats for sure, with possible shots at Iowa and Louisiana.. and  maybe Colorado if they're really.lucky.

Kansas is too close to call. yet, but if it goes Dem, the rethugs gotta pick up two out of those three 'maybe' seats, and I don't see 'em doing it. So we're maybe looking at a 50-50 senate.

R: That's awful.The worse thing is that your track record on predicting this stuff is too good to ignore

WM: That's politics. Look, one thing about we Democrats is that we understand that the game is all about power, and that means getting elected. You climb to the top of the tree  however you gotta do it,and the rest follows naturally.

R: OK, but a fifty fifty senate means...



WM: Yeah, we'll be seeing and hearing a lot of this guy..comedy gold!

R: I still remember when you interviewed John Edwards back in 2008 and said Obama would pick 'a heavyweight like Biden...for gravitas' as his running mate. I thought both of you were going to pass out from laughing. Except the joke's on the country.

WM: That's for sure.

R: And with that Weekend Monkey, Plus tard... we'll check back in with you soon for more state of the art commentary on the campaign from America's number one party animal.

WM: Always a pleasure.


 Weekend Monkey was a Democratic candidate for president in 2008 and is JoshuaPundit's political Guru.

Weasel Of The Week Nominations!!

Hello and welcome to the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we award the golden plastic Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be publicly slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations and check back Thursday to see which Weasel gets the votes and walks off with the statuette of shame!

 
Here are this weeks' nominees:

 

New York Times Writer Paul Krugman!!

The Noisy Room: Marxist troll extraordinaire -- for his exemplary idiocy

Despite bitter opposition, despite having come close to self-inflicted disaster, Obama has emerged as one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history.

It's impossible to plumb the depths of Krugman's delusional state. It's even harder not to laugh one's self silly over such moronic statements. Get the Kleenex ready as he just keeps on digging:

Yes, Obama has a low approval rating compared with earlier presidents. But there are a number of reasons to believe that presidential approval doesn’t mean the same thing that it used to… More important, however, polls – or even elections – are not the measure of a president. High office shouldn’t be about putting points on the electoral scoreboard, it should be about changing the country for the better.

[...]

Am I damning with faint praise? Not at all. This is what a successful presidency looks like.

Up is down... black is white... and Obama is the greatest President ever. Krugman needs to seek a comfy couch and a terabyte of storage for the lengthy analysis of his on-going psychosis.



Eric Holder, Attorney general Of The United States!!

The Independent Sentinel:for comparing Ohio's attempt to scale back early voting from 35 days to 28 days to 1964 and 1965 KluKluxKlan murders.

“It is an affront to millions who have marched, and fought, and too often died to make real America’s most basic promise. Three brave young men gave their lives in 1964, as did a courageous Detroit mother of five in 1965, so that others might be able to vote and be truly free. Are we now to turn our back on those ultimate sacrifices,” Holder pontificated in a video message on the DOJ website.

Having 7 fewer days to vote early - and probably commit voter fraud - is the same as Mississippi Burning in his mind. Drawing moral equivalence between completely unlike entities is a favorite technique of this administration.



Texas Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Wendy Abortion Barbie Davis!!

Nice Deb :for choosing to run an ad highlighting her opponent's use of a wheelchair.

Good Lord, the flop sweat emanating from her campaign before and especially now, in the wake of the atrocious ad, is something to behold.

Gosh, is it possible that this woman who made her name in politics by filibustering an anti-late-term abortion bill in pink sneakers, is not actually ready for prime time? Could it be that her candidacy is essentially the creation of the Democrat media complex - who should share the weasel award with her because now while the chips are down, they refuse to defend her and are in fact looking away, cringing with embarrassment?

 

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control!!

The Glittering Eye : who in an interview on Sunday said in reference to the nurse infected with Ebola in Dallas:

At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection, The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. … But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection

In other words he went out of his way to blame the patient, getting far out in front of what was actually known about the situation. He didn't need to do that. He could've said something to the effect that they were very confident in their protocols and were exerting every effort to determine how this individual was infected and leave it at that. Now not only has he slammed the poor woman gratuitously, if it turns out that there's a problem with the protocols he will have dealt a blow to the credibility of the CDC.

Arrogance and an uncaring attitude qualify him as a weasel.


Well, there it is! Are these worthy weasels or what? Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

The Left's Latest Big Lie : "Ebola Outbreak Is Due To GOP Cuts"

"Republican Cuts Kill" is the title of this ad from The Agenda Project, a 501(c)4 organization that is placing ads in the battleground states. According to the group's founder Erica Payne the entire blame for the Ebola crisis belongs to evil Republican lawmakers, who have cut spending to the bone, stopping programs that could have dealt with the Ebola outbreak.

It is a cynical,outrageous lie, designed solely for partisan political purposes to be brayed over and over again by the usual jackasses while protecting the real culprits.

Here are some charts and figures that prove it ( h/t Nick Gillespie at Reason.Com

 

Look at the numbers. Instead of all these mystical 'cuts', what we see is a growth in spending under Republican control that gradually leveled off once President Barack Hussein Obama and a veto proof Democrat congress came to town.

You see any major cuts there, except the proposed one in 2015...that came from President Obama's proposed budget?

 

The above is Centers for Disease Control budget trend. Just look at increase between 2013 and 2014, especially in the Prevention and Public Health Fund. What cuts? Now the proposed 2015 spending amount is lower than 2014, but where is that coming from? Yes, President Barack Obama's budget plan.

What about the the National Institutes of Health (NIH), whose development of new drugs and prevention methods was a victim of the supposed GOP meat cleaver? According to its own budget data, the NIH got something like $23 billion in fiscal 2002 and the amount rose to $30.2 billion in 2009, the years when President George W. Bush was in office, and peaked at $31 billion in 2010. From there, it dropped slightly and ended up at $30.1 billion in 2014...just about the same amount asked to fund the NIH in President Obama's proposed 2015 budget!

So this horse manure about 'Republican cuts' causing the Ebola outbreak is exactly that. It's a squirrel designed to distract people's attention from the real reasons for the health scares in America...political correctness and our open borders.

Would this Erica Payne and her friends ever talk about the six children who have died from Enterovirus D68, or EV-D68, which just coincidentally has had a major outbreak in Central America shortly before the recent surge of illegal aliens across our porous borders? The Obama Administration is refusing to tell the American people or congress where they shipped massive numbers of illegal immigrant children, but there are significant numbers of them in both cities in which the current outbreak was first identified, Kansas City, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois, according to local health professionals and press reports.

This disease was first discovered in 1962, but has not been seen in America for 36 years. Now, there are over 500 recent cases here in America - that we know about.

 

And what about the 3,000 U.S. military that have been sent into infected 'hot zones' in Liberia? Just imagine a few of them becoming infected in the confines of a ship or plane bringing them home.

Who gave the orders to send them out, by executive order? Whose administration was it that refused even to consider a travel ban to the afflicted areas? It certainly wasn't the Republicans in congress.

And who was it whose administration quietly abolished CDC quarantine regulations designed to stop an Ebola outbreak here in America back in 2010?

 

Regardless of what certain people would have you believe, it is this president and his administration's irresponsible, clueless behavior based strictly on partisan politics that is responsible for the epidemics now threatening America.

All the desperate, frothing at the mouth attack ads to the contrary don't change that.

Forum: If You Could Be A Superhero, Which One Would You Be?

Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question:If You Could Be A Superhero, Which One Would You Be?

Simply Jews : Spiderman, of course: the ability to climb walls is a necessary (and frequently wanted) attribute of family life.

 

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff!

Nom d'guerr'd the Black Widow, she is a world class athlete, gymnast, acrobat, aerialist capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats, expert martial artist (including karate, judo, ninjutsu, aikido, savate, various styles of kung fu, and boxing), marksman, and weapons specialist as well as having extensive espionage training. She is also an accomplished ballerina.

Natasha has received the Red Room's variant of the Captain America Super Soldier Serum. As a result, her physical and mental abilities had been enhanced slightly beyond human limits.

The Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and heals at an above human rate; as well as psychological conditioning that suppresses her memory of true events as opposed to implanted ones of the past without the aid of specially designed system suppressant drugs.

The Soviet experimentation has rendered her body infertile.

Due to the Super-Soldier Serum, white blood cells in her body are efficient enough to fight off any microbe, foreign body and others from her body, keeping her healthy and immune to most, if not all infections, diseases and disorders. Also, it takes quite a bit for Natasha to become intoxicated.

Her agility is greater than that of an Olympic gold medalist. She can coordinate her body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity easily.

Her bodily tissues have been augmented to superhuman development. She possesses exceptional durability, strength, endurance, and stamina.

Natasha's reaction time is similarly enhanced and functions with the peak of human efficiency and capability, bordering on a superhuman level. It is possible for Natasha to dodge a bullet even at point blank range.

Natasha has a gifted intellect She displays an uncanny affinity for psychological manipulation and can mask her real emotions perfectly. Like Steve Rogers, (Captain America) she possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations.

Natasha is an expert tactician. She is a very effective strategist, tactician, and field commander. She has led the Avengers and even S.H.I.E.L.D. on one occasion.

 

The Independent Sentinel: Superman because I want to be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Right now I'm slow as molasses, lucky if I can lift 10lb weights and can't leap over anything. Sigh!

 

JoshuaPundit: Hmmm..Gohan or Trunks from  Dragon Ball Z might be pretty cool! Super Saiyan power, y'know.

 




Well, there you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

The Council Has Spoken!! This Weeks' Watcher's Council Results

 


The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.


“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” - Rumi

"The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm." - Florence Nightingale

“An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.” - Lao Tzu



This week's winner, Bookworm Room's To fight Ebola, we need a Florence Nightingale - although the Marines are good too examines the Ebola crisis in West Africa and a common sense, effective solution to it. Here's a slice:

Tonight, we attended a talk with Paul Farmer, Dan Kelly, Raj Panjabi, and a fourth fellow whose name I can’t remember. The topic was Ebola. All four speakers had front-line experience, having spent a great deal of time recently in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. All of them are affiliated with non-profit organizations that have as their sole purpose bringing long-term and emergency healthcare solutions to third world countries. They are all admirable men and masters of their material.

That’s why it was disappointing that the evening was so horribly dull. Rather than the four of them presenting a coherent analysis covering both Africa and America, they engaged in a repetitive, jargon-filled talk that kept reiterating the key points. The key points were interesting, and probably could have been covered in about fifteen minutes. I wasn’t able to take notes, but here’s what I got:

1. Liberia and Sierra Leone have both suffered tremendously from civil wars that utterly destroyed their infrastructure and left them with virtually no health care. I believe it was Liberia that ended up with around 51 doctors for the entire nation. The American equivalent would have been 8 doctors for all of San Francisco.

2. When the latest Ebola outbreak began in a remote village with an infected two-year old child, there were no systems in place to stop the disease’s spread.

3. Because there are no doctors, no buildings, and no supplies in these forsaken African countries, a few things happen:

a. The mortality rate is 70% to 90%.

b. People view hospitals and medical clinics as death traps, which they are.

c. People therefore avoid hospitals and medical clinics, furthering the disease’s spread.

4. To the extent there are any systems on the ground in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, they are the NGOs represented at the talk, plus WHO, the CDC, a British government agency, and a few disparate other groups. They are trying to coordinate, but are behind the curve. The local governments are helpless.

5. Money is starting to come in, but little of the money pledged actually makes it to the situation on the ground.

6. If the situation does not approve, we can expect 500,000 to 1.4 million dead in Africa by the end of January 2015.

7. If, however, the money rains down and the existing organizations are able to train health care workers, open clinics, and have medical supplies on hand to treat people, the number of dead may stop at around 70,000.

8. Bringing the current Ebola crisis to heel in Africa, even under the best of circumstances may take 18 to 24 months.

9. A military organization is best suited to imposing structure on these dysfunctional regions. (When I heard this, I thought to myself “So that’s why Obama sent in the Marines.”)

10. Taking a page out of the Borgia book for poisons that can be absorbed through the skin, Ebola can transmit through people’s skin. It’s not enough to keep your hands away from your nose and mouth. If someone’s infected blood, vomit, fecal matter, semen, spit, or sweat just touches you, you can become infected. Even picking up a stained sheet can pass the infection. Additionally, scientists do not know how long the virus will survive on a surface once it’s become dehydrated. The current guess is that Ebola, unlike other viruses, can survive for quite a while away from its original host.

11. The Ebola virus is from the same family as the Marburg virus, which found its way to Germany in the 1960s, killed a few people, and was then quickly contained. That’s good news for Westerners and their medicine.

12. If patients get Western medicine that treats the symptoms — drugs to reduce fever and to control vomiting and diarrhea, proper treatment if the body goes into shock, and blood transfusions — the mortality rate is “only” 25% — which is still high, but is significantly lower than the 70%-90% morality in Africa, where patients get little to no treatment. (See point 3 regarding the disease-spreading negative feedback loop of the high mortality rate.)

13. This is a genuine crisis. If anything, the media is erring by downplaying what’s been happening in Africa, and governments are most certainly responding too slowly to a problem that must be fixed in Africa, rather than just being stopped here (as if that were possible).

In sum, Ebola is a really bad disease, made horribly worse by the complete post-civil war dysfunction and poverty in these three West African nations. With enough money and man power, the disease can be brought to heel. The only problem is getting the money and manpower in place.

Hearing that the problem is one of men and manpower, I immediately thought (as everyone must) of Florence Nightingale. I’m sure all of you remember her story, but I’ll tell it again for my satisfaction. Florence was born in 1820 to a very wealthy, very well-connected, very upper class British family. She was expected to do the ordinary thing: become a “finished” young lady, get married, and have the next generation of wealthy, well-connected, upper class British children. Florence, however, wanted something different. She wanted to be a nurse.

To appreciate just how shocking Florence’s career goal was, imagine your own sweet, young daughter looking up at you and saying “Mother and Father, I want to become a prostitute, and work in the worst slums, with a lot of filthy, disease-ridden people. Oh, and I’m planning to numb myself against the horror of my chosen life with strong drink and opium.” By saying that, your daughter would have described precisely what many nurses were like back in the middle of the 19th century, or at least what upper class people thought they were like.
The hospital in Scutari, circa 1856

The hospital in Scutari, circa 1856

Understandably, Florence’s parents said “No!” and kept saying “No” despite Florence’s certain belief that God himself had called her to the job of nursing. By the time she was 24, Florence ignored her parents and began to study what she could about nursing. She also traveled widely around Europe and the Mediterranean. During her years of work, study, and travel, she met several important men whose wealth and connections would aid her in the coming years.

Much more at the link

In our non-Council category, the winner was Benjamin Weingarten, writing in The Blaze–Why America’s Foreign Policy Has Failed, From George W. Bush to Barack Obama, and the Antidote submitted by The Noisy Room. The title is pretty self explanatory.


Here are this week’s full results.Ask Marion, The Independent Sentinel and the Colossus of Rhodey were unable to vote this week. None were effected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes! -Bookworm Room – To fight Ebola, we need a Florence Nightingale - although the Marines are good too


• Second place with 2 votes –Joshuapundit-Burning Down The House Without Thinking


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –The Noisy Room – War Is The Thunder…Plague Is The Lightning


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –VA Right! - Is President Barack Obola the October Surprise Republicans Need for a Wave?


• Fourth place with 1 vote – The Independent Sentinel – We Are on An Irreversible Path to Socialism


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye -Lessons From Dallas


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Nice Deb – Ralph Peters Blasts Obama’s “Phony” Air Campaign: “He Doesn’t Want Dead Terrorists”


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Right Planet – Lois Lerner Tries Busting into Neighbor’s Home to Evade Questions


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Ask Marion – How Hillary Clinton enabled Hamas Construction of Terror Tunnels


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote – Simply Jews – Ami Kaufman: another +972 lonely prophet of the fringe

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! – Benjamin Weingarten/The Blaze–Why America’s Foreign Policy Has Failed, From George W. Bush to Barack Obama, and the Antidote submitted by The Noisy Room


• Second place with 1 2/3 votes– Seraphic Secret – Obama and the Rise of the Islamic Reich submitted by The Watcher


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -Dennis Prager – Bill Maher, Ben Affleck and Islam submitted by Joshuapundit


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -Sultan Knish –The Empire Of Progressive Poverty submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Sic Semper Tyrannis – IS/Coalition War Game - Move 1, The Situation as of 7 October 2014 submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Fourth place with 1 vote- Omri Ceren/Commentary – Yes, Israel Won In Gaza submitted by The Watcher


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes -Alan Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute – United States Attack in Syria Parallels Israel's in Gaza submitted by Simply Jews


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes -Sean Davis/The Federalist -Neil Tyson’s Final Words On His Quote Fabrications: “My bad” submitted by Nice Deb


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Adam Chandler/The Atlantic – ISIS Dares Turkey to Save Kobani submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Heather MacDonald/The City Journal –Ferguson’s Unasked Questions submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

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