ELSEWHERE

Leftists have always hated free speech. The facts are deadly to them: "If reaction to Daniel Pipes' lecture on Tuesday (2/10) was any indication, fascism is alive and well at UC Berkeley. Pipes was invited by the Israel Action Committee and Berkeley Hillel to speak at the college campus known for its leftist politics. But ironically, the home of ''free speech'' and ''tolerance'' has shown itself to be distinctly intolerant to those who express political views other than their own. And Daniel Pipes happens to fit that description.... All of these combined make Daniel Pipes public enemy number one according to UC Berkeley leftists and especially radical Muslim students. Indeed, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) was out in full force on Tuesday, acting like the thugs and bullies they routinely accuse Pipes of supporting. There were about 50-70 of them, amidst a crowd of 700, and after failing to prevent Pipes from speaking, they did their best to try and disrupt the lecture and intimidate the audience.... The fact is, radical Muslim students and their leftist counterparts are the most domineering, destructive, and dangerous forces in higher education today. If we're to win the War on Terrorism, we may have to start with our own college campuses." {Pipes's own account of the matter is here}

Redoubtable economist Arnold Kling has another explanation of why so many academics are Leftist: "If your temperament favors freedom without responsibility, then there are certain occupations that are a good fit. Academic life is one of them.. The trick to having freedom without responsibility is to get paid without having to worry about where the money comes from. Most professors do not worry about fundraising or attracting tuition-paying students... Thus, we should not be surprised that their ideological bent is toward modern liberalism, which translates this personal preference into a political platform".

Red Cross criticizes Israel. How unusual! Antisemitism is nothing new to them. But the Red Cross is a European organization and antisemitism is of course very European -- even today

An unbelievable verdict. Australia has insane judges too.

The light begins to dawn: Dutch plans to expel up to 26,000 failed asylum seekers have sparked protests across Europe and led to threats of hunger strikes by those denied refugee status. The moves came as Britain finalised emergency measures to tighten welfare eligibility for immigrant workers before May 1, when the European Union admits 10 new countries.

Front Page has some extracts from speeches by made the Mufti of Australia (Sheikh Al-Hilali) in Lebanon which reveal him as being very anti-Israel. No surprises there. In Australia, however, he is viewed as a strong force for peace between Muslims and other Australians -- as this speech shows. We are probably lucky to have him. There is more on the matter here. My guess is that he is like any politician -- he says different things to different audiences. What he says to Australian Muslims is probably as good as we can hope for, however.

This article is presented as a commentary on just one American university. But most of it seems to be true of America's Left-dominated education system as a whole. Note that even Harvard needs to give around 20% of its "Freshers" remedial instruction in English. .

Peter Hitchens, a historian of crime amongst other things, sees Britain's new "FBI" as ending up more like a KGB: "Britain doesn't need an FBI abseiling all over the place, smashing down doors, clad in armour, waving Glock automatics and yelling 'Freeze!' It needs large, veteran coppers plodding the streets, radiating reassurance to the good and scaring the bad... since MPs were overtaken by collective madness after September 11, these PC police forces can now arrest and detain people in ways we used to think only happened abroad. Mr Blair, who does not care a damn for English liberty, keenly seeks to get convictions on 'lower standards of proof' while Mr Blunkett works away to get rid of jury trial".

Britain's "Saddam-gate": "Money illicitly siphoned from the UN oil-for-food programme by Saddam Hussein was used to finance anti-sanctions campaigns run by British politicians, according to documents that have surfaced in Baghdad. Undercover cash from oil deals went to three businessmen who in turn supported pressure groups involving the ex-Labour MP George Galloway, Labour MP Tam Dalyell, and the former Irish premier Albert Reynolds"

Carnival of the Vanities is up again -- though in a rather compressed form.

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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.

Another example of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries!

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