Brookes News Update

What is behind the anti-American Jack Hitt, the man who embarrassed the New York Times: No one should be surprised that Jack Hitt cooked up a story libelling El Salvador's Government. Hitt is a vicious anti-American leftist who despises the US and its allies. Like others of his kind he was born in America, schooled in America and speaks with an American accent - yet he is not an American
The Age attacks free-market economics: A genuine free-market economist knows that you cannot, and should not, regulate human choices. GDP is not a measure of the creation of wealth. It is production, and not consumption, that is the engine of increased wealth accumulation and future prosperity
Defending economic growth against leftwing fanatics: If anyone doubts for a moment that socialism is a cult they need look no further than Ted Trainer. Full-blooded socialism has been an utterly brutal failure that killed more than 100,000,000 people yet lefties still clamour for more. To get what they want they even attack the living standards of the masses
Understanding Personal and Economic Liberty: Ronald Kitching is a life member of the Mont Pelerin Society who made a major contribution to F.A. Hayek's lecture tour of Australia in 1976. He is thus eminently qualified to write a book on Austrian School free market economics

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Feel the peace and tolerance



Students at an Islamic madrassa chant anti-American slogans while burning thousands of DVDs, videos and music CDs at the Lal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Via Jihad Watch)

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A Horror Story the Major Media Have Tried To Bury



These two [above] were out on a date minding their own business when they were car jacked and this is what happened to them. The animals pictured below raped Christopher Newsom, cut off his penis, then set him on fire and fatally shot him several times while they forced his girlfriend, Channon Christian, to watch. An even more cruel fate awaited her! Channon Christian, was beaten and gang-raped in many ways for four days by all of them, while they took turns urinating on her. Then they cut off her breast and put chemicals in her mouth . and then murdered her.



Compare and contrast this with the vast media circus over the Duke University "rape", where the black accuser came to no harm at all. More details here and here

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Chris Brand thinks the Virginia massacre was a product of political correctnes.



US Marines to send Osprey aicraft to Iraq: "The US Marine Corps will send MV-22 Ospreys to Iraq this year in the first combat mission for the hybrid aircraft expected to carry troops in and out of battle at unprecedented speed. "It is our fervent feeling that this aircraft is the most capable, survivable aircraft that we carry our most important weapons system in, which is the Marine or rifleman," said Lt Gen John Castellaw, the Marines' deputy commandant for aviation. The Marines expect speed to protect the Osprey from the ground-fire Iraqi insurgents have used to down US helicopters this year, the Marine Corps said on Friday. The Osprey hovers like a helicopter and flies like a plane. "If you've ever gone rabbit hunting, you know that it's harder to shoot a rabbit that's running than the one that's sitting still," Castellaw said. The Osprey has had a long and sometimes troubled development process, including two deadly crashes, but Marine commanders said they had full confidence in the aircraft."

Remembering the Clinton holocaust at Waco: "Twenty-seven of the 74 [victims] incinerated at Waco were black, age 6 to 61. In fact, more than half of those gun-toting rednecks were minority rednecks, 39 out of 74 to be precise - six of them Hispanic, six of Asian descent. Truth be told, Waco represented the single greatest organized - if largely unwitting - slaughter of black people on American soil since the Battle of Fort Pillow in 1864. And no, this is not something I read on the Internet. I found a verifiable list of the dead, broken out by age and ethnicity, and counted them. The FBI had given the Branch Davidians video cameras. The Clinton White House knew who was in the buildings. So, almost assuredly, did the major media. Although usually eggshell sensitive to the concerns of racial minorities, the media turned a strategically blind eye to their very presence at Waco, not to mention their deaths. As intended, scarcely a black person in America knew the hell visited on his brethren in those early uncertain months of the Clinton era. That knowledge would surely have strained black affection for the Clintons and maybe even party loyalties. The media were not about to encourage such a schism."

Les Bates also details the deep criminality of what happened at Waco under Clinton and Janet Reno.

Polygamous husbands settling in Britain with multiple wives can claim extra benefits: "Polygamous husbands settling in Britain with multiple wives can claim extra benefits for their "harems" even though bigamy is a crime in the UK, it has emerged. Opposition MPs are demanding an urgent change in the law, claiming that the Government is recognising and rewarding a custom which has no legal status and which is "alien" to this country's cultural traditions.... Officials said yesterday a review was now under way into whether the state should continue to pay out income support, jobseeker's allowance and housing and council tax benefits to 'extra' spouses."

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

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

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

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

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More on the strangeness of Google

What have Google got against "The Times" of London? I noted on 17th. that an interesting historical article from the "Times" could not be found via Google and I have encountered another example today. I tried to find this article via Google today but they had no record of it at all -- both via a web search and a news search. I DID however find a copy of the article in an Indian newspaper!

The article I could not find today was about immigration so maybe it fell foul of Google's notorious "hate-speech" filters. The article is a report of a speech by a British government minister, however, so only Google would see it as "hate speech".

Another possibility is that Google have been fine-tuning their algorithms lately to cut out duplicated content and the algorithms have got too smart for their own good -- cutting out far too much. Cutting out Britain's most famous newspaper is just ludicrous.

Google's censorship of my 200+ academic articles still seems to be absolute. I did find a record of one of them online today but it was given as a "Supplemental Result" -- meaning "no longer online". It IS however still online at the address given and always has been. I think the bosses at Google must be slowly losing their marbles.

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HITCHENS ON THE FORTHCOMING FRENCH ELECTIONS

The most salient fact about the French elections is the degree to which they show a France that is moving steadily to the right. "Sixty-five per cent to the right, in fact," as I am told by Louis Dreyfus of the Nouvel Observateur. Only 30 percent of even the dwindling blue-collar electorate can now be counted upon to vote Socialist or Communist. The surprise "centrist" figure in the contest, Francois Bayrou, is an upper-crust Catholic from the elite ranks of Giscard d'Estaing's rump conservative faction. The front-runner, Nicolas Sarkozy, is a "law-and-order" hard-liner who promises to get tough with young Muslim slum-dwellers and rioters. The superficially glamorous Socialist, Segolene Royal, who got the nomination only by forcefully repudiating her party's Old Left, has pitched herself as the spokeswoman for the holy trinity of the tricolor, the Marseillaise, and Joan of Arc.

M. Le Pen smirks broadly and says that everyone is moving his way in one form or another. And he isn't completely bluffing. There is a reason why the French Communist Party, which used to dominate the working class, the unions, and much of the lumpen intelligentsia, is now a spent force that represents perhaps 3 percent of the electorate. And that reason, uncomfortable as it may be, is that most of the Communist electorate defected straight to the National Front. Moreover, as Louis Dreyfus adds rather gloomily, none of Le Pen's last-time voters (who put him in the second round against Chirac and knocked the Socialist candidate out of the race) have any reason not to vote the same way this time.....

All this comes at a time when the French political elite is discredited and enervated to an amazing degree. There is general agreement that the country cannot afford any more featherbedding, but the Socialist program is only the most egregious in promising to pay people more than they earn. Anti-Americanism has reached a point of diminishing returns. A society that has benefited hugely from EU subsidies now resents the very bureaucracy at whose tit it has so long nursed. Amazing insularity is demonstrated in almost every presidential debate, with Mme. Royale the most astonishing in her apparent innocence of a world beyond the landlocked French district of Poitou of which she is regional president. (In the latest of many gaffe-strewn interviews, she seemed to be blissfully unaware that the Taliban was no longer the official government of Afghanistan. And which French Socialist does not know how to snigger at George Bush for his lack of sophistication in foreign affairs!)....

I don't think it is sufficiently appreciated that France has now become the most conservative major country in Europe, where different defenses of the status quo are at war only with different forms of nostalgia and even outright reaction.

More here

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I have critiqued some pretty awful nonsense on FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC yesterday and today. I sometimes think there is nearly as much BS in the medical literature as there is in the political literature.

Ethel knows best: "A world authority on cybersex has warned teenagers against posting rude or sexually explicit images of themselves on internet chat sites because of their potential to be used by people who view child pornography. Ethel Quayle, a consultant with the research organisation COPINE (Combating Pedophile Information Networks in Europe), is in Sydney to hold seminars for NSW detectives attached to the Child Protection and Sex Crimes Squad. She said images that children and teenagers believed would remain with their friends found their way on to the internet and became fodder for men who viewed child pornography. "Self-produced material is a huge concern," Dr Quayle said yesterday. She said the material could never be removed from the internet and could become a source of future embarrassment and distress to young people."

Must be all those pesky Nazis (wouldn't be Muslims): "Great Britain, France and Canada saw a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks and vandalism last year, a World Holocaust Day report revealed Sunday. Reported incidents of anti-Semitism rose worldwide -- the highest total number since 2000, said a study by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism and Racism at Israel's Tel Aviv University. The report, written with the World Jewish Congress, was released on Sunday to correspond with Holocaust Memorial Day, Haaretz reported. In all, 590 incidents of violence or vandalism were reported in 2006 against Jews, Jewish property and Jewish institutions, the study said. In Great Britain, more than 100 Jews were attacked -- the highest number in the 20 years -- while the number of violent incidents in France rose by 45 percent and doubled in Canada".

The boom continues: "Yesterday, we had news that retail sales rose 0.7 percent in March, with February sales being revised upward to a 0.5 percent gain from 0.1 percent previously. So despite all the concern that consumers will stop spending now that they're tapping less and less into their home equity, they are continuing to spend... Clearly, Americans are somehow failing to fully comprehend the message put out by the naysayers that incomes are falling, all the new jobs are low-paying, and millions of existing jobs are headed overseas. They're too busy shopping!"

Failure rewarded: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency will replace the American Red Cross as the agency in charge of coordinating the provision of shelter, food and first aid to victims in disasters under an agreement disclosed by a Senate panel yesterday. The change in the government's emergency plans, formalized in letters between FEMA and Red Cross leaders Feb. 21, follows criticism of the way they cooperated after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a new law that bolsters FEMA's role in providing emergency housing, human services, case management and financial help."

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

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

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

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

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Nancy Pelosi Chamberlain

I don't know if Nancy Pelosi ever attended Woodstock, but she acts as though she never quite got over that one "bad trip". Her eyes fluttering and she's always wearing some kind of weird smile. Maybe it is just a natural high. To me she is the modern feminist version of Neville Chamberlain. Her and her party are willing to concede Iraq to whomever, the same way that Chamberlain gave up Czechoslovakia to Hitler. So much for freedom. What country will be next? And then? And then... I guess it just isn't worth it when so much can be gained politically by retreating. After all there is no more Global War on Terror. The dems just declared it. Puff. Gone. Just sit down with Assad, place a daisy in the barrel of his AK, kiss his tookis. Problem solved.

Nancy took this oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

Does she care one iota about the Constitution? After all, it was written by dead white guys a long time ago. It appears that the job of most politicians today is to dissolve the United States of America as quickly as possible. We are the problem. Not China, Russia, Iran, Syria, or Islamists. Nancy, are you going sharia on us in the name of "peace"? You looked great in the Khimar. You'd look so much better with the standard black niqab, though.

Where are the feminists in NOW concerning Islamic women and children? Nowhere. That's because you are FOS. You got your power. You made out OK. How about the women in the Middle East? You say "that's their culture". You say that because you are FOS. If you really cared about women you'd be marching on embassies and the UN demanding women not be treated as property and submitted to female circumcisions.

My contempt for this generation of "liberals" is utterly immense. Freedom is an archaic term to them now.

Source

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There are several more articles here, here and here pointing out that World Bank chairman Wolfowitz did nothing wrong and that the current attacks on him are a setup by members of a corrupt organization.

Another Leftist antisemite: "Don't call left-wing media star Cindy Sheehan an anti-Semite just because she's funded by a group that advocates the destruction of Israel. Call her an anti-Semite because she believes that a dark cabal of Jews is running the US government"

Sweden plans to scrap decades-old wealth tax in move to stay competitive: "Maybe the next Bjorn Borg won't feel compelled to move to Monaco now that Sweden plans to scrap a decades-old "wealth" tax that imposes levies on assets - not just on income. The tax, which a handful of developed countries retain, was designed to keep the rich from getting richer - but is increasingly seen as harming primarily the not-quite-rich upper middle classes. The move, expected to be approved by parliament later this year, underscores the country's efforts to keep successful Swedes and their capital at home by changing its fabled but costly welfare state. "It's not sustainable to keep taxes that radically diverge from other countries," Finance Minister Anders Borg, who is not related to the tennis great, told The Associated Press on Thursday. "Not if you want the money to stay in the country." Several European countries have dropped taxes on wealth in the last decade, including Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland"

Negotiate with this??: "Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan delivered a hate-filled sermon calling for the "liberation of Palestine" through terrorism rather than through inter-Arab and international conferences. Delivered two days after the Riyadh Summit, the sermon, which included a call to slaughter the Jews, was broadcasted on Palestinian television, controlled by Abu Mazen"

The religion of peace again: "Norwegian-Somalian Kadra, who became famous in Norway for exposing imam support of female circumcision, was beaten unconscious on Thursday. Kadra was attacked and beaten senseless by seven or eight persons of Somali origin, newspaper VG reports. "I was terrified. While I lay on the pavement they kicked me and screamed that I had trampled on the Koran. Several shouted Allah-o-akbar (God is great) and also recited from the Koran," Kadra told VG. Kadra linked the attack to recent remarks in VG where she said that the Koran's views on women needed to be reinterpreted. Kadra said that the gang of Somali men attacked her around 3 a.m. in downtown Oslo on Thursday. A medical examination found that she had several broken ribs"

Christians under attack in Iraq: "An unidentified Islamic group has been threatening the Chrisitan Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in the Dora district of Baghdad, a traditionally Assyrian area. The Islamic group issued an ultimatum yesterday to Assyrian families, telling them to leave Christianity and convert to Islam within 24 hours or they would all be killed. The Islamic group also issued a fatwa (a religious edict) to confiscate the property of all Christians, to force Assyrian women to veil themselves, to forbid genuflection (making the sign of the Cross) and the wearing of the Cross. Earlier the same Islamic group forcefully removed the Cross from the churches of St. John and St. George. An affiliated Islamic group in Northern Iraq occupied the Assyrian monastery of Raban Hormuz. The persecution of the Assyrians in the Dora district has been relentless"

Brit "journalists" shaft Israel: "The British reporters union just voted to boycott Israel. The boycott is intended to de-legitimize Israel's right to exist in peace and freedom. It is an endorsement of the Arab-Iranian war against Jerusalem, based on the South African model where the white minority gave up power after an international boycott. But as usual, the Left has its head where the sun shineth not. Contrary to the malevolent Jimmy Carter, Israel is at least as far from an "apartheid nation" as Norway or America. But facts don't count when ideology (and oil dollars to the Jimmy Carter's Center) are at stake. Nobody who follows the British media, like BBC and the Guardian, can be surprised. Today anti-Israel hatred is the disease of the Left, making common cause with Islamofascism. Well, National Socialism was also a kind of Socialism. That's why they called it that. The neo-Fascist Left is not new, but its return to power is very disturbing."

Leftist propaganda bears fruit: "The South Korean student behind the bloodiest school shooting in US history railed against "rich kids", "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" in a note he left behind, US media has reported. The 23-year-old student wrote: "You caused me to do this," in a several-page-long note that he left in his dorm room, ABC News reported."

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

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

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

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

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Stephen Hicks on Left and Right

The very hard-working Stephen Hicks is a philosopher who takes a great interest in history. He wrote a book some time ago which I critiqued. He subsequently wrote a reply to my critique but my intention to reply to his reply got crowded out by other things. But I would like at long last to address some of what he said.

His point that the political polarities in 19th century Europe were different from the political polarities we see in the English-speaking world today is in my view both true and trivial. I would go further and say that the political polarities in Europe and in the English speaking world are STILL different. There are even considerably different polarities in some parts of the English speaking world -- Ireland particularly. I have for that reason limited myself in my monograph on the meaning of conservatism to the Anglo-Saxon countries. The fact that Left and Right are common political terms in both Europe and in the English-speaking world does suggest some convergence and some convergence can in fact on some occasions be discerned but I think that is incidental to an understanding of what Left and Right are in the English speaking world. So I re-iterate my criticism that it is absurd to say, as Hicks does, that you can be of the political Right and also be a socialist! Whether or not such strange terminology was once used in Europe, it makes no sense in current political discussions of the English-speaking world. In our world, the two terms are about as opposite as you can get.

And, just as the denotation of Left and Right is different between nations, it has varied over time. It is a sign of how badly history education has been corrupted that most people in the English speaking world are blissfully unaware of how changeable Leftist policies have been. The basic underlying theme of Leftism -- a hatred of the world they live in and a desire to tear it down and replace it with something more to their liking -- has not changed but the policies they advocate in order to get themselves into power are as changeable as women's fashions. In the first half of the 20th century, for instance, they saw nationalism and racism as the path to power -- precisely what they now deride. Details here.

And it so happens that the American Left of that era (the "Progressives") had comrades in arms in Europe -- people in Europe who had very similar beliefs. We know those people as Fascists and Nazis. That great hero of the American Left, FDR, decribed Mussolini as "that admirable Italian gentleman". So, regardless of the terminology one might use in Europe, in OUR terminology the Fascists and Nazis were Leftists by the standards of their day and to call them Rightists is simply unhistorical.

And it was the Nazis and Fascists rather than the Marxists and the Bolsheviks that the American "Progressives" had an affinity with. American Leftists may have been filled with anger at the world about them and have seen it as in need of much reform but the Bolsheviks and Marxists were filled with RAGE at the world about them and wanted to tear it down utterly and rebuild it from scratch. The Fascists and Nazis, by contrast, were more moderate -- as were the Progressives. They saw the need for big change and for big government to carry it out but they saw enough of value in their existing society not to want to upend absolutely everything.

And it is not only unhistorical to describe the Nazis and Fascists as Rightists but it is also misleading in the context of today's politics. There are certainly people who hold similar racist views today. And it is again on the Left of contemporary American politics that we see constant outpourings of antisemitism. American conservatives want nothing to do with antisemitism and are generally supportive of Israel.

There is also of course a tiny minority who are antisemites but who see themselves as being on the Right. As it happens, I spent a number of years studying just such people intensively. See here and here. And I can assure everyone of two things: 1). Conservatives won't have a bar of them and kick them out of any conservative political party they try to join; and: 2). The policies they favour are collectivist and authoritarian, just as Hitler's policies were. And again like Hitler, the way they differ from the Marxists is that they don't hate their fellow citizens. They want to see a lot of change but they also see much of value in their traditional society that is worth preserving. But to say that their views define the Right is to define the dog by its tail. There is a connection but the dog would still be a dog and get on well without its tail -- as many dogs do.

There is much more I could say on these matters but I have already said much of it here, here and here so I will call a temporary halt at this stage.

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My comment on the Virgina Tech shootings is on GUN WATCH. The gun banners bear a heavy load of guilt today.

SCA has a good comment too: "The escalation of gun violence and the kind of hate to leads to that kind of violence in this country is can be attributed to one cause and one cause alone. When violence or threats of violence are considered legitimate forms of political or social expression, inevitably violence or threats of violence will manifest themselves.Terror has becomes an accepted form of political and social expression, that status granted by those who most profess to be non violent or peaceful. The terror we see here has it’s origins in faraway places brought to our TV screens every day. Those in this country who defend, apologize and legitimize the terror and evil committed elsewhere have facilitated the introduction of terror in this country. They will sooner defend the perpetration of evil and violence than those who would fight that evil ideology that embraces that kind of evil."

"Getting" Wolfowitz: "Wolfowitz was absolutely right to say that the bank had been too tolerant of the risk of corruption for too long, out of the best of intentions - the desire to keep the money flowing and the fear that impoverished societies would suffer if they were penalised for the sins of their leaders. But he did point out, more bluntly than the bank has often acknowledged in the half-century of its existence, that there is such a thing as wasting all the money - not a tenth, not a half, but all of it. No, he wasn't the first person in the bank to say it; yes, he was abrasive; that didn't make him wrong.... Much of the criticism of Wolfowitz's supposedly preferential treatment of his girlfriend looks like an opportunist attempt to hit at an executive who was always too controversial and too resented to be as effective as he might have been. The e-mails that have been released show that Wolfowitz, on his appointment, alerted the bank to the potential conflict of interest with Shaha Riza ... It is not the real cause of the opposition ... That stemmed from opposition to his reforms... But the danger is that the attacks on him will deflect attention from his attempt to change the bank. There is plenty of sign that this is the express aim of some of his critics."

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

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

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

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

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Brookes News Update

The US economy: is manufacturing and the yield curve signalling recession?: The signals are mixed about the immediate direction of the US economy. So before anyone starts making predictions I strongly suggest that they recall their economic history and continue to bear in mind the monetary power of central banks
Chinese economy: purchasing power and production: If Chinese economic progress is to be comparatively smooth then the government needs to learn not only the lessons of economic history but also the wisdom of the so-called classical economists whose understanding of fundamental economic forces has been largely forgotten
Putting the Hayekian horse back before the Keynesian cart: an Austrian approach to the business cycle, part I: Mainstream economic analysis starts and often finishes with mutterings about what the 'consumer' will or will not do. But consumption does not drive the economy - only business spending can do that. Policies that promote consumption are actually undermining the capital structure and hence future living standards
Supply-side economics and the money supply, part I: According to supply-siders the key to economic growth and prosperity is low marginal tax rates. However, the supply-side school also maintains that a low marginal tax rate will not be sufficient, that it must be accompanied by a monetary policy that aims at achieving price stability This is a surefire recipe for creating booms and busts
The anti-enlightenment left: This culture war is not a battle of ideas. It's a war against truth being waged by the left. Since religion is the effort to be right morally and spiritually while science is the effort to be right in the physical world, it is not surprising to find the left so passionately against both
Dallas is Bush country and leave your guns at the door!: I covered the war in Beirut in June of '82. I was there for several weeks. During that time I saw first hand how Islamofascists think. They don't know how to read and write but are experts at making bombs. Meanwhile liberal Hollywood Jews, such as Spielberg and Geffen, are throwing money at Obama
Is the US economy still picking up steam?: US economy: manufacturing is not signalling recession - at least not yet. Nevertheless, there is much to worry about, including Bernanke's gross error on capital and credit growth

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Tax cuts mean growth

BY FRED THOMPSON

The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 and 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy. Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy.

In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half. Remarkably, this has happened despite the financial trauma of 9/11 and the cost of the War on Terror. The deficit, compared to the entire economy, is well below the average for the last 35 years and, at this rate, the budget will be in surplus by 2010.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this success story is where the increased revenues are coming from. Critics claimed that across-the-board tax cuts were some sort of gift to the rich but, on the contrary, the wealthy are paying a greater percentage of the national bill than ever before. The richest 1% of Americans now pays 35% of all income taxes. The top 10% pay more taxes than the bottom 60%.

The reason for this outcome is that, because of lower rates, money is being invested in our economy instead of being sheltered from the taxman. Greater investment has created overall economic strength. Job growth is robust, overcoming trouble in the housing sector; and the personal incomes of Americans at every income level are higher than they've ever been.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

Fred for Prez: "When his daughter Betsy died, Fred Thompson, a genial 6ft 6in senator for Tennessee, lost his enthusiasm for the rough and tumble of politics. Shortly afterwards he announced that he would not run for reelection.... It dawned on him this year that he could ride back into town as president only when, one by one, the conservative choices for the 2008 Republican ticket revealed their flaws. They seemed out of sync with the party or the country or both. Thompson's name began to be aired by old friends and party power-brokers and, suddenly, the idea of Fred Thompson for president caught fire. Thompson, a good ol' Southern boy with bags of charm to match those under his eyes and chin, is already known to millions as a tough district attorney in the hugely popular TV series Law and Order and has appeared in films such as In the Line of Fire, with Clint Eastwood, and The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery. A national poll last week put Thompson, 64, in second place behind Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and three points ahead of Senator John McCain - and he hasn't even declared yet that he is running or spent a cent on campaigning. It suggests that he has the potential to be frontrunner in the Republican field.

Bill Whittle on conspiracy theorists: "No, what fascinates me is the emotional motive of people who, presented with overwhelming evidence that the events that transpired on November 22nd, 1963 or September 11th, 2001 really happened exactly the way it appeared, continue to spin ever more elaborate webs in order to get to a place they need to be emotionally. Who are you going to believe: them or your own lying eyes? ... I've met a number of these people. I know this is harsh, but I'm sick of watching the damage they are doing to this civilization: these people are, to a man, complete losers. Losers. They are desperate and sad people who need to believe in some dark secret to give meaning to their lives."

Google listens -- a little: After my big grumble of last Friday about Google not indexing many of my writings, I find today that all of my more recent articles and all chapters in my 1974 book are now findable via Google! There are still some huge gaps in their coverage, however. They no longer seem to archive my older academic papers, for a start. And with my interest in history I found this article from "The Times" of London very interesting -- which live.com reveals is also reproduced here -- but Google has apparently searched neither site. Weird! I wonder when people will realize that Microsoft's live.com is a much better search engine.

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

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

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

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

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Animal welfare roundup

PETA is not alone

More "animal rescue" fraud: "Noah's Wish, an animal rescue group based in Placerville, has closed operations and is being investigated by the California attorney general's office for how it spent and accounted for millions of dollars that poured in after Hurricane Katrina. The organization, which was founded in 2002 by Terri Crisp, rescued animals in disasters and drew widespread publicity for its work in the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Before Katrina, the group brought in between $100,000 and $200,000 a year, according to financial nonprofit records filed with the state. After the hurricane, a staggering $8.5 million in cash and other contributions poured in, according to financial documents obtained by The Bee."

Animal Rescue Workers Face Trial Over Shelter Conditions: "LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A judge Thursday ordered a pair of animal rescue workers to stand trial on animal cruelty charges stemming from the discovery of nearly 300 sick cats and dogs in a shelter they ran. Long Beach Superior Court Judge J.D. Lord found sufficient evidence for Alexia Selma Tiraki-Kyrklund and Gloria Ramos to go to trial on 13 felony counts of animal cruelty. The women, both 39, ran Noah's Ark Animal Rescue. Animal control officers found 152 dogs and 147 cats in the company's warehouse after a police officer responding to an alarm smelled a foul odor. Most animals were emaciated and covered in urine and feces and at least one animal had to be euthanized, said Deputy District Attorney Lakeri Patankar.

Massachusetts fat-cats: "Before the Animal Rescue League of Boston opened its Pembroke shelter in 2002, animal welfare advocates criticized the nonprofit organization for sitting on its money, taking a decade to build a shelter and spending too little on animal care and services. Now, as the League prepares to walk away from the shelter after only five years, critics question the organization's spending habits, including investments and executive salaries. In 2005, the most recent year for which a tax return is available, the League brought in almost $7.2 million in revenue and spent nearly $8.9 million. That year, $6.8 million went to program services and nearly $4 million to salaries. The League's outgoing president, Arthur Slade, was paid $203,909 in salary plus $14,846 in pension contributions and deferred compensation. The incoming president that year, John Bowen, earned nearly $15,000 for his first month's work, starting Dec. 1, 2005. The League's chief operating officer earned about $151,000 and at least four other top employees, one of them a veterinarian, earned between $84,000 and $94,000. The League also paid 12 other employees $50,000 or more."

Anti-fur crowd lecture Pope about "sacredness": "An Italian animal rights group today asked Pope Benedict XVI to stop wearing fur out of "respect for the sacredness" of animals' lives. The Italian Anti-Vivisection League said the Pope should not wear a fur hat the Vatican has ordered from a manufacturer in the northern city of Pavia ahead of his visit to a university there on April 22. "Out of respect for the sacredness of the lives of all living species, we invite the Holy Father to arrive at a choice of high religious and ethical value by giving up fur clothing for that occasion and for the future," the group's vice president, Roberto Bennati, said. Benedict XVI, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on Monday, regularly wears clothing with fur, particularly during outdoor ceremonies in the winter."

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ELSEWHERE

Emptyheaded Obama flagging: "To Democrats expecting repeats of his breathtaking speech to the 2004 party convention, which launched his national political career, Obama has appeared low-key and tired at times during the early stages of his campaign. In meetings across the country he rarely wins more than one or two polite standing ovations. One Hollywood supporter recently noted that the crowd at one of his events "seemed to me unmoved, frankly" and "Barack seemed a little tired, to be honest". A Gallup poll on Friday, taken as news of an astonishing $25m fundraising haul was announced, showed support for him at 19%, well behind Clinton on 38%.... Pressure is growing on the Illinois senator to unveil more policies. While Sorenson said that Obama reminded him of the young Kennedy, another guest said: "It's all very well to talk about hope and idealism and values, but what about specific programmes?"

Globalization and free trade: "Freedom of trade is really a very simple concept. Each individual should be at liberty to buy from and sell to whomever he wishes on mutually agreed-upon terms. Whether the partners to this trade live next door to each other or are separated by thousands of miles should make absolutely no difference to the logic of the idea."

A rare spasm of realism from the Left: "Abolish all agricultural subsidies... This is one of those rare topics that unites right and left. It is also one of the few remaining free lunches in economics from which practically everyone gains. It would galvanise developing countries' agriculture while freeing more than $300bn currently being spent by governments - over $200 per capita - every year on subsidies for other purposes. There will inevitably be transitional problems for some western farmers but nothing like the structural change other industries have experienced. And in the long run it will be of benefit to them, too. They will be able to grow crops they are good at rather than those attracting subsidies. All that the developing countries are seeking is a level playing field on which to compete. Is that too much to ask?"

Police officers and firefighters ... or stupid laws: "How do you feel when you see a police car behind you on the road? Would you be worried if you had a knock on the door and saw a police officer standing there? Now, how do you feel when you see a fire truck behind you on the road? Other than being worried your house was on fire, would you be uneasy to see a firefighter standing at your door? I believe that the only reason the average American has different feelings toward firefighters and police officers, both of whom are there to protect us, is our government has burdened our police officers with stupid laws to enforce."

British police scam: "Motorists whose cars are stolen are being told they must pay the police at least 105 pounds if they want them to recover their vehicle when it is found and check it for forensic clues. The scheme - being implemented by forces across the country - has been attacked by angry motorists. Only car owners who agree to pay the fee, which in theory is to cover storage, are assured their cars will be "forensicated" - which means dusted down for fingerprints or swabbed for DNA. A police letter approved by the Home Office warns motorists who recover their own vehicles that the cars will not be checked for clues. It states: "[The police force will accept] no further responsibility and will be unable to take further action to identify the person who took it." Opposition MPs this weekend attacked the charges, which often cannot be recovered under car insurance policies, for penalising the victims of car crime. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "Taxpayers already pay twice for policing, through central taxation and council tax. "It's ludicrous to charge them a third time for the police to do their normal job when their cars have been stolen through no fault of their own."

"Star wars" system works: "The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] conducted another successful flight test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system today, intercepting a unitary target in THAAD's second flight test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI. This hit-to-kill intercept demonstrated THAAD's precision against in-bound threats and its ability to provide increased protection for troops and assets."

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

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

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

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

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LET EUROPE SECURE ITS OWN OIL SUPPLIES

Excerpt below from American Thinker. Note that with Western hemisphere oil -- from Mexico, Venezuela, Alaska etc., the USA does not really need Arab oil. Most Alaskan oil goes in fact to Japan

Europe gets forty percent of its oil through the Persian Gulf. But by an accident of history (and civilized policy -- ours, that is) it is the United States that guards the Gulf from madmen like Ahmadinejad. Well, so be it. We gain from world peace and free trade, and it is better to keep the maniacs far away from our shores.

But it is now way past time for Europe to step up to the plate again. They have the economic might, the population, the brains -- but not the guts -- to behave as a decent actor on the world stage. And the British "hostage crisis" -- which was not a crisis at all, but a staged provocation, an invitation for the Brits to kowtow, which they did -- should spell the end of our patience.

Europe's response to Ahaminejad's game tells us all we need to know. Tony Blair tossed the hot potato to the UN, which tossed it right back again. Then he tried his good friends in the EU, and they ducked it altogether. Then, secretly, he got George W. to trade Iran's Quds thugs, who were imprisoned in Iraq for directing IED attacks on Americans, in trade for those 15 clueless Brits. Result: The West looked helpless against the ruthless blackmailers of Qom. So in the end, Europe got away again with letting Uncle Sam do it.

We can shrug off the screaming anti-American hate mongering of the media in Germany, France and (on the Left) in Britain. We can ignore the fact that Britain is selling its sovereignty to the EU, about as feckless a bunch of political con artists as ever exploited a badly indoctrinated population. What we cannot allow, over the long term, is to get stuck with all the adult work of maintaining the peace around the world, while the Europeans exploit our generosity and we pay the price in blood and treasure. It's past time for Europe to grow up.

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THIS DISGRACE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES

How dumb and irresponsible can military bureaucrats get? Every soldier or ex-soldier knows the answer to that: VERY. For decades the U.S. army has been issuing its troops with a rifle that constantly refuses to work -- despite unending complaints and despite the danger to the lives of the troops. No wonder lots of U.S. troops in Iraq keep an AK47 handy!

It's a debate that's gone on for years - and now it's finally coming to a head. The compact M4 carbine - a shortened version of the M16 - that is now standard issue for most Army troops, some Marines and other specialized units is facing increased criticism because of its tendency to malfunction with even the minutest exposure to the elements. Some ground communities, including special operations forces, have begun to sideline the M4 in favor of newer, gas-piston operated variants such as the Heckler & Koch-manufactured 416 and the FNH-built Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR....

The 416 is used by the Army's elite Delta Force, and a recent Army Times investigation showed the service's top equipment buyers ignored data from the spec ops community showing the M4 had fundamental flaws. Enamored by the development of futuristic weapons such as the XM29 and, later, XM8 - neither of which were ever fielded - the M4 stayed in the hands of Soldiers deploying to hot, dusty, austere environments like Iraq and Afghanistan....

So far, however, the Army is unwilling to buy what the special operations community believes is a clearly superior system and is still spending money looking for another technology while Soldiers use what many say is an inferior weapon in harsh combat conditions.

More here

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ELSEWHERE

The hypocrites who condemn Imus: "Sharpton and Jackson have now highlighted something they never intended to address, i.e., the vile and disgusting content of much hip-hop and rap music. Conservative talk show hosts don't play this stuff on the air. It's the bread-and-butter of Urban radio stations. Hollywood celebrates it ("It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Original Song—lyrics here) Sharpton and Jackson have never picketed an Urban radio station; they've never called for boycotts of the record labels that produce this filth; they've never asked the FCC to investigate the playing of these recordings on the public airwaves; and they've never demanded the firing of any DJs or executives who promote it."

Possible Imus backlash?: "It's possible CBS, MSNBC and other advertisers forgot something. Imus's fans. He had about 3 million listeners, and if the local affiliate call in show is any indication, people are PO'd as hell about how CBS and MSNBC handled this. So far not a positive call one about Sharpton, with callers using all the well known names he is know by. While a lot of callers cite that he was wrong about making the statement, they are outraged that CBS and MSNBC bowed to race pressure and blackmail. A lot of the talk is of fan letter writing campaigns and stuff to force CBS to put the show back up on the air. Anyone knows, 3 million people can bark real loud at sponsors. This could get good".

A good quote from Taranto: "The news media, supposedly vigilant against racial stereotypes, actually are relentless in promoting politically correct ones: privileged whites, victimized blacks. As with all stereotypes, these have a degree of truth--but as the Duke case shows, stereotypes also can obscure the truth, sometimes with unjust results."

Waste and mismanagement are the hallmarks of government: "As many as 6 million prepared meals stockpiled near potential victims of the 2006 hurricane season spoiled in the Gulf Coast heat last summer when the Federal Emergency Management Agency ran short of warehouse and refrigeration space, according to agency officials."

UK: Govgoons to raid homes over parking tickets?: "The UK parliament is considering legislation that would authorize bailiffs to break into the homes of motorists accused of not paying parking tickets. Under legislation currently making its way through the House of Commons, bailiffs would seize items out of the home in order to pay off the amount owed in tickets, plus hefty fees. Any homeowner that attempting to stop the bailiff would face up to a year in prison."

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

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

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

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

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