Lots of interesting news and commentary to catch up with today so I am not putting up a single leading post



Faith in a failed process: "During his recent trip to Israel, President Bush visited several places that re-affirmed his faith, including Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee. Then exhibiting far greater faith than believing Jesus could walk on water, he asserted that "peace" could be had between Israel, the Palestinians and her Arab neighbors. One exhibition of faith has some historic roots and witnesses; the other is rooted in fantasy. Since 1937, there have been 18 formal attempts by commissions, conferences, resolutions, summits and other gatherings to persuade the Jewish lamb to lie down with the Arab lion. All have failed. This latest attempt by President Bush, like those of presidents before him, will also fail"

McCain to Pharmaceutical Innovators: Drop Dead : "Voters will be pardoned for speculating whether aliens have somehow captured Senator John McCain, nominally a Republican candidate for President, and replaced his mind with that of Democratic class-warrior candidate John Edwards. The latest evidence came during the January 5, 2008 Republican candidates' debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, when Senator McCain slurred the pharmaceutical industry as "the big bad guys." Thus, in addition to his dubious positions on tax cuts, waterboarding of terrorists and McCain/Feingold's free speech restrictions, he has now gone on record attacking America's pharmaceutical companies, which constitute one of this country's most innovative and valuable industries."

Fox News, the most trusted name in television: "Poll shows it is more trusted than the No. 2 and No. 3 combined. Sacred Heart University in Connecticut polled 800 people in the 50 states and found: "The most trusted national TV news organizations, for accurate reporting, in declining order included: Fox News (27.0%), CNN (14.6%), and NBC News (10.90%). These were followed by ABC News (7.0%), local news (6.9%), CBS News (6.8%) MSNBC (4.0%), PBS News (3.0%), CNBC (0.6%) and CBN (0.5%)." The pollsters noted that just 4 years earlier, CNN was the most trusted at 23.8% followed by Fox at 14.8%."

Investors say their No. 1 fear is a Democratic president: "So what do investors fear most in the coming year? The election of a Democrat as president. Aaron Siegel of Investment News reported that investors believe the No. 1 risk to the economy is a Democratic president. He cited the Brinker Barometer. "The results jibe with a poll that Brinker conducted last summer in which 60% of advisers said that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., would be the worst choice in terms of the economy and investing," Siegel reported."

UK says Iran hoodwinked U.S.: "The head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has expressed "grave doubts" that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons program as reported last month in the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate... The U.S. report was blasted again last week by a furious President Bush on his visit to Israel. His anger was reinforced by an MI6 report supported by Israel's Mossad intelligence service. MI6 chief John Scarlett and Mossad leader Meir Dagan believe the U.S. report not only has undermined efforts to impose tough new sanctions on Iran but, ironically, makes a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities more likely. The prospect of that attack came closer when Israel's new ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, said that Iran "will have enough uranium to make an atomic bomb by 2009." Proser is one of Israel's leading experts on Iran's nuclear program."

The coming oil price decline: ""Oil prices have finally reached $100 a barrel. I now hear predictions of $200 a barrel. People who make forecasts like round numbers. I do not expect $200 oil any time soon. I expect $85 oil first, and $70 oil first, and $50 oil first. I do not believe in doomsday scenarios that relate to the earth's resources. There are phenomena in the universe that can end the earth or human life on it. They do not include running out of energy because we lack resources."

Hollywood distortions: ""American Rhapsody is a movie about a family that gets smuggled out of Hungary in the early 1960s and all the various complications this gives rise to. Since I went through this ordeal myself when I was 14, not with my family but several perfect strangers and a paid guide, I thought I'd check out the movie. Expecting to see something familiar I'd witness, instead a very distorted picture of the escape emerged right from the start. And I have met up with this distortion before, when in 1981 TIME magazine carried a lengthy story about what TIME called flesh peddlers, the people who hired out their skills of leading escapees across the dangerous Iron Curtain. Just as TIME did, so American Rhapsody depicted the people-smugglers not as heroes, not as folks doing an important piece of work for which hundreds of refugees would forever be grateful. No. Both TIME and American Rhapsody depicted the smugglers as rapacious, greedy, heartless brutes who had no concern for their clients at all, especially not the young children who accompanied them. My experience was completely different."

Should the state regulate envy?: "Falling Behind belongs to an unfortunate genre: books by well-known economists that endeavor to justify crude soak-the-rich policies. Paul Krugman and, from an earlier day, John Kenneth Galbraith are perhaps the best-known authors of such works; but Frank fully equals these eminent figures in his railings against the well-off. Tax relief for the rich fills him with dismay."

Israel's TRUE friends: "John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt are at it again, attempting to poison the well of American politics with their misleading depiction of an Israeli stranglehold on presidential candidates and elected officials like us. In their Op-Ed article, the two professors charge that the so-called Israel lobby, composed of pro-Israel Jews, Christians and their "friends in the media," manipulates American political leaders to act counter to American - and, in their view, Israeli - interests. Mearsheimer and Walt accuse all of us who support Israel in its struggle to live in peace and security of being Israel's "false friends." The accusation is remarkably disingenuous since it implies that Walt and Mearsheimer are Israel's true friends. These so-called true friends put the entirety of the blame for the failure of the peace process on the Israelis."

Felon-Friendly Congress: "Often, what emerges from Congress is a parody not only of good government, but of common sense. The chairman of the House subcommittee on the federal work force thinks the feds should actively recruit felons into government employment. "The federal government is one of the places that has not been doing enough to help give people a second chance," said Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill. "We can't lead where we haven't been," so Davis intends to introduce a bill to make the federal workplace more felon-friendly. Never mind that rehabilitation of felons is largely a pipe-dream: According to the Department of Justice, more than 50 percent of convicted felons re-offend. (And that statistic includes only the ones who are caught)"

Louisiana prefers Jindal to corruption : "Little is ordinary about Louisiana's new governor, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. He's the nation's youngest governor, the first whose parents are from India, and his state's first nonwhite chief executive since Reconstruction. A convert from Hinduism to Catholicism, he likes fast food and rises early - like 3 a.m. - to lift weights. But all that pales in comparison to the extraordinary task he's promised to undertake: cleaning up a state government widely considered one of the most corruption-prone in America. Perhaps equally extraordinary: Some political observers say he can do it. Governor Jindal was inaugurated here in Baton Rouge Monday amid the booms of a 19-cannon salute and a children's choir singing "The Crawdad Song." With government flaws exposed by the 2005 storm, "the stars are now aligning" for deep reforms in a state infamous for having more imprisoned politicians per capita than any other, Jindal says. "After years of scandals and jokes, it's almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy that there was this Louisiana way. Now, people are optimistic that we can actually do something about it," he adds.

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

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

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

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

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A not so merry old Cole

Juan Cole is a University of Michigan Middle East studies professor who is so dumb as to believe that Iraq is on the Mediterranean. And if you read here you will see that the wacky Prof. Cole does not even know that a large part of what is the USA today was taken from Mexico! He really is a rather pathetic case. Leftists and the facts just do not get on. Cole calls his blog Informed Comment, in the fine old Leftist tradition of calling a thing by its opposite.

Unfortunately, however, many unaware people could well take him seriously so we need to note that he is also a deliberate distorter of the facts and a deceiver of the public -- as this article reveals. Cole purports to believe the Iranian propaganda about the recent confrontation in the Straits of Hormuz between the U.S. navy and Iranian speedboats and is willing to misrepresent easily checkable facts in order to support that propaganda.

He must be one of the lowest-quality professors around. Students who have paid to attend his courses ought to demand a refund! Pro-Leftist and pro-Islamic distortions are just about all that they will have learned.

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The Other Foot

By Bob Parks

Under normal circumstances, this election cycle would be gearing up for the coming explosion. We'd be waiting for the inevitable. At some point in the coming weeks, a Republican would be accused of being a racist. With that, it's kind of fun watching the media scratch their collective, oversized, dandruffed heads, contemplating why the current Democrat primary race is being plagued by the very infection normally reserved for their enemies.

Democrats now have the shoe on their other foot. They have spent decades honing their skills, planting race IEDs on the sides of the Republican campaign trail, waiting for some unsuspecting conservative candidate to set off a race controversy. Every speech, every appearance, every word uttered from a Republican's mouth was dissected in search for the intolerance ammunition to be used for Democrat blaxploitation.

It's not news that Democrats have used blacks for their political benefit. Blacks have been told they are victims of racism. Blacks have been intentionally kept angry because of the lack of campaign promised improvements in their lives. Blacks have been conditioned to look at every syllable uttered by a Republican and insert a racist motive where one didn't exist. Blacks have been strategically rendered as ultra-sensitive as a bone bruise on the shin.

While Democrats knew where all the bombs were planted, never in their wildest dreams did they think they would need to disarm them. In what were probably typical retorts between candidates, the Clintons are now experiencing the angst caused when their words have been reinterpreted, motives have been assumed, and the unintentional has now been taken as the ingrained. While the Clintons are probably not racist people, they now have to spend valuable campaign time attempting to convince a portion of our population that they're not. My only question to them is, "How does it feel?"

More here

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ELSEWHERE

Amusing story here. Obama could be scuppered not by the white vote but by the Hispanic vote!

Hillary Clinton's Messiah Complex: "It's no secret that Hillary Clinton views herself as a member of the God Squad, divinely anointed to shepherd the masses to greater gender consciousness. "Hillary acts as though she has been chosen by God," recounts Edward Klein, author of The Truth about Hillary. "I find her to be among the most self-righteous people I've ever known," explains former New York Times reporter Bob Boorstin. And during her senate campaign Hillary glowed approvingly whenever Black preachers declared her "a woman of God." But how many people know how Mrs. Clinton's messianic streak may lead to her political undoing? During her childhood Hugh Rodham treated Hillary as Daddy's favorite, sparing her from many of the chastisements and chores he imposed on her hapless brothers. As brother Tony remarked enviously, "Little Hillary could do no wrong." Hillary's teenage involvement with the local Methodist church only reinforced her emerging priggishness. By the age of 17, Hillary's "messianism and sense of entitlement" were already evident, reveals Carl Bernstein in A Woman in Charge."

You can't win with the Left: "Do you notice how the left is trying to paint this mortgage crisis on the lenders? It's all about crooked or unscrupulous or greedy mortgage lenders and brokers. It happens that when many of these substandard loans were being made by these "unscrupulous" lenders I wasn't that far away from making my living practicing law and was doing quite a few real estate closings. I can remember a series of articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about redlining and all of the horrible, racist things evil mortgage lenders do to avoid making loans to blacks and low income people. The pressure was clearly on. Either the mortgage lenders start to do something creative to bring more low income types and minorities into the realm of home ownership, or the government was going to step in and make them do it. What did we get? Substandard mortgages. The left was out there whining that the mortgage companies weren't doing enough . so here come the loans who otherwise couldn't have qualified . and now we haver the mortgage crunch and record foreclosures."

Freedom has a history: "The Heritage Index of Economic Freedom for 2008 is out. Only 7 nations out of 162 listed were declared free. In order, they are Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland, Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Canada.Ireland is the Celtic Tiger thanks to slashing tax rates 10 years ago... It is no accident that all 7 are former colonies of Great Britain, which fell to 10th place (Chile and Switzerland were 8 and 9).

It couldn't happen to a more deserving guy: "Disgraced and disbarred, Mike Nifong is now bankrupt. The former North Carolina prosecutor, whose career imploded with his botched handling of the Duke University rape case, today filed for bankruptcy, listing liabilities in excess of $180 million".

Saving Major Coughlin: "It may not be too late to save the career of a Pentagon analyst of jihad threats whose frank and honest work has gotten him into trouble. Bill Gertz in his weekly Washington Times "Inside the Ring" column (1/11/08) reported that "Pentagon and military leaders, along with lots of working-level officials, are quietly rallying" in support of Major Stephen Coughlin (USAR), whose plight I have discussed, earlier here. Gertz also makes clear in no uncertain terms, dismissing some rumor mongering, that Coughlin was being accused "falsely" of talking "out of school to the press."

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

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

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

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

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OBAMA AS A "THIRD WAY" CANDIDATE

The most influential "third way" politician of the 20th century was that famous Marxist theoretician, Italy's Benito Mussolini, the founder of Fascism. The idea seems to have enduring appeal to Leftists. But it always seems to end up as just another mask for the same old Leftist reliance on big government and coercion. And now Obama is playing that fiddle too. Few conservatives would see any substance in Obama's third-way claims. His actual policies all seem -- as far as one can tell -- to be boilerplate Leftism. The article excerpted below from a Left-leaning Australian writer does however buy the claim. He compares Obama to Australian centre-Leftists. Australian centre-Leftists do however exhibit a lot of genuine conservatism and I am at a loss to see any of that in Obama.

Now Barack has published a book with an improbable name. The Audacity of Hope. It has been a sales pitch for his presidential run, an attempt to make himself a crossover candidate for more progressive Republicans. Describing himself as a Christian and a sceptic, he distances himself from Huckabee by confirming his belief in evolution and stem cell research, but talks up a faith-based politics while defending secularism. It's a hard act in a society where religious and ideological differences have never been so emphasised and manipulated.

Obama became famous overnight when, in July 2004, the junior senator from Illinois (he's from Abraham Lincoln's Springfield, not Homer Simpson's) electrified the Democratic National Convention with a speech that sought to bridge the divide. And the book expands on all the themes of that address. I'm listening to the audio version, read by Obama with an energy and attack that's deeply impressive. If he weren't running for the presidency he'd be a contender for a Pulitzer in journalism. The political analysis of what he calls the dead zone of US politics is superb, as is the writing.

This is the classic third way argument, developed by Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, but with refinements. Most of all, Obama reminds me of Kevin Rudd in his views on the role of a social democrat party in a 21st century Western democracy. Their natural affinity was shown in Obama's congratulatory phone call to Rudd after his recent victory. If he wins the White House the two of them will be natural allies, capable of working more closely and more cordially than John Howard and George W. Bush....

On Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, Obama was a revelation. Not once in more than 50 years of watching telly had I seen a politician so utterly and seductively relaxed. Not the faux relaxation that most affect, it seemed to come from Obama's oft-stated view that he's learned to campaign without a fear of losing. If so, it's transformational, giving him a freedom of expression and a depth of humour that leaves Hillary and Mike Huckabee for dead. He's the least processed and manufactured of candidates, and certainly one of the smartest.

For example, he opposes the demonisation of Bush. We do that, we're the losers. While powerfully opposing the President's policies, he concedes the possibility of personal decency. When he argues that the administration, though monstrously wrong, believes that what it's doing is right for the country, fellow Democrats get very angry. But it wins Obama crossover Republican votes, as evidenced in Iowa.

More here

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ELSEWHERE

VERY sad news: Tim Blair has cancer. He is in his early 40s.

There is an interesting article here by the occasionally sensible Andrew Hotcock on the latest survey of violent deaths in Iraq since the U.S. intervention there. I think that there is now general agreement among those who know anything about it that the "600,000 deaths" report by Lancet has no credibility but the more recent NEJM survey reporting 151,000 deaths (of which only a sixth were due to violence) has not attracted much criticism. Hotcock makes a strong case that the 151,000 figure is also highly arbitrary. As a Leftist he thinks it is too low but nobody really knows -- and maybe nobody ever will know.

Hillary keeps mentioning that she is female and that Barack Obama is black, while also insisting that none of that matters: "This is the most exciting election we've had in such a long time because you have an African American, an extraordinary man, a person of tremendous talents and abilities, running to become our president. You have a woman running to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling. I don't think either of us want to inject race or gender in this campaign. We are running as individuals. . . . Well, you know, I don't think that either of us should use gender. I don't think this campaign is about gender, and I sure hope it's not about race. It needs to be about the individuals. . . . "

Hillary booed in NY: "Dogged by continuing racial tensions around her presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a smattering of boos on Monday when she spoke at a religiously tinged Martin Luther King Jr. rally put together by a union organizing predominantly black security workers. The catcalls came when Clinton was introduced and her speech drew only tepid applause compared to the boisterous ovations drawn by many of the pastors and reverends - not to mention a hip-hop artist and slam poet - who took the podium before her."

Obama not so different from white racist David Duke?: "I have no idea how a member of a black church that apparently feels it owes greater allegiance to Africa than to America and that pays homage to a bigot like Farrakhan, has the gall to present himself as the one candidate who can bring us all together. To be fair, I acknowledge that he has a pleasant smile and speaks better than most politicians. The truth is, he sort of reminds me of David Duke."

Brit Muslim leader speaks out against "honor" killings: "One of Britain's leading Muslims has called on his community to rise up against a culture of fear and help stamp out forced marriages and honour killings after the third high-profile court case in Britain in the past year. Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, head of the Muslim Parliament in Britain, spoke out after a coroner ruled on Friday that 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed was "unlawfully killed" and that "the concept of an arranged marriage was central to the circumstances of her death". Mr Siddiqui said he was certain the schoolgirl, who wanted to go to university and become a lawyer, was the victim of an honour killing. No charges have yet been bought by police"

The financial cost of the Iraq war: "The future historian would note that for the past century America has been one of largest military powers on the planet. This naturally involved a budgetary commitment. For some of the past century, the American military was quite small. But on average American military spending was about twice the share of GDP that it now is, about 5%. Moreover, with Iraq consuming between 15% and 20% of that figure, the future historian would likely view the entire affair as relatively minor in purely budgetary terms. That is hard for us to comprehend while living through it, but it is the way the numbers break."

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

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

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

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

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"Culture" is what you have when you are not having "race"

The research summarized below shows that whites and Asians think differently but the authors ASSUME that all differences between Asians and Caucasians are cultural. There is not a breath of a suggestion about the obvious possibility that the two groups may be genetically different. To give the authors their due, however, they do make some attempt to show that the differences are cultural. They show that Asians who have the most Asian attitudes also have the most Asian brain function. That, however, is simply to confuse cause and effect. The evidence that attitudes are strongly transmitted genetically is summarized here. Sadly, however, the authors HAD to attribute their results to culture. Otherwise they would have been tarred as "racists"

Psychological research has established that American culture, which values the individual, emphasizes the independence of objects from their contexts, while East Asian societies emphasize the collective and the contextual interdependence of objects. Behavioral studies have shown that these cultural differences can influence memory and even perception. But are they reflected in brain activity patterns"

To find out, a team led by John Gabrieli, a professor at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, asked 10 East Asians recently arrived in the United States and 10 Americans to make quick perceptual judgments while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner--a technology that maps blood flow changes in the brain that correspond to mental operations. Subjects were shown a sequence of stimuli consisting of lines within squares and were asked to compare each stimulus with the previous one. In some trials, they judged whether the lines were the same length regardless of the surrounding squares (an absolute judgment of individual objects independent of context). In other trials, they decided whether the lines were in the same proportion to the squares, regardless of absolute size (a relative judgment of interdependent objects).

In previous behavioral studies of similar tasks, Americans were more accurate on absolute judgments, and East Asians on relative judgments. In the current study, the tasks were easy enough that there were no differences in performance between the two groups. However, the two groups showed different patterns of brain activation when performing these tasks. Americans, when making relative judgments that are typically harder for them, activated brain regions involved in attention-demanding mental tasks. They showed much less activation of these regions when making the more culturally familiar absolute judgments. East Asians showed the opposite tendency, engaging the brain's attention system more for absolute judgments than for relative judgments.

"We were surprised at the magnitude of the difference between the two cultural groups, and also at how widespread the engagement of the brain's attention system became when making judgments outside the cultural comfort zone," says Hedden.

The researchers went on to show that the effect was greater in those individuals who identified more closely with their culture. They used questionnaires of preferences and values in social relations, such as whether an individual is responsible for the failure of a family member, to gauge cultural identification. Within both groups, stronger identification with their respective cultures was associated with a stronger culture-specific pattern of brain-activation.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

Jeff Jacoby has a useful summary of why the "600,000 Iraqi deaths" study published in The Lancet was just propaganda. Tigerhawk has some good comments too.

Change: the empty word: "It's hard to think of a more meaningless political watchword than "change," but "change" is what the presidential candidates are promising. Barack Obama's endless repetition of the word won him the Iowa caucuses, prompting other Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to make it their mantra too. Hillary Clinton and [RINO] John McCain won in New Hampshire by arguing that they too wanted change and that they had the experience necessary to bring it about." And Mark Steyn rightly points out that it is WHICH change that matters, not just any change.

Reality dawns very slowly in the EU: "The use of armed "sky marshals" on passenger planes is set to spread across Europe, following a deal on aviation security hammered out in the 27-nation European Union. After the September 11 attacks in the United States, the European Union adopted joint rules for checking air passengers, their baggage, freight, mail and flight and ground crews. But measures such as the use of on-board security personnel were optional. At the end of consultations, European parliament members and officials from EU states agreed on a compromise setting new common rules and standards. "The necessity of new security measures that are implemented quickly and effectively is undoubted," transport committee chairman Paolo Costa said."

Britain. The cancer of bureaucracy again: "A quango distributing lottery money has been accused by the Conservatives of wasting millions of pounds on salaries and administration while cutting donations. Costs at the Big Lottery Fund, which is responsible for handing out half the money for good causes raised by the Lotto, have risen from 73 million in 2006 to 77 million pounds last year. The amount distributed has dropped from 696 million to 469 million because the Government has diverted funds to the 2012 Olympics. The fund's administration costs amounted to 12.8 per cent of its income. In comparison the charities Scope and Children in Need spent 2 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively. The research showed that the fund, where five of the twelve board members are Labour members, has 1,103 employees compared with 1,170 at the Treasury, but while the fund distributes 630 million annually, the Treasury distributes 500 times that amount."

Some of the doubts about Obama: "When Hillary Clinton warned that Barack Obama had not been thoroughly "vetted", as she has been, she was hinting darkly at trouble to come over her rival's radical pastor and shady patron in Chicago, the Illinois senator's home town.... The smear that Obama is secretly a Muslim, or too close for comfort to that religion, has already taken hold among some voters. "We have to peel back his identity," said one elderly white voter in South Carolina, a state Obama must win on January 26. "Did you know his middle name is Hussein? He is a Muslim and was raised in an Islamic school." ... The unorthodox pastor of Trinity church is the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who is refusing all interviews. He married Barack and Michelle Obama and baptised their two daughters. He is already attracting attention on right-wing websites for describing the September 11 attacks as a "wake-up call" to America for ignoring the concerns of "people of colour", and for claiming that Americans "believe in white supremacy and black inferiority . . . more than we believe in God". The other potential threat to Obama comes from the indictment of one of his leading donors, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a Syrian-born property developer in Chicago, who is accused of extortion.

9th Circuit - No background checks on NASA employees: ""A federal appeals court ruled Friday that NASA should be blocked from conducting background checks on low-risk employees at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, saying the practice threatens workers' constitutional rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 28 scientists and engineers who refused to submit to the background checks "face a stark choice - either violation of their constitutional rights or loss of their jobs." The decision written by Judge Kim Wardlaw reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Otis Wright and sent the case back to him with orders to issue an injunction on the workers' behalf. The workers sued the federal government, claiming that NASA was invading their privacy by requiring the investigations, which included probes into medical records and questioning of friends about everything from their finances to their sex lives. If they didn't agree to the checks, they could be fired."

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

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

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

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

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A MOST "INCORRECT" PERSPECTIVE

I note that even American conservative bloggers seem very reluctant to discuss the realities of race in their country. There has been a very effective "silencing" on that topic. For instance, I don't think that anyone who has lived among American blacks (as I have) would be remotely surprised by the black IQ statistics but I have yet to hear any American say that. I am therefore a little dumbfounded but very pleased at the frankness of the post below. Post lifted from Prairie Pundit. See the original for links

The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment - along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems - appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.

Three-quarters of these veterans were still in the military at the time of the killing. More than half the killings involved guns, and the rest were stabbings, beatings, strangulations and bathtub drownings. Twenty-five offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.

The war has clearly made some of the anti war pukes at the NY Times crazy. This wretched story seeks to exploit the acts of troops who have committed crimes since they returned to the state and suggest that the war made these people do what they did. It is an insult to all the troops who serve honorably and act with honor and dignity when they return home.

The Times could write a similar story about young black men in New Orleans who have experienced much less trauma and yet have killed scores more people than the troops in this story and that is in just one town of less than half a million people and most of the people they are killing are other young black men.

There are many other cities in this country where young black men have killed more young black men than these soldiers have killed and without ever going to Iraq or Afghanistan. The PC culture of the NY Times does not want to give that story the same treatment it is giving these troops because it does not want to be accused of smearing a race or a city, but the Times is willing to smear the troops in order to pursue its desperation for defeat in Iraq and because of its hatred of the Bush administration. They should be ashamed.

There is a more comprehensive rebuttal of the NYT claims here

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RINO McCain



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ELSEWHERE

LOL: If you know anyhing about the Left-leaning newspaper concerned, you will enjoy this comment from Taranto: "A West Coast newspaper whose name is an anagram for "talentless piglet erection" .... ". He is of course referring to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. That definitely goes one better than the usual comment that the paper is post-intelligent.

Queer Shias: "In the past year, the incidence of AIDS has doubled in the holy Shia city of Qom, second only to the Iraqi city of Najaf in religious significance. "The great share of the newly infected have contracted the HIV virus, not through using infected syringes, but through unprotected sexual relations," said Amir, Akbari, director of the city's health centre. In the past year the number of those affected by AIDS in Qom has risen from 177 to 324. The residents of the Holy City of Qom also do the most internet porn searches compared to any other city in Iran."

Multiculturalism run amok: "A report on the lack of safety in Toronto schools was released yesterday. It was scathing, to say the least. Kids with guns, sexual assaults etc. Within that report was the case of a young Muslim girl who was sexually assaulted in a school washroom by six males. The principal and vice principals were aware of the assault but did not report it, because they feared for the girl's safety if her family found out. "Police have charged the former principal and two vice-principals at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate under Ontario's Child and Family Services Act with failing to report an alleged sexual assault on a student, the Star has learned."

Iraq Announces Complete Pentration of Al Qaeda, But Zero Penetration of American Media: "The Interior Ministry announced Friday that al-Qaeda in Iraq has been successfully penetrated by means of a recently formed government security apparatus and is virtually an "open book," confirming that the sectarian sedition in the country was at the end of its rope. Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf, director of operations at the Interior Ministry, told KUNA here "we have succeeded in establishing a capable intelligence apparatus to penetrate the al-Qaeda organization in Iraq and all armed groups targeting Iraqi national security." He said emphatically that the sectarian sedition in Iraq has virtually ended, adding that the new intelligence apparatus is able to achieve its objectives regarding all armed groups operating in Iraq. He went on to say that "al-Qaeda is now an open book for us, now that we have succeeded in penetrating it."

Taking a Ba'ath: "Iraq steps to reinstate ex-Saddam supporters. No, this is a good thing. Toward the end of the movie, "Patton," the title character complains that he is under pressure to quit hiring ex-Nazis. But, he complains to his top aide, they're the only ones who know how to get things done. Governing ain't as easy as it looks."

Al Qaeda op arrested in Lebanon after phoning threat to Germans: "Lebanese authorities warned of terrorist attacks on targets within Germany after arresting an al-Qaeda suspect in Beirut, prompting the Justice Ministry in Berlin increase security, authorities said on Saturday. "There was a tip from Lebanon - a warning tip," said Stefanie Amft, a spokesperson for German federal police. She gave no further details, except to say it was part of a global threat. "It is known that Germany is part of this worldwide threat," she said. Germany was alerted after Lebanese authorities arrested a suspect on Thursday who was believed to have phoned a threat to the German Embassy in Beirut earlier in the week, a senior Beirut police official said."

Venezuelan Jews Fear Growing Government Sponsored Anti-Semitism: "Venezuelan Jews, long uneasy with the Chÿvez government's alliances with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that espouse anti-Israel views, are concerned that the government is sponsoring anti-Semitism in this hemisphere, a prominent journalist said Tuesday. "The situation we have now in Venezuela is that for the first time in modern history we have government-sponsored anti-Semitism in a Western country," said Sammy Eppel. "That is why this is very dangerous, not just for the Jewish community in Venezuela but for the Jewish community as a whole." Among the examples offered by Eppel: Venezuelan government intelligence services twice have raided the country's most important Jewish center in a vague, ultimately unsuccessful search for weapons. Publications of the government's cultural ministry run articles entitled "the Jewish Question," along with a Jewish star superimposed over a swastika."

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

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

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

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

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HUMAN EVENTS Endorses Fred Thompson

Excerpt:

The 2008 presidential election is the most unusual and most important in many years. It's been more than five decades since such a race didn't feature an incumbent President or Vice President. Since World War II, America has not had a presidential election at a time when the stakes were higher. Conservatives have to win this election, and to do so, we have to identify a candidate around whom we all can rally.

We begin by recalling the profound words of Ronald Reagan at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 15, 1975: "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers." We believed that then, and we believe it now. The issue for us -- and for the conservative community -- boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in. The answer is Fred Thompson.....

We make this endorsement on the basis of much research, having interviewed Sen. Thompson and some of his opponents, as well as examining what they have all said and done. We conclude that Thompson is a solid conservative whose judgment is grounded in our principles.

In his Senate years, Mr. Thompson compiled an American Conservative Union lifetime rating of 86.1, which is higher than both Sen. John McCain (82.3) and Rep. Ron Paul (82.3). The Club for Growth has praised Thompson as someone who has a strong commitment to limited government, free enterprise and federalist principles.

On the issues that matter most to conservatives, Sen. Thompson's positions benefit from their clarity. He is solidly pro-life. He said that he was in favor overturning Roe v. Wade because it was "bad law and bad medical science." As the National Right to Life Committee said in its endorsement of him Nov. 13, 2007, "The majority of this country is opposed to the vast majority of abortions, and Fred Thompson has shown in his consistent pro-life voting record in the U.S. Senate that he is part of the pro-life majority."

Thompson's record is solid on voting to preserve gun owners' rights, cut taxes, reduce government spending and drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has voted consistently against gay marriage. Thompson is by no means perfect. He strongly supported the McCain-Feingold bill, did not support the impeachment of Bill Clinton on perjury and more than once voted with the trial lawyers against limitations on liability in defective product and medical malpractice cases.

We like the way Thompson unhesitatingly attacks the liberal ideologues and their activists such as MoveOn.org and the ACLU, and the way he reaches out to those we knew as the Reagan Democrats.

The question now is whether Sen. Thompson will do what he has not yet done: Take the advantages he is given by his intelligence, his principles, his political skills and this endorsement and make the best use of them.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

Noah has lost his ark: There is an amusing article by Timothy Noah in the NYT which tries to "explain" neoconservatism. I myself think that the only explanation needed is the old observation about the zeal of the convert. Converts to a cause tend to be much more zealous, outspoken and energetic (and in some cases more extreme) than those who espoused the cause ab initio. And the neocons started out as Trotskyists (extreme Leftists) so their zeal upon conversion was all the greater for that. Rather amazingly, Noah accuses neocons of being addicted to Hitler comparisons. He has managed to dredge up a few such comparisons -- reasonable ones -- but ignores the flood of such comparisons (generally highly unreasonable) emanating from Leftists! But Noah now seems to have drifted away from the fairly centrist position he once held. He notes that most of the neocons are Jewish and proceeds from there to the old antisemitic slur of "double loyalty" -- the claim that that Jews cannot be relied upon because of their prime loyalty to Israel. That is the sort of language that the Left have reverted to these days.

Guantanamo detainees 'have no right to sue Pentagon': "A US appeals court ruled that four former Guantanamo prisoners, all British citizens, had no right to sue top Pentagon officials for torture and violations of their religious rights. The decision by a three-judge panel to dismiss the lawsuit was issued on the sixth anniversary of the arrival of the first detainees at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba."

The Latest Version of Hillary Clinton: "Going into the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton implored voters to keep a level head and not get carried away with a passing crush. Unable to match Barack Obama's inspiring oratory, she sniped, "You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose." But after winning Tuesday, she was all gooey sentiment: "I felt like we all spoke from our hearts, and I'm so gratified you responded." Head, heart-what does it matter, as long as she wins? If it took a show of tears to elicit sympathy from New Hampshirites, Sister Frigidaire (as she was known in her youth) was prepared to engineer a melting thaw. And it worked. The only thing sufficient to summon a wave of emotion, though, was the prospect of losing. The Clintons often manufacture shows of feeling-remember when Bill, caught smiling after the death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, feigned tears when he noticed a TV camera? Or when Hillary, after coming in third in Iowa, gave a victory speech sporting an eerily immovable smile? But they're always completely sincere in their self-pity or anger, both of which were on display after the Iowa debacle".

Voter ID requirement may survive: "The Supreme Court appeared unmoved yesterday by arguments that an Indiana law requiring voters to present photo identification imposes an unconstitutional burden. Some justices, however, appeared to search for a middle ground on the divisive and partisan political issue. And the court's questioning during an hourlong oral argument broke quickly along its own ideological divide. But the justice most often in recent years to play the decisive role - Anthony Kennedy - made it clear that he did not share the challengers' view of the burden that producing a photo ID imposes. "You want us to invalidate a statute on the ground that it's a minor inconvenience to a small percentage of voters?" Kennedy asked Washington lawyer Paul Smith, who argued the case on behalf of the Indiana Democratic Party, American Civil Liberties Union, and other Hoosier community groups and individuals."

Army tosses Abu Ghraib conviction: "The Army has thrown out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib scandal, bringing an end to the four-year investigation and drawing complaints from human rights activists of a Pentagon whitewash. Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was cleared this week of any criminal wrongdoing by Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe, commander of the Military District of Washington. Jordan was instead given an administrative reprimand, a blot on his record. Barring any startling new information, the decision means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse that embarrassed the U.S. military and inflamed the Muslim world. Jordan, 51, of Fredericksburg, Va., was acquitted at his court-martial in August of charges he failed to supervise the 11 lower-ranking soldiers convicted for their roles in the abuse, which included the photographing of Iraqi prisoners in painful and sexually humiliating positions. But he was found guilty of disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation, and the jury recommended a criminal reprimand, the lightest possible punishment."

Episcopal Church tries to ban anti-homosexual bishop: "The Episcopal Church banned a California bishop Friday from practicing for two months after he led his congregants in seceding from the national church. Bishop John-David Schofield drew sharp criticism from the U.S.-based denomination when he urged his conservative diocese to sever its ties to the church in early December in a fight over the Bible and homosexuality. Clergy and lay members of the Diocese of San Joaquin became the first full diocese to secede from the denomination on Dec. 6."

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

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

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

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

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Thompson Shines In South Carolina Republican Debate

There is a multitude of commentaries already on the net about this. The conservative blogs have almost all claimed a big victory for Fred. I have however put up a comment below from a more centrist source. Heading above and post below from The Moderate Voice. See the original for links

The BIG story out of last night's GOP debate in South Carolina is that actor and former Senator Fred Thompson finally morphed into the Fred Thompson many conservatives had hoped to see: energetic, witty and aggressive. Will it serve Thompson - or will he be the candidate that could have been? The New York Times story sets the scene:

Fred D. Thompson tried to salvage his faltering presidential campaign at a debate Thursday night with a barrage of sharp attacks on the "liberal" policies of Mike Huckabee, the fellow Southerner whom he clearly sees as a rival in the South Carolina primary. The performance by Mr. Thompson, which including several pointed one-liners, capped a debate that showed the altered terrain of the Republican field as it moved beyond contests in Iowa and New Hampshire...

But it was Mr. Thompson's performance, in which he shook off the laid-back style that has defined his candidacy, that provided some of the liveliest moments of the debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C.. "This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future," said Mr. Thompson, who has staked his run on a strong showing in South Carolina. The primary there is Jan. 19.

"On the one hand," he said, "you have the Reagan revolution, you have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. And the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies."

That effectively summarized the choice facing the GOP from the standpoint of conservatives. But what happened next is what they were talking about on all the cable shows afterwards:

Mr. Thompson then lit into Mr. Huckabee, the former Baptist preacher and Arkansas governor who won the Iowa caucus, for wanting to close the prison at Guant namo Bay, for supporting what he called "taxpayer-funded programs for illegals" and for wanting to sign a law restricting smoking. "That's not the model of the Reagan coalition, that's the model of the Democratic Party," he said.

Mr. Huckabee, for his part, responded with trademark humor. "The Air Force has a saying that says if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target," he said. "I'm catching the flak; I must be over the target."

The bottom line is that Thompson finally lived up to what many GOPers felt was his potential.

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Fascism's Legacy: Liberalism

Daniel Pipes has been reading Jonah Goldberg too. An excerpt below from his comments

Liberal fascism sounds like an oxymoron - or a term for conservatives to insult liberals. Actually, it was coined by a socialist writer, none other than the respected and influential left-winger H.G. Wells, who in 1931 called on fellow progressives to become "liberal fascists" and "enlightened Nazis." Really. His words, indeed, fit a much larger pattern of fusing socialism with fascism: Mussolini was a leading socialist figure who, during World War I, turned away from internationalism in favor of Italian nationalism and called the blend Fascism. Likewise, Hitler headed the National Socialist German Workers Party.

These facts jar because they contradict the political spectrum that has shaped our worldview since the late 1930s, which places communism at the far Left, followed by socialism, liberalism in the center, conservatism, and then fascism on the far Right. But this spectrum, Jonah Goldberg points out in his brilliant, profound, and original new book, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning (Doubleday), reflects Stalin's use of fascist as an epithet to discredit anyone he wished - Trotsky, Churchill, Russian peasants - and distorts reality. Already in 1946, George Orwell noted that fascism had degenerated to signify "something not desirable."

To understand fascism in its full expression requires putting aside Stalin's misrepresentation of the term and also look beyond the Holocaust, and instead return to the period Goldberg terms the "fascist moment," roughly 1910-35. A statist ideology, fascism uses politics as the tool to transform society from atomized individuals into an organic whole. It does so by exalting the state over the individual, expert knowledge over democracy, enforced consensus over debate, and socialism over capitalism. It is totalitarian in Mussolini's original meaning of the term, of "Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State." Fascism's message boils down to "Enough talk, more action!" Its lasting appeal is getting things done.

In contrast, conservatism calls for limited government, individualism, democratic debate, and capitalism. Its appeal is liberty and leaving citizens alone. Goldberg's triumph is to establish the kinship between communism, fascism, and liberalism. All derive from the same tradition that goes back to the Jacobins of the French Revolution. His revised political spectrum would focus on the role of the state and go from libertarianism to conservatism to fascism in its many guises - American, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Cuban, and so on

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ELSEWHERE

US forces' airstrike destroys al-Qaeda stronghold: "Bombers dropped 18 tons of explosives on 40 targets in an al-Qaeda bastion on the southern outskirts of Baghdad in a 10-minute airstrike. The attack by B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters on Arab Jabour village was part of a nationwide operation against al-Qaida, codenamed Phantom Phoenix, launched by US and Iraqi forces on Tuesday. "Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first 10 minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds," the US military said. "More than 40 targets were hit after precision air strikes destroyed reported al-Qaeda safehavens in Arab Jabour," it said. The bombings were carried out as ground troops closed in on the area. No details of casualties were given."

The thin man goes to Washington: "In his inaugural New York Times column, William Kristol suggests Mike Huckabee may be the right Republican presidential candidate to beat 'a liberal Democrat' who will 'want to increase the scope of the nanny state.' This is like counting on Godzilla to save us from King Kong. Losing more than 100 pounds in less than a year is the former Arkansas governor's main claim to fame, and for Huckabee, the personal is political."

The "change" campaign: ""Welcome to the new year. Apparently 2008 is the year of Change. Change and Hope. Change, Hope and New Direction. Change, Hope, New Direction and Fixin' Up Washington. How? Well shame on you for asking. Isn't it enough that we're hearing speech after flowery speech promising these things? Why, I get all misty just thinking about all the change that's on its way. Confound it man, don't be asking how these fabulous Agents of Change intend to do it all. Let's just spend some time feeling good and excited about the bright and shiny changed future."

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

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

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

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

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AWARENESS OF HISTORY IS GROWING

The article below is by a religious journalist

Last year, I was speaking at a prestigious university in Washington, D.C., and brought up Margaret Sanger. Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a racist who believed in eugenics and felt that birth control was essential to controlling the "inferior races"-i.e., blacks. When I said this, the students looked incredulous. A couple even shook their heads; obviously I was disseminating bad conservative propaganda. Margaret Sanger, liberal icon, a racist? Please.

The historical record on Sanger is clear. Yet those who refuse to acknowledge her commitment to eugenics are impervious to evidence. They are the same ones who will be shakingtheir heads at Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, the devastating new book by Jonah Goldberg, an editor at National Review. The sad paradox is that the more the Left rend Goldberg apart, avoiding the book like anthrax because they assume we are in Ann Coulterville, the more they will make his point.

Goldberg has marshaled a staggering amount of evidence to conclude, as the first chapter has it, that "everything you know about fascism is wrong." Mussolini was weaned on anarcho-socialism (his father Alessandro was a socialist and anarchist). Mussolini and the Italian Fascist party were, in the early years, not anti-Semitic-in fact, the party included Jews. As a young man, Mussolini had carried in his pocket a medallion of Karl Marx, whose influence-combined with the bizarre syndicalist philosophy of George Sorel and a Nietzschean contempt for Christianity-resulted in Italian fascism, a mix of myth-making, prophecy about the rise of the working class, and a relentless determination to aggrandize more and more power for the state. German fascism was not far different, which is why Hitler himself, as Goldberg puts it, was "a man of the left."

In short, the very term "fascism" has been misused for decades now. Although on several occasions Goldberg openly invites criticism, admitting that he is not a professional historian, he has done the work of a historian; besides, he is a much better writer than most historians. And the case he makes is as persuasive as it is provocative. Consider Father Charles Coughlin, the "radio priest" of the 1930s, a touchstone of right-wing evil for liberals. It turns out that Coughlin actually advocated collectivist, anti-capitalist theories that were much closer to the left than to the right. Goldberg quotes leftists-among them the "New Deal Priest" Msgr. John Ryan-praising Coughlin. Coughlin became FDR's bitter foe because FDR's collectivist policies did not go far enough.

Fascists have often called for the overturning of religious tradition, to be replaced by the dictatorship of the people; have engaged in a "cult of action" that sought to smash the bourgeoisie; and have relegated certain people and races to the dustbin of "inferiority." Considered this way, the radicals of the 1960s fit quite snugly into Goldberg's thesis.

Goldberg does stumble with his shoulder-shrug at gay marriage, which he supports. For once in this mesmerizing book he falls to apply his model. Gay marriage activists, after all, have all the trademarks of fascism, and more. They want to control the courts and inflict their philosophy on the reluctant bourgeoisie. They are obsessed with "street action" and protest, and contemptuous of Christianity. They have turned homosexuality into an exalted state, often claiming that gay people are more sensitive and enlightened than others.

While the Left will claim that Goldberg thinks that everyone he disagrees with-from FDR to Hillary Clinton-is a fascist, this is not true. Progressives, he notes, are not building concentration camps. Hillary Clinton wanting universal health care is not Crystal Night. But by reexamining the history of fascism and its pathologies, Goldberg shows where the fascist impulse-to smash the past, accumulate power, and create utopia-is most likely to resurface.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

You see occasional mentions saying that the war in Iraq has NOT increased the death-rate among American military personnel. It seems counter-intuitive but it is true. Getting into a car with a skinful of alcohol at home in the USA seems to be just about as dangerous as going around fighting terrorists in Iraq. The official figures are here. See particularly Tables 4 and 5 in the "active duty" column. The casualties actually seem more numerous in the earlier part of the series but that would be because the army was larger then. You would however need some pretty fancy statistical fiddling to argue that the war has increased U.S. military deaths.

About 150,000 Iraqi Muslims have been killed by Muslim terrorists "About 151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the three years following the US-led invasion of their country, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) research. The study, which said violent deaths could have ranged from 104,000 to 223,000 between March 2003 and June 2006, is the most comprehensive since the war started. The study drew on an Iraqi health ministry survey of nearly 10,000 households - five times the number of those interviewed in a disputed 2006 John Hopkins University study that said more than 600,000 Iraqis had died over the period. While well below that figure, the United Nations agency's estimate exceeds the widely cited 80,000 to 87,000 death toll by the human rights group Iraq Body Count, which uses media reports and hospital and morgue records to calculate its tally. "There are a lot of uncertainties in making such estimates," WHO statistician Mohamed Ali, who co-authored the study, said."

Dems Speak No Evil Of Islamic Jihad: "We scanned the transcripts of Saturday's debates hosted by ABC News and tallied up the references to Islamic terrorism. The rhetorical divide between Democrats and Republicans on that score alone - ignoring the yawning gaps in policy - is stunning. None of the four Democrat presidential candidates - despite running for an office that demands they lead the ongoing global war against Islamic extremists - could bring himself or herself to define the enemy we face as Islamic. Their combined references to "Islam" or "Islamic" totaled zero - even though moderator Charles Gibson prompted them with a question about "Islamic radicals" threatening the U.S. with nuclear terrorism. But Democrats refused to go there. Out of respect for their constituency, there was a complete blackout regarding Islamic jihad. Instead, Hillary Clinton defined the enemy generically as "stateless terrorists," while Barack Hussein Obama complained about the "politics of fear" that he thinks accurately defining the enemy has created... Republicans, on the other hand, called the enemy by its proper name."

Thank you, New Hampshire: "Mrs. Clinton remains the best hope for Republicans this fall. Face it, Barack Obama is too nice, too smooth and too blank a page to defeat easily at a time when voters are displeased with the Republican Party. We need Hill. She's beatable. His "defeat" on Tuesday - perception being 9/10ths of the law in politics - gives old Hill the audacity of hope."

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

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

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

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

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The Runaway O Train

A lot of what I am putting up today concerns Obama. The New Hampshire results mean that he is far from inevitable but he is still a serious threat to the good governance of the USA. The excerpt from Bob Parkes immediately below is one viewpoint about why Obama is doing as well as he is so far

It would appear, unless he commits the mother of all gaffes, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. Why the finality here? Because we've been there, done that.

Less than two years ago, a similar train left the station. In Massachusetts, it was the D Train. Deval Patrick carpetbagged into the state, campaigned on "Together We Can", and sought to become the first Black governor of The Bay State. There was the allure of history being made and the guilt-ridden bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

His opposition was a female Republican that, unfortunately, delivered the same old, antiquated message. We got the same old AARP-era, focus group vetted, plastic deliveries. Deval Patrick spoke from the heart, while the Republican stuck to the script. Patrick went on to a resounding victory over an opponent no one has heard from since.

When Obama takes the oath, will he be all that he promised? Deval Patrick should be in a wheelchair, considering how many times he's shot himself in the foot. The state of Massachusetts is in a financial quagmire, hemorrhaging businesses and people fleeing unchallenged liberal regulations and taxation run amok.

Barack Obama has offered mucho "change" and "hope". "Change" and "hope", when it comes to politicians, often has a hefty price tag. When history is made, the moment will be, we'll all feel special, and people move on. The D Train lost its luster, and so will the O Train.

Source

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Brookes News Update

US housing market and recession: Robert Shiller gets it wrong: Those who think a fall in the housing market will trigger a recession by cutting consumption have got it wrong. The classic bust always starts in the higher stages of production. And this is exactly what happened to the 1920s boom and the Clinton boom - and it will also happen to the Bush boom
The Great Depression and forecasting - still getting it wrong: Nearly 80 years later and our economic commentators still can't get their facts straight about the Great Depression, its causes and the lessons we should have learnt from it. Not one of our economic pundits realizes that the greatest economic disaster in history was the creation of meddling politicians totally ignorant of economics
Why Prime Minister Rudd should ignore demands for price controls: Now that we have wall-to-wall Labor Governments the question of price controls has once again been raised, particularly with respect to petrol
Consumer confidence and recessions: another economic fallacy: The idea that a fall in consumer confidence can plunge an economy into a recession is pure baloney
The global warming suicide cult: The proponents of Global Warming are creating a suicide cult, which - if followed to its logical conclusion - would lead to human extinction. This is nothing but green insanity
Revisiting a hero and another victim of communism: On 27 June 1950 Milada Horakova was hanged in Prague's Pankrac Prison on the orders of the communist regime. Horakova - a democrat, a patriot and a hero of the resistance - was another of communism's millions of victims. Her death revealed the vile face of communism that the left is still trying to whitewash
Extortion payout to the Arab Mafia!: The world is not interested in true peace in the Middle East. It is only after the terror campaign - which was unleashed by the PLO during 70s and coincided with the oil embargo imposed by the Arab countries - that the United States and Europe suddenly discovered the 'Palestinian nation'

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ELSEWHERE

I have just put up here an article by Arlene Peck titled "Tending Everyone Else's Garden" which points out that many rich Jews would rather donate to almost any charity rather than support or donate to an Israeli cause. Like the Jews of Nazi Germany, they think that if they blend into the host society, nobody will ever come for them.

Taranto has a good coverage of the current Democrat delirium about Obama.

Charlie Foxtrot has found a link between Obama and the racist Leftists of America's prewar era.

Yuk!: "Obama's appeal in part is that he incarnates the Democratic Party. He is both a highly educated member of the upper middle class and a half-minority. As one of my acquaintances put it, referring to the way Obama blends an educated articulation of policy positions with the uplifting cadences of the African-American preacher: "Who better to represent us?" Some continue: "Who better to heal our racial wounds?" When I press them on this point, explaining that I live in the most racially diverse neighborhood in the U.S. and that I'm not looking for a priestly President who can absolve me of my sins, I'm told that such absolution is a good thing-whether I want it or not."

Obama - A Clean, Well Spoken Idiot: "It's almost like the "Second Coming", but not of Martin Luther King, as Hillary notes. But to see how the MSM and a lot of America is fawning over Barak Obama is indicative of how gullible we have become. After all this is the America that celebrates third-rate, drug addicted trailer trash - such as Britney Spears, and yet still considers her a "celebrity"..... it appears that the fact that Obama, who is even more of a leftist than Hillary Clinton, who can speak well and - in the words of Joe Biden is a - "A Clean Black", is wooing everyone into submission (did I say submission?). Which is more indicative of just how stupid we have become as a nation. Forget the substance, just sit dumbly and get mesmerized by the music. Note that no one is talking about his ideas which in the case of foreign policy border on the insane, or even of his background, much of which has yet to be answered for. It's all about how he looks and talks, as if those were the only criteria. So we may have an idiot as the next president, albeit a well spoken one."

A remarkably sober comment from a Leftist: "Obama has a great deal of crossover ideological appeal, based primarily on style and mood rather than policy substance. By standard measures, Obama is on the most left-hand side of the respectable political distribution (things like ADA and ACU scores). Now, these may not be great predictors of his behavior in office. In fact, my gut tells me that he’s not highly committed to Democratic government producerist interests, and that he has a considerable libertarian streak. But there’s just no way to know, and it’s not quite clear that he even really knows, since he hasn’t had to figure out what his abstract positions mean when faced with lots of zero-sum choices between alternative courses of action (see above on experience). A considerable part of Obamania syndrome (of which I am a victim) is a tendency to project our own beliefs onto the guy. So, more moderate Democrats and even conservatives extrapolate from the fact that he is respectful toward their views, that he is sympathetic to them. Which may be true, but probably isn’t"

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

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

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

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

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