Obama and the Power of Words

These are words that move and uplift, that give hope to the hopeless. These words inspired millions of voters nationwide to join the grand experiment called democracy, casting votes for their candidate, their country, their destiny: "More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country, to renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a member of this community of shared values . . . For those who have abandoned hope, we'll restore hope and we'll welcome them into a great national crusade to make America great again!"

So Ronald Reagan proclaimed on July 17, 1980, as he accepted his party's nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Mich. Earlier that day, the New York Times ran a long profile of Reagan on its front page. The author, Howell Raines, lamented that the news media had been unsuccessful in getting Reagan to speak in anything other than "sweeping generalities about economic and military policy." Mr. Raines further noted: "political critics who characterize him as banal and shallow, a mouther of right-wing platitudes, delight in recalling that he co-starred with a chimpanzee in 'Bedtime for Bonzo.'"

Throughout his campaign, Reagan fought off charges that his candidacy was built more on optimism than policies. The charges came from reporters and opponents. John Anderson, a rival in the Republican primary who ran as an independent in the general election, complained that Reagan offered little more than "old platitudes and old generalities."

Conservatives understood that this Reagan-as-a-simpleton view was a caricature (something made even clearer in several recent books, particularly Reagan's own diaries). That his opponents never got this is what led to their undoing. Those critics who giggled about his turn alongside a chimp were considerably less delighted when Reagan won 44 states and 489 electoral votes in November. One Reagan adviser had predicted such a win shortly after Reagan had become the de facto nominee the previous spring. In a memo about the coming general election contest with Jimmy Carter, Richard Whalen wrote Reagan's "secret weapon" was that "Democrats fail to take him very seriously."

Are Republicans making the same mistake with Barack Obama? ... In just the past week, conservative commentators have accused Mr. Obama of speaking in "Sesame Street platitudes," of giving speeches that are "almost content free," of "saying nothing." He has been likened to Chance the Gardner, the clueless mope in Jerzy Koscinski's "Being There," whose banal utterances are taken as brilliant by a gullible political class. Others complain that his campaign is "messianic," too self-aggrandizing and too self-referential....

The assumption behind much of this criticism is that because Mr. Obama gives a good speech he cannot do substance. This is wrong. Mr. Obama has done well in most of the Democratic debates because he has consistently shown himself able to think on his feet. Even on health care, a complicated national issue that should be Mrs. Clinton's strength, Mr. Obama has regularly fought her to a draw by displaying a grasp of the details that rivals hers, and talking about it in ways Americans can understand.

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I would like to think something good about Obama -- seeing he could well be next POTUS -- so here is one excerpt that seems to have a point: "The best evidence of Obama's readiness to lead the nation is th e ability with which he has run for president. After all, what is more difficult, complicated, or challenging than getting elected president? What other life experience better illustrates one's qualification to hold the office than a manifest skill in seeking it. For anyone who has ever been elected president, the race that sent them to the White House was the single most important event in their lives and dwarfs any other experience they might have had before running. As we have watched Obama surmount the hurdles that lay in his path, we cannot help but be impressed with his judgment. .... Will he be a good president? If he is half as skillful in serving as he has been in running, he can't miss."

Obama terrorist connection: "The board of a nonprofit organization on which Sen. Barack Obama served as a paid director alongside a confessed domestic terrorist granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe" and supports intense immigration reform, including providing drivers licenses and education to illegal aliens. The co-founder of the Arab group in question, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, also has held a fundraiser for Obama. Khalidi is a harsh critic of Israel, has made statements supportive of Palestinian terror and reportedly has worked on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization while it was involved in anti-Western terrorism and was labeled by the State Department as a terror group."

A comment on Obama's latest example of economic ignorance here

The most thorough fisking of the NYT hit-job on McCain that I have seen is here. Another good comment from the same writer: "The flimsy, anonymous claims of the McCain story stand in stark contrast with the paper's burial of a real infidelity scandal, the Paula Jones affair, which broke when Bill Clinton was seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1991. The Times buried or dismissed Jones's claims that she had been propositioned by Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. (She later reached an out-of-court settlement with Clinton for substantial damages.) It ignored the claims by Juanita Broaddrick that she had been aggressively propositioned by Clinton. It buried the claims by Gennifer Flowers that she had a long-running affair with Clinton when he was governor, a claim supported by corroborating evidence. It disdained the whole saga of Clinton's serial infidelities until the pattern exploded inside the White House with the Monica Lewinsky affair"

Invisible dots left by printers 'breach privacy': "European Union justice watchdogs are concerned that "Big Brother" computer printer technology that allows security agencies to track printed documents might breach privacy laws. Most consumers are unaware that many popular colour laser printers, including those made by Brother, Cannon, Xerox and HP, embed almost invisible tracking dots onto documents, uniquely identifying the machine that printed them. Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice and Security, has launched an investigation after receiving official complaints from Euro-MPs. "To the extent that individuals may be identified through material printed or copied using certain equipment, such processing may give rise to the violation of fundamental human rights, namely the right to privacy and private life," he said. "It also might violate the right to protection of personal data."

Bureaucracy kills: "Fifty years ago, Detroit was the fourth largest city in the United States, with a population of 1.7 million people, and at $8,500 per year, one of the richest cities in terms of per capita income. It was 3.5 times the size of Indianapolis, the 26th largest city, whose income was almost identical on a per capita basis. Today Detroit and Indianapolis are the 11th and 12th largest cities, respectively, with Detroit's population cut in half from 50 years ago (and losing 3,000 people per year this decade), while Indianapolis has grown by 70% during the same time frame. Remarkably, Indianapolis now has a per capita income 50% greater than Detroit's. How did this happen? One answer, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, is that Detroit's city government is far larger, more regulation prone, and more bureaucratic than Indianapolis's city government: the ratio of residents to city employees, a key measure of city government productivity, is 50:1 in Detroit, one of the worst in the United States, but is 203:1 in Indianapolis, one of the best. More broadly, the central issue in political economy concerns the optimal delineation of the sphere of government activity versus that ascribed to markets, and in this essay we examine this question from the vantage point of municipalities."

Some articles here and here and here and here on the sub-prime mortgage collapse and why it is a bad idea for government to intervene

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 Cult of Obama

America as been fortunate in avoiding political cults of personality. The closest that we have come to it may have been the 4 terms that Franklin Roosevelt was elected to. We should note also that FDR was a special case. He was first elected during the Great Depression and continued into World War II. This form of crisis situation has been unusual, and while one might disagree with the way that President Roosevelt handled some aspects of them, he certainly understood the gravity of the situation and the need for America to take action to preserve itself. This is exactly the opposite of what we see with current Democrat presidential front-runner, Barack Obama.

Simply stated, and as a significant number of critics, both liberal and conservative have pointed out, Senator Obama is an empty suit; a candidate who talks in endless platitudes, but says nothing of substance, except that he wants to enact a myriad of tax and spend programs at home, while ignoring the true nature of its enemies abroad and emasculating the military. Perhaps he believes that the foreign dictators are foolish enough to fall for his charm. If elected, he will quickly learn that they will be more than willing to say anything, and then do exactly the opposite if it suits their interest at the time. As Neville Chamberlain sold out Europe to Nazi Germany, Senator Obama is willing to sell out the United States anyone and everyone who has an axe to grind and is willing to say the right things in public, regardless of their true intentions.

Sean Hannity has talked a lot about two focus groups that were asked if they could identify any of Obama's accomplishments. Both came up with essentially nothing, which speaks volumes; the man really has done nothing, except promote his own political career as rapidly as can. Now, the fact that he can speak charismatically is really all that he is running on. People like what he says, regardless of whether it has any substance. I remember having a similar reaction to Jimmy Carter many years ago. I was a teenager when I told my, now departed, Mother that he said a lot of things that sounded nice, but there was nothing that I could identify specifically as practical or realistic. Obama is now doing the same thing. He talks about "hope" but it is a blind hope; faith that he has all the answers and that electing him to office will somehow solve all of America's problems. To make matters worse, his campaign is taking on a messianic attitude. This may well speak of an even greater underlying danger.

Michael Medved recently asked of his audience why people are supporting this candidate. He received all of the usual empty answers about hope, unity and the like. In the end, there really was nothing of substance that anyone could identify. I have an answer; it is not one I like, but I believe that it is the truth; that Senator Obama is the candidate of the intellectually bankrupt. It is no wonder to me that so many young people are swooning over this charlatan. He is all show and no substance, like so much of modern entertainment. He is the MTV candidate. He is the candidate of people who love special effects and don't care about the plot. Politically they are oblivious to the consequences of electing someone who is as gullible as they are. He is their drug that will make all problems go away, but like with a drug, the problems don't really go away and after effects are terrible.

Enacting the Obama domestic policies would result in a quick trip to national bankruptcy. His foreign policies would create a weak, vacillating nation that will not defend itself because talking to an implacable enemy is always better than eliminating him. He has no realistic method for dealing with our national energy needs. In short, he is running on hot air, and despite his contentions to the contrary, empty words. He does not have the depth to create words of real substance.

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I confess! I confess! I have become an Obamablogger. And not only on this blog. There are now lots of blogs devoted to dissecting the words and deeds of the vacuous one but I now have a new blog which is simply a gathering-together of what I have posted about him here and elsewhere. I intend it more as a handy archive than anything else. See Obamology.

This is just what they used to say about Hitler: "When you watch an Obama speech, you lean forward and listen and think, That's good. He's compelling, I like the way he speaks. And afterward all the commentators call him "impossibly eloquent" and say "he gave me thrills and chills." But, in fact, when you go on the Internet and get a transcript of the speech and print it out and read it--that is, when you remove Mr. Obama from the words and take them on their own--you see the speech wasn't all that interesting, and was in fact high-class boilerplate"

Obama no compromiser: "After his victory last week in Wisconsin and again at the Austin debate, Obama revealed himself to be the most liberal candidate since George McGovern. He is not thrilled with building a border fence. He wants to meet with Raul Castro. He will raise taxes and spend a boatload of money on new programs. He will exit Iraq pronto and spend that money on domestic programs. He opposes any restriction on partial birth abortion and thinks the District of Columbia's total handgun ban is a 'common sense' regulation. This is no 'third way' and, other than a few rhetorical flourishes, there is no sign of 'reaching across the aisle.'

Obama corruption: "A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses. The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain's wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago. A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama's bagman Antoin "Tony" Rezko on May 23 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million. Three weeks later, Mr Obama bought a house on the city's South Side while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15."

I guess it WAS a Jewish guy who said "Love thine enemy": "It is no secret that Obama's candidacy has been supported financially and politically by many prominent members of the American Jewish community. Even previously outspoken Clinton-supporting spokespersons for Democrats Abroad here in Israel have been hedging their bets recently in articles and interviews, suggesting that an Obama Administration would augur well for Israel. Incredibly, citing unenthusiastic, canned pro-Israel campaign statements, these dyed-in-the-wool Democratic sycophants would urge Jewish voters to cast their fate and Israel's with Obama rather than with the Republican candidate, McCain. With all due deference to the Obama celebrity supporters like Steven Spielberg and George Soros, can Jews herein Israel and in America and other friends of Israel risk a vote for Obama in November? A quick look at the facts should switch on a big red light in most peoples' minds."

Foreign press warnings on Obama: "Der Spiegel editor: "The rise of democratic frontrunner Barack Obama signifies an alarming victory of style over substance." And that was just the first sentence. On Friday, it was Gerard Baker of the Times of London asking: "are Americans really ready to leap all the way across in one go to embrace a European-style Left?" Now there is a warning about Obama from Gabor Steingart of Der Spiegel's Washington bureau. "The senator's successes in the primaries also have a narcotizing effect. Obama defines himself as a new type of politician, as someone who refuses to be judged by the old standards," Steingart wrote. Judging by old standards = accountability. I realize my readers are not Obama fans. But they should not buy the baloney about the rest of the world having a feel-good crush on Obama. Europeans want a strong America - that they can complain about being too strong. Steingart pointed out: "If democracy functions only half as well as the market economy, the Obama bubble will burst. The burning question is: When?"

I have just put up on my Recipe blog a recipe for the best trifle I have ever tasted.

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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Our Ailing Meritocracy: Merit takes second place to gender and religion

When all the political sophistry is said and done, there is no denying that the claim to fame of the Democratic Party's two superstar candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is that the one is a woman, the other black and from something of an "ambiguous" religious background (little wonder bland John Edwards stepped out, with the jocular yet true remark during January's CNN Democratic Debate that being white and male wasn't helping his cause). Clinton's and Obama's primary appeal, then, is that they are "minorities" - who, so the unspoken logic goes, must be in tune, domestically and internationally, with minorities everywhere, due to their own "diversity," and therefore must be open-minded and just. Yet, while diversity, multiculturalism, pluralism, et. al. are all well and good, is that all there is when choosing a president - when choosing a leader for our nation during these trying times?

Hillary can boast White House experience - eight years worth as First Lady, of being privy (except on a few occasions) to key presidential decisions being played out in the Oval Office. Still, it is very clear that Hillary's main appeal to democrats and liberals everywhere is, simply, that she is a woman. In that-and that alone-does she truly bring something new and unprecedented to the White House.

As for Barack (whose Arabic name, incidentally, means "Blessing"), it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where his merit or experience lies - aside from his reported "charisma" which apparently manifested itself in the 2004 democratic convention. But presidents - whose ultimate worth manifests itself behind the scenes, where many uninspiring yet momentous and consequential decisions are made - need a bit more than charisma and platitudes of "change." That said, does anyone doubt that Obama would have been able to come out of nowhere to represent the Democratic Party if he wasn't black and with a "diverse" religious identity/heritage? ...

Let no one be deceived, however. Favoring a candidate primarily because they are female, or because they are ethnic or religious minorities is absolutely no different than disfavoring a presidential candidate simply because they are female, or because they are ethnic or religious minorities. Prejudice works both ways. We are supposed to choose presidents based on their merit and the good they can do for our country - not because they are men or women, black or white, Christian or Muslim. We cannot be a society constantly preaching that race, gender, and religion are immaterial in the public and political spheres - and then simultaneously turn around and use race, gender and religion to win political support, though from another angle. Oprah Winfrey's unwavering support for Obama's presidential bid - primarily because he is black, as most political observers have noted - is absolutely no different than if a prominent white talk show host gave his unwavering support to a fellow white presidential candidate, for no other reason than their shared "whiteness." ...

At any rate, the question every American should ponder is: If race, religion, and gender are aspects that have no bearing in our society and should always be overlooked, why are they the defining characteristics of the democratic candidates?

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"I have the hat, I still have the hat". So does Obama. And it is a Muslim hat, as you can see above. Details about the Obama hat here.

Obama can do no wrong. Things that the Left once condemned are now OK if Obama says so. See here

Ralph Nader says Obama censors his real political views: "Nader credited Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who leads the Democratic nomination race, with being "the first liberal evangelist in a long time." But Nader said Obama's "better instincts and knowledge have been censored" by the demands of the campaign. "He's leaned, if anything, toward the pro-corporate side of policy-making," Nader said. The question is, he added, "Do you have the fortitude to stand up against the corporate powers ... and get things done for the American people?" Obama, he said, has also erred on foreign policy. "He was pro-Palestinian when he was in Illinois," Nader said. "Now he's supporting" the Israeli government's policies, he added."

An Obama baracklash: "In recent days, sites have popped up indicating that the ongoing online Obamamania has hit a wall. What kind of wall? A snarky, ironic, this-Obama-thing-has-gotten-over-the-top wall. Obama's smiling mug is mashed up on countless faces on SenatorObamas.com. He's Sumobama. He's Pharaohbama. He's Navajobama, complete with a blue-and-white feathered headdress. The blog Is Barack Obama the Messiah? features a photo of the Illinois senator standing on a flight of stairs, Christlike, above an adoring crowd while a ray of light beams from above."

Obama's myth of the "suffering" middle class: "The "war on the middle class" is provably an invention of the Democrats and the mainstream media. But I repeat myself. Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have all highlighted the "suffering" of the middle class... the "two Americas"... and that the average Joe is getting squeezed by the wealthy. Reason TV has produced an exceptional series of videos that shatter conventional myth-making using (brace yourself, "progressives") facts. This quick summary of Living Large - the vanishing Middle Class should encourage you to watch the entire seven minute video."

Black Panther, Now Inspired by Barack Obama, Gets only 30 Days For 1969 Cop Shooting: "A former Black Panther Party member has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years' probation for the 1969 shooting of a Chicago police officer. Joseph Pannell spent years living in Canada, working as a researcher and raising a family under the name Gary Freeman. In 1969 as a 19-year-old member of the militant group, Pannell shot Terrence Knox three times in the right arm, wounding him. Pannell was arrested after the shooting but he ran after being released on bail in the early 1970s. He spent years fighting his extradition until voluntarily returning to Chicago this month and pleading guilty to an aggravated battery charge. The case began on March 7, 1969, when Mr. Knox, then 21, was patrolling near a Chicago high school in a squad car. Prosecutors said that when he pulled over and asked Mr. Pannell, then 19, why he was not in school, Mr. Pannell fired several shots at him. While on bail, Mr. Pannell fled to Canada. In 2004, he was arrested, but fought extradition. Last month he gave up that fight, saying he was inspired by the new political climate he saw in Chicago, symbolized, he said, by the support of Mayor Richard M. Daley and other political leaders for the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama."

There's some really funny stuff on FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC today. Everything that was once bad for you -- like cholesterol -- is now good for you, apparently.

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 PROPHETIC POEM

One does occasionally hear the term "The white man's burden" as a mocking reference to the claim that the British and other empires were good for the native peoples whom they dominated. I wonder how many people are aware that the term was originally the name of a poem and that the poet was Indian-born British poet Rudyard Kipling? Some, no doubt. But I would not at all be surprised to hear that NOBODY reading this was aware that the poem concerned was inspired by the deeds of a famous American "Progressive". Let me explain:

Right into the 1960's, the American Left (e.g. JFK) was patriotic and nationalistic. Nowadays they mostly make only a shallow pretense of patriotism. Getting the votes of minorities is their desperate aim these days and glorifying America does not serve that aim very well. And with Obama, even the pretense seems to be fading.

And the most nationalistic icon of the American Left in history was undoubtedly TR (Theodore Roosevelt), founder of the "Progressive" party. TR was the first Fascist leader of the 20th century -- where Fascism is conceived of as Leftism plus nationalism. He glorified war as a purifying force for the nation, built lots of battleships and invaded and took over three countries. And on the home front he attacked big business. Fascist enough? His conquests were in fact in the last few years of the 19th century but his Presidency of the USA continued into the early 20th century.

The British empire had however never been Fascist. It was run by conservatives most of the time and when the Left came to power they were much more inclined to wind it down than expand it. And, as the saying goes, the empire was mostly acquired "in a fit of absence of mind". It was not acquired as the result of any deliberate expansionist policy but rather as the byproduct of pursuing other objectives -- such as containment of the French. And if anyone doubts the humane impulse that formed British policy of the time, just reflect that it was in 1807 that Britain became the first major country to abolish slavery. And, unlike Abraham Lincoln many years later, the British both attacked it outside their own domain and abolished it at home. Lincoln's war "against slavery" was fought while permitting slavery in the North! Lincoln's war was really a power-motivated war with slavery as a thin pretext.

And India is an excellent example of the non-imperialistic origin of the British empire. The British first came to India as the representatives of a private company, the British East India company, and the aim was trade, not conquest. The company encountered various attacks on its operations, however, so gradually built up a private army to defend itself (perhaps a bit like the security guards employed by Halliburton in Iraq today). And when Indian princelings took on the company in battle, the company tended to win -- meaning that it eventually had large parts of India under its private control. At that stage, the British government got a bit concerned that the company was not treating the natives well and took over the company's military and rulership operations. So the British government in a sense "inherited" India rather than invading and conquering it. The history I have just given does of course simplify much for the sake of brevity but that is the essence of it.

And the humane thinking (mostly of Christian origin) behind British policy is spelled out in Kipling's poem. Kipling saw the British as having a civilizing mission and saw that mission as one of replacing savage values with humane and Christian ones. And he persuaded himself that TR had such values too. He wrote his poem as a commentary on the American takeover of the Philippines. He saw America as joining Britain in the mission of civilizing savages.

And what he wrote was very prophetic. And it was good prophecy because it was based on experience -- British imperial experience. He prophesied that the gift of liberty and humaneness that America would give to other nations would not be appreciated and would instead lead to resentment of America. And that was long before the liberation of France from the Nazis and the liberation of Iraq from Saddam! Here are some excerpts from a wonderful and idealistic poem that is now almost always misrepresented:

Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;

By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;

And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--

That's amazingly good prophecy by my lights. Very wicked of him to mention skin color judged by today's hysterical political standards but Britain and America WERE largely white countries at the time, and still are.

If anybody is wondering why I have suddenly started to blog about poetry, the story is here (or here).

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ELSEWHERE

There is a story here about what an absolute bonehead Obama is. He opposes NAFTA but supports economic co-operation with Mexico -- apparently unaware that NAFTA is about economic co-operation with Mexico.

Paper's own watchdog blasts McCain 'affair' story: "The New York Times' ombudsman strongly criticised the newspaper's insinuation this week that White House hopeful John McCain had a tryst with a female lobbyist 31 years his junior, nearly 10 years ago. "The newspaper found itself in the uncomfortable position of being the story as much as publishing the story, in large part because, although it raised one of the most toxic subjects in politics -- sex -- it offered readers no proof that McCain and (Vicki) Iseman had a romance," public editor Clark Hoyte wrote in the Times' online edition. In an article signed by four reporters that provoked more backlash against the daily than the candidate, the Times on Thursday cited unnamed McCain advisers who, "convinced the relationship had become romantic", had asked Iseman to keep away from the senator. "The article was notable for what it did not say," wrote Hoyt..." [The NYT "mea culpa" is here]

The NYT even got a big slam about their McCain non-story from the San Francisco Chronicle, of all places.

Selective Ignorance on Human Rights: "A man is held in a military prison for decades and subjected to abuse, humiliation, and lack of needed medical care. What do the great liberal newspapers of record (New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, and SF Chronicle) have to say about this to their readers who more than likely care greatly about human rights? Zip, Zero, Nada, Niente. Why would they turn a selective blind eye to this? Because it happened on the wrong side of a fenceline in Cuba. You can damn well bet that if this happened at Guantanamo Bay, this would have been above the fold....again. Instead, it puts their Caribbean Comandante in a poor light. Omar Pernet Hernandez spent a total of 21 years as a 'guest of the state' in Fidel's Cuban prisons, and suffered untold abuses. Yet he gets ZERO column inches from the finest bleeding hearts in journalism."

British Tories ditch green taxes: "David Cameron is to abandon plans for "green" taxes amid fears of a backlash from voters unhappy about having to pay for climate change. A leaked policy paper commissioned by the Tory leader warns that action on the environment is too often seen in terms of "consumer sacrifice". Instead the document urges Cameron to copy the more positive "can do" strategy of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California governor, who has invested huge sums in businesses developing green technologies. Cameron has faced controversy for floating plans to increase tax on air travel, polluting cars and food packaging. He was last week accused of hypocrisy by taking a winter sun break in South Africa after earlier urging people to holiday in the UK. The Conservative leader has also been criticised over the wind turbine erected on the roof of his Notting Hill home. The leaked paper, written by Greg Barker, the Conservative environment spokesman, admits that Cameron's green stunts have proved unpopular."

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 day socialism comes to America

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." - Norman Thomas, American socialist

With the initiatives being proposed by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential campaign, it appears Norman Thomas was right all along. Americans will, indeed, embrace every fragment of the socialist program in the name of liberalism. Both of the leading Democrats call for nationalized health care - for a power grab by Washington in which the federal government will seize full control of another one-seventh of the U.S. economy. This would, of course, be the most dramatic and irreversible step toward U.S. socialism in the nation's history.

Even today, however, the architects of these plans conceal from the public the centralized, command-and-control nature of the new system they devise. They are not asked by the press to show the American people even one successful program government has run. Yet the American people seem ready to put the lives of their children and grandchildren in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.

Now comes an even grander proposal by Barack Obama. It's called the Global Poverty Act, that would, in the next decade, transfer at least $845 billion of U.S. taxpayer money overseas. Think of Johnson's failed war on poverty going international - directed not by Americans but by the United Nations.

How we could even be debating ideas like this in the 21st century, after all of the climactic failures of socialism around the world, is amazing to me. But we're not really debating them. It seems we're not even capable as a people of debating them, reasoning over them, using our brains to consider them. Americans may simply be too far gone spiritually, morally and intellectually to reject the temptations of socialism.

Socialism is antithetical to human nature, yet it has great appeal to the human mind. It's one of the great lies of all time - similar to the one told by the deceiver in the Garden of Eden. You can be like God! You can have it all right here on Earth. You can live in utopia, and you don't have to obey the laws of the universe to achieve it. That's the essence of socialism. And it is finally seducing America as it has seduced much of the rest of the world over the last century.

Unfortunately, Americans don't even have a party representing clear, unequivocal opposition to socialism. The Republicans dare not even speak its name. John McCain admits publicly he doesn't know much or care much about economics. And so, Americans don't even have a reason or a mechanism to say no to the socialism that is coming to their country under the guise of liberalism - just the way Norman Thomas predicted it would come.

Source

And it will be the Fascist form of socialism -- the most insidious because it has a lot of popular support and retains some semblance of "life as before".

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Like all forms of socialism, Fascism is economically incompetent

As Fascist Russia proves yet again

At least he made the trains run on time. That was said of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator from 1922 to 1943. Much the same is now said of Vladimir Putin, Russia's authoritarian president. He may have crushed the fragile shoots of democracy, but he has at least restored the economy, the state and his country's place in the world.

This view is shared by Mr Putin himself. He stated only last week that: "We have worked to restore the country after the chaos, economic ruin and breakdown of the old system that we saw in the 1990s." But it suffers from a drawback: it is false, as Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss of Stanford University argue in a powerful article.

True, between 1999, the year before Mr Putin became president, and 2007, the Russian economy expanded by 69 per cent. But the economies of 11 of the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union expanded by more than Russia's. Indeed, only Kyrgyzstan did markedly worse. A number of the former Soviet republics did, it is true, benefit from an oil and gas bonanza. But so, too, did Russia: its oil and gas exports jumped from $76bn in 1999 to $350bn last year. Even so, the Russian economy expanded by less than Ukraine's.

Like all post-communist countries, Russia's economy suffered a steep initial decline, which reached its trough in 1998. Countries that reformed more decisively, such as Poland, bottomed out more quickly and are now far ahead. Again, Russia's recovery is in no way exceptional: tiny Estonia has done far better. Maybe this is why the Kremlin hates the Baltic state so much.

It is simply wrong to assign credit for the upswing to Mr Putin. Not only did it begin with the devaluation of 1998, but nearly all the reforms that underlay the improvement were initiated, if not brought to fruition, under Boris Yeltsin's despised rule. Under Mr Putin little progress has been made on structural reforms.

Source

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ELSEWHERE

There is an excellent dissection here of a very unscientific article in The Scientific American. Its Leftist bias is hilarious. With typical Leftist projection, they themselves do exactly what they accuse others of doing.

`Most Britons belong to no religion': "Freedom from religion in Britain is becoming as important as freedom of religion, according to a United Nations investigation. A 23-page report by Asma Jahangir, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, says that the 2001 census findings that nearly 72 per cent of the population is Christian can no longer be regarded as accurate. The report claims that two thirds of British people do not admit to any religious affiliation. The report calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England. It says that the role and privileges of the Church do not reflect "the religious demography of the country and the rising proportion of other Christian denominations". The report says that there is an "overall respect for human rights and their value" but it gives warning of discrimination against Muslims."

Ronald Reagan's derided "Star Wars" program not so silly after all: "The US defence secretary has said that the shooting down of a disabled spy satellite with a missile shows the country's missile defence system works. Robert Gates said the operation "speaks for itself", adding the US was prepared to share some technology with China. The comments came after China said the missile strike could harm security in outer space. US officials are confident that the satellite's potentially toxic fuel tank was destroyed by the missile."

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 Fascism peeping out again

The hysteria Obama produces in his followers is not normal in democratic politics but it is VERY reminiscent of the 1930s German reaction to Hitler. And, like Hitler, Obama is an extreme socialist who want the government to control everything. But we now get another glimpse of the all-controlling Fascist leader in the words of his wife:

Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.

And note that Hitler was democratically elected too. And Obama even wants to invade Pakistan!. Not as ambitious as invading Russia but it is the thought that counts.

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Obama the fake

Those of us on the right are rather confounded by the Obama-o-rama. Our televisions deliver imagery of percolating crowds and throngs of fainting women, yet we cannot help but wonder how a vague and airy candidate produces such hysterical levels of devotion. Indeed, Stevie Wonder wrote a song about him which sums up his superficial stances perfectly. Its lyrics are nothing more than variations on the candidate's first and last name.

Clearly there's more to the Obama monomania than vapid rhetoric. Blatant deception is integral to his appeal. He speaks of unity and there being no hyphenated Americans, but his Senate votes clash with his message. The man promising change in our time is anything but a moderate. This particular "rock star," like so many others, is a left-wing, partisan member of the Democratic Party. His votes in 2006 earned him an American Conservative Union rating of 8. The only way he will bring us together is if half the country moves to the left of John Kerry and his ACU rating of 12.

His campaign mantra is "Change You Can Believe In," but his inauguration will ring in copious quantities of the same statism that currently debilitates us. He rails against corporate lobbyists yet reflexively supports the expansion of the government. The bureaucrats and functionaries of the leviathan are the true wielders of undemocratic power and influence in our nation.

All of his "solutions" to "problems" are contingent upon Washington "helping" people. Based on past experience, this is a tenuous proposition. His imaginative plan to fix Social Security involves the raising of taxes. His economic agenda, "Keeping America's Promise," will add $200 billion in new spending to a federal budget that now gambles away over three trillion dollars a year. Change and Barack Obama do not belong together in the same sentence. The man is nothing more than Jimmy Carter with a pleasant disposition....

"A Bound Man" describes in detail the longing white Americans have for a champion like Obama. Certainly citizens of all persuasions yearn for an end to the "corrosive racial politics" of the present era. They badly want to purchase the hope he sells and probably don't care if they find out later it was a well-enunciated bag of air....

There is one significant upside to his victory, however: Every time President Obama enters a room to the sounds of "Hail to the Chief," it will indelibly confirm a truth now only acknowledged by conservatives - that America is one of the least racist nations on earth. And such realizations are the finest dreams of our founding fathers.

More here

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BrookesNews Update

US economy and Democrats: facts and fallacies: Should the Democrats win both Houses and the White House, and then proceed to implement their fiscal and regulatory policies the consequences for the US would be disastrous. Republicans should never forget that the same policies were carried out by Roosevelt with the result that the US economy never fully recovered until after WW II
Carbon taxes and Keynesian insanity: All manner of con tricks are being employed to sell us on the virtues of a carbon tax. What we are not told is that this tax is meant to lower our living standards by slashing our use of energy. Moreover, callous European bureaucrats and politicians have taken the carbon tax to its logical conclusion and are now planning to 'reduce the carbon footprints' of human beings by imposing what they call 'global warming tariffs' on Asian countries. This is just what we need - a trade war with Asia
Standing Keynesian GDP on its head: Saving not consumption as the main source of spending: Professor George Reisman explains why GDP is a dangerous economic fallacy and how it can undermine economic growth (the process of capital accumulation)
How high must interest rates rise?: The Reserve is raising interest rates to curb the housing boom (which it caused) and domestic spending. So how did we get in this mess. Glenn Stevens - Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia - gave us the answer four years ago when he said that the Reserve relies on Wicksell's 'concept of the natural or neutral interest rate'
The Islamo-fascist threat: Nobody is listening!: America's Truth Forum was an event that worked hard to make us aware of the threat that Islam-fascism poses to Western Civilisation and its liberal values
Are we our own worst enemies?: At the same time as we required to replace incandescent light bulbs with those expensive curly things, environmentalists have made us shut down any program that would increase our oil supplies and decrease dependence on foreign countries that want us dead or worse
The Sinai Option - the road to permanent peace: Traditions and customs of all nations or indigenous people are greatly respected by a kind and politically correct international community. At the same time, any inconceivable excuse is used to negate, brush-off or dismiss a 3300 years old spiritual and historical connection of Jewish people with the land of Israel

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ELSEWHERE

Surge-ery: "Another Democratic opponent of the Surge comes around - as the polls show more public approval of the Surge. A year ago, Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge of North Carolina received lefty love for denouncing the Surge. He's a Blue Dog Dem whose district includes Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne. "More of the same," Etheridge said then. He visited Iraq on Wednesday for the first time since 2006. He gushed to reporters back home about it, via a teleconference. "I think from what I've seen here, it is working. It is making a difference," Etheridge said. Good for him. But maybe he is reading the polls. The Gallup Poll said 43% of Americans think the Surge worked. Only 21% said it is making it worse. Now, only 18% want an immediate troop withdrawal. Some 56% favor a timetable for withdrawal vs. 39% who oppose a timetable. What Americans are saying now is going in was a mistake, but pulling out immediately would be a bigger mistake."

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 Castro "retirement"





Castro declares his reign at an end

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ELSEWHERE

If you want to know why I still love Ronald Reagan, just watch the video here. He had the art of saying the most profound and important things in the simplest of words. He was a great patriot and he had a secure grip on the traditions that made America great. If only we had him now to reaffirm those values at a time when the Left half of America seems to have been reduced to childish gibbering.

Black conservative Bob Parks is disgusted by the whiny and unappreciative attitude of Michelle Obama too. Her weak attempt to spin her way out of it is here

Obama mentor identified as communist: "The mysterious "Frank" cited as a friend and adviser by Democratic president contender Barack Obama while he was growing up in Hawaii has been identified as Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the old Moscow-controlled Communist Party USA. The identification comes from Cliff Kincaid in his column, "Obama's Communist Mentor," which was made available on the Accuracy in Media website. "Let's challenge the liberal media to report on this," he wrote in his column. "Will they have the honesty and integrity to do so?" Kincaid, who earlier reported on Obama's pending plan to ship $845 billion overseas to battle "global poverty" as evidence of his socialist leanings, said the newly revealed connection is even more worrisome."

ACLU defeat: "The Supreme Court, without comment, turned down an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to let it pursue a lawsuit against the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. "It's very disturbing that the president's actions will go unremarked upon by the court," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's national security project. The court's action underscored the difficulty of mounting a challenge to the eavesdropping, which remains classified and was confirmed by President Bush only after a newspaper article revealed its existence."

Amusing. Mearsheimer and Walt are by their own definition members of the "Israel Lobby": "When it comes down to it, Mearsheimer and Walt do not seem to know who, exactly, belongs to this amoebic, engulfing blob they call the lobby and who does not. Take their own case. They describe themselves as pro-Israel, in that they believe in the state's right to exist. They admire its achievements and wish secure and prosperous lives for its citizens..... Mearsheimer and Walt maintain that when U.S. and Israeli national interests come into conflict, the United States should put its own interests first -- but this, too, is a view that, as they concede, most members of the lobby share. So what sets the authors apart from the rest of the large mass of Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, who want Israel to exist and care deeply about its fate but disagree and squabble over what the United States should do in the Middle East? Nothing, as far as I can see. Mearsheimer and Walt have come up with a definition of "the Israel lobby" that covers the waterfront, including everyone from Jimmy Carter and George Soros to Paul Wolfowitz and Tom DeLay."

"Value" voters and location: "If you make six figures in San Fran and can't afford a house, but can raise a family in a house in Dallas-Ft. Worth at 50 grand, that's bound to affect one's political and social views. Aside from the moral/ religious/racial ramifications, I can see how the Republicans are the party of property owners (even if low-income) and the Democrats the party of angry renters (whether high- or low-income), and there is a 'class conflict' here by the very reason that owning property affects one's outlook on life. I know there are exceptions: I know some prospering, suburban, intact traditional nuclear families who are very liberal. And I'm sure there are differences between those who own their own trailer and modest plot in a godforsaken area, and home 'owners' whose finances burst when the housing bubble did. The former may make one-fifth as much money, but may still vote Republican while the latter will blame the Republicans for their problems."

EU corruption: "Members of the European Parliament have ripped off up to 100million pounds from the European Parliament in fiddled expenses claims in just over a year, it was claimed on Wednesday. The 'outrageous' abuses were revealed by British MEP Chris Davies, who has seen a secret report into a random audit at the parliament. The Liberal Democrat MEP said: 'This report is dynamite - and makes the Derek Conway affair at Westminster look like small-change.' He alerted Europe's anti-fraud chiefs, who have vowed to investigate. Among the catalogue of frauds the report details is one MEP paying a 'Christmas bonus' of 19 times an assistant's monthly salary. Most of the 785 MEPs from across the EU use a system which involves appointing a 'service provider' - an accountancy firm or other professional book-keeper - to handle all cash destined for parliamentary staff. But in some cases the 'service provider' turned out to be a family member or friend, while others were entirely fictitious." [More details here]

Black sex-offender hurts the whole U.S. military on Okinawa: "The U.S. military imposed tight restrictions on all personnel in Okinawa Wednesday, limiting troops to bases, places of work or off-base housing, amid a furor over the arrest of a Marine on suspicion of rape. The restriction, which tightens a midnight curfew for enlisted personnel on the southern Japanese island, started early Wednesday and was indefinite, the U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement. The arrest last week of 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa has sparked outrage in Japan, which is host to some 50,000 U.S. troops under a security treaty."

FEMA corrupt: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency misspent millions of dollars it received from selling used travel trailers, government investigators have found. Instead of buying more trailers - as allowed under the law - FEMA used more than $13 million toward fully loaded sport utility vehicles, travel expenses and purchase card accounts, according to a draft report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general obtained by The Associated Press. The report is to be released Friday. During its three-month review last summer, the inspector general found that FEMA used some of the proceeds from trailer sales for tree-removal services, agency decals and banners and global positioning systems. FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said the agency discovered these problems on its own and has taken steps to fix them".

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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When the Magic Fades



The afflicted had already been through the phases of Obama-mania - fainting at rallies, weeping over their touch screens while watching Obama videos, spending hours making folk crafts featuring Michelle Obama's face. These patients had experienced intense surges of hope-amine, the brain chemical that fuels euphoric sensations of historic change and personal salvation.

But they found that as the weeks went on, they needed more and purer hope-injections just to preserve the rush. They wound up craving more hope than even the Hope Pope could provide, and they began experiencing brooding moments of suboptimal hopefulness. Anxious posts began to appear on the Yes We Can! Facebook pages. A sense of ennui began to creep through the nation's Ian McEwan-centered book clubs.

Up until now The Chosen One's speeches had seemed to them less like stretches of words and more like soul sensations that transcended time and space. But those in the grips of Obama Comedown Syndrome began to wonder if His stuff actually made sense. For example, His Hopeness tells rallies that we are the change we have been waiting for, but if we are the change we have been waiting for then why have we been waiting since we've been here all along?

More here

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Mrs McCain has ALWAYS been proud of her country

SHE'S no whining Leftist



Michelle Obama. Millionaire. Harvard Law grad. Wife of a senator. A person who has been afforded the best of opportunities in that land of opportunity that we call the United States, told a crowd in Milwaukee this: "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

Cindy McCain. Also a millionaire. USC educated. Wife of a senator. A person who has been afforded the best of opportunities in that land of opportunity that we call the United States, told a crowd in Brookfield, Wisc.: "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you? If you heard those words earlier, I am very proud of my country."

Reporters asked her if she was responding to Mrs. Obama's statement. Mrs. McCain replied: "I just wanted to make the statement that I have and always will be proud of my country."

More here

There has been a LOT of adverse commentary about Mrs Obama's deeply ungrateful dislike of America. See for example here and here and here

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ELSEWHERE

British government still losing data disks: "Serious offenders on the run from the Netherlands have been able to commit further crimes in Britain after the Crown Prosecution Service mislaid a computer disc containing their details. Home Office ministers were told within the past two or three weeks that a disc containing details of 4,000 offenders whom the Dutch authorities wished to trace had been missing for almost a year. The disc contained DNA details of 4,000 offenders, some of whom are believed to be murderers and rapists, which the Dutch sent to Britain to be checked against the national DNA database. Initial checks on 2,000 samples carried out by police since the disc was discovered last month have found matches against 15 people, including 11 who have committed further crimes in Britain during the past year. But the figures could be higher, as a team of police officers still have to carry out checks on a further 2,000 samples provided by the Dutch authorities."

Israeli general escaped arrest at Heathrow `because police feared gunfight': "An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes escaped arrest at Heathrow airport because British police feared an armed stand-off. Major-General Doron Almog stayed on board the El Al plane for two hours after it landed in London in September 2005 after being tipped off that a warrant had been issued for his detention. Leaked documents now show that officers refused to board the plane because they were worried about the possibility of a confrontation with the armed marshals who travel on flights operated by El Al, the Israeli national airline. There were also concerns that General Almog, who has been accused of illegally ordering the destruction of 59 homes in the Gaza Strip in 2002, might have been travelling with armed personal security."

More pain in the Leftist media: "The New York Times will bow to growing financial strain and eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs this year, executive editor Bill Keller said last week. The Times has 1,332 newsroom employees, the largest number in its history. No other American newspaper has more than about 900. There were scattered buyouts and job eliminations in the newsroom in recent years, but the overall number continued to rise, largely from the growth of its Internet operations. The New York Times Company has made significant cuts in the newsrooms of some of its other properties, including the Boston Globe, as well as in non-news operations. Executives say the overall headcount is 3.8 percent lower than it was a year ago. But with the industry's economic picture worsening, the company is under increased pressure from shareholders - notably two hedge funds that recently bought almost 10 percent of the common stock - to do something significant to improve its bottom line. Revenues are falling even as readership of major newspapers climbs sharply because of the Web. Other large papers have made much bigger cuts"

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

****************************

"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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Hunger For Change Is The Highest Form Of Patriotism?

I am not really sure that what the wife of a presidential candidate says is all that important but as The Obamassiah himself says, words matter. Here's what his wife says:

For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.

Not once during her adult life has Michele Obama "really" been proud of America? Not of the fact that it won the Cold War and liberated tens of millions from totalitarian rule? What about sending billions to ease the plight of millions of AIDS sufferers in Africa? What about the nation's selflessness in stopping genocide in the Balkans when it had no immediate security interest in the region? What about our ability to produce hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who will risk life and limb to liberate two countries from despotic regimes right out of the Dark Ages? Doesn't the Herculean Tsunami Relief effort generate a flicker of national pride?

The list could go on ad infinitum. But she's proud now because her empty suit of a husband may become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party by saying 'hope' and `change' more than anyone else? The audacity of stupidity.

Sources here and here

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ELSEWHERE

There is an hilarious pratfall noted on FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC today.



Obama the Messiah: It was inevitable. There is now a blog following references to Barack Obama as something more than an ordinary politician. See here

The official Obama web site has mysteriously made a page vanish: It was a page that predicted failure of the "surge" in Iraq. But a false prophecy can't be made to disappear so easily these days. The "censored" page is reproduced here.

The real Barack Obama: "The effects of 'political correctness' are prevalent in the 2008 elections and very well may result in electing a person whose true agenda and even the facts of his childhood are kept from the public because anyone expressing the true nature of his views and life would be subjected to unbearable tirades and attacks upon their own character for bringing these facts to light. To touch on the issue of Barack Obama's Muslim childhood and intended Black agenda as president would subject his opponent, media political pundits, and the general public to shrieks of racism and worse. Truth is on the chopping block -- but so is our country's future"

Tax delusions: "Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both propose to 'turn the economy around' in a novel way -- by raising tax rates on small businesses, working couples and stockholders in general, including retirees. Of course, their plans are also meant to raise revenue for their various hundreds of billions in new spending -- but the move would fall flat on that front, too."

US and Britain join rush to recognise Kosovo: "Leading Western powers gave their formal blessing to the independence of Kosovo yesterday, as angry Serbs took to the streets across the Balkans to vent their fury over the loss of their historical heartland. Europe had hoped to speak with one voice on Kosovo but a failure to reach agreement left each country to issue its declarations separately. The first, from Spain, brought disappointment when it announced that it would not recognise a secession that it viewed as a breach of international law. But there was jubilation and relief when France affirmed its support, followed moments later by Britain, Germany and then Italy."

Why Russia sides with Serbia: "President Tadic told the UN Security Council there were "dozens of various Kosovos in the world and all of them lie in wait for Kosovo's act of secession to... be established as an acceptable norm". "If you cast a blind eye to this illegal act, who guarantees to you that parts of your countries will not declare independence in the same illegal way?" he asked. It is easy to understand why Russia would be concerned that states like Chechnya might declare independence and leave."

Foreign investment vs. foreign aid: "Would-be humanitarians speak constantly today of 'the vicious circle of poverty.' Poverty, they tell us, produces malnutrition and disease, which produce apathy and idleness, which perpetuate poverty;, and no progress is possible without help from outside. This theory is today propounded unceasingly, as if it were axiomatic. Yet the history of nations and individuals shows it to be false."



EU condemns horses to starvation: "Ribs showing clearly through their tattered flanks, the starving horses corralled on the edge of the eastern Romanian city of Galati are just a few days away from death. Once, they would have pulled wooden carts along the city's streets or worked in the fields, as horses have done in Romania for centuries. But now they have been abandoned by their owners, victims of a disastrous attempt to bring the country into line with European Union law by banning horse-drawn carts from main roads. Over the past month, hundreds of stray horses have been found roaming the streets and parks of Romania's major cities. Many are half-starved and barely able to walk; some have died where they were discovered, unable to get back to their feet."

Moronic TSA again: ""Travelers were evacuated from a Los Angeles International Airport terminal for about two hours Sunday afternoon after a passenger joked about explosives in his checked luggage, officials said. Airport police shut down the Southwest and U.S. Airways terminal around 2 p.m., delaying at least 450 passengers on five planes .... [The passenger] is in custody and being questioned by federal authorities."

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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Liberal Fascism stirring waters.

I have lifted the recent post below from The Anchoress -- partly because it has some interesting links



Wrote about Jonah’s book earlier this week. Apparently, as Glenn Reynolds points out, some chuckleheads are making Goldberg’s case for him:

JONAH GOLBERG’S LIBERAL FASCISM is now up to #20 on Amazon despite the best efforts of the anti-Jonah lefty blogosphere. Somebody even hacked the page — an Amazon first, I think — and replaced the cover photo with one of Jonah with a Hitler mustache

It makes me wonder if some folks are not quite sure what fascism is. As I’ve written elsewhere around here; is it like porn, in that you know it when you see it?

One definition:

The fascist is whoever is trying to shut you up, shut you down, dis-employ you, silence you, cripple you or marginalize you for the crime of daring to fall out of step with the party and the conventional wisdom. Beware of them.

Ask yourself where you’re seeing that sort of behavior, these days, and don’t give in to it. Are you seeing people invited to your school to speak, only to find themselves silenced or shouted down?

Are people at your school stealing campus newspapers to prevent others from reading a column or seeing a picture they dislike? What about movies?

Are you afraid to voice your opinion at work for fear of censure among your co-workers or the danger of losing your position?

Are you a meteorologist being told not to question the “fact” of manmade global warming if you want to keep your job?

Are you a reporter being told not to report on dissenting scientific opinion on that issue? (Blue Crab Boulevard has more thoughts on all that

Do you think others should be denied healthcare unless they live a particular way?

Are any politicians talking about regulate free speech on the internet?
Like I said, Jonah is brave. And apparently he was right about something else, too.

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ELSEWHERE

There's another stupid article here stressing how many genes all human beings of all races have in common. It means little. As many sufferers from genetic ailments can tell you, just ONE different gene can make a huge difference to your life.

Sleaze charge: 'I took drugs, had homo sex with Obama': "The electrifying presidential campaign of Barack Obama faces a new challenge - a Minnesota man who claims he took cocaine in 1999 with the then-Illinois legislator and participated in homosexual acts with him. When his story was ignored by the news media, Larry Sinclair made his case last month in a YouTube video, which has now been viewed more than a quarter-million times. And when it was still ignored by the media, Sinclair filed a suit in Minnesota District Court, alleging threats and intimidation by Obama's staff." [The above article may now have been taken down but you can still see the video here]

GOP has Obama targeted: "Leading Republicans believe they can trounce Barack Obama in the presidential election by branding him as a shady Chicago socialist. They are confident that his campaign could collapse by the time their attack machine has finished with him. Grover Norquist, an influential conservative tax reform lobbyist, said: "Barack Obama has been able to create his own image and introduce himself to voters, but the swing voters in a general election are not paying attention yet. He is open to being defined as a left-wing, corrupt Chicago politician." Obama has the voting record of a "hard-left" socialist, according to Norquist, from his time in the Illinois state legislature to the US Senate. He was recently judged by the non-partisan National Journal to have the most liberal voting record last year of any senator".

Ho hum!: "Preschool-aged children from low-income families showed notable improvement in cognitive ability and other brain function after their parents received an eight-week training course in communication and child-rearing techniques, a new report has found". This sort of "enrichment" strategy has been tried many times and the gains always prove temporary]

America stagnating? "National Public Radio reported that the average U.S. home in 1950 was 983 square feet. By 1970, that had expanded to 1,500 square feet. In 2004, the average home in the United States was 2,349 square feet. You could fit two of those 1950 homes in that 2004 home and still have room for the family SUV."

British army 'faces disaster': "A senior British defence official has warned the armed forces are headed for a "train crash" because the Government is starving them of funds as two separate coronial inquests found shortages of equipment were to blame for the deaths of British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a confidential presentation to colleagues at a meeting in the Ministry of Defence to discuss budget cuts, a senior defence equipment capability manager said spending had been so severely pruned that vitally needed equipment was simply unaffordable. He also warned that the Government risked "mortgaging the future" of national defence. The meeting, one of a series to try to work out how to pay for all the equipment the forces need to meet their commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, was also told that the Treasury has exaggerated the increase in the military budget. Officially, it will rise by a modest 1.5 per cent this year. In fact, it will increase by only 0.6per cent in cash terms, leaving a black hole of hundreds of millions of pounds, the meeting was told."

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

****************************

"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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