Fluff-headed British journalist reports about Israel

It may not even be bias -- just stupidity and ignorance. Sad to see in my favourite newspaper

An interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in the Sunday Times this week. The interview took place in Jerusalem's American Colony Hotel. It was concerned with Blair's role as the Quartet's Middle East envoy, and was written by journalist Lesley White. Journalist Lesley White is evidently not a specialist on the Middle East. I say "evidently" because the article contains a series of ludicrous errors which leave one slack-jawed in astonishment at the standards apparently now prevailing in this august publication.

Lesley White starts as she means to go on. Lunch with Blair, we are told, takes place under parasols which overlook "east Jerusalem's temples and mosques." I have lived in Jerusalem for just under two decades. It does contain quite a large number of mosques. Temples, however, are conspicuous largely by their absence. The clue is that religions worshipping in temples - Hindus, Buddhists - have scant regard for Jerusalem, and hence don't bother to build facilities for worship in it.

There was of course a quite important Temple in Jerusalem at one time. But this particular one, built by the Jews, was destroyed by the Romans in ad 70, and a rather large Mosque currently coincidentally stands where it once stood, so it's unlikely that Lesley White saw it, unless she was being unwittingly affected by a bout of the well-known "Jerusalem Syndrome." This syndrome causes visitors to Jerusalem to imagine themselves as Biblical figures, and experience visions and hallucinations. An additional religion that has facilities called temples - US Reform Judaism,- is also not known to have constructed any places of worship of this type in the area of the American Colony Hotel, where the White-Blair lunch occurred.

Lesley White mentions the "Palestinians I spoke to" in her article. These, however, do not seem to have been offset by any Israelis that were "spoken to" - at least they appear nowhere in the text. This perhaps explains another, more interesting error. Lesley White refers to a person described as Israel's "head of security." This person, apparently, is called Gabi Ashkenazi, and he is, Lesley White tells us, "considered by many the nation's de facto leader."

Well, Lesley White, first of all allow me to tell you that Israel, like most other countries, doesn't have a post called "head of security." The Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel has a head of security. I dare say Annabel's nightclub in London has a "head of security." The State of Israel doesn't. What Israel does have is its armed forces, and Gabi Ashkenazi is currently what is called the Chief of Staff of the said armed forces.

Israel has some other things, too. Israel has universal adult suffrage, a parliament, regular free elections, a defence minister, a prime minister and a president. Not all of these necessarily always contribute to effective or wise decision-making. But Lesley White, if she had found the time to talk to any Israelis, might have learned a little about these institutions, and would have discovered that Israel is a democracy, and that Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi is no more "de facto ruler" of Israel than is General Sir Richard Dannatt the de facto ruler of Great Britain.

Would a little fact-checking have been so difficult? This article was, after all, not just any old article. It was an interview with a former British Prime Minister. It did, after all, appear in a newspaper - and not just any old newspaper. The Times, including its Sunday edition, used to be one of the most venerable publications in the western world, with a reputation based on the delivery of meticulous, carefully examined information. Not any more, apparently.

More here

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

ELSEWHERE

Women in Britain having more children: "Women are having more children than at any time since the 1970s, with almost one in four born to foreign mothers, official figures show. Each woman now has 1.91 children on average - the highest since 1973 - according to the Office for National Statistics. As a result the number of births - 690,000 - increased by 20,000 in 2007 compared to the previous year, when there were 1.86 children per woman. A third of those were born to British mothers and the rest to women originally from overseas. One factor in the rise is the tendency for foreign-born mothers, particularly from the Indian sub-continent, to have large families. Another is women choosing to have children when they are in their more fertile 20s, rather than delaying until they are in their 30s and 40s. However, those who do delay are having more children due to improvements in fertility treatment. The figures, which relate to England and Wales, indicate the overall fertility rate has now increased for six successive years. Its lowest point came in 2001 when it sank to 1.63 children per woman."

Stupid Democrat Congressman: "Senator Chuck "The Camera Hunter" Schumer decided to bill taxpayers tens of billions of dollars by starting a bank run. The run on the bank came after a critical letter about the bank from Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. Federal regulators said on Friday that Mr. Schumer's letter had prompted the collapse by causing the run and scaring away potential acquirers. "The senator made comments in his letter questioning the viability of the institution," John M. Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, said in a phone call with reporters. "When a member of the United States Senate makes such a statement, it frightens depositors."

One Year After Endorsing Genocide-- Old Gray Lady Eats Iraqi Crow: "Don Surber reminded us yesterday that it was the one year anniversary of The New York Times startling editorial endorsing surrender in Iraq even if it led to genocide. Nice group of writers, huh? Of course, Barack Obama felt the same way last year and said so. He was for genocide in Iraq before he was against it. But, fortunately they did not get their way. The Bush surge worked so well that the president is now considering withdrawing additional troops from Iraq."

The non-citizen electorate: "Amid all the talk of new voters becoming involved in the election, hopefully one group of voters will not vote in November - non-citizens, many of whom are illegally registered to vote all over the country, particularly in the southwest. Although there is no reliable method to determine the exact number registered aliens, there is evidence that this is a significant and growing problem. The Government Accountability Office estimated that up to 3 percent of individuals called for jury duty from voter registration rolls in just one U.S. district court were not U.S. citizens. While that may not seem like a large number, it's more than enough to tip close elections - say, Florida in 2000.. Florida has over a million illegal aliens, and the Justice Department has prosecuted non-citizens, including a state-legislature candidate, for voting there. After a grand-jury investigation of the 1982 Illinois governor's race resulted in the conviction of aliens for illegally registering and voting, the U.S. Attorney estimated that there were 80,000 non-citizens registered to vote in Chicago."

Another black crook in Congress: "While aggressive evictions are making rent-stabilized apartments increasingly scarce in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent apartments in a sprawling penthouse overlooking Upper Manhattan, courtesy of one of New York's premier real estate developers. Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

Emerging Trends of the Presidential Campaign

Pew issued a report yesterday with new numbers on the presidential race that underscore some themes likely to endure throughout the campaign. A few points deserve special note. First, Pew highlights a point I expect we'll hear repeatedly for the balance of the campaign: This is no Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum election. Americans hold very divergent views of the two candidates. For example, they think Obama has new ideas, but they believe McCain is more qualified to be president. Pew writes this:

Voters see the candidates' personal strengths and weaknesses in starkly different terms. Fully 74% of voters, including a solid majority of McCain supporters (58%), say that Obama rather than McCain "has new ideas." McCain holds about a two-to-one advantage in views of which candidate is "personally qualified to be president" (55% to 27%). In previous campaigns, voters' assessments of the candidates' traits were more evenly balanced.

Second, while McCain suffers from an "enthusiasm" gap, as Stephen Hayes, among others, has noted, Obama continues to struggle with consolidating his own Democratic base. According to Pew:

John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, has an enthusiasm problem. McCain engenders less strong support than does Obama and has much weaker support than George W. Bush did at this stage in his presidential campaigns.

While Obama draws more enthusiastic support, he has a unity problem. Clinton's former supporters have moved in Obama's direction since the primaries ended, but significant numbers remain undecided or say they might vote for McCain in the fall.

Third, McCain continues to do well with "independents," a significant voter group both campaigns are working hard to persuade. "Independents remain evenly split, as was the case in late May; 42 percent support Obama while 41 percent support McCain," according to Pew. Finally, compared to 2004, a larger percentage of these independent voters remain undecided.

Compared with four years ago, a much greater share of independents are either undecided or say they might change their minds between now and the election. Nearly half of independents (46%) are undecided or may change their minds, up from 28% in June 2004.

Candidate differences, voter enthusiasm, consolidating base voters and winning the swing population are all topics I expect we'll hear a lot about in months ahead.

Source

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

British troops betrayed by their Leftist government

Research conducted by the Ministry of Defence, and published this week, showed the shocking finding that around half of the brave men and women in our Forces are suffering low morale. Many would leave if they could.

It is, of course, demoralising for our Forces to be caught up in two apparently unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, those who join the Services do so with a view to the possibility of having to go into battle, and to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for the civilised values of our nation.

What they do not expect is to go into battle with inferior equipment that makes them sitting ducks for a vicious enemy. Nor do they expect the politicians who take the decisions that affect their deployment to lie to them about why they are in the front line, or to lie about the quality of the kit that they are expected to use when engaging the enemy. This is the root of the betrayal of every soldier, sailor and airman in our Forces: and it is a betrayal not merely of the poor bloody infantry, or of cannon-fodder among the enlisted men and women, but of the most senior officers too.

Almost daily we hear of brave soldiers being blown up in Afghanistan because their Land Rovers are useless, or being killed or injured because their air transport falls out of the sky. If you talk to Labour loyalists about this - not that there are many of those left these days - you are fed the line that there used to be problems with kit, but these have been resolved. They jolly well haven't. But when anyone in authority seeks to argue the contrary they are summarily dealt with.

Look at the case of General Sir Richard Dannatt, an honourable man and Christian soldier in the most literal sense of the term. Distressed by the offhand treatment of soldiers for whom, as Chief of the General Staff, he is ultimately responsible, he has made his feelings known regularly since taking up that post. This is the highest mark of honour for him, and the right thing to do on behalf of his subordinates: but it has, inevitably, simply attracted contempt from his political masters.

What will happen to our Armed Forces if this goes on is all too clear. Patriotic and brave young people simply won't want to join them. Those in the ranks will leave at an ever-higher rate, fed up with the contempt with which they are being treated. Officers, depressed at the treatment they and those under them are getting, will simply choose a better-paid job in civilian life. If you doubt any of this, go to the internet and look at some of the blogs run by services insiders to see just how shamefully bad things are, not least in the MoD itself.

More here

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

ELSEWHERE

British blog, "Harry's Place", which is critical of Islam, is being sued by an Islamist for accurate reporting about the Islamist. Under English libel law, the Islamist is at an advantage. So Harry may need financial support to fight the matter through the courts. I will certainly donate if that need arises.

Media slime: "The L.A. Times, out of the thin blue air - apropos of no legitimate news angle - decided to run a 1,700-word feature on the Republican's first marriage and 1980 divorce. An unapologetic slime job with no possible justification as news. It's kind of funny how anyone who raises Obama's Indonesian education (which dates to the same era as McCain's first marriage) is slammed as a smear artist. But 30-year-old news about the Republican's divorce - hey, that's relevant and timely!"

Gasoline Is So Expensive, They're Resorting to Pedal-By Shootings: "Two men with gang affiliations were shot by a person on a mountain bike Wednesday afternoon in the Northwest Side's Avondale neighborhood. The shooting happened about 4:20 p.m. in the 2900 block of North Elston Avenue, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said. Two men were on the street when an unknown person riding a mountain bike fired shots at them, Mirabelli said. The shooting is believed to be gang-related" (H/T Taranto)

The destructive drug "war": "Ever since the Progressive Era the United States government has pursued a policy relying primarily on punishment to curb drug abuse, with abuse and use being considered largely synonymous. While the program has always been a mixture of state coercion and drug treatment, the bulk of the funding has gone into maintaining prohibition. As a result, this country has a racially biased overcrowded prison system on the verge of collapse. We have a law enforcement system employing often very brutal tactics which accomplish very little in way of ending drug use. Our medical system is denying people in pain the medication they need to ease their suffering. And, the nation's economic system must come up with billions of dollars each year to pay for this activity."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

Is the West versus Islam like Montezuma versus Cortez?

In "Conquistador", Buddy Levy offers a fascinating account of the impetuous Spanish adventurer Cortez and Montezuma, the ill-starred emperor of the Aztecs -- clearly the wrong emperor at the wrong place at the wrong time. Mr. Levy has an eye for vivid detail and manages to build a compelling narrative out of this almost unbelievable story of missionary zeal, greed, cruelty and courage. By avoiding the kind of ideological posturing that usually distorts re-tellings of the conquest of the New World, Mr. Levy rightly focuses his reader's attention on the story's antagonists.

Others had tried what Cortez wanted to do, and failed. They died in shipwrecks or were captured and sold into slavery by the Indians. Cortez, though, had the advantage of iron resolve, a good mind and an instinct for seizing the initiative in a crisis. With his handful of men, three cannon and 15 horses, he overawed the first tribes he encountered. Realizing that the gold trinkets they offered him were only a hint of the wealth lying further west, he began his drive into the interior of Mexico, fighting and marching through scorching deserts and over ice-bound mountain passes. He did not stop until he reached the capital of the most feared people of the central Mexican valley, the Aztecs.

Cortez was a man of deep contradictions. A devout Catholic, he was horrified by the sights and sounds of Aztec worship: its human sacrifices and cannibalism, its skull racks, its idols draped with human body parts, its priests with their blood-clotted hair. But he was not above massacring his enemies or burning them at the stake. He was genuinely dazzled by his first sight of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, with its tidy fields and gleaming stone causeways, a city of nearly a quarter-million people that was, he wrote in a letter to the Spanish king, more beautiful than any in Europe. Even so, he was ready to destroy it all to feed his desire for gold and to bend the Aztecs to his will.

If Cortez was a man of contradictions, Montezuma was not. Studious and conscientious, he had been trained for Aztec priesthood before becoming emperor in 1503 -- the same year that Cortes set out from Spain for America. Montezuma believed in the rightness of his own convictions but also, it appears, in the importance of an open mind. As Mr. Levy shows, he always looked for ways to dispel a crisis by placating the feelings of all concerned. He would have made a fine college president. From his first meeting with Cortez in November 1519, though, he was desperately overmatched.

Montezuma hoped that, by giving Cortez magnificent gifts of gold and silver, he could make him go away. He made him want to stay instead. The Aztec ruler never quite shook off the suspicion that Cortez might be the Aztec god Quetzelcoatl returning home according to ancient prophesy -- a suspicion that led Montezuma to want to treat the intrusive Spaniards as guests rather than a threat.

Cortez exploited Montezuma's weakness without scruple, squeezing one concession after another out of him until, though outnumbered by more than 1,000-to-1, Cortez made him a hostage. When Montezuma had lost all credibility with his people and was no longer useful, Cortez cast him aside. Montezuma died a broken man -- although probably not, Mr. Levy argues, at Cortes's order. It is more likely that Montezuma died from wounds inflicted by his own subjects. When they saw him appear in chains and appeal for calm, they had bombarded him with stones and arrows. His weakness, they understood, had betrayed them to the Spanish.

Cortez wound up besieging Tenochtitlan, in alliance with Indian tribes who had cursed their lot under Aztec rule. By Aug. 31, 1521, the city was a smoldering ruin. Nearly 100,000 people died in the siege; another 100,000 died of smallpox -- the disease that eventually tipped the demographic balance in favor of the Spaniards in the New World...

"It was Cortez, the consummate gambler," Mr. Levy writes, "who staked high wagers and won." Montezuma was the more lovable man. But his world has vanished into dust. The world Cortez made is still around us.

More here

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

ELSEWHERE

The French distribute "doctored" images again: "Iran apparently doctored photographs of missile test-firings and exaggerated the capabilities of the weapons after one failed to fire, fooling the world's media and intelligence for at least a day. Iran on Wednesday test-fired nine missiles - including a Shahab-3 it said was capable of reaching Israel - angering the US amid fears that the standoff over the Islamic republic's contested nuclear drive could lead to war. Four missiles appear to take off from a desert launch pad in one image of the test published on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards website. But a similar image has emerged that shows one missile still in its launcher after apparently failing to fire. Analysts said that in the image apparently showing four missiles taking off, one of the projectiles was added using elements from the smoke trail and dust clouds from two of the other successfully launched missiles. The image said to have been digitally altered was distributed by the Agence France-Presse news agency and used on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo! News, NYTimes.com and many other major news websites"

Democrat illogic on oil: ""Using the logic of the Democrats in opposing drilling because it would take 10 years to produce anything, we would have no pecans, walnuts, oranges, apples, lumber, or interstate highways. Short-sighted thinking by the people we have entrusted to guide this country has gotten us in this mess."

Unionist lies: "The AFL-CIO is attacking McCain with a TV spot saying he voted "against increasing health care benefits for veterans." Actually, he voted for increases in those benefits. The labor federation points to McCain's votes against Democratic proposals to increase funding. Those were defeated along party lines, and then quickly followed by alternative measures to increase benefits by smaller amounts, all of which passed unanimously or with near-unanimous majorities. McCain supported all of them. The AFL-CIO also points to a McCain vote against a war spending supplemental appropriations measure from 2007 that included additional funding for veterans' health care, along with much else. The measure passed the Senate along partisan lines but was vetoed by President Bush. But McCain voted for a later version of the supplemental that ultimately passed into law and actually included slightly more funding for veterans' benefits."

Washington Post moving to the centre? "Signaling a generational change at one of the nation's most influential newspapers, the new publisher of the Washington Post this week selected an outsider as the paper's top editor. Marcus W. Brauchli, the former top editor of the Wall Street Journal, will become the executive editor of The Post on Sept. 8, at a time of great upheaval in the industry. At age 47, he is young enough to remain in place for many years"

More MSM shrinkage: "The Chicago Tribune began informing staff this week it will eliminate around 80 of its current 578 newsroom positions by the end of August and reduce the number of pages it publishes by 13 percent to 14 percent each week. There also will be a reduction of jobs in other Tribune departments, but that number was not immediately available, the Tribune reports. Because some newsroom jobs have been left unfilled in recent months, the actual number of staffers to exit the paper is expected to be between 55 and 58. "Like many newspapers, we're feeling financial pressures," Hanke Gratteau, the Tribune's managing editor for news, said"

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

We Won!



That large yellow tie is a bit dubious, though!

America, its allies and the Iraqi people have won the war against terror in Iraq. How do we know? Simple. Just follow the money. European and Asian investment companies are beating a path to Iraq, money in hand. Iraqi Airlines is flying high thanks to a colossal $5.5 billion contract with Boeing and the United Arab Emirates just canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt as they moved to restore a diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

When foreign countries start investing billions of dollars in a country, its a safe bet they are aware of the risks involved. And, unlike the old news media and our elected Democrat officials, they see a relatively stable country ripe for investment.

The influx of foreign investment is largely due to the improved security in Iraq, which continues to improve even after the withdrawal of nearly 25% of U.S. combat brigades. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recently acknowledged cautiously that security 'is on its way to becoming sustainable.'

American and Iraqi forces have driven Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. Al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister said that "the government has defeated terrorism in the country." Pretty unequivocal. In fact, things are going so well in Iraq that the discussion has now shifted to a timetable for more troop withdrawals.

The American media is silent on all this good news, possibly out of embarrassment for being so incredibly wrong on pretty much every single issue having to do with Iraq. They would like to forget their near universal scorn for the now successful surge. The Democrats had declared defeat and there was no way they would accept anything more. The media trumpeted their views. Lo and behold, the surge worked. Horror of horrors, Bush was right.

When evidence of the progress on the ground was too overwhelming to ignore, new talking points emerged on the left. Democrats avowed that our military victory meant nothing. (Think about that a second) What really mattered, they intoned with one voice, was the political progress, as measured by Congressionally established benchmarks. More horrors. It appears that a March 2008 report shows that the Iraqis have met 15 of the 18 benchmarks. The silence from the left, and the old media is now deafening.

More here

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

Intellectual impotence

The greatest lie intellectuals tell us is that "the pen is mightier than the sword." That's what cowards claim when they want to preen as heroes. Billions of words have been hurled at Sudan's government. The misery in Darfur not only continues but deepens. While intellectuals wrestled with compound sentences, Darfur degenerated from selective oppression to savage anarchy. Legions of columnists and commentators have deplored Robert Mugabe's monstrous rule in Zimbabwe. But none of the hand-wringing by American, European or even African intellectuals restrained one fist or stopped one club in midair. Guess who "won" that election. Regiments of professors and pundits have bemoaned China's gobbling of Tibet for half a century. The result? Beijing cracked down even harder.

"Brave" columnists wrote countless columns bemoaning the suffering of the Kurds and the Shia under Saddam Hussein. Their earnest paragraphs didn't save a single life. Only when better men acted did the surviving victims of one of the world's worst dictatorships glimpse freedom - an imperfect freedom but better than a mass grave. Nothing positive is going to happen in Sudan or Zimbabwe (or Tibet) until rule-of-law states take action. As outraged activists scribble on, Beijing blithely continues supporting these and other rogue regimes...

Does anyone really believe that there's anything we can write or say that will persuade al Qaeda to make nice? It's on the strategic defensive today but only because our soldiers and Marines thumped the hell out of its cadres in Iraq and Afghanistan. The point isn't that military solutions are always the best solutions - any problem that can be resolved without bloodshed should be handled peaceably. But we've got to stop playing pretend: In this hate-plagued, often merciless world, events sometimes demand action, not just talk.

More here

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

ELSEWHERE

Microsoft Admits Windows Vista Mistakes: "Microsoft is now acknowledging it screwed up with its initial launch of Windows Vista, and is ready to try again. "We broke a lot of things. We know that, and we know it caused you a lot of pain. It got customers thinking, hey, is Windows Vista a generation we want to get invested in?" So Brad Brooks, Microsoft's VP of Windows Vista consumer marketing, fessed up publicly this week."

No cracks: "The police chief is warning residents of Flint, Mich., to pull up their trousers ... or else. "Some people call it a fad," Chief David Dicks tells the Detroit Free Press. "But I believe it's a national nuisance. It is indecent and thus it is indecent exposure, which has been on the books for years." Ben Schmitt, a USA TODAY correspondent, says violators face the possibility of fines and jail time."

From bull semen to bras, Iran still buys American: "Nuclear weapons? No way. But there are plenty of items on Iran's shopping list the United States is more than happy to supply: cigarettes, brassieres, bull semen and more. U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused it of nuclear ambitions and sponsoring terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran-at least $158 million worth under Bush-than any other product. Other surprising shipments during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and military apparel."

Queer opera privileges in Seattle: "The Seattle Opera will host lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender nights during designated Friday performances in the 2008-09 season, the opera house announced Monday. The LGBT nights will include $100 admission to orchestra seats, which usually cost between $94 and $140; private intermission receptions, including complimentary refreshments, and free admission to a pre-opera lecture. The program will include performances of the operas "Aida" on August 22, "The Pearl Fishers" on January 23, and "The Marriage of Figaro" on May 15."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

Bible publisher faces $60M federal lawsuit over homosexuality

In the article indented below, we read that a homosexual is upset that some Bibles translate the Greek word "arsenokoites" in 1 Corinthians 6:9 as "homosexual" instead of "sodomite". Politeness gets you nowhere, it seems. My Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon just gives "sodomite" as the meaning of the word. The word that Americans spell as "ass" (NOT meaning a donkey) is spelt and pronounced in the British Commonwealth as "arse". It is tempting to see a convergence with the Greek there!

I note that the highly-regarded New English Bible published by the Oxford University Press renders the passage as "homosexual perversion". Wow! Are they in big trouble! Actually, nobody is in big trouble. The lawsuit is so thin that it is obviously just "go-away" money that the guy and his lawyer want. I hope Zondervan resists.

Some more points: The historic Geneva Bible translates the word as "buggerers" so that is pretty frank too. And note that in the original Greek, St Paul groups together for condemnation both sodomites and effeminates ("malakoi oute arsenokoitai") so it is perfectly clear that he is condemning homosexuality generally -- JR

Christian publisher Zondervan is facing a $60 million federal lawsuit filed by a man who claims he and other homosexuals have suffered based on what the suit claims is a misinterpretation of the Bible. But a company spokeswoman says Zondervan doesn't translate the Bible or own the copyright for any of the translations. Instead, she said in a statement, the company relies on the "scholarly judgment of credible translation committees." That is to say, setting aside whether the federal civil rights lawsuit is credible, the company says Bradley Fowler sued the wrong group.

His suit centers on one passage in scripture -- 1 Corinthians 6:9 -- and how it reads in Bibles published by Zondervan. Fowler says Zondervan Bibles published in 1982 and 1987 use the word homosexuals among a list of those who are "wicked" or "unrighteous" and won't inherit the kingdom of heaven. Fowler says his family's pastor used that Zondervan Bible, and because of it his family considered him a sinner and he suffered.

Now he is asking for an apology and $60 million. "To compensate for the past 20 years of emotional duress and mental instability," [I can believe the mental instability] Fowler told 24 Hour News 8 in a phone interview. He claims the company is misinterpreting the Bible by specifically using the word homosexuals. Fowler admits that every Bible printed is a translation, interpreted in some way, but he says specifically using that word is not a translation but a change. "These are opinions based on the publishers," he said. "And they are being embedded in the religious structure as a way of life."

More here

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

The Aid Africa Can't Afford

If the G-8 really wants to help, it should cut off funds for dysfunctional states

African development is high on the list of topics for the leaders of the Group of 8 countries meeting in Hokkaido, Japan. The host country has already pledged to double its aid to Africa from the current $6.9 billion over the next five years. President Bush, arriving in Japan on Sunday, made it clear he planned to push other G-8 nations to meet their 2005 promises to increase African aid.

Representatives of rich countries seem united in their belief that Africa would benefit from more international assistance and oblivious to the harm that aid has already inadvertently caused to African populations by propping up Africa's most dysfunctional states.

Instead of serving their people, most African states function as vehicles for the self-enrichment of political elites that have inherited none of the public-spiritedness of their colonial predecessors but all of the latter's contempt for the African masses. The remedy, therefore, might be to let Africa's failing neocolonial states disintegrate totally -- so that organic African political structures can emerge.

More here

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

ELSEWHERE



In my post yesterday about my new Geneva Bible, I rather inevitably strayed off onto one of my favourite hobbyhorses: The correct translation of John 1:1. For anyone who is interested in such arcane matters, I have just put up a bit more about that on my Scripture blog

The real meaning of the Fourth of July: "Contrary to popular myth, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were not great Americans. Instead, they were great Englishmen. In fact, they were as much English citizens as Americans today are American citizens. It's easy to forget that the revolutionaries in 1776 were people who took up arms against their own government."

Great American Pyro: "What a difference a month makes. At its June meeting, the D.C. City Council debated Mayor Adrian Fenty's emergency legislation to ban sparklers. After the Supreme Court struck down the city's gun ban, the Council spent last week's July meeting debating emergency legislation to let residents own handguns. Here in the District, we couldn't shoot off firecrackers over the Fourth because they're too dangerous, but we can now keep a loaded pistol by our bedside, ready to shoot down prowlers in self-defense. Like most D.C. residents, I have no plans to stockpile guns in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. But if the city wants to take away my sparklers, they'll have to pry them from my cold, dead, slightly charred hands."

Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever: "The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category. Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008. The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month."

NASA shuttle to take last flight in May 2010: "The final flight in NASA's space shuttle program will take off on May 31, 2010, four months before the fleet is retired after 30 years of service, the agency said Tuesday. The last mission is one of 10 flights that NASA has planned for Endeavour, Discovery and Atlantis before they are taken out of service in September 2010. Two of these are planned for this year -- on October 8, Atlantis heads on a service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and on November 10, Endeavour will deliver supplies and service parts to the International Space Station. Another five flights are scheduled for 2009 and three for 2010, said NASA spokesman Rob Navias. Endeavour will take off for the ISS on May 31, 2010, for the final flight of the shuttle program, which began with the launch of Columbia from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida on April 12, 1981."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

The Geneva Bible

A great pleasure! I have just received my copy of the recently reprinted Geneva Bible, the translation that the Pilgrim Fathers mainly used. The Geneva Bible was the popular version in the English-speaking world until the "official" King James Bible gradually supplanted it.

I bought my copy via World Net Daily and it cost me rather a lot, which may seem rather mad since I already have many Bibles, including three recensions of the Greek New Testament (i.e. in the original Greek) and some excellent modern translations. But it is exciting to read the words of the Bible just as they were read by the great English Protestant reformers who changed the world and whose reforms are the basis of our entire modern civilization.

Because it was so popular in its day, the Geneva Bible underwent many printings, not all of which were identical. The version I have is a reproduction of a 1599 printing. The King James Bible, of course, was first printed in 1611.

I tend to judge Bible translations by their translation of the first few verses of the Gospel of John. John 1:1 is much used by afficianados of the originally pagan Trinity doctrine to justify their nonsensical dogma. So I was most pleased to see that the Geneva translators gave in their footnote a much better sense of the original Greek than we usually see. The Geneva Bible was renowned in its day for its many informative footnotes and they are still a useful resource. The explanatory footnote for John 1:1 reads: "The son of God is of one, and the selfsame eternity or everlastingness, and of one and the selfsame essence or nature, with the father". That puts the sense of the original much more clearly than the literal translation of the original text itself. The underlying idea in the Greek original -- that the Logos was of divine essence -- is clearly there in the Geneva footnote.

If I were to express the meaning of the original Greek in a purely Anglo-Saxon vocabulary, I would translate it as "And of god-stuff was the word". (See also my many previous exegetical comments on John 1:1 -- e.g. here and here)

So the Geneva Bible did allow the people of the 16th century to get close to the original meaning of the New Testament. And the transformative power of doing that was evident then and continues to this day. Those now ancient words still have enormous power to move the minds of men. The many clergy of the "mainstream" churches who think they have a better or more "modern" message to preach from their pulpits are just self-defeating fools. There is no substitute for the original Gospel.

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

ELSEWHERE

China Hand has some speculations on developments in Chinese politics. Mirror site here or here



Colombia: Uribe soars after freeing hostages: "President Alvaro Uribe is still soaking up the glory of last week's spectacular rescue of 15 high-profile hostages held in the Colombian jungle for years by leftist rebels. Polls released Sunday show that Mr. Uribe's approval rating -- which was already at 73 percent - soared to 91 percent after the rescue, which freed French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three American defense contractors, and 11 Colombian soldiers and police. Wednesday's bloodless intelligence operation tricked the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) into taking their most prized hostages on a helicopter they believed would transport them to the group's top leaders. Instead, the chopper was piloted by undercover military operatives who took the captives to freedom."

Hungary: Violent protests disrupt homosexual parade: "Dozens of protesters in Budapest have clashed with police escorting a march by gays and lesbians through the center of Hungary's capital city. Police said at least seven people were injured including a journalist and two police officers and a total of 45 people were taken into custody. Stefan Bos reports for VOA that Saturday's violence followed several earlier attacks against gay groups in Budapest. ... Hundreds of people demonstrated here for gay rights during the day Saturday in what is known as the Gay Pride Parade, despite threats from far right groups.Gays, lesbians and their supporters tried to dance and wave to spectators standing behind iron fences. Soon, troubles began as protesters, some shouting anti-semitic slogans, attacked marchers with eggs, bottles and rocks."

Agricultural policy: The seen and the unseen: "How can a program that benefits the few at the expense of the many survive in a democratic process? The sugar program concentrates benefits on a few thousand sugar beet producers and a much smaller number of cane growers and processors of sugar and sugar substitutes. The costs of the program are spread across all the rest of us, with the average consumer bearing an annual cost of less than $10. In contrast, a one-cent premium in sugar price has been estimated to benefit each sugar cane farm by $39,000. Over the last five years, the average U.S. sugar price has been about 10 cents per pound higher than the world price. Understandably, sugar producers and processors are much more active than consumers in periodic fights over sugar legislation. The sugar industry made political contributions of $3.3 million dollars during the 2006 election cycle."

Only cops and crooks have benefited from $2.5 trillion spent fighting grug trafficking: "The United States' so-called war on drugs brings to mind the old saying that if you find yourself trapped in a deep hole, stop digging. Yet, last week, the Senate approved an aid package to combat drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America, with a record $400 million going to Mexico and $65 million to Central America. The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on drug prohibition -- with little to show for it. Is anyone actually benefiting from this war? Six groups come to mind. The first group are the drug lords in nations such as Colombia, Afghanistan and Mexico, as well as those in the United States. They are making billions of dollars every year -- tax free. The second group are the street gangs that infest many of our cities and neighborhoods, whose main source of income is the sale of illegal drugs. Third are those people in government who are paid well to fight the first two groups. Their powers and bureaucratic fiefdoms grow larger with each tax dollar spent to fund this massive program that has been proved not to work."

Gains in Iraq may lead to pullouts: "Security in Iraq continues to improve even after the withdrawal of nearly 25% of U.S. combat brigades, increasing the prospects of further cuts in American forces. Although U.S. commanders are cautious about predicting further withdrawals, interviews with military experts and recent official statements indicate growing optimism about the potential to pull out more forces. "I believe the momentum we have is not reversible," said Jack Keane, a retired Army vice chief of staff who helped develop the Iraq strategy adopted by President Bush in January 2007. There will be "significant reductions in 2009 whoever becomes president," said Keane, who regularly consults with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq."

UAE to cancel Iraq's $7 billion debt: "Dubai has forgiven the nearly $7 billion Baghdad owes it, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Sunday. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised to "put out these debts," appoint an ambassador to Baghdad, and "help Iraq building the holy shrines that were targeted by the terrorists," al-Maliki said in a written statement. Al-Maliki and the sheikh met Sunday, the first day of a two-day official visit. Al-Maliki was accompanied by the Iraqi ministers of Interior, Commerce and Industry. "Our biggest challenge is now the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the economic situation and to provide services to our citizens," al-Maliki said. Debt relief is a major issue for Iraq, and the United States has urged other nations to forgive Iraqi debt, most of which is held by Arab states"

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

Israel Is 'Canceled' in Berlin

Germany's socialists haven't changed. They just don't use the word "National" any more

Iranian calls for the destruction of Israel are almost routine these days. But for a former official of the Islamic Republic to call for the destruction of the Jewish state in the city where the Holocaust was planned adds a repugnant twist - especially as the German government sponsored the event that gave the man from Tehran a Western stage.

At a conference on the Mideast in Berlin on Wednesday, Muhammad Javad Ardashir Larijani said the "Zionist project," which has "created only violence and atrocities," should be "canceled." Mr. Larijani, a former deputy foreign minister, is the brother of Iran's former nuclear negotiator and current parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani.

The conference organizers, the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt, made a clumsy attempt at damage control. "We very much regret that the feelings of several Israeli participants were hurt," the institute said in a statement, making it sound as if the problem was with oversensitive Israelis rather than with the Iranian's call for the destruction of their country.

While the institute said that it rejects Mr. Larijani's comments, it still defended the decision to invite him. The institute says it wants to provide a "forum where politicians and experts can exchange positions - also controversial ones." But calling for the destruction of a country isn't "controversial" - it's beyond the realm of civilized debate. To give such views a "forum" is to give them legitimacy.

Source

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

'Human Rights' friends of the Columbian terrorists

As we learn more about the Colombian military's daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned to them by a fictitious nongovernmental organization sympathetic to their cause called the International Humanitarian Mission.

It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.

I am reminded of President Alvaro Uribe's 2003 statement that some "human rights" organizations in his country were fronts for terrorists. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd got his back up over Mr. Uribe's statement, and piously lectured the Colombian president about "the importance of democratic values."

But as the helicopter story suggests, Mr. Uribe seems to have been right. How else to explain the fact that the FARC swallowed the line without batting an eye?

More here

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

ELSEWHERE

Leftist French media give Columbia no credit for rescuing Frenchwoman: "It turns out that Alvaro Uribe is not - at least not directly - responsible for the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt (the other 14 freed hostages seem to have been forgotten in France), according to Fanny Hess. International pressure on the Colombian president is. In the meantime, Beret Vert reports that Ingrid (who compares Colombia's army to Israel's) is herself being compared to Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King on French TV, while Uribe is barely mentioned."

And the BBC is no better. They call the rescue of the hostages a release, as if the guerillas did it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Iran back at work on bomb: "The work is aimed at developing the blueprint provided by Dr AQ Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, who sold Iran details of how to build atom bombs in the early 1990s. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which has overall responsibility for the country's nuclear programme, has set up several civilian companies to work on the programme whose activities are being deliberately concealed from the United Nations nuclear inspection teams. The companies, based on the outskirts of Tehran, are working on constructing components for the advanced P2 gas centrifuge, which can enrich uranium to weapons grade two to three times faster than conventional P1 centrifuges."

No poor country ever got rich on a G-8 aid package: "The money too often distorts their economies or falls into the wrong hands. When I meet successful African entrepreneurs, many of them cannot hide their resentment of the years they spent battling with their local bureaucracies. This red tape has frustrated their wealth-creating endeavors at every turn and often meant that they had to cut deals with local officials simply to be in business. The rich nations that feed this bureaucracy should help instead by lowering their trade barriers to the poor. But they are too busy arguing at the World Trade Organization over narrow or arcane agriculture issues, such as hormone-treated beef or support for cotton farmers. Poor countries must take the initiative by opening up their own economies. It is no coincidence that those countries which have lowered their own trade barriers unilaterally, such as China, have grown fastest in recent years."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

"The Times" of London on victory in Iraq:

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda's dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant "last stand" in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion's Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans' 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects. The group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.

Last Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed to a large explosion today. Even in the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of explosives.

American and Iraqi leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside to the south.

Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, who has also led a crackdown on the Shi'ite Mahdi Army in Basra and Baghdad in recent months, claimed yesterday that his government had "defeated" terrorism. "They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it," Maliki said. "But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them."

Source

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

Brookes News Update

Krugman's bigotry vs the Bush tax cuts: It's time the Republicans accepted the grim fact that they are now at war on all fronts. Professor Krugman's vicious and dishonest attacks on the president's tax cuts is a bitter example of this reality
Expect Democrats to try and delegitimise a Bush victory: The Democrats have spent 8 years trying to destroy the legitimate Government of the United States. They have bullied, lied, cheated and along with their media pals, have given moral and political support al Qaeda. The word for this behaviour is treason
The Obama Left: Obama's extreme leftwing mentors makes him a strange political candidate. His deep links to those who wish to destroy America have yet to be fully publicized. One thing is for sure: there is no way the corrupt media will expose Obama's support for a bunch of America-haters
Green fanatics v. the facts of economic growth: Rabid 'conservationists' have to a certain degree successfully implanted in the public mind the idea that the capitalism is the environment's number one enemy; that without the wise intervention politicians capitalism will ruthlessly plunder the planet and exhaust its natural resources. Bulldust
Carbon tax:The farm lobbies abandon farmers: A carbon tax will wreak havoc on food production. Nevertheless, under pressure from the greens and a desire to increase government revenue politicians are preparing to impose a savage tax on agriculture
Global Warming: A New 'Revolution'?: It's become a matter of near-religious faith that we should spend whatever is needed to curb global warming. A new study suggests that the amounts needed will be staggering
Is American law now determined by one man as in a science fiction drama?: Recent history is replete with judicial action overturning the will of a majority of voters and citizens in our country. When the judiciary has the power to impose their social views on the public regarding how people should act and think, then the constitutional prescription of three equal branches of government is meaningless

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

ELSEWHERE



Uranium stockpile removed from Iraq in secret US mission: "The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" [NOT as yummy as the example above] - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions. What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad"

Obama's "Spiritual Journey": Where's Jeremiah Wright?: "The Washington Post has a lengthy story on Obama's current account of his faith journey. The story, strangely, leaves unexamined the role of Pastor Wright in Obama's spiritual journey. How can a story allegedly about Obama's religious beliefs not discuss in depth the influence of Jeremiah Wright, which is detailed in Obama's memoir, Dreams of My Father? It cannot, of course, and it is not a serious story as a result. It is a certain that Obama wants to airbrush Pastor Wright and his views from the candidate's biography, but ought the nation's leading paper cooperate in the exercise?"

Iran's Most Famous Political Dissident Escapes to United States!: "Ahmed Batebi has escaped to the U.S. The brave Iranian student activist who was sentenced to death and who was severely tortured for years in the notorious Evin Prison in Iran has arrived safely in the United States. During a break from prison, Batebi fled Iran traveling through Iraq and Austria and finally arriving in Washington DC."

McCain will win with a little help from his Friends: "Veteran friends that is. For real vets there is no other choice to honor the sacrifices made so far and to keep boots on the ground until the job is done. Yesterday and throughout the weekend Vets for Freedom, a huge organization of Iraq War vets is launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign. I told you that General Clark's lame and unnecessary slander of McCain would fire up the military base of his supporters. Wake up America has more about this campaign"

I have put a few more interesting articles up on my Paralipomena blog again recently.

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

Leftist patriotism isn't

Sen. Barack Obama spoke on the subject of patriotism this past week in an effort to undo some of the damage he has already inflicted on his own image -- through his associations, his statements and policy positions -- and to obscure his liberalism.

Liberals rightly feel defensive about their patriotism because they always seem to find themselves blaming the United States for this or that, exhorting us to be more like the "enlightened" nations of Europe or forever shouting that we are a "laughing stock" in the eyes of other nations.

It was not a conservative who wrote in an editorial this week: "Tuck the soaring speeches in a drawer for another time. This year, America doesn't deserve to celebrate its birthday. This Fourth of July should be a day of quiet and atonement. For we have sinned." It was Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Chris Satullo, who, like so many liberals, is angry at America because he sees it as standing for torturing prisoners, imprisoning enemy combatants without hearings, rendition and other denials of human rights. According to Satullo, America isn't safer because our alleged abuses have "spawned new enemies by the thousands, made the jihadist rants ring true to so many ears. So put out no flags. Sing no patriotic hymns. We deserve no Fourth this year."

Sorry, but you just don't hear much of this type of rhetoric from conservatives. And Obama and the entire Democratic establishment know it. When conservatives reflect on America, the first things that come to their minds are not exaggerated tales about waterboarding or deliberately hatched lies about the National Security Agency spying on innocent old American ladies. They beam with pride that America is still the greatest, freest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world. They see it as a beneficent promoter and defender of what is right, not as a stingy, imperial bully.

Obama's patriotism problem isn't just related to his liberalism. He has earned demerits in this category in his own right by refusing to wear a flag pin and foolishly -- and defiantly -- trying to justify it. Also, there are the statements of his wife that she is proud of America for the first time in her life, his associations with William Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his contemptuous assessment of small-town America, and his typically liberal appeasement and blame-America-first orientation.

I find attitudes like Satullo's disgusting. They spring from a sickness that infects the souls of many liberals who see nothing but negative in our fight with a wicked enemy that chops off heads of prisoners and engages in mass murder of non combatants. By ignoring that conduct and focusing on mistakes made by our side in fighting back he shows a lack of what libeals claim to be for, proportionality. The only people who can make statements like his are those who have never been put in a position where they have to be responsible for the lives of others.

We need to keep working to root out the evils of liberalism as we celebrate our successes in defending freedom.

Source

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

ELSEWHERE

Saudi Grand Mufti speaks out on al Qaeda : "Al-Asheikh called on young Saudis not to be enticed by militants. He further demanded coordinated action from Saudis and residents to uncover members of the group. In a nine-point statement, the mufti said the criminal acts planned by the militants would not come from the mind of a true believer, adding that these militants were acting as tools in the hands of the enemies of Islam and Saudi Arabia. Al-Asheikh, who is the Kingdom's highest religious authority, said Islam does not allow the killing of innocent people. He also cautioned Muslim youth against deviant ideologies whose proponents want to undermine the Kingdom's security. "You should be aware that these militants, who claim to work for the cause of Islam and defend Muslims, actually hide their vested interests and vicious objectives," he said. Al-Asheikh warned Saudis and residents against providing protection and refuge to militants"

The reality of Africa strikes: "A Sydney man who followed his dream to build a village where impoverished African orphans could be fed, educated and given healthcare has been shot dead by robbers. Darren Stratti, 36, a father of two teenage boys and a passionate musician, was just months away from finishing the village in remote northern Tanzania with his partner, Rebecka Delforce. The couple had thrown away the idea of settling down in Australia with a mortgage and instead raised funds for their not-for-profit organisation, foodwatershelter Inc. A Masai warrior on guard outside their room in the village at 8am Sydney time on Tuesday was bound by bandits, who were trying to steal $6000 intended for building supplies. The bandits shot Mr Stratti through a wall."

Civil War in Sweden? : "During an online poll at the national newspaper Aftonbladet, almost half of the readers voted "yes" to a question of whether a civil war is possible in Sweden. I know online polls don't always reflect the public opinion, but still. This is in a country where there is virtually zero debate about mass immigration, which continues at full speed. My personal opinion is that Sweden is not the most likely candidate for the first civil war, simply because people need to fight back to create a civil war. It takes two to tango. The same for France, which is demographically speaking the worst country, and where a kind of war is waged by immigrants in the streets right now, but where nobody fights back".

Britain: Would you trust these people to manage an ID card?: "The Home Office said that errors at the Criminal Records Bureau were "regrettable" after it emerged that hundreds of innocent people had been wrongly branded as criminals. Almost 700 applicants for jobs in teaching, nursing, childminding and volunteer work were falsely accused of wrongdoing by the government agency set up to protect children. In recent years the number of checks undertaken annually has nearly doubled, from 1.5 million five years ago to almost 3 million last year. It was disclosed last night that incorrect information was issued for 680 people in the year to February 2008. David Ruffley, a Shadow Home Office Minister, said that the mistakes were evidence of an "emerging crisis" in the handling of public information."

Blame Taxes for Baltimore's Rot: "Baltimore deserves the Third-World profile it has developed because it has expanses of crumbling, crime-riddled neighborhoods populated by low-income renters, an absent middle class, and just a few enclaves of high-income gentry near the Inner Harbor or in suburbs..... The city has waged a war on capital for more than 50 years, raising property taxes an astonishing 21 times from 1950 to 1985. But what politicians don't seem to understand is that the target may be degraded or destroyed in the process. There are now at least 30,000 housing units in Baltimore that are abandoned and waiting to be demolished, while even old, upper-crust neighborhoods now have a seedy look. Property taxes are so high - as well as the strong likelihood they will soar even higher in the future - that even maintenance, no less capital improvements, are a losing proposition. Renovations or upgrades may add less value to a house than it will cost in taxes on that house with a higher assessed value. Moreover, while physical capital may not be mobile, financial and human capital are. Property tax rates in Baltimore County (outside the city) are less than half of those inside the city (1.1% versus 2.268%). The suburbs are thriving even with the center city decaying."

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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

America's Days Aren't Numbered

I have a simple request. As we celebrate the birth of the American Republic, can we all stop predicting its death? It's getting depressing. The last time I strolled through the local Barnes & Noble, there were so many books announcing the end of American power, wealth, influence, or just America itself, that I began to wonder whether my dollars would be worth anything by the time I hit the checkout counter....

As a historian, I find this trend fascinating. After all, since humans climbed out of the trees and began surveying the lion-infested Savannah, none have ever lived in a period more prosperous, secure and stable than Americans do today. The U.S. is not only the wealthiest and most powerful country on earth now, but in all of history. There's never been a better time and place to be alive than America in the 21st century.

So why all the decline theorists? Here's my theory: Prosperity and security are boring. Nobody wants to read about them. The same phenomenon occurred in ancient Rome, the last state to acquire such a firm hegemony. By the second century B.C., Roman citizens were affluent and their empire no longer had any serious rivals. With the dangers past and the money rolling in, they developed a taste for jeremiads. If you had a stylus, ink and scroll you could hardly go broke telling the Romans their empire, culture and way of life were yesterday's news.

Polybius blamed pandering politicians, who, he predicted, would transform the noble Republic into mob rule. Sallust claimed that Rome's vicious political parties had "torn the Republic asunder." Livy wrote his entire "History of Rome" just so that his fellow citizens could "follow the decay of the national character . . . until it reaches these days in which we can bear neither our diseases nor their remedies." The Romans may have been unquestioned masters of their world, but they sure didn't like reading about it. And when the empire actually did start its decline in the third century A.D., criticisms and predictions of collapse became noticeably thinner on the ground.

The military dictators who seized power in Rome and led the empire on its downward spiral did not much like reading about their own shortcomings, and they had ways of making sure that they didn't have to. These were the days of the panegyric - an obsequious form of literature that praised the emperor and empire to the skies. When you start seeing those, it's time to worry.

Of course America could be falling, but I have my doubts. For one thing, the book market is too strong. So, on this Fourth of July, I am going to watch the fireworks and be grateful for the place and time in which I live. When Polybius, Sallust and Livy wrote their books the Roman state still had more than a millennium of life in it. Perhaps ours does too.

Source

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

ELSEWHERE

Disgraceful British pennypinching: "Former Gurkha soldiers today lost their High Court battle over a pensions deal with the Ministry of Defence, which they say has left them struggling to live. Three retired members of the famous Brigade of Gurkhas failed in a legal challenge affecting thousands of others. Kamal Purja, Sabahdaur Gurung and Kumar Shrestha were demanding the same pension rights for Gurkhas as the rest of the British Army. The Government conceded some ground to the Gurkhas over pensions last year, but members of the celebrated regiment who retired before 1997 were not included in the new deal and there is a discrepancy in the way years of service are calculated. In today's test case, the High Court ruled that the dates and exceptions imposed by the MoD were reasonable."

California confusion: To water or not to water? Greenies trump city bureaucrats: "Sacramento city officials on Wednesday admitted their code enforcement policies may not be drought-friendly, and said they won't fine the couple featured in Wednesday's Bee who let their front lawn die to save water. The story prompted a torrent of outrage from the public, who overwhelmingly supported Anne Hartridge and Matt George, the east Sacramento couple cited by city code enforcers after they stopped watering their lawn. ... The city's director of code enforcement, Max Fernandez, told The Bee on Wednesday the front-yard rules allow more flexibility than the code language indicates. The code states explicitly that front yards 'shall be landscaped, irrigated and maintained.' This would seem to preclude yards that are simply mulched, like Hartridge's, or those that use cactuses or other drought-tolerant plants requiring no water."

MSM economics: "Quite simply, our economy is in total collapse! So says ABC News. The Yahoo headline writer put it: "Skyrocketing food prices threaten Fourth of July celebrations." There's no doubt food prices have risen, but "skyrocketing?" As the story says, food prices are up 5% over 4th of July last year. Some perspective is in order: Jimmy Carter could only dream about 5% inflation when he was president. We learn 41 seconds in that a pack of hot dogs "runs about $4.29." Are those foie gras hot dogs? At Wal-Mart, Bar-S hot dogs are $0.79. Then at 1:26 a woman displays the typical ignorance of people about economics. She says, "I don't know why we have to pay so much for the same product." Don't worry, lady. ABC will blame it on oil companies for you"

WALL-E, No thanks: "I took my family to see WALL-E this weekend. I have been a huge fan of Disney Pixar's movies. Parents are usually just as entertained as their kids are. With WALL-E, that's probably true only if you thought An Inconvenient Truth was Oscar-worthy. As for me, Pixar's latest offering was Godforsaken dreck. Mankind has had to abandon the earth because there is too much garbage. WALL-E is the only remaining garbage compacting robot in a metropolis of garbage skyscrapers. And his only living companion is a cockroach, described by a Washington Post reviewer (who doubtlessly thinks very highly of the Nobel Committee) as cute, but pretty much just a cockroach. Really charming stuff for my three-year old, who was asking to leave about fifty minutes in. When we finally see the humans, they are corpulent, lazy slobs who move around by robotic deck chairs on a giant space cruiseship. Oh, and let's not forget the mega-corporation that runs everything (ironically, the ship looked a little like a Disney Cruise ship in the year 2800). From the first moment of the film, my kids were bombarded with leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind."

McClatchy newspapers nearly dead: "Shares of The McClatchy Co. dropped almost 6 percent in trading Monday and fell to a new 52-week low, after the newspaper publisher was removed from the Russell 1000, a closely watched index. The Sacramento-based company has been battling declining advertising revenue and fewer readers for the past few months. The drop in earnings and revenue prompted 10 percent across-the-board layoffs"

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

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

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

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" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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