Hat tip Vlad Tepes
Here is an interfaith voice I can get behind. A young man named Amran Hussein, raised as a Muslim, but who now considers himself a follower of all three Abrahamaic faiths has testified before the UN Human Rights Council, defended Israel and called for an end to persecution of Jewish students in Europe.
http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=61543
Kudos to Amran. Sadly, I fear for his safety.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
What Happened to the Jews of Iraq
The below article was written in 2011 by my friend and colleague Reut Cohen. Reut is a young Jewish lady whose family came from Iraq. She is also a recent graduate of the University of California at Irvine, where I teach. Active in Anteaters for Israel, Reut stood up to the Muslim Student Union when they held their annual bash Israel events. She suffered insults, had a camera shoved in her face, and got very little if any support from the administration. While she graduated, she does not look back on her college experience with fondness.
The below article describes what happened to Iraq's Jewish community in the 20th century and how it stands today.
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/06/persecution-jews-iraq
Add this to the post I put up today on the situation regarding Christians and you get a picture of what the reality is in the Middle East.
The below article describes what happened to Iraq's Jewish community in the 20th century and how it stands today.
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/06/persecution-jews-iraq
Add this to the post I put up today on the situation regarding Christians and you get a picture of what the reality is in the Middle East.
What in the Hell is Going on in the Border Patrol?
Hat tip Vision to America
Things are going from bad to worse in our Border Patrol. While driving back from Arizona a couple of days ago, I was listening to an interview of the vice president of National BP Council, Shawn Moran. The topic was the proposed 40% cut in pay to BP agents principally through their overtime pay (due to the sequester). Now comes this report about a recent message sent to the Tucson and San Diego sectors from their HQ in Washington. It features a curious reference to the definition of obedience. It is apparently meant to silence agents who want to speak out on how they are being kept from doing their jobs. In the below link, you can access a video by agent advocate Andy Ramirez. I should note that the video is featured on the site, Prison Planet by Alex Jones. I have never visited this site before, and I don't follow Alex Jones. He is rather controversial, and I don't know enough about him to weigh in.
http://visiontoamerica.com/14439/homeland-security-demands-obedience-in-message-to-agents/
Last note: I don't know if I am ready to buy into comments by Ramirez about FEMA camps, labeling opponents as domestic terrorists, and drone strikes just yet. I do share a serious concern about the way our Border Patrol and its officers are being treated by this administration. Beyond David Aguilar, this is the hand of Janet Napolitano at work here.
And you know who she takes her orders from.
"Obedience"
By the way; I came across this statement from 2011 from the Association of Former Border Patrol Agents regarding Operation Fast and Furious. I think it is still timely to post here.
http://nafbpo.org/editorial-fast%20and%20furious.html
Things are going from bad to worse in our Border Patrol. While driving back from Arizona a couple of days ago, I was listening to an interview of the vice president of National BP Council, Shawn Moran. The topic was the proposed 40% cut in pay to BP agents principally through their overtime pay (due to the sequester). Now comes this report about a recent message sent to the Tucson and San Diego sectors from their HQ in Washington. It features a curious reference to the definition of obedience. It is apparently meant to silence agents who want to speak out on how they are being kept from doing their jobs. In the below link, you can access a video by agent advocate Andy Ramirez. I should note that the video is featured on the site, Prison Planet by Alex Jones. I have never visited this site before, and I don't follow Alex Jones. He is rather controversial, and I don't know enough about him to weigh in.
http://visiontoamerica.com/14439/homeland-security-demands-obedience-in-message-to-agents/
Last note: I don't know if I am ready to buy into comments by Ramirez about FEMA camps, labeling opponents as domestic terrorists, and drone strikes just yet. I do share a serious concern about the way our Border Patrol and its officers are being treated by this administration. Beyond David Aguilar, this is the hand of Janet Napolitano at work here.
And you know who she takes her orders from.
By the way; I came across this statement from 2011 from the Association of Former Border Patrol Agents regarding Operation Fast and Furious. I think it is still timely to post here.
http://nafbpo.org/editorial-fast%20and%20furious.html
An Arab View of Obama's Visit to Israel
Hat tip Israpundit, Doc's Talk and Jblog
Abdel Bari Atwan is the editor in chief of Al Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic) Alarabi Newspaper, a pan-Arab paper based in London. He has written a scathing op-ed on President Obama's visit to Israel.
http://www.bariatwan.com/english/?p=1486
Remarkable.
First of all, I will dispense with Mr Atwan's sense of betrayal. What is really interesting is his lack of knowledge of even the more important phases of American history as well as his own errors in describing our president's heritage and the lives of his ancestors.
"Obama used to speak about the humiliating racial segregation his grandparents and other relatives faced in Chicago when they were banned from sitting with white people on buses."
Really? First of all, the only grandparents Obama had in the US were white (on his mother's side) , never lived in Chicago, and certainly never were banned from sitting anywhere on any buses they may have ridden on. Further, I seriously doubt that buses in Chicago were segregated during the time of Obama's grandparents-or any other time. Even further, until Obama himself lived in Chicago, married and had children there, he had no other African or African-American relatives either living in Chicago or being banned from sitting with white people anywhere else. (He has a Kenyan aunt still living in Boston-illegally, I might add.)
"How can an American president of African origin demand this of us, after his grandparents’ generation stood up to racial discrimination and sacrificed martyrs to this noble cause: putting an end to slavery and racism?"
I assume the writer is referring to Obama's grandparents on his mother's side and their generation. More accurately, perhaps, he should have referred to the mother's generation, but no matter. Neither generation ended slavery, Mr Atwan. That happened in 1865 as a result of the Civil War.
"America’s long line of caucasian presidents never stooped this low; most of them pressured Israel to some degree to recognise the rights of the Palestinian people. Why is Obama be so keen to fawn at Netanyahu’s feet begging for forgiveness? Netanyahu who insulted him so grievously by overtly backing Republican Mitt Romney in November's presidential race."
While nobody would blame Netanyahu for hoping for a Romney win, I don't where he overtly supported him. And why is the writer again bringing up Obama's race after first comparing him to Uncle Tom? What does it matter what previous Caucasian presidents did vis-a-vis Israel? It is pretty obvious that Obama is concerned about the Palestinians. What seems to offend the writer is that Obama has expressed support for Israel's right to survive as a Jewish state.
"Obama did not come to the region as a man of peace but as a war monger. He came to light the fuse of devastation, giving Israel the go-ahead to attack Iran, pledging that Tehran will never possess a nuclear weapon and declaring that Hezbollah belongs on the list of international terrorists."
Except for the reference to Hezbollah, I see no evidence of that.
"This is the age of American hypocrisy and Arab humiliation."
It is pretty clear here that Atwan wants nothing less than the end of Israel. As for Arab humiliation, they have nobody to blame but themselves. As long as they continue to blame Israel, the US and the West for their own failures including lack of freedom, backwardness, and few contributions to the world in the modern era other than bloodshed and religious hatred, they will continue to be humiliated-by themselves.
One example is the above op-ed by Atwan, which is filled with lack of knowledge and thinly-concealed racial insults to our president.
Abdel Bari Atwan is the editor in chief of Al Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic) Alarabi Newspaper, a pan-Arab paper based in London. He has written a scathing op-ed on President Obama's visit to Israel.
http://www.bariatwan.com/english/?p=1486
Remarkable.
First of all, I will dispense with Mr Atwan's sense of betrayal. What is really interesting is his lack of knowledge of even the more important phases of American history as well as his own errors in describing our president's heritage and the lives of his ancestors.
"Obama used to speak about the humiliating racial segregation his grandparents and other relatives faced in Chicago when they were banned from sitting with white people on buses."
Really? First of all, the only grandparents Obama had in the US were white (on his mother's side) , never lived in Chicago, and certainly never were banned from sitting anywhere on any buses they may have ridden on. Further, I seriously doubt that buses in Chicago were segregated during the time of Obama's grandparents-or any other time. Even further, until Obama himself lived in Chicago, married and had children there, he had no other African or African-American relatives either living in Chicago or being banned from sitting with white people anywhere else. (He has a Kenyan aunt still living in Boston-illegally, I might add.)
"How can an American president of African origin demand this of us, after his grandparents’ generation stood up to racial discrimination and sacrificed martyrs to this noble cause: putting an end to slavery and racism?"
I assume the writer is referring to Obama's grandparents on his mother's side and their generation. More accurately, perhaps, he should have referred to the mother's generation, but no matter. Neither generation ended slavery, Mr Atwan. That happened in 1865 as a result of the Civil War.
"America’s long line of caucasian presidents never stooped this low; most of them pressured Israel to some degree to recognise the rights of the Palestinian people. Why is Obama be so keen to fawn at Netanyahu’s feet begging for forgiveness? Netanyahu who insulted him so grievously by overtly backing Republican Mitt Romney in November's presidential race."
While nobody would blame Netanyahu for hoping for a Romney win, I don't where he overtly supported him. And why is the writer again bringing up Obama's race after first comparing him to Uncle Tom? What does it matter what previous Caucasian presidents did vis-a-vis Israel? It is pretty obvious that Obama is concerned about the Palestinians. What seems to offend the writer is that Obama has expressed support for Israel's right to survive as a Jewish state.
"Obama did not come to the region as a man of peace but as a war monger. He came to light the fuse of devastation, giving Israel the go-ahead to attack Iran, pledging that Tehran will never possess a nuclear weapon and declaring that Hezbollah belongs on the list of international terrorists."
Except for the reference to Hezbollah, I see no evidence of that.
"This is the age of American hypocrisy and Arab humiliation."
It is pretty clear here that Atwan wants nothing less than the end of Israel. As for Arab humiliation, they have nobody to blame but themselves. As long as they continue to blame Israel, the US and the West for their own failures including lack of freedom, backwardness, and few contributions to the world in the modern era other than bloodshed and religious hatred, they will continue to be humiliated-by themselves.
One example is the above op-ed by Atwan, which is filled with lack of knowledge and thinly-concealed racial insults to our president.
Where Did All the Christians Go?
Hat tip Raymond Ibrahim and Gatestone Institute
Raymond Ibrahim gives us an interesting picture of the status of Christians in the Middle East-especially with the current trials and tribulations of Egypt's Coptic Christian community.
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-january-2013/
So as we in the West all wring our hands over "Islamophobia", when do we stop to consider why Christianity and Judaism have all but disppeared from the very region where they were born (notable exception Israel)?
In the case of the Jews, even after the expulsion by the Romans from the Land of Israel, there continued to be Jewish communities in the Arab lands through the centuries, who lived in a dhimmi status-until 1948-49 when they were driven out of those countries after the creation of Israel. Almost one million people had to leave their homes often with nothing more than what they could carry. Nobody talks about them as they mourn the Arabs who left the newly-created Israel in 1948-most voluntarily upon the urging of the invading Arab armies who promised a quick return once they had driven the Jews out. Those refugees wound up in refugee camps in the neighboring countries, and there they remained unable-with the exception of Jordan- to become citizens and assimilate. They became known in the 1960s-yes the 1960s- as "Palestinians", useful pawns to the Arab world that cannot accept a Jewish state in the region.
As for the Christians, most notably, the Copts in Egypt, they have been increasingly marginalized and with the so-called Arab Spring, now find themselves in even more peril. Keep in mind that the Copts were in Egypt long before the Muslims and now make up about 10% in that country.
So why is it that in the region where the three monotheistic, Abrahamaic faiths were born Christianity and Judaism have all but disappeared-again with the notable exception of a greatly-threatened Israel? Could it be despite all the claims that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance that has always co-existed with and protected its religious minorities that just the opposite is true-that it is all about warfare, conquest and persecution?
Rather than launch into another discourse on that question, I suggest the reader read the history. Read the Koran. Learn how the Koran was put together, how it is organized, and how it is interpreted by Islamic scholars. Check out those scholars and the leading schools of Islamic thought. Read the Hadith. Read about the life of the Prophet Mohammed. Follow the events in the Middle East and the Islamic world as well as what is happening in Europe today. To be sure, read all sides. Evaluate the sources. Read between the lines. Attend those interfaith meetings and asked educated and pointed questions to the Muslim representatives. Carefully scrutinize what they say.
Do the research.
Raymond Ibrahim gives us an interesting picture of the status of Christians in the Middle East-especially with the current trials and tribulations of Egypt's Coptic Christian community.
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/muslim-persecution-of-christians-january-2013/
So as we in the West all wring our hands over "Islamophobia", when do we stop to consider why Christianity and Judaism have all but disppeared from the very region where they were born (notable exception Israel)?
In the case of the Jews, even after the expulsion by the Romans from the Land of Israel, there continued to be Jewish communities in the Arab lands through the centuries, who lived in a dhimmi status-until 1948-49 when they were driven out of those countries after the creation of Israel. Almost one million people had to leave their homes often with nothing more than what they could carry. Nobody talks about them as they mourn the Arabs who left the newly-created Israel in 1948-most voluntarily upon the urging of the invading Arab armies who promised a quick return once they had driven the Jews out. Those refugees wound up in refugee camps in the neighboring countries, and there they remained unable-with the exception of Jordan- to become citizens and assimilate. They became known in the 1960s-yes the 1960s- as "Palestinians", useful pawns to the Arab world that cannot accept a Jewish state in the region.
As for the Christians, most notably, the Copts in Egypt, they have been increasingly marginalized and with the so-called Arab Spring, now find themselves in even more peril. Keep in mind that the Copts were in Egypt long before the Muslims and now make up about 10% in that country.
So why is it that in the region where the three monotheistic, Abrahamaic faiths were born Christianity and Judaism have all but disappeared-again with the notable exception of a greatly-threatened Israel? Could it be despite all the claims that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance that has always co-existed with and protected its religious minorities that just the opposite is true-that it is all about warfare, conquest and persecution?
Rather than launch into another discourse on that question, I suggest the reader read the history. Read the Koran. Learn how the Koran was put together, how it is organized, and how it is interpreted by Islamic scholars. Check out those scholars and the leading schools of Islamic thought. Read the Hadith. Read about the life of the Prophet Mohammed. Follow the events in the Middle East and the Islamic world as well as what is happening in Europe today. To be sure, read all sides. Evaluate the sources. Read between the lines. Attend those interfaith meetings and asked educated and pointed questions to the Muslim representatives. Carefully scrutinize what they say.
Do the research.
Army Still Won't Give Purple Hearts to Ft Hood Victims
As we continue to wait for the Ft Hood terrorist shooter to go on trial, the Army still refuses to recognize the victims. They insist that awarding them Purple Hearts would compromise the trial.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/congressman-reintroduces-bill-ft-hood-shooting-victims/story?id=18502230#.UVh9PRysiSp
Is it possible that the Defense Dept fears that this act would give Nidal Hasan some kind of enemy combatant status and muddy the waters as to who should try him or what offense to charge? How about treason? Murder is murder, but to call this "workplace violence" seems to be an exercise in political correctness. It was an act of violent jihad as to motive.
This is the same Defense Department that decided to give Distinguished Warfare Medals to those who man the computers that launch killer drones (now under review). I thank them greatly for their service, but I have to question the level of the medal.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/02/pentagon-start-awarding-medals-drone-strokes-and-cyberattacks/62104/
And don't forget that Bronze Medal (higher than a Purple Heart) to the Air Force chaplain who designed a politically-correct training course on Islam for the troops.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/14/air-force-chaplain-clarifies-details-about-muslim-military-training-doc-bronze-star-medal-i-dont-view-this-as-accommodating-islam/
I won't go into the cuts in funding and manpower.
Given the above, how can you deny Purple Hearts (and the level of authorized care that goes with them) to those wounded at Ft Hood?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/congressman-reintroduces-bill-ft-hood-shooting-victims/story?id=18502230#.UVh9PRysiSp
Is it possible that the Defense Dept fears that this act would give Nidal Hasan some kind of enemy combatant status and muddy the waters as to who should try him or what offense to charge? How about treason? Murder is murder, but to call this "workplace violence" seems to be an exercise in political correctness. It was an act of violent jihad as to motive.
This is the same Defense Department that decided to give Distinguished Warfare Medals to those who man the computers that launch killer drones (now under review). I thank them greatly for their service, but I have to question the level of the medal.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/02/pentagon-start-awarding-medals-drone-strokes-and-cyberattacks/62104/
And don't forget that Bronze Medal (higher than a Purple Heart) to the Air Force chaplain who designed a politically-correct training course on Islam for the troops.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/14/air-force-chaplain-clarifies-details-about-muslim-military-training-doc-bronze-star-medal-i-dont-view-this-as-accommodating-islam/
I won't go into the cuts in funding and manpower.
Given the above, how can you deny Purple Hearts (and the level of authorized care that goes with them) to those wounded at Ft Hood?
Let Wrigley Be Wrigley
Hat tip to Al Yellon and Bleed Cubbie Blue
Oh no! Now comes word that the Cubs' ownership is proposing a 6,000 square foot jumbo-tron to Wrigley Field-3 times the size of the old scoreboard that presently exists.
"Ah wunnerful, ah wunnerful, ah."
http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/3/29/4160464/cubs-wrigley-jumbotron
Not to me, Larry. As far as I am concerned, Wrigley Field will no longer be Wrigley Field. You may as well add a 3rd deck and retractable dome and be done with it.
Of course, this may just be a bargaining ploy with the city as Tom Ricketts and family try to gain approval for some smaller renovations to Wrigley over 5 years. Or it may be a ploy to gain a bigger cut from the rooftop owners across the street since such a jumbotron would effectively block the view of the park during games. In addition, the Cubs are also toying with the idea of accepting 25 square acres of land in nearby Rosemont to build a new stadium.
Lost in all this is the idea of keeping Wrigley Field as it is-an iconic reminder of times gone by-a feeling that one was back in the 1930s, enjoying the game as it used to be.
Of course, I have no objection to doing needed work on the infrastructure of the park. It is 99 years old, and such work is inevitably needed. That can be done without altering the outside appearance. Here are the proposed renovations to be implemented over the next five years-minus the jumbotron.
The pictures above don't seem to too bad, but keep in mind just like the Obama agenda, drastic changes come incrementally. Suddenly, you wake up and everything you knew is gone.
"Today's attendance is an all-time record 98, 766. Now let's join Jim Carrey in singing 'Take me out to the ballgame."
Oh no! Now comes word that the Cubs' ownership is proposing a 6,000 square foot jumbo-tron to Wrigley Field-3 times the size of the old scoreboard that presently exists.
http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/3/29/4160464/cubs-wrigley-jumbotron
Not to me, Larry. As far as I am concerned, Wrigley Field will no longer be Wrigley Field. You may as well add a 3rd deck and retractable dome and be done with it.
Of course, this may just be a bargaining ploy with the city as Tom Ricketts and family try to gain approval for some smaller renovations to Wrigley over 5 years. Or it may be a ploy to gain a bigger cut from the rooftop owners across the street since such a jumbotron would effectively block the view of the park during games. In addition, the Cubs are also toying with the idea of accepting 25 square acres of land in nearby Rosemont to build a new stadium.
Lost in all this is the idea of keeping Wrigley Field as it is-an iconic reminder of times gone by-a feeling that one was back in the 1930s, enjoying the game as it used to be.
Of course, I have no objection to doing needed work on the infrastructure of the park. It is 99 years old, and such work is inevitably needed. That can be done without altering the outside appearance. Here are the proposed renovations to be implemented over the next five years-minus the jumbotron.
The pictures above don't seem to too bad, but keep in mind just like the Obama agenda, drastic changes come incrementally. Suddenly, you wake up and everything you knew is gone.
"Today's attendance is an all-time record 98, 766. Now let's join Jim Carrey in singing 'Take me out to the ballgame."
The Inevitable : New Tax to Fund Irvine's Great Park
The Orange County Register is reporting today that the Irvine City Council has unanimously approved (4-0- Beth Krom was absent) to establish an annual tax on future homeowners living near the Great Gopher Patch also known as the the Great Park.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-501901-park-tax.html
Just what everybody in California needs-another tax. I guess Irvine Boss Larry Agran wasn't listening when I asked him last year where they were going to get more tax revenue after all the tax payers had fled California.
Excuse me for asking, but after $200 million has disappeared down the hole weren't we supposed to have those roads, bridges, runway demolition and all that? Instead, all we have is an orange hot air balloon and carousel- without a ding dong bell.
"Ah wunnerful, ah wunnerful, ah."
Left unasked and unexplained is who is going to buy a new home near the Great Park knowing they have to pay another few thousand bucks in annual taxes.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
The CSCOPE Teaching Controversy Heats Up
Hat tip Creeping Sharia and Atlas Shrugs
Previously, I have written posts about the influence of an agency called CSCOPE in our schools-especially in Texas. Creeping Sharia has a post on a test question your kids may have already seen and taken.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/texas-c-scope-tests-students-on-islamic-sharia/
I am surprised one of those choices wasn't helping little old ladies across the street.
How about these?
K death penalty for gays
L death penalty for those who blaspheme Islam
M death penalty for apostasy
N death by stoning for adulterers.
The above is also part of sharia-specifically under hudud sharia- penalty for crimes against God.
That brings us to a recent video that comes from Africa. Atlas Shrugs has posted it, and it has been picked up by other sites. It is graphic and highly disturbing. After careful thought, I have decided to post it. I will explain why below. ( I don't know what the sound track is saying or who put it in the tape.)
My dear readers, this is not about hating people who are Muslims, nor should it ever be. Surely, many Muslims in the US came here to escape this very barbarity. However, this is part and parcel of sharia law. It mandates a death sentence for acts which in our law are not even crimes. This is why so many states are trying to insure that this type of legal philosophy cannot worm its way into American law. It is not about discrimination. It is about human rights.
Our children are being indoctrinated by our public school system when it comes to the reality of this most controversial issue in the world today. This is the same public school system that systematically eliminates any references to Christianity-most recently even to mention the word, "Easter".
If you have kids in school, you need to pay close attention to what they are being taught. It is well and good to teach tolerance. It is not good to teach misinformation and falsehoods. I am not suggesting that schools teach the darker sides of sharia law to classes that have Muslim children lest they be singled out for schoolyard taunting. Perhaps it would be better if the schools allowed the kids to learn about it the old-fashioned way-by experience as they grow up. If you can't teach the truth, it is better to teach nothing at all.
Previously, I have written posts about the influence of an agency called CSCOPE in our schools-especially in Texas. Creeping Sharia has a post on a test question your kids may have already seen and taken.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/texas-c-scope-tests-students-on-islamic-sharia/
I am surprised one of those choices wasn't helping little old ladies across the street.
How about these?
K death penalty for gays
L death penalty for those who blaspheme Islam
M death penalty for apostasy
N death by stoning for adulterers.
The above is also part of sharia-specifically under hudud sharia- penalty for crimes against God.
That brings us to a recent video that comes from Africa. Atlas Shrugs has posted it, and it has been picked up by other sites. It is graphic and highly disturbing. After careful thought, I have decided to post it. I will explain why below. ( I don't know what the sound track is saying or who put it in the tape.)
My dear readers, this is not about hating people who are Muslims, nor should it ever be. Surely, many Muslims in the US came here to escape this very barbarity. However, this is part and parcel of sharia law. It mandates a death sentence for acts which in our law are not even crimes. This is why so many states are trying to insure that this type of legal philosophy cannot worm its way into American law. It is not about discrimination. It is about human rights.
Our children are being indoctrinated by our public school system when it comes to the reality of this most controversial issue in the world today. This is the same public school system that systematically eliminates any references to Christianity-most recently even to mention the word, "Easter".
If you have kids in school, you need to pay close attention to what they are being taught. It is well and good to teach tolerance. It is not good to teach misinformation and falsehoods. I am not suggesting that schools teach the darker sides of sharia law to classes that have Muslim children lest they be singled out for schoolyard taunting. Perhaps it would be better if the schools allowed the kids to learn about it the old-fashioned way-by experience as they grow up. If you can't teach the truth, it is better to teach nothing at all.
Jim The Jerk Carrey
Jim Carrey is another one of those obnoxious people who come to the US to make their fortune and pay us back by insulting our country and our culture. Piers Morgan is also a prime example. Jimmie the Jerk Carrey, a Canadian, is right up there with him.
Personally, I never cared for his routines, especially when he played that neurotic Ace Ventura character. I have to admit, however, that the producers sure picked the right actor for that role.
First, Jimmie the Jerk makes a video lampooning gun owners, westerners, and Charlton Heston. Then when he gets criticism from Fox News pundits, Jimmie the J goes viral, implying that he could sue Fox (Good luck, Mr Celebrity. You don't know much about US law, do you?) So now he is tweeting his adoring fans (who have nothing better to do than follow his tweets) and throwing out four-letter words to describe Fox.
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jim-carrey-calls-fox-news-giant-culture-fart-in-feud-over-charlton-heston-skit-2013303
What is it about these Hollywood creeps that they have to prove their street creds by attacking Fox News?
And pardon the digression, but who is this Jason Biggs guy that just trashed the new Pope? Doing a quick Google search I learn he is some actor who reportedly once stuck his penis in an apple pie.
"Ah wunnerful, ah wunnerful, ah."
(And to this day, it is the greatest thing he has done in his life.)
Ultimately, most of these Hollywood types have no intellectual capacity to engage in a serious discussion about issues like gun laws. But they have an audience (comprised mostly of people with no real lives), so they spend their off-set time tweeting their pearls of wisdom.
But enough about Jim Carrey. He's not really worth the type as the New York Times used to say.
Personally, I never cared for his routines, especially when he played that neurotic Ace Ventura character. I have to admit, however, that the producers sure picked the right actor for that role.
First, Jimmie the Jerk makes a video lampooning gun owners, westerners, and Charlton Heston. Then when he gets criticism from Fox News pundits, Jimmie the J goes viral, implying that he could sue Fox (Good luck, Mr Celebrity. You don't know much about US law, do you?) So now he is tweeting his adoring fans (who have nothing better to do than follow his tweets) and throwing out four-letter words to describe Fox.
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jim-carrey-calls-fox-news-giant-culture-fart-in-feud-over-charlton-heston-skit-2013303
What is it about these Hollywood creeps that they have to prove their street creds by attacking Fox News?
And pardon the digression, but who is this Jason Biggs guy that just trashed the new Pope? Doing a quick Google search I learn he is some actor who reportedly once stuck his penis in an apple pie.
(And to this day, it is the greatest thing he has done in his life.)
Ultimately, most of these Hollywood types have no intellectual capacity to engage in a serious discussion about issues like gun laws. But they have an audience (comprised mostly of people with no real lives), so they spend their off-set time tweeting their pearls of wisdom.
But enough about Jim Carrey. He's not really worth the type as the New York Times used to say.
Palestinian Protest Flops in LA
"Come to the big protest"
Just call me "Bum Scoop". Remember that posting a week or so ago announcing a Palestinian protest in front of the Israeli Consulate in LA on March 29?
"Uhhhhh........yeaaaaah."
Well, it flopped. Only about 30 losers showed up. Eric Golub of Tygrrrr Express has the report.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2013/mar/30/failed-good-friday-los-angeles-palestinian-protest/
"Pinkwashing" Panel at UCLA
Hat tip Frontpage Magazine and Campus Watch
Cinnamon Stillwell and my friend and colleague Reut Cohen attended a recent event at UCLA which focused on the subject of "Pinkwashing" a desperation tag invented by the anti-Israeli lobby to take Israel to task for being tolerant of gays. Not that the anti-Israeli crowd has anything against gays, you know, it's just that they think Israel is taking unfair advantage because they (the Palestinians et al) persecute them and it's just not fair that Israel doesn't because....
Read the below article and you will appreciate how much this bunch ties itself into knots with their anti-Israel propaganda.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/cinnamon-stillwell-and-reut-r-cohen/pro-gay-and-anti-israel-pinkwashing-to-the-rescue/
“Pinkwashing: Gay Rights and Queer [sic] Indigeneities”
This is a classic case of the anti-Israel crowd joining with the academic left inventing one term and re-inventing what used to be an anti-homosexual epithet. And these idiots are academics . Here is the lead from their own announcement.
And this:
"Stating up front that she prefers to be called a “scholar-activist,” Elia wasted no time...."
Hey Nada! How about I call you an "idiot"?
Cinnamon Stillwell and my friend and colleague Reut Cohen attended a recent event at UCLA which focused on the subject of "Pinkwashing" a desperation tag invented by the anti-Israeli lobby to take Israel to task for being tolerant of gays. Not that the anti-Israeli crowd has anything against gays, you know, it's just that they think Israel is taking unfair advantage because they (the Palestinians et al) persecute them and it's just not fair that Israel doesn't because....
Read the below article and you will appreciate how much this bunch ties itself into knots with their anti-Israel propaganda.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/cinnamon-stillwell-and-reut-r-cohen/pro-gay-and-anti-israel-pinkwashing-to-the-rescue/
“Pinkwashing: Gay Rights and Queer [sic] Indigeneities”
This is a classic case of the anti-Israel crowd joining with the academic left inventing one term and re-inventing what used to be an anti-homosexual epithet. And these idiots are academics . Here is the lead from their own announcement.
"Colonialism and dishonesty go hand in hand. Nineteenth and twentieth century colonial powers sought to justify their imperial designs through a myopic denunciation of the circumstances of women in the colonized societies. These imperial countries pretended to "save brown women from brown men," as they dispossessed and disenfranchised entire peoples. Twenty-first century colonialism has evolved to justify occupation and apartheid as a new and improved "civilizing mission," one that distinguishes itself as gay-friendly, while the downtrodden societies are represented as homophobic. On the other hand, Palestinian queer activism, and the grassroots Palestinian strategy of BDS, which seek to achieve equality for all people regardless of their ethnicity, sexuality, or religion, present the model for a queer state, which allows individual citizens to define themselves as they wish, without losing power, entitlement, or safety."
I would love to see how "queer activism" works in the West Bank and Gaza.
Here is an example of the reasoning powers of the appropriately-named Professor Nada Elia of Antioch University when it comes to gay Palestinians.
"A lot of queer Palestinians are suspected of being collaborators. There is some degree of truthfulness because Israel knows—every Palestinian is spied on somehow— if there is suspicion that a Palestinian is gay, they are arrested and then recruited. They threaten to ‘out them.’ This increases the homophobia. It’s aggravating the circumstances of gays in Palestine."
Of course. It all makes perfect sense.
And this:
"Stating up front that she prefers to be called a “scholar-activist,” Elia wasted no time...."
Nada Elia is Professor of Gender and Global Studies at Antioch University, Seattle. She is the author of Trances, Dances, and Vociferations: Agency and Resistance in Africana Women's Narratives, and has guest edited a special issue of Radical Philosophy Review on the Second Intifada. Her essays on identity construction in the diaspora, and more recently on gender and militarism, have appeared in World Literature Today, the Journal of the National Women's Studies Association, Callaloo, Research in African Literatures, and more.
A scholar-activist, Nada chairs the anti-militarism/anti-occupation taskforce of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, and serves on the Organizing Committee of the US Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
A scholar-activist, Nada chairs the anti-militarism/anti-occupation taskforce of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, and serves on the Organizing Committee of the US Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Hey Nada! How about I call you an "idiot"?
Germany Now Calls for EU to Label Hezbollah at Terrorist Group
But France Not Yet on Board
Germany is now following suit and joining Bahrain in naming Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, it appears they need EU permission to do so-or it must be done by the EU itself. Therein lies the problem.
Hat tip The American Interest
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/03/29/germany-calls-hezbollah-a-terrorist-group-france-wavers/
One can only wonder what the EU's head of its foreign affairs office, the Baroness Lady Catherine Ashton has to say (pictured below with EU honcho Herman Van Rompuy-She's the one on your right).
.jpg)
Good luck with that.
Germany is now following suit and joining Bahrain in naming Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, it appears they need EU permission to do so-or it must be done by the EU itself. Therein lies the problem.
Hat tip The American Interest
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/03/29/germany-calls-hezbollah-a-terrorist-group-france-wavers/
One can only wonder what the EU's head of its foreign affairs office, the Baroness Lady Catherine Ashton has to say (pictured below with EU honcho Herman Van Rompuy-She's the one on your right).
.jpg)
Good luck with that.
One Fine Day in Belgium
Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes
Within Europe, Belgians are known as the worst drivers in Europe. Add an Algerian jihadist just passing through on his way to the jihad and you have a recipe for disaster.
http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/03/deadly-chase-on-a-belgian-highway/
Within Europe, Belgians are known as the worst drivers in Europe. Add an Algerian jihadist just passing through on his way to the jihad and you have a recipe for disaster.
http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/03/deadly-chase-on-a-belgian-highway/
Another "Big" Panel at UC Berkeley
Hat tip Frontpage Magazine
Big panel- I enlarged the picture to make the panel appear bigger
Lee Kaplan at Frontpage Magazine is reporting on yet another anti-Israel "panel' at UC Berkeley law school hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine and featuring such "headliners" as professor Hatem Bazian. No matter how many times Bazian speaks, he will still insist that the great big Israel lobby in America is trying to silence him.
Bazian
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/lee-kaplan/israel-lobby-threatening-free-speech-at-berkeley/
Bazian is a classic whiner who hales from the Middle East and calls himself a Palestinian-as if that were a nationality, which it is not and never has been. He was educated at Berkeley where he was pretty much a campus headache and later became a professor. (Berkeley knows talent when they see it.) Since then he has been on the lecture tour talking about how bad Israel is and how prevalent Islamophobia is in this country. This pretty much begs the question; if things are so bad here in the US, why doesn't he go back where he came from?
"Uhhhhh......yeaaaaah."
And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Nigel Farage on Islam in Britain
Nigel Farage, British member of the European Parliament, is sen in this clip from 2012 addressing the issue of Islam in the West.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Planned Parenthood's Moral Bankruptcy
Driving home from Arizona today, I listened to Mark Levin cover this story and play the tape of Planned Parenthood's testimony in Florida. When asked what PP's position was as to what should happen to a baby who is born alive during an unsuccessful abortion procedure, the PP representative, Alisa LaPolt Snow, just couldn't seem to come up with an answer. Her testimony begins at the 37:40 mark.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/planned-parenthood-rep-raises-eyebrows-in-testimony-on-bill-protecting-babies/?test=latestnews
Sadly, this kind of event has been known to happen. There is an ongoing trial now in Philadelphia of an abortion doctor who has not only done thousands of abortions, but has killed a few babies who made it onto the operating table alive.
http://news.yahoo.com/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-trial-ran-house-horrors-prosecutor-005128450.html
If you care to know what President Obama's thinking about this is, here is a tidbit.
http://www.mcclpac.org/about_obama_baipa.htm
So even if a baby emerges from the womb alive, its fate still comes down to the "choice" of the mother? If you can say that about an infant born moments ago, when does that baby become a human being with rights that supersede its mother's choice? When it is a day old, a week old, a month old, a year old?
When did we lose our moral compass that we have reached this stage?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/planned-parenthood-rep-raises-eyebrows-in-testimony-on-bill-protecting-babies/?test=latestnews
Sadly, this kind of event has been known to happen. There is an ongoing trial now in Philadelphia of an abortion doctor who has not only done thousands of abortions, but has killed a few babies who made it onto the operating table alive.
http://news.yahoo.com/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-trial-ran-house-horrors-prosecutor-005128450.html
If you care to know what President Obama's thinking about this is, here is a tidbit.
http://www.mcclpac.org/about_obama_baipa.htm
So even if a baby emerges from the womb alive, its fate still comes down to the "choice" of the mother? If you can say that about an infant born moments ago, when does that baby become a human being with rights that supersede its mother's choice? When it is a day old, a week old, a month old, a year old?
When did we lose our moral compass that we have reached this stage?
Johns Hopkins' Embarrassment
Graduating medical class objects to graduation speech by Dr Ben Carson
Dr Ben Carson is learning the hard way what happens to conservative blacks who wander off the liberal plantation. He was slated to be the commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins University's graduating medical class. Then he made a comment about groups that want to change the marriage laws. With California's anti-gay marriage law now before the Supreme Court, woe to those who oppose gay marriage.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/students-want-ben-carson-replaced-as-commencement-speaker-after-gay-marriage/?test=latestnews
Carson has graciously withdrawn from the speech after this insult from the very students studying in his department. He is better than they are.
Dr Ben Carson is learning the hard way what happens to conservative blacks who wander off the liberal plantation. He was slated to be the commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins University's graduating medical class. Then he made a comment about groups that want to change the marriage laws. With California's anti-gay marriage law now before the Supreme Court, woe to those who oppose gay marriage.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/students-want-ben-carson-replaced-as-commencement-speaker-after-gay-marriage/?test=latestnews
Carson has graciously withdrawn from the speech after this insult from the very students studying in his department. He is better than they are.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
The Lies Behind the BDS Movement
I am cross-posting an article written by Joel Fishman of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. It concerns the annual March madness of the Israel Apartheid Weeks that occur around the nation on college campuses.
A large aspect of this is the movement called Boycott, Divest and Sanctions, targeted against companies that do business with Israel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message from the Editor
Some of our grandparents who once lived in Eastern Europe used to tell how Holy Week, the week before Easter became a time of fear. When Holy Week began, particularly in the countryside, they shut themselves up in their homes in fear of their physical safety. This was a time of incitement against the Jews and the season of the blood libel. Today, Jews who live in free and democratic societies would prefer not to relive these memories.
Unfortunately, Jewish students on American university campuses are being confronted with a new annual ritual which bears some similarity to the oppression which their ancestors experienced during Holy Week. Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) involves intimidation and fear, not the least because of confrontations which take place at symbolic campus "roadblocks." Despite all disclaimers, IAW possesses a strong undercurrent of anti-Semitism passing under the guise of a progressive humanitarian objection to the alleged racism of Israeli society.
This year, the annual IAW takes place in March in over 200 cities. So far, one of its most successful accomplishments was the success of Palestinian advocates to get the University of California San Diego to adopt a "socially responsible" resolution in favor of divestment of the University's assets from Israel. IAW was also observed at McGill University in Montréal, and San Francisco State University. In Cambridge, MA, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee posted mock eviction notices on the doors of Jewish students as well as some others.
Incitement to hatred and, potentially, violence is objectionable and represents a new challenge to which all citizens of good faith should respond. There are several aspects of this problem. For the most part, university administrators have been passive. Their acquiescence has brought criticism particularly in the cases of Brooklyn College and Harvard University. At the same time, the American Jewish community has yet to respond with a coherent strategy.
Israel's adversaries are well organized, decentralized, and use the methods of an underground movement. These are the findings of Alex Joffe whom we have invited to submit a special report for the Faculty Forum. Separately, we are running a report on UCSD which board member and UCSD professor , Shlomo Dubnov, and Asaf Romirowsky, our Acting Executive Director, recently published.
We also make special mention of an essay, "Sitting beside a BDS Leader," which our good friend, Eran Shayshon, the director of the Reut Institute of Tel Aviv wrote for The Daily Beast. By chance, Eran found himself sitting next to a BDS leader on a long flight. At first, their conversation was not so pleasant, but after while they began a meaningful exchange. During this discussion, Eran asked, at what point would the BDS advocates be satisfied and willing to end their campaign against Israel. He then recounted the unsettling reply he received, "I never got a clear answer from her, or from other BDS supporters I have spoken with, regarding the circumstances under which they would stop advocating for BDS. What would need to happen? My flight companion claimed that the boycott campaign targeted the ‘occupation,' while acknowledging that she and others don't believe in the two-state solution. So which occupation was she referring to? Is it only the West Bank that is occupied, or also Tel Aviv? Is it about the occupation or about the State of Israel?"
There is a serious disconnect here, because we are repeatedly confronted with the intransigent Palestinian objection to the existence of the State of Israel, the state of the Jewish People. During the 1970s, Yehoshefat Harkabi, who wrote the pioneering studies of Arab attitudes toward Israel, observed that "The Arabs can present their case in simplistic slogans. At most they have to try to conceal that their grievance, the redress of which in their version would be a matter of justice, is an unlimited grievance, which the opponent cannot redress to their liking and yet stay alive. Thus Israel's reluctance to abide by their demands is represented by them as only capricious, whereas actually it is an existential imperative." [Arab Strategies and Israel's Response (New York: Free Press, 1977), 101.]
There are several corollaries to this position. "Justice" from the Arab point of view means the destruction of Israel, and because the "injustice" of the birth of Israel was of such a scale, all means can be used in order to undo it. According to their logic, the end justifies the means. For them, all means fair and foul, -- including terror, -- are acceptable.
Since the 1960s, and even before the founding of the PLO, this has been the Arab position. Now, the Palestinians and their advocates have given it new packaging, this time in the form of Israel Apartheid Week. After the failure of the Second Intifada [The Second Armed Uprising] and with Durban Conference which followed (2001), they have resorted to a sustained, global propaganda offensive. One consequence has been the spread of anti-Semitism and an assault on the civil rights of Jewish students on the American campus. They have opened a political war, but we must neutralize this challenge and prevail. We must study their tactics and defeat their strategy.
I wish all our readers good holidays, a happy Passover & Easter.
Joel
Fishman
Editor SPME Faculty Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As one who has been attending the anti-Israel events at UC Irvine every May for the last 6-7 years, I can testify as to the anti-Semitic language and atmosphere that reigns supreme on campus during these events.
In addition, UCI recently had its campus darkened by one of the prime instigators of BDS, Omar Barghouti, an Arab who actually studies at Tel Aviv University. During the Q and A, he was asked by an audience member if BDS would terminate if Israel made a two-state agreement with the Palestine Authority. He basically answered in the negative as long as THEIR demands (e.g. right of return) were not addressed.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/omar-barghouti-at-uc-irvine-februry-4.html
It is clear that the real objective of these anti-Israel organizations is not a peaceful two-state solution, but the elimination of Israel altogether. Why? Because the Arab world cannot accept a Jewish state in the Middle East. Why? Because they hate Jews-period.
It is long since past time that we all stand up to this hate-driven movement on our campuses. That means anyone who supports Israel, Hillel (the national Jewish student organization), and other Jewish organizations who care about anti-Semitism on campus. Up to now, their responses have been disappointing.
A large aspect of this is the movement called Boycott, Divest and Sanctions, targeted against companies that do business with Israel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message from the Editor
Some of our grandparents who once lived in Eastern Europe used to tell how Holy Week, the week before Easter became a time of fear. When Holy Week began, particularly in the countryside, they shut themselves up in their homes in fear of their physical safety. This was a time of incitement against the Jews and the season of the blood libel. Today, Jews who live in free and democratic societies would prefer not to relive these memories.
Unfortunately, Jewish students on American university campuses are being confronted with a new annual ritual which bears some similarity to the oppression which their ancestors experienced during Holy Week. Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) involves intimidation and fear, not the least because of confrontations which take place at symbolic campus "roadblocks." Despite all disclaimers, IAW possesses a strong undercurrent of anti-Semitism passing under the guise of a progressive humanitarian objection to the alleged racism of Israeli society.
This year, the annual IAW takes place in March in over 200 cities. So far, one of its most successful accomplishments was the success of Palestinian advocates to get the University of California San Diego to adopt a "socially responsible" resolution in favor of divestment of the University's assets from Israel. IAW was also observed at McGill University in Montréal, and San Francisco State University. In Cambridge, MA, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee posted mock eviction notices on the doors of Jewish students as well as some others.
Incitement to hatred and, potentially, violence is objectionable and represents a new challenge to which all citizens of good faith should respond. There are several aspects of this problem. For the most part, university administrators have been passive. Their acquiescence has brought criticism particularly in the cases of Brooklyn College and Harvard University. At the same time, the American Jewish community has yet to respond with a coherent strategy.
Israel's adversaries are well organized, decentralized, and use the methods of an underground movement. These are the findings of Alex Joffe whom we have invited to submit a special report for the Faculty Forum. Separately, we are running a report on UCSD which board member and UCSD professor , Shlomo Dubnov, and Asaf Romirowsky, our Acting Executive Director, recently published.
We also make special mention of an essay, "Sitting beside a BDS Leader," which our good friend, Eran Shayshon, the director of the Reut Institute of Tel Aviv wrote for The Daily Beast. By chance, Eran found himself sitting next to a BDS leader on a long flight. At first, their conversation was not so pleasant, but after while they began a meaningful exchange. During this discussion, Eran asked, at what point would the BDS advocates be satisfied and willing to end their campaign against Israel. He then recounted the unsettling reply he received, "I never got a clear answer from her, or from other BDS supporters I have spoken with, regarding the circumstances under which they would stop advocating for BDS. What would need to happen? My flight companion claimed that the boycott campaign targeted the ‘occupation,' while acknowledging that she and others don't believe in the two-state solution. So which occupation was she referring to? Is it only the West Bank that is occupied, or also Tel Aviv? Is it about the occupation or about the State of Israel?"
There is a serious disconnect here, because we are repeatedly confronted with the intransigent Palestinian objection to the existence of the State of Israel, the state of the Jewish People. During the 1970s, Yehoshefat Harkabi, who wrote the pioneering studies of Arab attitudes toward Israel, observed that "The Arabs can present their case in simplistic slogans. At most they have to try to conceal that their grievance, the redress of which in their version would be a matter of justice, is an unlimited grievance, which the opponent cannot redress to their liking and yet stay alive. Thus Israel's reluctance to abide by their demands is represented by them as only capricious, whereas actually it is an existential imperative." [Arab Strategies and Israel's Response (New York: Free Press, 1977), 101.]
There are several corollaries to this position. "Justice" from the Arab point of view means the destruction of Israel, and because the "injustice" of the birth of Israel was of such a scale, all means can be used in order to undo it. According to their logic, the end justifies the means. For them, all means fair and foul, -- including terror, -- are acceptable.
Since the 1960s, and even before the founding of the PLO, this has been the Arab position. Now, the Palestinians and their advocates have given it new packaging, this time in the form of Israel Apartheid Week. After the failure of the Second Intifada [The Second Armed Uprising] and with Durban Conference which followed (2001), they have resorted to a sustained, global propaganda offensive. One consequence has been the spread of anti-Semitism and an assault on the civil rights of Jewish students on the American campus. They have opened a political war, but we must neutralize this challenge and prevail. We must study their tactics and defeat their strategy.
I wish all our readers good holidays, a happy Passover & Easter.
Joel
FishmanEditor SPME Faculty Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As one who has been attending the anti-Israel events at UC Irvine every May for the last 6-7 years, I can testify as to the anti-Semitic language and atmosphere that reigns supreme on campus during these events.
In addition, UCI recently had its campus darkened by one of the prime instigators of BDS, Omar Barghouti, an Arab who actually studies at Tel Aviv University. During the Q and A, he was asked by an audience member if BDS would terminate if Israel made a two-state agreement with the Palestine Authority. He basically answered in the negative as long as THEIR demands (e.g. right of return) were not addressed.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/omar-barghouti-at-uc-irvine-februry-4.html
It is clear that the real objective of these anti-Israel organizations is not a peaceful two-state solution, but the elimination of Israel altogether. Why? Because the Arab world cannot accept a Jewish state in the Middle East. Why? Because they hate Jews-period.
It is long since past time that we all stand up to this hate-driven movement on our campuses. That means anyone who supports Israel, Hillel (the national Jewish student organization), and other Jewish organizations who care about anti-Semitism on campus. Up to now, their responses have been disappointing.
Bisbee (Cont)
View of Brewery Gulch
Today I continued my visit in Bisbee. The first order of business was a tour of the old Bisbee Queen copper mine where my grandfather had worked after the turn of the century. The mine opened in the 1870s I believe and closed down in 1943, Today, I rode the old train car or whatever they call it down 1500 feet into the mine, hardhat and all. It is truly amazing to consider the monumental work involved especially when tools were rudimentary. It almost makes you wonder if it's all worth it.
If you have ever wondered what happens when a miner needs to go while underground, here is the answer. The old-fashioned honey wagon as modeled by a young tourist.
By the way, the small Old Bisbee Brewery Company makes very good beer. Their brewewry, off Brewerey Gulch (Ave) has a small bar with brats.
My next stop was to the mine museum library, where a kind lady helped me pull up records showing my granddad's employment as well as my great-grandparents' residence in the town with a couple of old addresses. She also showed me their burial records (great-grandparents).
I then proceeded to try and find the two addresses where my great grandparents had lived. They were located on a big hill overlooking the town in an area accessible only by old stone steps. (Bisbee has numerous old homes built into the mountainsides overlooking the town.) Alas' the residences proved inaccessible and probably no longer existent. Eventually, you have to end your ascent up the steps when you come to someone's back fence. No streets service the homes.
My last stop was the Evergreen Cemetery outside town, where I found the graves of my great grandparents. Lo and behold my great grandfather had the same birthday as my son. The grave of the woman I presumed to be my great grandmother created some confusion, however. It said she was born in 1882 and died in 1907. My grandmother was born in 1884 according to my records, so I need to do some more checking on this. She may be a sister of my grandmother. There are three graves including a female who died in 1898 at age 5.
Tomorrow I will start for home and a real computer. I am considering a one night stopover in Calexico on the border across from Mexicali. Who knows? Maybe I'll see John McCain and Chuckie Schumer taking pictures.
Four Senators in Arizona- There is a Border!
Four US Senators toured the US-Mexico border at Nogales and observed a woman climbing over the fence.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/27/woman-tries-to-hop-border-fence-with-four-senators-watching/?test=latestnews
I'll bet it was the first time Chuckie Schumer ever saw the border. Too bad they didn't take a little stroll over into Nogales, Sonora.
Now that they have seen it with their own eyes, how is Congress going to certify that the border is secure as a first step to comprehensive immigration reform? We already see signs that the Obama administration and Janet Napolitano are tap dancing on that one. What I predict is that the "certification" will come at the same time, and once again the Dems will pull a fast one on the Republicans and we will have another amnesty just like in 1986 under Reagan when the promised border security never came. Result? From 3 million illegals, we are now at 11-12 million. How many do you think there will be 20 years from now?
When will John McCain tell us the border is secure?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/27/woman-tries-to-hop-border-fence-with-four-senators-watching/?test=latestnews
I'll bet it was the first time Chuckie Schumer ever saw the border. Too bad they didn't take a little stroll over into Nogales, Sonora.
Now that they have seen it with their own eyes, how is Congress going to certify that the border is secure as a first step to comprehensive immigration reform? We already see signs that the Obama administration and Janet Napolitano are tap dancing on that one. What I predict is that the "certification" will come at the same time, and once again the Dems will pull a fast one on the Republicans and we will have another amnesty just like in 1986 under Reagan when the promised border security never came. Result? From 3 million illegals, we are now at 11-12 million. How many do you think there will be 20 years from now?
When will John McCain tell us the border is secure?
The Cowardly EU
Hat tip to Investigative Project on Terrorism
And a tip of the hat to the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain for designating Hizbollah as a terrorist organization, which is exactly what it is. The EU, on the other hand, will not follow suit. IPT has the details.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/3960/bahrain-labels-hizballah-terrorists-eu-dawdles
Once again, Europe is forgetting the lessons of Hitler and Munich in 1938. They continue to think they can gain the good will of evil pepole. They cannot.
So here we have this organization of European bureaucrats with the haughty-taughty Baroness Lady Catherine Ashton in charge of foreign affairs for the EU. Her latest "achievement" was a series of unfruitful meetings with the Iranians trying to convince them to halt their nuclear program.
Neville Chamberlain would be proud.
And a tip of the hat to the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain for designating Hizbollah as a terrorist organization, which is exactly what it is. The EU, on the other hand, will not follow suit. IPT has the details.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/3960/bahrain-labels-hizballah-terrorists-eu-dawdles
Once again, Europe is forgetting the lessons of Hitler and Munich in 1938. They continue to think they can gain the good will of evil pepole. They cannot.
So here we have this organization of European bureaucrats with the haughty-taughty Baroness Lady Catherine Ashton in charge of foreign affairs for the EU. Her latest "achievement" was a series of unfruitful meetings with the Iranians trying to convince them to halt their nuclear program.
Neville Chamberlain would be proud.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Why Juan Williams is Wrong on the FAU Story
Fox News commentator Juan Williams is one liberal that I respect simply because he is intellectually honest and has learned the hard way how liberals treat blacks who wander away from the politically-correct line. In this latest article he has written, however, I think he is dead wrong. He has come out in defense of Florida Atlantic University and its professor, Deandre Poole in the case of the student who defied Poole's classroom directive to stomp on a piece of paper with the name of Jesus written on it. Here is his article.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/26/in-defense-florida-university-jesus-stomping-exercise/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fopinion+(Internal+-+Opinion+-+Mixed)
First of all, universities in the US today are hardly in the business of challenging political correctness. On the contrary, they toe the politically-correct line.
Secondly, Poole's lesson plan stunt hardly qualifies as an intellectual or scholarly exercise in any way, shape or form. It was merely a form of indoctrination designed to strip young people of the values taught to them by their parents. He never would have done that with the name of Mohammed.
No doubt Juan would defend the free speech right of a professor to use the name, "Mohammed", instead of Jesus, but few universities would because they are intimidated by the reaction of their Muslim Student Unions and organizations like CAIR. Juan also knows that Christians and Jews react much more passively to offenses to their religions than do Muslims. Consider the reaction to this incident as opposed to the reactions to that infamous video about Mohammed or the actions of Pastor Terry Jones.
As for Professor Poole, I would not call for his firing. Were I his supervisor, however, I would call him in for an off the record chat as to why his exercise was inappropriate.
Everybody is entitled to the same respect.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/26/in-defense-florida-university-jesus-stomping-exercise/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fopinion+(Internal+-+Opinion+-+Mixed)
First of all, universities in the US today are hardly in the business of challenging political correctness. On the contrary, they toe the politically-correct line.
Secondly, Poole's lesson plan stunt hardly qualifies as an intellectual or scholarly exercise in any way, shape or form. It was merely a form of indoctrination designed to strip young people of the values taught to them by their parents. He never would have done that with the name of Mohammed.
No doubt Juan would defend the free speech right of a professor to use the name, "Mohammed", instead of Jesus, but few universities would because they are intimidated by the reaction of their Muslim Student Unions and organizations like CAIR. Juan also knows that Christians and Jews react much more passively to offenses to their religions than do Muslims. Consider the reaction to this incident as opposed to the reactions to that infamous video about Mohammed or the actions of Pastor Terry Jones.
As for Professor Poole, I would not call for his firing. Were I his supervisor, however, I would call him in for an off the record chat as to why his exercise was inappropriate.
Everybody is entitled to the same respect.
The Drive to Stop Criticism of Islam Continues
I appears more and more that the self-appointed political, religious and intellectual leaders of American Muslims are getting on the bandwagon to curtail any speech critical of Islam-right here in America. The below report comes from CNS News via Campus Watch.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-s-religious-freedom-appointee-involved-muslim-event-calling-limiting-freedom
Here is the reasoning: In times of war, government has precedent to step in and curtail speech that could provoke violence. The problem is that Mr Rashid has his reasoning out of line. During World War II we did not have laws against speaking out against Japan or Germany, did we?
Secondly, in referring to Pastor Terry Jones, a man whose tactics I disagree with, Rashid is concerned about the retaliatory violence by Muslims around the world. Under American law, it is speech that incites violence against the target of the speech itself that can be curtailed. For example, if Pastor Jones were to directly incite others to attack Muslims then he might be criminally liable. The burdon of proof as to directness is high. He is not liable when Muslims half a world away resort to violence against his words.
It also seems Dr Rashid would favor using cyber-bullying laws to shut down and prosecute blogs that he deems critical of Islam
People like Qasim Rashid have little understanding of our principles of freedom. What scares me, however, is that he has a friendly administration and a Supreme Court that is one liberal away from rendering a preposterous judgment on this question.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-s-religious-freedom-appointee-involved-muslim-event-calling-limiting-freedom
Here is the reasoning: In times of war, government has precedent to step in and curtail speech that could provoke violence. The problem is that Mr Rashid has his reasoning out of line. During World War II we did not have laws against speaking out against Japan or Germany, did we?
Secondly, in referring to Pastor Terry Jones, a man whose tactics I disagree with, Rashid is concerned about the retaliatory violence by Muslims around the world. Under American law, it is speech that incites violence against the target of the speech itself that can be curtailed. For example, if Pastor Jones were to directly incite others to attack Muslims then he might be criminally liable. The burdon of proof as to directness is high. He is not liable when Muslims half a world away resort to violence against his words.
It also seems Dr Rashid would favor using cyber-bullying laws to shut down and prosecute blogs that he deems critical of Islam
People like Qasim Rashid have little understanding of our principles of freedom. What scares me, however, is that he has a friendly administration and a Supreme Court that is one liberal away from rendering a preposterous judgment on this question.
In Bisbee
I left Mesa this morning after catching three Cubs spring training games. Last night, they played the Reds. Today, I am in Bizbee, birthplace of my father and grandmother. It's my first time here, and the place is beautiful and fascinating.
Bisbee was a turn of the century mining town. That's what drew my grandfather here from Pennsylvania. In 1907 he married my grandmother and the following year, my Dad was born here. The same year, a fire wiped out the town, otherwise, it might have become the capital of Arizona. Eventually, my family moved to Los Angeles, from where grandad deserted the family and headed to Nevada to work the mines and where he died in 1972.
This is my first time in Bisbee. It is a well preserved old western town tucked into the mountains. Tombstone is 25 miles away, and I stopped to visit Boot Hill on my way down.
Poor old Rook-"Shot by a Chinaman"
As for Mesa, it was great hanging out with Cubs nation, many of whom come down here during spring training. To each game I wore my Cubs jersey with Ken Hubbs' name and number 16 on the back. A few people came up and stopped to chat about Hubbs, the rookie of the year second baseman who died in a plane crash in 1964. One lady told me that Hubbs was her favorite player and told me how heartbroken she was when he was killed. Another man from Chino told me he played little league ball against Hubbs' Colton, California team.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Florida Atlantic University Apologizes
Chalk one up for the good guys. Florida Atlantic University, after initially trying to discipline a student who refused to participate in an instructor's lesson plan that involved stomping on a piece of paper with the name "Jesus" written on it, has now apologized to the student and to anyone in the community who "may have been offended".
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2013/03/fau_apologizes_ryan_rotela_victory.php
Well, duh.
There is a lesson to be learned here. First of all, these things are going on in universities all over the nation. Most of the time nobody hears about it because nobody complains. In this case, however, the student chose to fight. The story came out in conservative media and the blogosphere. Glenn beck made an issue out of it. Finally, FAU realized that they could not hide under the cover of darkness.
FAU should be the template because it takes public awareness before these outrages can be ended. Somewhere along the line the lawsuits need to start flying.
Let unstated is what, if any, discipline will be imposed on the dopey professor, Deandre Poole-who just happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach Democratic Party.
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2013/03/fau_apologizes_ryan_rotela_victory.php
Well, duh.
There is a lesson to be learned here. First of all, these things are going on in universities all over the nation. Most of the time nobody hears about it because nobody complains. In this case, however, the student chose to fight. The story came out in conservative media and the blogosphere. Glenn beck made an issue out of it. Finally, FAU realized that they could not hide under the cover of darkness.
FAU should be the template because it takes public awareness before these outrages can be ended. Somewhere along the line the lawsuits need to start flying.
Let unstated is what, if any, discipline will be imposed on the dopey professor, Deandre Poole-who just happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach Democratic Party.
Springtime in Ger....er...Egypt
Attention John Kerry. Since you are still in the region, you better get back to Cairo and pledge another $500 million dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood to fix this latest problem. Now we see Christian anti-government demonstrators taken to a mosque and tortured for several hours.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/26/egyptian-mosque-turned-into-house-torture-for-christians-after-muslim/
Here is my question: When will our leaders stand up and demand that Christians and other religious minorities be given their human rights? All we do is give them more money while they systematically persecute anyone who is not Muslim. And here at home and in Europe we have to listen to this constant drumbeat about "Islamophobia".
Isn't it about time that people with half a brain draw the necessary and obvious conclusions?
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/26/egyptian-mosque-turned-into-house-torture-for-christians-after-muslim/
Here is my question: When will our leaders stand up and demand that Christians and other religious minorities be given their human rights? All we do is give them more money while they systematically persecute anyone who is not Muslim. And here at home and in Europe we have to listen to this constant drumbeat about "Islamophobia".
Isn't it about time that people with half a brain draw the necessary and obvious conclusions?
Day 2 in Mesa Cubs Vs Giants
Cubs vs Giants
Yesterday, I dove out to Ho Ho Kam Park in Mesa to watch the Cubs host the Giants. This is the last year the Cubs will be at Ho Ho Kam (Don't ask me where the name came from.) Next year, they move into a new facility that is supposed to resemble Wrigley Field. Ho Ho Kam looks pretty good to me. I would rather see them put the money into getting a few stars to win the pennant, know what I mean?
Much like Chicago, the Cubs are charging their fans whatever the market will bear. Seven bucks to park your car on a grass field. The gift shop is loaded with junk-everything you can name with a Cubs logo on it. What is really outrageous is that a polo shirt that costs 55 bucks at the Reds/Indians gift shop in Goodyear is 68-78 bucks at Ho Ho Kam. The Goodyear shop was much nicer. and cheaper.
Before the game, there was a table with a bunch of ex-ballplayers signing autographs. The headliner was Ferguson Jenkins, the Cubs' hall of fame pitcher. Also in attendance were Gaylord Perry (unrecognizable in a white beard) Darrell Evans, Jodie Davis, Willie Wilson and Peter Lacock.
Yes, Peter Lacock. If memory serves me correctly, he is the son of Hedy Lamarr, the actress.
Or was it Lorraine Day? I hope not because that might mean he was the son of Leo Durocher.
Anyway, the deal was for 20 bucks you could get a baseball pre-autographed by two hall of famers (Jenkins and Perry?) and another ten bucks would get you a picture with "your favorite ballplayer". I didn't see the ex-players signing anything so I presume the balls were already signed and who knows-by a facsimile machine for all I knew. I decided to spend my 20 bucks on a hot dog and beer. Besides, I don't collect autographs anyway.
And the Cubs played perfect hosts to the Giants. I left after the 8th inning and the Giants were up something like 9-3.
As for the Cubs team this year, it seems to be playing out like this. Third base is unknown though it seems the Cubs will have depth in the infield with Alberto Gonzales and Luis Valbuena. They can both play the position until Ian Stewart gets back for his final shot. Steve Clevenger can catch or play third or first. He gets his bat on the ball. Navarro hit a homer against the Giants and will be the back-up catcher to Wellington Castillo.
Aside from Soriano, don't expect much offense in the outfield from DeJesus, Schierholtz or Hairston. Hitting will be Soriano, Rizzo and Castro. Barney will provide great defense at 2nd and hopefully raise his average a bit from last year's 254.
Pitching-wise, Chris Rusin, a leftie, was impressive against the Indians 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He may win a spot in the rotaion if one of the others falters. Travis Wood was less than impressive against the Giants.
This will be another transition year as the Cubs continue to develop their young guys in the minors, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Alberto Almora (who has a wrist injury) and a few others.
Monday, March 25, 2013
British Cops Seize George Galloway's Computer
Hat tip Vlad Tepes
George Galloway, the British MP who once called little ol' me a liar, has had his computer seized by the cops based on allegations he authorized the hacking of his ex-secretary's emails.
http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=61187
In case you are wondering, MP in the UK doesn't mean military policeman. It means member of parliament, or in Georgie's case, madcap politician. This guy is to Britain what Lindsey Lohan is to Hollywood.
God only knows what the cops may find in that computer.
George Galloway, the British MP who once called little ol' me a liar, has had his computer seized by the cops based on allegations he authorized the hacking of his ex-secretary's emails.
http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=61187
In case you are wondering, MP in the UK doesn't mean military policeman. It means member of parliament, or in Georgie's case, madcap politician. This guy is to Britain what Lindsey Lohan is to Hollywood.
God only knows what the cops may find in that computer.
Sequester Be Damned: Money Keeps Flowing to Palestinians
No matter how bad our fiscal situation is at home, there will always be money for the Middle East. Not only are we giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in Egypt every time we turn around, now it's another $500 million to our friends the Palestinians-you know-the ones who danced in the streets on 9-11.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/administration-moves-500m-in-palestinian-aid-as-agencies-scramble-to-delay-1823258958/
Of course, so the argument goes, the Palestininians must be economically viable if they are going to make peace with the Israelis-and that's where we come in. Has anybody asked why they are not economically viable? It seems they are one big welfare case-just like their pals in Gaza.
When will we ever learn that we cannont buy friendship?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/administration-moves-500m-in-palestinian-aid-as-agencies-scramble-to-delay-1823258958/
Of course, so the argument goes, the Palestininians must be economically viable if they are going to make peace with the Israelis-and that's where we come in. Has anybody asked why they are not economically viable? It seems they are one big welfare case-just like their pals in Gaza.
When will we ever learn that we cannont buy friendship?
Sunday, March 24, 2013
John Kerry Shooting for His Place on Mount Rushmore
"Great work, Gutzum. If we can just move it a few feet to the left, it will be perfect."
With apologies to Vasquez Rocks in California.
As expected, John Heinz Kerry is wasting little time trying to bring peace to the Middle East. Speculation is that Obama will have to rein him in so as not to set up a big failure for his adminstration.
Dateline Mesa, Arizona
Your humble correspondent is in Mesa, Arizona this week following the Cubs'final spring training games. Today, I went to Goodyear to watch the Cubs against the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs were winning 4-2 when I left after 8 innings.
Cubs limbering up before the game
I took some pics, but having all knids of trouble putting them up on this blog btween my cell phone and the laptop.
Boy is Mesa dead. Most of the businesses in the strip malls are closed, and it's an adventure finding a place to have dinner with beer or wine.
Tomorrow will be at the Cubs' home park of Ho Ho Kam to see them play the Giants.
I took some pics, but having all knids of trouble putting them up on this blog btween my cell phone and the laptop.
Boy is Mesa dead. Most of the businesses in the strip malls are closed, and it's an adventure finding a place to have dinner with beer or wine.
Tomorrow will be at the Cubs' home park of Ho Ho Kam to see them play the Giants.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Quote of the Day From Charlie Rangel
Hat tip Daniel Greenfield in Frontpage Magazine
Good old Charlie Rangel has stated that "millions of kids" are being gunned down by assault rifles.
"That's a big f******* deal."
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/congressman-rangel-claims-millions-of-kids-being-shot-down-by-assault-weapons/
Sorry, Charlie. Not even if you count Syria do those figures add up. Now if you are talking about abortions just here in the USA, your figures are spot on.
Is that what you really meant, Charlie?
Good old Charlie Rangel has stated that "millions of kids" are being gunned down by assault rifles.
"That's a big f******* deal."
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/congressman-rangel-claims-millions-of-kids-being-shot-down-by-assault-weapons/
Sorry, Charlie. Not even if you count Syria do those figures add up. Now if you are talking about abortions just here in the USA, your figures are spot on.
Is that what you really meant, Charlie?
Protest Coming to Israeli Consulate in LA March 29
The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California is announcing on its website that a " peaceful human rights" protest will be held in front of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles on March 29 from 3-7 pm. The protest will be entitled "Day of Land' and is being organized by Al Awda chapters of LA, Orange County and Riverside County chapters. Aw Awda is a group focused on the "right of return" of Palestinians.
https://shuracouncil.org/Calendar_MPreview.aspx?action=month&date=3/1/2013
Of course, there will be no "right of return" for the nearly one million Jews who were forced to leave Arab lands in 1948, many with little more than the clothes on their backs.
And peaceful? Hopefully, there will be no repeats of previous demonstrations in front of the the consulate when certain folks have yelled "Death to Jews" and other anti-Jewish chants.
https://shuracouncil.org/Calendar_MPreview.aspx?action=month&date=3/1/2013
Of course, there will be no "right of return" for the nearly one million Jews who were forced to leave Arab lands in 1948, many with little more than the clothes on their backs.
And peaceful? Hopefully, there will be no repeats of previous demonstrations in front of the the consulate when certain folks have yelled "Death to Jews" and other anti-Jewish chants.
Friday, March 22, 2013
DHS Inspector General: Napolitano Knew Nothing About Fast and Furious
"Further, the report said word of the gun-smuggling operation within DHS never traveled beyond Arizona -- and claimed Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were never informed of the role ICE played."
The Inspector General Office of DHS has issued a report on ATF's Operation Fast and Furious much like the IG report issued by DOJ. It was all the fault of the agents in Arizona, and the suits in Washington-in this case, Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Norton- were never told.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/22/fast-and-furious-report-finds-dhs-missed-warning-signs-napolitano-in-dark/?test=latestnews
Even if that is true, and I don't believe it for a moment, Napolitano and Morton should be fired for gross incompetence.
Operation Fast and Furious though spearheaded by ATF, was a task force operation in that other federal agencies were involved to one extent or another. If DHS's Washington people knew nothing, why was there a joint meeting on F and F that involved the heads of several of the federal agencies involved?
http://pjmedia.com/blog/email-confirms-gunwalker-known-throughout-justice-department/
This continues to stink. In this case, the worker bees are sacrificed to save the queen bee.
The Inspector General Office of DHS has issued a report on ATF's Operation Fast and Furious much like the IG report issued by DOJ. It was all the fault of the agents in Arizona, and the suits in Washington-in this case, Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Norton- were never told.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/22/fast-and-furious-report-finds-dhs-missed-warning-signs-napolitano-in-dark/?test=latestnews
Even if that is true, and I don't believe it for a moment, Napolitano and Morton should be fired for gross incompetence.
Operation Fast and Furious though spearheaded by ATF, was a task force operation in that other federal agencies were involved to one extent or another. If DHS's Washington people knew nothing, why was there a joint meeting on F and F that involved the heads of several of the federal agencies involved?
http://pjmedia.com/blog/email-confirms-gunwalker-known-throughout-justice-department/
This continues to stink. In this case, the worker bees are sacrificed to save the queen bee.
Can We Deport ANYBODY??!!
Daoud Chehazeh Eyad al Rababah
"In 2001, court documents show U.S. immigration judge Annie Garcy helped Chehazeh fill out his asylum application. She would eventually rule that he belonged to a social group of "people who are hopelessly in debt."
Syrian man tied to 9-11 hijackers given asylum because he is a "hopeless debtor".
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/22/exclusive-syrian-with-ties-to-11-hijackers-still-in-us-virtually-immune-from/
A British Muslim Speaks Out Against Anti-Semitism in the British Muslim Community
Hat tip New Statesman
In the wake a Muslim member of Parliament blaming Jews for his jail sentence for texting while driving that contributed to a traffic fatality, Mehdi Hasan, a British Muslim writer, has the courage to call out the Muslim community in Britain for its anti-Semitism.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/03/sorry-truth-virus-anti-semitism-has-infected-british-muslim-community
With all due respect to Mr Hasan for writing an article that took courage, there is one vital point missing in his article. Where does all this Jew-hatred come from? He concedes that the Israel issue cannot be the only cause. It isn't.
What Mr Hasan did not say-and cannot say without committing the capital offense of blasphemy- is that it is in the Texts. It is in the Koran, and it is in the Hadith.
In the wake a Muslim member of Parliament blaming Jews for his jail sentence for texting while driving that contributed to a traffic fatality, Mehdi Hasan, a British Muslim writer, has the courage to call out the Muslim community in Britain for its anti-Semitism.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/03/sorry-truth-virus-anti-semitism-has-infected-british-muslim-community
With all due respect to Mr Hasan for writing an article that took courage, there is one vital point missing in his article. Where does all this Jew-hatred come from? He concedes that the Israel issue cannot be the only cause. It isn't.
What Mr Hasan did not say-and cannot say without committing the capital offense of blasphemy- is that it is in the Texts. It is in the Koran, and it is in the Hadith.
Obama's Big Photo Op With Arafat
This was the scene as President Obama shook hands with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank-under the benevolent gaze of Yasser Arafat-the Father of Modern Day Terrorism.
Kinda reminds me of this photo from last year.
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Olive Tree Initiative trip to Bethlehem last year. A so-called neutral venture by academic adults trying to influence well-meaning college students to the Palestinian point of view-all in the name of peace.