COW FARMERS TO PAY COW FART TAX IN ESTONIA

ESTONIA IS FOLLOWING NEW ZEALAND'S LEAD!

DOES AL GORE GET A CUT!?!?

WE FIRST COVERED COW FLATULENCE HERE - IN 2006.

VIDEO: REAL SPORTMANSHIP - AND WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT

ACE HAS THE VIDEO.

"STEPPING UP AND DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME."

PRIDE IN DOING SO.

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

NOW... PLAY BALL!

CHAVEZ GRABS MORE POWER OVER FALTERING VENEZUELAN ECONOMY

NO SURPRISE HERE; HE'S A FREAKIN' SOCIALIST; THIS IS WHAT THEY DO; NYTIMES:

Faced with shortages of foods, building materials and other staples, President Hugo Chávez is intensifying state control of the Venezuelan economy through a new wave of takeovers of private companies and the creation of government-controlled ventures with allies like Cuba and Iran.

The moves come just months after voters rejected a referendum to give the president sweeping constitutional power over the economy and public institutions, leading to new accusations that Mr. Chávez is more interested in consolidating power than in fixing Venezuela’s problems.

And while he has argued that aggressive action against the private sector is needed to correct social injustices and fight soaring inflation, his critics say his moves are instead compounding those troubles.

MUGABE DID THE SAME STUFF.

OBAMA IS SIMILAR: HE'D RAISE THE CAP GAINS TAX DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT WOULD HURT THE ECONOMY AND REDUCE REVENUES.

LEFTISM IS A ONE NOTE SONG, AND IT'S FLAT.

PELOSI CAPITLUATES TO MALIKI

GULF TIMES:

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday promised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki renewed US support as his troops pressed a major crackdown on Al Qaeda jihadists, officials said.

The US congressional leader, who flew in to Baghdad yesterday on an unannounced visit, also discussed with Maliki the October provincial elections, state Iraqia television said.

Maliki’s office said Pelosi promised “renewed US support” for his government and declared that Washington “would stand by efforts to achieve security and stability and ensure national reconciliation in Iraq.”

• THIS IS WHY SHEEHAN IS RUNNING AGAINST HER.
• PELOSI'S ANTI-WAR STANCE WAS POLITICALLY USEFUL AND EXPEDIENT - NOT PRINCIPLED.
• SHE AND THE DEMS USED THE IRAQ WAR AND FUELED ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT MERELY TO GAIN SEATS.
• THEY DID THIS DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT HURT OUR FORCES AND OUR ALLIES.
• SCUM.

• PELOSI AND THE DEMS STAND FOR NOTHING -

JUST LIKE BARACK "I COULD NO MORE DISOWN WRIGHT THAN DISOWN MY WHITE GRANDMOTHER" OBAMA.

TEN HELD IN EUROPEAN TERROR PROBE

CNN/AP:

Authorities in France, Germany and the Netherlands on Friday detained at least 10 people suspected of helping to fund al-Qaida-linked militants with roots in Uzbekistan, officials said.

One suspect was detained in Germany, another in the Netherlands, with the rest detained in France, said a senior French police official who was only authorized to discuss the arrests on condition of anonymity.

The suspects' nationalities were not given but officials said they were Turkic-speaking.

French police suspect they collected funds for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group said by the United States to have close ties to al-Qaida.

The senior official described the arrests as "preventative" because the funds thought to have been collected were not known to have been used to carry out terror attacks.

The French arrests were made in Mulhouse, near the border with Germany, and in the Rhone region in the south. France's anti-terror agency, known by the initials DST, conducted the French operation.

Suspects' homes were being searched.

The official said at least eight people were arrested in France and that other arrests were possible.

I THINK THEY'D LOVE TO STAGE A BIG ATTACK TO HELP OBAMA, (BY SHOWING THAT "BUSH/GOP DID NOT MAKE ANYONE SAFER").

NHS PUNISHES PEOPLE IF THEY GO EVER PRIVATE

THIS JUST SEEMS SO SO SO SOOOO TYPICAL OF STATE MONOPOLIES; LONDON TIMES:

The National Health Service has refused to pay for an operation to prevent a pensioner’s agonising migraines because the woman paid privately for earlier treatment.

Maureen Alden, 74, from Bristol, spent her life savings on a £13,000 operation two years ago to implant wires into her brain which prevent migraines by stimulating the nerves. The operation was successful and cut her attacks by 80%.

The battery which powers the medical device is about to run out, however, and the retired typist cannot obtain funding for a replacement.

Alden’s case will reignite the debate over the ban on NHS patients supplementing their care by paying for treatments that are not funded by the health service.

Breast cancer sufferers have been told they will be denied NHS treatment if they pay privately for “top-up” drugs. Patients are taking legal action to fight the ban.

• SOCIALIST SCUM: THEY CAN'T DO IT PROPERLY THEMSELVES AND SEEK TO PUNISH FOLKS WHO EVER TRY TO HELP THEMSELVES.

• WHY!?

• BECAUSE THEIR POWER IS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN THE SERVICE.

• LEFTISTS LOVE SOCIALISM NO MATTER THE RESULTS. THEY ESPECIALLY LOVE THE TAKING - MORE THAN THE GIVING/REDISTRIBUTING.

• LIKE WHEN OBAMA TOLD RUSSERT HE STILL FAVORED A CAPITAL GAINS TAX INCREASES EVEN THOUGH HE ADMITTED IT WOULD SLOW THE ECONOMY AND REDUCE REVENUES.

SHEESH.

THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO MAKE OUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM MORE LIKE THE NHS.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

IF KENNEDY DIES, CAN WE GET WRIGHT AND OBAMA TO DELIVER THE EULOGIES AND HAVE A WELLSTONE-STYLE SEND OFF?

Please.

Just asking...

UPDATE: NOT IF... WHEN!

NYTIMES LIES ABOUT OBAMA'S FIRST LITERARY AGENT

The NYTIMES did a piece on OBAMA today. TITLED:

• Obama’s Story, Written by Obama
• By JANNY SCOTT

Here's an excerpt:

When his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention sent his memoir soaring out of obscurity and straight onto the best-seller list, he untethered himself from his longtime literary agent in favor of Robert B. Barnett, the Washington lawyer who had gotten Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton an $8 million book advance and then landed Mr. Obama a $1.9 million, three-book deal.

...What happened between Mr. Obama and Ms. Dystel is not clear. Ms. Dystel declined to be interviewed for this article.

Er um... "untethered himself from his longtime literary agent"... ?!?!?

THIS IS SO OFF THE MARK IT MIGHT AS WELL BE A LIE. I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED:

OBAMA SUMMARILY BROKE THE CONTRACT HE HAD WITH THE AGENT WHO PUT HIM ON THE MAP WHEN HE WAS A NOBODY.

HE DID THIS AS SOON AS A BIGGER AGENT CAME ALONG - RIGHT AFTER HIS KERRY CONVENTION SPEECH.

OBAMA AND HIS 1st AGENT SETTLED OUT OF COURT.

MAYBE - I AM GUESSING HERE - PART OF THE SETTLEMENT IS THAT SHE CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT...

BUT THIS EPISODE REVEALS A PATTERN WHICH WE HAVE SINCE SEEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN:

• Obama ditches friends as soon as it becomes advantageous to move on.
• His mother. His agent. His pastor. Et al.
• Obama is a low-life ingrate who doesn't know the meaning of the word LOYALTY.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.

OTHERS COMMENTING HERE.

GOOD POST HERE. VIA EVIL GLENN.

NOTE: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS FIRST COVERED THE DYSTEL-OBAMA STORY IN 2005!

TED KENNEDY AIRLIFTED TO BOSTON AREA HOSPITAL

Reliapundit has Kennedy on his mind this morning (see post below). It just so happens that Ted Kennedy has fallen ill:

Kennedy Falls Ill; Airlifted To Boston Hospital BOSTON (CBS) ― U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was airlifted to a Boston hospital Saturday morning after falling ill at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., the Cape Cod Times reported.

He was first rushed to Cape Cod Hospital, and after being in the emergency room for two hours he was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Times. It's unknown what the 76-year-old senator's medical condition is.

Kennedy was first elected in 1962 to finish the final two years of the Senate term of his brother, Senator John F. Kennedy. Kennedy, who is the second most senior member of the Senate, has since been re-elected to seven full terms, representing Massachusetts for 43 years.

[Link: kdka.com...]

UPDATE: RELIAPUNDIT: HE HAD A SEIZURE OR TWO. PERHAPS HE HEARD ABOUT MY ATTACK ON HIS RECORD. OR IT'S THE RESIDUAL EFFECT OF DECADES OF ALCOHOL ABUSE, LYING, AND A LIFE OF TRAITOROUS ACTIVITY.

TEDDY AND THE DEMS - A SHORT HISTORY

UPDATE: THIS POST WAS WRITTEN AND POSTED HOURS BEFORE TED KENNEDY HAD HIS SEIZURES.

The Kennedy's have had a huge and lasting impact on the Democrat Party. It wasn't always bad.

In 1960, JFK ran as a hawk against Nixon. His poppa stole the election. He bailed out on Cuba and blinked in the Missile Crisis, but was tough on Vietnam.

RFK - who helped McCarthy hunt commies in the 1950's and went after the mob and MLK as USAG - was a late opponent to the Vietnam War and a late entrant into the race for POTUS. He was to the right of Gene McCarthy.

Then there's Teddy - the baby of the family: a cheat in college (HE WAS EXPELLED FROM HARVARD FOR CHEATING!), a drunk, a womanizer and a lying MURDERER. And a traitor; (he worked with the KGB in the 1980's).

And he has pretty much run the Democrat Party since 1984.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK BACK:



"Family man" Teddy tried to take the party over in 1980, but failed: he ran against the Democrat SITTING president, Jimmy Carter, and took the contest to the Convention. All the way to a CREDENTIALS fight. His battle weakened Carter. That was a good thing - it helped RWR get elected. Of course... Teddy attacked Carter FORM THE LEFT, NOT THE RIGHT! Carter was too much of a centrist for Teddy. And the left. (These are the same folks who think that the NYTIMES is part of the Bushitler cabal!)

In 1984, two comrades of Teddy's vied for the nomination: liberal US SENATOR Hart did well, but liberal US SENATOR Mondale won by parroting a BURGER KING COMMERCIAL - asking Hart, "Where the beef!?" a reference to his lack of specifics. (Compared to Obama, Hart was as INCREDIBLY specific. HOW TIMES CHANGE!)

In 1988, Teddy gave us his Governor, Mike Dukakis. (Kerry was his Lt Guv!)



In 1992, Teddy tried to give us his Senator, Paul Tsongas. But Bubba Clinton pulled it out.

In 2000, VP Gore beat Bradley. Gore carried Massachusetts easily.

In 2004, Teddy gave us Kerry. In fact, he SAVED Kerry's campaign by giving him his chief of staff and campaigning with him in Iowa. Kerry won Iowa and the nomination because of Teddy.



NOW IT'S 2008, and Teddy endorsed OBAMA and campaigned with him in Iowa and helped him win Iowa and --- it seems now --- the nomination.



The Democrat Party is once again Teddy's. It's a party with much more in common with Teddy and McGovern than with JFK or Clinton.

It's the party of doves, appeasers, tax-and-spenders.

Of a lying, traitorous murderer.

And in that sense, Obama is its perfect standard bearer.

(Now that Teddy's FINALLY too old.)

CAUTION: The Kennedy/Chicago Machine will try to steal this election as they stole it in 1960.

WE MUSTN'T LET THEM.

Even if it means electing ... McCain.

[NOTE: Despite Teddy's and Kerry's endorsement of Obama, Hillary kicked Obama's butt in the Massachusetts primary. I think this shows how REALLY REALLY WEAK Obama is as a candidate in the fall. Obama ONLY beat Hillary in Blue states and only because of getting 90% of the black vote. THEREFORE: Obama will get slaughtered in the swing states this fall. YEAH BABY!]

Skeletons in the Left's Closet

Author Daniel J. Flynn resurrects the skeletons in the left's closet. A choice selection...

10. Ayatollah Khomeini, Leftist Hero

Reflexive anti-Americanism initially moved the Left to embrace the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Mother Jones, for instance, in 1979 predicted that “if Khomeini or his followers take power” then “democratic reforms, freedom for political prisoners, an end to the astronomical waste of huge arms purchases, and a constitutional government” would follow. The Nation, Michel Foucault, and other pillars of the Left similarly projected their ideals upon Khomeini and company...

8. Gay Activists Sue to Block AIDS Test

Today, homosexual activists blame Ronald Reagan and the clergy for the spread of AIDS. But in the mid-1980s, the National Gay Task Force and the Lambda Legal Defense, citing civil-liberties concerns, actually sued the federal government to stop the AIDS test. Thankfully, they lost and scores of lives have been saved as a result...

6. Jonestown Kool-Aid

Before orchestrating the murder/suicides 900+ people in Guyana, Jim Jones was the darling of the San Francisco Left. Huey Newton, Angela Davis, and Willie Brown embraced a man who killed more blacks than the KKK. Democrats Rosalynn Carter, Walter Mondale, and Gerry Brown made campaign visits to the Peoples Temple’s “comrade leader.” The mayor of San Francisco even rewarded Jones for his activism by appointing him chairman of the city’s housing commission. “The temple was as much a left-wing political crusade as a church,” The Nation reported in 1978. Unfortunately, as the years progressed, more Americans gulped down the Left’s Kool-Aid that Jones was of the religious Right and not an atheist leftist.

5. Concentration Camps, American Style

A year before Hitler came to power in Germany, Margaret Sanger called for a vast system of concentration camps for the United States. The Planned Parenthood founder demanded “a stern and rigid policy of segregation or sterilization” for “dysgenic” Americans who “would be taught to work under competent instructors for the period of their entire lives.” The 1932 speech concluded that “fifteen or twenty millions of our population would then be organized into soldiers of defense—defending the unborn against their own disabilities.”

4. Heaven on Earth

American intellectuals looked upon the hell on earth that was post-revolutionary Russia and saw a heaven on earth. The New Republic credited the Russian Revolution with providing “the most democratic franchise yet devised in our world,” while The Nation found that “the franchise is more democratic in Russia than in England or in the United States.” Lincoln Steffens marveled after a visit to the Soviet Union, “The revolution in Russia is to establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth...”

1. Nazi-Soviet Pact

The Left switched from pacifists to warmongers overnight once the Nazi attack upon the Communists dissolved the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Communist Party USA chief Earl Browder, who had dubbed WWII “the second imperialist war” during the pact, so thoroughly switched course when the Nazis attacked the Communists that he embraced conscription (after his opposition to it led to jail in WWI), endorsed a ‘no-strike’ pledge for labor unions (after encouraging strikes to impede the war effort), and kicked out Japanese Americans from the CP (after ostensibly championing civil rights). The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League ceased operations during the pact. The Communists’ New Masses panned the anti-Nazi Watch on the Rhine when it appeared as a play during the pact only to praise it when it appeared as a movie when Hitler and Stalin were again enemies.

Read the whole thing.

Dutch cartoonist in trouble

We read:

"The Dutch authorities have arrested the cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot (a pseudonym. Nekschot means deathblow, litt: “shot in the back of the neck” [An interview with Nekschot here]). The judicial authorities in Amsterdam said yesterday that the cartoonist was arrested as a suspect for the criminal offense of “publishing cartoons which are discriminating for Muslims and people with dark skin.”

The cartoonist was arrested on Tuesday, while the police searched his house for “discriminating evidence.” His computer, backups, usb sticks, mobile phone and a number of drawings were confiscated.

Nekschot was released two days later but it is possible that he will be charged following a complaint in 2005 by the Dutch imam Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, an indigenous Dutchman who converted to Islam.

Source

The guy is a hero, considering the Muslim-loving Dutch authorities and the lack of protection for free speech there.

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM

The madness of government intervention in the food business

Yet another appalling example



The United States and Japan are poised to strike a deal that will remove one of the most widely reviled distortions in global rice markets and could send prices plummeting in the coming weeks. The move, which will flood the market with an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of high-grade American rice that is sitting in Japanese silos, comes amid continuing rice export restrictions by some of the world's biggest suppliers and rioting in countries where the population cannot afford the price increases.

Senior government sources in Tokyo told The Times that Japan had received permission from Washington to begin exports from its giant, but largely hidden, mountain of unwanted American rice to countries that need it most. The exposure of the vast Japanese rice surplus has emerged as one of the chief imbalances of world rice markets and an effect of the complex and wasteful lattice of rules, subsidies and pacts that have knocked global agriculture markets so badly out of kilter.

Rice experts say that the move could defuse temporarily one of the principal catalysts of the food-price crisis - the perception that the world is running out of rice - and the panic and hoarding that has accompanied it. With commodities traders sniffing that a US-Japan deal was imminent, rice futures ended the Asian trading week in a dramatic nosedive as the prospect of a sudden supply surge and bullish harvest forecasts routed speculative money from the market.

The collapse came as think-tanks and food experts called on Japan and the US to urgently unwind one of the biggest "invisible" distortions in global rice markets: a quirk of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules that obliges Tokyo to buy rice it does not need and that eventually rots in storage. The WTO rule, its many critics say, effectively turns millions of tonnes of high-grade American produce into feed for Japanese hogs and chickens.

Researchers at the Washington-based Centre for Global Development (CGD) said that if that distortion were removed, and the 1.5 million tonnes of unwanted US rice were released from Japan's storage silos, the crisis that has sent the price of the crop that feeds half the world surging up would be solved instantly. The centre has suggested that rice prices could halve by the end of the month.

Standing in the way of that, however, has been a rule that prevents Japan from re-exporting its reserves of US rice without permission from Washington, which has not been forthcoming until now because of the fear of domestic political repercussions from the US rice industry.

Source

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

The Rust Belt Should Be Bitter

And better, for that matter

In the firestorm touched off by Barack Obama's comments about those who "cling to" guns and religion out of economic resentment, most analysis missed a crucial point: The "bitterness" felt in the so-called Rust Belt is mainly a product of high-tax, highly unionized states.

While there are pockets of prosperity in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Ohio and Michigan, a good deal of this area is economically depressed. That's not because of Washington's policies (or lack thereof). These policies aren't killing Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.

While southern states do have problems, their governments generally don't smother economic growth by layering on ever-rising taxation, regulation and expenses. They don't permit workers to be forced to join closed-shop unions. No one in D.C. - Obama, Clinton, McCain or Superman - can fix the Rust Belt's self-inflicted wounds.

Western New York offers a prime example. Despite proximity to major markets, a long international border with a major trading partner, a well-developed transport system, untold natural splendors and a well-educated workforce, the Buffalo area's population shrinks every year. Why? High taxes, high government costs and forced unionization are major factors.

New York state is run by and for its public-employee unions, particularly teachers, but several others as well. The unions collect dues and then recycle a significant amount of what they collect into politicians' campaign funds. These contributions (plus state electoral law, which seems designed to protect incumbents and hobble challengers) produce tax-and-expense structures that drive employers away. To varying degrees, the same is true for much of the Rust Belt.

Mr. Obama referred to the ire of poor folks who've been given false promises in the past by national politicians. The real falsehood is the notion that federal programs or subsidies can overcome a state's own ruinous policies.

Source

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, DISSECTING LEFTISM, GREENIE WATCH, OBAMA WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, EYE ON BRITAIN, OPTUS and TELSTRA/BIGPOND. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.)

"PEAK OIL" IS BS, JUST LIKE AGW AND "WE LOST IRAQ"

DINOCRAT:

Bloomberg had reported that Iran is again storing its heavy crude on tankers in the Persian Gulf because the country has run out of onshore storage tanks while awaiting buyers.

Further, Saudi Arabia has extended discounts on its sour crudes to $7.45 for Arabian Heavy.

Doesn’t sound like there’s any real supply problem with that grade of crude, does it?

It is an understatement to say that over the last five years the media have rained reports predicting an impending energy Armageddon.

But those reports have tended not to disclose their sources—which often were individuals heavily invested in the oil futures market.

TODAY:

... on May 10, the kingdom had increased oil output by 300,000 barrels on the request of "about 50 customers worldwide".

The rise will bring Saudi's production in June to 9.45m barrels a day, and does not appear to have been granted in direct response to President Bush's visit. "In the future, if the need appears, Saudi Arabia has no objection to producing more," Mr Al-Naimi said.

• THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF OIL.
• THEREFORE, THIS BUBBLE WILL BURST SOONER THAN YOU THINK.
• AND I HOPE NOBODY CRIES "BAILOUT!" WHEN IT HAPPENS.

WE COULD DO WORSE THAN MCCAIN

JUST SAYING...

NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT; JUST SAYING...

Why Israel is the world's happiest country

Excerpt below from a very original article by "Spengler" ("Spengler" keeps his identity hidden but he sounds like a very elderly German Jewish survivor of Hitler's holocaust. His pseudonym appears to be an allusion to Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West" ("Der Untergang des Abendlandes"). The present "Spengler" also sees great weakness in Western civilization)

Envy surrounds no country on Earth like the state of Israel, and with good reason: by objective measures, Israel is the happiest nation on Earth at the 60th anniversary of its founding. It is one of the wealthiest, freest and best-educated; and it enjoys a higher life expectancy than Germany or the Netherlands. But most remarkable is that Israelis appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation. If history is made not by rational design but by the demands of the human heart, as I argued last week , the light heart of the Israelis in face of continuous danger is a singularity worthy of a closer look.

Can it be a coincidence that this most ancient of nations [1], and the only nation persuaded that it was summoned into history for God's service, consists of individuals who appear to love life more than any other people? As a simple index of life-preference, I plot the fertility rate versus the suicide rate of 35 industrial countries, that is, the proportion of people who choose to create new life against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. Israel stands alone, positioned in the upper-left-hand-quadrant, or life-loving, portion of the chart [2]. Those who believe in Israel's divine election might see a special grace reflected in its love of life.

In a world given over to morbidity, the state of Israel still teaches the world love of life, not in the trivial sense of joie de vivre, but rather as a solemn celebration of life. In another location, I argued, "It's easy for the Jews to talk about delighting in life. They are quite sure that they are eternal, while other peoples tremble at the prospect impending extinction. It is not their individual lives that the Jews find so pleasant, but rather the notion of a covenantal life that proceeds uninterrupted through the generations." Still, it is remarkable to observe by what wide a margin the Israelis win the global happiness sweepstakes.

Nations go extinct, I have argued in the past, because the individuals who comprise these nations choose collectively to die out. Once freedom replaces the fixed habits of traditional society, people who do not like their own lives do not trouble to have children. Not the sword of conquerors, but the indigestible sourdough of everyday life threatens the life of the nations, now dying out at a rate without precedent in recorded history.

Israel is surrounded by neighbors willing to kill themselves in order to destroy it. "As much as you love life, we love death," Muslim clerics teach; the same formula is found in a Palestinian textbook for second graders. Apart from the fact that the Arabs are among the least free, least educated, and (apart from the oil states) poorest peoples in the world, they also are the unhappiest, even in their wealthiest kingdoms.

The contrast of Israeli happiness and Arab despondency is what makes peace an elusive goal in the region. It cannot be attributed to material conditions of life. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia ranks 171st on an international quality of life index, below Rwanda. Israel is tied with Singapore on this index, although it should be observed that Israel ranks a runaway first on my life-preference index, whereas Singapore comes in dead last.

Even less can we blame unhappiness on experience, for no nation has suffered more than the Jews in living memory, nor has a better excuse to be miserable. Arabs did not invent suicide attacks, but they have produced a population pool willing to die in order to inflict damage greater than any in history. One cannot help but conclude that Muslim clerics do not exaggerate when they express contempt for life.

Israel's love of life, moreover, is more than an ethnic characteristic. Those who know Jewish life through the eccentric lens of Jewish-American novelists such as Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, or the films of Woody Allen, imagine the Jews to be an angst-ridden race of neurotics. Secular Jews in America are no more fertile than their Gentile peers, and by all indications quite as miserable.

For one thing, Israelis are far more religious than American Jews. Two-thirds of Israelis believe in God, although only a quarter observe their religion strictly. Even Israelis averse to religion evince a different kind of secularism than we find in the secular West. They speak the language of the Bible and undergo 12 years of Bible studies in state elementary and secondary schools.

Faith in God's enduring love for a people that believes it was summoned for his purposes out of a slave rabble must be part of the explanation. The most religious Israelis make the most babies. Ultra-Orthodox families produce nine children on average. That should be no surprise, for people of faith are more fertile than secular people, as I showed in a statistical comparison across countries.

Traditional and modern societies have radically different population profiles, for traditional women have little choice but to spend their lives pregnant in traditional society. In the modern world, where fertility reflects choice rather than compulsion, the choice to raise children expresses love of life. The high birthrate in Arab countries still bound by tradition does not stand comparison to Israeli fertility, by far the highest in the modern world.

The faith of Israelis is unique. Jews sailed to Palestine as an act of faith, to build a state against enormous odds and in the face of hostile encirclement, joking, "You don't have to be crazy to be a Zionist, but it helps." In 1903 Theodor Herzl, the Zionist movement's secular founder, secured British support for a Jewish state in Uganda, but his movement shouted him down, for nothing short of the return to Zion of Biblical prophecy would requite it. In place of a modern language the Jewish settlers revived Hebrew, a liturgical language only since the 4th century BC, in a feat of linguistic volition without precedent. It may be that faith burns brighter in Israel because Israel was founded by a leap of faith.

Two old Jewish jokes illustrate the Israeli frame of mind.

Two elderly Jewish ladies are sitting on a park bench in St Petersburg, Florida. "Mrs Levy," asks the first, "what do you hear from your son Isaac in Detroit?" "It's just awful," Mrs Levy replies. "His wife died a year ago and left him with two little girls. Now he's lost his job as an accountant with an auto-parts company, and his health insurance will lapse in a few weeks. With the real estate market the way it is, he can't even sell his house. And the baby has come down with leukemia and needs expensive treatment. He's beside himself, and doesn't know what to do. But does he write a beautiful Hebrew letter - it's a pleasure to read."

There are layers to this joke, but the relevant one here is that bad news is softened if written in the language of the Bible, which to Jews always conveys hope.

The second joke involves the American businessman who emigrated to Israel shortly after its founding. On his arrival, he orders a telephone, and waits for weeks without a response. At length he applies in person to the telephone company, and is shown into the office of an official who explains that there is a two-year waiting list, and no way to jump the queue. "Do you mean there is no hope?," the American asks. "It is forbidden for a Jew to say there is no hope!," thunders the official. "No chance, maybe." Hope transcends probability......

If the Israelis are the happiest country on Earth, as the numbers indicate, it seems possible that they will do what is required to keep their country, despite the odds against them. I do not know whether they will succeed. If Israel fails, however, the rest of the world will lose a unique gauge of the human capacity for happiness as well as faith. I cannot conceive of a sadder event.

More here

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

PROOF FOUND OF MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE (?)

The author of the excitable article below talks of "proof" but does not say what it is. As far as one can judge, however, she is referring to this article by Edward Brook, which is itself a summary of two other studies. I looked at another note about the Brook article yesterday and pointed out the huge hole in it. To be fair, the hole is not in the Brook article itself -- which simply claims that levels of atmospheric CO2 are unusually high at the moment -- but rather in the inference that the findings reported by Brook explain global warming. They don't, as I pointed out yesterday.

There is however also a large hole in the Brook article. He takes it as read that CO2 trapped in deep cores is representative of the atmosphere of their times. There are plenty of reasons to question that -- as core-expert Prof. Jaworowski often points out and as chemist Ernst Beck has fairly conclusively proved

Scientists have been able to say with virtual certainty for the first time that the climate change observed over the past four decades is man made and not the result of natural phenomena. The research compounds the conclusion of the biggest scientific report on global warming to date, the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last year, which asserted a strong likelihood that human action was changing the climate. The new study raises the likelihood of "unnatural" causes of global warming to near certainty.

Authors of the study, published on Thursday in the peer-review journal Nature, examined a greater range of data than any other study so far. "Changes in natural systems since at least 1970 are occurring in regions of observed temperature increases, and these temperature increases at continental scales cannot be explained by natural climate variations alone," they say.

The authors, including scientists from Australia, China and the US, warn that man-made climate change is having "a significant impact on physical and biological systems globally". They found that more than 90 per cent of the data examined showed evidence that natural systems were responding to warming. Spring is coming earlier, permafrost is melting and coastal erosion is increasing under the influence of rising sea levels, while animals and birds are changing migration and reproductive patterns.

Barry Brook, director of climate change research at the University of Adelaide, said: "[We should] consider that there has been only 0.75 degree C of temperature change so far, yet the expectation for this century is four to nine times that amount. ["Expectation". What a good word! He means "prophecy". And we all know where most prophecies end up] "So these changes are only a minor portent of what is likely to come, especially if we continue on our carbon-profligate pathway."

Scientists know they may face difficulties ahead in persuading the public and politicians of the importance of tackling global warming - research published recently in Nature suggested that global temperatures were unlikely to increase in the next decade, and could even decline. Experts at Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences and the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre say natural climate variations linked to the Pacific cooling system known as La Nina, as well as a cooling phase of a system of Atlantic currents, may push temperatures down despite the effects of greenhouse gases. However, after those effects wear off in about a decade, temperatures are likely [How likely and how do we know?] to rise much more strongly as the warming effect of carbon emissions regains the upper hand in altering the climate.

Scientists fear that the expected lull might dispel any sense of urgency in tackling global warming and provide ammunition for climate change sceptics.

Source

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, DISSECTING LEFTISM, GREENIE WATCH, OBAMA WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, EYE ON BRITAIN, OPTUS and TELSTRA/BIGPOND. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.)

Pali update

Obama's Peace Partner, HAMAS: 'We will persecute the Zionists'

I guess all free men and lovers of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (aka non-believers) are on this guys hit list. What galls me is this is who Carter legitimized (and who Obama failed to denounce) and further, these are the same savages that Obamacide wants to have "talks" with. Hmmm, what will they talk about gas or ovens?

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Wednesday that a Palestinian state will be established on all of the land of Palestine and not only on parts of it, and that it will include "Jaffa, Lod and Haifa." Zahar also reiterated Hamas' unwillingness to recognize the State of Israel and said that the group "will continue to persecute the Zionists wherever they are, after we prove that the Zionist army can be defeated - contrary to what was believed in the past, that it is impossible to beat the Zionists."

This is what the "Palis" voted for.

Speaking in the Gaza Strip, he went on to affirm Palestinian right of return, claiming that the "right of return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians is closer than ever." "After we defeat the Zionists we will persecute them. we will persecute them to eternity, and the sun of the freedom and independence of the Palestinians will burn all of the Zionists," he continued.

Source

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

More Pali lies

Palestinians are teaching their children on this Nakba (which is still my joy, incidentally) that the Israeli city of Tel Aviv belongs to them, that they used to live in "Tel al-Rabi" long before the dastardly Zionists showed up.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, we discover that this "tragic" history is a propagandistic invention, and has no basis whatsoever in that little thing we like to call "reality." Carl in Jerusalem has the full story, but here's the kicker:

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a Jewish city. The city next to it - Yafo - which has now been incorporated into Tel Aviv, was a mostly Arab city at the time, but has a rich Jewish history (see, for example, the Book of Jonah). In any event, Tel Aviv was not and has never been an Arab or 'Palestinian' city. But the 'Palestinian' jihadis are teaching their children that they will return to it anyway and murder any Jew who stands in their way. There never was a city called Tel Al-Rabi.

Once again, we have conclusive proof that the "Nakba" celebrations are nothing more than anti-Israeli propaganda.

Source

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, DISSECTING LEFTISM, GREENIE WATCH, OBAMA WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, EYE ON BRITAIN, OPTUS and TELSTRA/BIGPOND. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.)

British police try to shoot the messenger

As you will see on today's POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, the politicized British police have just been forced to eat crow.

Some British documentary makers went around British mosques undercover and filmed various Mullahs inciting violence against unbelievers. The resulting film was shown on British TV.

So what did the police do? What the Mullahs said was clearly in breach of British law against preaching violence so the police went and rounded up all the Mullahs concerned -- right? In your dreams! The cops prosecuted the film-makers instead! They said the film stirred up hatred. It was a truly Orwellian inversion of what actually happened -- that it was the Mullahs who were stirring up hatred.

Anyway the wheels of justice eventually ground down the nonsense and the police were rightly sued over their perverse actions. They have now paid a big sum in compensation and apologized for their actions.

But, amid all the furore, the Muslim hate-speech has remained protected. It appears that none of the Muslim hate-speakers recorded in the film have been prosecuted or will be prosecuted. The main aim of the police exercise -- protecting Muslims from the standards that others have to obey -- has been achieved.

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

GOP 2.O: HOW TO SAVE THE USA FROM THE DEMS

HERE. NOW.

TWO 10 Minute Scientific Lectures COMPLETELY Disprove AGW

Somebody show these to McCain!

Via Noel Sheppard of NEWSBUSTERS.

VIDEOS "no longer available"!?!?!? The left sure knows how to stifle debate - good thing AGW is settled! Heh.

UPDATE: FOUND ANOTHER COPY! HERE:

AS DUBYA VISITS, ISLAMIC JIHAD FIRES MORE ROCKETS

As I said there, that's what happened:

JERUSALEM - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a shopping center in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday, wounding at least 14 people, rescue officials said.

At least two women and one girl were seriously wounded and several other people were slightly hurt, said Leah Malul, an official at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said 14 people were wounded — three seriously — and all the casualties had been evacuated from the site of the attack.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Web site.

Witnesses told Israeli radio stations that the rocket caused considerable damage and rescue service director Eli Bean said at least two people had been trapped under the rubble. The two were rescued and taken to hospital, Army Radio reported.

Army Radio said the rocket hit the third floor of the Hutzot mall. The report said a clinic takes up part of the floor.

The rocket attack came as President Bush wrapped up talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Israeli leader said at the end of the talks that Israel would not tolerate attacks from Gaza militants.

Two people have been killed in recent days in attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli communities outside Gaza.

The homemade rockets militants usually fire at Israel do not have enough range to reach Ashkelon. Militants use longer-range rockets to hit the city of 100,000, 9 miles from the Gaza-Israel border.

Doesn't this signal that they've been able to smuggle in more advanced rockets in the past year? There is every chance they have worse weapons now.

Note also the predictable use of the word "militants" instead of terrorists by the AP, which is atrocious as usual.

Hillary as Veep to Obama?

The Donks need a man as Veep to Obama. Excerpt:

So will Clinton be Obama's running mate in the general election, as many Democrats seem to want? Don't look for that to happen, Bositis said. "I've told people all along, even when Hillary was leading, that whichever one of the two won, the other would not be the vice presidential candidate. "You're talking about a significant break with the past. The party is going to nominate an African-American and white men have not only been the president when Democrats have won but always the nominee. They are not going to make such a big break as to not have a white man on the ticket.''

Bositis added: "The vice presidential candidate will be a white man to help them win the general election. The Democrats' problem in recent years has been lack of support from white men. "If Hillary had been the winner, she would pick a white man as her running mate. The change taking place is radical enough. It would be too radical not to have a white man on the ticket. You're talking about changing history, not a revolution, but the changes in this case will be incremental.''

And Bositis told me that we shouldn't feel too sorry for Hillary Clinton because she'll still be famous. "She's been the first lady, she's been elected a U.S. senator, and the Clintons are major fundraisers for the Democratic Party. Ted Kennedy thought he was going to be elected president, but he didn't disappear when it didn't happen. In fact, some people say he has gone on to be the most important senator in the nation.''

Well, that's some good food for thought. And, as Bositis said, expect Hillary Clinton to keep on keeping on until the primary season ends June 3. After all, she has brought some new voters to the table, and they will be very important for the Democrats come November.

Source


Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

Outrage at a carved pulpit in a Belgian church

That guy being trodden on down the bottom of the centuries-old carving above is our old friend Mohammed. You can guess the rest. Details here

I noted a similar "outrage" in Spain on Feb. 19th

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

BUSH SUMS UP HIS PRESIDENCY: "Popularity is fleeting ... Principles are forever."

"Popularity is fleeting ... Principles are forever."

I disagree with much of what he did and attempted to do: the Medicare expansion; NCLB; Miers; Amnesty' wimpiness on the GWOT; wimpiness on Plame-Wilson; etc.

But Bush was always stood on his principles. He never altered his inner course - no matter the ferocity of enemy attacks, whether by al Qaeda or the MSM or the Democrats.

This is truly admirable.

If Iraq works out, then there will be a great foundation for future victories and the ultimate global victory of the West and modernism and democracy and universal human rights.

I'm praying so...

AL GORE LOST WVA AND LOST THE PRESIDENCY...

... AND OBAMA IS WAY TO THE LEFT OF WHERE AL GORE WAS BACK IN 2000.

DITTO FLORIDA.

THEREFORE: OBAMA WILL LOSE THE GENERAL ELECTION, BIGTIME.

LEBANON'S ARMY GETTING READY TO NEUTRALIZE HIZBALLAH - WITH THE USA'S HELP

GUARDIAN:

The US will "beef up" the Lebanese army to disarm Hizbullah fighters and resist Iranian and Syrian influence in the region, President George Bush has pledged on the eve of a Middle East tour that is likely to be his last before leaving office. ...

With Lebanon the freshest crisis in the region, Bush lambasted Hizbullah and its supporters for "destabilising the country and turning against the Lebanese people". "The international community will not allow the Iranian and Syrian regimes, via their proxies, to return Lebanon to foreign domination and control," he said.

Washington would help Fuad Siniora, the embattled Sunni Lebanese prime minister, by strengthening his armed forces as they step up patrols to restore order after a week of violence initiated by the Shia militia. "It's probably the most practical way that we can get some help to him quickly," Bush told al-Arabiya TV.

The destroyer the USS Cole has been sent back to patrol the Lebanese coast to underline US support.

ABC-OZ: Lebanon army ready to use force to halt fighting

A precarious calm returned to Lebanon overnight after the army warned it was ready to use force to restore order after six days of sectarian bloodshed that have shaken the nation.

US President George W Bush, on the eve of a trip to the Middle East, warned Iran and Syria that the international community would not allow Lebanon to fall under foreign domination again and vowed to shore up the Lebanese military.

The fighting, which has left at least 62 people dead and close to 200 wounded, is the worst sectarian unrest since the 1975-1990 civil war and has stoked fears the country was headed for another all-out conflict.

After being ordered not to intervene to protect its neutrality in deeply divided Lebanon, the army said it was prepared to resort to force to disarm gunmen and bring an end to the violence between supporters of the Western-backed Government and Hezbollah-led opposition fighters.

EVEN SAUDI ARABIA IS WARNING IRAN.

TOGETHER THESE FUNCTION AS A GOOD ULTIMATUM.

PREDICTION: IF HIZBALLAH AND SYRIA AND IRAN DON'T CLIMB DOWN, THEN THERE WILL BE A MAJOR CONFLICT - ONE WITH REGIONAL ARAB AND UNSC SUPPORT, AND WITH THE USS COLE PROVIDING AIR SUPPORT.

*******UPDATE: WASH POST: MANY LEB POL'S AGREE! EXCERPT:

Politicians in Lebanon's Western-backed governing coalition criticized the United States on Monday for not doing enough to counter the opposition Hezbollah movement's recent takeover of West Beirut.

At the same time, President Bush, who will visit the Middle East this week, vowed continued support for the Lebanese government and its military, which announced that it would take a greater role in containing violence.

Christian, Sunni and Druze politicians -- members of a coalition known as March 14 -- said U.S. statements on the crisis have been too weak and called for more pressure on Hezbollah and its Syrian backers. The politicians said they felt abandoned by the United States.

The coalition members also want the United States to take the initiative in broadening a U.N. resolution that would place Beirut's airport and harbor in the hands of international peacekeeping troops.

"We need the U.S., but we are hearing nothing substantial from them," said Nayla Mouawad, a cabinet minister and leading member of the March 14 coalition.

Hezbollah is ideologically inspired by Iran, which backs the organization financially and militarily. "Iran is turning Lebanon into a Mediterranean forward post," Mouawad said.

Bush, in a statement Monday, promised continued U.S. support for Lebanese President Fouad Siniora and Lebanon's military. "The international community will not allow the Iranian and Syrian regimes, via their proxies, to return Lebanon to foreign domination and control," Bush said.

In an earlier interview with the al-Arabiya television network, Bush said he personally admired Siniora. "We will help him," Bush said.

One March 14 politician, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, called for "tactical strikes" against Syria to pressure the government to rein in Hezbollah.

LET'S GET IT ON!

PREDICTION: NATIONALLY - NEXT FALL - MCCAIN WILL BEAT OBAMA BY THE SAME PERCENTAGE HILLARY DOES IN WVA AND TN

• HILLARY KICKED OBAMA'S BLACK&WHITE BUTT IN WVA.
• SHE WALLOPED HIM IN ALMOST EVERY CATEGORY AND SEGMENT OF THE ELECTORATE.
• THIS BODES WELL FOR MCCAIN:
  
• AS BEGALA SAID: YOU CAN'T WIN WITH JUST EGGHEADS AND BLACKS.
• AND AS I HAVE BLOGGED SEVERAL TIMES: THE JACKSONIAN CANDIDATE ALWAYS BEATS THE JOHN QUINCY ADAMS CANDIDATE.
• IOW: BY NOMINATING OBAMA, THE DEMS ARE DRIVING OVER A CLIFF.

I LIKE THAT.

Freedom of expression has a win in Sweden

You do normally have to go to a higher court to get such freedom in Sweden:

"A local politician from the Malmo suburb of Burlov has been acquitted of charges of agitation against an ethnic group. Dahn Pettersson of the local Allianspartiet had previously been convicted by the Malmo District Court and fined the equivalent of 100 days' pay after he submitted a legislative proposal to the Burlov town council connecting heroin smuggling with Kosovo Albanians residing permanently in Sweden.

But the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's decision and ruled instead that the proposal didn't prove Pettersson intended to disrespect Kosovo Albanians as a group....

According to the Court of Appeals, the text of the proposal could be read as saying that Kosovo Albanians are especially inclined to be involved with the heroin trade and therefore cause homelessness and other societal problems.

Ultimately, the court choose to release Pettersson, arguing that freedom of expression and the right to criticize current policy is important, especially when it comes to political debate.

Source

Albanians are Muslims and you must not speak any evil of those wonderful people in Sweden.

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

In defense of 'Big Oil'

Excerpt:

With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That's because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of entitlement, and when one feels entitled to something, one believes someone else should pay.

Senate Democrats last week sought to ingratiate themselves with voters, while doing nothing to produce more energy, with a familiar attack on "big oil." They want to repeal $17 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies over 10 years and on top of that impose a windfall profit tax on companies that don't invest in new energy sources. This is political expediency at its worst.

Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron, told me it's a myth that oil companies are not investing in new energy sources. He says last year alone, Chevron spent $20 billion exploring new sources of energy.

Robertson said President Bush's trip this week to Saudi Arabia is "highly embarrassing" because he is "calling on the Saudis to produce more oil when we are not doing it ourselves." The last refinery built in America was in 1976. Tighter government regulations are the main reason. That's how unserious we are about our energy "crisis." Robertson said there would be plenty of oil available to the United States if the oil companies were allowed to get it: "Eighty-five percent of offshore oil is off-limits." Responding to objections to offshore drilling by environmentalists and their allies in Congress, Robertson noted that some of the strongest pro-environment nations in Europe -- he mentions Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom -- lease offshore locations for oil exploration. The technology has become so good, he said, that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, "one thousand offshore wells were destroyed (in the Gulf of Mexico), but not one leaked." Australia, he said, has allowed offshore drilling for 40 years without any environmental damage.

More here

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

RIP: IRENA SENDLER

Excerpt from this obituary in the Washington Post:

...In recent years, a biography of Mrs. Sendler called her "Mother of the children of the Holocaust," and Polish President Lech Kaczynski awarded her the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian decoration.

"Every Jewish child who survived due to my efforts has justified my existence on this Earth but is no cause for praise," Mrs. Sendler told the Express. "We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes. That term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death."...

Read the rest of the article.

Read more about Irena Sendler and "Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project" HERE. More details about her acts of heroism in saving 2500 Jewish children can be found HERE.

OBAMA'S MASK SLIPS AGAIN: HE BRAGS ABOUT HIS MIDDLE NAME, HIS MUSLIM UPBRINGING AND HIS DESIRE FOR UNCONDITIONAL TALKS WITH IRAN

OBAMA ADMITS HIS MUSLIM BACKGROUND, HIS MUSLIM MIDDLE NAME AND HIS DESIRE TO TALK TO OUR ENEMIES:

[THIS IS OBAMA TALKING:] “This is a guy [ME, OBAMA] who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein, and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people,

WHEN HAWKS LIKE ME CALL ATTENTION TO THESE VERY SAME THINGS WE GET ATTACKED AS FEAR-MONGERING WINGNUTS.

BUT IN FACT, OBAMA ADMITS IT ALL, ALBEIT WITH NUANCE, EUPHEMISMS AND A WINK TO HIS BUDDIES IN HAMAS, ETC.

Obama: Israel a "constant sore" that "infects... foreign policy"

Interviewed in The Atlantic, Barack Obama tells us that Israel is a "constant wound... a constant sore..." and an infection. Gateway Pundit caught Obama's latest inflammatory remarks.

Jeff Goldberg:--- Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?

Barack Obama:--- No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable. I am absolutely convinced of that, and some of the tensions that might arise between me and some of the more hawkish elements in the Jewish community in the United States might stem from the fact that I’m not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that’s the safest ground politically.

Obama's remarks seem to parallel those of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In yet another verbal attack against Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Jewish state a "filthy bacteria" whose sole purpose was to oppress the other nations of the region.

"The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast," the Iranian president told supporters at a rally in southern Iran.

Come to think of it, a Mr. A. Hitler had some remarks along these lines.

Against the infection of materialism, against the Jewish pestilence we must hold aloft a flaming ideal. And if others speak of the World and Humanity we say the Fatherland - and only the Fatherland!

Infection or bacteria... I wish these guys would make up their minds!

Also: I've got good news and bad news for 'progressives'

The Airbrushed Candidate

Tom McGuire goes yard in shining bright light on the extent of the twisted intellectual gymnastics that the NYT is employing in order not to damage the Obama campaign:

The enterprising team at All The News That Fits The Narrative work hard to report on Obama's political history without actually disturbing his supporters.

Their coverage of his relationship with Bill Ayers is too incurious to be an accident:

Mr. Obama also fit in at Hyde Park’s fringes, among university faculty members like Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, unrepentant members of the radical Weather Underground that bombed the United States Capitol and the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. Mr. Obama was introduced to the couple in 1995 at a meet-and-greet they held for him at their home, aides said.

Now, along with Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Mr. Ayers has become a prime exhibit in the effort by Mr. Obama’s presidential rivals to highlight what could be politically radioactive associations. In 2001, Mr. Ayers said he did not regret the Weatherman bombings. Even so, in Hyde Park, he and his wife were viewed favorably for their work in addressing city problems. Mr. Ayers was just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” Mr. Obama said recently.

The two men were involved in efforts to reform the city’s education system. They appeared together on academic panels, including one organized by Michelle Obama to discuss the juvenile justice system, an area of mutual concern. Mr. Ayers’s book on the subject won a rave review in The Chicago Tribune by Mr. Obama, who called it “a searing and timely account.”

"The two men were involved in efforts to reform the city’s education system"? Bill Ayers was instrumental in writing the grant proposal that led to the formation of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and worked closely with the group for several years after its inception; the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge was Barack Obama. That seems to merit a lot more exposition than the Times delivers. The Times might have started by asking the Obama team whether they would care to expand on their "Fact Check" on the Ayers-Obama relationship, which somehow overlooked their mutual interest in education.

Now, is it possible the Times was utterly unaware of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge connection, yet was broadly aware of their mutual interest in education reform? Who can tell? However, right now a Google on "Obama Ayers Chicago school reform" offers links to four different posts on the first page (1, 2, 3, 4)that mention the relationship, including a Hot Air post helpfully titled "Did Obama Work For Bill Ayers?". Yet somehow the Times either missed this or buried it.

Given the Old Grey Traitor's revelation to our enemies of our own intelligence operations against those who would kill us--not to mention its traditional defense of Communism in all its forms--its recent support of an arguably Marxist candidate should not be that surprising. But one would think that even loyal readers of the Times would eventually notice how ridiculous their attmpts to mislead have become.

WHY THE USA MUST INTEVENE IN LEBANON: "Who will stop Hezbollah? Not the Lebanon Army"

HAARETZ: "Who will stop Hezbollah? Not the Lebanon Army"

Hezbollah's rapid and savvy raids of recent days brought to light the true balance of power in Lebanon, and, at the same time, the close connection between the Lebanon Army and Hezbollah.

Witness accounts of Hezbollah's actions in Lebanon in the course of the incidents demonstrate not only that the Lebanon Army is refraining from trying to bar Hezbollah from operating throughout the country, but is in fact carrying out orders from the organization and granting it media cover.

... The Lebanon Army is in practice a reflection of the ethnic partition of this divided land. The army commander is a Maronite, his deputies are Shiite and Sunni, and the chief of the general staff, a Druze. It is estimated that some 35 percent of the soldiers and officers are Shiites, and Christians leave the ranks relatively quickly.

Moreover, in recent days, there have been reports that senior officers, Sunnis and Druze, have asked to resign from the army in response to its involvement in the violence. Government supporters have severely criticized the army and its commander, Michel Suleiman, who was in line to turn into president of Lebanon. Discussions on the issue suggest that some of the officials have reconsidered their support for the government.

Analysts in Lebanon believe that other actions on the part of the army would have led to its being dismantled. "Greater involvement by the army would have meant that perhaps no army would have been left," sources in Beirut told Haaretz by e-mail. "And that would have been the end of Lebanon,".

AND THE ADVENT OF HIZBALLAHSTAN. (GAZA IS NOW HAMASTAN.) [******UPDATE: AFTER WE POSTED, BRET STEPHENS OF THE WSJ AGREES; USES THE TERM HEZBOLLAHSTAN.]

EVEN ABBAS AND FATAH KNOW THIS:

Despite the appeal to the Palestinians to stay away from the conflict, PA officials expressed fear at the growing influence of Iran in the region. They pointed out that the Iranians were supporting both Hizbullah and Hamas in their efforts to undermine the "moderate" governments in Ramallah and Beirut.

The officials also voiced concern that Hizbullah's armed coup d'etat would embolden Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"Hizbullah is doing exactly what Hamas did in the Gaza Strip," said one PA official. "Of course we are very concerned about the negative role that Iran is playing in Beirut and the Gaza Strip." Another official in Ramallah noted that Hizbullah and its political allies in Lebanon have been "inciting" against the PA and Abbas by accusing them of being pawns in the hands of the US and Israel.

"Hizbullah sees no difference between the Palestinian Authority and the Saniora government," he said. "As far as Hizbullah is concerned, we are CIA and Mossad agents. They see us as traitors serving the interests of the Americans and Zionists in the Arab world."

The official launched a scathing attack on Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah for using arms to seize large parts of Beirut.

• ONLY THE US NAVY AND AIR FORCE CAN ANNIHILATE HIZBALLAH.
• THE SINIORA GOVERNMENT SHOULD FORMALLY ASK FOR OUR MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND WE SHOULD GIVE IT.
• THE USS COLE IS ON THE WAY...
  

WEST NEEDS TO WAKE UP TO REALITY OF LEBANON

Barry Rubin talks about why the Hezbollah's conquest of Beirut in Lebanon should be serving as a wake-up call for the West.

Climate change will boost farm output in Australia (and elsewhere)

A bit of logic in the media report below for a change. That CO2 is a potent plant fertiliser and that a warmer climate would mean more rain overall are basic facts that Greenies never mention. And a dry continent like Australia could certainly make good use of more rain!

AUSTRALIAN agricultural output will double over the next 40 years, with climate change predicted to increase, rather than hinder, the level of production.

A recent spate of reports forecasting the decline of Australian agriculture because of climate change have greatly exaggerated, and even completely misreported the threat of global warming, according to senior rural industry figures. In a report published by the Australian Farm Institute, executive director Mick Keogh says agricultural output is projected to improve strongly through to 2050, with a growing global population and increased economic wealth boosting demand for Australian produce. If the sector adapts even modestly, production would increase rather than decrease as a result of climate change, the report says.

Predictions of a 20 per cent drop in farm production by mid-century were cited by Kevin Rudd and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke as justification for Australia's signing of the Kyoto Protocol. In fact, Mr Keogh says, if global warming does occur, some areas such as southeast Queensland will receive more rain, and as a result will greatly benefit. Recent research has shown increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lifts plant production by up to 30 per cent in a phenomenon known as carbon fertilisation.

Mr Keogh, a well-respected industry figure, said much of the media reporting on the recent ABARE report Climate Change: Impacts On Australian Agriculture, was so misleading it risked eroding industry confidence in public research agencies. "The reporting claimed that agriculture would be absolutely devastated, when that is not what the research showed at all," he said. "For a start the media consistently misreported the research results as a future reduction in agricultural output, rather than a slowing of future rates of growth in output."

He said the ABARE report chose a series of highly unlikely worst-case climate change scenarios and then projected them over a long period of time. ABARE also used the assumption that climate change would slow economic growth globally, thereby decreasing the demand for food. "With increasing world population this is highly unlikely," Mr Keogh said.

Also unlikely was the assumption that farmers would not adapt. "In many situations it appears as if an increase in temperature, certainly over the next few decades, will increase rather than decrease productivity," he said. "As well, open field studies are returning increases in plant productivity of about 15 per cent with increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Levels up to 30 per cent have been returned in laboratory studies."

Charles Burke, a fourth-generation cattle farmer at Lake Somerset, north of Brisbane, said most farmers were sceptical of the claims surrounding climate change and believed they were instead dealing with climate variability. After the recent dry, he hoped the Australian Farm Institute was right in its predictions southeast Queensland would benefit from more rainfall. "No one has their head in their sand, but farmers want to move forward armed with the right information," he said. "The experts can't agree. Many farmers aren't convinced. We have to have the right information and the right tools. We need to make sure the information is correct."

Chief executive for the National Farmers Federation Ben Fargher said his members too had been concerned about the negative reporting of the industry's future. "We are very well placed to grow businesses into the future," he said.

Source



Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH

Some facts in search of a moral

My personal life is uneventful -- which is how I like it. So it's only occasionally that I find something worth noting on my personal blog. Something I noted there recently, however, sparked a train of thought. I noted how many Presbyterians there are in Korea: about 20% of the South Korean population, if I remember rightly. Yet Korea was never one of the many British colonies. India, on the other hand, was dominated by the British for centuries yet Christianity of any kind is rare there. Most Indian Christians in fact have mixed ancestry -- Anglo-Indians.

And then there is Fiji. The British presence in Fiji happened with a large degree of consent from the native Fijians -- via their traditional chiefs. Queen Victoria was simply recognized as the chief of chiefs. And Fijians to this day recognize Queen Elizabeth as their queen. And there are so many Fijians in the British army that their has been talk of putting a cap on their numbers. So what religion are the Fijians? They are almost all Methodists, and Methodists of the old school at that.

I am sure there is a moral there but I am not certain of exactly what it is yet.

And then there is another old British/Australian custom that probably prevails in America too: A sort of defiant custom. I think the most amusing example occurs in David Niven's autobiography. When he was about to graduate from Sandhurst, he was asked what regiment he would like to join. He put down: "Anything but the HLI". The Highland Light Infantry wear trews (tartan trousers) and Niven did not like that image at all. He was of course immediately posted to the HLI.

Another example of it occurred when the father of a friend of mine inadvertedly spoke with some satisfaction of his expense account. He was of course immediately told that he had to take us to dinner at a good restaurant on it -- which he was in fact glad to do, though it clearly was not an example of a work expense.

So is there an underlying principle or moral there too? I suspect that there is. An attack on hubris, maybe?

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH