Saturday, January 15, 2011

ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW THAN TWO YEARS AGO?


Under Obama,
  • unemployment is up;
  • oil is up;
  • foreclosures are up;
  • the dollar is down;
  • inflation is up;
  • the deficit is up;
  • the national debt is up;
  • there have been more jihadist attacks within the USA than ever;
  • air travel has grown more tedious;
  • partisan attacks by the left against the right have become more vicious and ludicrous;
  • Iran has gotten closer to getting a bomb;
  • Lebanon's government has collapsed;
  • Turkey has drifted completely into the Iranian camp;
  • we've become more dependent on foreign oil;
  • we've appeased Russia on arms and NATO expansion and Missile Defense;
  • Mexico has become a failed state on our border - a border which is as porous as ever;
  • and our healthcare is more regulated than ever and healthcare insurance is skyrocketing;
in fact, I can't think of one good thing Obama has done - or of one area in which we've improved sine Obama has become president.

NOT A DANG THING.

If the USA federal government was corporation and us its shareholders, then we should have a revolt and force the Board of Directors to fire him.

Or - if he had a shred of dignity and decency - he would admit he is in WAY OVER HIS HEAD and that his leftist policies have made things worse - and resign to spend more time with his family.

I don't think new WH CoS Bill Daley - a member of the Chicago Machine - is gonna make things any better.

And with oil expected to reach $100/barrel and our foreign policy a shambles, I think things can get even worse - and sooner than anyone is predicting; YES: WE COULD GO BACK INTO RECESSION.

The only answer is for the White House to accept and adopt the policies about to be introduced by the GOP House.

Because Obama is no Clinton, the odds of this are small.

Sigh.

UPDATED... CHAVEZ DEMANDS PRIVATE TV STATION STOP AIRING INCIVIL SOAP OPERA

AP:
Venezuelan authorities are demanding that a private television station stop airing a Colombian soap opera that they say is denigrating to their country.

The soap opera Chepe Fortuna features an unscrupulous secretary named “Venezuela” who has a dog called “Little Hugo,” an apparent reference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Given recent diplomatic disputes between the neighbouring countries, the satire has not sat well with Venezuela’s government.

BBC:

Venezuela has told a private TV company to stop showing a Colombian soap opera it says is insulting to the country.

Chepe Fortuna stars a character called Colombia and her sister Venezuela, who owns a dog called Little Hugo, the same name as Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

In one episode Venezuela loses Little Hugo, prompting Colombia to tell her she is better off without him.

PERHAPS CHAVEZ SHOULD GET HIS BUDDY OBAMA TO ASK THE COLOMBIANS TO BE MORE CIVIL.

UPDATE: THEY CAVED IN AND TOOK IT OFF THE AIR.

TUNISIAN DICTATOR FLEES TO THE HOUSE OF SAUD

Following the Tunisian government's attempt to jack up food prices, and the ensuing riots, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali has fled to the perfect spot - Saudi Arabia.

This doesn't mean Tunisia is going to improve, unfortunately. There is a very sad chance that either way, Islamofascism will take over worse than it has before.

IMAM RAUF IS ALLEGEDLY OUT, BUT PROBLEM ISN'T OVER YET

According to this news (via Jihad Watch), the terrorist supporting imam Feisal Rauf is being distanced from the Ground Zero mosque plotters. But there's another leader coming in, Abdullah Adhami, who's just as bad: he supports Siraj Wahhaj.

In any case, let us be clear: that mosque does not belong anywhere near Ground Zero, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter. It must be called off completely. And another mosque that's nearby should be shut down as well.

Friday, January 14, 2011

LOUGHNER POSED WITH GLOCK IN A G-STRING: I BLAME PALIN!

NYTIMES:
Law enforcement officials said Friday they have multiple photos of Jared L. Loughner posing with a Glock 9mm pistol next to his naked buttocks and dressed in a bright red g-string.
It is the same model of weapon as the one the police say Mr. Loughner used last Saturday to kill six people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, and to wound 14 others, including an Arizona congresswoman.


The photos were turned over to the police by Walgreens, where Mr. Loughner had taken the 35-mm
film to be developed on Jan. 7, the day before the shooting.

In some of the photos he is holding the gun near his crotch, and in others, presumably shot in a mirror, he is holding the gun
next to his buttocks, the police said.
I BLAME PALIN - AND HERE'S WHY - SHE OBVIOUSLY INFLUENCED HIM:





ASIDE: YOU KNOW WHAT'S THE WEIRDEST THING!?

I'LL TELLYA: HE USED 35MM FILM AND NOT A DIGITAL CAMERA! WHAT A PSYCHO!

OR A SOCIOPATH WHO CAREFULLY PLANNED THIS IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THE PHOTOS WERE FOUND SO HE MIGHT GET OFF WITH LIFE IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL INSTEAD OF THE DEATH PENALTY... AS ONE GIRLFRIEND SUGGESTED...

OBAMA ACTS TO PROP UP THE CASTRO TYRANNY

The Obama administration Friday said it will allow for more U.S. travel to Cuba:
... President Barack Obama is also restoring the amount of money ($2,000) that can be sent to nonfamily members to the level they were at during part of the Clinton and Bush administrations.

... Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, assailed the revision, saying they ``will not help foster a pro-democracy environment in Cuba.

``These changes will not aid in ushering in respect for human rights,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``And they certainly will not help the Cuban people free themselves from the tyranny that engulfs them. These changes undermine U.S. foreign policy and security objectives and will bring economic benefits to the Cuban regime.''

CUBA IS TEETERING AND OBAMA IS DOING WHAT HE CAN TO PROP THE CASTRO TYRANNY UP?!?!?!?!?!?!?

SIGH.

IF HE WANTS TO HELP AN HISPANIC NATION, THEN HE SHOULD PUSH THE SENATE FOR PASSAGE OF THE COLOMBIAN FREE TRADE TREATY.

END OF CIVILIZATION: WOMAN USES VIBRATOR IN HER SEAT ON A TRAIN

WHAT'S THE WORLD COME TO? COULDN'T SHE TAKE A NAP OR READ A BOOK OR LISTEN TO HER IPOD!?!?
Police said the “flippant woman” admitted to having used the vibrator in the train, but showed no understanding as to why others might see public masturbation as inappropriate.... The 29-year-old was uninhibited in her use of the vibrator during a train trip between Bad Kissingen and Würzburg on Thursday, the police said.
HER ATTITUDE IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE GODLESSNESS POSTMODERNISM - AN AMORAL IDEOLOGY WHICH MAKES "DO WHAT THOU WILT THE WHOLE OF THE LAW."

THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DO WHEN YOU TEACH THEM THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DEVIANCY.

DESPITE NASA'S AND NOAA'S PROPAGANDA, 2010 WAS THE COLDEST YEAR SINCE 1990 IN FRANCE

IF NASA AND NOAA ARE RIGHT - THAT 2010 WAS THE HOTTEST YEAR EVAH!, THEN WHAT PLANET IS FRANCE ON?

HERE:
2010 was the coldest year France has seen in two decades, according to Météo France.

Meteorologists say the average temperature was 0.3°C below average between 1971 and 2000, making it the coldest since 1990, on a par with 1996.

The temperatures last winter (2009-10) helped to pull down the average: the winter was 1.2°C below the 1971-2000 average and the past two winters saw more snow than any in the past 30 years.
AGW = TFBS. AND BY BS I DO MEAN LIES.

1/15/11 UPDATE: MORE "RECORD COLD" POSTS HERE - JUST SCROLL DOWN.

1/15/11 UPDATE #2: FOR THE MORONS FROM BOB CESCA:

There no such thing as AGW, there is no such thing as global temperature.

Global temperature is a heuristic device. Climate alarmists commit the fallacy of the misplaced concreteness (REIFICATION) when they treat AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE as if it was real.

Need proof? HERE: NOAA'n NASA's numbers for each year differ from the UK Met's. WHY? Because they are all constructs. They Earth is not a body like er um.. YOUR BODY and the Earth has no ass*ole to sick a thermometer into and so AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE is a man0made construct subject to MANY manipulations such as ...WHERE THE THERMOMETERS ARE.

And another thing:

Climate Change is natural. Reuters recently published an article based on CRAP from AGW alarmists which argued that Rome fell because of climate change. Well, er um there were NO SUV's back then and mankind contributed ZILCH man-made CO2... yet there was.. er um... CLIMATE CHANGE! Gee, I wonder what caused it? Could it be NATURAL!?

Yes.

AND ANOTHER THING: Nothing about the recent warming period is significantly different from earlier ones (such as the Medieval Warm Period) - as those who proved the Hockey Stick was BS have shown over and over again. ( See HERE and HERE.)

AND ANOTHER THING: To you left-wing dupes and AGW alarmists who have left idiotic and snide'n snarky comments here informing me that France is SMALLER than the Earth - as if that somehow was dispositive of my post. I hate to remind you AGAIN that global temperature is a construct based on FINITE and DISCREET measurements and what is more many are from SELECTED/SELECTIVE weather stations which are highly biased in favor of warming.

And hee's a little info for the snarky alarmists who think I'm a stupid rethuglican: I have a Masters degree from a major university - earned in a year and a half - and have been a registered Dem since 1974 - and I also used to be a socialist and a believer in AGW.

I saw the light.

You all can too! START HERE.

THEN GO HERE.

"HERE IS A LIST OF CLIMATE DENIERS":

FOR THOSE WHO THINK THAT ONLY STUPID PUDDINGHEADS ARE SKEPTICS, HERE IS A LIST OF DENIERS:

  • Dr. Edward Wegman—former chairman of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics of the National Academy of Sciences—demolishes the famous “hockey stick” graph that launched the global warming panic.
  • Dr. David Bromwich—president of the International Commission on Polar Meteorology—says “it’s hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now.”
  • Prof. Paul Reiter—Chief of Insects and Infectious Diseases at the famed Pasteur Institute—says “no major scientist with any long record in this field” accepts Al Gore’s claim that global warming spreads mosquito-borne diseases.
  • Prof. Hendrik Tennekes—former director of research, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute—states “there exists no sound theoretical framework for climate predictability studies” used for global warming forecasts.
  • Dr. Christopher Landsea—past chairman of the American Meteorological Society’s Committee on Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones—says “there are no known scientific studies that show a conclusive physical link between global warming and observed hurricane frequency and intensity.”
  • Dr. Antonino Zichichi—one of the world’s foremost physicists, former president of the European Physical Society, who discovered nuclear antimatter—calls global warming models “incoherent and invalid.”
  • Dr. Zbigniew Jaworowski—world-renowned expert on the ancient ice cores used in climate research—says the U.N. “based its global-warming hypothesis on arbitrary assumptions and these assumptions, it is now clear, are false.”
  • Prof. Tom V. Segalstad—head of the Geological Museum, University of Oslo—says “most leading geologists” know the U.N.’s views “of Earth processes are implausible.”
  • Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu-founding director of the International Arctic Research Center, twice named one of the “1,000 Most Cited Scientists,” says much “Arctic warming during the last half of the last century is due to natural change.”
  • Dr. Claude Allegre—member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences and French Academy of Science, he was among the first to sound the alarm on the dangers of global warming. His view now: “The cause of this climate change is unknown.”
  • Dr. Richard Lindzen--Professor of Meteorology at M.I.T., member, the National Research Council Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, says global warming alarmists “are trumpeting catastrophes that couldn't happen even if the models were right.”
  • Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov--head of the space research laboratory of the Russian Academy of Science’s Pulkovo Observatory and of the International Space Station's Astrometria project says “the common view that man's industrial activity is a deciding factor in global warming has emerged from a misinterpretation of cause and effect relations."
  • Dr. Richard Tol--Principal researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije Universiteit, and Adjunct Professor at the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, at Carnegie Mellon University, calls the most influential global warming report of all time “preposterous . . . alarmist and incompetent."
  • Dr. Sami Solanki--director and scientific member at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, who argues that changes in the Sun’s state, not human activity, may be the principal cause of global warming: "The sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures."
  • Prof. Freeman Dyson—one of the world’s most eminent physicists says the models used to justify global warming alarmism are “full of fudge factors” and “do not begin to describe the real world.”
  • Dr. Eigils Friis-Christensen--director of the Danish National Space Centre, vice-president of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, who argues that changes in the Sun’s behavior could account for most of the warming attributed by the UN to man-made CO2.
THESE GUYS ARE EVERY BIT AS SMART AND SERIOUS AND WELL-TRAINED AND RESPECTED AS THE CRU FOLKS USED TO BE!

MORE: The Climate Science Isn't Settled - Confident predictions of catastrophe are unwarranted.
Is there a reason to be alarmed by the prospect of global warming? Consider that the measurement used, the globally averaged temperature anomaly (GATA), is always changing. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes down, and occasionally—such as for the last dozen years or so—it does little that can be discerned.

Claims that climate change is accelerating are bizarre. There is general support for the assertion that GATA has increased about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the middle of the 19th century. The quality of the data is poor, though, and because the changes are small, it is easy to nudge such data a few tenths of a degree in any direction. Several of the emails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) that have caused such a public ruckus dealt with how to do this so as to maximize apparent changes.

The general support for warming is based not so much on the quality of the data, but rather on the fact that there was a little ice age from about the 15th to the 19th century. Thus it is not surprising that temperatures should increase as we emerged from this episode. At the same time that we were emerging from the little ice age, the industrial era began, and this was accompanied by increasing emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. CO2 is the most prominent of these, and it is again generally accepted that it has increased by about 30%.

The defining characteristic of a greenhouse gas is that it is relatively transparent to visible light from the sun but can absorb portions of thermal radiation. In general, the earth balances the incoming solar radiation by emitting thermal radiation, and the presence of greenhouse substances inhibits cooling by thermal radiation and leads to some warming.

That said, the main greenhouse substances in the earth's atmosphere are water vapor and high clouds. Let's refer to these as major greenhouse substances to distinguish them from the anthropogenic minor substances. Even a doubling of CO2 would only upset the original balance between incoming and outgoing radiation by about 2%. This is essentially what is called "climate forcing."

There is general agreement on the above findings. At this point there is no basis for alarm regardless of whether any relation between the observed warming and the observed increase in minor greenhouse gases can be established. Nevertheless, the most publicized claims of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) deal exactly with whether any relation can be discerned. The failure of the attempts to link the two over the past 20 years bespeaks the weakness of any case for concern.

The IPCC's Scientific Assessments generally consist of about 1,000 pages of text. The Summary for Policymakers is 20 pages. It is, of course, impossible to accurately summarize the 1,000-page assessment in just 20 pages; at the very least, nuances and caveats have to be omitted. However, it has been my experience that even the summary is hardly ever looked at. Rather, the whole report tends to be characterized by a single iconic claim.

The main statement publicized after the last IPCC Scientific Assessment two years ago was that it was likely that most of the warming since 1957 (a point of anomalous cold) was due to man. This claim was based on the weak argument that the current models used by the IPCC couldn't reproduce the warming from about 1978 to 1998 without some forcing, and that the only forcing that they could think of was man. Even this argument assumes that these models adequately deal with natural internal variability—that is, such naturally occurring cycles as El Nino, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, etc.

Yet articles from major modeling centers acknowledged that the failure of these models to anticipate the absence of warming for the past dozen years was due to the failure of these models to account for this natural internal variability. Thus even the basis for the weak IPCC argument for anthropogenic climate change was shown to be false.

Of course, none of the articles stressed this. Rather they emphasized that according to models modified to account for the natural internal variability, warming would resume—in 2009, 2013 and 2030, respectively.

But even if the IPCC's iconic statement were correct, it still would not be cause for alarm. After all we are still talking about tenths of a degree for over 75% of the climate forcing associated with a doubling of CO2. The potential (and only the potential) for alarm enters with the issue of climate sensitivity—which refers to the change that a doubling of CO2 will produce in GATA. It is generally accepted that a doubling of CO2 will only produce a change of about two degrees Fahrenheit if all else is held constant. This is unlikely to be much to worry about.

Yet current climate models predict much higher sensitivities. They do so because in these models, the main greenhouse substances (water vapor and clouds) act to amplify anything that CO2 does. This is referred to as positive feedback. But as the IPCC notes, clouds continue to be a source of major uncertainty in current models. Since clouds and water vapor are intimately related, the IPCC claim that they are more confident about water vapor is quite implausible.

There is some evidence of a positive feedback effect for water vapor in cloud-free regions, but a major part of any water-vapor feedback would have to acknowledge that cloud-free areas are always changing, and this remains an unknown. At this point, few scientists would argue that the science is settled. In particular, the question remains as to whether water vapor and clouds have positive or negative feedbacks.

The notion that the earth's climate is dominated by positive feedbacks is intuitively implausible, and the history of the earth's climate offers some guidance on this matter. About 2.5 billion years ago, the sun was 20%-30% less bright than now (compare this with the 2% perturbation that a doubling of CO2 would produce), and yet the evidence is that the oceans were unfrozen at the time, and that temperatures might not have been very different from today's. Carl Sagan in the 1970s referred to this as the "Early Faint Sun Paradox."

For more than 30 years there have been attempts to resolve the paradox with greenhouse gases. Some have suggested CO2—but the amount needed was thousands of times greater than present levels and incompatible with geological evidence. Methane also proved unlikely. It turns out that increased thin cirrus cloud coverage in the tropics readily resolves the paradox—but only if the clouds constitute a negative feedback. In present terms this means that they would diminish rather than enhance the impact of CO2.

There are quite a few papers in the literature that also point to the absence of positive feedbacks. The implied low sensitivity is entirely compatible with the small warming that has been observed. So how do models with high sensitivity manage to simulate the currently small response to a forcing that is almost as large as a doubling of CO2? Jeff Kiehl notes in a 2007 article from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the models use another quantity that the IPCC lists as poorly known (namely aerosols) to arbitrarily cancel as much greenhouse warming as needed to match the data, with each model choosing a different degree of cancellation according to the sensitivity of that model.

What does all this have to do with climate catastrophe? The answer brings us to a scandal that is, in my opinion, considerably greater than that implied in the hacked emails from the Climate Research Unit (though perhaps not as bad as their destruction of raw data): namely the suggestion that the very existence of warming or of the greenhouse effect is tantamount to catastrophe. This is the grossest of "bait and switch" scams. It is only such a scam that lends importance to the machinations in the emails designed to nudge temperatures a few tenths of a degree.

The notion that complex climate "catastrophes" are simply a matter of the response of a single number, GATA, to a single forcing, CO2 (or solar forcing for that matter), represents a gigantic step backward in the science of climate. Many disasters associated with warming are simply normal occurrences whose existence is falsely claimed to be evidence of warming. And all these examples involve phenomena that are dependent on the confluence of many factors.

Our perceptions of nature are similarly dragged back centuries so that the normal occasional occurrences of open water in summer over the North Pole, droughts, floods, hurricanes, sea-level variations, etc. are all taken as omens, portending doom due to our sinful ways (as epitomized by our carbon footprint). All of these phenomena depend on the confluence of multiple factors as well.

Consider the following example. Suppose that I leave a box on the floor, and my wife trips on it, falling against my son, who is carrying a carton of eggs, which then fall and break. Our present approach to emissions would be analogous to deciding that the best way to prevent the breakage of eggs would be to outlaw leaving boxes on the floor. The chief difference is that in the case of atmospheric CO2 and climate catastrophe, the chain of inference is longer and less plausible than in my example.

This was written by Mr. Lindzen - a professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
LINDZEN'S BIO:

Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

Professor Lindzen is a dynamical meteorologist with interests in the broad topics of climate, planetary waves, monsoon meteorology, planetary atmospheres, and hydrodynamic instability. His research involves studies of the role of the tropics in mid-latitude weather and global heat transport, the moisture budget and its role in global change, the origins of ice ages, seasonal effects in atmospheric transport, stratospheric waves, and the observational determination of climate sensitivity. He has made major contributions to the development of the current theory for the Hadley Circulation, which dominates the atmospheric transport of heat and momentum from the tropics to higher latitudes, and has advanced the understanding of the role of small scale gravity waves in producing the reversal of global temperature gradients at the mesopause, and provided accepted explanations for atmospheric tides and the quasi-biennial oscillation of the tropical stratosphere. He pioneered the study of how ozone photochemistry, radiative transfer and dynamics interact with each other. He is currently studying what determines the pole to equator temperature difference, the nonlinear equilibration of baroclinic instability and the contribution of such instabilities to global heat transport. He has also been developing a new approach to air-sea interaction in the tropics, and is actively involved in parameterizing the role of cumulus convection in heating and drying the atmosphere and in generating upper level cirrus clouds. He has developed models for the Earth's climate with specific concern for the stability of the ice caps, the sensitivity to increases in CO2, the origin of the 100,000 year cycle in glaciation, and the maintenance of regional variations in climate. Prof. Lindzen is a recipient of the AMS's Meisinger, and Charney Awards, the AGU's Macelwane Medal, and the Leo Huss Walin Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. He is a corresponding member of the NAS Committee on Human Rights, and has been a member of the NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate and the Council of the AMS. He has also been a consultant to the Global Modeling and Simulation Group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Ph.D., '64, S.M., '61, A.B., '60, Harvard University)

CV

MORE HERE.

AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE DOESN'T EVEN REALLY EXIST; EXCERPT:


Conclusion

There is no global temperature. The reasons lie in the properties of the equation of state governing local thermodynamic equilibrium, and the implications cannot be avoided by substituting statistics for physics.

Since temperature is an intensive variable, the total temperature is meaningless in terms of the system being measured, and hence any one simple average has no necessary meaning.

Neither does temperature have a constant proportional relationship with energy or other extensive thermodynamic properties.

Averages of the Earth’s temperature field are thus devoid of a physical context which would indicate how they are to be interpreted, or what meaning can be attached to changes in their levels, up or down.

Statistics cannot stand in as a replacement for the missing physics because data alone are context-free. Assuming a context only leads to paradoxes such as simultaneous warming and cooling in the same system based on arbitrary choice in some free parameter.

Considering even a restrictive class of admissible coordinate transformations yields families of averaging rules that likewise generate opposite trends in the same data, and by implication indicating contradictory rankings of years in terms of warmth.

The physics provides no guidance as to which interpretation of the data is warranted.

Since arbitrary indexes are being used to measure a physically non-existent quantity, it is not surprising that different formulae yield different results with no apparent way to select among them.

The purpose of this paper was to explain the fundamental meaninglessness of so-called global temperature data. The problem can be (and has been) happily ignored in the name of the empirical study of climate. But nature is not obliged to respect our statistical conventions and conceptual shortcuts. Debates over the levels and trends in so-called global temperatures will continue interminably, as will disputes over the significance of these things for the human experience of climate, until some physical basis is established for the meaningful measurement of climate variables, if indeed that is even possible.

It may happen that one particular average will one day prove to stand out with some special physical significance. However, that is not so today. The burden rests with those who calculate these statistics to prove their logic and value in terms of the governing dynamical equations, let alone the wider, less technical, contexts in which they are commonly encountered.
End of story.

HILARIOUS: ACCUSER OF PALIN ON BLOOD LIBEL CHARGE USED THE PHRASE HIMSELF IN 2005!

THESE LEFTISTS HAVE AN UNCANNY ABILITY TO BE HYPOCRITICAL.

WHY? WELL, WHEN YOU HAVE NO PRINCIPLES IT'S PRETTY DANG TOUGH TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE!

FROM THE ANNALS Of POLITICAL CIVILITY: LINCOLN - LIKE BUSH - WAS DEPICTED AS A MONKEY


ADS:

This Indiana University website is a fine online resource of political cartoon history with examples as far back as the Colonial Era. Abraham Lincoln depicted as a monkey is always a crowd pleaser.

monkey

Every time I think cartoonists are rude of late, I just have a look back at those polite and gracious days of yore. Crikey.

THINGS WERE AS NASTY THEN AS THEY ARE NOW - AS THEY HAVE EVER BEEN AND EVER WILL BE.

THOSE WHO THINK WE CAN CHANGE THIS ARE AT BEST IDEALISTS WHO THINK HUMAN NATURE CAN BE CHANGED.

WE EACH HAVE A LITTLE EVIL IN US. OUR TASK IS TO CONTROL IT. BUT WE CAN NEVER BECOME PERFECTLY GOOD.

MORE IDIOTIC MUSINGS FROM KRUGMAN ON THE MORAL DIVIDE IN AMERICAN POLITICS


KRUGMAN/NYTIMES:
... the truth is that we are a deeply divided nation and are likely to remain one for a long time. By all means, let’s listen to each other more carefully; but what we’ll discover, I fear, is how far apart we are. For the great divide in our politics isn’t really about pragmatic issues, about which policies work best; it’s about differences in those very moral imaginations...

... the real challenge we face is not how to resolve our differences — something that won’t happen any time soon — but how to keep the expression of those differences within bounds.

What are the differences I’m talking about?

One side of American politics considers the modern welfare state — a private-enterprise economy, but one in which society’s winners are taxed to pay for a social safety net — morally superior to the capitalism red in tooth and claw we had before the New Deal. It’s only right, this side believes, for the affluent to help the less fortunate.

The other side believes that people have a right to keep what they earn, and that taxing them to support others, no matter how needy, amounts to theft. That’s what lies behind the modern right’s fondness for violent rhetoric: many activists on the right really do see taxes and regulation as tyrannical impositions on their liberty.

There’s no middle ground between these views.

... Commentators who pine for the days of civility and bipartisanship are, whether they realize it or not, pining for the days when the Republican Party accepted the legitimacy of the welfare state, and was even willing to contemplate expanding it.
A CLASSIC STRAW MAN ARGUMENT.

UTTERLY FALLACIOUS.

AND OFF THE MARK: THERE ARE MANY SHADES OF GREY IN NEARLY EVERY DEBATE THIS NATION ENGAGES IN ON EVERY FRONT. (SADLY, MOST OF THE INTERESTING DEBATE HAPPENS TO BE WITHIN THE RIGHT - AS THE LEFT HAS DEVOLVED!)

MORE BS:
for the most part, managed to agree on certain ground rules in the abortion controversy: it’s acceptable to express your opinion and to criticize the other side, but it’s not acceptable either to engage in violence or to encourage others to do so.

What we need now is an extension of those ground rules to the wider national debate.

NO GOP OR CONSERVATIVE POL' HAS EVER ADVOCATED VIOLENCE OR ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO DO SO - MANY LEFTISTS HAVE.

INCITING VIOLENCE IS A CRIME.

KRUGMAN SHOULD KNOW THIS.

  • PERHAPS ON SOME LEVEL HE DOES, BUT HIS PARTISAN ZEAL AND THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE HE SUFFERS FROM BECAUSE HIS LEFTIST IDEOLOGY HAS UTTERLY FAILED PREVENTS HIM FROM SEEING AND/OR ACCEPTING THE TRUTH.
  • IF THE NYTIMES WERE HALF THE PAPER IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO, THEN THEY'D BE EMBARRASSED BY CRAP LIKE THIS COLUMN - AND MOST COLUMNS FROM THIS LEFTIST HACK.
  • IF THE LEFT WOULD LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND HONESTLY LOOK AT HISTORY AND THE REAL RESULTS OF LEFTIST POLICIES, THEN THEY'D SEE THAT WHAT THEY ADVOCATE IS HARMFUL; TO THE GOALS AND DREAMS THEY CLAIM THEY DESIRE.
I KNOW: I WAS A LEFTIST ONCE.
  • I DID LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND REEXAMINE WHAT I HAD BEEN TAUGHT AND THE ACTUAL EFFECTS OF LEFTIST POLICIES THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND AROUND THE WORLD.
  • INTELLECTUAL HONESTY DEMANDED THAT I ACCEPT THAT REAGAN AND THATCHER WERE RIGHT AND THAT SOCIALISM IN ALL IT'S FORMS WAS A FAILURE.
  • EVEN KRUGMAN SHOULD STILL BE CAPABLE OF THIS.
  • I WON'T HOLD MY BREATH.
  • DENIAL IS POWERFUL AND ADMITTING ONE IS WRONG IS MORE DIFFICULT - AND WHEN ONE IS IN A COCOON INHABITED BY OTHER LEFTISTS - WHOSE DENIAL REINFORCES YOURS - THE TASK IS ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT.
I THINK THE FIRST STEP FOR PEOPLE LIKE KRUGMAN IS TO WATCH FOX OCCASIONALLY AND LISTEN TO TALK RADIO OCCASIONALLY AND READ THE WSJ OCCASIONALLY.

BY HEARING BOTH SIDES, A CRACK WILL EMERGE IN THE ARMOR OF DENIAL, AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR PERSONAL CHANGE ENTERS.

THIS IS WHY THE LEFT SO VOCIFEROUSLY ATTACKS THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA:

THEY FEAR HAT IF THEIR ADHERENTS START TO WATCH, THAT THEY WILL THEN BEGIN TO SEE THE LIGHT, AND THAT THIS WOULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

THEY'RE RIGHT. IT WOULD BE.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

BREAKING: HAS ANOTHER CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON JUST BEGUN? MAYBE: 2 grenades thrown at Michel Aoun's office

JPOST:
Grenade damages structure belonging to Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, north of Beirut, no injuries reported; attack comes after Nasrallah promises Hizbullah's resignation from gov't will not lead to civil war.

... Two hand grenades were thrown on Thursday night at an office belonging to Lebanese politician Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, which is considered an ally of Hizbullah.

The attack came after Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised that his group's withdrawal from the Lebanese government, causing it to collapse, on Wednesday would not lead to civil war in the country.
MORE:

A day after Hezbollah shook the Lebanese political system, talks aimed at easing tensions in the country are continuing. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised that the resignation of the Shiite party's ministers from the government would not lead to a civil war, but a short while later two grenades were hurled at the headquarters of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement north of Beirut.

Aoun is considered an ally of Hezbollah.
EVEN MORE:
“Has Aoun become Hezbollah’s spokesperson who defends the party domestically and internationally? And for what cause?” The National Bloc, which is headed by Carlos Eddé issued a statement on Thursday asking if Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has become Hezbollah’s mouthpiece.

“Will the next step [of the March 8 coalition] be to depose President Michel Suleiman and fulfill Aoun’s wishes by making him president?” The statement added

The National Bloc said that the March 8 ministers’ Wednesday resignation “leads to the unknown,” adding that their actions “will have only negative repercussions on the citizens and the economy.”

“Hezbollah and March 8 want the other party to submit to their will.” The statement added.

... PM Hariri said during an interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper that was published on Friday that the Saudi-Syrian (S-S) agreement on reducing tension in Lebanon had been finalized a long time ago, even before King Abdullah , traveled to New York for the treatment but blamed Hezbollah and its March 8 allies for not living up to their end of the deal.

Hariri also said : “ I will not implement any commitment I made before the other party ( read Hezbollah) implements what it said it would commit to and added ‘anything else is an attempt to sabotage the Saudi-Syrian efforts.”

” This is the major base of the Syrian-Saudi efforts”. Hariri stressed.

Hariri said he decided to break his months-long silence to defend the Saudi-Syrian process against a campaign aimed at distorting it. “I have kept silent for months. Now, I have broken silence just because I am responsible and concerned with protecting this process in the interest of the country and its stability.”

Hariri did not reveal the details of the Saudi-Syrian deal, but his political adviser, Mohammad Shatah, said during an interview on Friday that the Saudi-Syrian deal is aimed at achieving stability in Lebanon, by taking specific steps to reduce political tension, such as restoring contacts between Lebanese factions, ensuring that state institutions return to serving the public and following up on the issue of Lebanese-Syrian ties.

Hezbollah asked MP Michel Aoun to announce on Tuesday the failure of the Saudi-Syrian and to blame March 14 alliance for the failure.

WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS? WHAT IS THE MESSAGE THEY ARE SENDING?

IT IS A THREAT. AND ONE WHICH MIGHT BE RETALIATED AGAINST.


SO I ASK, CUI BONO FROM ANOTHER CIVIL WAR: IRAN - WHO ALSO BENEFITED FROM HARIRI'S ASSASSINATION, IN THE FIRST PLACE.

WHICH LEADS ME TO ONCE AGAIN SAY:

THE ROAD TO PEACE IN BEIRUT RUNS THROUGH TEHRAN.

IOW: IF WE WANT PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THEN WE HAVE TO ERADICATE THE ISLAMO-FASCIST REGIME IN IRAN.


THE SOONER THE BETTER.

Mozlem Husband 'who hacked brother-in-law to pieces caught when bird dropped severed thumb from the sky' | Mail Online


A husband who hacked his brother-in-law to pieces was caught when a severed thumb 'fell from the sky' after being dropped by a bird, a court heard today.

Mohammed Riaz, 33, allegedly kidnapped Mahmood Ahmad, 41, and tortured him to death in an attempt to track down his estranged ex-wife Nahid Ahmad.

LOUGHNER'S BLACK BAG FOUND - NEAR HIS FLAG-BURNING SPOT?

HERE'S WHERE THEY FOUND THE BAG:



HERE'S WHERE HE BURNED THE FLAG (VIA GERARD):


LOOKS SIMILAR TO ME...

THEY SHOULD PROBABLY SEARCH THE AREA VERY CAREFULLY...

MORE NONSENSE FROM HILLARY‏ - this time regarding what causes islamo-terror

NYTIMES: Clinton Bluntly Presses Arab Leaders on Reform

The secretary of state told a conference in Qatar that the region needed economic reform to keep extremism at bay.

NONSENSE.

BAD ECONOMICS DOESN'T CREATE ISLAMISM; THE KORAN DOES.

THE 9/11 ATTACKERS AND THE CHRISTMAS BOMBER AND THE LONDON BOMBERS AND THE STOCKHOLM BOMBER WERE ALL MIDDLE CLASS.

THIS COMMENT IS AS DUMB AS HILLARY'S COMMENT ABOUT LOUGHNER - WHEN SHE CALLED HIM A POLITICAL EXTREMIST.

LOUGHNER WAS NOT MOTIVATED BY POLITICS. AND THE ISLAMISTS AREN'T MOTIVATED BY ECONOMICS.

THESE ARE STUPID COMMENTS, AND IF WE BASE POLICY AND TACTICS AND STRATEGY ON THEM THEN WE WILL FAIL.

BBC News - Gunfire heard in Tunis as unrest escalates in Tunisia

After two men set themselves on fire in Tunisia, at government control of jobs and freedoms, a member of the Tunisian government flees to Canada and armed police take to the streets.
BBC News - Gunfire heard in Tunis as unrest escalates in Tunisia

MALKIN ON THE TUCSON MEMORIAL/PEP RALLY

WHAT SHE SAID.

OBAMA SPOKE WELL IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SPEECH. I LIKED THESE PARTS:
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, “when I looked for light, then came darkness.” Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.

For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind.

So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.

But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.

After all, that’s what most of us do when we lose someone in our family – especially if the loss is unexpected. We’re shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?

So sudden loss causes us to look backward – but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions – that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed – they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis – she’s our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America’s fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.

[...]

If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy [ HE AD LIBBED: "IT DID NOT.], but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud.
THE LEFTISTS WHO BLAMED RIGHT-WING RHETORIC OUGHT TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

THE PEOPLE IN THE ARENA WHO WERE HOOTING AND WHISTLING AND APPLAUDING LIKE IT WAS A PEP RALLY OUGHT TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR, TOO.

AND SO, ESPECIALLY, SHOULD DUPNIK - FOR 2 REASONS: HIS DEPARTMENT DROPPED THE BALL WITH LOUGHNER; AND HE STARTED THE "BLAME THE RIGHT-WING" MEME.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

TIME TO RECALL DUPNIK: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS NRO/THE CORNER AND INSTAPUNDIT

GLENN LINKED TO NRO-THE CORNER'S 2:30 PM POST:

Fun Facts About Arizona Recall Elections

Article I, Section 8 of the Arizona state constitution:

Officers Subject to Recall; Petitioners

Every public officer in the state of Arizona, holding an elective office, either by election or appointment, is subject to recall from such office by the qualified electors of the electoral district from which candidates are elected to such office. Such electoral district may include the whole state. Such number of said electors as shall equal twentyfive per centum of the number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for all of the candidates for the office held by such officer, may by petition, which shall be known as a recall petition, demand his recall.

363,909 total votes were cast for sheriff in 2008, meaning that 90,978 residents of Pima County would have to sign a recall petition to force a recall election of Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. (Dupnik’s Republican opponent received 128,146 votes.) The petition would have to contain a general statement of 200 words or fewer outlining the case for recall.

WE POSTED IT HOURS BEFORE:
IT'S TIME THE VOTERS OF TUCSON RECALLED DUPNIK
HOT AIR:
Arizona Republic

The Arizona Public Records Law requires that records be “open to inspection by any person at all times” unless officials can prove releasing the information would violate rights of privacy or confidentiality or otherwise harm the best interests of the state…

On Monday, The Republic requested copies of any reports from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department involving contacts with Loughner or calls to his house. Pima County Deputy Rene Carlson said her office would not release the reports without a specific date, though this is not required by state statute.

Pima College kicked Loughner our because he was a threat.

It is unlikely Loughner's threatening behavior was limited to his time on campus.

It is reasonable to suspect if police were called to Loughner's home that Loughner's behavior was at issue.

It is unreasonable for Dupnik to withhold evidence which would prove or disprove this.

And unlawful.

It leads me to believe Dupnik invented the VITRIOLIC ATMOSPHERE argument to deflect attention from his failures.

It is time he was recalled.

ARIZONA'S RECALL LAW:

Chapter 2 - RECALL AND ADVISORY RECALL

Article 1 - Petition and Election Procedures


2005 Arizona Code - Revised Statutes §19-209 Order for special recall election

A. If the officer against whom a petition is filed does not resign within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays, after the filing as determined pursuant to section 19-208.03, the order calling a special recall election shall be issued within fifteen days and shall be ordered to be held on the next following consolidated election date pursuant to section 16-204 that is ninety days or more after the order calling the election.

B. A recall election shall be called:

1. If for a state office, including a member of the legislature, by the governor.

2. If for a county officer, or judge or other officer of the superior court in a county, by the board of supervisors of that county.

3. If for a city or town officer, by the legislative body of the city or town.

4. If for a member of a school district governing board, by the county school superintendent of the county in which the school district is located.

C. If a recall petition is against an officer who is directed by this section to call the election it shall be called:

1. If for a state office, by the secretary of state.

2. If for a county office, by the clerk of the superior court.

3. If for a city or town office, by the city or town clerk.

Voters of Arizona: Make it so.
Posted by Reliapundit @ 12:59 PM

WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME.

WE DON'T JUST FOLLOW THE PACK.

REGULAR READERS KNOW THIS.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

ROMANIAN BIRD DEATHS CAUSED BY ALCOHOL POISONING

TELEGRAPH:

Romeu Lazar, the executive director of the veterinary health department in the Black Sea port of Constanta said on Wednesday a post-mortem revealed the birds ate grape residue that had fermented and their bodies could not handle the alcohol.

He says they did not have avian flu, which hit the area several years ago.

I GUESS STARLINGS DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SAY WHEN.

IT'S TIME THE VOTERS OF TUCSON RECALLED DUPNIK

HOT AIR:
Arizona Republic

The Arizona Public Records Law requires that records be “open to inspection by any person at all times” unless officials can prove releasing the information would violate rights of privacy or confidentiality or otherwise harm the best interests of the state…

On Monday, The Republic requested copies of any reports from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department involving contacts with Loughner or calls to his house. Pima County Deputy Rene Carlson said her office would not release the reports without a specific date, though this is not required by state statute.

Pima College kicked Loughner our because he was a threat.

It is unlikely Loughner's threatening behavior was limited to his time on campus.

It is reasonable to suspect if police were called to Loughner's home that Loughner's behavior was at issue.

It is unreasonable for Dupnik to withhold evidence which would prove or disprove this.

And unlawful.

It leads me to believe Dupnik invented the VITRIOLIC ATMOSPHERE argument to deflect attention from his failures.

It is time he was recalled.

ARIZONA'S RECALL LAW:

Chapter 2 - RECALL AND ADVISORY RECALL

Article 1 - Petition and Election Procedures


2005 Arizona Code - Revised Statutes §19-209 Order for special recall election

A. If the officer against whom a petition is filed does not resign within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays, after the filing as determined pursuant to section 19-208.03, the order calling a special recall election shall be issued within fifteen days and shall be ordered to be held on the next following consolidated election date pursuant to section 16-204 that is ninety days or more after the order calling the election.

B. A recall election shall be called:

1. If for a state office, including a member of the legislature, by the governor.

2. If for a county officer, or judge or other officer of the superior court in a county, by the board of supervisors of that county.

3. If for a city or town officer, by the legislative body of the city or town.

4. If for a member of a school district governing board, by the county school superintendent of the county in which the school district is located.

C. If a recall petition is against an officer who is directed by this section to call the election it shall be called:

1. If for a state office, by the secretary of state.

2. If for a county office, by the clerk of the superior court.

3. If for a city or town office, by the city or town clerk.

Voters of Arizona: Make it so.

NOF ZION OWNERSHIP IS SAVED

Finally, this particular tale ends well:
Digal Investment and Holdings Ltd. bondholders have withdrawn their support from Palestinian American businessman Bashar Al-Masri in favor of Jerusalem supermarket owner Rami Levy and his partner Australian Jewish businessman Kevin Bermeister, who will buy the company’s Nof Zion residential project in eastern Jerusalem.

The struggle for control of Nof Zion opened in December, when it was revealed that Al-Masri was the client of Adv. Dov Weissglass, who bought the project.

Digal’s bondholders accepted his offer to pay NIS 0.60 per NIS 1 nominal value per bond. The news infuriated Israel’s religious sector, leading to protests and counter bids.

Rami Levy and Bermeister, who founded the file sharing program KAZAA, have now successfully blocked Al-Masri’s bid.
If al-Masri, as some prior reports told, was considered a security threat to Israel, shouldn't there be a law that bars people like him from backdoor interloping?

And who says its just the religious sector that's mad? Non-religious can be too, and are. The article is actually a tad ambiguous, since al-Masri himself, as a PLO supporter, was the problem; Weissglass is second. It's very fortunate this deal with a terrorist supporter was prevented. And laws are going to be needed to stop people like that from taking over property here they don't deserve.

BIDEN LIES: "ISLAM IS A GREAT RELIGION"

MEO:
Vice President Joe Biden delivered a bold message of support for key anti-terror ally Pakistan during a trip to Islamabad Wednesday, telling the country that America is "not the enemy of Islam". ...

"There are even some sections in Pakistani society and elsewhere that suggest American disrespects Islam and its followers," Biden told a joint press conference at the prime minister's residence.

"We are not the enemies of Islam and we embrace those who practise that great religion in all our country," he added.

WRONG.

WRONG FACTUALLY AND LOGICALLY.

HERE'S PROOF:

* IF THE JIHADISTS ARE "MISUNDERSTANDERS" OF ISLAM, THEN SO WAS MOHAMED - AND THIS IS UNLIKELY.

* IF THE JIHADISTS ARE APOSTATE EXTREMISTS, THEN SO WAS MOHAMED - AND THIS IS UNLIKELY.

* IF OBAMA AND BIDEN AND THE LEFT INSIST THAT THE JIHADISTS ARE EXTREMISTS, THEN - BECAUSE THE JIHADISTS ARE EMULATING MOHAMED - THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY SAYING MOHAMED WAS EXTREMIST AND THE RELIGION HE FOUNDED IS AN EXTREMIST RELIGION AND NOT A RELIGION OF PEACE.

THAT'S A PARADOX WHICH EXPOSES THE HYPOCRISY AND/OR ILLOGIC OF THE 'ROP" ARGUMENT.

AND ANOTHER THING:

IRSHAD MANJI - A FAMOUS THE POSTMODERN LEFTIST MUSLIM LESBIAN WHO BELIEVES THAT ISLAM CAN BECOME COMPATIBLE WITH MODERNITY AND DEMOCRACY - HAS CALLED THE EXTREMISTS "LITERALISTS" :

What is the trouble with Islam?

Irshad Manji: The problem with Islam today, in a word, is literalism.
AND SHE HAS ARGUED THAT MUSLIMS CAN EVOLVE TO HAVE A MORE "FIGURATIVE" APPRECIATION OF THE KORAN AND SURA AND HADITHS AND LIFE OF MOHAMED.

BUT BY MAKING THIS ARGUMENT, SHE IS TACITLY AGREEING WITH ME AND THE ANTI-"ROP" ARGUMENT:

SHE IS ESSENTIALLY SAYING THAT MOHAMED AND THE HADITHS AND THE SURA AND THE KORAN ARE LITERALLY EXTREMIST AND JIHADIST AND VIOLENT AND SEXIST.

AND IN THIS SHE IS CORRECT.

IT'S LONG PASSED TIME THE REST OF THE LEFT AND OBAMA AND HIS LEFTIST ILK ACCEPTED THE TRUTH.

OUR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON OUR ABILITY TO COUNTER-ATTACK EFFECTIVELY AND THE LEFT'S DENIAL IS HAMPERING OUR EFFORT.

THE UNPLEASANT TRUTH IS THAT WW4 IS A RELIGIOUS WAR - NOT BECAUSE "RIGHTWING NUTJOBS" SAY SO,

BUT BECAUSE THE ENEMY SAYS SO AND IS PROACTIVELY FIGHTING IN WAYS THAT SAY SO.

NOTE: BECAUSE MOST MUSLIMS DO NOT READ ARABIC AND ONLY KNOW WHAT THEIR IMAM TELLS THEM, AND BECAUSE MOST IMAMS ARE NOT JIHADISTS EMULATING THE "PROPHET" MOHAMED, MOST MUSLIMS ARE NOT A THREAT TO THE FREE WORLD.

BUT THIS IS BECAUSE THEY ARE - ACCORDING TO WAHHABISTS, SALAFISTS, Q'TUBISTS, AND JIHADISTS WHO ARE EMULATING MOHAMED AND LIVING ACCORDING TO THE EXPLICIT PRECEPTS IN THE KORAN, THE HADITHS AND THE SURA - APOSTATES.

BAD MUSLIMS CAN BE GOOD PEOPLE.

GOOD MUSLIMS... PROBABLY NOT.

THE LEFT IS TRYING TO MAKE LOUGHNER THE VICTIM: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS RUSH LIMBAUGH AND WEASEL ZIPPERS BY A DAY

TODAY, WEASEL ZIPPERS POSTED SOME WISE WORDS FROM RUSH
LIMBAUGH:

What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He’s sitting there in jail. He knows what’s going on, he knows that . . . the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he’s just a victim. He’s the latest in a never-ending parade of victims brought about by the unfairness of America .
WE MADE THIS OBSERVATION YESTERDAY - BEFORE RUSH:


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

TO THE LEFT, LOUGHNER WAS A VICTIM OF RIGHT-WING INVECTIVE; IN FACT GIFFORDS WAS A VICTIM OF THE LEFT
The Left's failed narrative - that the Tucson Shooting was a result of right-wing invective and the vitriolic atmosphere created by conservatives - is based on their fixation with victmhood and their flight from personal responsibility.

The Left is truly responsible for the fact that a dangerous psychotic like Loughner was on the streets: the Left dismantled the institutions which might have held Loughner and make impossible forcibly medicating them.
REGULAR READERS KNOW WE SCOOP THE BIGGIES WITH LINKS AND ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY ALL THE TIME. SPREAD THE WORD.

UPDATE: SARAH PALIN GETS IT:

Like many, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event.

President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”

Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own.

They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.

The last election was all about taking responsibility for our country’s future. President Obama and I may not agree on everything, but I know he would join me in affirming the health of our democratic process. Two years ago his party was victorious. Last November, the other party won. In both elections the will of the American people was heard, and the peaceful transition of power proved yet again the enduring strength of our Republic.

Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas.

But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

RIGHT ON!

LEBANON'S GOVERNMENT COLLAPSING

NYTIMES:
Hezbollah and its allies threatened to withdraw from Lebanon’s government on Wednesday, a move that would force it to dissolve and deepen a crisis over a United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of a former prime minister.
HIZBALLAH SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE GOVERNMENT. THEY ARE A TERRORIST GROUP THAT SHOULD BE ERADICATED.

DUPNIK'S PROPAGANDA WAS A COVER-UP FOR HIS DEPARTMENT'S FAILURE TO HANDLE LOUGHNER PROPERLY

THE SHERIFF'S WERE CALLED TO LOUGHNER'S HOIME SEVERAL TIMES - AND YET THEY DID NOTHING.

THESE REPEATED VISITS, AND LOUGHNER'S DRUG USE - COUPLED WITH THE FACT THAT PIMA COLLEGE HAD DETERMINED HE WAS THREAT - WERE ENOUGH FOR THEM TO HAVE LOUGHNER COMMITTED.

THEY DROPPED THE BALL.

I BETCHYA THAT DUPNIK KNEW THIS THE SECOND THEY IDENTIFIED THE PERP - MAYBE BEFORE... MAYBE AS SOON AS HE HEARD THERE HAD BEEN A SHOOTING.

BLAMING THIS ON THE RIGHT WAS A PREMEDITATED LIE TO COVER UP HIS FAILURE, HIS RESPONSIBILITY.

THERE'S OTHER PROOF THAT DUPNIK IS A SCU*BAG CAPABLE OF THIS: HE IS ON VIDEO REFUSING TO ENFORCE HIS STATE'S IMMIGRATION LAWS.

DUPNIK SHOULD RESIGN.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The English Defence League EXTRA: The Jewish Defence League and the EDL


By Ted Belman, January 9, 2011, from Canada Free Press
Meir Weinstein heads the JDL in Toronto. They do great work. They picket what must be picketed and oppose what must be opposed. Recently they voiced their solidarity with the EDL in Britain and even planned a rally in Toronto at which the EDL leader was to speak by hook up.. This caused a reaction in in the conservative, pro Israel, National Post. You can imagine it also caused a reaction from the Jewish establishment in Canada.
As a result of a National Post story on this rally, this letter was written to the author Stuart Bell. I know Stuart Bell and Meir Weinstein. As readers of Israpundit know, we support the work of EDL and believe they are getting a raw deal from the establishment. The JDL in Canada is a great organization which stands up for Jews throughout the country. They do not in any way resort to violence but don’t shrink from it in self defence.
Please read it all as there is an excellent list that sums up the treachery, appeasement and lies of our mutual governments. For instance:
1) Corrupt EU governments and politicians that have crawled into bed with Islamic Fascists, (reminiscent of those who did the same with Nazi Fascists) – betraying the citizens they are sworn to protect.
(2) Marxists in the mainstream press who continually whitewash the truth about Islamic Fascism;
(3) Academics in Universities, who willfully corrupt and brainwash students (sometimes using intimidation tactics) to serve their Marxist/Islamist agenda; 
THE ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE EXTRA: The Jewish Defence League and the EDL

TO THE LEFT, LOUGHNER WAS A VICTIM OF RIGHT-WING INVECTIVE; IN FACT GIFFORDS WAS A VICTIM OF THE LEFT

The Left's failed narrative - that the Tucson Shooting was a result of right-wing invective and the vitriolic atmosphere created by conservatives - is based on their fixation with victmhood and their flight from personal responsibility.

The Left is truly responsible for the fact that a dangerous psychotic like Loughner was on the streets: the Left dismantled the institutions which might have held Loughner and make impossible forcibly medicating them.

THE BIGGEST DEFICIT THE LEFT HAS RUN UP AIN'T THE FEDERAL DEFICIT; IT'S THE TRUTH DEFICIT

THE LIES THEY'VE BEEN TELLING ABOUT THE TUCSON SHOOTING PROVE THAT THE LEFT CAN'T TELL THE TRUTH.

WHY?

BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS KRYPTONITE TO THE LEFT.

MOST OF THEIR NARRATIVES ARE COMPLETE BUNK: AGW; BUSH LIED; PLASTIC TURKEY: HERE'S AN OLD LIST
  1. Bush stole Florida and the 2000 election.
  2. Bush stole Ohio and the 2004 election.
  3. Libby and the White House leaked Plame's ID to punish Joe Wilson.
  4. 9/11 was either an inside job, or the Bushies let it happen to allow them to perpetrate endless war.
  5. The Turkey was plastic.
  6. Bush lied about Saddam's WMD.
  7. Democracy for Iraq and the Middle East was an afterthought conjured up by Rove to validate the war after the WMD's weren't found.
  8. The Bush Tax Cut went mostly to the rich and hurt the economy.
  9. Bush had the worst jobs record since Hoover.
  10. Bush is a militarist and a unilateralist.
  11. Bush is an anti-little people/pro-Big Business stooge despite passing the biggest increase in federal education spending and in Medicare spending - and his attempt to pass a expansive immigration bill - (all liberal projects).
  12. Bush is in the back pocket of the Israel Lobby AND the House of Saud - simultaneously.
  13. Bush said Saddam was connected to 9/11.
  14. Bush used family influence to get into TANG and to get out, and this was covered up.
  15. Bush said the words "yellowcake" and "Niger" in his 2003 SOTU.
  16. Gitmo is a gulag.
  17. There was torture at Abu Ghraib and it was Rumsfeld's fault.
  18. Bush should have been attending soldiers' funerals like other presidents.
  19. There was rampant looting of the Baghdad Museum right under the noses of US troops.
  20. The Lancet report proved that we have killed 300 Iraqi civilians a week since the war began, and that this has otherwise gone completely un-reported.
  21. The Patriot Act is the biggest infringement of civil liberties of all time - and it's unnecessary.
  22. Canada and the UK and every other nation with taxpayer financed universal healthcare, have better healthcare than the USA.
  23. 45 million Americans are uninsured for healthcare, and this is a government disgrace which requires a government solution.
  24. The MSM is biased IN FAVOR of Bush.
  25. The Democrats won control of Congress because of the Iraq War.
  26. There is no global war on terror or jihadist.
More:
  • CO2 CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING.
  • FANNIE MAE DIDN'T CAUSE THE REAL ESTATE BUBBLE.
  • ACORN IS CLEAN.
  • OBAMA IS A MODERATE.
  • OBAMACARE WILL LOWER THE DEFICIT.
  • THE TALIBAN SHOULD BE PART OF THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT.
  • ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE.
Even more:
  • RELIGION IS THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES.
Er, um.. no, socialism is - and in the last century socialism killed more people than religion did in the previous 20 centuries - (well, er um... all religions except Islam, that is).
  • ANTHROPOGENIC CO2 IS CAUSING UNPRECEDENTED AND SOON TO BE CATASTROPHIC GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.
No again. Current warming is entirely within geological precedents which have no anthropogenic causes; global climate is always changing - and a warmer climate is actually beneficial for humanity.
  • PEAK OIL WILL DESTROY THE GLOBAL ECONOMY; THEREFORE WE MUST FORCE PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES AND ECONOMIES TO SWITCH ENERGY SOURCES NOW - AND HIGHER TAXES WILL HELP.
Er, um... NOPE: there are more oil reserves now than ever - and we might never run out if oil is abiotic, which seems more and more likely.
  • THE PROFIT SYSTEM AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE ARE BASED ON GREED AND ARE INEFFICIENT AND IMMORAL.
Actually, the profit incentive and competition are what increase prosperity and value. When a monopoly controls a good or service then there is no incentive for improvement of quality or price. And when & where there are competing enterprises, there are more jobs and better wages. Therefore, the profit motive and free enterprise it is better for all people, both as consumers and workers.
  • WE CAN REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH AND ELIMINATE POVERTY.
Redistributionist policies have never ever worked at anytime in any place. Socialism and the welfare state actually perpetuate poverty and dependence and decrease economic growth and diminish prosperity. "Red" China, the USSR, India, Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Sweden all prove this. If you really want to make poverty history then you have to make socialism history.
  • MEDICARE AND MEDICAID WORK BETTER THAN PRIVATE INSURANCE.
Wrong again: Medicare and Medicaid run a 60 billion dollar deficit every year and much of that is fraud; this would never be possible if they were well run, but it is perpetuated because the taxpayer picks up the bill and not the "administrators" of the plan. Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable. Liberals and leftist constantly harp and harangue about "sustainable" economies; they should start by making Medicare and Medicaid sustainable - (and if they can't they should allow for the ORDERLY transition to privatization over the next few decades).
  • DISARMAMENT AND APPEASEMENT AND AN EMPHASIS ON DIPLOMACY AND MULTI-LATERALISM WILL DIMINISH INTERNATIONAL HOSTILITY AND INCREASE THE PEACE.
Yeah, sure: As if the League of Nations and the UN ever stopped a war. Really bad "players" never respect the rule of law or treaties and see weakness as an opportunity for adventurism and aggression. Peace comes though strength is a fact proven over and over again throughout human history. Appeasement has always increased the likelihood of war and its cost in blood and treasure.
YES: this is a partial listing!

THE LEFT CAN'T TELL THE TRUTH.

If the Left didn't lie, then they'd have nothing to say.