"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, May 30, 2015

WHAT PAMELA GELLER WOULD SAY TO GARRY TRUDEAU

The Washington Post's Comic Riffs section interviewed Pamela Geller about the DC Metro's banning political ads from their stations just so they can avoid running her own ads about Muhammed drawings. And here's what she'd tell Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau in response to his defeatism:
MC: Over the weekend, I spoke with, and listened to [via panel debate], “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau — in Washington, coincidentally — on the matter of his belief that satire should strive to be “responsible,” and that free speech can be its own kind of fanaticism — and that Charlie Hebdo, in the context of France, was “punching down.” If you were debating Mr. Trudeau on this subject yourself, what would you first say in response to his statements?

PG: I’d tell him that he was making excuses for self-censorship in the face of violent intimidation. He never spoke about being “responsible” in regard to the crucifix in a jar of urine or other expressions of contempt for Christianity. He is only speaking that way about cartoons critical of Muhammad because Muslims kill over them. He is advocating surrender. And as for “punching down,” his claim that Muslims in France are a despised and oppressed minority is leftist fantasy. In reality, the killers were part of a well-financed, highly trained global network of jihadis intent upon murdering anyone who dares stand in the way of their goal of imposing Sharia in the West. They won’t have to murder Trudeau. He is already on his knees.
Trudeau's uninformed, contrived apologia reminds me of the 2010 Batman story where a Muslim was hired to be part of a Batman Incorporated group, written by a British scriptwriter who didn't seem particularly interested in being innovative. A few years later though, he seemingly changed, though even that can't be taken at face value.
MC: I’ve spoken with scores of American cartoonists about drawing Muhammad, and many who believe in the First Amendment as an absolute still decline to draw Muhammad. What do you think most motivated the cartoonists like Bosch who entered your Texas contest — beyond, of course, a $10,000 winner’s purse?

PG: First, a love of freedom. And courage, which those cartoonists with whom you spoke obviously don’t have, and a determination to show that we will not kowtow to thuggery.
Say, this just made me think of something. What about Erik Larsen? He's probably still part of same crowd referenced by Cavna, and has no intention of ever drawing Muhammed. That's why we shouldn't take his complaints about major publishers placating vocal minorities with practical outfits for women at face value. What's his point of defending the creations of fine folks more famous than he is if he can't defend other free speech values as well? I'd recommend to Geller that she pay attention to artists and writers of comic pamphlets too, to see how strong their support is or not for the kind of values she's championing, because what goes on in the comics industry can't be overlooked either.

Friday, May 29, 2015

I SUPPORT A MEDIA BLACKOUT ON THE CLINTON SCANDALS

I THINK WE SHOULD SAVE ALL THIS STUFF FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION.

BETTER TO HAVE HER LOSE THE ELECTION, THAN GIVE THE DEMOCRATS A CHANCE TO NOMINATE SOMEONE WHO IS LESS POLITICALLY VULNERABLE AND LESS LIKELY TO BE INDICTED....







ISRAEL HONORS AMERICAN-BORN WW2 VETERANS

Here's an article in the Somerset Daily American about Israel's plan to honor American-born Jewish veterans of WW2, who'd been all but overlooked until now.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

THE WAR CRIMES OF HAMAS

Amnesty International, of all sources, has accused Hamas of war crimes and violence:
Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday that Hamas committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during last summer's war with Israel.

"Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of 'collaborating' with Israel and others during Israel's military offensive against Gaza,"
the human rights group said in a report entitled "'Strangling Necks': Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict."

According to the London-based human rights group, some 23 Palestinians were shot and killed and dozens more were arrested and tortured by Hamas.
Yet it's nothing new; years before, the PLO committed similar crimes against their own subjects. Why only now are they gathering the brains to say so? They should've said it long ago.

A DUTCH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK DISTORTS ISRAELI HISTORY

Propaganda was discovered in Holland's education system:
An official high school history book in Holland claims that during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, “Jewish militias committed murder in Arab villages. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled and arrived in refugee camps across the border.”

Barak Gorni, a 16-year-old Dutch Israeli attending the Maimonides Jewish high school in Amsterdam, was the first to notice and call attention to the false and distorted depiction of Israel’s history. In another instance, the book says that “[former prime minister] Menachem Begin entered the history books as a peacemaker, and this is surprising, because for much of his life he was known as a terrorist and a radical.”
So only an Israeli could possibly be a terrorist, and not Islamofascists. Tomorrow, there's every chance David Ben-Gurion will be subject to these blood libels too. Maybe even Michael Collins, leader of the Irish resistance in the early 20th century. The Israeli embassy and foreign ministry are already looking into this, and they should demand it be removed from classrooms immediately.

NOBODY SHOULD BE FOOLED INTO FUNDING A UN-SPONSORED COMIC

MTV wrote about the United Nations' new project called Comics Uniting Nations, which they're hoping will change the world in another 20-30 years. But with their record, and countries they have representing their human rights councils now, that change would not be for the better:
[...] You might not be familiar with these names, but The World’s Largest Lesson already has a lot of support from around the globe. Check this out: at the recent World Education Forum, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Latvia and Indonesia, among other countries, gave pledges to The World’s Largest Lesson.
Dear dear dear. I could accept Japan, Latvia, and Laos, but most of those other countries listed are a very bad lot, with gross human rights violations taking place there. For example, there's Pakistan, which has seen a horrifying number of Muslim honor murders take place. And slavemongering by Islamofacists is still prevalent in Sudan. In Indonesia, a huge percentage support jihadism. And two thirds of Muslims in Morocco and 3 of the aforementioned countries support establishing a new caliphate.
“The U.N. wants the people of the world to get invested in the Goals,” Josh Elder, Founder of Reading with Pictures, told MTV News. “We want that too, so we’ve assembled an international team of comic creators to craft a series of comics, one for each of the seventeen Global Goals. The comics will explain the challenges we all face and how every individual has a role to play in meeting those challenges.”

The project is on Kickstarter with a week to go, and a number of important comics creators’ names are already attached, including Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Katie Cook, Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey, Ron Marz, Yen Yen Woo and Janet Lee. Likewise, Comics Uniting Nations is in talks with comics companies to publish single-page PSAs to talk about the Global Goals.
I wouldn't advise anybody who realizes what the UN truly is today to plunk any money into what's bound to become a propaganda project. Nor should any publishers be wasting time and resources working with the UN on this. It'd be nothing more than a boon to autocrats and other people who don't deserve your hard-earned money. The UN's also still got quite a replete record of hostility to Israel, and they're also full of anti-Americanism today, along with failure to disarm terrorist cells in Iran & Iraq. In fact, why are they asking people outside to fund their project instead of paying for it themselves? Most people at the UN doubtless get big salaries, and I'd think they could pay for it all by themselves, rather than cheat people out of their money.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

TEXAN SENATE PASSES ANTI-SHARIA BILL

Another success for freedom in another American state:
On Thursday night, May 21, the Texas state senate passed a bill that would prevent any international law from being used in Texas civil courts in deciding disputes. Radio station WOAI characterized the bill as an “anti-sharia” bill, but state Senator Donna Campbell said that her bill doesn’t mention sharia law at all, just that it guarantees that no law from “foreign courts” would be used to override American law in settling civil matters.

When pressed for clarification about just which such laws she was concerned about, and could she provide an example, she whiffed: “No foreign law [specifically].… This just provides a context for judicial discretion … that we don’t trump Texas law, American law, with a foreign law regarding family law.”
Exactly. And European governments are going to have to start showing the guts to pass similar laws too, if they want to save their continent.

Monday, May 25, 2015

SOLDIER AT FORT POLK GETS HIS LONG OVERDUE PURPLE HEART

A soldier from Fort Polk who'd been wounded by Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood has finally received the medal he should've gotten long ago:
Nov. 5, 2009, dawned like most any other day for Pvt. Alan Carroll. The 20-year-old native of Anchorage, Alaska, had recently finished combat engineer training and was assigned to the 510th Sapper Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas.

“There was nothing real significant about the day,” Carroll said. “Just a normal day.”

But by day’s end, it would be anything but insignificant as Carroll and more than 40 of his friends, fellow soldiers and Army civilians would be wounded by Maj. Nidal Hasan in a shooting at the sprawling post in central Texas.

On May 21, Staff Sgt. Alan Carroll was awarded the Purple Heart during a ceremony at Fort Polk for the wounds he received in the shooting on Nov. 5, 2009, based on recent legislation that authorized those injured in the attack to receive the medal.

Carroll recently reflected on the day that changed his life. His unit was preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan that day, and he and some of his buddies were waiting to be checked by medical personnel after receiving their smallpox vaccinations. At about 1:30 p.m., their lives would change forever.
Read the rest at the link. The top brass owe tremendous apologies to hard-working soldiers for all the negligence they caused that led to this tragedy.

EHUD OLMERT GIVEN 8 MONTHS IN TALANSKY RETRIAL

While it may be added to a 6 year sentence in the Holyland case, 8 months is far too little:
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Monday was sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court to eight months of jail time on his conviction for fraud under aggravated circumstances in the Talansky retrial. The court also fined Olmert NIS 100,000.

Olmert lawyers appealed the sentence and the court agreed to their request to hold off the sentence for 45 days for time to appeal.

The former prime minister's lawyer Eyal Rozovsky told the media at the courthouse that he respects the court's decision but there were difficulties and mistakes in it.

"We tried convincing the court of the justice of our case. Olmert isn't happy. We wanted no jail time," Rozovsky said.
Yeah, they always want these convictions to carry no jail time. And they they'll probably appeal even this sentence to forestall his entry into the pokey for as long as possible. Hopefully, he'll end up in a cell for a change, but for now, he sure is trying to stay out as long as he can. An utterly disgraceful man Olmert is.

HOW TO RESTORE THE PROPER SOLEMNITY TO MEMORIAL DAY...

Memorial day has become a holiday celebrating barbecue and the start of summer.

In part, this is because like most of or national holidays it is no longer observed on its traditional, original, significant date; it's been moved to coincide with a nearby weekend so we all get a 3 day weekend. This happened in 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

The three day holiday aspect trumped the solemnity. And instead of remembering and honoring those who died that this nation might live, the holiday morphed into a pagan holiday celebrating the start of summer.

To fix it all we need to do is move it back to May 30. No matter what day of the week it falls on.

MORE HERE.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

BIN LADEN READ FAR LEFT LITERATURE

This isn't so surprising one of the worst Islamofascists of the 21st century read the work of the worst western leftists (Hat tip: Accuracy in Media):
The English-language bookshelf in Usama bin Laden’s personal library featured a collection of anti-U.S. polemics and left-wing conspiracy theories from some celebrated darlings of American academia, according to critics who analyzed the terror mastermind's reading list.

Anti-American conspiracy tomes on everything from the CIA to the Federal Reserve were among the 39 English books seized from the Al Qaeda leader’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where a team of Navy SEALs took him out in May 2011. [...]

Noam Chomsky, William Blum and Bob Woodward appeared to be among the terrorist kingpin’s favorite authors to curl up with. Chomsky, the liberal icon and MIT professor known for his disparaging view of the U.S., had two of his works in the Bin Laden collection, "Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies" and "Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance."
Depending on the situation, there's a very probably chance these crazies may have influenced autocrats overseas with their horrific viewpoints. Is it any wonder they're such a bad lot?