30 October 2011

British "luminaries" and Press TV

I know that this is very old news, but while the lovely (I am being ironic, honestly) Gilad Atzmon is in the news, I thought I'd share the following with you from my collection of historic documents. If you follow the link, you'll find that it's from that good guy David Aaronovitch, writing in The Times, before it went behind its pay wall, depriving those of us disinclined to pay up of its insights. What most intrigued me was the list of British luminaries of the Left (and we all know what Nick Cohen thinks of people like this), at least in their own eyes, prepared to accept Ahmanedinejad's gold and appear on Press TV:

"Despite this history of malicious stupidity Mr Hart has been praised by Lauren Booth and Clare Short, has been joined on his Press TV show by luminaries such as John Pilger, Jenny Tonge, Ghada Karmi, Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe, Abd al-Bari Atwan, Alastair Crooke and Steven Rose, and appears up and down the country at respectable venues, complaining about his treatment at the hands of "Zionism"."

From the following, where David A. notes that he would have been joined on a public platform by Gilad Atzmon, at which points he declined, and shared his unhappiness with the rest of us. I'm especially intrigued by the notion that Steven Rose, the paragon (am I being ironic again?) of the scientific method, except where it involves Israel, is quite prepared to appear on Press TV, as paid for by Iran.You will all have your own views of just how democratic and free Iran and Press TV are:

http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/52885/anti-zionists-having-a-laugh

Post by: Brian Goldfarb

29 October 2011

The Palestinian cause

I was reading an excellent article by Rob Marchant in The New Statesman about the growing antisemitism on the left, when the words "it hurts the Palestinian cause" popped out at me quite unexpectedly. Then it hit me. Almost every decent article or blog post about antisemitism absolutely has to remind readers that antisemitism is bad for - you guessed it - palestinians!

Funny thing is, nobody tells us what exactly this Palestinian cause is. A quick google search reveals that there are a lot of Palestinian causes. Depends on who you ask, but you shouldn't loose your time asking just anybody.

We all know what Hamas would say. They also speak for the PA, in terms of goal, although they can't agree on the means. Their version of Palestinian cause is ultimately what Israel has to deal with, since they are their people's leaders. In their struggle to liberate themselves from even the slightest scent of racism, too many western intellectuals find themselves right (or rather left...) on the opposite side, playing into the hands of racist dictatorial thugs whose goals are fundamentally different from those of their idealistic supporters.

I wonder when was the last time a journalist stopped typing to think - really think - what the Palestinian cause means. Is it too much to ask a journalist to add a few explanatory words about his/her personal views on "the Palestinian cause"?

25 October 2011

More antisem...sorry, anti-Zionism from The Guardian

If you don't get to see www.engageonline.wordpress.com (who has time to read everything they should or is even of interest to them, if only they knew about it), this might be a useful link.

The following is by Eve Garrard and is a guest post by her. It follows up on an article by one Deborah Orr, a Guardian columnist of whom The Guardian say that she "is one of Britain's leading social and political commentators." But then they would, wouldn't they. Eve's article is a response to a column by Orr on the Shalit prisoner swap and picks up on an ill-judged use of the word "chosen" (as in "chosen people"). For those who don't know of Eve Garrard, she is a recently retired philosophy lecturer (University of Keele, UK), and can be found on occasions at normblog, by invitation.

You might find the Alan Johnston article also very interesting, as linked to by Eve, which also picks up on this, but also on the other theme in the article (spun - word used advisedly - off from the theme of one Israeli life being worth 1000+ Palestinian) which then uses the nasty "chosen" theme. This Alan Johnston is the academic, and not the pro-Palestinian journalist. Note also that Eve links to criticisms of the supposed main purpose of the post: the "arithmetic" of the swap.

http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/on-being-chosen-eve-garrard/#comments

Post by: Brian Goldfarb

22 October 2011

The Shalit deal and Ban Ki-moon's epiphany

This is what UN's Ban Ki-moon had to say about Shalit's homecoming:

"With this release, it will have a far-reaching positive impact to the stalled Middle East peace process," Ban told Reuters at the end of a three-day trip to Switzerland.


Er...the stalled peace process is (not) taking place between Israel and the PA in the West Bank, not the Hamas in Gaza, Mr. UN's President. How exactly is playing into Hamas hands going to have a positive impact on anything? We know all about impact when it comes from the Hamas ruled Gaza, and I assure you that on the ground it ain't what it seems to be.



There's more:

"I am very encouraged by the prisoner exchange today after many many years of negotiation," Ban said. "The United Nations has been calling for (an end to) the unacceptable detention of Gilad Schalit and also the release of all Palestinians whose human rights have been abused all the time."


I was awake half of last night trying to figure out what was about the prisoner exchange that could make the world's organization leader to feel very encouraged. Was it the joy of seeing so many criminals finally getting their basic human right of killing Israelis back?

Maybe he just realized that what the world he's leading really needs are more terrorists bent on destroying the one tiny stubborn country that just won't go away quietly.

16 October 2011

Gilad Shalit: understanding the swap

A lot has been, and more will be, said about freeing Gilad Shalit in exchange for one thousand palestinian prisoners.

Yes, freeing criminals is not such a smart thing to do. Still, they won't make much difference to us, there are plenty of would-be martyrs out there anyway. The pros and the cons are well known, I'm not willing to go into that quicksand.

There is however one argument that has thus far eluded both sides. Israel is about to get back a young man who never did anything wrong, a simple citizen of this country. The palestinians, on the other hand, are going to be flooded with almost one thousand criminals, and good luck building a stable society with that (Hamas could use some stability in light of recent and ongoing events in the region, and even though it won a few points with the Shalit deal, this is not quite what ordinary people need for their daily lives to run smoothly).

One simple citizen for us, one thousand criminals for them. We win.

15 October 2011

Because it's Sukkot...

Because it's Sukkot, and you'll all be there in the Sukkah, with your laptops, running off solar energy, so no-one's really working to power them, I thought I'd bring you some good news, for a change. The following three articles are all via Harry's Place, a good, left wing (but not that sort of left wing) blog.

The first reports that an Australian teaching union has defeated a BDS motion at its Annual Conference. So, unlike the UCU here in the UK, there are some English-speaking teachers and academics who know sense when they see it: and it's not an anti-Israel motion. The second is about the Histradut mounting a campaign against contract labour, in true, good and old-fashioned free trade union fashion. Not that many British trade unionists, or at least those at the top of such unions, want to know that, let alone follow their Israeli comrades example. They're too busy passing boycott motions. Against Israel.

The third link is to our good friend Nick Cohen and an article of his in the Jewish Chronicle. He takes up this same theme of the Histradut, but this time, he's attacking the British Trades Union Congress for not backing their Israeli colleagues in their efforts to serve all the workers in their sphere: Jewish, Arab, foreign guest workers, and for their efforts to link up with and support their Palestinian trade unionist comrades.

Read and enjoy.

http://www.jwire.com.au/news/union-defeats-pro-bds-motion/19628

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000689906

http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/56132/a-foul-smell-britains-unions

Post By: Brian Goldfarb

13 October 2011

Sheik Raed Saleh and his connection with the truth...or not.

So, Snoopy, off on his vacation (he's allowed time off?), suggested that I, among others, might help to keep the show on the road. Well, that's a mighty tall order, especially when you've just come back from a short break yourself (to visit the offspring in another country).

Still, in my wanderings around the blogosphere, I came across the following from the Community Security Trust blog. It concerns one Sheikh Raed Salah who, you may or may not recall, entered Britain against the express instructions of the UK Home Secretary, Teresa May. Now, neither the Government of which she is a part nor her in particular are exactly favourites of mine, but still...they did good here. This was because of the Sheik's record (and it is on the record - he still has charges against him outstanding in Israel, where he lives) of antisemitic statements and writings.

It took them three days, but, finally and despite a well-advertised itinerary, the police caught up with him and issued a deportation order against him. He's appealed this, for reasons that need not detain us here. In the article below, the CST acknowledges that it provided the UK government with evidence of the Sheik's antisemitism and other undesirable activities.

It appears that Saleh's defence team have alleged that the CST have, in various ways, distorted the (un)good Sheik's writings and other sayings, by having him say or write things he (they claim) didn't write or say. So the CST people show in this article how the charges against them are nonsense, through a description of their meticulous research to substantiate their claims. Sheikh Raed Saleh lives in Northern Israel and is Hamas's representative in Israel. Now that's a dubious occupation if ever I heard of one.

Read the detail below:

http://blog.thecst.org.uk/?p=3072

Posted by: Brian Goldfarb

Parking your carriage Romanian style

Ever felt nostalgic about those good ol' days when horses drawn carriages weren't polluting the air with greenhouse gas emissions and dirt roads in the countryside led to nowhere in particular?

Well, those days will never return, as progress made its way into the heart of the back of beyond - small Romanian villages scattered between hundreds years old forests and brand new gas stations.

Watch and weep (with laughter).

If the video doesn't work, watch here.





OK, I know it's an ad, but it's still funny.

Mason Crumpacker's reading list

I don't know who's more amazing in this story - 8 years old Mason asking Christopher Hitchens for a reading list, or her mother for raising such a wonderful child.

Worth reading in full.

11 October 2011

Vacation notice

Due to richly deserved vacation, services from this blog member will be interrupted for a month or so. But no worries, Pisa with (hopefully) contributions from Brian will keep the blog going. So there, I am on vacation:

Nikolai Valuev as female yeti

Nikolai Valuev aka The Russian Giant aka The Beast from the East aka Sugar aka Goliath, a retired professional boxer and former two-time WBA heavyweight champion, has decided to dedicate some of his time to science. Well, science of a kind: on an expedition to the Azasskaya cave the role assigned to Valuev was to impersonate a female yeti in the hope that yeti males will be attracted by this live bait. The reasoning behind the idea was that Valuev, while certainly one of the largest humans in existence - 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in), is still not up to male yeti standard, thought to be in the region of 2.7 m. Here is Valuev in action (on the left, of course):

Unfortunately, according to the report, male yetis were not all that excited by the bait (I wonder why) and the meeting of minds didn't take place.

However, aside of making contact with a live yeti, the expedition was a total success, with multiple finds of yeti traces of all kinds. In addition, ESP experts of several kinds who were part of the expedition, reported on feeling yetis' presence in the area.

Well, I personally feel that the yeti's case is almost sewed and shut. Next time, though, I would suggest to perfume Nikolai with different substances every time he is being sent out for contact. Who knows...

10 October 2011

Leaflet Atzmon, the Who that wandered too far

Gilad Atzmon’s book ‘The Wandering Who?’ may not match the sales of Mein Kampf, but it is without doubt a poisonous anti-Semitic tome. Atzmon’s politics also represent a threat to Palestine solidarity as they turn the focus away from Israeli settler-colonialism and its US backers onto Jews as individuals
The above words have been written by one of Atzmon's fellow travelers, a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Tony Greenstein.

Oops.

Greenstein wants the J-Big (Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods) to leaflet Atzmon's book launch this evening. Which proves that even asajews have standards. Who knew?

Being branded by Greenstein as "anti-semitic" is weird enough. I guess Greenstein's world consists of bad Israeli/pro-Israel jews, good anti-Israel jews, and Atzmon.

The catch, as shown by the above quote, is that Atzmon's ideas are against the sacred socialist anti-imperialist pro-palestinian ideology that demands to destroy Israel and if possible the US first, then deal with brain-washing individuals into an obedient flock. Atzmon is a dissenter, he must be punished. The call to leaflet the book launch is not a call against anti-semitism, but the punishment for a traitor.

09 October 2011

Swastikas on Joseph's Tomb and CNN's spin

This article on swastikas sprayed on Joseph's Tomb walls in Schechem (Nablus) seems to be one of the more balanced reports on Israel on this otherwise iniquitous media outlet.

It even mentions, though obliquely, that the PA is in violation of the Oslo Accords regarding the control of the site. Yeah, I know that PA violating the Oslo Accords is not news, but for CNN to admit this uncomfortable truth must be excruciating.
This must be why they wisely decided to add some balanced viewpoints to a dangerously-close-to-not-anti-Israel article.

That video on the left side, which I first thought was an ad, brought peace to my troubled mind. No, the Elders didn't take over CNN yet. It's still up to its old and strangely reassuring anti-Israel tricks, and the world is once again a familiar place.

Whoever decided to put this video alongside this article is clearly implying that one wrong justifies another wrong. Which is exactly what Price Tag is about. Where does that leave CNN?

Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing

A shocking case of apartheid was uncovered by our Tel Aviv correspondent:


Let's see the Zionist Hasbarah weasel out of this one...

In related news: Zionist air force exterminates five innocent pelicans.

Madonna uncensored nude pictures

Why, after about two thousands of these (not counting the movies), some people are still excited, I shall never know. But really, calm down, here you shall not see these. Instead, and by popular demand:


Tristram's grackle.

08 October 2011

Steve Jobs and Westboro Baptist Church

Does the name Westboro Baptist Church ring a bell? It should.Well, it certainly rings a phone. Not any phone, mind you.Should Margie Phelps go to hell for helping a sinner to serve self? On second thought, she is already there.

Plastic bags for bathrooms

This news is only a harbinger of the new austerity measure to come:

The Dutch national railway has an unusual solution for passengers who need the bathroom on a train line designed without them: plastic bags.
...
The bags have a cup-shaped plastic top and contain a highly absorbent material that turns urine into a gel-like mixture. After use the bags can be sealed and thrown in the trash.
Seeing as how the modern airlines feverishly search for savings, I can easily predict the outcome. Here is a quote from the new booklet being prepared as we speak:
Dear passengers,

The ... airline is proud to have you aboard and offers you ... [the usual list of various perks you used to get free in the bygone days but now have to pay for].
And a new initiative that is intended to streamline our impressive array of cabin services: the Pee-While-You-Fly kit. The kit allows you to take care of your #1 need without leaving your comfortable seat and without disturbing your neighbors.

The kit contains four main items:
  • The opaque plastic cover (3) that will allow you the necessary privacy for carrying out the task. As you shall see, the cover is adorned by colorful eye-pleasing patterns.
  • The plastic bag (1) with a hermetic screw-on stopper.
  • The additional device (6) for use by female passengers (see page 5 of this booklet).
  • The Macy's shopping bad (11) that will help you to carry your used Pee-While-You-Fly kits with you after leaving the plane, without drawing unwanted attention.
The airline offers the kit practically at cost, the price is $3.99 or 2,500 miles*. Please call any cabin attendant to purchase.

You may notice that your cabin is not equipped by the usual bathroom booths, which measure made it possible to improve the quality of the air you are breathing while on board and, in addition, allowed our airline to install a considerable number of additional seats.

However, for passengers that for some reason require additional privacy while using our revolutionary Pee-While-You-Fly kit, we are proud to offer a Passenger's Retreat Corner of the kitchenette, separated from the rest of the plane by a soundproofed curtain. The (really moderate) price is $2.99 for every 3 minutes of use or part thereof.

In case of rupture or leakage of the bag please call for a cabin crew member and keep calm.

(*) The kit is, of course, yours to use after the purchase, and you are welcome to empty and rinse it at home. You are also welcome to use it in your subsequent flight, however other airlines may require that you use only the kits purchased from them.

[3 pages of colorful and helpful instructions follow.]
The "Additional accessories page" is, unfortunately, not ready yet, so we can offer only a glimpse at one unfinished sentence:
Since our flight is only 9 hours long and the new FAA regulations allow flights of less then 10 hours duration to be #2-free, we also offer (for only $1.99) a screw-in plug to...

10 Mind-Blowingly Offensive Quotes From Ron Paul Newsletters

Take this one, for example:


More where this one came from. But yeah, he doesn't know who produced all that dreck and isn't responsible... you bet...

07 October 2011

The assassination conundrum

I have been reading Norm's excellent post Argument over Anwar al-Awlaki. With his customary elegance and clarity Norm dissects the problem and offers a clear-cut solution:

Their justifications depend on its being a war; and terrorist networks are the designated enemy in that war.
Indeed, says I to myself and turns to the usual chores. But then, somewhere between feeding the chicken and milking the cats, the uneasy feeling, so familiar from the university days, started to assert itself in the pit of my stomach. You know how it is when you enjoy a lecture, conducted by a scientist you deeply respect, when you feel that you are following every statement and everything is loud and clear. Until, that is, the lecture is over and you join the other underdeveloped hopefuls in the corridor. And then it gradually and inexorably downs on you that, in fact, your understanding was at best an illusion... well, you know how it goes if you've been a student...

So, I felt like a child lost in a dark forest of decrepit lucubrations*.

To start with, take a look at WOT - the War On Terror. Not to mention the sad fact that the term itself is being suppressed by the current US administration, although in fact the administration continues (more or less) the same spectrum of activities, just being unwilling to confirm that there is a war and there is terror, and both are to be out there for quite some time. But the first real legal hurdle is calling it a war, because war is defined as "Open and declared conflict between the armed forces of two or more states or nations." It is difficult to see how the legal minds will customize the WOT to fit this definition. Or, which seems to be even more challenging, how they will customize the definition to fit the WOT.

The second, and even bigger hurdle is, of course, the "T" issue.The definition of terror is, probably, the most contentious one in the international morass of legal mumbo-jumbo. The reasons are only too well known, being for the most part political. The attitude to the "terror" term more or less clearly divides the lambs who suffer from it and the wolves that are only too happy to deal it to the world. But there is the third category - people who will not let the term to be strictly and simply defined. Their ideology of moral equivalence ("Your terrorist is my freedom fighter") precludes the "T" term from being ever formally defined. You can read this Wiki discourse, for instance, but you can bet your last buck that it will only make the fog thicker.

All in all, it looks like an international legal support for assassination of terrorists will not be coming any time soon. Or ever. Moreover, the voice of "moral equivalence" supporters calling for international persecution prosecution of military or intelligence forces carrying such assassinations out, is rather too shrill for any reasonable compromise to be found in the legal bailiwick.

What about a single state trying to build a legal foundation for the assassinations? Here, I am afraid, the situation is not much better: the local legal beagles are looking over their shoulders at their learned colleagues in UN, EU and other supra-national juggernauts, which doesn't encourage creativity. Besides, in most countries the "moral equivalence" pushers are doing their stuff as well as (if not better than) their international brethren. And, of course, some "interested parties" are already crying law and justice:
If we accept that the president can order the killing of any American without due process of law, the Constitution is rendered meaningless. Even in the post-9/11 era, our leaders and military personnel have a duty to uphold the Constitution.
Sure, and doesn't it remind you of the prison self-made lawyers? But a point of law is a point of law, and we can't avoid addressing the issue just because it was raised by a dubious character. Of course, when a person decries the lawlessness of that or another assassination, you may want to ask yourself whether the person is a) intractably dense or b) supportive of terrorism or c) trying to stick it to somebody, politically speaking. Which, at the end of the day, is not all that important, the fact remains that such a person makes going after a terrorist doubly dangerous for the people who do the job.

So where does it leave "our leaders and military personnel"? High and dry and permanently looking over their shoulders, keeping in mind that a sudden change of fortunes (or, rather, political winds) in their own country, not to mention a sudden whim of a overactive legislator in some other country could easily mean a prolonged legal battle and, possibly, an even more prolonged incarceration.

And here the soft belly of democracy is exposed at one of its weakest points. Imagine the military following the letter of the law, e.g. sending a sufficiently large unit to extract the wrongdoer and to bring him to the court of law in their country. First of all, what about the sovereign rights of the country hosting (quite frequently willingly) the said wrongdoer - after all it's akin to waging a war against the host? Then, how about the inevitable loss of soldiers and civilian bystanders in the hostile environment? Are soldiers' and civilians lives expendable when the letter of the law should be upheld?  

Don't expect any answers from well meaning politicians or various doo-gooders, from terrorist enablers or from moral equivalence peddlers.

While the Israeli assassinations (mainly in the Gaza strip) were immediately branded barbarian, unlawful, ... [substitute your favorite pejorative], US military fairs a bit better. Although it should be noticed that the numbers of the civilian bystanders killed and wounded by US military in Afghanistan and Pakistan were much higher than in Israeli attacks. But US assassinations are slowly but surely gaining headlines as well, and the pressure from abroad and from within may cause a problem even for Washington.

To much rejoicing in certain quarters...

And then what?

P.S. I know that this post is mostly stating the obvious. But, in my humble opinion, it bears repeating.

(*) Of course it's a quote, what did you think, that I am able to... it's just that I am reading and enjoying now The Finkler Question. And so should you.

The Council Has Spoken!

 Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

06 October 2011

Simply Che

The seventh and so far the most original one:


This one is by Denis Lopatin.

05 October 2011

How to advertise strawberry (клубника) juice

This unconventional clip certainly does it:



It should be stated up front that the the word "strawberry" in Russian - "клубничка" - besides its prime meaning also stands for all kinds of erotic content. Well, whatever sells.

And a few technicalities:

  • The name of the enterprise that advertises its strawberry juice in that way is Lenin's State Farm - an interesting Soviet times anachronism.
  • The brand name of that juice is "Successful". Kinda strange, in Russian too.
  • It is nice to know that the old custom to protect one's fields or orchards using a salt-charged hunting guns is still alive and well.

04 October 2011

Gilad Atzmon, again

For those of you who don't get to see the Community Security Trust blog, the following might be of interest. It is a review, highly critical, in the proper intellectual sense of that word, of Atzmon's latest tome, "The Wandering Who". It deconstructs the book and also, in passing, Atzmon himself. While I am sure there are those who would want to disagree with Mark Gardener's article, they'll have to read the book first. For myself, I have better things to do with my time, and I'm glad that Gardener (editor of the CST blog) has done the job for me, and convinced me that this book isn't worth reading.

Read the review here.

For those who don't know of it, the Community Security Trust is the defence wing of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and provides both security for the Jewish community in Britain, as well as training for in-house defence, and keeps a log of all reported antisemitic incidents in the UK. The blog has grown out of this last activity.

Contributed by Brian Goldfarb.

03 October 2011

Reading comprehension: from personal stock of sadness


I went into shock imagining helpless Colombian miners being devoured by a humongous  night vision - equipped croc, able to chew its way through the coal layers.

Nah...

Muslim Legal Fund of America to Lauren Booth: Your Mother

I was stricken by a mere shadow of a suspicion that a black cat passed between the Muslim community and its female flag bearer Lauren Booth.

Nah...

Hear women scream in bed!
(from an e-mail in my spam folder)

I thought it's an ad for a new hearing aid, something revolutionary mebbe.

Nah...

02 October 2011

PMO denies diplomatic rift between Israel, Germany

Sure.

PMO would deny that Bibi is their boss. That is, if Sarah tells them to...

To remember and to treasure

If people had to refrain from doing everything that is really a Zionist plot, nothing would ever get done.
Who if not Judeopundit?

And meanwhile in the forests of Maine

It's a first cool day here after a long hot summer, only once interrupted by a customary pre-Sukkoth rain. I am browsing various news sites, full of pictures of the deceased self-made cleric/Al Qaeda warrior:


Does he still lecture the throngs of his admirers up (or down) there or is he busy with the obligatory virgins? Hard to say, but the memories he left on this planet are still painful:

Fort Hood memorial

I am also reading that the presidential wannabe of Republican party, Ron Paul, joined the ACLU in condemnation of the killing. Once again Ron Paul demonstrated loud and clear that his grasp of the international scene and the dangers USA is facing is minuscule and, if any, outright wrong in most aspects. So much so that some libertarians are being turned off by his empty rhetoric.

Which brings me again to an irritating issue: the kind of supporters that are following the latest presidential bid of this character. Some time ago I have posted on the wondrous goings on in the forests of Maine, where a group of folks that are calling themselves alternatively Aroostook Watchmen or Maine ReFounders. One of their leading figures, one Steve Martin (not the comedian) features in that old post. The main differentiators of this crowd are their infatuation with various conspiracy theories, unwavering support of Ron Paul and of a lesser version of Ron Paul, a pretender to the Maine senator post (currently occupied by Olympia Snowe), one Scott D’Amboise. The latter, as you can read in the above linked post, seriously discredited himself, singing a few conspiracy songs in unison with Steve Martin.

The latter, while being a major conspiracy freak*, is somewhat subdued when voicing his displeasure with the people, who, in his opinion, really stand behind all (or most) of the conspiracies he is outing:
D'Amboise just sent out a circular about Snowe backpedaling on her "Stimulus" votes saying that "No one was talking about it being a bad idea back then..." BULL!!!! Many of us were screaming bloody murder, and that was BEFORE we knew most of the money was going to FOREIGN BANKSTERS. Bilderburg ordered these bailouts, AND, as you now see, they have the power to get whatever they want from THEIR CONGRESS.
His spelling didn't improve any since the last review ("Bilderburg", for instance), and nothing changed in his favorite designation of these mysterious "FOREIGN BANKSTERS". Does he use it for fear of retribution from the Elders** or is he just being coy? No matter.

While Steve Martin (not the comedian) is relatively mild (or coy, whatever) regarding the Jooz, there are much more unsavory characters in the Paulistas/D’Amboisistas crowd of Maine ReFounders. To choose one example, here comes Chandler St Pierre, one of the most active correspondents on the Facebook page managed by the  Maine ReFounders.

Mr St Pierre is more outspoken than his comrade in arms Steve. He thinks nothing about linking to deranged folks of Whatreallyhappened or to the dubious Lew Rockwell (who, by the way, is one of the people what formulate Ron Paul's foreign policy "views"). He is at home with "anti-Zionist" characters:
And he has his own "scientific" doubts about the Holocaust:

If you think you have a strong stomach, you can check the "zionism 101" post warmly recommended by Mr St Pierre.If you need more exhibits, here is another one:

Sweet, ain't it? Well, that will be enough for now. The woods of Maine are jumping, it looks like. But, as any other woods, they give shelter to all kinds indiscriminately, so it's quite a time for some creative hunting, I think.

And again it will be a good thing to ask Ron Paul (and Scott D’Amboise as well) about their attitude (or lack thereof) to these supporters. Not that I believe that any answers would be forthcoming.

P.S. And, since  Scott D’Amboise is mentioned, check out this Wiki "entry" (click to enlarge):



Quite...

(*) Here is a typical Steve Martinesque rant:
Will somebody please explain to me how "Islamists" could possibly have: 1) forced our air defenses to stand down on 911, so much so that the Pentagon was hit a full hour after the 2nd tower in NYC, and we knew we were under attack, 2) flown large passenger jets like crack fighter pilots, exceeding the avionics of the aircraft when they couldn't even fly Cessnas properly, 3) Made three multi-million ton buildings turn to dust with nothing but the use of jet fuel, 4) Get Mohammed Atta's pass port to exit the fireball which we are told was melting 4'x4' insulated steel center columns and land ON TOP of the rubble pile at Ground Zero, 5) Get NIST to truck all the steel away and sell it to Communist China before it could be examined by any independent investigators, 6) Get several wars launched against their own co-religionsists throughout the Middle East...I could go on, and on, but I think all reasonable people know that "the Islamsists" had some help inside the beltway...
(**) Nothing to worry about, Steve, really. We let the small fish free. Until it grows up to the regulatory minimum size, of course. And then you will hardly feel a thing... well, almost.

01 October 2011

Brian Leiter's defense of Gilad Atzmon

I have (virtually) encountered prof. Leiter quite some time ago. He made an impression of a somewhat limited professional of rather left-wing persuasion, humorless, self-important, obsessed with a strange business of "ranking" - but otherwise quite a harmless individual, safely contained in the lofty spheres of academy. He provided (with assistance of his mysterious relative Maurice) material for two posts, afterward to be forgotten.

And suddenly, Mr Leiter surfaced again, this time as a totally unexpected defender of that vermin Gilad Atzmon. As a veteran "admirer" of Atzmon, I cannot but applaud the extraordinary chutzpa of the esteemed professor, who first of all declares that:

Prior to this tempest in a teapot ... I'd not heard of Gilad Atzmon...
And then, having read an interview by Atzmon and being as talented as he is, prof. Leiter states:
But it's equally clear that there's nothing in the positions articulated above that marks him as an anti-semite, in the Sartrean or any other offensive sense of the term; his position is cosmopolitan, though, for reasons of autobiography I suppose, he errs on the side of polemic mainly against the anti-cosmopolitan tendencies embodied only in one ideology.
I don't know how Sartrean definition of the term is more relevant to the case than the basic definition (aside of professor's passion to sound like a professor), but I do know a putz when I see one. And why that putz doesn't read (for instance) this excellent essay on Mearsheimer and Walt's indefensible defense of the little Nazi wannabe? In the Nietzschean sense or any other...

And then return to the warm embrace of the University of Chicago, where he can lick his wounds and cry on the shoulder of his learned colleague, one prof Mearsheimer...

Update: Yesterday, several hours after posting this, I had me an idle thought: isn't prof. Leiter secretly envying prof Chomsky and his Faurisson Affair? Taking patronage over Atzmon will be a good idea then...

Turned off by Obama's what?


Consider my flabber being gasted. And what would Janeane Garofalo say about that? Not to mention Morgan Freeman?

Update: this one appears to be quite old.

The Council Has Spoken!

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See you next week!