All of you who said, "Your commando basset hounds couldn't be THAT stupid", well, here's the proof: http://www.petmedsonline.org/least-intelligent-dogs.html.
That said, I wouldn't trade them for any other canines on the planet. The article is right, they really are great with kids............
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Eight facts about myself
Here are eight facts about myself/habits that I have, and I will tag eight bloggers (sorry, guys!) at the end of this meme:
1) I am married, with three kids and number four to arrive shortly.
2) I have a bizarre ability to remember useless sports trivia.
3) Given my druthers, I'll take a Montreal smoked meat sandwich over just about anything else when it comes to eating.
4) I shave my head at least three times a week.
5) I own approximately 60 Ice Hockey Jerseys, including from such obscure Hockey "powers" such as Australia and (soon) New Zealand!
6) I only have ONE nickname which gets me angry, and no, I am most certainly not listing it here.
7) You will never see me use the word "Leftard", because that is an insult of the type that the Angry Left uses, and I absolutely refuse to sink to its level. Similarly, I won't praise Ann Coulter, because her good points are inevitably obscured by her bombastic and harsh language.
8) I'm never so happy as when I am with family and good friends.
THERE! Now, I tag................
Solomonia
Bar Kochba (For Zion's Sake)
Black Tygrrrrr
Bookworm
The Canadian Sentinel
Oceanguy
The Mad Zionist
The American Israeli Patriot
1) I am married, with three kids and number four to arrive shortly.
2) I have a bizarre ability to remember useless sports trivia.
3) Given my druthers, I'll take a Montreal smoked meat sandwich over just about anything else when it comes to eating.
4) I shave my head at least three times a week.
5) I own approximately 60 Ice Hockey Jerseys, including from such obscure Hockey "powers" such as Australia and (soon) New Zealand!
6) I only have ONE nickname which gets me angry, and no, I am most certainly not listing it here.
7) You will never see me use the word "Leftard", because that is an insult of the type that the Angry Left uses, and I absolutely refuse to sink to its level. Similarly, I won't praise Ann Coulter, because her good points are inevitably obscured by her bombastic and harsh language.
8) I'm never so happy as when I am with family and good friends.
THERE! Now, I tag................
Solomonia
Bar Kochba (For Zion's Sake)
Black Tygrrrrr
Bookworm
The Canadian Sentinel
Oceanguy
The Mad Zionist
The American Israeli Patriot
Ban Ki-Moon giveth, and Ban Ki-Moon taketh away
Here is the full text of a letter (thanks to the great website, Eye on the U.N., for this one) sent by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to the head of the General Assembly on Israel's Separation Barrier. Whatever I write wouldn't do this justice, but suffice it to say that this thing could have been ghost-written by Kofi Anan.
Tenth emergency special session
Agenda item 5
Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Letter dated 14 June 2007 from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly
The General Assembly, in its resolution ES-10/17 adopted on 15 December 2006 at its tenth emergency special session, requested me to report, within six months, on the progress made with regard to the establishment of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the establishment and operation of the Office of the Register of Damage.
In compliance with that request, on 10 May 2007, I appointed, in their personal capacity, the following three international experts to the Board of the Register of Damage: Harumi Hori of Japan, Matti Paavo Pellonpää of Finland and Michael F. Raboin of the United States of America. They have an established international reputation and expertise in all legal aspects of the processing and registration of damage claims. While selecting the members of the Board, I was also guided by the need to ensure the independence, objectivity and impartiality of the Register of Damage in compliance with the selection criteria defined in the report of the Secretary-General (A/ES-10/361) submitted pursuant to resolution ES-10/15.
The first meeting of the Board was convened from 14 to 16 May 2007 at the Office of the Register of Damage, immediately following the appointment of its members. The main purpose of the meeting was for representatives of the Secretariat to brief the three members of the Board and to initiate the work on drafting internal guiding documents.
Initial consideration was given to a number of key aspects of the work of the Register of Damage, including the potential procedures that could be employed for the distribution and collection of damage claim forms in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the technical procedures that would be involved in the recording, storage and organization of those damage claims in the Office of the Register of Damage. The Board will hold its next meeting from 9 to 13 July 2007 in Vienna to pursue its efforts to address its most important responsibilities, namely:
(a) To establish the rules and regulations governing the work of the Office of the Register of Damage;
(b) To determine the eligibility criteria for the inclusion in the Register of Damage of losses and damages that have an established causal link to the construction of the wall;
(c) To apply such criteria to the determination of the categories of losses and damages that may be included in the Register of Damage;
(d) To develop the format for the design of claim forms;
(e) To agree on modalities of a public-awareness programme to inform the Palestinian public of the requirements for and logistics involved in the filing of a damage claim for registration.
The Secretariat is currently in the process of completing the recruitment of qualified staff and the establishment of the Office of the Register of Damage at the United Nations Office at Vienna.
The Board of the Register of Damage will make every effort to carry out its functions expeditiously and thoroughly, guided by its mandate. I will continue to report to the General Assembly regularly about the work of the Register of Damage.
(Signed) Ban Ki-moon
Tenth emergency special session
Agenda item 5
Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Letter dated 14 June 2007 from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly
The General Assembly, in its resolution ES-10/17 adopted on 15 December 2006 at its tenth emergency special session, requested me to report, within six months, on the progress made with regard to the establishment of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the establishment and operation of the Office of the Register of Damage.
In compliance with that request, on 10 May 2007, I appointed, in their personal capacity, the following three international experts to the Board of the Register of Damage: Harumi Hori of Japan, Matti Paavo Pellonpää of Finland and Michael F. Raboin of the United States of America. They have an established international reputation and expertise in all legal aspects of the processing and registration of damage claims. While selecting the members of the Board, I was also guided by the need to ensure the independence, objectivity and impartiality of the Register of Damage in compliance with the selection criteria defined in the report of the Secretary-General (A/ES-10/361) submitted pursuant to resolution ES-10/15.
The first meeting of the Board was convened from 14 to 16 May 2007 at the Office of the Register of Damage, immediately following the appointment of its members. The main purpose of the meeting was for representatives of the Secretariat to brief the three members of the Board and to initiate the work on drafting internal guiding documents.
Initial consideration was given to a number of key aspects of the work of the Register of Damage, including the potential procedures that could be employed for the distribution and collection of damage claim forms in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the technical procedures that would be involved in the recording, storage and organization of those damage claims in the Office of the Register of Damage. The Board will hold its next meeting from 9 to 13 July 2007 in Vienna to pursue its efforts to address its most important responsibilities, namely:
(a) To establish the rules and regulations governing the work of the Office of the Register of Damage;
(b) To determine the eligibility criteria for the inclusion in the Register of Damage of losses and damages that have an established causal link to the construction of the wall;
(c) To apply such criteria to the determination of the categories of losses and damages that may be included in the Register of Damage;
(d) To develop the format for the design of claim forms;
(e) To agree on modalities of a public-awareness programme to inform the Palestinian public of the requirements for and logistics involved in the filing of a damage claim for registration.
The Secretariat is currently in the process of completing the recruitment of qualified staff and the establishment of the Office of the Register of Damage at the United Nations Office at Vienna.
The Board of the Register of Damage will make every effort to carry out its functions expeditiously and thoroughly, guided by its mandate. I will continue to report to the General Assembly regularly about the work of the Register of Damage.
(Signed) Ban Ki-moon
Is the home front losing the Iraq War?
I go back and forth on this, but tend to believe that it is not far from the truth to make this argument. Here is an Op-Ed piece from today's Philadelphia Inquirer which argues that this is in fact the case: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/kevin_ferris/20070629_Back_Channels___A_disdain_for_the_military_could_cost_the_U_S__the_war.html. The whole situation is rather disheartening. The left in this country doesn't seem to realize that while it is still fighting the Vietnam War, this isn't Vietnam. The stakes if we lose are so much higher this time around.............
Great Britain moves (further) away from Israel
Great Britain has a new Foreign Secretary: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183053060735&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. As it turns out, despite being Jewish, he's not particularly fond of Israel, no surprise given that his father was a proud Marxist. He's also not high on the United States.
I think that we can see where the British are heading under new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Looks like I'll have another country to add to my boycott list................
I think that we can see where the British are heading under new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Looks like I'll have another country to add to my boycott list................
Not all Arabs hate Israel
So says a British writer: http://pryce-jones.nationalreview.com/. He talks about Arabs seeking refuge inside Israel at various times in history, including during the most recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah. However, the numbers he mentions are in the hundreds, at most. Let's not forget that there are over a 1,000,000 people in the Gaza Strip. Simple math would then to the inevitable conclusion that there are tens of thousands who think that Israel is in fact evil.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The proposed Immigration Bill
I am already on record in previous posts as being dead set against this proposed immigration bill. Well, today is "do or die" day for both the supporters and opponents: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_go_co/congress_immigration. Either the Senate debate on the bill will be limited, in which case it will almost certainly pass, and once it is reconciled with a House version, will eventually be signed into law by President Bush, or debate will not be limited, in which case it will likely be left to the next Congress and President to work on this issue. Supporters of the Bill need 60 votes to limit debate, and it's going to be close.
Roughly 78% of the American public is opposed to this bill, with good reason. It does nothing to fix the leaky borders. It gives the government 24 hours to investigate whether an alien has a criminal record (the same government which can not get a legal citizen a passport in less than three months). I could go on and on, but why bother? The bottom line is that this bill stinks, for lack of a better word, and I am incredibly resentful of a Congress and President who are trying to force a Bill down our throats while muttering their collective breath that we're all racists, stupid, or both.
Roughly 78% of the American public is opposed to this bill, with good reason. It does nothing to fix the leaky borders. It gives the government 24 hours to investigate whether an alien has a criminal record (the same government which can not get a legal citizen a passport in less than three months). I could go on and on, but why bother? The bottom line is that this bill stinks, for lack of a better word, and I am incredibly resentful of a Congress and President who are trying to force a Bill down our throats while muttering their collective breath that we're all racists, stupid, or both.
Lebanon continues to unravel
Or more appropriately, the situation in South Lebanon just gets worse: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=83379. How much does anyone want to bet against another Hezbollah-initiated war? The Iranian/Syrian proxy has continued to arm itsel without interruption: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=83391. The French peacekeeping troops in Lebanon are on alert now as well: http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070627.WWW000000503_french_troops_on_the_alert.html.
Given how Hezbollah has completely rearmed in less than a year, it goes without saying that the U.N. peacekeepers are obviously completely ineffectual. In fact, that's the best thing that could be said about them. Of course, with Hamas firmly in control of Gaza, any attack on Israel from the north would undoubtedly be accompanied by one from Hamas in the south, and don't bet against Syrian involvement either.
No matter how you look at it, the situation is looking grim......
Given how Hezbollah has completely rearmed in less than a year, it goes without saying that the U.N. peacekeepers are obviously completely ineffectual. In fact, that's the best thing that could be said about them. Of course, with Hamas firmly in control of Gaza, any attack on Israel from the north would undoubtedly be accompanied by one from Hamas in the south, and don't bet against Syrian involvement either.
No matter how you look at it, the situation is looking grim......
Let's surrender in Iraq now!
So says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which has declared the Surge a failure even as it is just beginning: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/321508_surgeed.html?source=rss.
The Pentagon has said that it will take until September at the earlies to figure out if the Surge has been successful, so I am puzzled as to how a media outlet can already declare that it has not worked. Then again, when U.S. Senators are doing the exact same thing (Hello, Richard Lugar), I guess that it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.
The Pentagon has said that it will take until September at the earlies to figure out if the Surge has been successful, so I am puzzled as to how a media outlet can already declare that it has not worked. Then again, when U.S. Senators are doing the exact same thing (Hello, Richard Lugar), I guess that it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.
Hamas is just misunderstood!
It's NOT a terrorist organization. It's a legitimate resistance organization, and its military wing has NOTHING to do with its political wing. Don't believe me? Just ask our Arabist Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/06/86255.htm. Thewhole situation is beyond depressing.
Here's what has happened: Israel has become completely diplomatically isolated. It can no longer count on American support beyond the perfunctory support it previously received under prior U.S. administrations. When you combine this with an unprecedented weak leadership of Israel, the practical effect of this is that Israel is more vulnerable than at any time since 1948.
Here's what has happened: Israel has become completely diplomatically isolated. It can no longer count on American support beyond the perfunctory support it previously received under prior U.S. administrations. When you combine this with an unprecedented weak leadership of Israel, the practical effect of this is that Israel is more vulnerable than at any time since 1948.
More boycotting of Israel
Thanks again to supersleuth Pam at Altas Shrugs for digging up this gem: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/26/stories/2007022602241700.htm. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, to which the increasingly disappointing President Bush just appointed a U.S. envoy (more on that delightful development here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070627-2.html), had declared that all Islamic countries will cut off contact with Israel, even as we here in the U.S. increase our contact with that organization. This is unfathomable.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sderot
Fabulous montage from Honestreporting on what it is currently like to live in Sderot, and how the MSM cynically and deliberately slants the neverending series off rocket attacks on the town in favour of the Palestinians: http://www.honestreporting.com/a/15seconds.asp.
I would say that it boggles the mind, but that is not true. Frankly, whenever there is a rare moment of objectivity in the MSM relative to Israel, that is what is shocking.
I would say that it boggles the mind, but that is not true. Frankly, whenever there is a rare moment of objectivity in the MSM relative to Israel, that is what is shocking.
Gaza's Future
MEMRI has an excellent posting about what the future holds for the Gaza Strip: http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD163307. The long and the short of it is that Gaza could very well become a Taliban-style state, which would surprise..............who? Western Europe? The U.N.? It would certainly not be a shock to me, because Hamas has always been upfront about what it is and what it wants. It's only the West that denies reality.
Here's more on the same subject, from the editors of The New Republic: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20070702&s=editorial070207a. It is somewhat heartening that they acknowledge the Palestinians' responsibility for the mess that is Gaza, but their ongoing, slavish devotion to the mythical "peace process" is unrealistic at best.
Here's more on the same subject, from the editors of The New Republic: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20070702&s=editorial070207a. It is somewhat heartening that they acknowledge the Palestinians' responsibility for the mess that is Gaza, but their ongoing, slavish devotion to the mythical "peace process" is unrealistic at best.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Why the BBC's Middle East Coverage is a joke
Take a look at this fluff piece on Hamas, and the al Qaeda advances towards the Palestinian terrorist organization: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6237314.stm. Early on in the article, the BBC takes great pains to note that Hamas has always espoused a more moderate form of Islam than al Qaeda. Excuse me? First of all, it's simply untrue. Second, that's like saying that Rudolph Hess adopted a more moderate form of Naziism than Heinrich Himmler. Who the #$*$&^!! cares?
Hockey Talk
Excellent article summarizing the NHL rookie draft and analyzing whether where the player is drafted relates to how successful the player is (it doesn't). Even more impressively, it was done by a 13-year old!
http://www.hockey-wire.com/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1182860613&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3
http://www.hockey-wire.com/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1182860613&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3
New York Times and Washington Post embarrassed by running Hamas Op-Ed
.............But it's not because they shouldn't have run the piece at all. No, it's the fact that each was mortified that it didn't have exclusive rights to the Op-Ed: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2248322920070622?pageNumber=1.
The rhetorical question has been asked if these papers would have been so quick to run an opinion piece from Ayman al Zawahiri or Osama Bin Laden. Personally, I don't think that they would have hesitated for a moment.
The rhetorical question has been asked if these papers would have been so quick to run an opinion piece from Ayman al Zawahiri or Osama Bin Laden. Personally, I don't think that they would have hesitated for a moment.
The rats continue to abandon ship
Senator Richard Lugar has stated that the Surge is failing and that the U.S. should begin to pull out of Iraq: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-25-lugar_N.htm?csp=34. Let's see, we have the Pentagon saying that no one should make any decisions or reach any conclusions before September at the earliest, but Senator Lugar has apparently decided in JUNE that enough time has passed for opinions to be offered.
Right now, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama Bin Laden are smiling somewhere...............
Right now, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama Bin Laden are smiling somewhere...............
Pull ouf of the U.N.
If it's possible, I have less than zero faith in the U.N. It is an anti-Western, anti-American, anti-Semitic collection of miscreants.
When it was founded, the idea behind the United Nations was to create an organization that would prevent wars and deal with disputes through discussion as opposed to violence. Well, the U.N. hasn't exactly prevented many wars, though admittedly there have been no large-scale world wars since its founding, but that is most likely due to the fact that neither the USSR/Russia nor the United States, the two dominant world powers since 1945, really want to nuke each other. It has done nothing to advance the causes of freedom or democracy, and in fact, seems to hold both of those principles in contempt. A vast majority of its members are dictatorships. Those that are not are for the most part corrupted by morally-bankrupt, politically-correct groupthink which seems to prohibit them from ever doing or saying the right thing (Western Europe, anyone?), or from even acknowledging that yes, western democracy IS superior to Islamic theocracy or Latin American dictatorships.
And now, we have the loathsome Human Rights Commission, which is the subject of much-deserved scorn: http://www.eyeontheun.org/editor.asp?p=335&b=1. We in the U.S. pay 22% of the budget of this despicable body. Why? What does it gain for us? Can anyone name even ONE single benefit that funding it provides? If you can, you're a better person than me. The Human Rights Commission is in my mind the symbol of what the U.N. is. It is an organization worthy only of contempt and derision. It hates us, we hate it. Fine. Let it move permanently to Geneva or, since it loves autocracies so much, maybe it can be hosted in Havana, Caracas, Tehran or Damascus. Go, I say. Never darken our door again. We should wave goodbye and leave it to rot away like the diseased carcass it is.
When it was founded, the idea behind the United Nations was to create an organization that would prevent wars and deal with disputes through discussion as opposed to violence. Well, the U.N. hasn't exactly prevented many wars, though admittedly there have been no large-scale world wars since its founding, but that is most likely due to the fact that neither the USSR/Russia nor the United States, the two dominant world powers since 1945, really want to nuke each other. It has done nothing to advance the causes of freedom or democracy, and in fact, seems to hold both of those principles in contempt. A vast majority of its members are dictatorships. Those that are not are for the most part corrupted by morally-bankrupt, politically-correct groupthink which seems to prohibit them from ever doing or saying the right thing (Western Europe, anyone?), or from even acknowledging that yes, western democracy IS superior to Islamic theocracy or Latin American dictatorships.
And now, we have the loathsome Human Rights Commission, which is the subject of much-deserved scorn: http://www.eyeontheun.org/editor.asp?p=335&b=1. We in the U.S. pay 22% of the budget of this despicable body. Why? What does it gain for us? Can anyone name even ONE single benefit that funding it provides? If you can, you're a better person than me. The Human Rights Commission is in my mind the symbol of what the U.N. is. It is an organization worthy only of contempt and derision. It hates us, we hate it. Fine. Let it move permanently to Geneva or, since it loves autocracies so much, maybe it can be hosted in Havana, Caracas, Tehran or Damascus. Go, I say. Never darken our door again. We should wave goodbye and leave it to rot away like the diseased carcass it is.
The end of Palestine
Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal has a fascinating piece in today's online edition which analyzes who killed the dream of an independent Palestinian state. While he does not absolve Israel of criticism, he points the finger squarely at the Palestinians themselves, something that all too few people have been willing to do: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010259.
Monday, June 25, 2007
He says it better than I ever could
I'm certainly no fan of The Washington Post, given its unfortunate recent decision to serve as a mouthpiece for the terrorist Hamas government of Gaza, but here is an outstanding Op-Ed from Jackson Diehl which highlights the dysfunctional collection of loony anti-Semites who inhabit the U.N. Human Rights Commission: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401373.html.
Diehl also notes another good point, which is the absurd and racist actions of self-proclaimed and so-called human rights groups around the world who watch what is going on in the U.N. and say NOTHING. At one point can we look at the situation and say, "This is racist"? Personally, I think that we passed that time long ago, but it appears as though I am, in Don Quixote fashion, tilting at a windmill on this issue.
Diehl also notes another good point, which is the absurd and racist actions of self-proclaimed and so-called human rights groups around the world who watch what is going on in the U.N. and say NOTHING. At one point can we look at the situation and say, "This is racist"? Personally, I think that we passed that time long ago, but it appears as though I am, in Don Quixote fashion, tilting at a windmill on this issue.
9/11 and the Jews
From the same website where I linked to the filem on the Raid on Osirak, here is a documentary on the rise of anti-Semitism after the terrorist attacks of 9/11: http://www.jonhs.net/911/protocols_of_zion.htm.
Scary, upsetting stuff.............
Scary, upsetting stuff.............
The MSM panders to terrorists......AGAIN
Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have published Op-Eds from a Hamas representative bleating about how unfair the West is to his terrorist organization. The links can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901736.html and here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/opinion/20yousef.html?ex=1339992000&en=a03536767f5edaf1&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss. I have linked to both because there are slight differences between the two, though the differences are relatively inconsequential.
A question that occurs to me: Would these two paragons of the liberal establishment have been as quick to publish an Op-Ed by, say, a KKK member defending the record of his organization? Just wondering................
A question that occurs to me: Would these two paragons of the liberal establishment have been as quick to publish an Op-Ed by, say, a KKK member defending the record of his organization? Just wondering................
He got pantsed!
The ultimate outcome of the $54 million lost pants lawsuit is a relief (see here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/25/trouser.trial/index.html), but it does concern me that the lawsuit was filed and then allowed to proceed. I really do hope that these poor drycleaners are allowed to recover their counsel feels This lawsuit was as frivolous as it gets..........
Why do suicide bombers exist?
A) Because they have been brainwashed by nihilistic, Jew-hating psychos.
B) Because of the actions of fascist/imperialist/zionist/nazi/colonialist Israel.
C) Because Arabs just don't like Jews, plain and simple.
D) Because no one in the Arab World (or its co-dependent enablers in the West) will ever fault you for killng Jews.
If you answered "B", well, you get today's gold star: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463570&in_page_id=1770. You see, it's NEVER the fault of the terrorists. No, it's the victims who are at fault, especially when they are Israeli.
Seeing this drivel published makes me realize why I tend to hate the MSM so much........
B) Because of the actions of fascist/imperialist/zionist/nazi/colonialist Israel.
C) Because Arabs just don't like Jews, plain and simple.
D) Because no one in the Arab World (or its co-dependent enablers in the West) will ever fault you for killng Jews.
If you answered "B", well, you get today's gold star: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463570&in_page_id=1770. You see, it's NEVER the fault of the terrorists. No, it's the victims who are at fault, especially when they are Israeli.
Seeing this drivel published makes me realize why I tend to hate the MSM so much........
SOMEONE explain this to me
Why are so many of my fellow Canadians opposed to Canadian involvement in the NATO mission in Afghanistan: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/06/22/scheffer-quebec-070622.html. Is it simple anti-Americanism? Genuine anti-war sentiment? Would they have been just as opposed to Canadian involvement in World War II? Is this the product of years of subtle leftist indoctrination in the schools? Is it the product of a politically correct, morally relativistic society that refuses to pass judgment on anyone or anything?
I honestly don't know the answer to any of these questions, but regardless, I am very troubled by the opposition to the involvement as it does not bode well for the future of the mission.
Then again, for all of those nutcase antiwar protestors, there are heroes like this soldier: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/06/22/karigiannis-family.html. He has my appreciation and gratitude.
I honestly don't know the answer to any of these questions, but regardless, I am very troubled by the opposition to the involvement as it does not bode well for the future of the mission.
Then again, for all of those nutcase antiwar protestors, there are heroes like this soldier: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/06/22/karigiannis-family.html. He has my appreciation and gratitude.
Israeli raid on Osirak in 1981
If not for this, Iraq WOULD have had nuclear weapons, and just doesn't the thought of that make you feel all fuzzy and warm inside? Here is a Military Channel documentary on how the Israelis pulled it off: http://www.jonhs.net/freemovies/raid_on_the_reactor.htm.
It is absolutely fascinating. Would that Israel were still run by the same type of leaders as were in power in 1981..............
It is absolutely fascinating. Would that Israel were still run by the same type of leaders as were in power in 1981..............
Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev & Gilad Shalit
Even though the Olmert government in Israel seems to have forgotten about them, I refuse to do so, and and hopefully my readers (I know that you're out there!) won't either. And now, word comes out of the Gaza Strip in the form of a tape recording of Gilad Shalit indicating that his health is deteriorating: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3417196,00.html.
To the Olmert government I say this: GO GET HIM. Recall that 30 years ago, even with a Labour government in charge, the Arabs would not do what they are doing now because they KNEW with 100% certainty that the repercussions would be more than they could handle. Kill an Israeli, wath 100 or more of your own die. It is the only language terrorists understand.
UPDATE (2:25 p.m.): Here is a link to the Shalit audiotape: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1182409634482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
To the Olmert government I say this: GO GET HIM. Recall that 30 years ago, even with a Labour government in charge, the Arabs would not do what they are doing now because they KNEW with 100% certainty that the repercussions would be more than they could handle. Kill an Israeli, wath 100 or more of your own die. It is the only language terrorists understand.
UPDATE (2:25 p.m.): Here is a link to the Shalit audiotape: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1182409634482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Hamas is honest about what it is
Why can't we be the same way? Hamas does NOT want peace. It never has: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/06/24/EDGONP1JNA1.DTL.
Try telling that to President Peanut Farmer and his sycophants in the MSM..........
Try telling that to President Peanut Farmer and his sycophants in the MSM..........
A wider war in the Middle East
I have long been of the opinion that this is inevitable, given the growing perception that the West in general and Israel and the United States in particular are in headlong retreat. We get attacked, we respond to the attacks by going to the sponsors and saying "Please sir, can we have some more?" The Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade (a branch of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party) kills Israelis, Israel responds by turning over money and weapons (which are then used to kill more Israelis). Iran funds terrorist attacks in Iraq and actively combats U.S. troops, we follow the advice of James "F--- the Jews" Baker and whine at them that we should hold peace talks.
Here is an excellent Op-Ed from the Wall Street Journal discussing this very issue: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010256.
Here is an excellent Op-Ed from the Wall Street Journal discussing this very issue: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010256.
Paging Himmler, Duval, Quisling, Lord Haw Haw
You are wanted in Western Europe. HUGE tip of the hat (or should I say hate?) to Pam at Atlas Shrugs for publicizing this study of the stunning increase in anti-Semitism in "Old Europe": http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/6689.stm.
In my mind, this gives lie to those who continuously proclaim that they are anti-Israel, not anti-Semitic. Sorry, people, they go hand in hand, and the statistics clearly bear that out. In many (and no, I am specifically not saying all) cases, the existence of Israel has given anti-Semites an excuse to be open about their hatred. Worse yet, people who hate Jews are given free reign to say and do as they please. Staying strictly here in the U.S., I can cite to comments made by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan, Congressman James Moran (Virginia), Pat Buchanan, James "F--- the Jews" Baker, etc., etc. All have made comments about Jews with no effect whatsoever on their "careers".
These are dark days, my friends.......................
In my mind, this gives lie to those who continuously proclaim that they are anti-Israel, not anti-Semitic. Sorry, people, they go hand in hand, and the statistics clearly bear that out. In many (and no, I am specifically not saying all) cases, the existence of Israel has given anti-Semites an excuse to be open about their hatred. Worse yet, people who hate Jews are given free reign to say and do as they please. Staying strictly here in the U.S., I can cite to comments made by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan, Congressman James Moran (Virginia), Pat Buchanan, James "F--- the Jews" Baker, etc., etc. All have made comments about Jews with no effect whatsoever on their "careers".
These are dark days, my friends.......................
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Good news from Iraq? No such thing exists.
There must be some good news out of Iraq, right? It can't all be bad news, can it? Well, if you read the MSM, Iraq is just like Vietnam.............only much worse. The line from the far left of the Democratic Party (to paraphrase Thurston Howell III, I mean, Massachussets Senator John Kerry, "the wrong war at the wrong time") is that Iraq is a lost cause, and we should declare defeat and withdraw immediately.
Well, apparently, things aren't going as badly as the MSM desires or would like us to believe: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07175/796431-373.stm. But, why would we want to hear about that? Why, that might make people be more supportive of the War, and that would be a bad thing, wouldn't it?
Well, apparently, things aren't going as badly as the MSM desires or would like us to believe: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07175/796431-373.stm. But, why would we want to hear about that? Why, that might make people be more supportive of the War, and that would be a bad thing, wouldn't it?
A truly ironic picture
Thanks to "For Zion's Sake" for this delicious photo: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWaCizN66gdHtkPcJcwTBS0c9EJ9tLMVAdAh5qt9c46e_W2lYBmFYWKWxs9U4KlVQ_0A-MiZ75LJNJgpScWa3JRejLI-xPakv0QYJ9vU-ceUuXzDGRc4ZHHuzP0UcszlJTs0JbhrCtLtI/s1600-h/behead.jpg.
I have to think that since the person holding up the scene is wearing a mask, they made this sign to intentionally and anonymously poke fun at all of the Islamofascists who riot at each and every perceived slight of their religion (or maybe this is a photoshopping job?). The reason I believe that is that I can't imagine that anyone can be this stupid.
I have to think that since the person holding up the scene is wearing a mask, they made this sign to intentionally and anonymously poke fun at all of the Islamofascists who riot at each and every perceived slight of their religion (or maybe this is a photoshopping job?). The reason I believe that is that I can't imagine that anyone can be this stupid.
The truth about the conflict in the Middle East
Here is a phenomenal presentation about the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East: http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/.
Watch it and forward it to everyone you know. Israel is in an existential fight which involves not only the battle of weapons but the clash of ideas, and the outcome is (at best) uncertain.
Watch it and forward it to everyone you know. Israel is in an existential fight which involves not only the battle of weapons but the clash of ideas, and the outcome is (at best) uncertain.
Open Borders?
Well, how about this? A Zogby poll taken of Mexicans found that a large majority of them believe that the American Southwest (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada) rightfully belongs to them: http://www.immigrationcontrol.com/AIC_Zogby_Mexican_Poll.htm.
And there's our government, in seeming cahoots with the "Open Borders" crowd, doing nothing to stop the "Reconquista".
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Call me a nativist, racist, or whatever. Seal the damned border and THEN deal with the issue of the 12,000,000 illegal aliens already here.
And there's our government, in seeming cahoots with the "Open Borders" crowd, doing nothing to stop the "Reconquista".
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Call me a nativist, racist, or whatever. Seal the damned border and THEN deal with the issue of the 12,000,000 illegal aliens already here.
Great Orators of our time
Sir Winston Churchill would certainly rank up there, wouldn't he? Here is the verbatim text, which I have shamelessly stolen from the fabulous Bookworm, of perhaps his greatest speech. Compare him to those politicians who are around today and you realize how far we have fallen................
I spoke the other day of the colossal military disaster which occurred when the French High Command failed to withdraw the northern Armies from Belgium at the moment when they knew that the French front was decisively broken at Sedan and on the Meuse. This delay entailed the loss of fifteen or sixteen French divisions and threw out of action for the critical period the whole of the British Expeditionary Force. Our Army and 120,000 French troops were indeed rescued by the British Navy from Dunkirk but only with the loss of their cannon, vehicles and modern equipment. This loss inevitably took some weeks to repair, and in the first two of those weeks the battle in France has been lost. When we consider the heroic resistance made by the French Army against heavy odds in this battle, the enormous losses inflicted upon the enemy and the evident exhaustion of the enemy, it may well be the thought that these 25 divisions of the best-trained and best-equipped troops might have turned the scale. However, General Weygand had to fight without them. Only three British divisions or their equivalent were able to stand in the line with their French comrades. They have suffered severely, but they have fought well. We sent every man we could to France as fast as we could re-equip and transport their formations.
I am not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even harmful. We cannot afford it. I recite them in order to explain why it was we did not have, as we could have had, between twelve and fourteen British divisions fighting in the line in this great battle instead of only three. Now I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. We have to think of the future and not of the past. This also applies in a small way to our own affairs at home. There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments-and of Parliaments, for they are in it, too-during the years which led up to this catastrophe. They seek to indict those who were responsible for the guidance of our affairs. This also would be a foolish and pernicious process. There are too many in it. Let each man search his conscience and search his speeches. I frequently search mine.
Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future. Therefore, I cannot accept the drawing of any distinctions between Members of the present Government. It was formed at a moment of crisis in order to unite all the Parties and all sections of opinion. It has received the almost unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament. Its Members are going to stand together, and, subject to the authority of the House of Commons, we are going to govern the country and fight the war. It is absolutely necessary at a time like this that every Minister who tries each day to do his duty shall be respected; and their subordinates must know that their chiefs are not threatened men, men who are here today and gone tomorrow, but that their directions must be punctually and faithfully obeyed. Without this concentrated power we cannot face what lies before us. I should not think it would be very advantageous for the House to prolong this Debate this afternoon under conditions of public stress. Many facts are not clear that will be clear in a short time. We are to have a secret Session on Thursday, and I should think that would be a better opportunity for the many earnest expressions of opinion which Members will desire to make and for the House to discuss vital matters without having everything read the next morning by our dangerous foes.
The disastrous military events which have happened during the past fortnight have not come to me with any sense of surprise. Indeed, I indicated a fortnight ago as clearly as I could to the House that the worst possibilities were open; and I made it perfectly clear then that whatever happened in France would make no difference to the resolve of Britain and the British Empire to fight on, “if necessary for years, if necessary alone.” During the last few days we have successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of communication in France; and seven-eighths of the troops we have sent to France since the beginning of the war-that is to say, about 350,000 out of 400,000 men-are safely back in this country. Others are still fighting with the French, and fighting with considerable success in their local encounters against the enemy. We have also brought back a great mass of stores, rifles and munitions of all kinds which had been accumulated in France during the last nine months.
We have, therefore, in this Island today a very large and powerful military force. This force comprises all our best-trained and our finest troops, including scores of thousands of those who have already measured their quality against the Germans and found themselves at no disadvantage. We have under arms at the present time in this Island over a million and a quarter men. Behind these we have the Local Defense Volunteers, numbering half a million, only a portion of whom, however, are yet armed with rifles or other firearms. We have incorporated into our Defense Forces every man for whom we have a weapon. We expect very large additions to our weapons in the near future, and in preparation for this we intend forthwith to call up, drill and train further large numbers. Those who are not called up, or else are employed during the vast business of munitions production in all its branches-and their ramifications are innumerable-will serve their country best by remaining at their ordinary work until they receive their summons. We have also over here Dominions armies. The Canadians had actually landed in France, but have now been safely withdrawn, much disappointed, but in perfect order, with all their artillery and equipment. And these very high-class forces from the Dominions will now take part in the defense of the Mother Country.
Lest the account which I have given of these large forces should raise the question: Why did they not take part in the great battle in France? I must make it clear that, apart from the divisions training and organizing at home, only 12 divisions were equipped to fight upon a scale which justified their being sent abroad. And this was fully up to the number which the French had been led to expect would be available in France at the ninth month of the war. The rest of our forces at home have a fighting value for home defense which will, of course, steadily increase every week that passes. Thus, the invasion of Great Britain would at this time require the transportation across the sea of hostile armies on a very large scale, and after they had been so transported they would have to be continually maintained with all the masses of munitions and supplies which are required for continuous battle-as continuous battle it will surely be.
Here is where we come to the Navy-and after all, we have a Navy. Some people seem to forget that we have a Navy. We must remind them. For the last thirty years I have been concerned in discussions about the possibilities of oversea invasion, and I took the responsibility on behalf of the Admiralty, at the beginning of the last war, of allowing all regular troops to be sent out of the country. That was a very serious step to take, because our Territorials had only just been called up and were quite untrained. Therefore, this Island was for several months particularly denuded of fighting troops. The Admiralty had confidence at that time in their ability to prevent a mass invasion even though at that time the Germans had a magnificent battle fleet in the proportion of 10 to 16, even though they were capable of fighting a general engagement every day and any day, whereas now they have only a couple of heavy ships worth speaking of-the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau. We are also told that the Italian Navy is to come out and gain sea superiority in these waters. If they seriously intend it, I shall only say that we shall be delighted to offer Signor Mussolini a free and safeguarded passage through the Strait of Gibraltar in order that he may play the part to which he aspires. There is a general curiosity in the British Fleet to find out whether the Italians are up to the level they were at in the last war or whether they have fallen off at all.
Therefore, it seems to me that as far as sea-borne invasion on a great scale is concerned, we are far more capable of meeting it today than we were at many periods in the last war and during the early months of this war, before our other troops were trained, and while the B.E.F. had proceeded abroad. Now, the Navy have never pretended to be able to prevent raids by bodies of 5,000 or 10,000 men flung suddenly across and thrown ashore at several points on the coast some dark night or foggy morning. The efficacy of sea power, especially under modern conditions, depends upon the invading force being of large size; It has to be of large size, in view of our military strength, to be of any use. If it is of large size, then the Navy have something they can find and meet and, as it were, bite on. Now, we must remember that even five divisions, however lightly equipped, would require 200 to 250 ships, and with modern air reconnaissance and photography it would not be easy to collect such an armada, marshal it, and conduct it across the sea without any powerful naval forces to escort it; and there would be very great possibilities, to put it mildly, that this armada would be intercepted long before it reached the coast, and all the men drowned in the sea or, at the worst blown to pieces with their equipment while they were trying to land. We also have a great system of minefields, recently strongly reinforced, through which we alone know the channels. If the enemy tries to sweep passages through these minefields, it will be the task of the Navy to destroy the mine-sweepers and any other forces employed to protect them. There should be no difficulty in this, owing to our great superiority at sea.
Those are the regular, well-tested, well-proved arguments on which we have relied during many years in peace and war. But the question is whether there are any new methods by which those solid assurances can be circumvented. Odd as it may seem, some attention has been given to this by the Admiralty, whose prime duty and responsibility is to destroy any large sea-borne expedition before it reaches, or at the moment when it reaches, these shores. It would not be a good thing for me to go into details of this. It might suggest ideas to other people which they have not thought of, and they would not be likely to give us any of their ideas in exchange. All I will say is that untiring vigilance and mind-searching must be devoted to the subject, because the enemy is crafty and cunning and full of novel treacheries and stratagems. The House may be assured that the utmost ingenuity is being displayed and imagination is being evoked from large numbers of competent officers, well-trained in tactics and thoroughly up to date, to measure and counterwork novel possibilities. Untiring vigilance and untiring searching of the mind is being, and must be, devoted to the subject, because, remember, the enemy is crafty and there is no dirty trick he will not do.
Some people will ask why, then, was it that the British Navy was not able to prevent the movement of a large army from Germany into Norway across the Skagerrak? But the conditions in the Channel and in the North Sea are in no way like those which prevail in the Skagerrak. In the Skagerrak, because of the distance, we could give no air support to our surface ships, and consequently, lying as we did close to the enemy’s main air power, we were compelled to use only our submarines. We could not enforce the decisive blockade or interruption which is possible from surface vessels. Our submarines took a heavy toll but could not, by themselves, prevent the invasion of Norway. In the Channel and in the North Sea, on the other hand, our superior naval surface forces, aided by our submarines, will operate with close and effective air assistance.
This brings me, naturally, to the great question of invasion from the air, and of the impending struggle between the British and German Air Forces. It seems quite clear that no invasion on a scale beyond the capacity of our land forces to crush speedily is likely to take place from the air until our Air Force has been definitely overpowered. In the meantime, there may be raids by parachute troops and attempted descents of airborne soldiers. We should be able to give those gentry a warm reception both in the air and on the ground, if they reach it in any condition to continue the dispute. But the great question is: Can we break Hitler’s air weapon? Now, of course, it is a very great pity that we have not got an Air Force at least equal to that of the most powerful enemy within striking distance of these shores. But we have a very powerful Air Force which has proved itself far superior in quality, both in men and in many types of machine, to what we have met so far in the numerous and fierce air battles which have been fought with the Germans. In France, where we were at a considerable disadvantage and lost many machines on the ground when they were standing round the aerodromes, we were accustomed to inflict in the air losses of as much as two and two-and-a-half to one. In the fighting over Dunkirk, which was a sort of no-man’s-land, we undoubtedly beat the German Air Force, and gained the mastery of the local air, inflicting here a loss of three or four to one day after day. Anyone who looks at the photographs which were published a week or so ago of the re-embarkation, showing the masses of troops assembled on the beach and forming an ideal target for hours at a time, must realize that this re-embarkation would not have been possible unless the enemy had resigned all hope of recovering air superiority at that time and at that place.
In the defense of this Island the advantages to the defenders will be much greater than they were in the fighting around Dunkirk. We hope to improve on the rate of three or four to one which was realized at Dunkirk; and in addition all our injured machines and their crews which get down safely-and, surprisingly, a very great many injured machines and men do get down safely in modern air fighting-all of these will fall, in an attack upon these Islands, on friendly. soil and live to fight another day; whereas all the injured enemy machines and their complements will be total losses as far as the war is concerned.
During the great battle in France, we gave very powerful and continuous aid to. the French Army, both by fighters and bombers; but in spite of every kind of pressure we never would allow the entire metropolitan fighter strength of the Air Force to be consumed. This decision was painful, but it was also right, because the fortunes of the battle in France could not have been decisively affected even if we had thrown in our entire fighter force. That battle was lost by the unfortunate strategical opening, by the extraordinary and unforseen power of the armored columns, and by the great preponderance of the German Army in numbers. Our fighter Air Force might easily have been exhausted as a mere accident in that great struggle, and then we should have found ourselves at the present time in a very serious plight. But as it is, I am happy to inform the House that our fighter strength is stronger at the present time relatively to the Germans, who have suffered terrible losses, than it has ever been; and consequently we believe ourselves possessed of the capacity to continue the war in the air under better conditions than we have ever experienced before. I look forward confidently to the exploits of our fighter pilots-these splendid men, this brilliant youth-who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home, and all they love, from the most deadly of all attacks.
There remains, of course, the danger of bombing attacks, which will certainly be made very soon upon us by the bomber forces of the enemy. It is true that the German bomber force is superior in numbers to ours; but we have a very large bomber force also, which we shall use to strike at military targets in Germany without intermission. I do not at all underrate the severity of the ordeal which lies before us; but I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the brave men of Barcelona, and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it, at least as well as any other people in the world. Much will depend upon this; every man and every woman will have the chance to show the finest qualities of their race, and render the highest service to their cause. For all of us, at this time, whatever our sphere, our station, our occupation or our duties, it will be a help to remember the famous lines: He nothing common did or mean, Upon that memorable scene.
I have thought it right upon this occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid, practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the war. There are a good many people who say, “Never mind. Win or lose, sink or swim, better die than submit to tyranny-and such a tyranny.” And I do not dissociate myself from them. But I can assure them that our professional advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should carry on the war, and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory. We have fully informed and consulted all the self-governing Dominions, these great communities far beyond the oceans who have been built up on our laws and on our civilization, and who are absolutely free to choose their course, but are absolutely devoted to the ancient Motherland, and who feel themselves inspired by the same emotions which lead me to stake our all upon duty and honor. We have fully consulted them, and I have received from their Prime Ministers, Mr. Mackenzie King of Canada, Mr. Menzies of Australia, Mr. Fraser of New Zealand, and General Smuts of South Africa-that wonderful man, with his immense profound mind, and his eye watching from a distance the whole panorama of European affairs-I have received from all these eminent men, who all have Governments behind them elected on wide franchises, who are all there because they represent the will of their people, messages couched in the most moving terms in which they endorse our decision to fight on, and declare themselves ready to share our fortunes and to persevere to the end. That is what we are going to do.
We may now ask ourselves: In what way has our position worsened since the beginning of the war? It has worsened by the fact that the Germans have conquered a large part of the coast line of Western Europe, and many small countries have been overrun by them. This aggravates the possibilities of air attack and adds to our naval preoccupations. It in no way diminishes, but on the contrary definitely increases, the power of our long-distance blockade. Similarly, the entrance of Italy into the war increases the power of our long-distance blockade. We have stopped the worst leak by that. We do not know whether military resistance will come to an end in France or not, but should it do so, then of course the Germans will be able to concentrate their forces, both military and industrial, upon us. But for the reasons I have given to the House these will not be found so easy to apply. If invasion has become more imminent, as no doubt it has, we, being relieved from the task of maintaining a large army in France, have far larger and more efficient forces to meet it.
If Hitler can bring under his despotic control the industries of the countries he has conquered, this will add greatly to his already vast armament output. On the other hand, this will not happen immediately, and we are now assured of immense, continuous and increasing support in supplies and munitions of all kinds from the United States; and especially of aeroplanes and pilots from the Dominions and across the oceans coming from regions which are beyond the reach of enemy bombers.
I do not see how any of these factors can operate to our detriment on balance before the winter comes; and the winter will impose a strain upon the Nazi regime, with almost all Europe writhing and starving under its cruel heel, which, for all their ruthlessness, will run them very hard. We must not forget that from the moment when we declared war on the 3rd September it was always possible for Germany to turn all her Air Force upon this country, together with any other devices of invasion she might conceive, and that France could have done little or nothing to prevent her doing so. We have, therefore, lived under this danger, in principle and in a slightly modified form, during all these m6nths. In the meanwhile, however, we have enormously improved our methods of defense, and we have learned what we had no right to assume at the beginning, namely, that the individual aircraft and the individual British pilot have a sure and definite superiority. Therefore, in casting up this dread balancesheet and contemplating our dangers with a disillusioned eye, I see great reason for intense vigilance and exertion, but none whatever for panic or despair.
During the first four years of the last war the Allies experienced nothing but disaster and disappointment. That was our constant fear: one blow after another, terrible losses, frightful dangers. Everything miscarried. And yet at the end of those four years the morale of the Allies was higher than that of the Germans, who had moved from one aggressive triumph to another, and who stood everywhere triumphant invaders of the lands into which they had broken. During that war we repeatedly asked ourselves the question: How are we going to win? and no one was able ever to answer it with much precision, until at the end, quite suddenly, quite unexpectedly, our terrible foe collapsed before us, and we were so glutted with victory that in our folly we threw it away.
We do not yet know what will happen in France or whether the French resistance will be prolonged, both in France and in the French Empire overseas. The French Government will be throwing away great opportunities and casting adrift their future if they do not continue the war in accordance with their Treaty obligations, from which we have not felt able to release them. The House will have read the historic declaration in which, at the desire of many Frenchmen-and of our own hearts-we have proclaimed our willingness at the darkest hour in French history to conclude a union of common citizenship in this struggle. However matters may go in France or with the French Government, or other French Governments, we in this Island and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have been suffering, we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all. We abate nothing of our just demands; not one jot or tittle do we recede. Czechs, Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians have joined their causes to our own. All these shall be restored.
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
I spoke the other day of the colossal military disaster which occurred when the French High Command failed to withdraw the northern Armies from Belgium at the moment when they knew that the French front was decisively broken at Sedan and on the Meuse. This delay entailed the loss of fifteen or sixteen French divisions and threw out of action for the critical period the whole of the British Expeditionary Force. Our Army and 120,000 French troops were indeed rescued by the British Navy from Dunkirk but only with the loss of their cannon, vehicles and modern equipment. This loss inevitably took some weeks to repair, and in the first two of those weeks the battle in France has been lost. When we consider the heroic resistance made by the French Army against heavy odds in this battle, the enormous losses inflicted upon the enemy and the evident exhaustion of the enemy, it may well be the thought that these 25 divisions of the best-trained and best-equipped troops might have turned the scale. However, General Weygand had to fight without them. Only three British divisions or their equivalent were able to stand in the line with their French comrades. They have suffered severely, but they have fought well. We sent every man we could to France as fast as we could re-equip and transport their formations.
I am not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even harmful. We cannot afford it. I recite them in order to explain why it was we did not have, as we could have had, between twelve and fourteen British divisions fighting in the line in this great battle instead of only three. Now I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. We have to think of the future and not of the past. This also applies in a small way to our own affairs at home. There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments-and of Parliaments, for they are in it, too-during the years which led up to this catastrophe. They seek to indict those who were responsible for the guidance of our affairs. This also would be a foolish and pernicious process. There are too many in it. Let each man search his conscience and search his speeches. I frequently search mine.
Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future. Therefore, I cannot accept the drawing of any distinctions between Members of the present Government. It was formed at a moment of crisis in order to unite all the Parties and all sections of opinion. It has received the almost unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament. Its Members are going to stand together, and, subject to the authority of the House of Commons, we are going to govern the country and fight the war. It is absolutely necessary at a time like this that every Minister who tries each day to do his duty shall be respected; and their subordinates must know that their chiefs are not threatened men, men who are here today and gone tomorrow, but that their directions must be punctually and faithfully obeyed. Without this concentrated power we cannot face what lies before us. I should not think it would be very advantageous for the House to prolong this Debate this afternoon under conditions of public stress. Many facts are not clear that will be clear in a short time. We are to have a secret Session on Thursday, and I should think that would be a better opportunity for the many earnest expressions of opinion which Members will desire to make and for the House to discuss vital matters without having everything read the next morning by our dangerous foes.
The disastrous military events which have happened during the past fortnight have not come to me with any sense of surprise. Indeed, I indicated a fortnight ago as clearly as I could to the House that the worst possibilities were open; and I made it perfectly clear then that whatever happened in France would make no difference to the resolve of Britain and the British Empire to fight on, “if necessary for years, if necessary alone.” During the last few days we have successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of communication in France; and seven-eighths of the troops we have sent to France since the beginning of the war-that is to say, about 350,000 out of 400,000 men-are safely back in this country. Others are still fighting with the French, and fighting with considerable success in their local encounters against the enemy. We have also brought back a great mass of stores, rifles and munitions of all kinds which had been accumulated in France during the last nine months.
We have, therefore, in this Island today a very large and powerful military force. This force comprises all our best-trained and our finest troops, including scores of thousands of those who have already measured their quality against the Germans and found themselves at no disadvantage. We have under arms at the present time in this Island over a million and a quarter men. Behind these we have the Local Defense Volunteers, numbering half a million, only a portion of whom, however, are yet armed with rifles or other firearms. We have incorporated into our Defense Forces every man for whom we have a weapon. We expect very large additions to our weapons in the near future, and in preparation for this we intend forthwith to call up, drill and train further large numbers. Those who are not called up, or else are employed during the vast business of munitions production in all its branches-and their ramifications are innumerable-will serve their country best by remaining at their ordinary work until they receive their summons. We have also over here Dominions armies. The Canadians had actually landed in France, but have now been safely withdrawn, much disappointed, but in perfect order, with all their artillery and equipment. And these very high-class forces from the Dominions will now take part in the defense of the Mother Country.
Lest the account which I have given of these large forces should raise the question: Why did they not take part in the great battle in France? I must make it clear that, apart from the divisions training and organizing at home, only 12 divisions were equipped to fight upon a scale which justified their being sent abroad. And this was fully up to the number which the French had been led to expect would be available in France at the ninth month of the war. The rest of our forces at home have a fighting value for home defense which will, of course, steadily increase every week that passes. Thus, the invasion of Great Britain would at this time require the transportation across the sea of hostile armies on a very large scale, and after they had been so transported they would have to be continually maintained with all the masses of munitions and supplies which are required for continuous battle-as continuous battle it will surely be.
Here is where we come to the Navy-and after all, we have a Navy. Some people seem to forget that we have a Navy. We must remind them. For the last thirty years I have been concerned in discussions about the possibilities of oversea invasion, and I took the responsibility on behalf of the Admiralty, at the beginning of the last war, of allowing all regular troops to be sent out of the country. That was a very serious step to take, because our Territorials had only just been called up and were quite untrained. Therefore, this Island was for several months particularly denuded of fighting troops. The Admiralty had confidence at that time in their ability to prevent a mass invasion even though at that time the Germans had a magnificent battle fleet in the proportion of 10 to 16, even though they were capable of fighting a general engagement every day and any day, whereas now they have only a couple of heavy ships worth speaking of-the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau. We are also told that the Italian Navy is to come out and gain sea superiority in these waters. If they seriously intend it, I shall only say that we shall be delighted to offer Signor Mussolini a free and safeguarded passage through the Strait of Gibraltar in order that he may play the part to which he aspires. There is a general curiosity in the British Fleet to find out whether the Italians are up to the level they were at in the last war or whether they have fallen off at all.
Therefore, it seems to me that as far as sea-borne invasion on a great scale is concerned, we are far more capable of meeting it today than we were at many periods in the last war and during the early months of this war, before our other troops were trained, and while the B.E.F. had proceeded abroad. Now, the Navy have never pretended to be able to prevent raids by bodies of 5,000 or 10,000 men flung suddenly across and thrown ashore at several points on the coast some dark night or foggy morning. The efficacy of sea power, especially under modern conditions, depends upon the invading force being of large size; It has to be of large size, in view of our military strength, to be of any use. If it is of large size, then the Navy have something they can find and meet and, as it were, bite on. Now, we must remember that even five divisions, however lightly equipped, would require 200 to 250 ships, and with modern air reconnaissance and photography it would not be easy to collect such an armada, marshal it, and conduct it across the sea without any powerful naval forces to escort it; and there would be very great possibilities, to put it mildly, that this armada would be intercepted long before it reached the coast, and all the men drowned in the sea or, at the worst blown to pieces with their equipment while they were trying to land. We also have a great system of minefields, recently strongly reinforced, through which we alone know the channels. If the enemy tries to sweep passages through these minefields, it will be the task of the Navy to destroy the mine-sweepers and any other forces employed to protect them. There should be no difficulty in this, owing to our great superiority at sea.
Those are the regular, well-tested, well-proved arguments on which we have relied during many years in peace and war. But the question is whether there are any new methods by which those solid assurances can be circumvented. Odd as it may seem, some attention has been given to this by the Admiralty, whose prime duty and responsibility is to destroy any large sea-borne expedition before it reaches, or at the moment when it reaches, these shores. It would not be a good thing for me to go into details of this. It might suggest ideas to other people which they have not thought of, and they would not be likely to give us any of their ideas in exchange. All I will say is that untiring vigilance and mind-searching must be devoted to the subject, because the enemy is crafty and cunning and full of novel treacheries and stratagems. The House may be assured that the utmost ingenuity is being displayed and imagination is being evoked from large numbers of competent officers, well-trained in tactics and thoroughly up to date, to measure and counterwork novel possibilities. Untiring vigilance and untiring searching of the mind is being, and must be, devoted to the subject, because, remember, the enemy is crafty and there is no dirty trick he will not do.
Some people will ask why, then, was it that the British Navy was not able to prevent the movement of a large army from Germany into Norway across the Skagerrak? But the conditions in the Channel and in the North Sea are in no way like those which prevail in the Skagerrak. In the Skagerrak, because of the distance, we could give no air support to our surface ships, and consequently, lying as we did close to the enemy’s main air power, we were compelled to use only our submarines. We could not enforce the decisive blockade or interruption which is possible from surface vessels. Our submarines took a heavy toll but could not, by themselves, prevent the invasion of Norway. In the Channel and in the North Sea, on the other hand, our superior naval surface forces, aided by our submarines, will operate with close and effective air assistance.
This brings me, naturally, to the great question of invasion from the air, and of the impending struggle between the British and German Air Forces. It seems quite clear that no invasion on a scale beyond the capacity of our land forces to crush speedily is likely to take place from the air until our Air Force has been definitely overpowered. In the meantime, there may be raids by parachute troops and attempted descents of airborne soldiers. We should be able to give those gentry a warm reception both in the air and on the ground, if they reach it in any condition to continue the dispute. But the great question is: Can we break Hitler’s air weapon? Now, of course, it is a very great pity that we have not got an Air Force at least equal to that of the most powerful enemy within striking distance of these shores. But we have a very powerful Air Force which has proved itself far superior in quality, both in men and in many types of machine, to what we have met so far in the numerous and fierce air battles which have been fought with the Germans. In France, where we were at a considerable disadvantage and lost many machines on the ground when they were standing round the aerodromes, we were accustomed to inflict in the air losses of as much as two and two-and-a-half to one. In the fighting over Dunkirk, which was a sort of no-man’s-land, we undoubtedly beat the German Air Force, and gained the mastery of the local air, inflicting here a loss of three or four to one day after day. Anyone who looks at the photographs which were published a week or so ago of the re-embarkation, showing the masses of troops assembled on the beach and forming an ideal target for hours at a time, must realize that this re-embarkation would not have been possible unless the enemy had resigned all hope of recovering air superiority at that time and at that place.
In the defense of this Island the advantages to the defenders will be much greater than they were in the fighting around Dunkirk. We hope to improve on the rate of three or four to one which was realized at Dunkirk; and in addition all our injured machines and their crews which get down safely-and, surprisingly, a very great many injured machines and men do get down safely in modern air fighting-all of these will fall, in an attack upon these Islands, on friendly. soil and live to fight another day; whereas all the injured enemy machines and their complements will be total losses as far as the war is concerned.
During the great battle in France, we gave very powerful and continuous aid to. the French Army, both by fighters and bombers; but in spite of every kind of pressure we never would allow the entire metropolitan fighter strength of the Air Force to be consumed. This decision was painful, but it was also right, because the fortunes of the battle in France could not have been decisively affected even if we had thrown in our entire fighter force. That battle was lost by the unfortunate strategical opening, by the extraordinary and unforseen power of the armored columns, and by the great preponderance of the German Army in numbers. Our fighter Air Force might easily have been exhausted as a mere accident in that great struggle, and then we should have found ourselves at the present time in a very serious plight. But as it is, I am happy to inform the House that our fighter strength is stronger at the present time relatively to the Germans, who have suffered terrible losses, than it has ever been; and consequently we believe ourselves possessed of the capacity to continue the war in the air under better conditions than we have ever experienced before. I look forward confidently to the exploits of our fighter pilots-these splendid men, this brilliant youth-who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home, and all they love, from the most deadly of all attacks.
There remains, of course, the danger of bombing attacks, which will certainly be made very soon upon us by the bomber forces of the enemy. It is true that the German bomber force is superior in numbers to ours; but we have a very large bomber force also, which we shall use to strike at military targets in Germany without intermission. I do not at all underrate the severity of the ordeal which lies before us; but I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the brave men of Barcelona, and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it, at least as well as any other people in the world. Much will depend upon this; every man and every woman will have the chance to show the finest qualities of their race, and render the highest service to their cause. For all of us, at this time, whatever our sphere, our station, our occupation or our duties, it will be a help to remember the famous lines: He nothing common did or mean, Upon that memorable scene.
I have thought it right upon this occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid, practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the war. There are a good many people who say, “Never mind. Win or lose, sink or swim, better die than submit to tyranny-and such a tyranny.” And I do not dissociate myself from them. But I can assure them that our professional advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should carry on the war, and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory. We have fully informed and consulted all the self-governing Dominions, these great communities far beyond the oceans who have been built up on our laws and on our civilization, and who are absolutely free to choose their course, but are absolutely devoted to the ancient Motherland, and who feel themselves inspired by the same emotions which lead me to stake our all upon duty and honor. We have fully consulted them, and I have received from their Prime Ministers, Mr. Mackenzie King of Canada, Mr. Menzies of Australia, Mr. Fraser of New Zealand, and General Smuts of South Africa-that wonderful man, with his immense profound mind, and his eye watching from a distance the whole panorama of European affairs-I have received from all these eminent men, who all have Governments behind them elected on wide franchises, who are all there because they represent the will of their people, messages couched in the most moving terms in which they endorse our decision to fight on, and declare themselves ready to share our fortunes and to persevere to the end. That is what we are going to do.
We may now ask ourselves: In what way has our position worsened since the beginning of the war? It has worsened by the fact that the Germans have conquered a large part of the coast line of Western Europe, and many small countries have been overrun by them. This aggravates the possibilities of air attack and adds to our naval preoccupations. It in no way diminishes, but on the contrary definitely increases, the power of our long-distance blockade. Similarly, the entrance of Italy into the war increases the power of our long-distance blockade. We have stopped the worst leak by that. We do not know whether military resistance will come to an end in France or not, but should it do so, then of course the Germans will be able to concentrate their forces, both military and industrial, upon us. But for the reasons I have given to the House these will not be found so easy to apply. If invasion has become more imminent, as no doubt it has, we, being relieved from the task of maintaining a large army in France, have far larger and more efficient forces to meet it.
If Hitler can bring under his despotic control the industries of the countries he has conquered, this will add greatly to his already vast armament output. On the other hand, this will not happen immediately, and we are now assured of immense, continuous and increasing support in supplies and munitions of all kinds from the United States; and especially of aeroplanes and pilots from the Dominions and across the oceans coming from regions which are beyond the reach of enemy bombers.
I do not see how any of these factors can operate to our detriment on balance before the winter comes; and the winter will impose a strain upon the Nazi regime, with almost all Europe writhing and starving under its cruel heel, which, for all their ruthlessness, will run them very hard. We must not forget that from the moment when we declared war on the 3rd September it was always possible for Germany to turn all her Air Force upon this country, together with any other devices of invasion she might conceive, and that France could have done little or nothing to prevent her doing so. We have, therefore, lived under this danger, in principle and in a slightly modified form, during all these m6nths. In the meanwhile, however, we have enormously improved our methods of defense, and we have learned what we had no right to assume at the beginning, namely, that the individual aircraft and the individual British pilot have a sure and definite superiority. Therefore, in casting up this dread balancesheet and contemplating our dangers with a disillusioned eye, I see great reason for intense vigilance and exertion, but none whatever for panic or despair.
During the first four years of the last war the Allies experienced nothing but disaster and disappointment. That was our constant fear: one blow after another, terrible losses, frightful dangers. Everything miscarried. And yet at the end of those four years the morale of the Allies was higher than that of the Germans, who had moved from one aggressive triumph to another, and who stood everywhere triumphant invaders of the lands into which they had broken. During that war we repeatedly asked ourselves the question: How are we going to win? and no one was able ever to answer it with much precision, until at the end, quite suddenly, quite unexpectedly, our terrible foe collapsed before us, and we were so glutted with victory that in our folly we threw it away.
We do not yet know what will happen in France or whether the French resistance will be prolonged, both in France and in the French Empire overseas. The French Government will be throwing away great opportunities and casting adrift their future if they do not continue the war in accordance with their Treaty obligations, from which we have not felt able to release them. The House will have read the historic declaration in which, at the desire of many Frenchmen-and of our own hearts-we have proclaimed our willingness at the darkest hour in French history to conclude a union of common citizenship in this struggle. However matters may go in France or with the French Government, or other French Governments, we in this Island and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have been suffering, we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all. We abate nothing of our just demands; not one jot or tittle do we recede. Czechs, Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians have joined their causes to our own. All these shall be restored.
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
Still more insanity in the academic world
We all know about the Noam Chomskys and Ward Churchills of the academic world because they are just the most visible of the loony leftist/Islamofascist apologists roaming academic campuses. Here is an article about another nut of this ilk, a delightful chap by the name of Julio Pino. Turns out, he's really not too fond of Jews: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MikeSAdams/2007/06/20/julio_pino_a_genocidal_racist_without_moral_authority. Indymedia, of course, has leapt into the fray to defend him: http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2007/03/24848.php.
We need to make sure that vermin like him are exposed to the light, if only to protect our kids from their demented ramblings. If you don't believe me, just do an internet search on his name.
We need to make sure that vermin like him are exposed to the light, if only to protect our kids from their demented ramblings. If you don't believe me, just do an internet search on his name.
Educational Bias Post CORRECTION
The filmmaker of the "Indoctrinate U" documentary is Evan Coyne Maloney, not Cinnamon Stillwell (who nonetheless is still strongly supportive of it). My mistake, and I apologize for any confusion I may have created.
Liberal or Conservative?
What is this country? Maybe I just live in a vacuum, because I have always thought that the United States was a fairly conservative country. Turns out, at least one Op-Ed columnist says that I am dead wrong: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.pitts24jun24,0,2199741.story?track=rss.
If he's right, maybe Canada isn't the 51st state. Instead, perhaps the United States is the 11th province..........
If he's right, maybe Canada isn't the 51st state. Instead, perhaps the United States is the 11th province..........
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Moral Cowardice in the West
Yeah, it's not exactly a news flash is it? The British government decides to knight Salman Rushdie, the Islamic World promptly reacts with calm and moderation...............umm, well, okay, maybe not. No, it instead reacts with the typical rioting and calls for executions. And the media here in the West reacts with a deafening silence.
Interestingly, while all of this was going on, the loathesome U.N. Commission on Human Rights quietly passed a proclamation banning the "insulting" of religions. How they fit it in between condemnations of Israel, I'll never know. In any event, as the author of this Op-Ed points out, this moving would seemingly give license to the Islamofascists who want Mr. Rushdie dead: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rutten23jun23,1,6014697.column?coll=la-news-columns&ctrack=1&cset=true.
Interestingly, while all of this was going on, the loathesome U.N. Commission on Human Rights quietly passed a proclamation banning the "insulting" of religions. How they fit it in between condemnations of Israel, I'll never know. In any event, as the author of this Op-Ed points out, this moving would seemingly give license to the Islamofascists who want Mr. Rushdie dead: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rutten23jun23,1,6014697.column?coll=la-news-columns&ctrack=1&cset=true.
An ominous comment on Gaza and Lebanon
This analytical Op-Ed doesn't deal with those issues specifically, but it certainly applies to them: http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=14728. The bottom line is that one cannot fight a war not to lose. One must fight it to win, or the result will be endless, unresolved conflicts.
NHL Draft
Below is the first round of the NHL draft. I think that the Philadelphia Flyers did fine, and Chicago took Patrick Kane with the first overall pick in the draft. Kane had been one of the players who everyone agreed could go #1. Insofar as my Habs are concerned, I am mystified. Hometown boy Angelo Esposito was there for the taking, and they passed on him. Instead, he ended up in Pittsburgh, which just added another young stud to that that stable of talent. The Penguins are already a good team on the rise, and they have the potential to be scary good..................
Round 1
1/1
Patrick Kane, RW, London (OHL)
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSAs an OHL rookie, he led the entire Canadian Hockey League in scoring with 62 goals and 145 points... >>>
2/2
James vanRiemsdyk, LW, USDP (U18)
PHILADELPHIA FLYERSAt the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championships, he added to his burgeoning draft stock by tying for... >>>
3/3
Kyle Turris, C, Burnaby (BCHL)
PHOENIX COYOTESAs a second-year member of the Express, he led the league with 66 goals and placed second in points... >>>
4/4
Thomas Hickey, D, Seattle (WHL)
LOS ANGELES KINGSThe Thunderbirds’ offensive leader among defensemen, he finished eighth among all WHL blueliners... >>>
5/5
Karl Alzner, D, Calgary (WHL)
WASHINGTON CAPITALSDespite seeing limited playing time (6 GP, 0-1-1, +1, 2 PIM), he was a member of Canada’s entry at... >>>
6/6
Sam Gagner, C, London (OHL)
EDMONTON OILERSThe son of former NHLer Dave Gagner placed second to teammate Patrick Kane among CHL rookie scorers... >>>
7/7
Jakub Voracek, RW, Halifax (QMJHL)
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETSIn his first season in North America, he led all QMJHL rookies with 86 points. He also elevated his... >>>
8/8
Zach Hamill, C, Everett (WHL)
BOSTON BRUINSAs a third-year player with the Silvertips, he led the ‘Dub’ in both assists (61) and points (93)... >>>
9/9
Logan Couture, C, Ottawa (OHL)
SAN JOSE SHARKSIn his second season with the 67’s, he missed 10 games early on due to mononucleosis but finished... >>>
10/10
Keaton Ellerby, D, Kamloops (WHL)
FLORIDA PANTHERSIn his third season with the Blazers, he upped his point total by 17 over his 2005-06 numbers,... >>>
11/11
Brandon Sutter, C, Red Deer (WHL)
CAROLINA HURRICANESThe son of former NHLer Brent Sutter has spent the last two seasons toiling under his father with... >>>
12/12
Ryan McDonagh, D, Cretin-Derham (HS)
MONTREAL CANADIENSDue to an outstanding performance (7 GP, 0-3-3, -1, 4 PIM) at the 2007 IIHF World Under-18... >>>
13/13
Lars Eller, C, Frolunda (Swe Jr.)
ST. LOUIS BLUESA product of Denmark’s Rodovre IK program, he’s the best Danish prospect available for selection in... >>>
14/14
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, USDP (U18)
COLORADO AVALANCHEAs captain of the 2006-07 USNTDP squad, he was a key member of the silver medallists at the 2007... >>>
15/15
Alex Plante, D, Calgary (WHL)
EDMONTON OILERSIn his second season with the Hitmen, he produced eight goals and 38 points in 58 games. He also... >>>
16/16
Colton Gillies, C, Saskatoon (WHL)
MINNESOTA WILDThe nephew of former NHL power forward Clark Gillies, he endured a somewhat disappointing 2006-07... >>>
17/17
Alexei Cherepanov, RW, Avangard Omsk (Rus)
NEW YORK RANGERSIn his first major tournament, he burst onto the scene with five goals and eight points in six... >>>
18/18
Ian Cole, D, USDP (U18)
ST. LOUIS BLUESHis draft stock is on the rise, following a very strong performance for Team U.S.A. at the 2007... >>>
19/19
Logan MacMillan, C, Halifax (QMJHL)
ANAHEIM DUCKSNo player may have enjoyed a greater late-season leap in draft stock than the Mooseheads center,... >>>
20/20
Angelo Esposito, C, Quebec (QMJHL)
PITTSBURGH PENGUINSAs a QMJHL rookie in 2005-06, he placed second in the league in points to Philadelphia Flyers... >>>
21/21
Riley Nash, C, Salmon Arm (BCHL)
EDMONTON OILERSAfter appearing in one regular-season and five playoff games with the Silverbacks last season, he... >>>
22/22
Max Pacioretty, LW, Sioux City (USHL)
MONTREAL CANADIENSIn his rookie campaign in the United States Hockey league, he tied for 10th in league scoring... >>>
23/23
Jonathon Blum, D, Vancouver (WHL)
NASHVILLE PREDATORSIn his second WHL campaign, he led Giants defensemen with 43 assists and tied Cody Franson among... >>>
24/24
Mikael Backlund, C, Vasteras HK (Swe2)
CALGARY FLAMESAt the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championships in Finland, he led all tournament goal-scorers with... >>>
25/25
Patrick White, C, Tri-City (USHL)
VANCOUVER CANUCKSAside from completing his senior season at Grand Rapids High School in 2006-07, he also produced... >>>
26/26
David Perron, LW, Lewiston (QMJHL)
ST. LOUIS BLUESAfter a solid rookie campaign in the ‘Q’, where he placed second in the league in rookie scoring... >>>
27/27
Brendan Smith, D, St. Michael's (OPJRA)
DETROIT RED WINGSIn his second season with the St. Michael’s College (tier II) program in Ontario, he placed seventh... >>>
28/28
Nicholas Petrecki, D, Omaha (USHL)
SAN JOSE SHARKSIn his second season with the Lancers, he led the club’s blueliners in both goals (11) and points... >>>
29/29
James O'Brien, C, Minnesota (WCHA)
OTTAWA SENATORSAs a freshman with the Golden Gophers, he was tied for 13th on the club with 15 points in 43 games.... >>>
30/30
Nick Ross, D, Regina (WHL)
PHOENIX COYOTESIn his second WHL campaign with the Pats, he produced seven goals and 31 points--to go along with a... >>>
Round 1
1/1
Patrick Kane, RW, London (OHL)
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSAs an OHL rookie, he led the entire Canadian Hockey League in scoring with 62 goals and 145 points... >>>
2/2
James vanRiemsdyk, LW, USDP (U18)
PHILADELPHIA FLYERSAt the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championships, he added to his burgeoning draft stock by tying for... >>>
3/3
Kyle Turris, C, Burnaby (BCHL)
PHOENIX COYOTESAs a second-year member of the Express, he led the league with 66 goals and placed second in points... >>>
4/4
Thomas Hickey, D, Seattle (WHL)
LOS ANGELES KINGSThe Thunderbirds’ offensive leader among defensemen, he finished eighth among all WHL blueliners... >>>
5/5
Karl Alzner, D, Calgary (WHL)
WASHINGTON CAPITALSDespite seeing limited playing time (6 GP, 0-1-1, +1, 2 PIM), he was a member of Canada’s entry at... >>>
6/6
Sam Gagner, C, London (OHL)
EDMONTON OILERSThe son of former NHLer Dave Gagner placed second to teammate Patrick Kane among CHL rookie scorers... >>>
7/7
Jakub Voracek, RW, Halifax (QMJHL)
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETSIn his first season in North America, he led all QMJHL rookies with 86 points. He also elevated his... >>>
8/8
Zach Hamill, C, Everett (WHL)
BOSTON BRUINSAs a third-year player with the Silvertips, he led the ‘Dub’ in both assists (61) and points (93)... >>>
9/9
Logan Couture, C, Ottawa (OHL)
SAN JOSE SHARKSIn his second season with the 67’s, he missed 10 games early on due to mononucleosis but finished... >>>
10/10
Keaton Ellerby, D, Kamloops (WHL)
FLORIDA PANTHERSIn his third season with the Blazers, he upped his point total by 17 over his 2005-06 numbers,... >>>
11/11
Brandon Sutter, C, Red Deer (WHL)
CAROLINA HURRICANESThe son of former NHLer Brent Sutter has spent the last two seasons toiling under his father with... >>>
12/12
Ryan McDonagh, D, Cretin-Derham (HS)
MONTREAL CANADIENSDue to an outstanding performance (7 GP, 0-3-3, -1, 4 PIM) at the 2007 IIHF World Under-18... >>>
13/13
Lars Eller, C, Frolunda (Swe Jr.)
ST. LOUIS BLUESA product of Denmark’s Rodovre IK program, he’s the best Danish prospect available for selection in... >>>
14/14
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, USDP (U18)
COLORADO AVALANCHEAs captain of the 2006-07 USNTDP squad, he was a key member of the silver medallists at the 2007... >>>
15/15
Alex Plante, D, Calgary (WHL)
EDMONTON OILERSIn his second season with the Hitmen, he produced eight goals and 38 points in 58 games. He also... >>>
16/16
Colton Gillies, C, Saskatoon (WHL)
MINNESOTA WILDThe nephew of former NHL power forward Clark Gillies, he endured a somewhat disappointing 2006-07... >>>
17/17
Alexei Cherepanov, RW, Avangard Omsk (Rus)
NEW YORK RANGERSIn his first major tournament, he burst onto the scene with five goals and eight points in six... >>>
18/18
Ian Cole, D, USDP (U18)
ST. LOUIS BLUESHis draft stock is on the rise, following a very strong performance for Team U.S.A. at the 2007... >>>
19/19
Logan MacMillan, C, Halifax (QMJHL)
ANAHEIM DUCKSNo player may have enjoyed a greater late-season leap in draft stock than the Mooseheads center,... >>>
20/20
Angelo Esposito, C, Quebec (QMJHL)
PITTSBURGH PENGUINSAs a QMJHL rookie in 2005-06, he placed second in the league in points to Philadelphia Flyers... >>>
21/21
Riley Nash, C, Salmon Arm (BCHL)
EDMONTON OILERSAfter appearing in one regular-season and five playoff games with the Silverbacks last season, he... >>>
22/22
Max Pacioretty, LW, Sioux City (USHL)
MONTREAL CANADIENSIn his rookie campaign in the United States Hockey league, he tied for 10th in league scoring... >>>
23/23
Jonathon Blum, D, Vancouver (WHL)
NASHVILLE PREDATORSIn his second WHL campaign, he led Giants defensemen with 43 assists and tied Cody Franson among... >>>
24/24
Mikael Backlund, C, Vasteras HK (Swe2)
CALGARY FLAMESAt the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championships in Finland, he led all tournament goal-scorers with... >>>
25/25
Patrick White, C, Tri-City (USHL)
VANCOUVER CANUCKSAside from completing his senior season at Grand Rapids High School in 2006-07, he also produced... >>>
26/26
David Perron, LW, Lewiston (QMJHL)
ST. LOUIS BLUESAfter a solid rookie campaign in the ‘Q’, where he placed second in the league in rookie scoring... >>>
27/27
Brendan Smith, D, St. Michael's (OPJRA)
DETROIT RED WINGSIn his second season with the St. Michael’s College (tier II) program in Ontario, he placed seventh... >>>
28/28
Nicholas Petrecki, D, Omaha (USHL)
SAN JOSE SHARKSIn his second season with the Lancers, he led the club’s blueliners in both goals (11) and points... >>>
29/29
James O'Brien, C, Minnesota (WCHA)
OTTAWA SENATORSAs a freshman with the Golden Gophers, he was tied for 13th on the club with 15 points in 43 games.... >>>
30/30
Nick Ross, D, Regina (WHL)
PHOENIX COYOTESIn his second WHL campaign with the Pats, he produced seven goals and 31 points--to go along with a... >>>
Educational Bias
Noted West Coast political commentator Cinnamon Stillwell is working on a feature film which highlights the fact that our schools have become agents of indoctrination, as opposed to education. The website for the film, Indoctrinate U, can be found here: http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/news.html.
I highly recommend it. It looks to be a frightening look at how our kids are being brainwashed by the Ward Churchills, Juan Coles, Noam Chomskys, Norman Finkelsteins and other lesser lights of the academic world. If you want to request a screening in your area, pleas click on the link here: http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/screenings.html.
I highly recommend it. It looks to be a frightening look at how our kids are being brainwashed by the Ward Churchills, Juan Coles, Noam Chomskys, Norman Finkelsteins and other lesser lights of the academic world. If you want to request a screening in your area, pleas click on the link here: http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/screenings.html.
Let's just keep ignoring that 80,000-pound elephant in the corner
I'm not saying that we should carpet bomb Iran, or nuke it back to the stone age. What I am saying is that we cannot deal with our enemies until we acknowledge who and what they are, as well as what they are doing: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGMzY2Q1MTEzNDQ5NzZhMWVjODc2MjdlM2JlNzE4N2U=. Iran is actively involved in the turmoil in Iraq, and has unofficially declared war on us. Why can't we acknowledge this? Why doesn't the MSM even report this?
Friday, June 22, 2007
How to fight the Iranians
We already know that the British Navy, once the most-feared in the world (okay, that was 200 years ago), couldn't do it. However, it appears as though the Aussies sure figured out what to do: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6228342.stm.
"Highly colourful language". I love it....................
"Highly colourful language". I love it....................
It's not just rhetoric
At least, it isn't in the case of Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez, flush with oil cash from CITGO, is debating buying submarines from Russia: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/6/21/203912.shtml?s=ic. Let me ask this again, because no one ever seems to offer an answer: Why is it that Russia is not considered an outright enemy of this country? And why why WHY are we not trying to find a cost-efficient fuel alternative to oil so that we can tell Chavez and his Arab buddies in OPEC where to go?
It's Israel's fault!
This falls into the "Scientists have discovered that the world is round" department. A columnist in the Palestinian Adoration Society, otherwise known as The Guardian, has decreed that the reason for all of the turmoil in the regions is (are you ready for this?).............the actions of the United States and Israel: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeffrey_sachs/2007/06/the_palestine_follies.html. Stunning, I know.
I've blogged previously about the unholy alliance between Islamists and The Angry Left, and how from a strictly logical perspective, it makes no sense at all. Of course, then you get into the fact that both harbour an irrational hatred of the West in general and the United States in particular, and you realize that despite their obvious ideological differences (one is tolerant of everything to the point of being completely devoid of any morality whatsoever, the other is intolerant of absolutely anything), they are bonded by that shared hatred.
I've blogged previously about the unholy alliance between Islamists and The Angry Left, and how from a strictly logical perspective, it makes no sense at all. Of course, then you get into the fact that both harbour an irrational hatred of the West in general and the United States in particular, and you realize that despite their obvious ideological differences (one is tolerant of everything to the point of being completely devoid of any morality whatsoever, the other is intolerant of absolutely anything), they are bonded by that shared hatred.
Historical Revisionists move FAST
In fact, they move faster than ever. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has on several occasions called for Israel to be wiped off the map.............or so we thought. According to these new revisionists, the face of whom has become Democratic Presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich (going for that Arab vote are you, Dennis? Well, knock yourself out. I have a better chance of being named the Pope than you have of ever becoming President.). Kucinich has been screeching that Ahmadinejad was "misquoted": http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWEwNDliNzBjYjY3NzQ3ZWM5YWY4ZTc2ZDg4NTg4N2E=. Noted anti-Semite Juan Cole agrees with him: http://www.juancole.com/2006/05/bill-scher-importance-of-cole-v.html.
The thing is, Dennis, your favourite despot apparently doesn't seem to agree with you, and neither does Iran's official news agency: http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=200247. What a maroon..............
The thing is, Dennis, your favourite despot apparently doesn't seem to agree with you, and neither does Iran's official news agency: http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=200247. What a maroon..............
Turn the U.N. Building at Turtle Bay into a condo.......
............or something, ANYTHING, useful. The "revamped" U.N. Human Rights Commission, whose predecessor was so shamelessly anti-Semitic that even Kofi Annan was offended by it, has proven to be just as bad, voting to place one state and one state only--that would be Israel, of course--under permanent investation.
Noted human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler articulately points out the absurdity of this action: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070621.wcomment0621/BNStory/International/.
Noted human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler articulately points out the absurdity of this action: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070621.wcomment0621/BNStory/International/.
10 Commandments for Policians
Shamelessly copied from the same listserv as the previous post!
:-)
10 COMMANDMENTS FOR POLITICIANS1. Thou shalt not rob those who work hard in order to subsidize thosewho hardly work . Note to politicians: If you really believe thatdrunks, druggies, and derelicts have a "right" to "equal housing,"open up the doors of your own home!
2. Thou shalt not send American troops into harm's way -- and then stabthem in the back when they're fighting at the front. Cut and run is nota sound strategy for military victory. Those like Mr. Murtha who arestill fighting the War in Vietnam should not let their pitifulflashbacks dictate our foreign policy.
3. Thou shalt not kill unborn babies. Period.
4. Thou shalt not extort income taxes above 10% of the America worker'sannual earnings. If 10% is good enough for God, it's good enough forgovernment.
5. Thou shalt not grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Instead ofrewarding them with a primrose "path to citizenship, " put them on thefast track to the Mexican border.
6. Thou shalt not surrender American sovereignty. There is no "globaltest." There is no "precedent in foreign law." And there is no need tocontinue subsidizing the UN's Kofi Anan and his America-bashing bandof predators, pariahs, and piranhas.
7. Thou shalt not pay yourselves one more dime than the average incomeof the American worker. If you truly want to represent us, learn tolive within our means. Then, maybe you'll stop robbing us blind andspending us broke. Perhaps if you learn firsthand how hard it is forthe average American to balance the family budget, you'll become alittle more adept at balancing the federal budget.
8. Thou shalt serve no more than two terms in office. Remember us?We're the ones who sent you to Washington mistakenly thinking youmight one day want to return ... The ones you seem to hope will nowleave you alone, forget your phone number, and stop inundating youwith FREE emails and ActiFaxes. Well, don't count on it - because it'snever going to happen.
9. Thou shalt not continue to endorse, support, or condone thegovernment's ruthless persecution of Christians, Christian values, andChristian observances. Let's put it this way: Every year the MangerScene is not back in the public square further diminishes your chancesof getting back into public office. What exactly is it that you don'tunderstand about, "Congress shall make no law prohibiting the freeexercise [of religion]"?
10. Thou shalt not place yourself above the law. When you get caughtdriving drunk, don't try to pull rank - just take the breathalyzer andperp walk to the patty wagon ... When you assault a police officer,don't claim the divine right of royalty ... And when you get caughttaking a bribe, don't claim that "congressional privilege" means thecold cash is yours to keep.
:-)
10 COMMANDMENTS FOR POLITICIANS1. Thou shalt not rob those who work hard in order to subsidize thosewho hardly work . Note to politicians: If you really believe thatdrunks, druggies, and derelicts have a "right" to "equal housing,"open up the doors of your own home!
2. Thou shalt not send American troops into harm's way -- and then stabthem in the back when they're fighting at the front. Cut and run is nota sound strategy for military victory. Those like Mr. Murtha who arestill fighting the War in Vietnam should not let their pitifulflashbacks dictate our foreign policy.
3. Thou shalt not kill unborn babies. Period.
4. Thou shalt not extort income taxes above 10% of the America worker'sannual earnings. If 10% is good enough for God, it's good enough forgovernment.
5. Thou shalt not grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Instead ofrewarding them with a primrose "path to citizenship, " put them on thefast track to the Mexican border.
6. Thou shalt not surrender American sovereignty. There is no "globaltest." There is no "precedent in foreign law." And there is no need tocontinue subsidizing the UN's Kofi Anan and his America-bashing bandof predators, pariahs, and piranhas.
7. Thou shalt not pay yourselves one more dime than the average incomeof the American worker. If you truly want to represent us, learn tolive within our means. Then, maybe you'll stop robbing us blind andspending us broke. Perhaps if you learn firsthand how hard it is forthe average American to balance the family budget, you'll become alittle more adept at balancing the federal budget.
8. Thou shalt serve no more than two terms in office. Remember us?We're the ones who sent you to Washington mistakenly thinking youmight one day want to return ... The ones you seem to hope will nowleave you alone, forget your phone number, and stop inundating youwith FREE emails and ActiFaxes. Well, don't count on it - because it'snever going to happen.
9. Thou shalt not continue to endorse, support, or condone thegovernment's ruthless persecution of Christians, Christian values, andChristian observances. Let's put it this way: Every year the MangerScene is not back in the public square further diminishes your chancesof getting back into public office. What exactly is it that you don'tunderstand about, "Congress shall make no law prohibiting the freeexercise [of religion]"?
10. Thou shalt not place yourself above the law. When you get caughtdriving drunk, don't try to pull rank - just take the breathalyzer andperp walk to the patty wagon ... When you assault a police officer,don't claim the divine right of royalty ... And when you get caughttaking a bribe, don't claim that "congressional privilege" means thecold cash is yours to keep.
Write a Marine
Below is the text of an e-mail that was posted to a listserv of which I am a member. Please read it and think about e-mailing these guys!
Blackfive's Grim interviewed Marine Colonel Simcock, Commander of RCT-6 in Iraq. This is what Col. Grim asked that will only take a minute of your time:
COL. SIMCOCK: (Chuckles.) I'll tell you what, the one thing that all Marines want to know about -- and that includes me and everyone within Regimental Combat Team 6 -- we want to know that the American public are behind us. We believe that the actions that we're taking over here are very, very important to America. We're fighting a group of people that, if they could, would take away the freedoms that America enjoys.
If anyone -- you know, just sit down, jot us -- throw us an e- mail, write us a letter, let us know that the American public are behind us. Because we watch the news just like everyone else. It's broadcast over here in our chow halls and the weight rooms, and we watch that stuff, and we're a little bit concerned sometimes that America really doesn't know what's going on over here, and we get sometimes concerns that the American public isn't behind us and doesn't see the importance of what's going on. So that's something I think that all Marines, soldiers and sailors would like to hear from back home, that in fact, yes, they think what we're doing over here is important and they are in fact behind us .
The Marines have set up a special email address to send a supportive message to the Marines is: RCT-6lettersfromh@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.
The emails are being scanned by the PAO before being printed and distributed to individual Marines.
Blackfive's Grim interviewed Marine Colonel Simcock, Commander of RCT-6 in Iraq. This is what Col. Grim asked that will only take a minute of your time:
COL. SIMCOCK: (Chuckles.) I'll tell you what, the one thing that all Marines want to know about -- and that includes me and everyone within Regimental Combat Team 6 -- we want to know that the American public are behind us. We believe that the actions that we're taking over here are very, very important to America. We're fighting a group of people that, if they could, would take away the freedoms that America enjoys.
If anyone -- you know, just sit down, jot us -- throw us an e- mail, write us a letter, let us know that the American public are behind us. Because we watch the news just like everyone else. It's broadcast over here in our chow halls and the weight rooms, and we watch that stuff, and we're a little bit concerned sometimes that America really doesn't know what's going on over here, and we get sometimes concerns that the American public isn't behind us and doesn't see the importance of what's going on. So that's something I think that all Marines, soldiers and sailors would like to hear from back home, that in fact, yes, they think what we're doing over here is important and they are in fact behind us .
The Marines have set up a special email address to send a supportive message to the Marines is: RCT-6lettersfromh@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.
The emails are being scanned by the PAO before being printed and distributed to individual Marines.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Vladimir Putin has become unhinged
Check out this article, where he minimizes Stalin's purge(s) of the late 1930s, which resulted in the deaths of millions: http://www.townhall.com/News/newsarticle.aspx?ContentGuid=c532539b-6e8b-4df6-83e5-49d8c5c1abdc.
On a related note, if I hear President Bush refer even one more time to Vladimir Putin as a "friend" or an "ally", I WILL puke. He is no ally, no friend, and the soonner we realize it, the better.
On a related note, if I hear President Bush refer even one more time to Vladimir Putin as a "friend" or an "ally", I WILL puke. He is no ally, no friend, and the soonner we realize it, the better.
Fred Dalton Thompson
The more I hear from him, the more I like what he has to say. Here he is, telling it like it is, regarding terrorist front group CAIR: http://abcradionetworks.com/article.asp?id=427045&SPID=15663.
CAIR has a habit of filing lawsuits against those who "slander" it. So, if I were the former Senator from Tennessee, I'd be putting my lawyers on alert right now.........
CAIR has a habit of filing lawsuits against those who "slander" it. So, if I were the former Senator from Tennessee, I'd be putting my lawyers on alert right now.........
Not that I need another reason to hate the U.N......
...........but here's one anyway: http://www.meforum.org/article/1706. While Ban Ki Moon may say (and even do) the right things, the rest of that collection of despots and anti-Semites is doing its best to support terrorism.............AND WE ARE FUNDING IT.
Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
Battlefield England, Part Twelve
Maybe I posted too early before when I talked about hope for Europe. A British Union has come forth with a call for a boycott of Israeli products, services and representatives: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3415552,00.html.
What the hell is in the water over there anyway? What is this singular obsession with demonizing Israel? Millions die in Darfur, and yet no one calls for a boycott of Sudan or its patrons. There are no calls for a boycott of Serbia for its "occupation" of Kosovo.
This is beyond frustrating. At some point we have to acknowledge that this focus on Israel has as much to do with anti-Semitism as it does with anything else.
What the hell is in the water over there anyway? What is this singular obsession with demonizing Israel? Millions die in Darfur, and yet no one calls for a boycott of Sudan or its patrons. There are no calls for a boycott of Serbia for its "occupation" of Kosovo.
This is beyond frustrating. At some point we have to acknowledge that this focus on Israel has as much to do with anti-Semitism as it does with anything else.
Hope for the U.N.?
We all know that I absolutely despise the U.N., but I have to say that the new Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, is the proverbial "breath of fresh air" as compared to his anti-Semitic predecessor, Kofi Annan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002082.html. Of course, he uses diplomatic niceities, but at least someone in that moribund organization has recognized that there MIGHT be a slight bias against Israel.
Hope for Euope?
Maybe, maybe not. Everything I read about the situation in Europe, especially Western Europe, leads me to think that the situation there is beyond repair, but at least one writer seems to think otherwise: http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon2007-06-19fs.html.
I hope that he's right, but think that history will show that I am.
I hope that he's right, but think that history will show that I am.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
More conspiracy theory debunking
Purdue University just completed a study of what brought down the Twin Towers on 9/11. I hope that you are all sitting down, because this WILL shock you! It was (gasp)...............planes flying into the buildings!!!! Yes, it's true! For more, go here: http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/070612HoffmannWTC.html.
Sorry, 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists, you're wrong, not to mention delusional.
Sorry, 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists, you're wrong, not to mention delusional.
President Peanut Farmer speaks out again
Apparently, there are no depths to which this man will not sink. Everytime I think that he's hit bottom, he gets a shovel and starts digging. Once again, he has spoken out about the "criminal" actions in Gaza. No, no, it's not Hamas executing people in the streets, killing Fatah members in front of their families, or throwing people off the tops of buildings. What's "criminal", in this man's mind, are the actions of the U.S., Israel and E.U. in not funding Hamas' genocidal war against Israel: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284673,00.html.
It would be a gross understatement to call his statements unbelievable. I swear, he must be senile.
It would be a gross understatement to call his statements unbelievable. I swear, he must be senile.
It's a Religion of PEACE, okay? Got it?
Don't say otherwise, or its adherents will kill you.
The latest from the followers of the Religion of Peace is renewed death threats against British author Salman Rushdie, who is being knighted by the Queen: http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1951462.ece.
Why does it seem bizarre to me that the only people really talking about this are those on the so-called conservative blogosphere? Why isn't this front page news around the globe, or the subject of editorials everywhere?
The latest from the followers of the Religion of Peace is renewed death threats against British author Salman Rushdie, who is being knighted by the Queen: http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1951462.ece.
Why does it seem bizarre to me that the only people really talking about this are those on the so-called conservative blogosphere? Why isn't this front page news around the globe, or the subject of editorials everywhere?
Remember, Fatah is the MODERATE Palestinian faction!
No, really! Yet, its members shoot people lying on hospital gurneys because they're suspected of "collaborating" with Israel: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/871838.html.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The ONLY difference between Fatah and Hamas is that the former is secular while the latter is religious. Their collective end goal, the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews, is identical.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The ONLY difference between Fatah and Hamas is that the former is secular while the latter is religious. Their collective end goal, the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews, is identical.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Michael Bloomberg makes it official
He's out of the Republican Party: http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/06/19/694009.html&cvqh=itn_bloomberg. Of course, this is no surprise; Bloomberg conveniently switched party allegiances from Democrat to Republican in order to run for Mayor of New York City, and he's basically been a Democart in disguise since becoming Mayor. This move is an apparent prequel to his running for President in 2008, when he may very well run against his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani.
One other thing: It must be nice to be rich..................
One other thing: It must be nice to be rich..................
Goodbye and Good Riddance
One of Canada's leading anti-American and anti-Israel political figures is hanging it up: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/06/19/graham.html. I for one will not miss him. He was rabidly anti-Israel and only slightly less anti-American. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya............
MORE foolishness out of the NHL
Here is an absolutely awesome column byt Dan Wetzel, Yahoo's hockey writer, on the idiocy prevalent in the NHLhttp://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AsY4PgU6iynQTHgdqXxx8hB7vLYF?slug=dw-nhlexpansion060807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns.
You have an overly diluted product that no one is watching. So, what do you do? You contemplate expanding the league. Only the NHL would do this....................
You have an overly diluted product that no one is watching. So, what do you do? You contemplate expanding the league. Only the NHL would do this....................
Funny Video
Once you get past the leftist clap trap, this is pretty darned clever: http://www3.gsb.columbia.edu/everybreath/.
The Religion of Peace and Tolerance.........
..................strikes again: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3414753,00.html. Of COURSE this will be blamed on Israel. Frustrating, I know, but inevitable. How can I be so sure of this? Just go back a few posts and read how the Boston Globe blamed Israel for the Hamas takeover of Gaza.
Despite this, the State Department is releasing tens of millions of dollars of aid to Mahmoud Abbas' government: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=June&x=20070618153702idybeekcm0.703396, and the idiotic Ehud Olmert is contemplating doing the same. Something just occurred to me: If Israel's leaders don't care about its survival, why should I????
Meanwhile, the Russians continue to provide the most sophisticated weaponry available to those who want to destroy Israel: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/19/europe/EU-GEN-Russia-Syria-Jets.php, and the Pentagon (undoubtedly acting on White House orders), dithers with Israeli arms orders.
What a depressing post this is turning out to be............
Despite this, the State Department is releasing tens of millions of dollars of aid to Mahmoud Abbas' government: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=June&x=20070618153702idybeekcm0.703396, and the idiotic Ehud Olmert is contemplating doing the same. Something just occurred to me: If Israel's leaders don't care about its survival, why should I????
Meanwhile, the Russians continue to provide the most sophisticated weaponry available to those who want to destroy Israel: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/19/europe/EU-GEN-Russia-Syria-Jets.php, and the Pentagon (undoubtedly acting on White House orders), dithers with Israeli arms orders.
What a depressing post this is turning out to be............
No consensus on dealing with Iran
Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal on the lack of consensus, even among those evil "Neocons", on how to deal with the growing Iranian threat: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010229.
I am honestly unsure as to how to "deal" with Iran. The one thing of which I am sure, however, is that doing nothing, as the world is doing now, is not an option.
I am honestly unsure as to how to "deal" with Iran. The one thing of which I am sure, however, is that doing nothing, as the world is doing now, is not an option.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Let's cozy up with Iran
So says Secretary of Appeasement, I mean, STATE, Condoleeza Rice and her flunkies at the State Department: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/washington/16diplo.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1182212121-lki2fMygAjTMPNmrGN2N7w. Equally telling is the line in the second paragraph (undoubtedly written with glee by a NY Times writer) about "the few remaining hawks" in the Bush 43 Administration. Then again, how can I say the writer is wrong? The fact is, we are in a timewarp back to 1991, only this time the stakes are much higher.
Ask yourself this question: How bizarre is it that the state legislatures here are tougher on the Iranians than our own federal government: http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/DAILY/70615005.
Ask yourself this question: How bizarre is it that the state legislatures here are tougher on the Iranians than our own federal government: http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/DAILY/70615005.
Zero tolerance............for sanity
Some idiots at a school in California barred a kid from participating in a promotionc ceremony because he refused to cut of the tiny gun attached to the hand of a toy plastic soldier. No, really. I couldn't make this up if I tried: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/8013037.html?showAll=y&c=y.
The U.N. continues its slide into obliviion (hopefully)
Thanks once again to Pam at Atlas Shrugs for this gem. The U.N. Human Rights Council has decided to drop any investigations it initiated of noted human rights violators Cuba and Belarus: http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1317481/k.96E7/View_From_Geneva/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp?tr=y&auid=2773803. Israel, on the other hand, will be subjected to PERMANENT indictment. Yep, this new body is QUITE the improvement over the last incarnation.
If nothing else, it is far more efficient at slandering Israel.
If nothing else, it is far more efficient at slandering Israel.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
President Bush...........Albatross?
I have to be honest, I am increasingly disappointed in President Bush, and it appears as though I am not the only one: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/jonathan_last/20070617_One_Last_Thing___After_Bush.html.
The fact of the matter is that he has become his father in terms of foreign policy, and and his "domestic agenda", to the extent that he seems to have one, seems to consist largely of pushing through an immigration plan that is opposed by a significant majority of Americans.
At one point, it was clear that President George W. Bush stood for something, whether or not people agreed with him. Now, he's a lame duck who has seemingly capitulated to his political adversaries............
The fact of the matter is that he has become his father in terms of foreign policy, and and his "domestic agenda", to the extent that he seems to have one, seems to consist largely of pushing through an immigration plan that is opposed by a significant majority of Americans.
At one point, it was clear that President George W. Bush stood for something, whether or not people agreed with him. Now, he's a lame duck who has seemingly capitulated to his political adversaries............
Iran and Holocaust Denial
Very interesting article in the Middle East Forum on Iran's outspoken Holocaust denial: http://www.meforum.org/article/1704. As the article establishes, it isn't just a cheap strategic ploy on the part of the Iranians. Rather, it is a fundamental part of their deeper, long-term goals in the Middle East. The fact that this strategic move has struck a receptive chord with many in the West is just a bonus to Iran................
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Conspiracy Theorists
Very thoughtful article from Dennis Prager, with whom I do not always agree (just listen to him blather on about the virtues of the pesticide DDT), on why so many people buy into conspiracy theories: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2007/06/12/from_jfk_to_911_why_people_believe_in_conspiracies. It's well worth the read, and I think that his explanations for the prevalence of conspiracy theories are pretty accurate.
They're gettting giddy in the Democrat Party
If you don't believe me, check out this opinion piece from Eleanor Clift: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19251286/site/newsweek/. They smell blood in the water, and the Bush Administration keeps throwing more chum in the water.
And, has anyone else noticed that the more the Bush 43 Administration backs off its agenda and kowtows to the Democrats, the further its popularity sinks? Hasn't anyone in the White House figured out yet that it's not just the Administration's opponents that are against it, Republicans and/or Conservatives are also now abandoning ship because this Administration no longer speaks to or for them?
And, has anyone else noticed that the more the Bush 43 Administration backs off its agenda and kowtows to the Democrats, the further its popularity sinks? Hasn't anyone in the White House figured out yet that it's not just the Administration's opponents that are against it, Republicans and/or Conservatives are also now abandoning ship because this Administration no longer speaks to or for them?
Dhimmi, Dhimmi, Dhimmi...........
............I got love in my, ummm, timmy.
Okay, I admit, that was really bad. Nonetheless, here is the West's favourite Dhimmi, Robert Fisk, bemoaning the fate of the Palestinians (I'll give you ONE clue as to who he blames for this mess): http://www.muslimbridges.org/content/view/690/37/.
Okay, I admit, that was really bad. Nonetheless, here is the West's favourite Dhimmi, Robert Fisk, bemoaning the fate of the Palestinians (I'll give you ONE clue as to who he blames for this mess): http://www.muslimbridges.org/content/view/690/37/.
Baseball Top Five and Bottom Five
Haven't done one of these in a month (sorry!), but I'll try to be better about it from this point forward.
TOP FIVE
1) Los Angeles Angels (no ranking, 42-26): The team can hit, but can the pitching hold up?
2) Boston Red Sox (#2, 42-24): What was a 14 1/2 game lead over the second place New York Yankees has dropped to 8 1/2 in just about two weeks. Can you say "1978"? I sure can...........
3) Oakland A's (no ranking, 37-29): Give GM Billy Beane credit. This team is always competitive.
4) New York Yankees (no ranking, 33-32): Like Dracula, a stake needed to be driven through their heart(s). No one did it, and the Red Sox obliged by losing four out of six games to the Bronx Bombers. Now, they're BAAAA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-ACK....................
5) Los Angeles Dodgers (no ranking, 39-28): After last night's games, the Dodgers have jumped back over the San Diego Padres and into first place in the rough and tumble NL West, where only 1 1/2 games separate the top three teams.
Dropped out: Milwaukee Brewers (#1), Detroit Tigers (#3), Atlanta Braves (#4), New York Mets (#5)
BOTTOM FIVE
1) Chicago White Sox (no ranking, 27-36): Did this team really win the World Series just two years ago?
2) Texas Rangers (no ranking, 25-42): This team has reinvented the term "Texas Fold 'em").
3) Cincinnati Red (#5, 26-42): I wonder if Griffey Jr. doesn't ponder what life might have been like had he stayed in Seattle.
4) Baltimore Orioles (no ranking, 29-38): The Woerioles have lost six in a row and were swept by the previously struggling Washington Nationals.
5) Houston Astros (no ranking, 28-39): Manager Phil Garner's nickname during his playing days was "Scrap Iron". This team plays more like tin foil.
Dropped out: Washington Nationals (#1), Kansas City Royals (#2), Toronto Blue Jays (#3), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (#4)
TOP FIVE
1) Los Angeles Angels (no ranking, 42-26): The team can hit, but can the pitching hold up?
2) Boston Red Sox (#2, 42-24): What was a 14 1/2 game lead over the second place New York Yankees has dropped to 8 1/2 in just about two weeks. Can you say "1978"? I sure can...........
3) Oakland A's (no ranking, 37-29): Give GM Billy Beane credit. This team is always competitive.
4) New York Yankees (no ranking, 33-32): Like Dracula, a stake needed to be driven through their heart(s). No one did it, and the Red Sox obliged by losing four out of six games to the Bronx Bombers. Now, they're BAAAA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-ACK....................
5) Los Angeles Dodgers (no ranking, 39-28): After last night's games, the Dodgers have jumped back over the San Diego Padres and into first place in the rough and tumble NL West, where only 1 1/2 games separate the top three teams.
Dropped out: Milwaukee Brewers (#1), Detroit Tigers (#3), Atlanta Braves (#4), New York Mets (#5)
BOTTOM FIVE
1) Chicago White Sox (no ranking, 27-36): Did this team really win the World Series just two years ago?
2) Texas Rangers (no ranking, 25-42): This team has reinvented the term "Texas Fold 'em").
3) Cincinnati Red (#5, 26-42): I wonder if Griffey Jr. doesn't ponder what life might have been like had he stayed in Seattle.
4) Baltimore Orioles (no ranking, 29-38): The Woerioles have lost six in a row and were swept by the previously struggling Washington Nationals.
5) Houston Astros (no ranking, 28-39): Manager Phil Garner's nickname during his playing days was "Scrap Iron". This team plays more like tin foil.
Dropped out: Washington Nationals (#1), Kansas City Royals (#2), Toronto Blue Jays (#3), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (#4)
Palestinian Nihilism
More in-fighting is taking place between Palestinians, this time on the West Bank where Fatah terrorists are attempting to evict Hamas terrorists from their strongholds. More executions are also taking place in the Gaza Strip. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent summary of how we got to this point, and it can be found here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110010219. The world's condoning of Palestinian terrorism is also noted...............
Friday, June 15, 2007
What kind of people do something like this?
You're out on a boat. Maybe you've had a drink or two. Naturally, your thoughts turn to........shooting dolphins: http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2007/06/15/690964.html&cvqh=itn_dolphins.
I can't fathom doing something like this. I just can't.
I can't fathom doing something like this. I just can't.
Media hypocrisy? WHAT media hypocrisy???
Yesterday, I linked to a Boston Globe story which bemoaned the violennce in the Gaza strip and blamed it on Israel's pullout. Well, two years ago the Globe was singing a very different tune: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/08/13/the_road_through_gaza/.
I would say that the Boston Globe's hypocrisy is amazing, but nowadays, nothing that comes out of the MSM surprises me..............
I would say that the Boston Globe's hypocrisy is amazing, but nowadays, nothing that comes out of the MSM surprises me..............
This gave me the chills
Someone e-mailed this to me. It is a recording of Jewish survivors of the horror that was the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp as they sing Hatikvah upon being liberated by the British Second Army.
http://genealogy.org.il/BergenBelsenHatikva.mp3.
http://genealogy.org.il/BergenBelsenHatikva.mp3.
Battlefield Italy?
Fascinating article the use (and abuse) of Israel by Italian politicians: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=0&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=381&PID=470&IID=1589&TTL=The_Cynical_Use_of_Israel_in_Italian_Politics. I admit, I had no idea that there was such a cynical use of the Jewish state in Italy, but can't say that I am too surprised, given the incessant abuse of Israel by Europeans in general.
Battlefield England, Part Eleven
Speaking of fallout, that from the UCU's decision to advocate a boycott of Israeli academics continues to roil the academic world. Here is an excellent response to the proposal in the London Times: http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article1929259.ece.
More on this same subject can be found here:
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340508
More on this same subject can be found here:
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9340508
Fallout from the Civil War in Gaza
The Jerusalem Post's Khaled Touameh writes an astute analysis of the fallout from Hamas' rout of Fatah in Gaza: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813038998&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Personally, I don't honestly think that this changes much. Hamas is run by religiously-inspired anti-Semites. Fatah is run by secular anti-Semites. They both want to kill as many Jews as they possibly can.
More on the Hamas takeover in Gaza from Con Coughlin of the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3YN1R0U0TPQRHQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/opinion/2007/06/15/do1502.xml, and from Shmuel Rosner in Slate Magazine: http://www.slate.com/id/2168399/pagenum/all/#page_start.
Personally, I don't honestly think that this changes much. Hamas is run by religiously-inspired anti-Semites. Fatah is run by secular anti-Semites. They both want to kill as many Jews as they possibly can.
More on the Hamas takeover in Gaza from Con Coughlin of the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3YN1R0U0TPQRHQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/opinion/2007/06/15/do1502.xml, and from Shmuel Rosner in Slate Magazine: http://www.slate.com/id/2168399/pagenum/all/#page_start.
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