An unhappy repetition of history

Those of us old enough to remember it can recall the "stagflation" days of the 1970s and early 1980s. A former Federal Reserve banker is pointing out that the current economic situation bears a distressingly similar echo to those days, though with one important, ominous distinction: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120511152715823437.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. That distinction is this: At least in the 1970s, we were fairly honest with ourselves about our economic indices. That is not the case now. How can you have a true measure of inflation where the cost of fuel and food is excluded? It would seem to me that strictly from a "logical" standpoint, that is where the analysis should begin. All of us, with few exceptions, have fuel costs (oil, gas, etc., to heat our homes, fuel for our cars, or fuel for the public transportation we use), and everyone without exception have to eat.

If the government won't even be honest with us about this basic fact, how can we trust it on this or any other issue?

So funny............and so unfortunately true

I've often linked to the inimitable Pat Condell, who is as forthright as he is funny. I don't share his complete contempt for all religion, but when he gets on a rant about Islamofascism, he's absolutely priceless: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30a_1204991129.

Watch, listen and enjoy............

Can't they keep it in their pants?

There's apparently a sex epidemic of sorts going on in the U.K.........only it's not between men and women. No, no, it's between men and various inanimate objects such as a vacuum cleaner, lamp post and bicycle: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2008/03/06/noindex/nlamppost106.xml. You have to wonder what would possesss a man to look at his mountain bike and think, "Say...........that's kind of cute! Maybe I'll get lucky with it tonight!"

There's something to be said for being consistent

Once again, an Arab state has blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the horrific Palestinian terrorist attack yesterday at the Yeshivah in Jerusalem: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBPlt_Tm5R4AtqFpaRdXCXoYlJdgD8V8DGE80. Of course, it's not like the U.S. did so much to push for the resolution, and I'd be willing to bet that Condoleeza Rice was probably blaming Israel for the atrocity in private conversations.

Once again, the United Nations has demonstrated its utter uselessness in the face of evil. On the other hand, the Human Rights Commission did manage to find the time to once again condemn Israel: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gas24zdOxdQcBQRTEuKAHPpObsPgD8V84ELG0. You can be 100% certain that the HRC will have nothing to say about the terrorist attack on the Yeshivah.

Well, if you say so!

Susan Rice, a policy advisor to Barack Obama, is apparently quite put off by the Hillary Clinton ad which suggests strongly that Obama is not ready for prime time when it comes to dealing with major foreign affairs crises. You see, in her view, NEITHER one of them is qualified to take that midnight phone call: http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/03/is_obama_ready_for_prime_time.asp. And just for good measure, even Hillary Clinton acknowledges that John McCain is vastly more qualified to be President than Barack Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMVOT-IH8sg&eurl=http://www.towleroad.com/2008/03/clinton-endorse.html.

It's rare that you see that kind of honesty in politics.

They must be so proud of themselves

Arab terrorists attacked a Jewish seminary in Jerusualem today, killing several (the exact number is not yet known) students and wounding many more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/06/mideast/index.html. Here's the line that struck me in the CNN article: "CNN's Ben Wedeman in Gaza reported celebratory shooting shortly after the attack."

Yup, nothing like dead Jews to really get one to feel good about oneself. These are the people with whom Israel is supposed to make peace, right? Sure, that's going to happen REALLY soon....................

Civilized countries do this?

It's a minor (at best) story on this continent, but talk to any Japanese national about North Korean abductions and you will get a definite reaction: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120475201742314523.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. I can't conceive of sending agents over to anoher country and simply kidnapping random civilians. What, there aren't enough people in your own country to torture?

An oldie but a goodie.........

Dan Rather, Katie Couric, and an Israeli sergeant were all captured by terrorists in Iraq. The leader of the terrorists told them that he would grant them each one last request before they were beheaded.

Dan Rather said, "Well, I'm a Texan, so I'd like one last bowlful of hot spicy chili." The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the chili. Rather ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."

Katie Couric said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end." The leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and Couric dictated some comments. She then said, "Now I can die happy."

The leader turned and said, "And now , Mr. Israeli tough guy, what is your final wish?" "Kick me in the ass," said the soldier.""What?" asked the leader? "Will you mock us in your last hour?" "No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," insisted the Israeli. So the leader shoved him into the open and kicked him in the ass. The soldier went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from under his flack jacket, and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he jumped to his knapsack, pulled out his carbine and sprayed the terrorists with gunfire. In a flash, all terrorists were either dead or fleeing for their lives.

As the soldier was untying Rather and Couric, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them in the beginning? Why did you ask them to kick you in the ass first?""What?" replied the Israeli, "And have you two assholes report that I was the aggressor?"

Obscene, even by the warped standards of The Guardian

Seamas Milne of The Guardian is well known for his hatred of the West in general, and the United States and Israel in particular. After all, this is the same guy who, just two days after 9/11, wrote a piece blaming it on the United States: http://www.alhewar.org/SEPTEMBER%2011/americans_cannot_ignore.htm. In today's edition of the paper, he has combined his hatred of both in one, all-encompassing, vile diatribe: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/05/israelandthepalestinians.usa. He begins by accusing Israel of promising a "Holocaust" for the Palestinians (another blood libel which has already been debunked), goes from there to the canard that the Qassam and Katyusha rockets are "home made" (another myth), and it goes downhill from there.

He accuses Israel of occuppying Gaza, even though Gaza has been Judenrein for over 2 1/2 years, and claims that Israel controls all access to the terrorist statelet, a claim which I am sure surprises Egypt whose Gaza barricade was so famously (temporarily) destroyed by Hamas last month, and repeats his call for Israel to commit demographic suicide by admitting all "expelled refugees". At one point, his venomous poison becomes almost comical, as he accuses the BBC of being "pro-Israel".

This is what Israel is up against in the European Press. Is it any wonder why the state is hated by Western Europeans?

Primary season isn't over just yet...........

............at least not on the Democratic side. Dealing with the Republicans first, however, John McCain has now officially clinched the party's Presidential nomination, leaving as the only mystery who he will select as his running mate. We will likely have to wait several months to find that out.

On the Democratic side, the intrigue and suspense continue, as Hillary Clinton captured narrow wins in Ohio and Texas (as well as Rhode Island) to offset Barack Obama's win in Vermont: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_delegates. Given Obama's failure to put Clinton away yesterday, there is now one big primary left, Pennsylvania, which will take place in April. I'm sure that Keystone State voters did not think that they would have the option of being kingmakers, but that's exactly what's apparently going to happen. What happened yesterday in the Democratic primaries was the best possible outcome for John McCain, one would think. Now, the Democrats will continue to spend money and pound each other while he (McCain) marshals his forces and positions himself for November. As well, there exists at least a possibility that given the near dead heat between Obama and Clinton, the party will be sharply divided after the convention this coming summer. Time will tell, of course, but it certainly makes for good reading!

Here's why "civilians" get killed

So much is being made in the West (and especially in Israel-hating Europe) about the deaths of "civilians" at the hands of the Zionist/Fascist/Nazi/Imperialist Jews. There is an extremely telling line in the Haaretz story on the recent Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip which I think is illustrative of the fact that the Western media either doesn't "get it" when it comes to the mentality of the Palestinian terrorists. The story can be found here: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/960855.html.

The line is as follows: "The officers said some of the Palestinian civilians were hit by "heavy and inaccurate" Palestinian fire. In one case an officer saw a boy of about 10 sent to bring a weapon from a dead gunman. The officer ordered his men not to fire and the boy delivered the weapon to other armed men."

Gee, when you send 10-year old out do deliver weapons on a battlefield, you think that there just might be a casualty or two? Now, I have no doubt that this is exactly what Hamas wants, but why does the Western media have to be so complicit in this scam?

Hypocrisy, thy middle name is "Steinem"

Yesterday, I blogged about how feminist icon Gloria Steinem trashed John McCain and said that his military service at best didn't matter and at worst was a negative. Well, turns out that four years ago, she was singing a very different tune: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,605468,00.html.

I guess that when you're a Democrat, military service IS something of which you should be proud. Then again, we all know how much more distinguished John Kerry's military record is when compared with John McCain's, don't we?

Go to another blog!

Go the Breath of the Beast (on my blogroll), and to the following link, specifically: http://breathofthebeast.blogspot.com/2008/03/think-happy-thoughts-about-people-who.html. It is one of the best outlines and discussions of "Muslim Rage" that you can ever hope to read.

When is being a genuine war hero a minus?

When you're talking to a card-carrying member of the Angry Left, of course: http://www.observer.com/2008/stumping-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-p-o-w-cred-overrated. Turns out that in the world in which Gloria Steinem lives, being a hero such as John McCain (who even his most ardent critics have--to this point--acknowledged IS a war hero) is at best overrated and at worst a detriment to his serving as the Commander-in-Chief. Yup, that war hero crap is just SO passe...................

I find it interesting that Steinem has so much to say on this subject, but she's dead silent on the issue of honour killings or the gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia...................

Is ANYONE paying attention?

I don't care if it's repetitive, I'm going to keep blogging about the sagging economy and its effect on ALL of us. Oil prices just hit a new all-time high, and much of the reason for this latest spike in prices is the continuing collapse of the U.S. Dollar: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080303/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices. This collapse affects virtually everything we do and buy, the price of oil just being the most obvious example. In a domino-like effect, this causes products we buy to become more expensive, as transportation costs rise. No matter what you buy, you'll pay more for it as well as more to go to the place to buy it. This higher cost is most evident in the cost of food, where such staples as milk, bread and fruit are more expensive than they were less than a year ago.

All of this ties directly into the fall of the Greenback, which itself is to a large degree based on our government's incredible state of indebtedness. People around the world (as well as here) have no faith in our economy to pull itself together. And don't get too excited about those "economic stimulus" checks that many of us are supposed to receive at some poin in the next couple of months. First of all, writing these checks will put the government is even more debt, which is the last thing we need. That will cause even further selling of U.S. Dollars, which will in turn drive oil prices up even higher, and round and round we go. Second--and this is a dirty little secret that the President, Congress and the IRS didn't share with anyone--did you all know that those checks will be considered to be taxable income? Yup, after taxing us to get our money, and then holding it, the government gives a tiny fraction of it back to us and is going to tax us on it again. Isn't that special? My advice to everyone is to NOT spend the money. Set aside a chunk of it for taxes, and then put the rest into a savings account. Believe me, you're going to need it.............

European Union condemns Israel

This headline ranks right up there with "Sun rises in the morning", "Miami found to be south of Montreal", and "Summer is warmer than winter" in terms of its surprise effect. Yet, it still bears discussing: http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL02415205. That the EU has condemned Israel's "disproportionate" response in Gaza to the neverending series of rockets attacks is not a shock at all. Sure, the EU statement contains the mandatory "Rocket attacks are bad, too", but that's just so that the Euroweenies can make the pretense of being somewhat objective about the situation. The fact of the matter, however, is that the EU long ago picked a side in this dispute. It is an enemy of Israel, to put it even more bluntly. The sooner that Israel realizes this, the better off it will be.

Canada caves

This is the most disappointing story I read today. Canada's Conservative government has indicated that no matter what, the Canadian involvement in the NATO Afghanistan mission will end in the year 2011: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=11147521-453f-478c-86ff-7a8dc9a66abb&k=16514. This represents a "victory" for the opposition Liberal Party, which ironically is the party which first sent Canadian troops to Afghanistan. So, it looks like dealing with the Taliban and al Qaeda in the country will be left to the U.S. and U.K.

Some sporting thoughts for a Sunday night

I was watching the sports earlier this evening and saw that the Phillies renewed star lefthander Cole Hamels' contract for $500,000. Now, that is their right, but it certainly does not mean that it was smart, because Hamels is no fool, and A) He knows that he is by far the best pitcher on the team, and one of the best young starters in the majors, and B) he is grossly underpaid by today's standards, and as a result, he is already bitter. So, Hamels will be a free agent in three or four years--I'm not sure exactly how long he has--and I would be willing to bet just about anything that he will be gone from the team as soon as he possibly can. Good move, Phillies....................As loathe as I am to admit it, I think that right now the Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the NBA. Yes, I know that the Celtics still have the league's best record, and the Rockets have won 15 in a row, but after the Lakers fleeced the Grizzlies in acquiring Pau Gasol, they now have the complimentary player for Kobe Bryant that the team has needed ever since Shaquille O'Neal became a resident of South Florida. Don't be surprised if the season doesn't end with yet another title in Tinseltown................................This came as a shock to me, as a Montreal Canadiens fan. Last night, when the Habs beat the Devils 2-1 to move into first place overall in the Eastern Conference, it marked the latest the the team has been in first place in the conference since the 1992-1993 season. Now, I am holding no illusions about Montreal winning the Cup this year, as it did 15 years ago, but for the first time since that year, there are some glimmers of optimism in the form of a young, fast group of forwards and a rookie goalie whose style of play reminds a lot of people of all-world goalie Roberto Luongo. The Canadiens will not make it out of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and may very well go out in the first round, but the building blocks are there for the team to be a consistent playoff contender for a while................................It's just Manny being Manny. Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox has hired the Darth Vader of the sports agent world, Scott Boras. Before Red Sox fans go searching for a cliff off of which they can throw themselves, however, it should be noted that Boras actually has a pretty good relationship with Sawx management, one of the few teams about which that can be said. So, it's not a given that ManRam will be history once his contract runs out...........................Several countries' Olympic committees are barring their athletes from doing or saying anything political while they are in China for this year's Summer Olympics. The idea is that "sports and politics aren't supposed to mix". Well, if there is anything that the 1968 (John Carlos, et al.), 1972 (Black September), 1980 (Afghanistan) and 1984 (Soviets get their revenge) Olympics taught us, it's that the Olympics are ALL about politics. Those athletes who wish to speak their minds should be allowed to do so, and if the Chinese don't like it, too bad for them.................................My Miami Hurricanes scored one of the top recruiting classes in the country in terms of young football talent. These players do not always turn out to be studs in college, but the fact that Miami finally locked down a top-level recruiting class shows that if nothing else, Coach Randy Shannon has acquired former Head Coach Butch Davis' ability to keep home a good chunk of the rich talent base in Southeast Florida. Let's just hope that Shannon can also prove that he is a good coach.................................A friend privately accused me of playing favourites by not trashing Roger Clemens the same way that I went after Barry Bonds. Frankly, at this point I am "steroided" out, but I'll say this. Clemens (in my view) is just as much of a cheater and a liar as Bonds, and his "records" are just as suspect. Neither one belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Let the anti-Israel propagandizing begin

The cowed and meek government of Ehud Olmert is finally doing something about the thousands of rockets that have rained down on Sderot and other Israeli towns since the Israeli pullout from Gaza in August of 2005, and articles like this are the result: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6018d1e9-6d47-41ae-bf2e-7aed44e2896e&k=33383.

I don't even know where to start. The article accuses Israel of indiscriminately killing "civilians", but let's not forget that Palestinians inevitably overstate both who is a civilian (for example, those launching the rockets are considered by Palestinian sources to be "civilians") as well as the number of dead. Next, and as might be expected, Israel is being condemned by Europeans for using "disproportionate force". I think that anyone with half a brain would accept that that no matter what Israel did to address the rocket attacks, it would be regarded by the EU as "disproportionate". Then again, given that the Europeans have mastered the art of killing each other off in huge numbers over the years, I guess that they know whereof they speak on this issue.

The article also refers to Israel "killing a 14-year old boy". Of course, no mention is made of what the boy may have been doing, or where he was.

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised by any of this, and I'm not. Of course, that it's not surprising doesn't make it any less upsetting.........

UPDATE (8:06 a.m., 3/3/08): The "blood libel" is already being employed as a propaganda tool by newspapers in the U.K.: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-only-a-new-president-can-end-gazas-nightmare-790494.html.

Like father, like sons

George Steinbrenner was never shy (and presumably still isn't) about speaking his mind, especially when it came to the subject of the despised Boston Red Sox. Turns out that his sons, Hank and Hal, who now run the team, don't harbour much love for the Red Sox or their fans either: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3271124&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines.

No such thing as Red Sox Nation, eh? I was at the Red Sox-Phillies games here during the 2006 season, and there were at least as many Boston fans at the games as Philadelphia fans. A good friend of mine was at an Orioles-Red Sox game in Baltimore last summer, and the poor Orioles were treated like they were the road team. Methinks the Steinbrenner boys might want to rethink their comments............