Anti-Semitism makes a local appearance

This region of the country, like any other, is not immune from the stain of anti-Semitism. Three Temple University students have surrendered to police and a fourth is being sought after two Jewish students were violently assaulted outside the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080229_Three_Temple_students_surrender_in_hate_attack.html. While I am pleased about the reaction of police to this crime, I do wonder where the national condemnations are. So-called "civil rights leaders" such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have been silent. Maybe, just maybe, it's because they aren't really civil righs leaders at all. They're pressure group advocates, and nothing more..............

Disproportionately victimized

In a post earlier today, I discussed the neverending barrage of rockets being directed by Hamas operatives (or with their blessing) at the Israeli village of Sderot, and Israpundit has linked to a Bret Stephens piece in the Wall Street Journal which notes correctly that no other country would ever put up with something like this: http://www.israpundit.com/2008/?p=342.

Would Americans put up with a barrage of rockets directed at San Diego from over the Mexican border? Would Russia put up with rockets being launched from any of its former republics (look at Grozny in Chechnya and I think that the answer to that question is fairly obvious)? Would China put up with rockets being launched at it from Taiwan? I could go through countless other examples and the answer would always be an unequivocal and emphatic "no". Yet Israel endures the rockets day after day, from a territory that has been completely Judenrein since August of 2005, and still it faces constant criticism--including from the U.S. State Department and its lackey-in-chief, Condoleeza Rice--that it needs to end the "siege" of Gaza. As Stephens succinctly puts it in his Op-Ed, "no rockets, no siege". Frankly, if anything, Israel's response to the rockets has been disproportionately WEAK.

Move along, nothing to see here............

Let's see, a man in a Las Vegas hotel room is now in a coma because the deadly poison Ricin was found in his room, and the article makes NO mention of his name, ethnicity, etc.? Are you kidding me? The article can be found here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_re_us/motel_hazardous_material.

I could very easily be proven wrong (and want very much for that to be the case), but why do I have a feeling that the powerful forces of political correctness are at work here?

Moving north

Having effectively rendered Sderot a ghost town, the Islamofascists of Hamas have turned their attention to the much larger city of Ashkelon, and now it too is being subjected to rocket attacks: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/29/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians.php. This seems to concern absolutely no one at all, or no one outside Israel, as the disgraceful Condoleeza Rice criticizes Israel for its "pressure" on Gaza. Well, what's going to happen when a full-scale invasion of Gaza takes place, as becomes increasingly inevitable with new rocket attack? Given the current state of the American-Israeli relationship (the worst it has been in nearly 20 years), I strongly suspect that the U.S. would fall into line with Europe, Russia and China in condemning any legitimate Israeli response to the neverending series of acts of war by Gaza.

Israeli is truly alone now..............

Disappointed, but not surprised

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has abandoned his plan to teach the Holocaust to grade school children in France: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/142358. There has been a loud and vigorous campaign mounted against the plan on the part of the left in France because, God Forbid, any child should be exposed to the horror of the Holocaust, which might scar them for life (or so they said), though if you ask me, I suspect that the French left was merely kowtowing to the Islamofascists in the country, who were vehemently opposed to the Sarkozy plan.

The bottom line is that once again, France's Jews have been given the short end of the stick. As I asked with the Jews in the U.K., so I ask with those in France--Why do you even live there?

San Francisco Recap

As it turned out, my one post from the City by the Bay was my only post from the place. Work duties prevented me from seeing as much of the city as I wanted, but I was able to see enough to know that I would like to go back someday soon, hopefully with Mrs. BHG. Those who can afford to live there are fortunate indeed................

San Francisco Blogging, Part One

I arrived mid-afternoon, and was fortunate enough to find out upon arrival that my meeting today was canceled. So, I made the most of the limited time I had and took in the Fisherman's Wharf area, which I thought was very cool (aside from the two people walking behind me who were discussing how Fidel Castro was an "underrated leader", and how this country would have been better off if he were the president instead of President Bush). I then took a drive down Lombard Street, and all I can say is this; if you haven't seen this street live, you are definitely missing something. The view from my hotel room, which is in the Financial District, is amazing. I am looking over virtually the entire San Francisco Bay. I can see why those people who live here are so attached to the place, the politics notwithstanding. I have business meetings pretty much all of the next two days, and then fly back home on Thursday. However, somehow, someway, I am hoping to squeeze in a visit to Alcatraz. We'll see if that actually happens.

More later!

Blogging will be light to nonexistent..........

............over the next four or so days, as I travel to San Francisco for work. I'll try to squeeze some in here and there, but it may not be possible.

Here we go again

Apparently, the Europeans feel as though they don't have quite enough anti-Israel bodies on their continent, so they're creating yet another one, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3509936%2C00.html, a court in which Israel will be tried for war crimes.

I sincerely hope that Israel has the good sense to completely ignore this legal sham.

And we get what for this privilege?

Absolutely nothing. Those of us blessed enough to live in the Garden State are among the most heavily taxed people in the entire country, and the only ones who seem to derive any benefit from this are our public sector union members: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120372623083687123.html. In the meantime, our debt is completely out of control, and the likelihood is that given that debt, even higher taxes will be imposed on us.

If it weren't for the fact that Mrs. BHG and the little BHG's are so happy here, I would seriously consider moving...............

Oh, shut up.......

Willie Nelson who previously revealed himself as a 9/11 Truther (which he denies), is now on the record as calling for President Bush's impeachment, because the EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVIIIIILLLLLLLLLLL Bush 43 Administration might cancel the election in order to stay in power: http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/022108kvuewilliegeorge-cb.1627e0ec.html.

The Angry Left is getting, well............angrier. I'm at a loss to say anything else.

It's okay; after all, they're only Jews

Melanie Phillips delivers a stinging indictment of the rabidly anti-Israel nature of the British press, which has gone so far as to ignore terrorist plots because it is too busy publishing articles blaming Israel for all of the ills in the world: http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/516766/a-curious-sense-of-priority.thtml.

Why any Jews still live in the U.K. is beyond me.

Creepy Obama story of the day

This one is just a tad bizarre. Apparently, the aspiring President has a head cold, and he had to stop a speech briefly to blow his nose. Those in attendance..............applauded him: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/even_blowing_his_nose_obama_ge.html.

His supporters are starting to remind of the Ron Paul supporters.

Nope, no bias here, just keep moving, nothing to see.......

Let's see. The New York Times has apparently been working on a story on John McCain's 2000 Presidential campaign, with the focus of the story being the allegedly improper relationship the Arizona Senator had with a lobbyist: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin. There are two implied accusations in the story: 1) That McCain was involved in influence peddling, and 2) That his relationship with the (female) lobbyist went beyond professional. Notably, in making these claims, the largely unsourced story relies on second- and third-hand knowledge. Essentially, it's hearsay, and not very reliable hearsay at that.

As well, the timing of this is jus so suspect. By all accounts, the Times has been sitting on this story for months. Yet, it waits until now, once McCain has effectively secured the Republican Presidential nomination, to publish this. Why? I can't think of any other reason than that the Times is beginning its process of attempting to torpedo a man they think stands a decent chance of keeping the White House out of the Democrats' hands. Maybe I'm out on an island in so believing, but I can't see it any other way.

The rhetoric heats up........

............between Iran and Israel. The lovely and talented (ha ha) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refers to Israel as a "black and dirty microbe", and a "savage animal". Because chutzpah is apparently a foreign concept to Iran, the country then asked the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israel when the latter refused to take all options off the table in dealing with Iran's nuclear programme. For more on these stories, go here:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_nrxYSrTbp_LIZcVU4VGCBpQ0hQ, and here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gODcXZcNwLtYm1ZGdmE2AY6qbMAwD8UUGV2O0.

The world at large seems to have forgotten this, so let me try to remind it: The last person who said that he wanted to kill all the Jews actually went out and tried to do it.

Message sent

The U.S. Military has successfully shot down a spy satellite which was (so the story goes) in a decaying orbit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dead_satellite. I don't know whether this is true or not, but I DO strongly suspect that the shoot down was intended to send a not-so-subtle message to China--and possibly Russia, too--that we can shoot down satellites as well. How the Chinese react to this will be anybody's guess..............

Chris Matthews gets out of Barack Obama's lap........

.............and actually asks one of his supporters some tough questions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGeu_4Ekx-o. This is kind of shocking, given that Matthews long ago succumbed to Obamamania, but it is absolutely fascinating to watch him grill a Texas State Senator who supports Obama on what the man's legislative accomplishments are (which is to say, none).

If there are any Obama supporters who read my blog, can you name anything the man has accomplished?

In praise of President Bush

It's not coming from me. No, it's from a most unexpected source, a popular music star long known for his philanthropic work, Bob Geldof: http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishwrap/2008/02/bob_geldof_in_rwanda.html. It seems as though the Bush 43 Administration has done "more than any other" presidency in helping Africa deal with disease and poverty, and Mr. Geldof is ticked off that no one seems to be reporting on this.

While I am pleased that at least one entertainment figure out there is not suffering from BDS, I have to ask why he is surprised? Did he expect the MSM to suddenly deviate from its mantra that everyone in the world hates President Bush? Why in the world would (for example) the New York Times or Washington Post ever want to report on that? No, it's left to "conservative" publications such as the Washington Times and Investor's Business Daily (http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=288317081951060) to publicize this story.

Winds of change in Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani President, received a stunning and unequivocal rebuke from Pakistani voters the other day, when his governing party was virtually obliterated in the election which was held: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120347037589978727.html. More significantly, the Islamists, who Mr. Musharraf had used as a political tool to maintain Western support in general and American support in particular, were equally thrashed.

Who will take power now in the world's only Muslim nuclear power (until Iran achieves its goal, that is)? Probably a coalition of parties that are thankfully also pro-Western. It could be that Pakistan is pulling itself back from the brink of civil war, as was the situation in late December, after Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. We can only hope that that is indeed the case...........

Yet another example of why the U.N. cannot be taken seriously

The head of the U.N.'s counter-terrorism department is on the record now as denying any link between Islam and terrorism: http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1885487&Language=en. Really? I must have missed it when Buddhists started flying planes into buildings, or when Christians blew themselves up at Passover Seders, or when Jews blew up those trains in Spain, or when Hindus bombed the London Underground in July of 2005.