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10/18/03
Gregg Easterbrook should not have been fired
Hey, I'm still not happy with what he wrote, and you can read below that I'm not fully satisfied with his apology, but I didn't call for, and don't agree with, his being fired. I'm with Roger on this one.
Here's the email contact form for ESPN's Page 2, where Easterbrook used to have TMQ.
I sent a letter. Go to it, folks. permalink
Easterbrook: An unapologetic apology?
Tim Rutten of the L.A. Times has a piece on the Easterbrook controversy that slaps him down pretty hard.
Update Sunday, Oct. 19: Sometimes, something that you write has unexpected consequences. I think I'm going to leave the lead of this post as is, and remove the rest of it. Time to move on over this subject, and if you've linked to it from another blog, sorry. I've removed the rest of the text. permalink
10/17/03
Malaysia's FM: Some of our best friends are Jews
Okay, that may be an exaggeration. But check out this quote:
"The prime minister's statement is a statement calling for moderation, calling not to utilize violence to achieve our objective, start to think, look at the example of what the Jewish community achieved," he said. "They are small in number but they are strong. So what's wrong with that?"
Let's look one more time at what Mahathir actually said:
The enemy will probably welcome these proposals and we will conclude that the promoters are working for the enemy. But think. We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also.
Yeah, that's a call for moderation. Nope, no violence there. Nuh-uh. Nothing to see here, move along.
I think we're going to have to widen our palestinian spokesperson rule to Malaysian spokesperson. How can you tell when they're lying? Their lips are moving.
And now, I'm out of here for the day, but if you've been particularly entertained or pleased this week with what you've read, hitting my wishlist would be a nice way to show it. I've added a few things. permalink
Gregg Easterbrook has apologized. Surprisingly, the New York Times picked up the Easterbrook controversy. There are more than a few bloggers who vehemently disagreed with my viewpoint on the issue (two of those three are on Blogspot; their archives will doubtless not work). I've been trying to find time to explain exactly why what Easterbrook said was offensive, as they seem to be unwilling to so much as allow that Jews could be offended by what was written. I'll get to it later in the weekend, because it's an important topic.
In the meantime, yes, reader Eric G. and I accept Easterbrook's apology. I'm glad he made the effort. I do believe he intended no offense, but you know what they say about good intentions.
On the other hand, no, Ryan, I won't be taking back what I wrote. But you might want to. Here's a tip: In the future, write about the words of mine that you have actually read, not words that you have made up in your head. When you write "Yourish seems to be saying," you are only expressing your lack of reading comprehension. Anyone who has read my blog for any substantial length of time knows that I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. You don't have to read between the lines here. Nowhere did I so much as imply that a non-Jew may not criticize Jews.
Don't put words in my mouth, and I won't think the worse of you for it. permalink
News media whitewashing, 101: Read Mahathir's real message
Here's the full text of Moonbat Mahathir's speech, via the ever-watchful LGF. I strongly recommend you read it. Because you haven't been hearing the entire text. The news media have been cutting out much of the bile and hate, in spite of the worldwide condemnation of the speech's anti-Semitism. (Update: Some of you have said you can't get to the article. I've cut and pasted the full text here.)
This is what AP has been circulating:
We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking. They invented Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power.
This is the full text of the quote. The omissions are in boldface. Notice how crucial the omissions are. Notice how the phrase "the enemy" (meaning the Jews) is excised from all the quotes you've been reading.
The enemy will probably welcome these proposals and we will conclude that the promoters are working for the enemy. But think. We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also.
Let's go see what other quotes have been mangled, shall we? AP says:
Our only reaction is to become more and more angry. Angry people cannot think properly. And so we find some of our people acting irrationally. They launch their own attacks, killing just about everybody including fellow Muslims to vent their anger and frustration.
The moonbat said (notice again, he mentions "the enemy," which, this time, I believe, is the West):
Our only reaction is to become more and more angry. Angry people cannot think properly. And so we find some of our people reacting irrationally. They launch their own attacks, killing just about anybody including fellow Muslims to vent their anger and frustration. Their governments can do nothing to stop them. The enemy retaliates and puts more pressure on the governments. And the governments have no choice but to give in, to accept the directions of the enemy, literally to give up their independence of action.
AP says:
There is a feeling of hopelessness among the Muslim countries and their people. They feel they can do nothing right. They believe that things can only get worse.
The moonbat said (and yes, you should be thinking Richard Dawson):
There is a feeling of hopelessness among the Muslim countries and their people. They feel that they can do nothing right. They believe that things can only get worse. The Muslims will forever be oppressed and dominated by the Europeans and the Jews. They will forever be poor, backward and weak. Some believe, as I have said, this is the Will of Allah, that the proper state of the Muslims is to be poor and oppressed in this world.
AP says:
But is it true that we should do and can do nothing for ourselves? Is it true that 1.3 billion people can exert no power to save themselves from the humiliation and oppression inflicted on them by a much smaller enemy? Is there no other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people?
The moonbat said:
But is it true that we should do and can do nothing for ourselves? Is it true that 1.3 billion people can exert no power to save themselves from the humiliation and oppression inflicted upon them by a much smaller enemy? Can they only lash back blindly in anger? Is there no other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people?
Can't say they lash out in anger. That would go against the "suicide bombers are driven by desperation" meme.
Here's the biggest excision (is that a word?) that I could find. The AP says:
"We must not antagonize everyone. We must win their hearts and minds. We must win them to our side not by begging for help from them but by the honorable way that we struggle to help ourselves. We must not strengthen the enemy by pushing everyone into their camps through irresponsible and un-Islamic acts.
But the Moonbat Matathir said:
We must not antagonise everyone. We must win their hearts and minds. We must win them to our side not by begging for help from them but by the honourable way that we struggle to help ourselves. We must not strengthen the enemy by pushing everyone into their camps through irresponsible and unIslamic acts. Remember Salah El Din and the way he fought against the so-called Crusaders, King Richard of England in particular. Remember the considerateness of the Prophet to the enemies of Islam. We must do the same. It is winning the struggle that is important, not angry retaliation, not revenge.
That sure looks to me like, well, gee. Not moderation. What would be the opposite of moderation to a nutcase who passes out anti-Semitic tracts? Oh, right. Extremism.
There's time for one more, but after that, I'm going to bed, kids. (yourish.com: We lose sleep so you don't have to. New tagline.)
The AP says:
Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think. They are already beginning to make mistakes. There may be windows of opportunities for us now and in the future. We must seize these opportunities.
The moonbat said:
Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think. They are already beginning to make mistakes. And they will make more mistakes. There may be windows of opportunity for us now and in the future. We must seize these opportunities. But to do so we must get our acts right. Rhetoric is good. It helps us to expose the wrongs perpetrated against us, perhaps win us some sympathy and support. It may strengthen our spirit, our will and resolve, to face the enemy.
In other words, lie, lie, lie. Say anything, but win sympathy for our side. And when we have enough sympathy, we'll kill all the Jews. I'm sorry, I mean, "the enemy."
Have I mentioned how much I loathe the news media these days? Well, there's one news source I loathe above all: I have been unable to find any reference at all to Mahathir's speech on the main Reuters website. I saw something on Reuters UK earlier today but can't find it again, and I may be mistaken about that. Astonishing. Nothing on the speech on Reuters. Google News can't find it, either. And yet, I find that I am not surprised. permalink
10/16/03
The Jerusalem Post has an analysis that jibes with much of what I wrote yesterday.
What is clear so far, however, is that its architects have a sincere interest either in driving the Americans out of the region or linking and punishing the Middle East's two occupiers: Israel and now the US.
They also feel immune to the consequences of the first fatal terror attack against US targets in Israel or the territories.
The perpetrators are no mere ideologues, but expert practitioners of terrorism. Working on accurate intelligence tips, they knew precisely when the convoy entered Gaza, knew which vehicle to hit, had access to powerful explosives, and the expertise to rig them.
While Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah leaders immediately and almost hysterically denied culpability, two relatively anonymous groups – the Public Resistance Committee and the Ansar al-Qaida Palestine (the Disciples of al-Qaida) – jumped in to claim the attacks.
Little is known about Ansar al-Qaida, although the IDF has long warned that al-Qaida elements have infiltrated Gaza, and are working to bankroll terrorism and to bolster terrorists' techniques.
[...] Yet the sophistication and timing of the explosive device that shredded what is called a "Level 5" armored GMC truck, able to withstand RPG fire, hints to Israeli experts that the bombing was an "inside-outside job." The roadside bomb, which had to be planted beforehand on a heavily traveled route and detonated at precisely the right time by remote control, hints at foreign involvement, said Shmuel Bar, a veteran of the intelligence community,.
He noted that any number of foreign forces, from al-Qaida to Iranian agents to Hizbullah, have both the motivation and the expertise for such a bombing.
Still he said, "this is an inside job, these are people who are not unaware of the territory." He noted that the attack likely required the assistance of members of the PA security forces. ...
The attack took place just a few hundred meters from a PA Police checkpoint, and analysts wondered how no one noticed the laying of the device.
We've covered that before. "Bomb? What bomb? I see no bomb, I see a road crew fixing a pothole."
Ha'aretz reports the pals have arrested eight "suspects," but Israel maintains the arrests are purely cosmetic, and that the suspects had nothing to do with the attacks. I find this graf highly amusing:
Among the militants arrested are former membersof the Palestinian security forces. Palestinianpolice briefly exchanged fire with militants intwo of the raids, security officials said.
"Former members of the palestinian security forces"—you know, the ones who are supposed to be disarming the terrorists. But here is the most important portion of that article:
It was established Wednesday that American personnel who coordinate the movements of U.S. officials in the territories communicate travel plans in advance to PA security officials, sending the detailed information by fax or telephone. Such reports spell out the names of persons who are taking part in work trips in the territories, the times when U.S. vehicles are to be moving through various areas, and the routes to be taken by the cars.
In view of this practice of relaying advance information, some analysts speculated Wednesday that the terrorists who perpetrated the attack had advance knowledge of the U.S. convoy's intention to cross into the village of Beit Hanun.
At least a portion of the information attained by the terrorists, the analysts hypothesized, came from official PA sources.
This sort of attack simply had to have the cooperation of the pals. My gut tells me it's the influx of Al Qaeda mixed with the America-hating regulars.
Meantime, the PA claims that the Mossad was behind the attacks. Yawn, yawn, yawn. Anyone here surprised by this claim? Anyone? Bueller?
I'd put up the Reuters version of the events, but y'know, my stomach's a little upset as it is, and I'm not really up for making it worse. You'll have to go look for yourselves. permalink
The ants go marching two by two
Upchuck warning: If you have a low grossness threshold, don't read this post. I'm going to discuss yucky things. I mean, really yucky things. Things I wouldn't like to read about just after a meal, for instance.
Actually, it's not really that gross, but some of you may find it to be totally disgusting and send me nasty emails and, like, I don't get enough nasty emails every time I write about sexism or abortion or Gregg Easterbrook, so I'm trying to prevent nastiness, and, well, I also wanted to write another runon sentence, and so here I am.
So as I was saying a couple of weeks ago, Tig has developed this phobia or neurosis or something maddening that is causing him to compulsively lick his tail and, well, various other parts of his body. And he's a Maine Coon cat, which means he's licking a whole lotta fur. Which means he gets hairballs. Which means he has to expel them. Which means he's been throwing up lately. A lot.
When I came back from my brief, three-day trip to NJ, you would have sworn I had a dozen cats all with hairball problems, because man, there was a lot of cat vomit on the floor. And when I mentioned it to Heidi, who stopped by on Saturday to feed and check on the cats, she seemed surprised. Either she's a great actress, or Tig saved it all for Sunday and Monday. So I'm tired as all hell Monday night after my drive, and I'm cleaning the living room floor, and apparently I missed a spot. Behind the TV, near the picture window in the front of the living room. Because on Tuesday morning, I glanced behind the TV for some reason and discovered that not only did I miss a spot, but the ants were feasting on it. Big sigh. Look for bug spray. Find none. Grab the old reliable, any cleanser with ammonia (Formula 409!), kill the ants with it, clean up the cat puke, look around for any more missed spots. Become astonished at the hidden places and number of times Tig ejected hairballs and the contents of his stomach. Clean more. Swear a lot. Wonder how one tiny cat stomach can hold so much, but then, looking at Tig, he is kinda fat. It just may be time to put him on a diet. Hm.
Anyway. Within a short amount of time, more ants appeared in the now-clean space, which was what I was afraid of. I know they lay a scent trail, and I try desperately to kill all the ants so they don't bring back the smell or whatever they do to lead their buddies to food. So I killed those ants, and kept checking. More ants appear. Kill ants. More ants appear. Kill ants. Still more ants appear. Kill ants. I had this imaginary scene in my head, over at Ant HQ:
"Numbers 1304 to 1382, report to grid 71 for forage."
"Numbers 1383 to 1403, forage party hasn't returned; go to grid 71 and see what's happened."
"Numbers 1404 to 1411, go to grid 71 to see what's happened to rescue party."
"Numbers 1412 to 1417, report to grid 71 and bring back news of the last rescue party."
"Numbers 1418 to 1422, grid 71, and stop grumbling or you'll be on larvae duty for the next three cycles."
I mean, they just kept coming. I'd check every hour or two and sure enough, the little bugs were wandering around, trying to figure out what happened to their food. And then I'd kill them. I feel no sympathy whatsoever for insects; let them live outside, where they belong, and leave my apartment to me, please.
I'm still working on getting Tig to calm down about whatever horrible monster frightened him on the second floor. He seems to have decided that the left side of the bed is not going to eat him, but the right side will. He used to sleep on the right side. Now he sleeps on the left, near my head and shoulders, I suppose for reassurance that he won't be eaten, or maybe in the hopes that the monster will eat me first and he can run away. In the meantime, Gracie has completely claimed the right side of the bed during the night, and the entire bed during the day, obviously reveling in Tig being too afraid to kick her out of any part of it. Last night I had a purring kitty to my right and a purring kitty to my left, which would be an idyllic scene, except for the fact that five minutes prior to the two purring kitties, I was sound asleep—until Tig started yowling and woke me up.
I really am tired of this compulsive washing and Fear Of Second Floor Tig is suffering. But last night he slept in the bed from midnight almost until I woke up this morning, which I think is a good sign. One hairball a week is more than enough, thank you, and one infestation of ants per year is more than enough. Thankfully, they seem to have given up. Or destroyed their leaders and started over again. You never can tell with ants. permalink
But Islam is a religion of peace!
At the Organization of Islamic States, known Jew-hater and prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammad's opening statement:
"They succeeded in gaining control in most of the [world's] powerful states, and they – a tiny community – became a world power. But 1.3 billion Muslims must not be defeated by a few million Jews. A way must be found."
"The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews are in control of the world via their proxies. They lead others to fight and die for them."
He was hardly alone in his sentiments.
Warming to the anti-Semitic theme, the Palestinian delegate Mohammad a-Farrah said, "If we are weak, no one will support us. The Israelis respect only the strong, and we must therefore all unite."
So who's the moderate at the conference? Hold onto your hats, you won't believe it:
Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf has been a leading progressive voice at the confernce: "We stand at crossroad of our future destiny," Australia's ABC reported him saying. "We have to decide whether militancy, extremism and confrontation will lead us to our emancipation, or a focus on our social economic well-being will benefit us."
Here are more excerpts, none of which can be found on Reuters as yet. Read them all.
But is it true that we should do and can do nothing for ourselves? Is it true that 1.3 billion people can exert no power to save themselves from the humiliation and oppression inflicted on them by a much smaller enemy? Is there no other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people?"
[...] We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking. They invented Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power.
Notice how the concepts of human rights and democracy are evil Jewish inventions to prevent the world from persecuting the Jews. It astonishes me that this man is not in a rubber room. Say, Mahtir, you think maybe the Jews became powerful because of all that thinking they've done? Ya think?
[...] Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think. They are already beginning to make mistakes. There may be windows of opportunities for us now and in the future. We must seize these opportunities.
Those damned Jews, keeping the Muslims down. But wait, did I read a kernel of truth in this excerpt?
We need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships for our defense. But because we are discouraged from learning of science and mathematics as giving us no merit for the afterlife, today we have no capacity to produce our own weapons for our defense. We have to buy our weapons from our detractors and enemies.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's your religion holding you back, it's our religion holding you back. Make up your mind, moonbat.
I'll be keeping an eye on the major news services to see who doesn't carry this today. permalink
10/15/03
Three Americans were killed in Gaza today by a bomb similar to the kind that are being used to kill American soldiers in Iraq. DEBKAfile, as always, has the most interesting commentary (albeit the least reliable), but I think they are at least right about it being a deliberate attack. It's a signal. But the question is, who sent it?
Israeli security sources confirmed the explosion killed at least three Americans, identifying them as US citizens acting as security guards in the targeted vehicle. Their bodies have been transferred into Israeli possesion. One American was critically injured and airlifted by an IAF helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva. The sources estimated the bomb contained about 75 kilograms of explosives.
Shortly after the attacks IDF tanks, backed by helicopters, entered Beit Lahiya to evacuate the US vehicles.
American security officials arrived on the scene to investigate, but left abruptly after half a dozen Palestinian youths threw stones and rocks at them as about 200 Palestinians looked on.
As the angry crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar" _ "God is great" _ the Americans rushed back into their cars, surrounded by nervous Palestinian security officers with rifles raised. Palestinian police beat some people in the crowd while pushing the spectators back, and the cars sped away under a hail of stones.
No, they weren't celebrating on 9/11. Those were lies and propaganda. Wonder how big the celebration will be today, and if they'll hand out sweets? Found this on the BBC:
But our correspondent says there have been reports of jubilation among Palestinians in a nearby refugee camp - as they get increasingly angry at what they perceive as Washington's one-sided approach to the Mid-East crisis.
Interestingly, I found this initial report from AP:
Palestinian security officials said a suicide bomber jumped in front of the vehicle, while witnesses said a roadside bomb or land mine apparently went off under the car.
Once again, the illustration of the mendacity of palestinian spokesmen: Their lips were moving.
Here's the Ha'aretz analysis:
The attack could impact on U.S. relations with the Palestinians. The area where the attack took place was under full Palestinian control. Israel handed it over to the Palestinians after Abbas took office earlier this year.
The Americans will demand that the Palestinian Authority investigate the attack and find the perpetrators. If the PA fails to do this, it will lose what little credibility it has left in the eyes of the Americans.
In the immediate aftermath of the bomb attack on the convoy, Israel is making the argument it has been trying to make since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S. and since the war in Iraq – that it and America are facing the same enemy. That the enemy in Baghdad is the same as the enemy in Gaza.
This is the first time that Americans have been successfully targeted since the start of the intifada, and this will strengthen those who oppose international deployment in the territories. It shows that the PA cannot provide security.
While there has not been a claim of responsibility so far, the attack seems to be a hostile message to the Americans who are viewed by many Palestinians as being strongly biased toward Israel. In recent weeks, Bush has backed the Israeli air strike near Damascus and the Americans have used their veto power in the United Nations Security Council to thwart resolutions critical of Israel.
I don't see that the pals have any credibility left with the Bush administration, but it will be interesting to see the spin the pro-pals try to put on this one.
Some things to remember: Al Qaeda has been welcomed into the terroritories and has been working with the pals to make their bombs and methods deadlier. Palestinian terrorists have been captured in Iraq, working with the Ba'athists to kill Americans. Was this a first shot in a new front of terror against Americans? Perhaps. Is DEBKA correct when its analysts say Arafat wants to go out in a wave of terror? I wouldn't doubt that in the least. That is how he has lived his entire life. He stops the attacks only when he needs to do so to achieve something that he thinks he can't achieve through terror. Was this an attack meant for the IDF and "accidentally" targeting Americans?
No. The convoy was clearly marked, and it had palestinian security with it. Plus there was this:
An Associated Press reporter at the scene reported there was a gray wire with an on-off switch leading from the scene of the attack to a small concrete room at the side of the road.
They built a room to withstand the force of the explosion, from which they could run as soon as they set off the bomb. This one was planned long in advance, and as to how they knew when the target would be available: The convoy was escorted by palestinian security forces.
Arafat has more American blood on his hands. permalink
10/14/03
The latest stories are a day old, but still fascinating. The old fart does, indeed, appear to be on his last legs.
The US is hoping for removal of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by a "non-violent" coup presaged by a report suggesting Arafat is so ill he cannot carry out his duties, according to a report in the Saudi newspaper Al Watan.
US officials are already trying to organize a joint Palestinian leadership that would rule until elections are held in the Palestinian Authority, the Saudi paper reported Monday. A translation of the report appeared on the Jordanian website albawaba.com
Go ahead, say it out loud. You know you want to: Albawaba! Albawaba! Albawaba!
The Saudi paper also said Americans are beginning to suggest that Arab leaders and European officials should persuade Arafat to resign and maybe move to an Arab or European country.
Yeah, that's going to happen, because everyone knows that Arafat is the kind of guy who puts his people first, his own needs last.
The paper, citing US, Palestinian and European diplomatic sources, listed potential candidates for the joint leadership of a post-Arafat period, including: former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, current PM Ahmed Qurei, Former Security Minister Muhammad Dahlan, National Security Advisor Jibril Rajoub and General Intelligence Chief Amin Al Hindi.
Fight! Fight! Let's start a new Dead Pool: The Palestinian Civil War Dead Pool. See if you can predict who's still standing a year from Arafat's deathday.
Palestinian officials have denied reports of any significant deterioration of Arafat's health, and his doctors have been quoted as saying he is recuperating from a severe gastrointestinal virus. Arafat has been reported to be looking in better health at recent public appearances.
Once again, how can you tell when a palestinian spokesperson is lying? Their lips are moving. permalink
Lynn B. has a boatload of worthy posts from the last week or so. Check out her latest, on the so-called "Geneva Agreement," which I'd been putting off writing about because, well, it would be as if some Dems went to the United Nations and tried to hammer out an agreement on Iraq. They have no power or authority with which to do so, and nothing that they achieved would be recognized by the President and the Repubs, and rightly so. The party in power is the party that has the authority to make agreements.
Then read this post, on Yom Kippur in 1973. Lynn was in Israel that year. That would be the year that Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year. (They call it the Ramadan War. We call it the Yom Kippur War. The world calls it the 1973 War.)
And there's also a post on the Liberty Bell being moved. I saw—and touched—the Liberty Bell on July 3rd about four or five years ago. You can't touch it anymore, not since that nutcase with a hammer tried to crack it some more. I found it to be a moving experience, but then, I maintain that the American Revolution is the second-greatest moment in the history of mankind, second only to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. Which indirectly inspired the Revolution. The Bell itself quotes Leviticus.
You know, just keep scrolling down. Lynn's got a million of them.
I have also been neglecting Angie Schultz for a while, which is a huge mistake. Read this post, and especially the last grafs about the moron who said that Muslims discovered California (yeah, because those great Muslim navigators developed their sea legs while riding camels, "the ships of the desert," no doubt). And hey, that's exactly what I thought about the last Enterprise episode! (I was watching "Tarzan" with my mother and told her, "That guy's toast. He's going off the roof." She didn't believe me. "Mom, he's a redshirt." She knew what I meant.) permalink
Tuesday morning double standard
I loved Gregg Easterbrook. I used to read Tuesday Morning Quarterback regularly, even though I stopped following football years ago, because Easterbrook made it extremely interesting and funny on a regular basis, and threw in a lot of Star Trek comments (though I could have lived without the babe references).
Reader Eric G. sent me the URL to Easterbrook's latest, a screed on Quentin Tarantino with which I wholly agree—until you get to these last paragraphs.
Corporate sidelight: Kill Bill is distributed by Miramax, a Disney studio. Disney seeks profit by wallowing in gore--Kill Bill opens with an entire family being graphically slaughtered for the personal amusement of the killers--and by depicting violence and murder as pleasurable sport. Disney's Miramax has been behind a significant share of Hollywood's recent violence-glorifying junk, including Scream, whose thesis was that murdering your friends and teachers is a fun way for high-school kids to get back at anyone who teases them. Scream was the favorite movie of the Columbine killers.
Set aside what it says about Hollywood that today even Disney thinks what the public needs is ever-more-graphic depictions of killing the innocent as cool amusement. Disney's CEO, Michael Eisner, is Jewish; the chief of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, is Jewish. Yes, there are plenty of Christian and other Hollywood executives who worship money above all else, promoting for profit the adulation of violence. Does that make it right for Jewish executives to worship money above all else, by promoting for profit the adulation of violence? Recent European history alone ought to cause Jewish executives to experience second thoughts about glorifying the killing of the helpless as a fun lifestyle choice. But history is hardly the only concern. Films made in Hollywood are now shown all over the world, to audiences that may not understand the dialogue or even look at the subtitles, but can't possibly miss the message--now Disney's message--that hearing the screams of the innocent is a really fun way to express yourself.
My first reaction on reading that last paragraph is: WTF? Did he just blame Jews for being greedy, money-grubbing Hollywood executives partly responsible for today's real-life violence? Did he just say that because of the Holocaust, Jews should know better than to allow films that depict mindless violence to be made on their watch? And is he actually implying in that last sentence that Jewish film executives are partly responsible for Muslim terrorism?
WTF? WTF? WTeffingF?
You know what, Easterbrook? Stick to football and bad science fiction. Because right now, you look like a totally bigoted ass. First you slam the Jews for worshipping money above all. Then you say that they should know better than to produce films where whole families are slaughtered, because whole families were exterminated by the Nazis, thereby drawing a parallel between, gee, fact and fiction.
If I follow that line of thought, I get confused. Is it only going to be a matter of time before there's a fictional Holocaust, or will the money-grubbing Jewish executives who distribute violent films cause real violence because of the violent messages they're sending?
Recent European history alone ought to cause Jewish executives to experience second thoughts about glorifying the killing of the helpless as a fun lifestyle choice.
That is one unbelievable ethical standard to hold Jews up to. That's right, the Jews have to be the most righteous among all nations, because six million of ours were slaughtered. Your logic is missing a crucial step here, though. The Jews weren't slaughtered in the Holocaust as a result of people reading the violent popular fiction of the day. The Jews were slaughtered because of bigotry and hatred.
Come to think of it, back in the 1930s, people were blaming Jews for being money-grubbing worshippers of the almighty deutschmark at the expense of the Fatherland's more moral Germans. So if one is going to draw a parallel here, one might draw one at Easterbrook's slap at Jewish movie executives, rather than comparing their financing of a film hack to drawing down the responsibility of Arab terrorism on their heads.
All the while, of course, giving the Hollywood Christian executives (and other religions) a complete pass.
You're out of bounds here, Easterbrook. I think an apology is in order.
Update: Roger Simon is less diplomatic than I was. permalink
10/13/03
It was a really long ride. There were accidents, and ensuing traffic, and stupid, stupid, stupid drivers, most of whom had New York or Pennsylvania plates.
I'm beat, and I have yet to catch up on last week's episode of Angel. More tomorrow. permalink
My trip to NJ is over. This morning, I'm off to the kosher butcher shop to fill my cooler with all the things that PETA hates me for. Actually, I'll be going to two shops: The one for the corned beef, and the one for everything else. If you live in NJ, nobody makes better corned beef than Zayda's on Irvington Avenue in South Orange. In fact, they also make the best latkes I've ever had outside of homemade. I used to make a regular run from Montclair to West Orange to South Orange and back to Montclair again, and get home with a car filled with delicious foods.
I may have to pass on the trip to Bloomfield for the bagels and Italian bread... oh, wait. Gencarelli's large round... mmmmm... Gencarelli's.... Okay. There's my one and only Homer imitation, and I'm making time for bread if I get up early enough. I'd like to be on the road by noon and home in time to cook my new foods for dinner.
Anyway, check out last week's blog for what happened over the weekend (and before), or check out my links page if you can't wait until I post again after dinner. permalink
10/12/03
The Associated Press: Telling the truth
Astonishingly, this story has gotten wide play:
Palestinians are entitled to fight Israel ``by all means,'' a senior Palestinian official was quoted as saying in Malaysia on Saturday--a statement at odds with the official Palestinian position.
``Pursuing the armed struggle is a must, as it is the only solution in sight to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,'' Farouk Kaddoumi, the de facto Palestinian foreign minister, was quoted as saying by the Malaysian national news agency Bernama. ``We must continue our struggle against the occupation. This is the only solution to our problem.''
Kaddoumi, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's political department, is representing the Palestinians at a weeklong series of meetings of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Malaysia. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is prevented from leaving the West Bank by the Israeli military.
Extremists have launched dozens of attacks on Israelis during three years of violence, and Israel has retaliated by invading Palestinian territory, targeting senior militant leaders in rocket attacks and, recently, launching an air strike inside Syria at an alleged training camp for Palestinian militants.
The Palestinian Authority condemns suicide attacks after they occur, and Kaddoumi's comments appeared to be direct opposition to the official Palestinian position.
It's in many major American media outlets. But more importantly, it's in The Guardian, a newspaper so anti-Israel that we've taken to calling it Al-Guardian.
Is a sea change occurring? Is the world finally beginning to recognize the PA for what it truly is?
I don't know, but I'm sure going to hope so. I'm a glass-half-full kinda person. permalink
Corrupting America's youth, one child at a time
All I can say about the new Simpsons Hit and Run game, which I purchased as a birthday gift for my nephew, is that it's effing hilarious, and I didn't even know they made games where the more stuff you break, the more money you win. It was hilarious watching my nephew have Homer Simpson beat up Todd Flanders and run over Principal Skinner's mother, though I admit I felt a bit guilty to be finding it so funny.
Better still, I discovered that Alex likes Tolkien, and bought and read the trilogy after seeing the movie. I think it's going to be very easy figuring out what to get him for Chanuka. He doesn't own the DVDs.
It was lovely being back in Montclair today, and especially in Bloomfield, having lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant with Susanna Cornett. I miss Montclair. I miss the Hunan Palace, although not the service. It's always been subpar, but the food is always so good it's worth it. The scallion pancakes were superb today.
On the other hand, I did not miss the rest of NJ. As I left my mother's house, I was driving down Route 10. About five minutes into the drive, the police had blocked off both sides of the highway. They were detouring people off the highway. There was no construction, no event, no signage, no warning. Just get off the highway, and if you don't know a detour, tough. I was furious. It was in Denville, in Morris County. I've always loathed Morris County. I don't care how many people keep moving there, there's nothing but hick town after hick town, and their roads were designed from deer trails. Listen up, folks: You're not farmers anymore! Fix your effing roads, and your effing behavior!
Schmucks. permalink
Scott comes out with great essays from time to time, and when I find them, I link them. This one's pretty thought-provoking. I'm not sure I agree with much of it, but it's certainly a conversation starter.
This deserves repeating: In most of the rest of the world, if you are not born with the right last name, go to the right school, marry the right person, and live in the right neighborhood, you do not count as a member of that society. A cynic may sneer it's no different here than there, but that only proves their ignorance. In a traditional society there is absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do to change these facts to your advantage.
Power changes hands only with violence. Without exception, throughout history, real transfers of power are marked by seas of blood sloshed out of losers at the hands of winners. Dynasty is exterminated by dynasty, empires change hands with a sword through the neck, and heretics create orthodoxy with a torch and kindling.
These two posts on the Pope made my mother laugh. That's my Lair.
There was a young blogger named Tom
"Link to me!" he cried with aplomb
"I've written a verse
That can't get much worse,
But it's on a small blog I call home"
Yeah, Tom, it does suck. But A for effort. I would like to say that when I was a young English major, my limericks sucked, too. But they didn't. I've always been good at parody. Poetry? I will never, ever, ever write a poem, not ever again. They sucked so bad I'm pretty sure there's a black hole somewhere in Maplewood, where I lived as a teenager. Oh, and for the rest of you: Check out the blogger limericks at Michele's, where you can also see the folks getting chewed out by the Doggerel Pundit. (My limerick, of course, is not included in his scold.) ((Yeah, I'm feeling particularly smug today. I don't know why, but I'm just going with it.))
I'm late to Vicky's blogiversary. Better late than never! Happy anniversary, Vicky.
Tom Paine has a fascinating commentary on the recent articles on Israel's intention to destroy Iran's nuclear plants when they show signs of being able to produce nuclear weapons.
Overall, it seems to be safe to go back to Silent Running. Wind Rider has stopped play-by-play blogging the Cubbies. Plus, there's a cute ferret picture on top. (Yeah, "cute ferret" does sound like a contradiction in terms, but hey.) permalink
Last week's blogs are archived. Looking for the Buffy Blogburst Index? Here's Israel vs. the world. Here's the Blogathon. The Superhero Dating Ratings are here. If you're looking for something funny, try the Hulk's solution to the Middle East conflict, or Yasser Arafat Secret Phone Transcripts. Iseema bin Laden's diary and The Fudd Doctrine are also good bets if you've never been here before.
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