New feature!
Because this is one of the stupider headlines I’ve seen in ages, I’m going to feature the Stupid Headline of the Day from time to time, and odds are, it’s going to involve the Republican candidates for president and vice-president.
First up: Paul Ryan is VP pick — but he was almost a pro skier
Yes, really.
The MSM is hating on the Ryan pick, except for William Saletan, who just hates on Republicans and pretends he might vote for Ryan in four years (shyeah, right).
So let me decode what might have been:
Scenario 1: Romney’s pick of Tim Pawlenty is a horrible choice for the Republican candidate. Democrats are besides themselves with glee. Pawlenty won’t help Romney win over women or any of the swing states, not even his own. He should have gone with a bold choice!
Scenario 2: Romney’s pick of Rob Portman is a horrible choice for the Republican candidate. Democrats are besides themselves with glee. Portman won’t help Romney win over women or any of the swing states, not even his own. He should have gone with a bold choice!
Scenario 3: Romney’s pick of Marco Rubio is a horrible choice for the Republican candidate. Democrats are besides themselves with glee. Rubio won’t help Romney win over women or any of the swing states, not even his own. He should have gone with a less bold choice!
Scenario 4: Romney’s pick of FILL IN THE BLANK is a horrible choice for the Republican candidate. Democrats are besides themselves with glee. FILL IN THE BLANK won’t help Romney win over women or any of the swing states, not even his own. He should have gone with a FILL IN THE BLANK choice!
I saw this headline on my Google News feed:
Beyoncé sings ‘I Was Here’ at United Nations, filmed for World Humanitarian Day
And this one:
Beyonce Films World Humanitarian Day Video At United Nations
And I thought that the headlines were mentioning “World Humiliation Day” and they didn’t make me turn a hair. I just figured it was yet another anti-Israel declaration by the UN.
Mitt Romney went with the more exciting choice, not the dull one, and the Obama administration is going to have to retool its opposition strategy. Paul Ryan is the VP pick.
Personally, I love watching Ryan speak. He’s so cuuuuuute.
Yes, that’s what so many of the pundits think women think about candidates. Thanks for bringing us back to the nineteenth century!
I think Ryan has great ideas for taming the deficit.
But yeah, he’s cute.
Uh-oh: There may be an October surprise for Iran. I would advise you to stock up on gas now, but storing gasoline is a really bad idea, generally. Maybe we should buy gold?
That’s okay, the terrorists will just kidnap another soldier and release them again anyway: Two more perpetrators of the most horrific symbol of the terror war, the beating to death of two Israeli soldiers who had lost their way in the terrortories [sic], have been arrested. See title.
Maybe if you say “pretty please”: Hamas is demanding that Egypt open the Rafah crossing. The fact that terrorists used it to attack Israel while murdering 16 Egyptian soldiers as a by-the-way appears to be irrelevant. Here’s my favorite quote:
“Gaza could never be anything but a source of stability for Egypt,” Haniyeh added, saying those responsible for the Sinai slayings were conspiring to tighten an Israeli blockade on Gaza in force since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007.
Yes, if by “stability” you mean “egress for terrorists,” then Gaza is awesomely awesome for that.
And on cue, the Fatah loyalists are pointing out that Hamas rule is the reason Gaza is full of terrorists. (The irony in that one is rich, when you consider that Hamas terror attacks happened only when Yasser Arafat said they could.)
Outrageously outraged outrage: Israel demolished two illegal homes in eastern Jerusalem. The UN put caravans in the rubble. Now Israel has approved the demolition of the caravans. The screams of outrage, they will be heard by the Mars Rover.
Talk about your timing: A report saying that Hezbollah and Iran are using Lebanon’s banks to launder funds for Hezbollah comes out just as Kaspersky says it has found another virus in the mold of Flame (son of Stuxnet). What does this one do? Why, it steals banking data.
Government excess, U.K. style: I barely know whether to laugh or not at this one. A British MP is letting the taxpayer foot the bill for his Hebrew lessons so he can talk to his Israeli partner. And apparently, this isn’t the first time–another British MP let the government pay for his Mandarin lessons after marrying a Chinese wife. Put this one under: Fat cats think they deserve all kinds of extra perks that you and I have to pay for. Although it’s possible that one British MP isn’t nearly as anti-Israel as the average.
Over 100 million Americans are receiving some form of welfare from the U.S. government.
Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large–and growing–chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. “Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011,” says the Senate Budget Committee. “Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade.”
I think we, as a people, are getting too comfortable with the idea that the government owes us something.
Irony alert: Egypt is “cleansing” the Sinai of terrorists, at least, the ones that attack Egyptians. Don’t worry, though, the AP isn’t concerned that the airstrikes might hit civilians. Nobody is, because Israel isn’t the one doing them.
Conspiracy theorists, Muslim Brotherhood hardist hit: Egyptian intelligence is admitting that they had early warning about the terrorist attack that killed 16 soldiers. Gee, maybe it wasn’t the Mossad, after all.
Curses! It’s the Kurds again: Reuters says Turkey’s worst nightmare is coming true–a protracted civil war in Syria that might lead to another semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Nah, that’s not their worst nightmare. Their worst nightmare is Israel ascendant.
Terrorists and Palestinians: But I repeat myself. Hezbollah found some willing accomplices in the West Bank town of Nazareth to smuggle in 20 kilograms of C4. That’s a lot of suicide bombs. Three cheers for the Shin Bet!
Chutzpah, thy name is Abbas: Okay, so get this. Mahmoud Abbas is trying once again to make an end run around dealing with Israel by going once again to the UN to try to get them to declare a state for him. Avigdor Lieberman slammed the PA and Abbas for it. So now Abbas says that Lieberman is the reason there’s no peace process. Riiiight. Moron.
The schadenfreude is simply delicious: Egypt moved to close Gaza’s smuggling tunnels, using heavy equipment and threats. Of course there are no outraged shouts from the anti-Israel crowd, because this is Egypt closing down Gaza, not Israel. But this is the best part of the whole deal:
In a first sign of tension between Morsy’s government and Hamas, the movement’s deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk wrote on his Facebook page on Monday that closing the Rafah crossing amounted to “collective punishment.”
Ironic, much?
The blow-by-blow (literally) account: The JPost has an extensive article on the terror attack. Read it, and you will see how well-planned and sophisticated this attack was, and how little the jihadis care about their own. They shot the Egyptian soldiers as they were sitting down to their iftar (break-fast) meal. There is also a video, and details about how awful this attack would have been had it been successful. The terrorists were all wearing bomb belts. On that same subject, Ynet reports that the attack took 15 minutes, start to finish. The IDF was that good.
Thanks, Obama! The Iranians are closer to a nuclear bomb than was previously thought. Awesomely awesome.
Yesterday, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt blamed Israel for the terror attack in the Sinai. The fact that it was Salafis who murdered Egyptian soldiers does not seem to matter, as the Brotherhood found a convenient scapegoat: The Mossad.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that the attack on a police station in Sinai on Sunday in which 16 policemen were killed “can be attributed to Mossad” and was an attempt to thwart Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s new regime.
The statement claimed that the Israeli intelligence agency was trying to hinder the Egyptian uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and that it was “imperative to review clauses” of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
Today, Hamas joined in the chorus of blaming Israel.
Meanwhile, Haniyeh joined the Muslim Brotherhood in accusing Israel of orchestrating the attack. “The attack’s method confirms some sort of Israeli involvement aiming to achieve political and security goals, cause tension on the border with Egypt and destroy joint efforts to end the Gaza blockade,” he said.
The reason Hamas is blaming Israel? Because Egypt has said that if it has to, it will attack Gaza to avenge the deaths of its 16 policemen. And they’re not kidding. They’ve sent helicopter gunships to Sinai.
Ron Ben-Yishai says the terrorists’ goal is war between Israel and Egypt.
The terror attack, had it not been thwarted, could have led to a direct clash between the Israeli and Egyptian armies. The third “victim” was supposed to be the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, which global jihad deems too moderate.
I would go him one further. Which of the two parties is asking for more boots on the ground in Sinai? Every time there is a terror attack on Israel via the Sinai, Egypt wants more soldiers there. It’s a steady drip, drip, drip. Call me paranoid, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to hear that some of these attacks were staged for that very reason. Of course, it’s an extra win if they manage to murder some Israelis while they’re at it. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military are not friends, they are rivals. I’m not saying this attack was staged by the Brotherhood. Clearly, it was Salafists. But the results of every attack are the same: Egyptians scream to review the terms of the peace treaty so they can put more troops in the Sinai so they can stop the terrorists.
I’m just sayin’.
Awful: Looks like the piece of garbage that shot up a Sikh temple may have been a white supremacist, and thought he was killing Muslims. Because Sikhs wear turbans and many have darker skin. Asshole. Sikhism has nothing to do with Islam, and American Sikhs are good and hard-working citizens. And shooting up a house of worship because you don’t like what some of their co-religionists are doing? Awful, no matter who are the targets. My sympathies go out to the victims and their families.
Red Rover, Red Rover, let Curiosity come over: The Mars Lander made it to the Red Planet. Now we’ll find out if there are tiny green men on Mars. Wait, what? There aren’t? Damn.
The end of the Dorktator: Well, something I never thought would happen seems to be happening. When the prime minister defects, can the end of the Assad regime be far behind?
Ebooks surpass print sales at Amazon.uk: The publishing industry is changing. Well, I’ll be offering both for my novel, so my U.K. readers will have their choice.
Oh, now they’re going to close the Sinai to terrorists: Egyptians are fighting mad now that jihadis killed 16 Egyptian soldiers on their way to trying to murder Israelis. And here’s a curious statement by the Telegraph:
In comments that will deepen Egyptian anger over the attack, Mr Mordechai said the gunmen were “members of the global jihad based in Sinai, which has become a hothouse for world terrorism because of the weak control exercised” by Egypt.
What does the reporter think will deepen the anger? The fact that Israelis are pointing out the truth about Egypt’s lack of control of Sinai, or the fact that the terrorists were members of the global jihad? I’m thinking it’s the former, and if so, shame on the Telegraph. Really? Blaming the messenger? Really?
The IDF outdid themselves in stopping the terrorists. In fifteen minutes, the attack was over and the terrorists were dead. Oh, and Egypt has shut down the Rafah crossing with Gaza. And “completely surrounded” Rafah from the Egyptian side. Yeah, surrounding a town on one side is something that apparently can only be accomplished by the Egyptian army. Looks like Morsi’s new BFFs, Hamas, have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do.
Busy editing today, also buying ISBNs. And working on the new website.
I took a look at the news and decided to stick with finishing the novel instead.
Can’t wait until I have the words to go with the art to show you.
Darkness Rising. Book one in The Catmage Chronicles. Coming this month.
It’s not smart to libel billionaires. The DCCC (oh, go look up what the acronym stands for; it’s in the article) issued an apology in the hopes of stopping Sheldon Adelson from suing them for libel. Yeah, good luck with that. They issued a statement accusing Adelson of turning a blind eye to prostitution in his casinos.
In a June 29 blog, the DCCC cited an Associated Press article about the suit under the headline: “Breaking: House Republicans’ Biggest Donor Approved ‘Prostitution Strategy in China.”
Yep. They’re hosed. Looks like the Dems in Congress are going to lose some of their funding when this lawsuit is either settled or goes to court. I say make them pay, Sheldon. Don’t settle for a statement.
So, if I were a Tolkien geek (which I am), I might summarize the libel suit like this:
Do not make stuff up about the affairs of billionaires, for they will sue you, and have deep pockets.
Don’t look back, Turkey, the Kurds are gaining on you: The Iraqi Kurds have carved out a semi-autonomous region in Iraq. Syrian Kurds are doing the same. Can Turkey continue to control its Kurdish population with fear and force? I don’t know, but pass the popcorn, because I’m going to love watching this one. Funny, isn’t it, how the world doesn’t think the Kurds deserve their own state, yet they are minorities in three nations that oppress them? Too bad they’re not being oppressed by Israel. Then they’d be fighting the Palestinians for who is the most-oppressed people, ever. Tibetans? Who? Never heard of ’em.
But it’s not anti-Semitism: Hamas is up in arms over a Palestinian official who had the nerve to visit Auschwitz and lay a wreath for the victims. Doesn’t he know that it goes against the narrative?
Barhoum further called Bandak’s visit to Auschwitz, a camp where the Nazis killed 1.5 million people, most of them Jews but also other Polish citizens, during World War Two, as “a marketing of a false Zionist alleged tragedy.”
Riiiiight.
Me, I’m still in shock that a Palestinian official visited the place, let alone laid a wreath. Oh. Wait. He’s a Christian. Well. Watch for the retaliation for his visit. It will come. He went against the narrative.
Oh, stop “pinkwashing”: Jerusalem held a Gay Pride parade. Not that that will stop the Israel-haters from insisting that Israel, the lone state in the Middle East where it’s not illegal to be gay, is somehow anti-gay. Or that it only is in favor of gay rights because it distracts the world from how Israel is oppressing the Palestinians. Gay Palestinians coming to Israel for fear of their lives and asking for asylum? What’s that? I can’t hear you! LALALALA, I can’t hear you! (And Sarah Schulman, eff you.)
What? No! Really? Facebook may have up to 83 million fake users and spam accounts. No! Say it isn’t so! Not Facebook! That sound you hear is me laughing my ass off at the idiots who are suprised by this. Next thing you know they’re going to say that the two hot girls from SoCal that just showed up as Twitter followers are a spam account.
Yep, it’s my first day as a part-timer at Co. in NorVA, so I have more time to do things like write. And blog.
Culture matters: Mitt Romney doubles down on what he said in Israel that so pissed off the Palestinians. What a racist.
So he’s taking the phrase “nanny state” literally: Nanny Bloomberg is forcing hospitals to cut back on offering new mothers baby formula. Because the mayor of New York should be doing things like that. It’s the state’s job, don’t you see? And, as a man, he is such an expert on having babies.
Well, duh: The IDF will attack Iran if ordered to do so. Really? This was a controversy? Name a democracy that has had problems with its military carrying out commands. This isn’t Syria, where soldiers are being ordered to murder civilians.
In the “Who cares?” news of the day: Eight badminton players were expelled for trying to throw games so they could have better placement in the next rounds. Seriously? Badminton is an Olympic sport? Seriously? No, really–seriously?
And yet, I don’t believe him: Leon Panetta is in Israel, insisting that the U.S. will use military action to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. See title.
Ew, Jew cooties: Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi sent a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres, in which he said he wanted peace between the two nations. Peres publicized the letter after getting permission. Now Morsi is saying he never sent the letter. Because that’s what Egyptians do when it looks like they’re being friendly to Jews. Deny it.
