NAZARETH – Islamic groups held a large militant march down the main streets of Nazareth this weekend, highlighting for some here the plight of Christians in this ancient city where Muslims have become a majority and members of the dwindling Christian population say they suffer regular intimidation.

For the rest of the story, go here.

hat tip: World Net Daily

The process whereby the lying, scheming, cheating, dishonest, biased, leftist, anti-American, American mainstream media is exposed.

The reasons behind Tony Blair's surprise decision are detailed below:

Blair on Islam: Standard-Bearer of Tolerance

Courtesy of Scott

Hi D,

For a while I've been waging a little email battle with Yahoo over it's reliance
on AP, Agence France Presse (AFP)and others for its "news."  This story here is
a  perfect example of the filth that gets "stealthily" transmitted into the
homes of Americans-- propaganda  written by "stringers" who have allegiance to
god knows what country or what ideology.  Culture is not values neutral.  News
is not values neutral.  It is facts put into context that makes news
understandable.   My context is pro-American, pro-Israeli, pro my family and
friends, pro my world view.  (Also, Yahoo's role in recent events in China is
equally outrageous, IMHO).

A year or so ago I sold my Yahoo stock for these reasons.  Today, I remove it as
my homepage.  I am a customer and I choose not to use this product anymore.  I'm
telling you all this because you work there and I was happy to use a product you
are involved with, and because, in some ways, Yahoo had become, in my mind, an
American institution, emblematic of the greatness of American technology and
expertise, and filled with the best and brightest technological minds in the
country-- yourself very much included. I was wrong.  It is a global corporation,
emblematic of nothing-- and perhaps inherently immoral. This chills me to the
bone.  Of course, you might say I am late to the party, and you might be able to
offer up countless other examples of this particular kind of evil. I'm sure you
are right.

Lately, more and more, I've been thinking about trying to find someplace to go
and live which is more "off the grid" of modern life, where I would have more
land, more space, less interference from government, media and technology, and
where I can lead a less expensive, more independent, if solitary life.  I
sometimes think about the mountains of western N. Carolina, or E. Tenn., upstate
NY, or S.Missouri. Another option is Israel, which I've thought about seriously on
more than one occasion. But I'm not hopeful about how easy it would be to blend into any of
those places as an outsider, or how reasonable it would be to transform my
broodings into concrete actions affecting others. It's quite a puzzle for me, in
fact.

My mother happened to mention that you are interviewing at Google. That's
probably another reason why I decided to send you my comments regarding Yahoo
now, although this article today really pissed me off.  People like my mother
who come from a different era and are trusting of authority and institutions,
take this crap at face value.  And she's like most people of course.  So, if
most people are going to believe what they're told, why in the world would we
want them to be told news about our war that comes from Arab/Persian/French
sources? I can't stop that, at least not much, but Yahoo could. Of course, they
won't.  

Good luck with your future plans. It's amazing how so much of everyday life has
now become politicized.  Of course, things are going to get much worse.

I hope you all are having a restful time in OR, although visiting family has
its difficulties too.  

S

Relieved Iran lauds hanging of Saddam - Yahoo! News

Hi Bill,

How are you?  Thanks for the kind words about my last article.  I appreciate it.

I'm getting over a bad cold, which I think Sarah is now getting.  This is putting a crimp in our days off.  Actually, Sarah worked yesterday and today, and I have to go to her office today to fix something.  Sorry we haven't gotten together in a while.

On a different topic, I am worried about what is going on in Israel.  I read the Jerusalem Post everyday, and following most of the articles there's a comments section written by readers, usually Israelis, but also Americans, Muslims, and others.  So many of these comments are calling for a coup in Israel in order to throw out the Olmert gov't, to try him for treason, and things like that.  It is truly frightening to see Israel in such turmoil, and so alone in the world, and with so many enemies, including many right here in the US. Lacking "inside info", I can only conclude that things are going to get much worse, both for them, and for Jews in general, including us.

(It just so happens that I am reading a terrific autobiography written by the famous Israeli writer, Amos Oz.  It's called "A Tale of Love and Darkness."  I can recommend it to you highly.  It will remind you of the Israel you thought you knew.)

Sarah thinks I'm obsessed with all this international news, not to mention my usual frustration with the far Left here at home.  She refuses to "connect the dots" of the various stories I point out to her.  She doesn't want to hear anything about it anymore, and thinks I'm all doom and gloom.  I feel like I'm like some character in an old WWII movie, the Jewish father or grandfather of a middle-class German or Polish family sitting next to the radio listening to Hitler's rants and fearing the worst to come, while others in the family think he is crazy.  How could this happen in civilized Europe, they say?  Sarah is like that family member who refuses to accept what is coming.

I truly hope that I am wrong and that she is right.  It is possible that because we can instantaneously get news from every corner of the globe, 24/7, that we may interpret all the truly bad stuff that seems to be going on in the world as something new.  Perhaps it was always like that, but we never knew, or we heard about it so long after the actual incident occurred that the shock value was minimal. Maybe I shouldn't get my news so quickly.  If I wait, I can hear the bad stuff while simultaneously knowing that the world didn't end and my family is still safe.  That is context, man.

I have the strongest desire to want to do something.  If I was a little younger, I would have joined the military already, although our feckless leaders let so many soldiers die rather than risk the wrath of our enemies.  And I certainly wouldn't allow any child of mine to fight for a Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi/Joe Biden/Carl Levin/Barack Obama/Charles Rangel/Chuck Schumer/Hilary Clinton/Barney Frank/Ted Kennedy/John Dingel led America.  I will  move to Israel and go down with that ship before I go down with this one.  Israel can fail because it is small and stupid.  We can fail only because we are stupid. I wish every remaining "man" in America, which means largely the Red State Men, would rise up and march on Washington, millions strong, and demand that we win.  That would scare the wits out of those feminized men in Congress.  Take away their blow-dryers and they'd fold in a second.  Jesus Bill, can you believe who our leaders are today?

As it is now though, I can do nothing but write these wretched letters.

Well, now that I've sent you this depressing note, I don't want to forget to wish you and Lida a Happy New Year, and a better year ahead.  Of course, we have the power to defeat our enemies pretty quickly.  It's the will and leadership that's lacking.  And in a vacuum like that, bad people, who would otherwise never be able to get anywhere in life, rise.

Talk to you soon Bill.

S.

 

Bush ponders £10bn New Deal to create jobs in Iraq.

What's a New Deal without the fireside chats?  Even George Bush's most ardent supporters can't excuse his near dereliction of duty by refusing to calm the fears of a frightened and nervous public.  What is the President's response to Chavez's rantings, to Ahmadinejad's threats, to Russia's energy blackmailing of Europe, to China and Russia's arming of Iran, to the daily threats to Israel's existence, to Kim Jong Il's nuclear tests, to Kofi Annan's parting shot at the US, to the corrupt UN, to French perfidy, and to Democratic party and mainstream media attacks on American troops, the war on terror, etc.?   Nothing.
So far, its been left to the Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's of the world to carry the President's water.  But now George Bush has gone too far.  Today we are treated to the front page news that Iran remains gleefully defiant in the face of the seriously watered-down UN Security Council resolution, and that a stupendous terror attack(s) at Christmas time (perhaps the Chunnel) is in the works.

Where is the nationwide address from the President?  Why do American citizens, at home, need to live in fear of these endless threats from abroad?  Why is the President not explaining the government's views of the true nature of these threats and the steps we are taking to counter them?  Why isn't he telling us about the conversations he is having with other world leaders about these threats, and what actions he will take to counter them and protect us at home?  Why is the White House silent in the face of these daily threats?  Why do I have to carry the President's water?

A New Deal for Iraq?  I think not. But if you want to emulate Franklin Roosevelt, Mr. President, you might begin with some serious fireside chats at home. It is your job and your duty to protect us.  It is your job and your duty to provide, to the best of your ability, the opportunity for Americans to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  By saying little, you deprive us of our rights, and leave us worried not only about world events, but about our own government's willingness, ability and intentions to protect us.  Are pajama-clad bloggers really the last line of defense against those who wish to do us harm?  God forbid.

For the most revealing view of the strange and often contradictory nature of North/South Korea relations, go here.


My response to the WSJ:

This is the most revealing picture of the political situation in the Koreas that
I have ever read.  It leaves me petrified to think of the morons in our
government who let these, and other situations fester for lack of understanding. 
Clearly we are in over our heads in so many parts of the world, due to a lack of
clear understanding of the local political/social situation.  For example, we
are beside ourselves if someone dare characterize Iraq as in a state of civil
war.  The Sunni/Shia schism is the very definition of a civil war, and it has
been raging for more than a thousand years!  As for Korean, remove our troops.  
Let the Koreas solve their own problems.  Allow the Chinese, Japanese and
Russians to fight over Korea.  The US cannot and should not enforce the status
quo everywhere in the world.  Things change, new winners emerge, and losers need
to lose.  Protect the homeland, and those few nations who are reliable allies. 
For the rest of it, let history takes its course.

The Wall Street Journal's assistant editorial features editor, Joseph Rago, explains why we bloggers are all deranged, or at best deluded.  His advice?  Shut down the blogosphere and restore the MSM monarchy.

The Blog Mob, 12/20/06

My letter to the editor at the Journal:

Subject:
Re: The Blog Mob

Comment:
Uh oh. Now you've done it.  In one fell swoop, Joesph Rago has managed to insult
a large swath of your readership for whom the Journal was the one remaining MSM
product it still consumed.  How stupid can you be?  "Written by fools to be read
by imbeciles?"  What a lovely thing to say to your own readers.

Thank God we have Mr. Joseph Rago and the Wall Street Journal to lead us by the
hand to the "truth".  No longer will I have to wade through blogs and make
decisions for myself regarding the value of what I am reading.  Finally, I am
free to cancel my internet service and put my civic education back in the hands
of the experts where it belongs.  And for my part,  I will  come clean and admit
to having missed Katie, and Barbara, Dan and Anderson, Maureen and all the other
"journalists" who work so tirelessly for me.  Does Al-Jazeera have a print
version?  It would be so much fun to curl up with it on a Sunday morning and
catch-up.  Thank God the experts are back.

I'll miss James Taranto, and the other misguided bloggers at OpinionJournal.com. 
They were fun, and cheeky, but clearly so misguided.  I hope you are generous in
your severance package-- remember, it is the holiday season.  Or perhaps, now
that your print edition subscriber base will undoubtedly explode, you can find a
place for them on the loading dock.  It's hard work, but honest, and will keep
them, and us, out of trouble.

Did you seriously need another nail in your coffin?  "Written by fools..."
indeed.

Baker accused of skirting
U.S. sanctions on Saddam
Businessman charges ex-secretary of state
used middleman to 'sell out' Israel for profit.

Go here


Hat tip: World Net Daily

For more on this remarkable meeting, plus photos, go here.

hat tip: joshua trevino

After Bush's defeat in the recent elections, his disastorous speech the following day, the firing of Don Rumsfeld, and the collapse of his presidency, it's time to focus on '08.  The only question to consider is "where is our Churchill?"  George Bush, for all his tenacity, is not he.  But laboring unheralded in a cauldron of deceit, reviled by the domestic and foreign enemies of the US, is John Bolton, the very temporary US representative to the United Nations.  He's a man who takes no prisoners, does not operate by consensus or worry about the opinion of the chattering classes or "baahing" sheep.  In other words, a leader.  He stands up to the Ahmadinejad's of this world, knows an enemy from a friend, and understands the future cost of inaction now.  He wants no one to like him, is not compassionate in wartime, and is the man for our times.  The present crop of Republicans and Democrats continue their pre-911 shennanigans on Capitol Hill and in the other supposed corridors of power in Washington.  It is an illusion, a chimera.  History will recall none of them.  But reality rides in from the East.  And sitting scorned and abused in the belly of the beast is a saviour for our times.  Too dramatic? Let's hope so.  But just in case, we better keep him around.

Today's story in OpinionJournal.com about the MSM's undermining of the war effort mirrors their current attempt at undermining the faith in our democratic system, and in particular the fairness of elections.

In today’s SFGate.com, Nancy Pelosi is quoted as saying, "Pelosi cautioned that the number of Democratic House victories could be higher or lower and said her greatest concern is over the integrity of the count -- from the reliability of electronic voting machines to her worries that Republicans will try to manipulate the outcome.

"That is the only variable in this," Pelosi said. "Will we have an honest count?''

In other words, a Republican win is by definition a stolen election. This is logically inconsistent. If the premise is true, that Republicans can manipulate outcomes, then Democratic wins occur because Republicans allow them.

But the Democrats and their media supporters never let logic stand in the way of an opportunity to undermine not just our current government, but the fundamental institutions that support and provide legitimacy to all of our governments, and to our uniquely American way of life.

If there is any long-term justice, of the kind that ultimately did away with the Hitlers, Stalins, Maos and Saddam Husseins of this world, we can look forward to a time when the America-hating American media is just a memory.



Update:  11/12/06  Dem's win. Elections fair.  What a great country.

  That's what is being suggested in Yeltsin's new autobiography, and a year before the scandal broke in the US.

For more, go here.

hat tip:  tothepointnews

National Review Online thinks so.

          Go here