Why Democrats Raise Taxes And Why The Bridge To Nowhere Was A Bargain

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Where else but San Francisco City Hall could a 10-foot-long wheelchair ramp wind up costing $1 million?

Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president's perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled.

What's more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months while the work is done.

"It's crazy," admits Susan Mizner, director of the mayor's Office on Disability. "But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building."

Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said Tuesday that the issue went to the heart of liberal guilt that often drives the city's decision making. He also choked on the price tag, and asked that the board take some more time to come up with an alternative, like maybe just getting rid of the president's elevated seat.

The root of the problem dates back to when City Hall got a $300 million makeover in the 1990s that made just about every hallway, bathroom and office accessible to the disabled. The exception was the board president's podium, which is reachable only for someone who can climb the five steps from the chamber floor.

The understanding was that the room would eventually be made fully accessible. But no one worried about the podium until 2004 when Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair, joined the board.

City architect Tony Irons and representatives of the state Office of Historic Preservation - which had to be consulted to make sure the city was sensitive to the building's designation as a state landmark - were called in to take measurements.

Then preservation architects from the San Francisco firm Page and Turnbill worked up no fewer than 18 design options - at a cost of $98,000 - with ideas ranging from an electric lift to abandoning the president's lordly podium altogether.

No one could decide which design to use, so after a year of arguing, the Department of Public Works was ordered to make 3-D computer models of all the options.

The ramp won, which means lowering the president's desk, which means eliminating three of the "historic" stairs and tearing out Manchurian oak panels that are no longer available, which in turn will mean finding a historically correct replacement.

And because the ramp was going to encroach on the room's sound equipment, officials decided they might as well use the opportunity to upgrade the board chamber's entire audio-visual system, to the tune of $300,000.

Here's what else is going into the million-dollar ramp:

-- $77,000 for the city's Bureau of Architecture project manager, design and construction fees.

-- $455,000 for the actual construction, plus asbestos removal.

-- $28,000 for a construction scheduling consultant.

-- $3,500 for an electrical consultant.

-- $68,000 for the Bureau of Construction Management to oversee the construction and various consultants.

-- $12,000 for Department of Technology and Information Services oversight.

-- $16,500 for permits and fees. (Yes, believe it or not, the city charges itself.)

-- And as much as $65,000 for bid overruns.

All for a total of: $1,123,000.

And counting.

The supervisors considered signing off on the work Tuesday but put it over for another week. Even if the board gives its final blessing, however, construction of the ramp won't be completed before the end of the year - midway through Alioto-Pier's second and final term.

"I deserve equal access to every part of the chamber," Alioto-Pier told her colleagues, adding that ending discrimination is worth the $1 million.

Water war: The surprise discovery that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger provided funding for eight positions in his budget to begin work on the revived Peripheral Canal has state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata predicting the renewal of an all-out north-south water war.

"This is shocking - it's the Dodgers vs. the Giants," Perata said Tuesday after hearing rumors that the governor had also signed an executive order to start planning for a canal.

Bill Maile, a spokesman for the governor, said no such order had been issued. But he acknowledged that Schwarzenegger included $1.4 million in his budget for the environmental work in hopes of getting a water bond on the November ballot.

The centerpiece of the bond would be a canal that would divert water from the Sacramento River to Southern California, skirting the delta altogether.

Just last Thursday, the governor sat down with key legislative Democrats and Republicans - as well as Sen. Dianne Feinstein - to try to hash out a comprehensive water plan that would protect the delta and its quake-endangered levees. But no agreement was reached.

"It looks like there is a stealth deal going on now," Perata said.

Hot wheels: State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata's hot, hot, candy-red Dodge Charger - complete with its 20-inch chrome wheel rims - is up for sale on eBay.

Starting bid: $19,000.

Or you can pay $22,800 outright and drive it away.

Seems Perata lost his taste for the stud-rimmed look after he was carjacked at gunpoint over the holidays in Oakland in broad daylight.

At the time, it was thought the carjackers were after the rims, though no one knows for sure because no arrests were ever made.

When the 2006 Charger turned up in one piece in Richmond a few days later, Perata had already decided his sporting days were over.

The state Department of General Services recently sold the Charger to an unnamed private buyer at its monthly public auction for $17,800.

And now the buyer is trying to make a couple of bucks with a quick turnaround.

As the sale posting notes, this car has "a great story (maybe not so great) to go along with it!"

The 'Bridge to Nowhere' carried a price tag of $231,000,000.

At $100,000 a foot, there would have been less than half a mile of roadway- barely enough for the entry and exit lamps on either side the bridge.

It's your money. Think about that when you enter the voting booth.

The 911 Call You Want To Make

Getting Tough And Getting Hit Where It Hurts

From The Times of London:

Employers who hire illegal immigrants can be fined £10,000 ($19,800 USD- SC&A) per worker from today in cases involving negligence, compared with a previous figure of £5,000 ($9,900 USD).

If the employer acts knowingly, the penalty could be an unlimited fine or jail. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, described the moves, which include a points-based immigration system for people from outside the European Union, as “the biggest changes to British immigration policy in a generation”.

Highly skilled migrants who wish to extend their stay will have to have suitable employment. The points-based system, based on a system already in place in Australia, will be tested for highly skilled migrants applying from India in April, and extended to the rest of the world by the summer.

The system will then be extended to skilled workers with a job offer, students, and temporary workers. A tier for low-skilled workers is not planned while vacancies can be filled by migrants from Eastern Europe.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said: “The introduction of our Australian-style points system will ensure that only those with skills the country needs can come to work and study.

“Today’s proposals are part of the biggest changes to British immigration policy in a generation, which include a new deal for those migrants seeking citizenship here, a new UK Border Agency to strengthen controls at the border and the introduction of ID cards for foreign nationals.”

The system puts in question the scheme under which Commonweatlh citizens with a British grandparent are allowed to settle in this country. The Labour MP Austin Mitchell said that any proposal to scrap “ancestral visas” would cause anger.

Ministers also revealed that businesses which want to sponsor and employ migrants must be licensed by the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA). A licence will be required from the autumn, when the second tier of the points-based system is due to come into effect. Employers can begin applying for licences from today.

Sponsors will be rated “A” or “B” according to criteria set by the Home Office. Their activities will be monitored, and poor performance could lead to them being downgraded or removed from the register.

The points-based system replaces 80 existing migration routes to the UK. Tier One requires highly skilled workers to achieve a total of 75 points, with various amounts awarded for education, age and their level of previous earnings. About 40,000 people applied under the previous scheme for highly-skilled migrants in 2006, with about 20,000 being successful. Separately, about 14,500 highly-skilled migrants applied to renew their stay in 2006, of whom about 14,000 were successful.

Predictable Drivel

With a straight face and breathtaking stupidity, Arab News writer Walid Awad publishes a most extraordinary bit of drivel, Kosovo And Palestine: Why Different Standards? In a complete break with reality, Awad seriously considers the Palestinians to be equal to the Kosovars.

Apparently Mr Awad has that well known Middle East affliction, the 'Allergy to Reality.'

The Kosovars are not screaming 'Slaughter the Jews!' or calling for the eradication of anyone. They are not preaching racism and bigotry from the pulpits and they do not teach hate in schools or broadcast or print that kind of dysfunction in their media. The Kosovars are not led by murderous thugs who can't even be bothered to hide their racist intentions. The Kosovars do not worship or idolize past leaders who were so corrupt that they were left bankrupt.

The Kosovars do not engage in suicide bombings that are celebrated by legions of people.

Now, that is not to say all Palestinians are vile creatures- that would be patently untrue. Survey after survey shows that a whole lot of Palestinians would rather remain under the rule of 'pigs and monkeys' than under the rule of the enlightened 'Paradise of Arafat' or the 'Paradise of Hamas.'

The list of what distinguishes the Palestinians (and in many cases, the rest of the Arab world) is long and varied. In the end what distinguishes them is civilized behavior.

Perhaps the realize that the Beast That Is Israel may be more beneficial to them than what they are being offered by their 'leadership.'

Let's look at some of the differences.

Two spectacular events crossed the horizon at the same time.

Firstly, Warren Buffet made the decision to make the largest charitable donation in history- 37 billion dollars, to be used for the good of as many people as possible. At the same time, the Palestinians made the decision to take that final step into the abyss of complete detachment and dysfunctionality as they escalated their confrontation with Israel.

The two events are closely related.

Warren Buffet's decision will be remembered for a having changed the values of a nation. Sure Americans have been generous- more generous as a nation than any other nation in history- but the extent of Mr Buffets action will have tremendous repercussions, because Mr Buffet has changed the way rich people 'do business.' The actions of the 'Oracle from Omaha' will have an impact on the actions and attitudes of future generations. To those that might argue (wrongly) that it is only American economic interests are the reason for our generosity, it bears remembering and noting that unlike European monarchies and empires, our foreign aid and nation building included enormous investments in education, health-care and infrastructure.

Mr Buffet's actions have reversed the course of history. In the past, great fortunes of money accumulated were used to build empires, wage wars and gain power and influence. Sure, money was left to charity, but that was a side matter, a few pennies thrown out to satisfy an ego and social standing. Mr Buffet's money will not be used to further economic conquer or to fund monuments to his greatness.

It also bears remembering that when great wealth is gained through aggressive or criminal activity it will be used to perpetuate that crime and corruption. Those who earned that money earned by way of crime and corruption will never use that money to serve a common good.

When the accumulation and distribution of wealth and power are driven by self serving and short term needs and agendas, it is inevitable that those needs and agendas will be pushed aside by the next dominant group or individual. The cycle is continuous.

The fabulous wealth of Greek and Roman Empires has been lost. The weal the Incas and the Ottoman have disappeared. Each conqueror confiscated the wealth of the vanquished- and the wealth of each empire now, is barely remembered.

Warren Buffet's material fortune will have a direct bearing and influence on generations not yet born. His money will not be used for political purposes or to further control of any ideologies or agendas (contrast Warren Buffet with George Soros!), but rather, his money will be used in the furtherance of life and opportunity.

We are witnessing a shift in history, culture, and sociology of man, in one fell swoop. We are witnessing the elevation and highest potential of man. Whereas yesterday, the most powerful men were takers, today, they are givers.

Contrast these higher ideals with the ideals of the Palestinians.

As this is being written, the Palestinians are demanding the release of prisoners in exchange for an kidnapped Israeli soldier. Why? Because they know that the Israelis value and cherish each life- not for the sake of life, but for the sake of the potential of each life.

The Palestinians and many Muslims mistakenly believe that the Judeo-Christian ethic loves life itself. This is a fatal error. We love life, not for the sake of living, but rather, for the potential of each of our lives reflects. The Holocaust is not only remembered for that period of slaughter, but also for the Holocaust that was inflicted on all of mankind. How many potential Nobel Prize winners were killed or weren't born? How many diseases might have been eradicated through the research of scientists that were 'experimented' upon? How many more wonders and miracles might we have seen, had generations of children been allowed to have been conceived? Might hunger and famine have been eliminated?

Nevertheless, the Palestinians proudly proclaim they have fired chemical weapons into Israel (see Dr Sanity's cold observations). As one culture elevates itself, another culture descends. Whether or not the claim is true, is irrelevant. That the Palestinians would claim Hitler's legacy is yet another example of a failed and corrupt society. The Palestinians and their supporters claim a high morality, even as the publicly embrace an evil rejected by civilized societies and cultures.

As tens of thousands of Chinese in Hong Kong march for democracy, tens of thousands of Palestinians and their supporters marched in defense of a regime that espouses hate, bigotry and promises death.

While the Palestinians would have you believe they wanted peace, their actions say otherwise.

If the Palestinians and much of the Arab world wanted peace, they would teach tolerance and peace in their schools, not racism, hate and death.

If the Palestinians wanted peace, there would be no training camps for 'militants' teaching children how to kill, for the Israelis to bomb. If the Palestinians wanted peace, there would be no arms factories and development of chemical weapons.

There would be no concerted effort to glorify death. The Palestinians and much of the Arab world espouse death because they have been robbed of a future and potential by their own leadership and a religion that has been bastardized to serve and enrich the needs of a few. As long as the current regimes and attitudes will remain a reality in the Arab world, there will be no potential and no promise of a future. As long as western Muslim communities live in that same dysfunctional mindset and support the regimes and corruption that have served to denigrate and demean entire populations, those communities will never be a part of a western mainstream. See this as an example of that kind of disconnect (h/t Dust My Broom. Darcey's post).

The Israelis will no longer allow themselves to descend to the level of the Palestinians.

If the Hamas government rejects them, they have every right- and many would argue, an obligation, to reject the Hamas government. If the Hamas government rejects past accords signed on behalf of the Palestinians with the Israelis, they have every right to reject members of that kind of government.

If the Hamas government makes clear that their intention is to eliminate Israel, they have made their choice clear. Had Hitler's cabinet and high government officials been captured and taken prisoner, there would be no clamor for them to be released. In fact, they probably would have been justifiably executed. Just as Hitler was an obvious target marked for death by the civilized world, so too has Israel the right to mark Ismael Haniyeh to that same fate (it bears repeating that had Hitler and the upper echelon of the Nazi regime been assassinated, 50 million lives would have been spared). That the Arab world sees fit to associate themselves with Hamas and all that Nazi-like political entity stands for, speaks volumes.

We have written about some of the more visible differences between Israel and her detractors (see the articles in the 'Pages' section of the sidebar). Those differences are clear and unambiguous. That difference is as clear as the difference between philanthropists like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and the leaders of the regimes in the Middle East. The vitriol of the 'clerics' and leaders of Hamas and Hizbollah speak for themselves.

The Israelis- and all civilized nations- are not obligated to descend into the Palestinian abyss and deal with Palestinian and Arab world dysfunction. Now that the Hamas government has made clear to all what the Israelis have known for years (the Hamas clean and unapologetic anti Semitism) , those supporting the Palestinians are now taking a new tack- they no longer talk about the political aspirations in term of the 'will of the people.' Now, they talk in terms of an 'oppressed and psychologically traumatized people'- as if trauma were the cause of their hate.

The Israelis, we are told, are victims of hate because they have victimized the Palestinians- who, with their Arab world brethren, have declared open season on Jews long before the state of Israel existed.

Now, Palestinians have become children, in need of our protection. Well, consider this: Why are the Palestinians more emotionally wounded than the victims of Chechnya, Darfur or Rwanda? How come the Lebanese and Jordanians, who suffered far more horrendous suffering than the 3,000 deaths of the current Palestine intifadah, weren't immobilized and driven into incessant conflict? Hafez Assad had ten to twenty five thousand butchered in Hama in one week- and yet Syria did not implode.

If the legions of sympathetic therapists rushing in to help the Palestinians 'cope' are to be believed and prove anything, it is that the Palestinian level of dysfunctionality is something the Israelis should not have to deal with. In any event, Palestinian trauma is not severe enough from keeping the Palestinians from having an infrastructure of hate in the media, schools and from religious pulpits. Nor is the level of psychological trauma enough from keeping the Palestinians from having a network of terror training camps, sophisticated weapons procurement programs and of of course, a chemical weapon program.

In the meantime, the UN is taking Israel to task:

Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria were among the resolution's sponsors. Western countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, voted against it.

Look at some of the countries voting for the motion- and then look at some of those voting against.

How many Warren Buffets do you think will come out of Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria?

Portions of this post have been previously published. The absolute stupidity and self serving deceit of Walid Awad is business as usual.

Please, Do Not Sing A Long

The concert experience in the UK, circa 1972. We did things a bit, uh, differently back then.

Whatever you do, please do not sing along.

Who Needs OnStar?

The Trunk Monkey. Better than OnStar.

Broken Mirrors

From the Jerusalem Post:

PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said that he does not rule out returning to the path of armed "resistance" against Israel and took pride in the fact that he had been the first to fire on Israel and that his organization had trained Hizbullah.

In an interview with the Jordanian daily al-Dustur, Abbas said that he was opposed to an armed struggle against Israel - for the time being.

"At this present juncture, I am opposed to armed struggle because we cannot succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different," he said.

"I had the honor of firing the first shot in 1965 and of being the one who taught resistance to many in the region and around the world; what it's like; when it is effective and when it isn't effective; its uses, and what serious, authentic and influential resistance is," Abbas said.

"It is common knowledge when and how resistance is detrimental and when it is well timed," he added. "We (Fatah) had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps."

Matthias Kunzel:

How can a group determined to destroy Israel be a partner in the peace process?

A particular lack of attention is paid to the question as to why this group wants to obliterate Israel. People ignore the Nazi-style antisemitism which is the underpinning of Hamas’ policies. Yet all one needs to do is take a look at the Hamas Charter, which considers “the Jews” responsible for all the evil and misfortune in the world. According to this Charter, Jews “stir revolutions”, “destroy societies” and “colonize and exploit countries”. “They stood behind World War I…, they also stood behind World War II…, they inspired the United Nations and the Security Council … in order to rule the world. … There was no war that broke out anywhere without their fingerprints on it.” (3)

We should take every one of these assertions seriously. Anyone who accepts this monstrous image of Jews as the villains of the world must wish to kill them and must wish to see Israel – the “command centre” in antisemitic jargon – obliterated. For them a Palestinian state next to Israel can only be seen as a tool for achieving an Islamic state instead of Israel. Hamas can never be a peace partner as long as it holds on to this Charter...

The powerful effect of this ideology is underestimated in the West. Many either react as if hating Jews were a feature of the Oriental world, like hookahs or mosques. Or antisemitism among Muslims is glossed over as a kind of “anti-imperialism of fools”, and rationalised as an alleged response to the Middle East conflict. From this stems the hope that, with the solution of the Palestine conflict, hatred of Jews will have vanished as well.

This hope, however, won’t stand up to scrutiny. Anyone who is aware of the history of the Middle East will recognise that the escalation of the conflict has not been the cause of the antisemitic hatred. Rather, this antisemitic hatred, imported from Europe, has played a decisive role in the escalation...

Of course, not all Arabs were a part of the history Kunzel addresses.

Still, during the first decades of the 20th century, not a few Arabs considered these modernising effects of Zionist immigration in a favourable light. For example, the editor the Egypt’s daily al-Ahram wrote in 1913: “The Zionists are necessary for this region. The money they will bring in, their intelligence and the diligence which is one of their characteristics will, without doubt, bring new life to the country.” (10) During the 1920’s, prominent leaders in Egypt believed “that the progress of Zionism might help to secure the development of a new Eastern civilisation,” as Mr. Kisch who was at that time Chairman of the Palestine Zionist Executive noted in his diary after visiting Cairo in 1924. (11) In 1924, the modernising model of Kemal Atatürk had replaced the caliphate in Turkey and beginning in 1925, the Shah of Iran, Resa Khan, had embarked on the secularisation of his country...

And now, full circle and Mahmoud Abbas:

Hamas denies that Mahmud Abbas represents the will of the Palestinian people and has seen its position strengthened by the victory in the Gaza local elections at the end of January 2005. (15) It refuses to cease production of more Qassem rockets, let alone hand over its weapons. For the time being, it is not using those weapons, but only because in a counter-move Mahmud Abbas “has agreed to unfreeze Hamas funds held in a number of Palestinian banks.” (16) Last but not least, it is receiving massive support from Iran and its puppet, Hizbullah. On January 30, 2005 Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah, head of Hizbullah, and his Hamas counterpart Khaled Mashal issued a joint declaration pledging coordination of their military efforts. As Mashal put it, “we are partners in the march against Israel, the common enemy. We hope that the same path which led to the liberation of southern Lebanon will lead to that of the whole of Palestine”. (17) Hizbullah’s involvement has since reached such a level “that even the PA leadership is sounding the alarm and begging the world to help it cut off those throwing oil on flames that it is trying to douse.” (18)

From the Wall Street Journal on Abbas:

...His outright refusal to confront and disarm terrorists, in violation of the Road Map, hardly registers anymore in the Western media and where it does, it is usually excused and attributed to his relative political weakness. However, the media also give very little idea of the extent to which the Palestinian Authority continues to glorify terrorists...

...if Americans and Europeans are genuinely interested in promoting Palestinian-Israeli peace, it is time for them to take a realistic look at his record...

His outright refusal to confront and disarm terrorists, in violation of the Road Map, hardly registers anymore in the Western media and where it does, it is usually excused and attributed to his relative political weakness. However, the media also give very little idea of the extent to which the Palestinian Authority continues to glorify terrorists... Then there is the soccer tournament named in honor of the terrorist who murdered 30 people at a Passover celebration in Netanya, or the girls' high school named by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education after a female terrorist who murdered 36 Israeli civilians and an American nature photographer. (The school was recently renovated with money from USAID, channeled through the American Near East Refugee Aid.)

Examples could easily be multiplied. A poetry collection published by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Culture, for instance, is named in honor of a suicide terrorist (dubbed "the Rose of Palestine" in one of the poems) who killed 21 at a restaurant in Haifa. (The collection was distributed this August as a special supplement in the daily Al-Ayyam. Most of Al-Ayyam's editors are appointed by Mr. Abbas.)...

The Palestinian Authority sometimes goes so far as to stamp out even the most symbolic gestures of coexistence with Israel. Consider last month's soccer match, organized by the Shimon Peres Center for Peace, in which Israeli and Palestinian soccer stars played together in a joint "Peace Team" against Barcelona. They played well, losing only 2-1 at Barcelona's famous Nou Camp stadium in front of 31,820 spectators, including many dignitaries. Yet on the Palestinian Authority's orders, the Palestinian Football Association announced that it would punish the Palestinian players for daring to participate in such a match...

More on Abbas, from Jihad Watch:

Abbas went on to praise late Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in March 2004.

He also used Quranic verses to claim Jews are corrupting the world.

"The sons of Israel are mentioned as those who are corrupting humanity on earth," Abbas said during a portion of his speech in which he criticized recent Israeli anti-terror raids in the northern West Bank.

Abbas anti-Semitic remarks and his call to arms against the Jewish state were not quoted in hundreds of English-language articles reporting on today's speech or by most major Israeli dailies, which featured pieces on their websites about the Fatah commemoration ceremonies.

A widely-circulated Associated Press article, titled "Abbas calls for respect at Fatah rally," states Abbas today called for rival factions to respect each other.

The AP quotes Abbas stating, "Shooting at your brother is forbidden," but the article stops short of quoting the rest of his sentence in which he recommends Palestinians use their weapons against Israel.

Finally, see Hot Wired For Hatred, to understand the psychological origins of the behaviors that are so prevalent in the Arab world.

However frightening this propaganda and its effects might be, we must confront the possibility that an even more hideous engine drives the terrorists' cruelty. Relative to the West, life in Arab countries has always been harsh. Corporal punishment of children is thoroughly embedded in the culture. No mainstream Islamic authority has yet spoken out against slapping children's faces, dragging them by the hair, or any of the other disciplinary approaches that shock Western onlookers.

Survival in such a culture necessitates some numbing. But this psychological component might be insignificant relative to the neurobiological effects of being beaten and tortured in childhood. It was Harvard researchers who first revealed that stress hormones released when children experience physical and sexual abuse actually impede development of that part of the brain responsible for empathy and conscience.

Brain scans of those who suffered through events common in the childhood of Palestinian children reveal an underdeveloped hippocampus and vermis. Among the behaviors associated with this sort of brain damage: impulsivity, sadism, and suicide. It is almost too frightening to consider that Israel today faces a population many of whom are hardwired for the sort of violence we have been witnessing.

More terrifying is the long-term prognosis for Palestinian society. Martin Teicher, a lead researcher in the Harvard study, reports that sadistic parents neurobiologically infect their children with the same trait: Society reaps what it sows in the way it nurtures its children. Whether it comes in the form of physical, emotional, or sexual trauma, or through exposure to warfare, famine, or pestilence, stress can set off a ripple of hormonal changes that permanently wire a child's brain to cope with a malevolent world. Through this chain of events, violence and abuse pass from generation to generation as well as from one society to the next.

Our stark conclusion is that we see the need to do much more to ensure that child abuse does not happen in the first place, because once the key brain alterations occur, there may be no going back. (Scientific American, March 2002)

For source material, see Shrinkwrapped's superb The Arab Mind series, archived at that link. The posts are a must read for any serious student of Middle East politics.

An Anniversary, Forgotten

February 13 marked the second anniversary of the murder of Ilan Halimi.

Halimi was the French Jew who was kidnapped and then murdered by a gang of young Muslims who referred to themselves as the appropriately named 'Barbarians.'

For 3 weeks prior to his death, Halimi was kept hostage and tortured.

From the Washington Post:

...Last week, French police found Halimi -- the son of Jewish Moroccan immigrants -- near a railroad track in a southern Parisian suburb. His naked body was covered with cigarette burns and he was handcuffed. He died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital...

From the New York Times:

...The French police initially dismissed accusations by Mr. Halimi's family and Jewish groups that anti-Semitism played a role in the crime, even after one suspect told investigators that Mr. Halimi had been a target because he was a Jew. The authorities changed their position after another suspect said Mr. Halimi had been burned on his forehead with a cigarette because of his religion...

Ruth Halimi, Mr. Halimi's mother, told the Israeli daily Haaretz on Sunday, "If Ilan hadn't been Jewish, he wouldn't have been murdered." She also told the newspaper that the police told the family to ignore the gang's attempts to contact them...

From the Boston Globe:

In the bleak housing project where a young Jew named Ilan Halimi was held captive and tortured before being dumped in a vacant lot to die, there's scant sympathy for the victim.

''It's too bad this happened, because we immigrants are always blamed," said Ibrahim Ag Ahmalou, a lanky man of West African heritage who shares his girlfriend's apartment in the project. ''But Jews have all the money and power. Everyone knows this and resents them. That's why they have these problems..."

In taunting calls to Halimi's family, the abductors addressed his parents with anti-Semitic slurs and told them to get cash ''from your synagogue." They also contacted a French rabbi, boasting, ''We have a Jew." Even more shocking, investigators believe that many inhabitants of the project were aware that the youth gang was holding a Jewish captive, but none called police or urged the abductors to show mercy [emp- SC&A]

Wall Street Journal:

No longer able to deny or play down the racial motive, the investigation is entering a new phase. One of the most troubling aspects of this affair is the probable involvement of relatives and neighbors, beyond the immediate circle of the gang, who were told about the Jewish hostage and dropped in to participate in the torture...

The murder of Ilan Halimi invites comparison with the November 2003 killing of a Jewish disc jockey, Sébastien Selam. His Muslim neighbor, Adel, slit his throat, nearly decapitating him, and gouged out his eyes with a carving fork in his building's underground parking garage. Adel came upstairs with bloodied hands and told his mother, "I killed my Jew, I will go to paradise." In the two years before his murder, the Selam family was repeatedly harassed for being Jewish. The Selam case has not been opened by the magistrate. The murderer, who admits his guilt, was placed in a psychiatric hospital, and may be released soon.

See Gateway Pundit, Solomonia and Eurabian News for more.

Melanie Phillips:

This saga is an object lesson in the lethal state of European denial. Jewish victimisation, despite the Jews’ own factual evidence about their own victimisation, is not recognised as such until it becomes overwhelmingly and undeniably apparent. And that is because to acknowledge it is to acknowledge the murderous hatred of Jews by Muslims, which is unacknowledgeable for two reasons: 1) it destroys the governing fiction that Muslim rage in France is driven by poverty, discrimination and French racism and 2) it destroys the governing fiction that the Jews of Israel are the aggressors and the Palestinians are their victims. That is why Jewish victimhood is being expunged from the European mind.

Happy Anniversary.

Why People Move South

Husband Of The Year

Yesterday, we did a BlogTalk Radio podcast with Fausta and Shane, of Political Vindication. In the podcast, Shane, Fausta and ourselves talked about relationships and 'the nature of men.' We also talked about romance and what it means to be a man today.

Fausta blogged about the podcast, here.

We thought we'd lighten things up a bit.

Below are this year's winners of the Husband of the Year Award.

This years Third Place Winner:



The Second Place Award Winner:



Finally, the moment you've been waiting for: This year's Grand Prize winner of the Husband of the Year Award goes to man not afraid of PDA's (public displays of affection)...



The Honorable Mentions up included a man who would rather sleep with bicycle...



And the guy for whom stability means everything...

Holy Places, Holy People

Yesterday, the Anchoress wrote Lent: The Searing Lesson, a post in which she self examines. We were taken by her remarks. We responded in a post titled with her own words, "Love cannot exist without pain."

Her post startled us- and made us think about faith, belief and the daily struggle that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. As humans, our focus goes way beyond mere survival and reproduction- we want to be better people. We want to elevate ourselves and those around us.

People of faith who engage in the pursuit of the elevated self often engage in prayer or meditation, exercises long associated with the pursuit of Holiness. They ask God to help them in their journey. For many, prayer and meditation are more than a bit comforting. For them, those activities are the signs along the map of life that keeps them headed in the right direction.

People who are not so religious might say, 'Why do I need to go to a House of Worship to be elevated?' This is not a rejection of faith. Americans are only too happy to refer to themselves as 'spiritual.' They are less comfortable identifying with a particular religion.

Churches and Houses of Worship have been grappling with an often asked question: If God is everywhere, why go to a house of worship? The question is fair and the answer most often given talks about community, family and like minded people who share similar beliefs. When all is said and done, the response to the question usually given does not really answer the question. If it did, the matter would have been put to rest long ago.

The real reason to go to Churches and Houses of Worship is because with their confines, Holiness can be found.

We're jumping the gun a bit, so we'll answer the question, 'What is Holiness'?

Holiness is many things. We assign Holiness to time, as in Remember to keep the Sabbath Day Holy. We assign Holiness to objects. Sacred vessels, sacred scrolls and sacred relics. We also assign Holiness to places. Jerusalem and Temple Mount immediately come to mind as do other shrines, tombs and monuments.

Once assigned, the Holy designation stands.

People of course can be Holy too, but there is a difference. Humans, by our very nature, also pursue very mundane pursuits. We are not always engaged in sacred activities. We live very mundane lives and we must engage in very mundane efforts if we are to survive.

Holiness for human beings can be defined can be defined as the state that is separate from the mundane. Holiness is the state of spiritual awareness.

To be engaged in the mundane, is to be in a state that lacks Holiness. This is not a bad thing any more than darkness, the absence of light is a bad thing. The absence of light serves an important and critical restorative purpose for most of Creation. We sleep and rejuvenate ourselves, we find new strengths and each day, we are enabled to seek new opportunities to elevate ourselves and those around us. The absence of daylight only serves to help us appreciate what is possible when we have the light.

The absence of light is not valueless. Understood, it is a very precious commodity indeed. Think of it this way. Daylight is 24 carat gold, night time is 18 carat gold. Not as perfect perhaps but valued and used wisely, 18 carat gold is precious indeed.

Most of us are not meant to live in an always Holy state. We each live in a world clearly defined by the sacred and the mundane. Our lives are lived in a dynamic and vast range of being- Holy when we commune with God and very mundane and further from God when fix the car or pick up the dry cleaning.

That is how it is supposed to be. Had created us as He did the angels, in a permanent state of Holiness, we would be deprived of His greatest gift- free will. We are meant to earn Holiness every day, over a lifetime.

Our potential for Holiness is derived in how we see and understand Holiness. If we see Holiness in purely spiritual terms and the result of a direct connection to God, then very few of us will ever be Holy.

If we see God in the same way we see light, a reflection of the sun through the atmosphere that envelopes all of us, then Holiness is ours for the taking. All we need to do is go outside to fully benefit from the sun's rays.

Once we accept our potential for Holiness, the purpose of prayer and Houses of Worship become clear. Those places we pray serve as a bright illumination for the path we must walk down, the path that allows us to reflect our unique Holiness.

It is true that we don't need a Houses of Worship to find God or Holiness.

A House of Worship does not exist for God. A House of Worship exists to facilitate our potential. In the effort to regain Holiness after the 'darkness' of our mundane existence, a House of Worship offers us a place to remind us of God's words and to reconnect with His commandments that serve as guideposts on the path that will elevate us.

It is also true that Houses of Worship are places that make our individual journeys easier. We embark on a trek with a sacred place, and sacred prayers objects behind us, acting a light filled mirror, illuminating the first steps of our journey. We can take those steps with confidence because of the light that comes from within that House of Worship.

Dark does not mean light is forever absent. There are places filled with light. Seek them out.

Proposed New Government Seal

A proposal for Inauguration Day if the Democrats win the election:

Coming Full Circle

Good always trumps evil. At times, that may be hard to believe, but it is so. It may take time and there might be much heartbreak and misery before that happens, but in the end, good will trump evil.

There are men and women who put forth good efforts every day that affect the lives of millions, if not billions of people. There are vaccines, cures, music and literature that have served to elevate the highest levels of the human condition, forever changing and benefiting man. There are those afflicted with the seemingly hopeless condition of despair, who manage to find their way to meaningful and purpose driven lives. Such is the power of good.

Conversely, there have been the Hitler's, Mao's, Pol Pot's and Stalin's, among others that have degraded the meaning and existence of mankind. The evil and and magnitude of the tragedies and despair they imposed on mankind must never, ever, be diminished because to minimize evil is to incubate more of the same. Nevertheless, despite that giant, cold shadow evil has imposed, we are here today because of the good- and not the evil.

While it may be easy to discuss good and evil in grandiose terms, the realities of good and evil and must be understood in the arena of everyday life, by everyday people because good and evil are facilitated by the actions of everyday people. The every day choices we make determine our morality- or lack of it.

Clerks who move papers from one desk to another. There is the clerk who moves paper from the desk of the dictator to the desk of an underling. There is the clerk who moves paper from the desk of the cancer researcher to the desk of the lab technician.

Both are clerks- both may move papers that affect millions of lives- but in the end, it is not difficult to understand which clerk had a greater and longer lasting impact on the human race. One may argue, the death of millions is not insignificant. That truth is realized when you think of unborn generations lost to evil. Nonetheless, the vaccine or cure of a dreaded disease will affect many more over generations to come.

That we inspire good in ourselves, families and communities, serves to inspire those that are destined to do great things that may benefit all of us. By appealing to our higher selves, we pass on good with ease. By nature, we want to be good. The growth of democracy and freedoms prove that. Of course, there will be the fools for whom it is a calling to do more than to point out our flaws and failures along the road of progress. They offer nothing but contempt for those who see freedom as the highest form of man's elevation. They too, will be forgotten.

Evil dies with those who choose to not perpetrate evil or camouflage evil. It is a lot harder to pass evil on from one generation to the next when people decide that the cost of real evil is too high. Evil always comes at the cost of real freedom.

Evil is under pressure- and that is why evil ideologies are so violent and vicious. Evil is under assault and is fighting back with all the force it can muster. The desperation is real- evil ideologues and those who support evil understand that evil is always finite. Conversely, they understand that good is always infinite.

There are those who use religion to do and accomplish great things. There are those use religion as a personal outlet for selfish ideas. The same of course, can be said for those who propagate morality as their guiding light. There are those who are indeed moral and those that use morality as a form of selfish expression.

Great societies and cultures are always measured by what they build, not by what they destroy. Great religions are measure by how many lives are saved in God's name, not by how many are taken in God's name. Great nations are measured by how many people are elevated to freedom and not by how many are enslaved and deprived of freedom.

This post has been previously published.

"Love cannot exist without pain."

"Love cannot exist without pain." With those five words, the Anchoress reminds us a profound truth.

In Lent: the searing lesson, she reminds of what makes us human, with innate capacities that are truly astounding.

Love brings the pain; it lets pain in. The key to all that makes us vulnerable. And alive.

And hurt.

And alive.

Pain can exist without love, but not the reverse.

On the surface, the Anchoress post is religious in nature. In fact, her words transcend the confines of her professed and cherished faith and enter the realm of spiritual transcendency that reaches us all. She writes of the sublime beauty of our spiritual imperfections. She understands the dignity of our falling and failing and getting up again.

She identifies with the participants in marathon of life that do not finish first and will never wear the ivy crown of the Greek gods, basking in the adulation of their fellow man. That is after all the goal, right?

The Anchoress notes in a plaintive voice

But now I understand, a little, why some prefer not to believe, at all.

Her path, like the path most of us take is difficult. She runs not with ease, grace and beauty of the trained runner. The great runners are aware of every step they take in every minute, aware of the trail's twists and turns. They are as sure footed as a gazelle.

The Anchoress does not run in that pack.

She reminds that she, like most of us, is like the athlete that has given all there is to give and struggles to reach inside to find more. She is like the spent runner, exhausted and delirious, always falling and struggling to stay upright, only vaguely aware in which direction is the finish line, but knowing she must reach that line. The runner knows there will be no yellow tape, crown of ivy or adoring crowds cheering her on. The runner knows that when the end of the race comes, he will be cheered on by a few lonely voices of loved ones or the few that understand the profundity in that struggle.

The Anchoress reminds us that at one time or another, get in over our heads. Some choose to choose to forfeit the game, afraid of getting hurt. Others wade in and face those challenges. Sometimes, we are like the boxer who needs a payady to feed his family. Sometimes we step into the ring and find within ourselves the heart to take a merciless beating so that our loved ones can eat.

From Of Burning Bushes, Places And Time:

God no more abandons us in our pain anymore than we abandon our loved ones in their pain and suffering.

Pain, fear and suffering are all a part of what it means to be a part of God’s creation.

First, we learn the easy lessons. To find God in nature, and beauty and music requires only minimal insight. As we progress through life, we learn to see God in the challenges and heartbreak that we all experience. That requires a more sophisticated set of skills. Finally, we learn to see God through loss and pain and suffering. That requires yet another set of skills- and that also requires the kind of humility learned from lessons of life.

In our times of pain, suffering and loss, God is not abandoning us. In fact, He is closer to us than ever, because pain and loss are the other side of the Creation coin. In the same way God oversaw Creation, He oversees loss.

We cannot claim to know God until we have experienced real fear, pain, loss and suffering. We cannot claim to be secure in our faith until the strength of that faith is tested and reaffirmed. We cannot claim to know God until we are comfortable in knowing that we are not all knowing.

We do not need to cry out to God when we are in pain or when we are suffering. God is already there, wanting us to grow into our fullest potential as Creation intended. In the same way that marriage, children and family expand our definitions and understanding of love, so too does pain, suffering and loss expand our definitions and understanding of life, meaning and purpose.

The runner who struggles and stumbles does not need the whole world to recognize his efforts. He seeks only the advice and counsel of others who have struggled and stumbled. He is grateful for the prayers of those few who are determined to stand by him and see him finish his race. He asks not to be carried to the finish line.

We also wrote

Believers know only too well the challenges faith presents. There are inner conflicts each believer must somehow come to terms with, and there are conflicts that originate from without. In each case and over time, those conflicts escalate.

Believers must deal with the inner peace that comes from the knowledge and awareness that God is always at our side. Also near the surface is the loneliness, despair and feeling of abandonment when God appears to be silent...

Even content of character is expressive of diversity. The Apostles were very different, in temperament and view. Some were great thinkers, others were very simple. Nevertheless, each was to preach the Gospel and each was to paint a different brush stroke on the canvas on what was to become Christianity.

The diversity of real faith is exemplified by the biblical examples the faithful turn to.

Joseph dreams, but never talks to God. He becomes an Egyptian dignitary but never forgets or abandons his heritage.

Esther, who saved her people, is known first as the queen and only second as a Jewess...

That there is plenty of religious diversity is no question. What unites the diverse individuals that religion celebrates, are the ideas and content of character.

It is the order that is derived from the chaos that attracts and hold people of faith so tightly.

The courage and inspiration to go on even the when the finish line is beyond reach, comes from within. The ability to endure suffering and pain comes from knowing our best efforts are ahead of us- and those best efforts are what is meant when we say we are 'Created in God's image.'

We can and will cross the finish line.

God treasures our spiritual achievements. He treasures our failures along the way even more, because in facing and overcoming our failures, we have shown that we are indeed worthy of the humanity He bestowed upon us. We are not meant to become perfect in our struggle and search for meaning and faith- we are meant to overcome the limitations, imperfections and obstacles along the way.

Relating to God is about relating to that most human side of ourselves.

And so it is. Read the Anchoress post.

Shrinks In The Saddle, Again

After a two week break, the Sanity Squad will return tonight to discuss recent ominous events that have been significantly under-reported by our crack MSM. The Balkan policies started in motion by Bill Clinton began to come to fruition in the last week with the declaration of independence by Kosovo. The EU and America support their independence but the picture is quite a bit more complicated. Join Dr. Sanity, Shrinkwrapped, Neo, and (insert Royal wave here) ourselves as we attempt to elucidate.

The podcast can accessed from the Sanity Squad BTR Homepage.

The call in number is is (646) 716-9116.

As a reminder, there is no crying in baseball, therapy or podcasts.

“Say Jihad,” Moments To Live And Geckos

Keyboard Commuters, Titanic And La Vida Vica

Keyboard commuters.

At one time or another, even the best of bloggers slogs off into the abyss of predictability, writing and opining about different versions of the same events and the same people.

Writing about politics is a lot like writing about the weather. There is going to be snow and blizzards in winter and there will be rain every day in the monsoon season. No matter how hard we try to be relevant, the players and their knee jerk responses are predictable.

Like the commuters that take the same road or train every single day, most of the political bloggers we know can fill pages without ever really having to give much thought into the substance of what they are going to say. That is not to say their posts are not relevant- clearly, they are. We can look at light refracted through a crystal and believe we see color spectrum in all it's ordered glory, but if we move a bit we can see the same light in a whole other rainbow. We can see light and the spectrum of colors in way we hadn't before. Our vison and insight is expanded. The best of bloggers are able to make us see light from different perspectives, not a bad thing at all.

There are other kinds of bloggers, of the formulaic variety, always returning to the tried and tested, afraid to venture out into the unknown.

Think of it this way. Every few decades, a movie about the sinking of the Titanic emerges. The ending is always the same. The ship goes down, there aren't enough lifeboats, the band plays Nearer, My God, To Thee and lots of people drown.

For Hollywood, Titanic movies are sure to fill theaters (and bank accounts) when the creative juices run dry and all else fails. With each iteration something new is learned. The last go round taught Hollywood to couple big pop singers with big voices to big stars and big special effects.

Lots of bloggers retell the Titanic story every day, as if their version explains the sinking of the great vessel or adds to the magnitude of the tragedy. At least Hollywood has enough sense to retell the tale once every few decades. In far too much of bloggertown, that story is retold every single day.

Every once a great while, you run into a blogger that steps into the abyss of the unknown and examines worlds that are new and uncharted. La Vida Vica is one such writer. It isn't often that a 'chick blog' would hold our interest for very long.

Of course, La Vida Vica isn't really a 'chick blog.' It would be easy to categorize her elegant writing as a kind of 'nanny diary' for those seeking love and a kind of (inexplicable) spiritual connection, but she is not so self centered or self absorbed. She is an explorer, first and foremost and unlike the rest of us, is honest about her desire to find her place in the cosmos. Like all explorers, she falls down, bruises and at times, gets lost. Still, she always gets up and forges ahead, bloodied perhaps, occasionally bowed but never really broken. She knows the path isn't easy or without obstacles and she isn't deluded by the cultural messages that celebrate style over substance.

From The Nearness Of You:

A joyous and terrible Day Less Ordinary. I have seen The Man of My Dreams again. Why does he move me so? I am still capable of standing back from him and realizing that although I see a strong man with a good heart, others simply see an interesting guy with a forbidding attitude. Yeah, yeah. I know all that. But it doesn't matter. To me, he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen...

The closest thing that I have ever felt to this divine effervescence has come from that surge of adrenaline that you have after you avoid a lethal car accident. (What a comparison! Paging Dr. Freud.) When the fraying strands of the cable guardrail, the fill of cold-patch on the highway shoulder and the jagged edge of the glove compartment gashing my kneecap shift by in useful order like a slideshow made by a hyper-realistic photographer. When your consciousness expands and every blade of grass in the median stands out from its neighbors with an exacting individualism that is mesmerizing...

From Me: "You Like My Butt?" He: "No, I Like You, But..." part one

Men are often so incredibly simplistic. Boobs. Ball. Beer. Bang. We forget how they can occasionally be utterly baffling. Sort of a male sideline, really. All that predictability and then the unexpected zig. I admit it, and I may speak for many women here, when I say: I hate the zig. I kind of like knowing where the average Joe is going. It’s safe. Comforting, even. When he tells me he’s helping a friend customize his Jeep, the average Joe is going to Hooters to watch The Big Game. But I know that. So it’s okay.

But those darn zigs. What is up with that? A case in point. Once I dated a sweet guy. Don’t know why I call him a sweet guy now that I think about it. Vica. The human doormat. He may well have been a Big Lummox. But lots of me still votes for Sweet Guy. Anyway, we went on a date. Yes, when the earth was young, I had A Date. And we had a good time. Or at least I thought we did. We met at a friendly neighborhood joint that we both liked. Favorite bars function as personality gauges so a shared interest is positive. I arrived on time and he texted to let me know he was running late. Yahoo! He’s considerate, thoughtful. I’m still alone at a bar on a Friday night and yet I like him More than I did ten minutes ago. How slick is that? Plus, that nagging fear that I was a dimwit who had gone to the wrong place was irrevocably banished.

From part two:

Finally I called him. He was probably onto another scent. It was unlikely we would go again. But I could do The Adult Thing and ensure that we were on good terms since our bar territories overlapped. No harm, no foul. I seriously doubted he was my Prince Charming. However there was enough to make me think we might be good for each other for a while. We fit together in a lot of ways, even if the puzzle would never be complete. Maybe it sounds unkind - and I don’t mean it that way - but he’s one of those guys who could be a great ex-boyfriend, too. No public feuding or shabby gossip. Just a friendly nod from across the bar. The occasional life-in-review over lunch. A guy you would never be embarrassed to know. That's a wonderful thing.

Now I must confess, when I called to have our polite finale, I had actually expected to get his voicemail. I timed it that way on purpose, coward that I am. I had a little speech prepared and everything. Geeze, my life. Does anyone else do this? But The Big Lummox answered the damn phone. Fervently, I wished I was talking to an automated attendant instead of a live human being. (How often does that happen?) I plunged ahead like a novice member of the Polar Bear Club, grimly determined and outwardly brave. In the era of caller ID, what else can you do?

La Vida Vica is the real deal great writer with a great blog. Check it out for yourself. While you're there, check out the 'My fave five' links on her sidebar.

Pride And Prejudice, Part One

MHNN (Ann Arbor, MI)- Mohammed al Fayed told the British inquiry into the death of his son Dodi al Fayed and Princess Diana was orchestrated by MI-6, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and mysterious 'others.' While these wild allegations were wildly reported, there were other remarks that garnished less attention.

Fayed also told the inquiry that Dr Pat M Santy (PMS), both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were in secret talks. Santy is the former NASA organic waste in space specialist therapist and author of the weekly Carnival Of The Insanities.

According to Fayed, they all met outside the Somerset Collection mall in Troy. According to Fayed, the meeting took place in the parking lot of the upscale mall because neither Obama or Clinton were comfortable surrounded by crowds who were into hip hop. Fayed also testified that Diana had told both Hillary and Michelle Obama that she was pregnant and engaged to his son Dodi. When asked about the connection between Diana, Michelle Obama, himself and Dodi, Fayed said that he was determined to keep their communications a secret for fear that CIA, MI-6 and the Mossad would order a 'hit' on the Obama family. Fayed also said that Obama supporter Tony Rezko, a Syrian with long and deep ties to the candidate was indicted in a secret court presided over by George Bush, Tony Blair and Prince Phillip, convened specifically so as to keep Rezko from testifying to the Queens affiliation with the Rothschilds and to keep information on the CIA implant program hushed up.

The following is a transcript of the meeting between Hillary Clinton (HC), Michelle Obama (MO) and Pat Santy (PMS) as submitted by Mohammed al Fayed.

PMS- It's so nice to see you.

HC- Michelle, you look so nice in white. Is that outfit new?

MO- Thank you Hillary. let me say that dark colors really are slimming. You look great, much smaller in the booty department.

HC- (laughing) Oh Michelle, I love it when you get ethnic! That's so adorable! I can recognize that Princeton and Harvard 'hood affectation anywhere!

PMS- OK, why don't we talk about why we're here.

MO- We're here because this bitch wants to capitalize on her husband's 'first black president' reputation. She wants to ride his coattails into the White House. Well, Billy boy doesn't look so black now, does he? Besides, the presidency isn't a welfare program for white politicians.

PMS- That tone isn't helpful-

MO- Not helpful? Not helpful? Who cares what you think? Did you go to Princeton? Did you go to Harvard? Noooo, you went to UCLA.

PMS- I chose UCLA. I also had an offer from Harvard and Stanford, where Condi Rice studied. I was one of the top medical people at NASA. My reputation is world renowned and my papers and book are considered must reads.

MO- Yeah, I know. But only because you are white.

HC- Michelle, don't be an idiot. She didn't get in on an Affimative Action program. I'm not saying you did, but I read your thesis. You seemed obsessed with race.

MO- And I read your thesis, you commie bitch. You hate America as much as I do, only you get to say otherwise because you're white.

PMS- OK, let's move on. Why are you really here.

MO- I have a couple of questions for Hillary. Was Diana really killed by MI-6? Was she killed because Dodi wasn't really white?

HC- Are you nuts? Are you going to suggest that Notorious B.I.G. was killed by Jenny Craig? Maybe Tupac was getting too close to whitey and that's why he was shot, right? Just how nuts are you?

PMS- This isn't helpful-

HC, MO- Shut up, white woman-

MO- What gives you the right to call PMS 'white woman'?

HC- I can call her anything I want, bitch. For what it's worth, while you were getting your hair and nails done by fancy white folk in Chicago, Bill and I were 'feeling the pain' of real, hard working blacks in Arkansas. All that fancy talk about race in Princeton didn't mean you weren't going to 'move on up' to where the white folk live! Besides, let's call a spade a spade. Your precious empty headed husband is half white.

MO- You bitch.

PMS- This exchange is not very helpful-

HC, MO- Shut up bitch.

MO- Honey, don't be talking about husbands. I can keep a man- know what I mean?

HC- You make me laugh! You talk down to me but get into bed with mighty whitey Teddy Kennedy!

MO- Is that the best you can do? No response to my 'keeping a man remark'?

HC- Honey, I'm saving the best for last. I'm a Clinton. I've got access to information you can't even imagine. I know how to use private investigators and how to access files that you don't even know exist.

PMS- I think we're heading off into a non productive direction-

HC- Non productive my ass. This bitch isn't going to outblack me or outwhite me.

MO- What the-

HC- That's right, bitch, I have your number. When you talk to blalck folk, you're 'just anuthu big bootied sistuh.' When you talk to white folk, you and your Princeton and Harvard eductated ass become a whole lot smaller and a whole lot whiter.

MO- You honky ass cow. Why I'm gonna-

PMS- OK, how about we meet here next week?

HC, MO- OK.

HC- Feels good to unload, doesn't it Michelle?

MO- Yes, it does. We really need to do this more often.

PMS- Go read Carnival Of The Insanities-

MO- Can you believe she's still here?

HC- Geez, white folk...

MO- Don't start, you Lilly white bitch...

Poonovation. Take The Tour

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Available summer, 2008.

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Who's On...Hu's On...?

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?

Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.

George: Great. Lay it on me.

Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.

George: That's what I want to know.

Condi: That's what I'm telling you.

George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes.

George: I mean the fellow's name.

Condi: Hu.

George: The guy in China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The new leader of China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The Chinaman!

Condi: Hu is leading China.

George: Now whaddya' asking me for?

Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.

George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?

Condi: That's the man's name.

George: That's who's name?

Condi: Yes.

George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.

Condi: That's correct.

George: Then who is in China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir is in China?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Then who is?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.

Condi: Kofi?

George: No, thanks.

Condi: You want Kofi?

George: No.

Condi: You don't want Kofi.

George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi?

George: Milk! Will you please make the call?

Condi: And call who?

George: Who is the guy at the U.N?

Condi: Hu is the guy in China.

George: Will you stay out of China?!

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi.

George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

Steeped In The Arab World Tea Of Lies, Deceit And The Shame Culture

Yesterday, Dr Sanity wrote Lies, Deceit And The Shame Culture, in which posits more than a bit of clarity.

In this post I discussed in detail some of the key issues inherent in all shame cultures, and Islamic cultures in particular...

(the post to which Dr Sanity refers is her own, Shame, The Arab Psyche And Islam is a must read for anyone wanting real insight into Middle East politics- SC&A)

...The Arab world is suffering a crisis of humiliation. Their armies are routed not only by Americans, but also by tiny, Jewish Israel; and as Arthur Koestler once remarked, the Arab world has not, in the last 500 years or so, produced much besides rugs, dirty postcards, elaborations on the belly-dance esthetic (and, of course, some innovative terrorist practices). They have no science to speak of, no art, hardly any industry save oil, very little literature, and portentous music which consists largely of lugubrious songs celebrating the slaughter of Jews.

Now that the Arabs have acquired national consciousness, and they compare their societies to other nations, these deficiencies become painfully evident, particularly to the upper-class Arab kids who attend foreign universities. There they learn about the accomplishments of Christians, Jews, (Freud, Einstein, for starters) and women.

Dr Sanity goes on to say that

Distorting the truth is the only way that they can avoid shame and maintain honor. Thus they resort to secrecy, deception, distortion and outright lying as legitimate strategies for protecting and augmenting their honor...

Left unaddressed, any and all forms of psychopathology will inevitably escalate; and the lies and deceit (including self-deception) necessary to maintain honor and avoid shame will eventually rise to an even higher and more dangerous pathological level... [emp-SC&A]

The post provides sharp and empirical clarity.

Dr Sanity is not the only one who has addressed the issues of self delusion in the Arab world and the disastrous consequences of living in a world devoid of reality. After reading her post, we were reminded of the last question of a series we had asked Gagdad Bob. In the context of current events, his remarks are relevant, cogent and they are a remarkably accurate distillation of reality.

Last question from Sigmund, Carl and Alfred: “Why have the Jews survived? Do they really need us, or do we really need them?”

These questions are at the core of the cataclysm that is occurring in the world’s consciousness today. As I have said before, this war is not just ideological, or about power, territory, resources, or any other tangible entity. Rather, this is a war that is taking place on a deeply spiritual level within the collective consciousness of the world. You needn’t believe me when I say this. Rather, just apply it to the situation as you would any mundane academic theory and assess it’s explanatory power. In my view, the models and story lines we are given my the MSM and by the usual leftist academics are ridiculously inadequate to explain what is going on.

Israel is surrounded by enemies, both literally, in the form of her bloodthirsty Arab neighbors, but ideologically as well. Many on the left are openly questioning Israel’s right to exist, deeming it an “historical mistake” (Richard Cohen) or the source of all Muslim grievances--as if Muslims wouldn’t simply be at each others’ throats if Israel were obliterated, or as if Israel has anything to do with Muslim violence in the Philippines, Darfur, Malaysia, Canada, India, Singapore, et al.

At bottom, the conflict between Israel and her enemies is easily explainable, and yet, this simple explanation exceeds the boundaries of human reason properly so-called, since it is infra-rational in its nature and infrahuman in its consequences. In other words, the explanation is not “beyond reason” but prior to it. Quite simply, it is because the enemies of Israel are absolutely steeped in lies. They believe things about Israel that are not only untrue, but cannot possibly be true, to such an extent that the word “lie” is hardly sufficient to describe the phenomenon.

In this case we are not simply referring to “erroneous information,” or to something that is susceptible to being corrected. Rather, we are dealing with an ontological and spiritual lie that is at the foundation of the very personality--and, by extension, culture. You might even say that we are dealing with “the father of lies,” in the sense that it is a primordial lie that then perpetually generates its own lies. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how many lies you dispute on the surface, because a new one will rise to take its place. One can well understand why the Passover Haggadah--the special prayer book for the Passover Seder meal--says that "In every generation there are those who rise against us to annihilate us... " Those are always different people but representatives of the same spiritual force.

Grotesquely anti-Semitic scholarship is routinely produced by the academic left--for example deconstructed historical narratives that blame Israeli actions for the irrational hatred directed it. But this worthless scholarship does not actually prove anything to anyone, any more than ideologues such as Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn proved that the United States was responsible for the Cold War. Rather, the only purpose of this propaganda is to serve up chicken soup for the anti-Semitic assoul. Anyone in their right mind knows that a Juan Cole is not a scholar, but that he simply fills a marketplace need for anti-Semitic “product.” In that regard he is more analogous to a pornographer, satisfying the market for anti-Jewish lust.

Let’s take the example of Mel Gibson. I don’t care about him as a person, and I have no interest in his particular case. Rather, I want to dispassionately focus more on the content of those things he uttered in his drunken rant. Where did they come from? How could such ideas even exist? But they do exist, and they have existed from the foundation of the world. It is not about the Jews, but about what the Jews represent and symbolize. Because of what they symbolize, they attract and literally generate their opposite, like a myth to defame.

“F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Again, not only untrue, but impossible. On the other hand, because of the thought-blocking effects of political correctness, it seems as if people are incapable of making the banal observation that Islam is quite literally responsible for almost all of the wars in the world. As Samuel Huntington observed a few years back in his Clash of Civilizations--and this was eight years ago, before the horrors that have been unleashed since 9-11--Muslims were participants in twenty-six of fifty ethnopolitical conflicts, and two-thirds to three-quarters of intercivilizational wars: "They also have had a high propensity to resort to violence in international crises, employing it to resolve 76 crises out of a total of 142" between 1928 and 1979. Huntington concluded with the colorful statement that "Islam's borders are bloody, and so are its innards.” But try saying that in a typical leftist university, and your career will be as dead as Mel Gibson’s.

Again, Israel is hated because its enemies are not just liars, but so immersed in the Lie that they might as well be demon-possessed. Consider the charter of the PLO, which reads that Zionism is a "constant source of threat" to the entire world, "racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods." It is "strategically placed" to combat Arab liberation and progress. During a typically psychotic televised sermon, a Palestinian cleric taught that among the evil deeds of the Jews was the Holocaust itself, which was "planned by the Jews' leaders, and was part of their policy" (courtesy of the indispensable www.memri.org).

Similarly, the demonic charter of Hamas informs us that wealthy Zionists have taken over "control of the world media... they stood behind World War I.... They also stood behind World War II.... They inspired the establishment of the United Nations and the Security Council... in order to rule the world by their intermediary" and "liquidate Islam." I am sure that most Americans don’t even have a clue about how desperately sick in the soul these people are--including their morally twisted allies and supporters, such as CAIR.

One wonders if the average anti-Semite even knows that there are fewer than 15 million Jews in the entire world, which represents just .227% of the population. Look at Afghanistan. It’s probably safe to assume that they are just as anti-Semitic as any other Muslim country, and yet, there is exactly one Jew living there. His name is Sy Goldberg, and he is very lonely and frightened. And yet, he has complete control of Afghan banking and media, and nobody can get a decent pastrami on rye without going through him.

In a column a few months back, Dennis Prager cited perhaps the most tragic statistic that haunts the human race. Throughout history, so many Jews have been murdered for being Jews, that “While the world's population is about 30 times larger than 2,000 years ago, the Jewish population has barely doubled. Had Jews been left alone to procreate at the same rate as others, there would be about 180 million Jews in the world today.”

“So what,” you might say. “People are people. It’s a tragedy when anyone dies.” Yes, but not all tragedies are equal in their cost to mankind. No one but their immediate families would mourn if all of the Iranian mullahs, Saudi princes, and CAIR spokesholes dropped dead tomorrow. But in a recent post, I cited the evidence of Charles Murray, whose book Human Accomplishment demonstrates how, in nearly every important human endeavor--biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, medicine, visual arts, literature, music and philosophy--Jews are staggeringly over-represented given their small numbers. In mathematics the actual-to-expected ratio is 12:1. In philosophy it is 14:1. In physics 9:1. In medicine and biology, 8:1. Remember, these ratios are not just measuring the raw numbers of doctors, scientists and artists, but the number of truly great and significant ones.

So, what has the world lost due to its Jew hatred? Who knows? A vaccine for the AIDs that is killing tens of thousands of Africans? A key insight into the mathematical structure of the universe? A new source of energy? A cure for cancer?

Satan--or whoever is responsible for the primordial rebellion against the light--couldn’t be more pleased. Few things further his interests more than anti-Semitism.

Israel doesn't have the right to exist. Rather, it has the obligation to exist--not for her sake, but for ours. And yes, for the sake of the genocidal fanatics who wish to destroy it, for the sun shines even on the wicked. I mean, even Juan Cole and Pat Buchanan like polio vaccine, right?

*****

Nine out of ten jejune, tendentious and crackpot psychobloggers agree:

"Failing to support Israel is not a sign of mental illness; it is a sign of ethical, moral, intellectual, legal, religious, and characterological bankruptcy, however; but thats just my opinion."

(See Clans Of The Alphane Moon- a Shrinkwrapped must read- SC&A)

*****

Related: Islam's Useless Idiots:

"Islam enjoys a large and influential ally among the non-Muslims: A new generation of “Useful Idiots".... This new generation of Useful Idiots also lives in liberal democracies, but serves the cause of Islamofascism—another virulent form of totalitarian ideology.

"Useful Idiots are naïve, foolish, ignorant of facts, unrealistically idealistic, dreamers, willfully in denial or deceptive. They hail from the ranks of the chronically unhappy, the anarchists, the aspiring revolutionaries, the neurotics who are at war with life, the disaffected alienated from government, corporations, and just about any and all institutions of society....

"Arguably, the most dangerous variant of the Useful Idiot is the “Politically Correct.” He is the master practitioner of euphemism, hedging, doubletalk, and outright deception.

"The Useful Idiot derives satisfaction from being anti-establishment. He finds perverse gratification in aiding the forces that aim to dismantle an existing order, whatever it may be: an order he neither approves of nor he feels he belongs to."

Read it all.

See also Complaint Department: Do Sick Cultures Produce Sick People?

In that post, Godwin examines and addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict- a euphemism for the Jewish-Muslim divide- in the context of the very real human costs to the individual and the society in which he originates and lives.

The post is superb in it's clarity, message and meaning.