dinsdag 10 september 2013
Obama is a laughing stock: Column
Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Remember that dumb cowboy George W. Bush, who alienated all our allies and dragged us into wars of choice in the Mideast? And remember that goofball Mitt Romney, whom Joe Biden a year ago accused of wanting to go to war in Syria?
Both of them must be having a big laugh over the way things are going for Obama now. When I wrote last week on our bumbling Syria diplomacy, it seemed that things couldn't possibly go further downhill. Boy, was I wrong.
Last week, it seemed our only ally was France. But now the French are having second thoughts. Obama's efforts to get support at the G20 conference came to nothing. Even the pope is undercutting him.
Meanwhile, at home, polls show Americans are against a strike, and Obama is facing double-digit defections among Democrats in the Senate. The outlook for passage in the House, meanwhile, looks so bad that a resolution to authorize war may not even make it to a vote. If it's sure to fail, why force members -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to go on record? You can bet they don't appreciate Obama putting them in this position. The Pentagon isn't happy, and even The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, a reliable Obama supporter, calls his policy "dumb."
Read more at: USA Today
Remember that dumb cowboy George W. Bush, who alienated all our allies and dragged us into wars of choice in the Mideast? And remember that goofball Mitt Romney, whom Joe Biden a year ago accused of wanting to go to war in Syria?
Both of them must be having a big laugh over the way things are going for Obama now. When I wrote last week on our bumbling Syria diplomacy, it seemed that things couldn't possibly go further downhill. Boy, was I wrong.
Last week, it seemed our only ally was France. But now the French are having second thoughts. Obama's efforts to get support at the G20 conference came to nothing. Even the pope is undercutting him.
Meanwhile, at home, polls show Americans are against a strike, and Obama is facing double-digit defections among Democrats in the Senate. The outlook for passage in the House, meanwhile, looks so bad that a resolution to authorize war may not even make it to a vote. If it's sure to fail, why force members -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to go on record? You can bet they don't appreciate Obama putting them in this position. The Pentagon isn't happy, and even The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, a reliable Obama supporter, calls his policy "dumb."
Read more at: USA Today
Labels:
Barack Hussein Obama,
Hafez Assad,
Syria,
Vladimir Putin
maandag 9 september 2013
The Syria Situation: Speak Loudly and Carry a Nerf Gun
Tomorrow night, President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) will address the nation, with the world watching, concerning his desire to attack Syrian President Assad, over the accusation that he used chemical weapons against his own people.
The president’s wishes continue to be opposed by 80% of Americans., regardless of an endless stream of propaganda being thrown at us by the Administration and their Liberal minions, in Congress and the Main Stream Media.
All this propaganda has been overshadowed by the words, actions, and history of Obama himself, as it appears that the entire world has figured out that, as Clint Eastwood so aptly demonstrated at last year’s Republican National Convention, the President of these United States is nothing but an empty suit,, inflated by empty promises and threats.
And that fact, boys and girls, does not make our nation very safe at all.
Conrad Black, in an article for The New York Sun, wrote the following,
Read more at: Kingjester's Blog
The president’s wishes continue to be opposed by 80% of Americans., regardless of an endless stream of propaganda being thrown at us by the Administration and their Liberal minions, in Congress and the Main Stream Media.
All this propaganda has been overshadowed by the words, actions, and history of Obama himself, as it appears that the entire world has figured out that, as Clint Eastwood so aptly demonstrated at last year’s Republican National Convention, the President of these United States is nothing but an empty suit,, inflated by empty promises and threats.
And that fact, boys and girls, does not make our nation very safe at all.
Conrad Black, in an article for The New York Sun, wrote the following,
Read more at: Kingjester's Blog
zondag 8 september 2013
Islam en vrijheid
Islam en vrijheid
De vrienden en de vriendinnen van de islam zullen het wel heel brutaal vinden dat ik hier ga spreken over ‘islamitische maatschappijen’, want alle islamitische maatschappijen zijn verschillend. Dat klopt, er bestaan verschillen maar dat neemt niet weg dat er ook overeenkomsten zijn. De belangrijkste daarvan is dat de sharia, het islamitisch recht, altijd en overal invloed uitoefent op het vigerende recht, dat wil zeggen het recht zoals dat in het land van kracht is. Die invloed is niet altijd even groot, maar hij is wel altijd aanwezig.
Ik vind het vanwege de beperkte tijd jammer maar voor we aan de economie kunnen toekomen, moeten we de aard van de sharia besproken hebben omdat anders de manier waarop de sharia invloed op een maatschappij uitoefent niet te begrijpen is. En zonder begrip voor hoe de islam en de sharia hun invloed
uitoefenen, zakken we weg tot het niveau van het debat dat de regering met de Tweede Kamer daarover donderdag 5 september gevoerd heeft. En dat niveau moeten we met elkaar niet willen in dit land.
Lees meer op hoeiboei
vrijdag 6 september 2013
Grootvader Assad: kijk toch hoe de vreedzame Palestijnse Joden worden afgeslacht
Historische document: brief van de grootvader van Assad in 1936.
Onderstaande brief werd in 1936 door de grootvader van de huidige dictator van Syrië Bashar Assad geschreven aan de Franse premier. De brief pleit voor een opsplitsing van Syrië, zodat de Alawieten een eigen staat konden krijgen.
Want de brief stelt – toen al – dat als de soennieten aan de macht zouden komen met hun religieus fanatisme, dit het einde van de Alawieten zou betekenen.
Het soennitische religieuze geweld – ook toen al – tegen de vreedzame Joden in Palestina wordt daarbij als afschrikwekkend voorbeeld onder de aandacht gebracht.
Wat is er de laatste tachtig jaar weinig veranderd in de mentaliteit van het Midden-Oosten.
Hieronder een vertaling van de belangrijkste passages.
Geachte heer Leon Blum, premier van Frankrijk.
In het licht van de onderhandelingen die worden gevoerd tussen Frankrijk en Syrië, willen wij – de leiders van de Alawieten in Syrië – respectvol de volgende punten onder uw aandacht en die van uw partij brengen:
1. De Alawieten zijn nog nooit overheerst door de soennitische moslims.
2. De Alawieten worden als ketters beschouwd door de islamitische godsdienst. Daarom vragen wij u om het vreselijke, verschrikkelijke lot te overwegen dat de Alawieten te wachten staat als ze gedwongen bij Syrië worden gevoegd. [Volgens de Islam moet een afgod-aanbiddende ketter de keuze zich bekeren tot de islam, anders moet hij worden gedood.]
3. Parlementaire controle zou slechts een façade zijn, zonder enige effectieve waarde. De waarheid zal zijn dat het bestuur zal worden beheerst door religieus fanatisme dat zal zich richten op de minderheden.
4. De geest van fanatisme en bekrompenheid – waarvan de wortels diep in het hart steken van de Arabische moslims tegenover al diegenen die geen moslim is – is de geest die voortdurend de islamitische religie voedt. Daarom is er geen hoop dat de situatie zal veranderen. Als het mandaat wordt beëindigd, zal dood en vernietiging de minderheden in Syrië bedreigen, ook als vrijheid van meningsuiting en godsdienst zouden zijn afgekondigd.
Zelfs vandaag de dag zien we hoe de islamitische inwoners van Damascus de Joden – die onder hun bewind leven – dwingen om een document te tekenen waarin het hen wordt verboden om voedsel te sturen naar hun Joodse broeders die lijden in Palestina.
De situatie van de Joden in Palestina is het beste en meest concrete bewijs van het religieuze probleem onder de islamitische Arabieren naar mensen die niet bij de islam horen.
Die goedbedoelende Joden hebben de islamitische Arabieren cultuur en vrede gebracht, en rijkdom en voorspoed naar Palestina, ze hebben niemand kwaad gedaan en ze hebben zich niets met geweld toegeëigend.
En toch hebben de moslims hen de heilige oorlog verklaard en hebben zij geen aarzeling om hun kinderen en hun vrouwen af te slachten, ondanks het feit dat Engeland in Palestina zit en Frankrijk in Syrië.
Daarom wacht een zwarte toekomst de Joden en de andere minderheden als het mandaat wordt beëindigd en islamitisch Syrië wordt verenigd met islamitische Palestina.
Die vereniging is het uiteindelijke doel van de islamitische Arabieren.
5. Wij waarderen uw vrijzinnige opvattingen bij het verdedigen van het Syrische volk en uw wens om hun onafhankelijkheid te realiseren, maar Syrië is op dit moment verre van het verheven doel dat u voor haar nastreeft, want ze is nog steeds gevangen in de geest van religieus feodalisme.
6. U wilt mogelijk de rechten van de Alawieten en andere minderheden garanderen in een verdrag, maar wij benadrukken dat contracten geen waarde hebben in de Syrische islamitische mentaliteit.
Wij hebben dit gezien in het verleden, met het verdrag dat Engeland sloot met Irak, dat de Irakezen verbood de Assyriërs en de Yezidi’s af te slachten.
De Alawieten, die wij, de ondergetekenden, vertegenwoordigen, schreeuwen naar de regering van Frankrijk en de Franse Socialistische Partij, en verzoekt hen om haar vrijheid en onafhankelijkheid binnen haar kleine grenzen te garanderen.
[Getekend door:] Aziz al- Agha Hawash , Mahmud Agha Jadid , Mahmud Bek Jadid , Suleiman Asad [de grootvader van Bashar], Suleiman al- Murshid , Mahmud Suleiman al- Ahmad.
Overgenomen van Likoed Nederland
Meer artikelen uit Likoeds archief van Historische documenten
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Willen we echt Assad gaan bombarderen en daardoor mede-verantwoordelijk worden voor het bloedbad dat zal volgen? Alleen maar om te voorkomen dat Obama gezichtsverlies lijdt?
Wat mij betreft mag hij plat op zijn gezicht vallen. Wie weet, misschien leert hij er nog iets van...
Update: Bashar Assad's grandfather's amazing 1936 letter to France
English version from Elder of Ziyon
Update: Bashar Assad's grandfather's amazing 1936 letter to France
English version from Elder of Ziyon
donderdag 5 september 2013
America Has No National Interests In Syria & There's No Guarantee That Our Intervention Will Make Things Any Better...For Anyone.
What is our national security interest in Syria?
What is our objective in Syria because not even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, evidently can say what it is that we're seeking in Syria?
Traditionally, Americans have been known to pull for ‘the underdog,’ but in Syria, who is our dog?
With whom are we supposed to side?
The thuggish Ba’athist government and its Hezbollah and Iranian allies, who possibly did this (or, maybe, not)?
Read more at: Predictable History, Unpredictable Past
woensdag 4 september 2013
Jon Stewart on Planned US Attack on Syria - The Daily Show
“You got to see the red line,” the “Daily Show” host said after returning to the show from a 12-week absence. “You can’t use chemicals to kill your own people. You have to do it organically. America and the world want to make sure Assad uses only locally-sourced free long-ranged lead ordinance. Now, back in the early 80s, we knew Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran and were likely to use them again. Not only did we not attack them we supported Iraq, we supported Iraq in doing that and of course, we still get to use bunker-busters, cluster bombs and mark-77, which is not, not filled with napalm, technically. So given the fact that we have no idea who has control over these chemical weapons in a failed Syria, remind us again why we have to do this?” …
“We have to bomb Syria because we are in seventh grade,” Stewart said. “And the red line — the red line that they crossed is actually a dick-measuring ribbon. Why does holding back look like weakness? Isn’t it maturity? It’s like the guy who is picking on Clark Kent and he doesn’t do anything, even though he knows he could throw that guy into the sun. I’ll tell you what would be real weakness — Clark Kent laying waste to a town because someone called him a pussy.”
From: HotAir
Labels:
Barack Hussein Obama,
John Stewart,
Syria,
The Daily Show
Dear Congress: Welcome To Pottery Barn
Rick Wilson ·
Let's get a caveat out of the way: Basher Assad is a
truly bad man, a murderous thug, has terrible allies and should be hanging by
the neck from a lightpole in Damascus. Nor am I some isolationist or hesitant
about executive action in foreign affairs.This isn't about whether we should act
against Syria, but about the politics of Barack Obama's utterly failed policy
and his attempt to force the GOP to own the debacle he created.
Really, Congress?
Are you really taking this sucker bet?
Really?
You're willing to bail out President Barack Obama after
he's managed to set the Middle East on fire?
You're going give Obama cover after two years of Syrian
civil war, a growing threat to Israel, a nuclear Iran closer than ever, and
Egypt and Libya in chaos...all of which has been met with a shrug and “at this
point what difference does it make?” nonchalance?
As in practically everything but campaigning, Barack
Obama's zone of competence in foreign policy is so far in the rearview mirror
it's almost comical...and now he wants the GOP to save him from himself.
Read more at: Ricochet
Labels:
Barack Hussein Obama,
Basher Assad,
Congres,
GOP,
Syria
Non-Black America Experiences a Paradigm Shift
By John Ross
There is a sea change occurring in America fifty years after MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. This paradigm shift is spreading with the growing realization among our citizens that Black America (including our president) seems to hate Non-Black America. Temper this sweeping statement with the fact that blacks in America may genuinely like non-black individuals, just as whites in 1850 who believed blacks were a lower form of life still knew individual black men they respected for their particular talents and/or character. However, if we take specific individual knowledge out of the equation, on the whole, being black trumps everything else for blacks in America today. This is not true of any other ethnic or racial group.
I first became aware of this fact on October 3, 1995, almost eighteen years ago. That was the day the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. I personally thought the verdict was the correct one, since the prosecution botched their case, but it was also pretty obvious that Simpson, and no one else, had wielded the knife.
What stunned me then was the absolutely breathtaking reaction of America's black population when the verdict was announced. Across the country, Black America was positively jubilant. Yes, long ago, all-white juries sometimes ignored the evidence of white violence against blacks, but White America as a whole has never, in my 50-year memory, collectively cheered such events.
Read more at: American Thinker
There is a sea change occurring in America fifty years after MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. This paradigm shift is spreading with the growing realization among our citizens that Black America (including our president) seems to hate Non-Black America. Temper this sweeping statement with the fact that blacks in America may genuinely like non-black individuals, just as whites in 1850 who believed blacks were a lower form of life still knew individual black men they respected for their particular talents and/or character. However, if we take specific individual knowledge out of the equation, on the whole, being black trumps everything else for blacks in America today. This is not true of any other ethnic or racial group.
I first became aware of this fact on October 3, 1995, almost eighteen years ago. That was the day the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. I personally thought the verdict was the correct one, since the prosecution botched their case, but it was also pretty obvious that Simpson, and no one else, had wielded the knife.
What stunned me then was the absolutely breathtaking reaction of America's black population when the verdict was announced. Across the country, Black America was positively jubilant. Yes, long ago, all-white juries sometimes ignored the evidence of white violence against blacks, but White America as a whole has never, in my 50-year memory, collectively cheered such events.
Read more at: American Thinker
zaterdag 31 augustus 2013
Razend naar de afgrond
Geplaatst door Joost Niemoller op 31 augustus, 2013 - 11:30
Nieuw onderzoek: Nederland is bevangen door angst en paniek. Er is een gevoel van controleverlies.
Het bureau Motivaction peilde voor NRC handelsblad naar gevoelens in Nederland. De woorden die vooral naar boven kwamen waren economie, islam en Europa. Het verbazingwekkende is dat het eerste onderwerp dag in dag uit in de media is, over het tweede alleen nog een discussie in de marge bestaat, terwijl we het in de vorm van de onttakeling van het Midden Oosten dag in dag uit op het netvlies krijgen. En over Europa bestaat hier ook geen nationaal debat.
Wat me ook opviel was dat de gemeten gevoelens in Nederland kennelijk dieper en zwarter zijn dan ooit:
Lees meer op: Dagelijkse Standaard
Nieuw onderzoek: Nederland is bevangen door angst en paniek. Er is een gevoel van controleverlies.
Het bureau Motivaction peilde voor NRC handelsblad naar gevoelens in Nederland. De woorden die vooral naar boven kwamen waren economie, islam en Europa. Het verbazingwekkende is dat het eerste onderwerp dag in dag uit in de media is, over het tweede alleen nog een discussie in de marge bestaat, terwijl we het in de vorm van de onttakeling van het Midden Oosten dag in dag uit op het netvlies krijgen. En over Europa bestaat hier ook geen nationaal debat.
Wat me ook opviel was dat de gemeten gevoelens in Nederland kennelijk dieper en zwarter zijn dan ooit:
De peiling ging met name over angst en paniek, door de onderzoekers omschreven als ‘controleverlies’ en ‘het gevoel geen uitweg meer te hebben’. Het is voor het eerst dat Motivaction dergelijk controleverlies peilt.Angst en paniek. Ik zie dat toch wel als de uiterste staat van volksgevoel. Iets wat alleen maar om kan slaan in woede.
Lees meer op: Dagelijkse Standaard
Obama's bread and circuses
The questions that ought to have been answered before any statements were made by the likes of Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel have barely been raised in the public arena. The most important of those questions are: What US interests are at stake in Syria? How should the US go about advancing them? What does Syria's use of chemical weapons means for the US's position in the region? How would the planned US military action in Syria impact US deterrent strength, national interests and credibility regionally and worldwide? Syria is not an easy case. Thirty months into the war there, it is clear that the good guys, such as they are, are not in a position to win.
Syria is controlled by Iran and its war is being directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and by Hezbollah. And arrayed against them are rebel forces dominated by al-Qaida.
Read more at: Caroline Glick.com
Labels:
Barack Hussein Obama,
chemical weapons,
Hafez Assad,
Israel,
Syria
vrijdag 30 augustus 2013
The Pros and Cons of Attacking Syria
PJ Media's columnists weigh in on intervening in Syria as the Obama administration decides how to respond to the use of chemical weapons. Updated: Michael Ledeen, Victor Davis Hanson and Roger Kimball provide their analyses.
MICHAEL LEDEEN
Well today, Thursday, it looks like we’re running away from the very idea of doing anything. Today’s headlines say that the intel is suddenly dubious, that Cameron won’t do anything without the UN — which means he won’t do anything at all — and Hollande is suddenly cautious.
Surprised? You say it’s inconceivable that Obama would do nothing at all after all the yelling and jumping up and down?
It wouldn’t be the first time. Think back to the Iranian-sponsored plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador to Washington. There was a monster press conference, featuring the FBI director and General Holder himself. Intel was presented. Violent words were uttered. Anyone who watched it would have had only one question: what terrible vengeance will we wreak upon the Iranians?
And then…nothing. Aside from General Mattis, it’s hard to find an authoritative voice condemning the inaction (and Mattis only said it on the eve of retirement). The story just went away, as pundits assured their readers, viewers, and listeners that the Iranians couldn’t possibly have been so stupid as to have ordered an attack on American soil.
Kinda like the current refrain that Assad couldn’t possibly have been so stupid as to have ordered a chemical attack against his enemies…
Read more at: PJ Media
MICHAEL LEDEEN
Well today, Thursday, it looks like we’re running away from the very idea of doing anything. Today’s headlines say that the intel is suddenly dubious, that Cameron won’t do anything without the UN — which means he won’t do anything at all — and Hollande is suddenly cautious.
Surprised? You say it’s inconceivable that Obama would do nothing at all after all the yelling and jumping up and down?
It wouldn’t be the first time. Think back to the Iranian-sponsored plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador to Washington. There was a monster press conference, featuring the FBI director and General Holder himself. Intel was presented. Violent words were uttered. Anyone who watched it would have had only one question: what terrible vengeance will we wreak upon the Iranians?
And then…nothing. Aside from General Mattis, it’s hard to find an authoritative voice condemning the inaction (and Mattis only said it on the eve of retirement). The story just went away, as pundits assured their readers, viewers, and listeners that the Iranians couldn’t possibly have been so stupid as to have ordered an attack on American soil.
Kinda like the current refrain that Assad couldn’t possibly have been so stupid as to have ordered a chemical attack against his enemies…
Read more at: PJ Media
dinsdag 27 augustus 2013
Quick Note on Syrian WMDs and Iraq
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
On the overall Syria situation, I have made clear my strong view that the Obama misadministration is leading us into a disaster--almost regardless of the end result of the intervention, our national interests lose. In addition, we are apparently going to intervene in a half-baked manner that would not have been necessary had we maintained a base in Iraq. That base would have given us an ability to come at the Syrians from two sides. A robust US military presence in Iraq also would have helped curb what is growing Iranian influence in Iraq, and hampered Iran's ability to intervene in Syria and Lebanon. Such, however, is the quality of our "leadership" that we are operating with self-imposed and severe handicaps, at the same time that we adopt grandiloquent objectives.
I notice some renewed speculation about the origin of Syria's stockpile of chemical WMDs. That reminds me of a little event in which I participated. The day, April 9, 2003, the day Saddam's statue was pulled down in Firdos Square in Baghdad. I was sitting in my office at a US Embassy in Asia. As were millions of others people around the world, I watched the destruction of Saddam's monument on TV. My phone rang; my office manager said that the Ambassador wanted me to take a call from Iraq's Embassy. I first thought it a joke, but, no, Iraqi Charge Abbas was indeed calling. I picked up the phone, and, in very good English, he immediately said, "I am calling from the Embassy of Liberated Iraq. I have told your Ambassador, you have done a good thing. You have given us freedom!" I was a bit surprised. This man had a reputation as one of the most loyal Saddamers around; just a few days prior he had been agitating for protests at the US Embassy. I had gone into the host nation Foreign Ministry to lodge my own protest over his activities. He previously had been, apparently, a senior official in the Iraqi Finance Ministry, and was very close to Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. He now wanted to talk, and was willing to come to our Embassy, but I was curious about the Iraqi Embassy and wanted to go there. We agreed to meet there in a couple of days if State approved.
Read more at: The DiploMad 2.0
On the overall Syria situation, I have made clear my strong view that the Obama misadministration is leading us into a disaster--almost regardless of the end result of the intervention, our national interests lose. In addition, we are apparently going to intervene in a half-baked manner that would not have been necessary had we maintained a base in Iraq. That base would have given us an ability to come at the Syrians from two sides. A robust US military presence in Iraq also would have helped curb what is growing Iranian influence in Iraq, and hampered Iran's ability to intervene in Syria and Lebanon. Such, however, is the quality of our "leadership" that we are operating with self-imposed and severe handicaps, at the same time that we adopt grandiloquent objectives.
I notice some renewed speculation about the origin of Syria's stockpile of chemical WMDs. That reminds me of a little event in which I participated. The day, April 9, 2003, the day Saddam's statue was pulled down in Firdos Square in Baghdad. I was sitting in my office at a US Embassy in Asia. As were millions of others people around the world, I watched the destruction of Saddam's monument on TV. My phone rang; my office manager said that the Ambassador wanted me to take a call from Iraq's Embassy. I first thought it a joke, but, no, Iraqi Charge Abbas was indeed calling. I picked up the phone, and, in very good English, he immediately said, "I am calling from the Embassy of Liberated Iraq. I have told your Ambassador, you have done a good thing. You have given us freedom!" I was a bit surprised. This man had a reputation as one of the most loyal Saddamers around; just a few days prior he had been agitating for protests at the US Embassy. I had gone into the host nation Foreign Ministry to lodge my own protest over his activities. He previously had been, apparently, a senior official in the Iraqi Finance Ministry, and was very close to Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. He now wanted to talk, and was willing to come to our Embassy, but I was curious about the Iraqi Embassy and wanted to go there. We agreed to meet there in a couple of days if State approved.
Read more at: The DiploMad 2.0
zaterdag 24 augustus 2013
In Another Country
By Christopher Orlet
How do we make people want to be successful?
I live in a different America now. For the past two years I lived in the inner-city of America’s most dangerous city. I saw the culture of poverty up close and personal. Some insist there is no such thing as a culture of poverty; they would think differently if they spent the last two years in my shoes. But of course they won’t.
The culture of poverty is many things. Actually it is an accumulation of things. Having one of those things doesn’t necessarily mean you are part of that culture. One characteristic of the culture of poverty is the single-parent household. But there are many middle class and even upper class (though fewer) single-parent households that are doing just fine. That is because they have resources unavailable to the poor. Like savings. Lawyers. Reliable transportation.
But if you are a single parent with multiple children by multiple fathers, and a high school dropout, with a record, then chances are you are part of that culture. If you move to a new rental every six months, yanking your kids out of school after school, and if you do drugs in front of your children, and sell your food stamps for cash, then chances are you are part of that culture. If you are 20 years old, living with your grandmother, with no interest in ever getting a job, or getting married, or doing much of anything, chances are you are part of that culture. If you do not have a kitchen table, but you do have a big flat screen TV, and when the social worker comes to visit someone yells, “The social worker is here, go get the light bulb,” then chances are you are part of that culture.
Read more at: The Spectator
How do we make people want to be successful?
I live in a different America now. For the past two years I lived in the inner-city of America’s most dangerous city. I saw the culture of poverty up close and personal. Some insist there is no such thing as a culture of poverty; they would think differently if they spent the last two years in my shoes. But of course they won’t.
The culture of poverty is many things. Actually it is an accumulation of things. Having one of those things doesn’t necessarily mean you are part of that culture. One characteristic of the culture of poverty is the single-parent household. But there are many middle class and even upper class (though fewer) single-parent households that are doing just fine. That is because they have resources unavailable to the poor. Like savings. Lawyers. Reliable transportation.
But if you are a single parent with multiple children by multiple fathers, and a high school dropout, with a record, then chances are you are part of that culture. If you move to a new rental every six months, yanking your kids out of school after school, and if you do drugs in front of your children, and sell your food stamps for cash, then chances are you are part of that culture. If you are 20 years old, living with your grandmother, with no interest in ever getting a job, or getting married, or doing much of anything, chances are you are part of that culture. If you do not have a kitchen table, but you do have a big flat screen TV, and when the social worker comes to visit someone yells, “The social worker is here, go get the light bulb,” then chances are you are part of that culture.
Read more at: The Spectator
donderdag 22 augustus 2013
Obama and an Edouard Daladier Moment
The day after the November 2008 election I had a major Édouard Daladier moment.
On that horrid Wednesday, I sat in my cluttered office at Main State in Washington, DC, in a deep, deep funk. Blinds drawn; lights out; a small TV on the far side of the office ran images of Obama’s victory celebration in Chicago the night before.
Two colleagues, one male and one female, both white, and both career State officers, walked into the office and started bubbling, “Isn’t this great!” Startled out of my near coma, I glumly asked “What’s great?” The woman looked at me as though I were from outer space, “The election! Obama’s victory.” I stammered, “Wha-what’s so great about it? He’s going to be an awful president.”
They looked at each other, and then the male officer said, “When you drove in today, didn’t you see the joy and pride in the black parking attendants in the basement? They have a real spring in their step this morning.” For one of the few times in my career, I was speechless. No withering reply. No cutting remark. No Churchillian riposte. No well-aimed stream of verbal acid shot from between my lips. Known while I was at the UN as the "Master of the Reply," I stared at him, as a fish pulled out of the depths might. Uncomprehending. Mouth moving without a sound. My pea-sized brain had failed me, yet again. I clearly had not understood that the 2008 national elections in the world’s most important country were about the happiness of parking attendants, about ensuring they had a "spring in their step."
These two cheerful condescending colleagues bounced out of my dreary office; I could hear them celebrating with others outside the door. A couple of minutes later, in walked another friend, a Republican political appointee, who shook his head and sorrowfully asked,”What do you think?” I fidgeted with my pen, undid my tie, and said, in my best Liev Schreiber growl, “We just did a Hemingway. Muzzle of a loaded shotgun in the mouth; about to pull the trigger. Or, as Édouard Daladier would have said, 'The fools! Why are they cheering?'”
Read more at: The Diplomad 2.0
On that horrid Wednesday, I sat in my cluttered office at Main State in Washington, DC, in a deep, deep funk. Blinds drawn; lights out; a small TV on the far side of the office ran images of Obama’s victory celebration in Chicago the night before.
Two colleagues, one male and one female, both white, and both career State officers, walked into the office and started bubbling, “Isn’t this great!” Startled out of my near coma, I glumly asked “What’s great?” The woman looked at me as though I were from outer space, “The election! Obama’s victory.” I stammered, “Wha-what’s so great about it? He’s going to be an awful president.”
They looked at each other, and then the male officer said, “When you drove in today, didn’t you see the joy and pride in the black parking attendants in the basement? They have a real spring in their step this morning.” For one of the few times in my career, I was speechless. No withering reply. No cutting remark. No Churchillian riposte. No well-aimed stream of verbal acid shot from between my lips. Known while I was at the UN as the "Master of the Reply," I stared at him, as a fish pulled out of the depths might. Uncomprehending. Mouth moving without a sound. My pea-sized brain had failed me, yet again. I clearly had not understood that the 2008 national elections in the world’s most important country were about the happiness of parking attendants, about ensuring they had a "spring in their step."
These two cheerful condescending colleagues bounced out of my dreary office; I could hear them celebrating with others outside the door. A couple of minutes later, in walked another friend, a Republican political appointee, who shook his head and sorrowfully asked,”What do you think?” I fidgeted with my pen, undid my tie, and said, in my best Liev Schreiber growl, “We just did a Hemingway. Muzzle of a loaded shotgun in the mouth; about to pull the trigger. Or, as Édouard Daladier would have said, 'The fools! Why are they cheering?'”
Read more at: The Diplomad 2.0
dinsdag 20 augustus 2013
Consensus in Egypt
By Mark Steyn
Further to Andy’s and David’s observations on Egypt this weekend, I would add only that everywhere except Washington people are thinking strategically: General Sisi has made a calculation that he has a small window of opportunity to inflict damage on the Muslim Brotherhood that will set them back decades and that it is in Egypt’s vital interest to do so. Grasping that, the Brothers are pushing back hard.
For the same reason, the Gulf monarchies, having weathered the immediate storms of the Arab spring and understanding the longer-term threat the Brotherhood represents, have supplanted Washington as Cairo’s principal paymasters: The $1.5 billion subvention to Egypt was always a drop in the great sucking maw of the US Treasury; compared to what the Saudis and the Emirs are ponying up, it’s looking less and less consequential from the Nile end, too.
Read more at: The Corner
Further to Andy’s and David’s observations on Egypt this weekend, I would add only that everywhere except Washington people are thinking strategically: General Sisi has made a calculation that he has a small window of opportunity to inflict damage on the Muslim Brotherhood that will set them back decades and that it is in Egypt’s vital interest to do so. Grasping that, the Brothers are pushing back hard.
For the same reason, the Gulf monarchies, having weathered the immediate storms of the Arab spring and understanding the longer-term threat the Brotherhood represents, have supplanted Washington as Cairo’s principal paymasters: The $1.5 billion subvention to Egypt was always a drop in the great sucking maw of the US Treasury; compared to what the Saudis and the Emirs are ponying up, it’s looking less and less consequential from the Nile end, too.
Read more at: The Corner
Labels:
Barack Hussein Obama,
Egypt,
Morsi,
Muslim Brotherhood
donderdag 15 augustus 2013
Media, waarom horen we hier niets over?
Aanhangers van de Moslim Broederschap reageren hun woede af op de weerloze christenen in Egypte. En de media maar jammeren over al het geweld en al die zielige dode (Moslim Broederschap-aanhangende) Egyptenaren. Walgelijk!
Tallying the destruction
Please note that this situation is fluid and changing.
Churches
Alexandria
Uit: Coptic World
Besteed maar liever eens aandacht aan de échte slachtoffers, mensen die niet bezig waren Egypte te talibaniseren!
Update: Reports from Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood's Fresh Assault on Coptic Christians
Tallying the destruction
Please note that this situation is fluid and changing.
Churches
Alexandria
- Father Maximus Church
- St George Church | Burned
- Good Shepherds Monastery | Nuns attacked
- Angel Michael Church | Surrounded
- St George Coptic Orthodox Church
- Al-Eslah Church| Burned
- Adventist Church | Pastor and his wife kidnapped
- St Therese Church
- Apostles Church | Burning
- Holy Revival Church | Burning
- The Nuns School
- St George Church | al-Wasta
- St Fatima Basilica | Heliopolis | Attempted Attack
- St Mary Church | El Nazlah
- St Damiana Church | Robbed and burned
- Amir Tawadros (St Theodore) Church
- Evangelical Church | al-Zorby Village | Looting and destruction
- Church of Joseph | Burned
- Franciscan School | Burned
- Diocese of St Paul | Burned
- Father Antonios
- Atfeeh Bishopric
- Church of the Virgin Mary and Father Abram | Delga, Deir Mawas
- St Mina Church | Abu Hilal Kebly, Beni Hilal
- Baptist Church | Beni Mazar
- Deir Mawas Bishopric
- Delga Church | Attacked
- The Jesuit Fathers Church | Abu Hilal district
- St Mark Church | Abu Hilal district
- St Joseph Nunnery
- Amir Tadros Church
- Evangelical Church
- Anba Moussa al-Aswad Church
- Apostles Church
- St Mary’s Church | Attempted Burning
- St George Church
- St Damiana | Attacked and burned
- Virgin Mary | Attacked and burned
- St Mark Church & Community Center
- Anba Abram Church | Destroyed and burned
- St Saviours Anglican Church
- Franciscan Church and School | Street 23 | Burned
- Holy Shepherd Monastery and Hospital
- Good Shepherd Church (molotov cocktail thrown)- Relationship with Holy Shepherd Monastery unknown.
- Greek Orthodox Church
- House of Father Angelos (Pastor of Church of the Virgin Mary and Father Abram) | Delga, Minya | Burned
- Properties and Markets of Copts | al-Gomhorreya Street, Assiut
- Seventeen Coptic homes | Delga, Minya | Burned
- YMCA | Minya| Burned
- Coptic Homes | Qulta Street, Assiut | Attacked
- Offices of the Evangelical Foundation & Oum al-Nour | Minya
- Coptic-owned shops, pharmacy, and hotels | Karnak and Cleopatra Streets, Luxor | Attacked and Looted
- Dahabeya Nile Boat | Minya| Church-owned
- Bible Society bookshop | Cairo | Burned
- Bible Society | Fayoum
- Bible Society | al-Gomohoreya Street, Assiut
Uit: Coptic World
Besteed maar liever eens aandacht aan de échte slachtoffers, mensen die niet bezig waren Egypte te talibaniseren!
Update: Reports from Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood's Fresh Assault on Coptic Christians
Labels:
Copts,
Egypte,
islam,
islamofaschisten,
Kopten,
Muslim Brotherhood
Entrepreneurs Turn Oligarchs
by Joel Kotkin 08/12/2013
For a generation, most Americans, whatever their politics, have largely admired Silicon Valley as an exemplar of enlightened free-market capitalism. Yet, increasingly, the one-time folk heroes are beginning to appear more like a digital version of President George W. Bush's “axis of evil.” In terms of threats to freedom and privacy, we now may have more to fear from techies in Palo Alto than the infinitely less-competent retro-Reds in North Korea.
Once, we saw the potential unsurpassed human liberation available through information technology. However, Silicon Valley, as shown in the NSA scandal, increasingly has become intimately tied to the surveillance state. Technology has enabled powerful firms – including Verizon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google – to channel everyone's email and cellphone calls to the national security apparatus.
Read more at: newgeography
For a generation, most Americans, whatever their politics, have largely admired Silicon Valley as an exemplar of enlightened free-market capitalism. Yet, increasingly, the one-time folk heroes are beginning to appear more like a digital version of President George W. Bush's “axis of evil.” In terms of threats to freedom and privacy, we now may have more to fear from techies in Palo Alto than the infinitely less-competent retro-Reds in North Korea.
Once, we saw the potential unsurpassed human liberation available through information technology. However, Silicon Valley, as shown in the NSA scandal, increasingly has become intimately tied to the surveillance state. Technology has enabled powerful firms – including Verizon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google – to channel everyone's email and cellphone calls to the national security apparatus.
Read more at: newgeography
Labels:
Apple,
Big Brother,
Facebook,
Google,
Microsoft,
NSA scandal,
olichargs,
Silicon Valley,
Verizon
maandag 8 juli 2013
Egypt without illusions
Exclusive: Pamela Geller asks, 'What is Obama's obsession with Muslim Brotherhood?'
Despite a series of public (and private) warnings from the Obama administration not to oust Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian people did just that. Good riddance to jihad rubbish. Then Obama issued warnings against arresting Morsi and Brotherhood members, and ordered U.S. government agencies to “review” aid to Egypt. What is Obama’s obsession with the Muslim Brotherhood? Again Obama sides with jihad – in Libya, in Syria, in Tunisia and now yet again in Egypt.
Obama’s loyalty to the Brotherhood ought to be the subject of congressional hearings. He thinks they’re the guardians of democracy in Egypt? The mainstream media and Muslim Brotherhood operatives in the U.S. keep claiming that Morsi was democratically elected, and therefore is the legitimate president of Egypt. But there was massive fraud in the election that put Morsi in power. He was no more democratically elected than the Ayatollah Khomeini.
In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood is made up of Jew-hating Shariah supremacists. Their “Palestinian” wing, Hamas, celebrates attacks on Israeli civilians. Democracy? Obama cited Morsi’s 13 million votes for his unqualified support of these vicious thugs. But the Tamarod opposition group claimed before the toppling of Morsi to have 22 million signatures on a petition demanding that he step down and allow new elections. Insanity has taken over at the highest levels in Washington. We will pay dearly for the Muslim Brotherhood stooge in the White House.
Read more at WND
Despite a series of public (and private) warnings from the Obama administration not to oust Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian people did just that. Good riddance to jihad rubbish. Then Obama issued warnings against arresting Morsi and Brotherhood members, and ordered U.S. government agencies to “review” aid to Egypt. What is Obama’s obsession with the Muslim Brotherhood? Again Obama sides with jihad – in Libya, in Syria, in Tunisia and now yet again in Egypt.
Obama’s loyalty to the Brotherhood ought to be the subject of congressional hearings. He thinks they’re the guardians of democracy in Egypt? The mainstream media and Muslim Brotherhood operatives in the U.S. keep claiming that Morsi was democratically elected, and therefore is the legitimate president of Egypt. But there was massive fraud in the election that put Morsi in power. He was no more democratically elected than the Ayatollah Khomeini.
In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood is made up of Jew-hating Shariah supremacists. Their “Palestinian” wing, Hamas, celebrates attacks on Israeli civilians. Democracy? Obama cited Morsi’s 13 million votes for his unqualified support of these vicious thugs. But the Tamarod opposition group claimed before the toppling of Morsi to have 22 million signatures on a petition demanding that he step down and allow new elections. Insanity has taken over at the highest levels in Washington. We will pay dearly for the Muslim Brotherhood stooge in the White House.
Read more at WND
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