LATE COMMENTS ON EVENINGS OUT

        I've been meaning to comment about 'Ulster' and the CAMERA dinner- especially the perspectives they give me about the Mideast.

        First 'Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme,' a powerful, if somewhat verbose, play by Frank McGuinness. This production starred Justin Theroux and Scott Wolf of 'Party of Five.'


        The play is about eight Ulster Protestant enlistees in WW1, as recalled by the sole survivor 54 years later. In 1915, the survivor is a cynic who wishes to see himself as an outsider, enlisting in the hopes that he will fall in combat. The others are proud of King & Country and fiercely loyal Orangemen. They loathe the Catholics. They talk about how the shipbuilders who built the Titanic cursed the Pope with every rivet they installed. They laugh about fighting 'Fenians,' even a bullying a boy who painted the tricolor on a wall.


        Remarkably, McGuinness, an Irish Catholic (other plays), presents all the men sympathetically. Even the most thuggish Catholic haters have tender souls under their bluster.
While watching them men deal with their fears of both the Germans and Fenians, I thought of something James Lileks wrote in his blog.

"If Saudi Arabia had a Star Trek, do you think they'd put a Jewish Chekov at the helm? Not anytime soon. It's as if they believe that the very act of hating the Jews ennobles them."

        I tried to imagine an Egyptian, never mind a Palestinian or Saudi, writing such a play about Israelis. Sadly, with the hate endemic in Dar Al Islam, the Jews they would portray would be one-dimensional monsters.

        Western societies wish to see other civilizations clearly. Indeed we are often enamored with them. But in the Islamic world, self-deception and prejudice reign.

        Of course not all who seen to understand Dar Al Islam are enamored with it. Case in point is Steven Emerson, who was the keynote speaker at the CAMERA dinner. Emerson is a very courageous writer. All to often 'courage' is applied to journalists who risk snubs at Upper East Side cocktail parties. Emerson risks ending up dead. As in Daniel Pearl dead. Imagine getting into a cab and seeing, on the front seat, a newspaper with a bulls eye superimposed over your photo on the cover. Emerson does not have to imagine it.


        The honorees had copies of Emerson's latest investigative book, 'American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us' in which he details activities of Islamic radicals and terrorists in the US. The activities include fund raising, infiltration and even murders and terrorism.


        He signed a copy for me. Very nice guy. Very brave guy. We need more investigative reporters like him.


        In one passage, he described one of these Islamofasicst fifth columnists defending killing Israeli children on the grounds that they could grow up to be the next Golda Meir or Shimon Perez.

        Very true. But what is the destiny of the children of Jenin's refugee camps? As they watch their classmates sing odes to the 'martyrs' (sic), we should reflect that they will not be the next Arafat. He will come from the Palestinian elite already in place behind the wrought iron gates of the villas paid for by money extorted and looted from foreign aid. The role of the average Palestinian child is to be fodder for the Jihad. His destiny is to be another member of the downtrodden, politically oppressed masses, just like the majority of citizens in Egypt, Syria and Iraq.

        The jihad screamers do well to fear a society where any child can grow up to be the great leader of a free people. Or rather one of several.
While the Israelis get new blood into office, Arafat, for all his failures, endures with an iron grip though he sinks into senile dementia.

        Every so often, pity tempers my contempt.

LE COMMONWEALTH C`EST MOI

        I dearly love Massachusetts and Boston. The geographically small city is large enough to have wonderful museums and art house cinemas. The college dotted state has the seasons in the right combination: winters with snow, yet not too cold and hot summers, but not oppressively so. It is a good thing I am such a booster for this state, because the political class here is as loathsome as any found across the US.


        Let me explain the latest. A couple of years ago the voters, by referendum, passed a 'Clean Elections' law that, among other things, had public funding for candidates. I did not vote for the law because I am always leery of any 'reform.' But it passed. The problem was the State Legislature did not wish to be bound by the law like the plebian taxpayers. They decided to make the law a dead letter by not funding it.


        Then the scatological material struck the air circulation device. The good government goo-goos retaliated. In time-honored American tradition, they sued. And won. A state judge ordered selling of assets to fund Clean Election candidates. That meant the SUVs with the low license plates and luxurious office furniture. Finneran, the Speaker of the House and the main opponent of the Clean Elections law, nearly had his office suite under the gavel, but a judge decided that was gratuitous.


        Finneran was not amused. Retaliation soon followed. One of his minions added a provision to the latest budget proposal stripping the state judiciary of its power to hire its own clerks and manage itself.


        As for the budget itself, it included a 1.4 BILLION dollar tax increase and was submitted the day after the filing deadline for candidates for House and Senate seats.
        Like liberal pols everywhere, Finneran's ilk hold democracy in contempt, except for the elections against token (if any) opposition. Last time in the Speaker's Soviet, 8,172 voters in his sent him back to his de facto governorship. This year he has no opposition.

        How can you throw the bums out when there are no replacements?

PRIORITIES IN ORDER

Shaenon K. Garrity of the hilarious Narbonic.com tore into me for taking my date to ‘Kissing Jessica Stein.' She is a huge pro wrestling fan. Take a look at these sample strips.

TORTURE THE ANALOGY UNTIL IT CONFESSES

This entry on Oxblog about the internal calls for reform among the Palestinians bring up this semi-related thought. The Palestinians are violence junkies and addicted to hate. The Arab/Islamic world is their co-dependents and the UN and EU are their enablers. They need to hit rock bottom for their moment of clarity.

EUROBASHING

The EU has a new logo, eschewing stars for stripes. To reflect their true character, they need a single yellow stripe.

GO TO NARBONIC.COM!

For some reason today's strip was just perfect.

I have no idea what the dedication means.

        David Carr says, "I think those tectonic plates of history just juddered. Stay tuned." I seem to recall the murder of another controversial leader often called racist. Rabbi Kahane. His killing signaled the beginning of Islamic fundamentalist terror on US soil.


        Pity we did not pay attention even back then. Everyone was too busy assailing Kahane's views.


        Even though his killer was a white Dutchman, Reuters described...

Elsewhere in Rotterdam, police said they responded to a handful of incidents where men of North African origin had been shouting and celebrating Fortuyn's death.

        Celebrating murder. It's déjà vu all over again.

STOCK(HOLM) MARKET CRASH.

        The Swedes could always be relied on to criticize us backwards `Mericans and hold themselves as our superiors. Their system was better at providing for their citizens than racism strapped America. Their foreign policy was morally superior and they were less crime-ridden.

        So much for the Swedish Model. They should stick to kinds of models that prance around in swimsuits.

        "Ah… smug mode” [3 point ref]

OOOOPSIE!

        There is a perfectly good explanation for my lack of updates. I’m utterly useless and lazy. Plus I had a bunch of prior appointments, including hearing Steve Emerson speak at a CAMERA function. I’ll have a few words on that soon.

        I also saw 'Spider-Man' last night. I am glad to say it was very true to the ideas of the original Marvel character. Kirsten Dunst was a bit disappointing, though and Rosemary Harris rung false as well. However, Tobey Maguire was perfect and J.K. Simmons, who is utterly amazing in ‘Oz’ steals his scenes as JJJ. Willem Dafoe clearly enjoyed himself as he chewed the scenery.

        To make this political, I nearly did not make the movie because of the MBTA. It took so long that I walked from Coolidge corner to the Fenway theater. There it was sold out. So I took the ‘T’ to another theater downtown, where, despite the streetcar’s leisurely pace, I (barely) caught the last showing.


        This was not the first time reliance on public transportation nearly caused me to miss a show. This Thursday, despite leaving with, what I had thought to be plenty of time, I barely made the curtain of ‘Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme.’


        So it was with a seething attitude I thought of all the drawbacks to taking public transportation: late, slow cars; the fees; trains ending before the nightlife does (at least in Boston); filthy stations and cars; torn seats; having to trudge from the stops to your destination- or worse, having to take additional trains/buses; and of course other people.


        The chattering classes extol the virtues of public transportation. But the car is still better…. if you can park it.

IT’S A WAR, DAMNIT!

        I was irked by a detail in this otherwise inspirational story. Two soldiers earned the Soldier’s Medal for heroic actions following the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11. Army Sgt.1st Class Donald S. 'Steve' Workman rescued a badly burned Navy Lt. Kevin Shaeffer from the wreckage, while Colonel George Zahaczewsky, at risk of life and limb, helped others to evacuate.




        My problem is with the specific award they received: the Soldier’s Medal. In 1922, the Soldier’s Medal was established as an Army recognition, “for acts of heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.” 9/11 was an attack by an enemy. This is a war and we need to treat it as such, especially in the recognition we give our heroes.
Combat ribbons have been awarded for heroism done in the foe’s aftermath.



        Sgt. Workman and Colonel Zahaczewsky should have received the appropriate ribbon for their courageous actions in the combat zone the foe created in northern Virginia. Anything else belittles both their actions and the enormity of 9/11.

CHURCH OF NATIVITY FIREFIGHT AND OTHER CONSPIRACIES

        So, Israel, after compromising with Arafat gets violence as a reward. There is no way the Pals are not responsible for the fires and gun battle. Arafat was in communication with the gunmen who stormed the church while he was cornered in Ramallah. Apparently he encouraged their intransigence.


        So, why order this battle when things were finally getting calmer? PR.


        With the Jenin Massacre proved to be an urban legend, his six buddies off to Ad Seg in Jericho [2 point ref] and his gunmen’s depredations (stealing of crosses and holding kids hostage in the basement) sure to come out, Arafat needed to give the Jews a black eye. I can easily imagine him ordering his men to start the fires and then shoot at the Israelis. That way he could scream about the holy places for the cameras now that he could be in front of them.


        Even before there was a CNN Yassir’s stratagems were made for TV. He has the Al-Jazeera lumpen in their normal, shrill blood crazed frenzy. Now he wants to inspire the same hate among the Christians.

        That having been said, I generally do not belive in conspiracy theories. I am substitious, not superstitious [5 point ref]. I use Saran Wrap and not aluminum foil for my fine chapeau [2 point ref]. So here are two of my anti-conspiracy theories.

1. bin-Laden is likely dead and has been for months. Al Qeada can not admit it because the truth would be devastating for morale. Also possible is that they do not know he is dead because… well, imagine him traveling with a small group under a communications blackout for security. Then imagine an AC-130 seeing the party making their way through a pass one night. Chunky Salsa effect. [4 point ref]
   
   
2. The cover-ups in the Catholic Church are not because of any sinister blackmailing pedophilic cabal. The problem is with an institution which has to discipline its own will be biased towards its insiders. The issue is not the fox guarding the chicken coop but the vulpine jury that follows. This is true of almost any institution, be it a state bar ethics committee, the armed forces, Congress or an archdiocese.
   
   

STUBBORNNESS IS A FAULT…TENACITY IS A VIRTUE

(2 point ref)

        Looks like the Jenin Clouseau squad did not reach its third trimester. Sharon deftly wielded a coat hanger of Israeli demands that the world body could not accept.

“Israel initially agreed to the formation of the fact-finding U.N. team, but then raised a number of concerns. Israel wants a say over who can be called as a witness and what documents will be presented to the panel, and insists that Israeli soldiers be protected from prosecution. Israel wants more counterterrorism experts to be added to the group, and demands that activities by Palestinian militants in the camp also be scrutinized. “

        My spider-sense tells me the last was the deal-breaker. As David Tell points out the U.N. was intimately involved with the Jenin terror apparatus. The Palestinians are the clientele of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and, in the best Sir Humphrey Appleby tradition, the problems have increased to meet the demands of the social workers. That, and the fact the Arabs need a stick with which to beat the Jews, has kept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps fifty four years after Al Naqba and almost a decade after the formation of the Palestinian Authority.

And from Todd Zwacko, whose five points are coming...

It is a transition to another, more beautiful world, because he knows
very well that within seconds he will see the light of the Creator.

Crow: and be crushed beneath the the wheels of his oncoming ford
taurus.

 

Remove the Apache [helicopter] from the equation,

Servo: <Albert Einstein voice> Eureka, the thzeory of
relativity.

 

leave them one-on-one with the Palestinian people

Joel: I never realized the Palestinian people were so into
basketball.

 

None in the [Western] world sacrifices his life for his homeland. If
his homeland is drowning, he is the first to jump ship

Crow:  I'm confused Joel.  If his homeland is drowning why
would the cowardly western dog leave his ship?

Joel:  Yeah, I think Dr. Sadeq may have mixed his metaphors
a little.  Oh, and don't say western dog.

 

I equate your stupidity with mercilessness and inhumanity, and swear
that I knew you were stupid long before it became known to the entire world, and
before your cronies admitted it.

Servo: <nasally, whiney voice> I did.  I really did. 
Just ask anyone.

 

Vegard Valberg throws down the proverbial gauntlet with his MSTing of the egregious Dr. Sadeq’s comments of President Bush's intelligence and the mental makeup of suicide bombers.

You’ve probably seen this photo of Cristie Kerr celebrating her triumph at the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge. All I have to add is speculation if Longs Drugs is a euphemism for Viagra.

And I won’t ask if it brings a new meaning to the word ‘FOREskin!’

GETTING THEIR POINTS!

        Well, lurkers! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty and to spare! [1 point ref.]

        I’ve handed out my first points. The first two head to Damian J. Penny of the Great White North and he get two points so long as he’s not a fan of the Canadiens. But I kid you. I only discriminate against fans of the Jets and Yankees. Besides, the Broons (sic) had much to be ashamed about, between the thugishness and self-immolation. Mr. Penny provides an excellent ref (noted on his site). Somewhere I MUST mention Dr. Sadeq’s training at the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

        Hot on his heels came a missive from Norwegian Blogger Vegard Valberg, who took the half-point ref for the 1984 ref and mentioned his own related comments on this crisis.

        And they were both kind enough to mention that I’ve been bookmarked. More pressure to perform.

        JOY!

VICIOUS THOUGHT OF THE DAY

        When the Mossad/IDF whacked Abu Jihad in Tunisia in 1988, everyone knew the Israelis were responsible, despite their automatic denials. The clue? They did not kill his wife who was in bed next to him. Why do I bring this up? Well, when Palestinian 'activists' (as the New York Times likes to call them) attacked the Adora settlement they murdered five-year-old Danielle Shefi in her crib.




        Then, when danger raised it's ugly head, the boldly turned their tails and fled.[1 point ref.]

        People say, 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.' My freedom fighters do not TARGET civilians. Your terrorists do.

INMATES RUNNING THE MUSLIM ASYLUM

        MEMRI continues its vital translating services by providing the ravings of Dr. Adel Sadeq, chairman of the Arab Psychiatrists Association and head of the Department of Psychiatry at Ein Shams University in Cairo. After reading his nonsense, you have to wonder if this is a shrink, what are his patients like?

       There are two entries from under his smogberry trees [1 point ref]. The first claims that his expert diagnosis, from thousands of miles away and on TV is that Bush is 'Stupid.' And to dive home his conclusion he puts 'stupid' in every sentence so it reads like a temper tantrum. The next entry is an interview where he proves War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength [.5 point ref, everyone should know this!] and "The psychological structure [of the perpetrator of a suicide attack] is that of an individual who loves life." It is a diagnosis that is reminiscent of the Soviet shrinks who claimed that dissidence was a mental illness.

        After reading this crapola, I asked myself 'Where are Mike (or Joel, you darn purists) when you need them?' (That's the segue…)

Although you invest a lot of effort in proving yourself,


Crow: Louis Rukeyser meets Dale Carnegie!

you are not successful in doing so because you are stupid and understand nothing about what is happening in the world.


Mike: The voices in his head keep him up to date...

'Stupidity' and 'idiocy' are synonyms…


Crow: I prefer peppermints!

and if you don't like the word 'stupid,' you are an evil person with an ugly soul.


Tom: Us tools of Satan prefer 'foolish.'

I equate your stupidity with mercilessness and inhumanity,


Mike: Sure. Only dumb people are evil.

… and swear that I knew you were stupid long before it became known to the entire world, and before your cronies admitted it.


Crow: He believes everything Michael Moore says?

        And that's just the opening two paragraphs! The rest is as target rich an environment!

Don't you understand, stupid, that Israel does not want peace?

Tom: That's why they aggressively returned the Sinai to Egypt. Hmmm?

When the martyr dies a martyr's death, he attains the height of bliss…

Mike: 'Bliss' being defined as the agony of your body being torn to shreds.

As a professional psychiatrist, I say that the height of bliss comes with the end of the countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And then, you press the button to blow yourself up.

Tom: And he also prefers auto-erotic asphyxiation to Viagra.

None in the [Western] world sacrifices his life for his homeland.

Mike: Rodger Young is so climbing out of his grave to pimp-slap this bozo!

If his homeland is drowning, he is the first to jump ship. In our culture it is different.

Crow: Yeah, that's why all the Americans are leaving Detroit and starting Seven-Elevens throughout Dar-Al-Islam.

There are no Israeli civilians.

Tom: Every Zionist fetus is armed!

The child who threw a stone in 1993 today wraps himself in an explosive belt.

Crow: And won't have kids to throw stones or blow himself up.

Remove the Apache [helicopter] from the equation, leave them one-on-one with the Palestinian people with the only weapon [for both sides] being dynamite. Then you will see all the Israelis leave, because among them there is not even one man willing to don a belt of dynamite...
Mike: Like the great Arab victory in 1948?

Tom: He'll start bitching again when Israelis use the unfair tactic of THROWING the dynamite at the Pals.

Crow: Adel, there's this general outside, want to discuss the concept of making the other poor bastard dying for his country…

       OK folks, you have the link. I want to post a full MSTing of this bozo's gibberings, so I ask for your help. Read the mad shrink's entry. I will award one point per riff. Two or more if they're really good. Good luck!

THE NAME OF THE ENEMY

        Glenn Reynolds, discussing a Ralph Peters piece in OpinionJournal.com, writes, "The Arabs were hopeless before Islam, they were hopeless at Islam's peak, and they're hopeless today."


        I would have to disagree somewhat. Before the Ottomans took it all over, there were powerful Arab empires.


        But this brings up the important point that Islam and Arabs are not the same sets, though they cover the same ground. Peter notes…


       

"Three non-Arab countries, Indonesia, India and Pakistan, contain nearly half the world's Muslims. Add those of Central Asia, Turkey, the Philippines, Malaysia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Azerbaijan and that struggling, vilified democracy, Iran, and the Arab states begin to look as overvalued as they are recalcitrant. Even Nigeria is more promising in the long term than Egypt."

        But Islamofascism is popular even in non-Arab states. Bin-Laden is adored in Pakistan and Bangladesh. A Christian village was attacked and 14 Christians were murdered in Indonesia. Nigeria is ripped apart by civil war as the corrupt central government tries to impose Shia'ria.


        Yes, Turkey can be counted as at least demi-Western and there are others who pray to Mecca who are not the enemy, but confronting our civilization is a hydra with heads labeled Fatah, Hizbouallah, Al Qaeda, Iraq, Iran, Syria and others. They are not all Arab, but all part of the aggressive, expansionistic and totalitarian. That is why I prefer the term 'Islamofascist.'

WELL THAT DIDN`T TAKE LONG.

        Yassir is already reneging on his deal to spring his sorry hide from the Ramallah hoosegow. The original understanding was the four assassins of tourist minister Rechavam Ze'evi, their boss and Fuad Shubaki, the man responsible for the Karine-A, were to be imprisoned under US/UK turnkeys.


        Oh, and the breakthrough at the Church of the Nativity seems to be going up in smoke as well.


        Yassir is the kind of guy who’d insert a dummy hand into Fenris’ mouth then call himself honorable.