tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66853152011-12-14T18:42:37.392-08:00Dudenoreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967189859736412002-05-11T16:25:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:26:29.860-07:00

The Associated Press (via Yahoo) is reporting that preliminary tests for anthrax at the Federal Reserve Building are positive, but could be false anyway. In related news, the Boston Globe details a major scientific breakthrough that will help help authorities pinpoint the lab responsible for the first several attacks five months ago.

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967010372924392002-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:23:30.373-07:00

We've all seen the inflammatory cartoons from major European newspapers comparing Israeli soldiers and Gestapo monsters. We've all seen the Palestinian rallies where the term "Zionazi" is thrown around and signs equate the Star of David and the swastika. It's become commonplace to see Israel viewed as a Nazi state, even though the assertion is morally bankrupt and factually incorrect. This week's

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126966943416088382002-05-11T07:19:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:22:23.420-07:00

it's interesting to see how the country has progressed. Cleanup at Ground Zero is almost done, "God Bless America" has more or less left our daily lives, and President Bush's war on terror is no longer the top story. Yet threats and homeland security remain part of the news, "September 11" is regularly invoked in conversation, and every event in New York is now defined as the "first ___" since

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967120092562122002-05-11T00:24:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:25:20.093-07:00

In this week's Weekly Standard, David Gelernter asks why Americans support Israel while the rest of the world seems to content to bash it regularly. The answer, he says, is in our common background:Both are pick-up nations created out of ideas, with populations drawn from all over the globe; they are self-made nations in a world where most nations had nationhood handed to them on a silver platter

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967465652452522002-05-10T19:30:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:31:05.653-07:00

Is there something more unfair about the disparity in legal quality when talking about capital crimes? Yes, there's definitely a flaw in a system where the rich can pay for a better chance at a favourable verdict. But that's not a problem with the death penalty itself, and fixing it would require a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system. Let's attack capital punishment in the ways it's

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967395383372382002-05-10T16:29:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:29:55.383-07:00

It's time to discuss Israel again.(The death penalty discussion is getting annoying.) The siege at the Church of the Nativity is over, but apparently Palestinian gunmen left some surprises in the Church for the Israeli troops: bombs. Want to guess who would've been blamed if the Church had been damaged? (If you think I'm reflexively pro-Israel or a hypersensitive "they're out to get us" Jew, then

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126969278438953712002-05-10T11:00:00.000-07:002005-09-17T08:01:18.440-07:00

Regardless of your general opinion on the matter, it should be quite clear to you that capital punishment in America has some serious flaws. If we're a democratic and free nation, as I believe we are, we need to take some concrete steps on the death penalty. I know good people who favor it and good people who oppose it -- personally, I oppose it. But I won't let this post be about our true

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967321100345362002-05-10T10:34:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:28:41.100-07:00

Over a hundred Harvard and MIT professors have signed a petition calling on the two universities to divest their holdings in companies which deal with Israel. The chances of this actually occuring are, of course, slim. Still, the Harvard Crimson has an excellent editorial on why divestment is wrong and comparisons with apartheid South Africa are unsubstantiated.But any comparison between today’s

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967232020853702002-05-10T07:26:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:27:12.020-07:00

In the May issue of the webzine Zeek, Jay Michaelson discusses what it's like to be a leftist and a Zionist. Here's one part of the article I thought especially fine:And why the focus on Israel? How can a few crying Arab mothers on TV cause people to think that the situation in Palestine is more important than those in Tibet, Chechnya, Congo, and Kurdistan ?. Millions of Tibetans, Chechnyans,

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126969205364011282002-05-09T07:59:00.000-07:002005-09-17T08:00:05.366-07:00

So a bunch of crazy militant Jews went and killed eight innocent Palestinians. And do you know what? It's terrible. Inexcusable. Not an acceptable way of trying to change your world.But wait. Don't these Jews agree with my Zionist pro-Israel politics? Shouldn't I be supporting them and their 'militant resistance' actions? Aren't I forgetting to mention that they live in a desperate situation

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126969134036025912002-05-09T07:57:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:58:54.036-07:00

Let's hear it from the University of California at Berkeley. First, anti-Semitic signs are posted around campus. Then, a Palestinian rights activist delivers a speech accusing Jews of trying to control the university. Now, this. This fall, a course is being offered in The Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance. Innocent course about current events and art? Think again. To quote the course

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126969042418562152002-05-09T07:56:00.001-07:002005-09-17T07:57:22.420-07:00

The following poem, by modern poet Roger Woddis, was sent to me, and I simply couldn't resist putting it up:If I had my way with violent menI'd simmer them in oil,I'd fill a pot with bitumenAnd bring them to the boil.I execrate the terroristAnd those who harbour him,And if I weren't a moralistI'd tear them limb from limb.Fanatics are an evil breedWhom decent men should shun;I'd like to flog them

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126969002939703332002-05-09T07:56:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:56:42.940-07:00

In the first of this four piece series, we will analyse how it is, historically, that American drug - specifically marijuana - policy came to be inadequate, ineffective, and in need of a major revision. (In future installments we'll look at why ideologically it remains that way, what the societal and economic consequences of bad policy are, and how (and to what) we can change it for the better).

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968946217644752002-05-09T07:54:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:55:46.220-07:00

Four things on the anti-anti-Semitism agenda today:1. As we know, anti-Zionism is doing quite well in the Bay Area. The Associated Students of San Francisco State University, along with other organizations such as the Muslim Student Association and General Union of Palestinian Students, has posted this lovely flyer. The poster displays a Palestinian infant being killed, with the words "

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968846419028582002-05-08T07:53:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:54:06.420-07:00

I don't usually like to advertise polls or the such. But CNN is asking if Israeli military action is justified. Vote correctly. It's now 69-31 in favor of retaliation. Let's hope they're classier than CAIR.

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968637062986942002-05-08T07:50:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:50:37.063-07:00

That's what the Palestinians are giving us. Remember the funeral in Jenin where the corpse fell, got up, and walked around a little? Apparently, the Palestinians were filming a movie. (Hey, Yasser, if we lie a little here and fib and exaggerate massacres and just have a jolly good truthlessness-fest, maybe the Europeans won't notice.)

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968591324522802002-05-08T07:49:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:49:51.323-07:00

In addition to yesterday's homicide bombing in Israel, there was a attack in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed at least seven French nationals. "In a statement, President Chirac said he 'unreservedly condemns this despicable act, which nothing can justify.'" What? I thought suicide bombers are desperate, and motivated by occupation, and are really fine people who we have no problem with as long as

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968733816478582002-05-08T00:51:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:52:13.816-07:00

An astonishingly unnerving column appearing recently in the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Akhbar complains that Jews "are accursed, fundamentally, because they are the plague of the generation and the bacterium of all time. Their history always was and always will be stained with treachery, falseness, and lying. Historical documents prove it." Okay, so direct inflammatory anti-Semitism isn't

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968510973877692002-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:48:30.976-07:00

It is now time to address the "European question." I have many other things I'd like to blog about, but the need to solve the European problem is eating away at me. Let's check out the latest European crack moves:European Idiocy #1 -- Chris Patten, the EU point-man on external affairs, is one of the leading idiocrats (my alternative to idiotarians) dominating the European bureaucracy. In a

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968352638655242002-05-07T07:45:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:45:52.636-07:00

A suicide bomber attacks a pool hall in Rishon L'Tzion, south of Tel Aviv. As of now, sixteen deaths have been reported. Unsuprisingly, the Bush Administration wants Arafat to "do more" to stop the terror. When does "or else" fit into the equation?

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968266204522372002-05-07T07:43:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:44:26.203-07:00

Ariel Sharon is pushing the US not to invite Arafat to any American-led negotiations, and (apart from the fact that Sharon is of course a neo-Nazi fascist right-wing communist Stalinist pawn) who can blame him? My personal stance is that, operating within the guidelines of established US policy, this isn't a particularly tough question. We don't negotiate with terrorists - and the proof

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968055489004332002-05-07T07:40:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:40:55.490-07:00

Since my colleauge has so aptly tackled the important stuff, I'll feel free to talk about interesting developements on the recently-ignored Microsoft Doing Ethically Questionable Things front. First, here's the quick run-down: The Peruvian government is considering a bill requiring that all government computers and networks run Open Source software. Feeling threatened, Microsoft Peru started

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126968214277855622002-05-07T00:29:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:43:34.280-07:00

There is absolutely so much in today's news that I don't know where to start. Today's subjects are Pim Fortuyn's assassination, the undemocratic nature of Bush Mideast policy, my comments on the Salute to Israel Parade, a call for hangings in Congress, Grasshoppa's dislike for our name, Idiot Watch from Damian Penny as well as some comments about why the BBC is shaming a great Britain (sorry).

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126967987104820512002-05-06T07:37:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:39:47.106-07:00

Lots of international developments today -- election in France goes to Chirac as expected, Nativity standoff seems close to end, US announces we're pulling out of International Criminal Court. I'll try to address all three issues: France, Mideast, and international criminal justice, but no guarantees.1. French elections -- God bless the French. For about ten minutes today, when the news anchor

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126966709855590542002-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:002005-09-17T07:18:29.863-07:00

I don't usually like to post about the same topic on consecutive nights. So I will make a quick foray into Palestinian lunacy-hilarity, and then venture elsewhere.Damian Penny has visited the Palestine Net Intifada Homepage! While there, he noticed some interesting things -- chief among them being an ugly adaptation of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" to the Palestinian cause. Namely, it is now "

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126964808639378612002-05-03T06:44:00.000-07:002005-09-17T06:46:48.640-07:00

For some reason, I'm not in a mood to rant today. Instead, I'll use my post to make fun of the Palestinians. 1. "Sometimes we call it a massacre when you kill one innocent person."--Fakhri Turkman, Palestinian Legislative Council. Remember when the Palestinians wildly accused Israel of massacring hundreds of Palestinians left and right in a pogrom? Apparently, everything is a massacre. Except

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126964659760768102002-05-03T06:43:00.000-07:002005-09-17T06:44:19.760-07:00

Crisis Averted: The New York Times is reporting that several Jewish Girl Scouts wanted to march in the sunday's Israel Day Parade, and were disallowed to do so in uniform by the Scouts' national office. This was said under the rationale that the Scouts are not an 'advocacy organization' and should not take action implying support of one group over another. However - as the article points out - '

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126964600832414792002-05-03T06:41:00.000-07:002005-09-17T06:43:20.833-07:00

We begin our abbreviated coverage of the French election with today's un-abbreviated comment from moi. While I don't like to be reflexively pro- or anti- anything, I am anti-Le Pen, and I'm beginning to fall in with the anti-Europe crowd. Here's why:Europe -- you guys suck. In fact, you've always sucked. Two thousand years ago, most of Europe (save Rome and Greece) was a backwater filled with

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126962778424283482002-05-01T08:00:00.000-07:002005-09-17T06:12:58.466-07:00

Today's top story appears to be the news that the Saudi royal family has purchased large blocks of television airtime with the purpose of cleaning up their image. I think Crown Prince Abdullah has to realize that his image will need a lot of work to be shiny -- since all most Americans can see in Saudi Arabia is oil, sand, and terrorist masterminds. (Nothing's dirtier than oil, except for

Dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685315.post-1126964459039154562002-05-01T06:13:00.000-07:002005-09-17T06:40:59.043-07:00

The ACLU is ranting about detainees again . It would seem that on this particular issue, the ACLU is alienating a lot of its supporters; and what a surprise it is - people feel that when evaluating non-citzens who happened to be hanging out with known terrorists, the INS should really lean towards the side of caution. Extending potentially dangerous pleasantries to detainees is just silly, says

Dudenoreply@blogger.com