Wednesday, November 29, 2023

"What utter pukes."


For John, BLUFWhen I was in high school, contemplating college, the only institutions in the Northeast I thought of were the Coast Guard Academy (accepted) and Webb Institute (rejected).  I had no idea about the Ivy League.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Hot Air, by Beege Welborn, 24 October 2023, 2:01 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Once upon a time, there was a hallowed aura about even the word, “Harvard.”

People might kind of snicker at replicating that atrocious, grating Massachusetts accent while saying it, but it was still “Harvard.”

And you weren’t getting anywhere near it.

It was one of those special places nestled firmly in American lore.  One of those iconic giants so established in the collective national picture where even just the word conjures up deep thinkers of the past.  The birthplace of movers, shakers and a incubator for brilliance.  John Adams – those kinds of guys.

I will say, the one Harvard Graduate I know, my Wife's Cousin, is a fine fellow, engaging to talk with and very educated.  On the other hand, he was there with another student from Illinois, Ted Kaczynski.

Someone referred to Harvard as a Hedge Fund with a University Attached.

The good news is Harvard is down county.  Down in Cambridge, with strange people, with strange ideas.  We live in the North end of the County, almost on the New Hampshire border.  Praise God.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Monday, November 27, 2023

Getting the Truth


For John, BLUFInitial News reportds on the explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza blsmed it on Israel, but it sorted out that the explosion in the Hospital parking lot was the result of an Hamas short round incident.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Blaze, by Reporter Chris Enloe, 27 November 2023.

Here is the lede plus five:

journalist who helped fan the flames of misinformation about the alleged Al-Ahli Arab Hospital strike is refusing to apologize for his mistake.

After a jihadist rocket fell on the parking lot of the hospital last month, the legacy media uncritically regurgitated Hamas' claim that Israel struck the hospital, totally destroying it and killing more than 500 people.

BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen is one such journalist who joined the chorus claiming the hospital was destroyed. He reported:

The missile hit the hospital not long after dark. You can hear the impact. The explosion destroyed Al-Ahli Hospital. It was already damaged from a smaller attack at the weekend. The building was flattened.
In a recent interview on the BBC's "Behind the Stories" program, Bowen was asked if he regrets his false reporting.

"To answer your question: No, I don't regret one thing in my reporting because I think I was measured throughout. I didn't race to judgment," Bowen answered.

It is a sign of arrogance, and a lack of humility for a reporter to get it wrong in an initial report and to not feel some regret.  What kind of an upbringing did this person have?

This reporting fail does not reflect well on the Beeb, maring its reputation as an excellent news source.

In a Democrcy, or a Republicsan form of Government, we, as Citizens, need to sample a number of differenta sources.  As Luther "Suitcase" Simpson says:  "The truth is out there.  All you have to do is let it in."

Regards  —  Cliff

Democrats and Jews


For John, BLUFI give a lot of credit to Hamas for an effective propaganda campaign that has pulled in a large number of well meaning people.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

The sick thrill of antisemitism has a price

From UnHerd, by DAVID MAMET, October 23, 2023.

Here is an excerpt:

Why do Jews vote Democratic?  Partly from tradition — conservatives have heard a Liberal Jew, when asked to defend or explain various absurd or inconsistent Democratic positions, shrug and joke:   “I’m a Congenital Democrat.”  I understand, for I was one, too.

But there is no more cosy mystery in the antisemitism of the Democratic Party; Representatives are affiliated with the Democratic Socialists and pro-Palestinians, calling for the end of the state of Israel — that is, for the death of the Jews.  And Democrat Representatives repeat and refuse to retract the libel that Israel bombed a hospital, in spite of absolute proof to the contrary, and will not call out the unutterable atrocities of Hamas.  The writing is on the wall.  In blood.

I can see why many Jews are Democras.  I used to be one myself.  But, when you find yourself with strange bedellos it may be time to change beds.  There now seem to be a number of Critical Race Theory, Antonio Gramsci loving, Green Thinking Democrats who have abandoned the ideals of The Land of Opportunity for mythical future state where all are equal and looved and there is no competition or pain.  There is no such place this side of Heaven.  But, in search of their goals, some of these Democrats will abandon their friends and past partners.

Good luck to t rest of us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sunday, November 26, 2023

The End Times; An Alternate View

For John, BLUFThere is no doubt the earth will end, but when and how are open questions.  One point of view is that the Creator will end His crestion and msy well do it soon.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




End of Daze
Author:  Andrew Fox
Kindle Version:  265 Pages
Publisher:  Aggadah Try It
Language:  English
ASIN:  B0BYHC3YGM
Publication Date:  30 March 2023

I picked up this book on the recommendstion of Blogger and Writer Sarah Hoyt.

I am glad I did.  Recent events in the Middle East raise the question of if these are the End Times.  If we pay attention to the likes of Author Hal Lindsey (The Late Grest Plsnet Earth) we note the return of Jews to the land of Israel (1900 years ago the nation of Judea).  This is a possible sign of the fulfillment of Biblical End time Prophecy.

The perspective of The End of Daze is a combinstion of science Fiction and of Jewish prospective.  It is this second view, with its liberal sprinkling of Yiddish and Jewish practices and traditions that made it interesting. 

Another aspect of a fictoinal look is thst the writer can pose some interesting situstions, such as when a radical Muslim group acquires a nuclear artillery shell from a nation from the former Soviet Union.  Such a weapon can be a game changer. . But the story also deals with those who cannot accept what G_d is trying to do and fight Him.  That is a story as old as time.

A quick read, with an interesting alternative perespective.  Well worth the effort to read, and available on the Kindle.

Regards  —  Cliff

A River of Power


For John, BLUFThe author wonders if we know who is really running the Country and suggests it is a collection of Ivy League graduates.  That doesn't give me much confidencde.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Chicago Boyz, by Blogger David Foster, 13 November 2023.

Here is the lede:

If you read English naval history, you are sure to run into a reference to The Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral.  Your first reaction is likely to be something like, “Huh?  WTF?  Why couldn’t the Lord High Admiral execute the duties of his own office?  Lazy, much?”
The Lord High Commiioners of the Admiralty were the officials who managed the affairs of the Royal Navy.  I would say, over the centuries they did a pretty good job, except maybe for the Dardanelles (The Gallipoli Campaign).

The discussion of the Lord High Commissioners leads to a discussion of the backstage managers of the Biden Administration.  [You didn't think President Biden was running things on his own, did you.]  The term "river of power" comes from President Biden and refers to the Ivy League.

The Blogger ends with:

In less than two years, Biden and his ‘Commissioners’ have done tremendous damage to the United States and the world.  It is hard to imagine that any future Democratic administration would not also be heavily subject to the influence of Obama and the other ‘commissioners’ I mentioned above, leaving aside only Doctor Jill Biden.  The best hope of minimizing this damage lies in the potential for a Republican House and and Republican Senate.  True, many of the candidates are not what we would wish.  But ‘the best is the enemy of the good’, and the issue of the moment is not establishing ideal policies but rather avoiding multiple catastrophes.
Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
  Just as a reminder, the Ivy League is that collection of Universities where over the last few weeks the students have been marching for Hamas and the chant, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine must be free."  Heaven help us.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

If Not Now, When


For John, BLUFThe current conflict between Israel and Hamas may well represent God acting to gather the Jewish People from where they have been scattered for the last 1900 years.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




First Reading

From Ez 34:11-12, 15-1.

Here is the Reading:

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD,
I will judge between one sheep and another,
between rams and goats.

If Scripture is to be believed, and it is, God will gather the People of Israel, who have been scattered.  Do we wish to get in the way of God?  Do we wish to stand athwart the path of history, yelling "STOP"?  I would think not.

As a result of the Jewish-Roman Wars the Jewish population in Judaea was greatly reduced and many Jews were killed, sold into slavery or driven away.  The Roman Government renamed the area Syria Palaestina.

Would it not be possible that God is correcting this injustice toward His People?

Regards  —  Cliff

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

American Support for Israel


For John, BLUFI have been surprised and disappointed by the reactions to the Hamas slaughter of Israelis on 7 October.  But, these outbreaks do not represent all of America.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The New York Post, by Professor Glenn H. Reynolds, 21 Novwember 2023, 6:48 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus seven:

In some parts of the country, standing up for Israel is controversial, even dangerous.

On the campuses of places like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, anyone who dares to wave an Israeli flag — or, increasingly, wear a kippah in public — is at risk of being assaulted by angry mobs of people with their faces covered.

In Los Angeles, a pro-Israel protester was allegedly killed by a pro-Palestinian computer-science professor.

(Judge Ryan Wright slashed the prof’s bail from the original $1 million to just $50,000.)

Many parents of Jewish students are concerned, and rightly so, about their kids’ safety at these institutions.

Even off campus, the streets of New York and many other big blue metropolises seem kind of dangerous for Jews these days.

Things are a bit different in my neck of the woods.

I live in Knoxville, Tenn., home of the University of Tennessee, where we’ve seen none of this sort of violence.

I think it is fair to say that in much of the United States citizens of the Protestant faith have been caught up in what some call Christian Zionismn.  This understanding that the Jewish People have a role in God's plan for the end times.

To the larger issue of civility in today's America, I think the Professor captures the point in a quote from Adlai Stevenson, "A free society is one in which it is safe to be unpopular."  When I think about it I think Free Speech includes the right to be wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Monday, November 20, 2023

President Biden Disrespects the Constitution


For John, BLUFIn our name, but without our agreement.  This is government by experts over government by democracy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From PJ Media, by Blogger Stephen Green, 20 November 2023, 9:21 AM.

Here is the lede plus four:

Remember when it was nothing more than right-wing fearmongering that Democrats were going to outlaw your gas appliances? It was a more innocent time, way back in [checks notes] January of this year.

I sure do miss those days. So does my gas furnace.

Democrats went very quickly from "Nobody is going to take away your gas appliances" to "Biden invokes wartime powers to fund electric heaters as he cracks down on gas appliances."

"Wartime powers?" "Electric heaters?" One of these things is not like the other unless there are millions of dollars to throw around to your cronies while putting their competitors out of business. And sure enough, Biden will dole out $169 million of your tax dollars to boost the production of electric heat pumps.

What gives Biden the authority to throw money around like a drunken Congress to further an environmental agenda that the House rejected back in June? A 1950 law called the Defense Production Act (DPA) was meant to protect and promote the production of war materials. Biden is using it to make heat pumps.

And where is this money coming from?  The mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act.

So, the Federal Government isn't exactly banning gas stoves and furnaces, but it is using its power to give heat pumps a price advantage over other options.  This is the Government putting its thumb on the scale.

To me the big question is why the Administration didn't go to Congress to get these funds authorized and apropriated.  That would seem like the proper way to do things.  This makes the actions of Senator Tommy Tuberville (holds on military general and flag officer promotions over violation of the Hyde Amendment) make even more sense.  It is like the Biden Administrstion doesn't really respect the Constitutional process.  In the end, the ends do not justify the means.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Slavery and Capitalism


For John, BLUFI have heard it suggested that Slavery creates production and wealth through the power of the oversear.  Not everyone agrees.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Quillette, by Blogger Matthew Lesh, 22 Jun 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

It has become a common trope that slavery and the slave trade is responsible for the industrial revolution, if not our entire modern prosperity.  Slavery is often called capitalism’s “dark side.”  A recent column in the Guardian claimed the slave trade “heralded the age of capitalism” and Guardian columnist George Monbiot said on Twitter:  “The more we discover about our own history, the less the ‘trade’ on which Britain built its wealth looks like exchange, and the more it looks like looting.  It meant extracting stolen resources and the products of slavery, debt bondage and land theft from other nations.”  The same line has been taken by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who tweeted:  “It’s a sad truth that much of our wealth was derived from the slave trade.”

But what did the “father of modern economics,” Adam Smith, actually think about slavery?  And is it responsible for our modern prosperity?

Adam Smith argued not only that slavery was morally reprehensible, but that it causes economic self-harm.  He provided economic and moral ammunition for the abolitionist movement that came to fruition after his death in 1790.  Smith was pessimistic about the potential for full abolition, but he was on the side of the angels.

Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, contains perhaps the best known economic critique of slavery.  Smith argued that free individuals work harder and invest in the improvement of land, motivated by their interest in earning a higher income, than slaves.  Smith refers to ancient Italy, where the cultivation of corn degraded under slavery.  The cost of slavery is “in the end the dearest of any,” Smith writes.

There is a lot of bad history out there.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not Unified


For John, BLUFThe Biden Administration is not united on Israel vs Hamas, and neither is the nation.  It is not like the situation in the wake of 911.  And this is not good.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From PJ Media, by Columnist Lincoln Brown, 14 November 2023, 12:46 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Many years ago, after a hard day of radio journalism and program directing, I stopped at my favorite brewpub for an IPA and some chicken wings.  I noticed a few friends who worked for a government agency and struck up a conversation.  I mentioned having seen a story on TV at the gym about the federal government offering free health care to illegal immigrants.  I opined that there were plenty of Americans who should receive that consideration before it was extended to people who entered the country unlawfully.  One of the women looked at me, blinked, and said, "Well f**k you!"

Alright, then.  Good talk.  It wasn't the response I expected but considering the fact that people in the federal ecosystem function in an echo chamber, I guess I should not have been surprised.  Mike Lee once told me that the people inside the Beltway are essentially unaware of the America or the world outside the Beltway.  And with the advent of curated media, it should not be an eye-opener that the same mentality extends to many federal employees.  That may go some ways to explaining the letter sent Tuesday to President Joe Biden that was signed by over 400 government officials.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter, signed by appointees and staffers across 40 agencies.  It began by denouncing the Hamas attack on Israel but also stated:

We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity, and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
As an aside, that extract is 53 words in a single sentence.  One should avoid sentences over 20 words! or so I was taught.

The thing that fascinates me is the people calling for a cease fire with no idea of what comes next.  Nor any indication of how Hamas would respond.  My understanding has always been that staff are not supposed to bring problems, except with propsed solutions.  A ceasefire is not a solution.  A plan for getting Palestine (with or without Hamas) is a solution.  I am not seeing such a thing.

The author may be close to the mark with his remark about those inside the Beltway not having a feel for the rest of the nation.  Not all of them, but a significant portion of them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Monday, November 13, 2023

The Larger Issue in Gaza


For John, BLUFThe war between Hamas and Israel is being blown up into a bigger conflct.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Power Line Blog, by Blogger Steven Haywrd, 30 October 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Ever since David Horowitz broke from the radical left back in the 1980s, he has been trying to warn conservatives that they don’t really understand the core principle of the left, and the depths of the left’s power-mad depravity.  Conservatives too often think that the Israel-Palestine conflict, or civil rights, crime, income inequality, transgender ideology, climate change, etc, etc., are discrete issues to be argued against the left with reason and facts.  To which Horowitz replies:  The issue is not the issue—the issue is revolution!  (And a key corollary is: the more violent, the better.  Hence the approval and celebration of Hamas on October 7.)

The aftermath of October 7 ought to have revealed this truth more vividly than any event of the last 50 years.  October 7 provided the spark for massive pro-Hamas demonstrations throughout the world and especially on college campuses.  It is legitimized and brought out of the shadows the anti-Semitism long latent on the left, just waiting for a catalyst to organize spontaneously to vent their rage and hate.  But it represents more than this.

I believe the larger view is captured in this news photo out of London:

I object to the banner for using the term "White".  I think they mean Caucaasian.  The banner suggests some eugenics issues, perhaps that Caucasians are genetically unable to coexist with homo sapiens.  Shades of Adolph Hitler and Msrgsret Sanger.

I think this local dustup between Hamas nd Israel is being blown up into a Caucasians vs People of Color conflict.  One can substitute Colonialist for Caucasian.  It is “The West” vs the rest.

With those Jewish Faith in Israel being descendants of those who lived there two thousand years ago and the Palestinians being descended from those who lived in the same general area two thousand years ago, I am not sure I would be drawing stark racial comparisons, but then I am not someone who is against the free market, common law, freedom of expression and the renaissance and scientific revolution.  I guess these demonstrators think that Genghis Khan was a Caucasian, or at least Caucasian adjacent.

I am hoping President Joe Biden will come up with a way of calming these younger Americns of college age.  For one thing, I don't like hearing chants of "Genocide Joe."  I would hate to see all those expensively educated men and women turned into a modern day Klan, riding against the Jews and those of us who support them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Conversion


For John, BLUFTo steal from the British, we are a land of hope and glory.  I am happy that Ms Ayaan Hirsi Ali decided to come to our shores and I appreciate her contributions to our nation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

Atheism can't equip us for civilisational war

From UnHerd, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, November 11, 2023.

Here is the lede plus three:

In 2002, I discovered a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell entitled “Why I am Not a Christian”.  It did not cross my mind, as I read it, that one day, nearly a century after he delivered it to the South London branch of the National Secular Society, I would be compelled to write an essay with precisely the opposite title.

The year before, I had publicly condemned the terrorist attacks of the 19 men who had hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the twin towers in New York.  They had done it in the name of my religion, Islam.  I was a Muslim then, although not a practising one.  If I truly condemned their actions, then where did that leave me?  The underlying principle that justified the attacks was religious, after all: the idea of Jihad or Holy War against the infidels.  Was it possible for me, as for many members of the Muslim community, simply to distance myself from the action and its horrific results?

At the time, there were many eminent leaders in the West — politicians, scholars, journalists, and other experts — who insisted that the terrorists were motivated by reasons other than the ones they and their leader Osama Bin Laden had articulated so clearly.  So Islam had an alibi.

This excuse-making was not only condescending towards Muslims.  It also gave many Westerners a chance to retreat into denial.  Blaming the errors of US foreign policy was easier than contemplating the possibility that we were confronted with a religious war.  We have seen a similar tendency in the past five weeks, as millions of people sympathetic to the plight of Gazans seek to rationalise the October 7 terrorist attacks as a justified response to the policies of the Israeli government.

The author is a very intelligent and accomplished woman, arriving in the United States after being born in Somali and living in Saudi Arabia, Etheopia, Kenya, Germany and the Netherlands, where she served in Parliament.  Today she works at the Hoover Institute and is associsated with the American Enterprise Institute.

Ms Ali's movement to Christianity is not of the type of a good old fashioned revival, complete with Alter Call.  Rather, it is an intellectual journay.  As a Roman Catholic, I am not bothered by that path.  The journey is not as impoortant as the goal, the end state.

further down in the esssay, Ms Ali quotes G K Chesterson:

The line often attributed to G.K. Chesterton has turned into a prophecy:  “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”
We are a land of immigrants, of colonizers if you are an extreme Progressive.  That is our strength, and liberty to grow is our promise.  We are foturnate to have Ms Ali as one of us and I wish her well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Happy Veterans Day


For John, BLUFBeing a Military Veteran is an honor, but an honor gained at some risk, small for some and large for others.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Wikipedia.

Here is the lede:

Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces.  It began, and now coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are commemorated in other countries, marking the anniversary of the end of World War I.  Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.  At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Below is the Veterans Day Proclamation for this year, by President Joseph R Biden, Jr, and the 1954 Proclamation on the first "Veterans Day", by then President Dwight D Eisenhower. To all who have wished me a Happy Veterans Day, I say, "Thank You."  Thank you for paying taxes so that I could enjoy a fun and rewarding life and fly some of the finest aircraft in the world.  You, and the legislators you elected made it possible.

Regards  —  Cliff

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Approaching the Homeless Problem


For John, BLUFHomeslesness is a problem that is beginniing to overwhelm both Government and the People.  Action is needed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The Conservative Woman (UK), by Mr David Raynes, November 7, 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

THE Home Secretary’s proposals to restrict the use of tents for rough sleepers within cities and fine the charities that provide the tents have been condemned as ‘heartless’ and ‘disgraceful’.

Defending her ‘hardline’ stance Suella Braverman tweeted: ‘The British people are compassionate.  We will always support those who are genui nely homeless.  But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.’  She said such people are causing nuisance and distress.

Here is a short bio (from Wikipedia) on the UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

People living on the streets is as old as time out of memory.  It will continue until the end of days.  The job of Government is to find those among the homeless who need mental health help, and provide it in a serious manner.  Further, Government should also be working to help those who are falling out of housing due to increasing costs at a time of stagnant or falling wages.  Finally, Government needs to ensure Citizens are not prevented from going about their normal routine and enjoyment by the congregation of homeless interrupting normal commerce.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

  As part of this, Government should work to create an enviornment which encourages private capital t provide additional affordable housing, to include ensuring needed infrastructure.

  It may not be obvious, but the ability to provide help to the homeless depends on the ability of communities to conduct normal commerce, which is taxed to fund the Government.  No commerce, no tax, no Government.

We Need Leadership in this Current Crisis


For John, BLUFIf we want to keep our Republic we are going to have to stand up to hate across the spectrum.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

Two case studies

From , by Mr John A Lucas, 7 November 2023.

Here is the lede plus two:

Our leading business and law schools use case studies to analyze actual, real-life business or legal problems or cases. The students study and learn from those prior cases to draw conclusions that hopefully will inform their future analyses when confronted with similar problems.

One quality essential for leaders today, whether in business, law, academia, the military, politics, or any other field, is courage. For the military that includes both physical and moral courage. For most other fields, the focus necessarily is on the need for moral courage in the face of adversity or danger, whether that danger is to a business or to one’s personal career and future.

Let us then look at two cases to see what they may tell us about courage (or cowardice), and leadership.

The cases are: Well worth the read.  One is an example to live up to and the other is an example of equivocation in the face of a moral challenge.

While I feel for the Palesatinians in the Gaza Strip, I have no sympathy for Hamas and its efforts to eliminate Israel and Jews in the Middle East.  The chant "River to the Sea, Palistine must be free" is not about negotistion and compromise.  It is about a second Holocaust in my lifetime.  It is time for Americans who know a little history to stand up and say no to Hamas and its approach and to its supporters.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Kudus to Sanders


For John, BLUFMany from the Democratic Party are calling for israel to back down with regard to Hamas and Palestine, but not all.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From PJ Media, by Writer Stephen Green. 6 November 2023, 8:00 AM.

Here is the last part of the Post:

But back to Bernie Sanders who, despite the growing pressure on the Left to force Israel into a ceasefire, stood fast on Sunday.  On CNN's "State of the Union," anchor Dana Bash asked, "Some of you fellow progressives say that there should be a full-on ceasefire which would require an agreement on both sides to halt the fighting.  Do you support a ceasefire and if not, why not?"

Sanders didn't hesitate when he answered, "I don't know how you can have a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the state of Israel."

"And I think what the Arab countries in the region understand is that Hamas has got to go," Sanders added.

He's right on both counts and kudus to Sanders for getting it right this once.

I agree, kudos for Senator Sanders.  I don't always agree with the Senator from Vermont, but I find his position here straight forward and correct.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Tone is Important for Our Representatives on Capitol Hill


For John, BLUFQuotng the Article's lede sentence:  "The arch Jew-hater of the House of Representatives – and believe me, that sobriquet takes some doing to earn with all the contenders there – has been called on the congressional censure carpet again today."  That seems a bit extreme, but perhaps fair.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From Hot Air, by Reporter Beege Welborn, 7 November 2023, 8:41 PM.

Here is a quote from the UPI:

…Tlaib again inspired bipartisan criticism over the weekend when she posted another video on X, this one blasting President Joe Biden for supporting “the genocide of the Palestinian people.”  It also included footage of demonstrators chanting, “from the river to the sea,” which the Anti-Defamation League points to as antisemitic.
I don't see "From the River to the Sea, [Palistine must be free]," as anything but a call for the elimination of Israel as a nation and the extermination of the eight million Jews living there.

Good on Congress for this action  Not that I think it will cause Rep Rashida Tlaib to change her tune.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Corruption of the Mind


For John, BLUFThere are signs that Academia has become a hotbed of Anti-Semitism.  Why would we send our children there?  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From , by Mr David Strom, 6 November 2023, 6:31 PM.

Here is the lede plus six:

I have been incredibly (and justifiably) harsh on most of the anti-Israel protesters and academics, but I do believe that there is plenty of room for debate about Israel’s response to the 10/7 attacks. People of goodwill can disagree on the best path forward for Israel.

But damn, there really are few people of goodwill out there. Most of the protesters and Israel-bashers as just antisemites and/or anti-White/anti-Western.

This is true both of the protesters in the streets and the academics who have openly sided with Hamas or at least Palestinian radicals. Most of them just hate Jews, almost all make it clear that they want Israel wiped off the maps. “From the river to the sea” means that precisely.

For some reason, New York City is not just the home of more Jews than any other city in the world but is also antisemitism central in academia. I just wrote about how the City University of New York is filled with vile antisemites, and now I see that NYU just hired a professor who felt “affirmed” by Hamas’ rape and murder rampage on 10/7.

“Affirming.” How nice.

NYU announced the appointment of Eve Tuck, a professor of critical race and indigenous studies at the University of Toronto, on Oct 9 — just two days after Hamas terrorists massacred 1,400 Israeli civilians.

Though her work is focused on native peoples, she has found common cause with Palestinian terrorism — including defending Hamas’ deadly rampage.

What has happened ot higher education?  I guess I could settle for the students not learning history in their K-12 education.  Not learning about World War II, about the Holocost, about the Holodomor, about pograms against the Jews  But, it seems to be spreading across the teaching faculty.  That is scary.  It wuld radicsally change this nation, as Natoinsl Socilism did Germsny after World War I, and not for the better.

Higher Education was, I thought, about explore all aspects of an issue and coming to a reasnoable set of conclusions.  It appears I was wrong.  It appears to be bout imposing one's prejudices on young minds, changing the path of Western Civilization of Democracy.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Open Season for Haters of Israel


For John, BLUFI am disgusted by the Anti-Semitism I am seeing across the Fruited Plain.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The New York Poat, by the Post Editorial Board, 7 November 2023, 11:25 a.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus five:

What are the consequences for a New York City public defender caught suppressing the First Amendment rights of New York’s citizens?

Nothing — at least when the speech being suppressed is pro-Israel.

Victoria Ruiz was caught on camera ripping down a poster of a kidnap victim from Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7 attacks.

Despite this effort to interfere with legally protected speech, her employer, New York County Defender Services — which holds a rich contract with the city — decided she gets to keep her job after what’s clearly a total whitewash of an internal review.

The message could not be any clearer.

For whole swaths of the city’s public workers, from CUNY to the courts, it’s open season not only [on] for supporters of Israel but the helpless victims of Hamas.

I think the editor of the Editorial Board has a typo in the last quoted paragraph, which I have tried to correct.

That a public and responsible agent of the Government would be ripping down posters of victims kidnapped by Hamas is deplorable.  That it would be someone whoo is supposed to be a public defender makes it so much worse.  This is not about IDF soldiers.  This is about innocent civilians kidnapped as part of a brilliant Hamas terrorist attack.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thursday, November 2, 2023

What Does Hamas Want, and Who Understands it?


For John, BLUFI find much of the news and many of the demonstrators are showing a lack of in depth understanding of the issues involved in this Hamas/Israel conflict.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




Here is the sub-headline:

How the Oct. 7 massacres in Israel gave birth to a global pogrom

From The Tablet, by Mr Marc Weitzmann, 30 October 2023.

Here is the lede plus four:

I was staring at my phone in blank incomprehension watching the worldwide demonstrations of enthusiasm that followed the bloodiest pogrom since World War II—the “gas the Jews!” of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Sydney, the “fuck the Jews!” in London, the Nazi salutes in Paris, the Nazi flags in New York.  I was scrolling through footage from some of the most prestigious universities in America sinking further every day into their own shit—the Washington University pro-Hamas students yelling “fuck Israel!” and “you guys are all fucking gays!”; Columbia students gathering to celebrate the massacre in Israel one day after a Jewish student was beaten with a stick outside the main library; the Cherry Hill East high school student who screamed his hatred to his Jewish fellow classmates in the hall; the antisemitic demonstrations at UCLA.  There was the Stanford professor who forced his Jewish students to identify themselves before grouping them in a corner so that they could feel “what the Palestinians feel,” the UC Davis associate professor who warned the “Zionists journalists” that they should “fear us” (whoever that “us” is) because “we can find their addresses and their children’s schools,” and who ended her post with hatchets and blood-drip emojis.  I was seeing “keep the world clean” signs decorated with a Star of David pushed into a garbage can, exhibited by pro-Palestinian supporters in Washington Square Park and Warsaw.  And, of course, I saw video of passersby everywhere tearing down posters of Jewish kids kidnapped by Hamas in the hope of making the victims disappear, even while their murderers were being publicly celebrated in the streets.  I was watching all of this from the viewpoint of a French Jew who for years has lived with the absolute conviction that if the shit really hit the fan in his own country, there would always be the U.S.  It made no sense.

Then I came upon a video taken right after Oct. 7 that I had previously missed.  It showed a professor at Cornell university named Russell Rickford, a Black Lives Matter supporter.  Standing under the rain, among the signs, in front of the demonstrators, Rickford was screaming into his microphone: “It was exhilarating!  It was exhilarating!  It was energizing!  I was exhilarated!”  The “it” was the pogrom.  Mentally, I immediately thanked Rickford for his unabashed honesty.  I knew exactly where I was now.

The whole planet had become France, and Mohamed Merah had returned.

Merah was the 23-year-old killer of Algerian descent raised and born in the city of Toulouse, France, who on March 19, 2012, entered the local Ozar Hatorah school with a Parabellum 9-millimeter and a .45 ACP and shot at close range one of the rabbis in the school along with his two sons, Gabriel, 3, and Aryeh, 6.  He then chased little Myriam, age 9, across the courtyard, grabbed her by her hair, put his weapon’s barrel against her head and pulled the trigger, before walking back quietly toward his scooter. Like the Hamas pogromists of Oct. 7 he had equipped himself with a GoPro camera so the slaughter could be filmed and widely seen.  Since social media was still relatively new, he sent his videos to the offices of Al Jazeera, where—Qatar being Qatar—the journalists waited for the emir’s orders to know whether they should air the images or not. Under pressure from the French government, the videos were not aired.

Merah’s murders changed everything in France—for the worse.  It also provided a sickening preview of how the massacre of Oct. 7 is likely to change the lives of Jews in other Western countries.

People in France rejected as outliers those who warned about the lack of assimilation by immigrants from Afroca (and in particulsr, the Africsn Mediteranian Litoral).  See for example the reaction to the Jean Raspail novel Camp of the Saints.  But, France has seen a number of events in which people have been murdered in the name of Islam.

That said, Muslims have settled peacefully into our nation and peacefully entered into our political life.  This is as it should be.  However, the plight of Palistinins has created sympathy here in the United States.  Sympathy without understanding or any long term solutions.  This is unhelpful.  It results in scape-goating Israel and Jews.  That is not only not helpful, but it is wrong.

The demands from Hamas are fairly unlimited.  See, for example. this interview with Hamas Spokesman Ghazi Hamad: "We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified."  The source is MEMRI. I realize I come to this issue from a specific position. but from this position I am appalled by the lack of insight regarding the issue, the lack of people thinking through the end state, and the rabid anti-Semtism.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

From Daniel Pearl to 6 October 2023


For John, BLUFThe Hamas attack on Israel may well foreshadow a larger attack on the West.  Nothing to see here; just move along.




From The New NEO, by Neo, herself, 31 October 2023.

Here is the penultimate and final paragraphs:

And they want this to be a worldwide effort. They’ve been preparing the ground for decades: emigrating to Western nations, using propaganda in the MSM, and enlisting many allies in academia (see this). Perhaps they have overestimated their support and overplayed their hand, causing at least some of their erstwhile allies in the Western Left to recoil in horror. Perhaps. But perhaps not. There is no mistaking their intent anymore, nor the lengths to which they are willing to go to achieve it.

9/11 was a wakeup call for a lot of people. And so is this. The question is whether it will be heeded.

This is a good recapitulation of events from the butchering of Reporter Daniel Pearl, in 2002, up to today.  Well worth the read, to include the Comments.

There are two four points to keep in mind in the wake of the Hamas terror attack of 7 October:

  1. Iran is deeply involved in this most recent attack.
  2. Iran is strongly pursuing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
  3. Iran has repeatedly talked about the elimination of Israel, and calls for Death to America.
  4. It is entirely possible that this war includes future attacks on the West, to include the United States.
Given the attitudes towards their nation of many young Americns (Ages 18-30) I am not sure we will have a strong response to any attack, but if Hamas (and Iran) do not get the psychological warfare (Information Warfare) correct, such attacks may be like Pearl Harbor and 9/11, galvinizing the American People in a way that will be unfortunate for those two anti-Israeli/nti-Western groups.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

  While Wikipedia tries to minimize this ejaculation, it seems wise to take it literally, given past actions.