Friday, May 31, 2019

Why Jordan Peterson Teared Up During His Budapest Lecture

Why Jordan Peterson Teared Up During His Budapest Lecture
Excerpt:  For the easily led, he is a target. For the witch hunters in media and academia, he is a convenient scapegoat. Within the academy, he is the object of unrelenting envy. In the face of all this, including campus protests and media hectoring, he has been steadfast and brave, refusing to be intimidated and instead using the attention to get his message out there. To cut through all this nonsense, and like and appreciate him in any case, already marks you as being in possession of a discerning mind, a rebel against conventional wisdom. Apparently, there is no shortage of such rebels. The crowds – I don’t have an estimate but there were 20,000 people at the Brain Bar event at which he was a main draw – might have seemed to him as a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit. That people were there at all, seeking not a confirmation of political bias but rather to gain a greater sense of personal purpose, shows that the powerful in this world cannot finally rule the day. (Link may not be live--and it would be a shame to miss this essay. Ron P.

Random Thoughts for June 2019


Random Thoughts for June 2019
By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.  

Socialism: An economic system where everything is free except the people.

From Del: A few years ago, I coined a phrase that a psychologist friend of mine said I should copyright. It is "addiction to fantasy." It denotes the mental condition in which a person has a preferred view of some aspect (or many aspects) of the world, which preferred view happens to be clearly at odds with mere reality, and the person invests totally in that view, hanging onto it despite any and all contrary data/experience, in fact only deepening their commitment/dependence on that view over time.

When an old sixty’s hippy asks me if I have any regrets about Vietnam, the answer is, “Yes. I regret we didn’t kill every fucking communist in Asia.”

I’m 73. I’ve owned guns most of my life. I often carry concealed. And I’ve never shot anyone. Progressives must think I’m taunting them.

Somethings are unforgivable. For example, the physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or financial abuse of a child, especially by a parent. Some parents think their children are possessions, to be at their beck and call, to be used, all the parent’s life.

Biden: (v) to grope. e. g. “Hey, that guy just bidened my wife!”

“Lying is the foundation of all crimes and follies.” --Ulysses S. Grant

God did not give us perfection. But He gave us the gift of constant improvement. If we accept it.

“Bobby, the world is big and the girls are small. Take your time and love them all.” –Dorothy Hall. I tried, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

Another person’s success does not diminish you. But undermining or belittling it does.

It’s hard to see why God put some people on Earth. Perhaps he is testing us, like Job.

What to get rid of an annoying acquaintance? Ask to see pictures of their kids/grandkids. Then say, “Wow. That’s an ugly kid!” They’ll be gone.

Flat surfaces collect stuff the way a black dress collects cat hair.

Soap and Water are cheap. Filth is fatal.

Some people could get the day off by calling in stupid.

Some people seem fitted to be slaves. They require structure, somebody to tell them what to do, and to provide food, shelter and clothing. And, no, this isn’t racist. It’s a white “kid” (now 42) that prompted this thought.

I’m starting a new political party. The “Don’t Want to Know Nothings.” To distinguish it from the “Know Nothings” of the 1850s.

Fetus is Latin for Offspring or Child So, when they say it’s okay to kill a fetus, they are saying it’s okay to kill your offspring or child.

Some people have such damaged psyches that they derive pleasure from hurting others, physically or emotionally, because it makes them feel powerful.

Knight’s Prayer from our friend Alison: “My Lord, I am ready on the threshold of this new day to go forth, armed with your power, to right wrongs, to overcome evil, to suffer wounds and endure pain if need be, but in all things to serve you boldly, faithfully, joyfully, that at the end of the day's labour, kneeling for your blessing, you may find no blot upon my shield.”

If you want to be miserable and fretful all the time, I recommend procrastination.

From my friend Todd: Just because I don't care, doesn't mean that I don't understand.”

We want to be loved. Our enemies want to be feared. Guess who will win?

Saying, “That’s just the way I am,” does not excuse bad behavior.

It’s okay to be ignorant, everyone is on many subjects. But some people insist on being loud and opinionated about their ignorance.

“In Opelousas, Louisiana, armed mobs of Democrats wrecked a republican newspaper office, expelled the editor and shot as many as 200 blacks.” Grant, page 627, by Ron Chernow. This was during the 1868 presidential campaign.

You have to eat. You don’t have to overeat.

We treasure old friends because they remember what we were like when we were young.

You know that feeling you get that you really would like two more hours of sleep? The scientific term for that is, “Morning.”

When something dangerous becomes routine, it becomes really dangerous.

I was having gas pains and my wife said alcohol would help. So, I took a dram of Scotch and felt better. Then she said, “I meant Alka-Seltzer!” 😊

I pulled from a sideroad. There was a pickup coming, but I didn’t realize he was doing about 15 over the limit. Before I could get up to speed, he flew up behind me and leaned on his horn. I figured he thought I was going too fast, so I slowed down to 25 until my turn a half mile up the road.

Since the family first-born is usually better educated and more economically successful than the younger siblings, to achieve equality we need a government program to combat “first privilege” by randomly redistributing birth order. Think of the jobs this will create for bureaucrats! (Makes as much sense as most social engineering policies put forth by the left!)

It’s hard to remember that when Merkle was elected leader of Germanistan, she was considered a conservative.

Recently interviewed a vet whose six grandkids were all home schooled. They all started college at age 13. Except the youngest, who started college at age 11. Tell me again unions how a kid can’t get a decent education being home schooled.

If people are wealthy, but have nothing they care about more than themselves, they are very poor indeed.

“Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed.” –Thomas Henley Huxley.

“He (she) didn’t say and I didn’t ask,” avoids a lot of grief and trouble.

If everyone could read your thoughts, you’d be in a lot of fights and arguments.

From a novel on CD we are listening to: “He’ll come down on you so hard your great grandchildren will be born midgets.” (Not PC today, I’m sure.”)

Both wealth and poverty can create misery. The difference is you, if you are fortunate, you can get out of poverty through good decisions and hard work. To get out of wealth, you need bad decisions and indolence.

Opposing charter schools is racist, because it prevents black kids from getting a better education to please teachers’ unions.

What did people do at mealtime before Smartphones? Talk? Seriously? To each other?

Self-centered people are always unhappy because they always believe they are not getting what they are entitled to.

A man prayed for prosperity, but God didn’t answer. So, he decided to make himself prosperous. He got an education, found as good job, and became the go-to guy who helped everyone. And his sunny, cheerful attitude made other people want to help him. He participated in his church and the community. Then God noticed and answered his prayer.

A country can vote itself into oppression, privation and starvation, but once in it can’t vote itself out.

Before our eyes, we are watching the communist wolves prepare the socialist sheep for sheering and slaughter.

The SAT will now add points for “adversity.” I hope the folks who did this get a surgeon who got into medical school because of his increased points. It is designed, of course, to help colleges continue to discriminate against whites, Asians and Jews, who tend to do better than other groups because their family culture is geared toward education. I suggest that students from these groups be given 50 adversity points for having to grow up in a culture dominated by PC assholes.

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2009 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s twelve books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He currently works part-time as a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories.

Crichton’s Rational Environmentalism Needs a Reawakening

Crichton’s Rational Environmentalism Needs a Reawakening
Excerpt: Just over 10 years ago, the world lost Michael Crichton, bestselling author and screenwriter, who succumbed to cancer at age 66. His loss was greater than we could have known at the time. During the final years of his life, Crichton became increasingly focused on the politicization of science. Few critics of this corruption, if any, are as articulate and influential as Michael Crichton was in his time. And now politicized science, and the justifications it provides activists, journalists, politicians, and corporate opportunists, is more dangerous than ever. (This is an excellent article about Crichton’s scientific opinions on many environmental issues. It also contains a link to a web page with three of Crichton’s speeches. I was already familiar with two of the speeches and his novel, “State of Fear” that explore those issues. I highly recommend reading this essay; if you’re inspired to read the speeches as well, then “Good for you!” Ron P.)

The Aboriginal Grievance Industry and the Demise of the University

The Aboriginal Grievance Industry and the Demise of the University

Marine running for office vows to fight socialism, his ad is "interpreted" to be a death threat

Marine running for office vows to fight socialism, his ad is "interpreted" to be a death threat
You can go to the article and watch his video. He promises to fight socialism taking over the country with the same energy he used to fight in Afghanistan. But since in the video at one point there are the images of AOC and Bernie, and somewhere else there's an image of him in the field with a rifle, the delicate ones "know" that he really means he's ready to shoot AOC and Bernie. Yep, we know all those combat vets are just indiscriminate killers, don't we? (BTW, what's too bad is that he's Black, so they can't accuse him of being a White Supremacist, etc.) I hope he wins in a landslide. --Del

Satire

Satire: 12 Obsolete Manly Activities And What You Can Replace Them With

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Treasure island: Rare metals discovery on remote Pacific atoll is worth billions of dollars

Treasure island: Rare metals discovery on remote Pacific atoll is worth billions of dollars
Excerpt: "The research area was estimated to be able to supply Y, Eu, Tb, and Dy for 780, 620, 420, and 730 years, respectively, and has the potential to supply these metals on a semi-infinite basis to the world," the report adds. The metals are expensive, making the find extremely valuable, with some estimates putting the value of the island's rare earth oxide alone at approximately $500 billion. Yttrium is currently worth $3,400 per pound, Europium costs $20,000 per 100 grams and Terbium sells for $1,800 per 100 grams. Dysprosium, the cheapest of the rare-earth elements discovered, only costs $450 per 100 grams. The sample size was estimated to contain 1.2 million tons of "rare-earth oxide." The study was conducted jointly by researchers with Waseda University Yutaro Takaya, and Yasuhiro Kato of the University of Tokyo and others. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Technology Metals Research LLC founding principal Jack Lifton said, "this is a game-changer for Japan," adding, "The race to develop these resources is well under way." (This is like comparing a local jewelry store (China) with Fort Knox (this island). No doubt it will take a while–perhaps a few years to build refineries and such–before these materials begin to impact markets in Japan, here, and elsewhere, but the mere fact of its existence has to impact pricing world-wide. These rare-earths are used in almost every battery, camera, cell phone, and computer (wherever located), and are major contributors to their costs. Long before this hoard is exhausted, we’ll have gone to space, found and retrieved whole asteroids full of this stuff. I could’ve sworn I sent this to you in April 2018, but I can’t find any record of it in my files. Better late than never, I guess. Ron P.)

The Stock Market Is Sending a Message to Trump: This Is the Wrong Kind of Tech War

The Stock Market Is Sending a Message to Trump: This Is the Wrong Kind of Tech War
EXCERPT: As things stand, America is likely to lose the tech war with China. The stock market should be sending a message to President Trump. US semiconductor stocks are down 20% in the past month, and the broad market has been in freefall for a week. This is a war we can win, by mobilizing American ingenuity to produce technology that will crush the competition. No-one ever one a war by trying to stop someone else from doing something. I'm an Always Trumper, and I want the president to win another term. But he's risking the US economy and his re-election chances on a poorly-conceived offensive.

Why the UFO story is far more interesting than you think

Why the UFO story is far more interesting than you think
Excerpt: The U.S. government does not know what these UFOs actually are. The report focuses on witnesses of so-called "Tic Tacs," but other shapes and sizes of UFOs have also been credibly recorded by the U.S., British, Chinese, Russian, and other governments for the past 65 years. But what are these strange things? Most informed individuals I have talked to believe that the Tic Tac-like UFOs are unmanned vehicles operating under direction from either a manned or larger unmanned vessel. A particularly interesting evidentiary point here is the witness testimony by Cmdr. David Fravor during his time as commanding officer for a naval fighter squadron assigned to the Nimitz carrier strike group. In the November 2004 Nimitz incident, Fravor describes seeing both the Tic Tacs and "something in the water... looks like waves are going to crash over the top and you're going to get this white-water."

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Inheritance Welfare Leftists — The Effluent of Generational Wealth and Privilege

Inheritance Welfare Leftists — The Effluent of Generational Wealth and Privilege
Excerpt: In the context of his time, I understand the sentiments expressed by our esteemed Founder, but later generations proved the substance of his words wrong. It was assumed by Adams that successive generations would be imbued with the patriotic virtues required to sustain Liberty. But there is no such inherited legacy, as Thomas Paine noted in his 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense: "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary." (Worth reading; a lot of truth in this. Ron P.)

Mueller Resigns, Special Counsel’s Office Closes

Mueller Resigns, Special Counsel’s Office Closes
Excerpt: Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his official resignation on Wednesday, announcing at a press conference that he is leaving the Justice Department, closing the special counsel’s office, and returning to private life. In his first public statement on his investigation, he stressed that he does not intend to expand on the contents of his final report after today. (...) Charging President Trump with a crime was “not an option,” Mueller reiterated, since a sitting president cannot be indicted. “Under longstanding department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that too is prohibited,” Mueller said, before adding that, “If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” (I didn’t realize he was still employed enough to need to resign. But, notice how effectively he kept the narrative alive by publicly stating some of the facts without making any accusation or bringing–or even recommending–any charge of a crime being committed, contrary to our “normal” system of justice where zero information about “uncharged crimes” is the norm. No one, not even Trump, has to prove he's innocent. Mueller's team may believe there is enough evidence to support bringing a charge though the outcome at trial would be doubtful, but he also clearly doesn’t favor impeachment or he would’ve said so by making such a recommendation to Congress--which he didn't. Case closed. Ron P.)

Monday, May 27, 2019

A Professor who argues against multiculturalism...now fears for his job

A Professor who argues against multiculturalism...now fears for his job
EXCERPT: Before multiculturalism took root, Duchesne argues, Canada was not an immigrant nation, as the cliché has it, but a European nation built by settlers and pioneers. The same formulation applies to the U.S. and Australia. He notes a critical difference between categories of newcomers: pioneers create, immigrants contribute (at their best). Multiculturalism, however, which radically changes the identity of a country, is neither a creation nor a contribution; it is “an experiment imposed from above.” Tensions inevitably arise between the rapidly shrinking European majority and the multi-ethnic, culturally alien brew that is displacing it

On This Memorial Day


On This Memorial Day by Chet Nagle
Here is a piece I wrote in 2010, when the administration was not too concerned about those who go in harm’s way to defend the Republic. With a dysfunctional congress, I got it reprinted in Tsarizm, a website operated by a former spec ops combat help pilot. --Chet

On Memorial Day, I have a duty to remember the veterans who fulfilled their duty to serve.

On Memorial Day, I have a duty to remember the veterans who fulfilled their duty to serve. By James S. Robbins, Opinion columnist May 27, 2019
Excerpt: In telling the story of the Sanchez family — immigrants who loved and defended their adopted country — I keep them close and their service alive

A VIETNAM VET’S MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE: LIBERALS THREW AWAY OUR VICTORY.

A VIETNAM VET’S MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE: LIBERALS THREW AWAY OUR VICTORY. BY Phillip Jennings
Excerpt: To all good Americans and particularly those who lost fathers, brothers, sons and loved ones in the Vietnam War—They died for exactly what Americans died for in all its other others wars, to gain freedom from oppression and an improved opportunity for a better life for an ally of the U.S., the people of South Vietnam. Do not be misled by the despicable and cowardly myths of an “unwinnable war” or a war that America “lost” to a brutal communist regime. Those myths were created by a cabal of leftist and arrogant loons who actively supported the enemy of freedom, the North Vietnamese invaders, whose devotion was to the deadliest “ism” in the history of the world (communism killed over 150 million people during its evil reign in China, Russia and lesser tyrannies). The myths were created by people like Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda, and in particular John Kerry, whose testimony against his country to the American senate was probably the most traitorous speech ever given to the American Congress. His tour in Vietnam was shortened (at his own volition) by three minor “wounds” (none requiring medical treatment beyond a Band-Aid) so that he could launch his political career denigrating his fellow soldiers and sailors. There can be no greater indication of the current Administration’s ignorance or disdain for the history of America’s efforts in Vietnam than the nomination of John Kerry as Secretary of State—most likely the most reviled military man of the entire Vietnam War era. The true legacy of your loved one’s sacrifice was the stop of the communist roll-up of South East Asia. The almost total stop of Russian and Chinese aggression throughout the world. The continued freedom of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore to name the most direct.

Obama’s Actions Explained

Obama’s Actions Explained

Colluders, Obstructionists, Leakers, and Other Projectionists. By Victor Davis Hanson

Colluders, Obstructionists, Leakers, and Other Projectionists. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Before the defeat of Hillary Clinton, the idea that the Russians or anyone else could warp or tamper with our elections in any serious manner was laughed off by President Obama. “There is no serious person out there who would suggest that you could even rig America’s elections,” Obama said in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election. Obama was anxious that the sure-to-be-sore-loser Trump would not blame his defeat on voting impropriety in a fashion that might call into question Clinton’s victory. After Clinton’s stunning defeat, Russian “collusion”—thanks initially to efforts by Obama holdover Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to go after Michael Flynn and the successful attempts of the CIA and FBI to seed the bogus Steele dossier among the government elite—became a club to destroy the incoming Trump Administration. How ironic that Russian “collusion” was used as a preemptive charge from those who actually had colluded with Russians for all sorts for financial and careerist advantages.

German Intelligence Issues Taboo-Breaking Report on Muslim Antisemitism

German Intelligence Issues Taboo-Breaking Report on Muslim Antisemitism

German official warns Jews against wearing kippahs in public

German official warns Jews against wearing kippahs in public

Media Matters Pushes Selectively Edited Video of Ben Shapiro. Media Silent About the Fake News.

Media Matters Pushes Selectively Edited Video of Ben Shapiro. Media Silent About the Fake News.
Excerpt: Recall, if you will, the story of President George H. W. Bush and the grocery supermarket scanner. The New York Times recorded how amazed he was with the long-established technology and used it to paint him as out of touch. There’s just one problem. The story never happened. The reporter for the New York Times, who went on to be promoted as head of their editorial board, had made it up. Now consider the media’s antagonism towards fake news and hostility towards Facebook, etc. for distributing fake news. It seems that the outrage some reporters have for it is that people on social networks are merely competing with the traditional outlets’ abilities to make stuff up. None of it is good, healthy, or right. But the media sure seems to turn a blind eye to its own fabrications and those of its allies like Media Matters, etc. Right now, Media Matters is circulating a selectively edited video of Ben Shapiro. It makes it look like Shapiro is making race based claims about the scientific revolution. The full video of his remarks shows he is not.

Let’s Call the Russian Collusion ‘Hoax’ What it Really Is

Let’s Call the Russian Collusion ‘Hoax’ What it Really Is
Excerpt: George Orwell made a kindred observation about the importance of having the courage to call things by their real names. Euphemism, the counterfeit of good manners, is the enemy of truth, which is the only ally worth having. I have been thinking about this constellation of ideas recently as the news has been full of talk about the “Russian collusion hoax.” Use of the term “hoax” got a big boost in the aftermath of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the question of whether there was actionable cooperation, coordination, or collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Two years, $34 million, and a wide swath of debilitating rumor, innuendo, and unrelated indictments and prosecutions later and we know that the answer to that question is “No, there was no cooperation, coordination, or collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Report: Obama’s Spying On The Press Was Far More Extensive Than Previously Thought

Report: Obama’s Spying On The Press Was Far More Extensive Than Previously Thought
Excerpt: “In 2013, the Justice Department launched a brazen attack on press freedom,” the CJR notes, “issuing sweeping subpoenas for the phone records of The Associated Press and several of its reporters and editors as part of a leak investigation. At the time, the subpoenas were widely seen as a massive intrusion into newsgathering operations. Last month, we learned that they told only part of the story.” The spying came in the wake of the AP’s reporting on a thwarted Yemen-based bomb plot, which contained classified information about the CIA operation. Months later, the AP learned that the DOJ had vacuumed up two-months of phone records on 21 different lines trying to find the leaker.  (...) Upon learning this, the AP blasted the Obama Justice Department. AP’s President and CEO Gary Pruitt said the records collected could “reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know.” Turns out, Pruitt should have been even more outraged. The new report, obtained by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, finds that the DOJ actually collected records on 30 phones. (Some of this was known during Obama's Presidency, but the additional 9 phone lines were only revealed within the past few months. There was surprisingly little outcry from the media at the time, and the leaking person was never identified, if he/she was even found. Ron P.)

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Saudi Arabia 'to execute three moderate scholars after Ramadan'

Saudi Arabia 'to execute three moderate scholars after Ramadan'
Excerpt: Three moderate scholars will reportedly be executed in Saudi Arabia after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The three men – Sheikh Salman al-Ouda, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari - are being held on multiple charges of terrorism. They will be convicted and executed after the end of Ramadan next month, the Middle East Eye reports, citing two government sources and one of the men’s relatives.(Terrorism is the word used by jihad-sponsoring countries to cover up their misdeeds against anyone who opposes them. Amnesty International identified the men as “peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly”. They were not terrorists but opposing the Saudi regime’s oppressive sharia abuses. The Saudis executed 37 of its citizens for so-called “terrorism offences” last month. --RS)

Saturday, May 25, 2019

No, Israel isn’t a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans. By HEN MAZZIG https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html Excerpt: Along with resurgent identity politics in the United States and Europe, there is a growing inclination to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of race. According to this narrative, Israel was established as a refuge for oppressed white European Jews who in turn became oppressors of people of color, the Palestinians. As an Israeli, and the son of an Iraqi Jewish mother and North African Jewish father, it’s gut-wrenching to witness this shift. I am Mizrahi, as are the majority of Jews in Israel today. We are of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Only about 30% of Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi, or the descendants of European Jews. I am baffled as to why mainstream media and politicians around the world ignore or misrepresent these facts and the Mizrahi story. Perhaps it’s because our history shatters a stereotype about the identity of my country and my people. ... I believe their misrepresentations are part of a strategic campaign to taint Israel as an extension of privileged and powerful white Europe, thereby justifying any and all attacks on it. This way of thinking signals a dangerous trend that positions Israel as a colonialist aggressor rather than a haven for those fleeing oppression. Worse, it all but erases the story of my family, which came to Israel from Iraq and Tunisia. For most of history, the Mizrahim have been without sovereignty and equality in the Muslim world. In Iraq, despite being “equal citizens” on paper, my family experienced ongoing persecution. The first organized attack came in 1941, the brutal Farhud, a Nazi-incited riot that claimed the lives of hundreds of Jews and forced the survivors to live in fear. My great-grandfather was falsely accused of being a Zionist spy and executed in Baghdad in 1951. My mother’s family was permitted to emigrate that same year, but with only one suitcase. ... Jews that were expelled from nations across the Middle East, who sacrificed all they had, have been crucial in building and defending the Jewish state since its outset.

No, Israel isn’t a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans. By HEN MAZZIG
Excerpt: Along with resurgent identity politics in the United States and Europe, there is a growing inclination to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of race. According to this narrative, Israel was established as a refuge for oppressed white European Jews who in turn became oppressors of people of color, the Palestinians. As an Israeli, and the son of an Iraqi Jewish mother and North African Jewish father, it’s gut-wrenching to witness this shift. I am Mizrahi, as are the majority of Jews in Israel today. We are of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Only about 30% of Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi, or the descendants of European Jews. I am baffled as to why mainstream media and politicians around the world ignore or misrepresent these facts and the Mizrahi story. Perhaps it’s because our history shatters a stereotype about the identity of my country and my people. ... I believe their misrepresentations are part of a strategic campaign to taint Israel as an extension of privileged and powerful white Europe, thereby justifying any and all attacks on it. This way of thinking signals a dangerous trend that positions Israel as a colonialist aggressor rather than a haven for those fleeing oppression. Worse, it all but erases the story of my family, which came to Israel from Iraq and Tunisia. For most of history, the Mizrahim have been without sovereignty and equality in the Muslim world. In Iraq, despite being “equal citizens” on paper, my family experienced ongoing persecution. The first organized attack came in 1941, the brutal Farhud, a Nazi-incited riot that claimed the lives of hundreds of Jews and forced the survivors to live in fear. My great-grandfather was falsely accused of being a Zionist spy and executed in Baghdad in 1951. My mother’s family was permitted to emigrate that same year, but with only one suitcase. ... Jews that were expelled from nations across the Middle East, who sacrificed all they had, have been crucial in building and defending the Jewish state since its outset.

LA

There’s a trash and rodent nightmare in downtown L.A., and plenty of blame to go around
Excerpt: Elena Stern, spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works, said the backlog on service calls for trash pickup around homeless encampments sits at just under 8,400 currently. On average, the city gets six calls per site.... “Skid row is the worst it’s been from a sanitation perspective and a safety perspective and a humanitarian perspective,” Lopez said. “It’s easy for me in the cheap seats to say what should or shouldn’t be done, but as a native Angeleno I feel that our city looks and feels mismanaged. When you take the oath to become mayor or a City Council member, your job is to run this city. It’s to manage this city.” When I was at the Ceres Avenue trash pile, I noticed a lot of packing materials, food crates and bins that appeared to be from local businesses. Word on the street, from merchants and homeless people, was that some of the more unscrupulous merchants routinely dump their own trash on the streets or pay homeless people a few bucks to get rid of it for them. The dumping got worse, one merchant claimed, when the city switched to a new recycling system that gave monopolies to companies in each sector of the city.

In Baltimore and Beyond, a Stolen N.S.A. Tool Wreaks Havoc

In Baltimore and Beyond, a Stolen N.S.A. Tool Wreaks Havoc
Excerpt: For nearly three weeks, Baltimore has struggled with a cyberattack by digital extortionists that has frozen thousands of computers, shut down email and disrupted real estate sales, water bills, health alerts and many other services. But here is what frustrated city employees and residents do not know: A key component of the malware that cybercriminals used in the attack was developed at taxpayer expense a short drive down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at the National Security Agency, according to security experts briefed on the case. Since 2017, when the N.S.A. lost control of the tool, EternalBlue, it has been picked up by state hackers in North Korea, Russia and, more recently, China, to cut a path of destruction around the world, leaving billions of dollars in damage. But over the past year, the cyberweapon has boomeranged back and is now showing up in the N.S.A.’s own backyard....

HUNDREDS OF JEWS GATHER IN TIMES SQUARE TO PROTEST ILHAN OMAR

HUNDREDS OF JEWS GATHER IN TIMES SQUARE TO PROTEST ILHAN OMAR

Are Homeschoolers Overqualified?

Are Homeschoolers Overqualified?
EXCERPT: But what I find even more fascinating about this story is the young man’s accomplishments. He is only 18, but obviously well-educated with a full portfolio of important life-skills. That’s not the type of student we see graduating from today’s high schools. Many of those students can’t evenperform basic skillssuch as money management or conversing with strangers....Unless today’s institutional schools step up their game in regards to teaching children basic academic and practical skills, is it likely that the ranks of homeschoolers will continue to grow as parents look to form their children into well-rounded and well-adjusted adults? (At the VA, I interviewed a veteran with six grandchildren who were all home schooled. They all started college at age 13 except the youngest, who started at age 11. ~Bob)

Friday, May 24, 2019

Ex-Calif. State Sen. Leland Yee, gun control champion, heading to prison for weapons trafficking

Ex-Calif. State Sen. Leland Yee, gun control champion, heading to prison for weapons trafficking
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/25/ex-calif-state-sen-leeland-yee-gun-control-champion-heading-to-prison-for-weapons-trafficking/?fbclid=IwAR1faWYZP9Uxb4O6ayk9z3en5jEm3RkTYRBtlRDzzYXVGNv_lDD_VV8icV8&noredirect=on&utm_term=.a3f1429b1569

Federal rats are fleeing the sinking collusion ship. By Victor Davis Hanson

Federal rats are fleeing the sinking collusion ship. By Victor Davis Hanson
Another review of the way things went and the way they're going to go now. I love it. --Del

Why I stand

Why I stand
Outstanding video for all to see. - Del

Dogs Not Welcome: Growing Calls by Muslims To Accommodate Their Hatred Of Dogs

Dogs Not Welcome: Growing Calls by Muslims To Accommodate Their Hatred Of Dogs
Deport the "immigrants"/invaders. Keep the dogs. --Barb

Evan Horowitz IQ rates are dropping in many developed countries and that doesn't bode well for humanity

Evan Horowitz IQ rates are dropping in many developed countries and that doesn't bode well for humanity

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Restoring the lost consensus by Roger Kimball

Restoring the lost consensus by Roger Kimball
EXCERPT: Conservatives have rightly lamented the assault on free speech that is such a conspicuous and disfiguring reality of life in America today. But that loss only achieves its true significance in the context of a more fundamental erosion: the erosion of that shared political consensus, that community of sentiment, which gives life to the first-person plural, that “We, the People,” which made us who we are. Should we lose that, we shall have lost everything.

BANK CEO CHARGED WITH TRYING TO BRIBE HIS WAY INTO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ROLE

BANK CEO CHARGED WITH TRYING TO BRIBE HIS WAY INTO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ROLE
They're unsealing the indictments. This one if from--hold for it--ILLINOIS! --Barb

No, Nancy. It's the Dems Who Are Engaged in a 'Cover-Up' by Roger L. Simon

No, Nancy. It's the Dems Who Are Engaged in a 'Cover-Up' by Roger L. Simon
Excerpt: The Democrats are like a beehive that has lost their queen -- only, in this case, the queen is not Nancy Pelosi, but Barack Obama. He alone was able to hold this fractious cuckoo's nest together. And one wonders if he could do it now. Nevertheless, Pelosi, anxious to do her part and stave off impeachment charges she knows are electoral poison for her party, did her best to damp things down by accusing Trump of a "cover-up" when she emerged from the Democratic caucus Wednesday morning.

Why Not Socialism? By John Conli

Why Not Socialism? By John Conli
Excerpt: Over the past few hundred years, the human race has pulled back the curtains of ignorance to reveal the most fundamental aspects of this reality. Our political and economic systems don’t, and in fact can’t, operate outside of reality -- nothing can. Perhaps 100 years ago one could intellectually believe in the possibility of socialism (and of course its good friend communism), but those days are long gone. ... A primary requirement of science is the ability to replicate the experiment and get the same results. The economic “experiment” has been carried out hundreds of times and real-world results across the globe and time show that freedom and limited government provide far superior results for all -- rich, poor and in-between.

Build a Wall! Build a Wall! No, We Meant a Different Wall in a Different Place!

Build a Wall! Build a Wall! No, We Meant a Different Wall in a Different Place!
Scroll down, third story. Excerpt: The argument about building a wall to keep out undesirable American citizens is not merely metaphorical. Some Silicon Valley residents don’t want new apartment buildings changing their suburban towns, and they get angry at the thought of affordable housing bringing poorer people to their neighborhoods. Two years ago, about 500 local residents showed up at a meeting to discuss small, temporary housing in San Jose. Many screamed and shouted at Loving and her colleagues. At one point, the crowd chanted “build a wall” to keep homeless people away. So, liberal friends, clearly we now agree on the concept of a wall, we just disagree on where it should be placed . . . except the argument from most folks on the Right is that the wall shouldn’t be designed to keep out American citizens.