Too Funny (In a Bleak, Scary Way): Lt. Col. Ralph Peters Compares Josh Earnest to Baghdad Bob

You may recall that Baghdad Bob was Saddam Husssein's mouthpiece, the spin-meister who, when the regime was going down the tubes in 2003, kept assuring Iraqis that everything was hunky-dory.

Of course, it wasn't, and BB's insistence that all was well despite every indication to the contrary made his doublespeak and bafflegab sound all the more hilarious to Western ears.

Fast forward to today, when Vladimir Putin continues to run rings around the gormless Obami (and it is clear that their guilelessness is no match for Putin's ruthlessness), and you have Josh Earnest insisting, Baghdad Bob-style, that Putin flexing his considerable muscle in Syria is a sign of--wait for it--the Russian's "weakness."

Furthermore, claims Earnest, the Russian strategy is bound to "backfire"--because that's how things played out for the U.S. in Iraq. Therefore, all the U.S. has to do is sit on its hands and wait for the inevitable to occur.

How is it possible for this administration, replete as it is with so many (alleged) brainiacs, to so completely misread the situation?

Easy. If you are accustomed to dwelling in the land of delusion, nothing short of, say, an Iranian A-bomb falling on the White House is likely to burst your bubble.

By coincidence, I happen to be reading (devouring, really) Niall Ferguson's new biography of Henry Kissinger. In the book's intro, Ferguson confesses that, despite having spent "a substantial proportion of the last twenty year trying to understand better the nature of power and the causes of war and peace," the ten years he spent researching Kissinger's life and times have led him to conclude that his previous approach to unpacking things

was unsubtle. In particular, I has missed the crucial importance in American foreign policy of the history deficit: the fact that key decision makers know almost nothing not just of other countries' pasts but also of their own. Worse, they often do not see what is wrong with their ignorance. Worst of all, they know just enough history to have confidence but not enough to have understanding. Like the officials who assured me in early 2003 that the future of a post-Saddam Iraq would closely resemble that of post-Communist Poland, too many highly accomplished Americans simply do not appreciate the value, but also the danger, of historical analogy.

Ignorance of history. Confidence but no understanding. Faulty analogizing.

He's describing the Obama White House (and its spokesmuppet Josh Earnest) to a T, don't you think?

Update: Reality check for baffled Obami--Russia is the new hegemon.

Ghoulish ISIS Harvests Blood, Kidneys, Corneas, Leaving "Donors" Dead

Where's the international uproar over this stuff?

Where's the Pope (who couldn't even bring himself to refer to ISIS by name in any of his recent U.S. speeches)?

Update: Re the Pope and his priorities, Mark Steyn's not a fan:

     

One Of Khamenei's Generals Blames You-Know-Who For This Year's Hajj Stampede Deaths

I'll give you a hint: it ain't the Wahhabis.

P.J. O'Rourke Slams Ann Coulter's "F---ing Jews" Tweet

O'Rourke isn't prepared to give Coulter the benefit of the doubt on this one (even though she claims it was all a joke and that she's a big time supporter of Israel). Re her Baker-esque comment, O'Rourke writes:

Not anywhere near as many as there would and should be if FDR hadn’t been as much of a jerk about immigration as you are, Ann, you etiolated bean sprout butt trumpet. 

As to why Israel is important, to paraphrase John F. Kennedy, “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ikh bin a Ishral.’ ” 

And I mean it, even if, pope-kissing Mick that I am, my Yiddish is maybe sketchy. 

Partly this is personal, Ann, you jangle-tongue, you all-clapper- and-no-carillon, you crack in the Liberty Bell. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, “It’s not me, it’s you.” 

But, first, my contempt is moral. Antisemitism is evil. Per se, as you lawyers like to put it. For the sake of argument, let us “stipulate” that you are not per se an antisemite.  

Instead of saying that’s true, let us stipulate it with all the snarky lawyer freight that “stipulating” carries. 

Being so stipulated, you are damn rude. One does not say, “f—ing Jews.” One does not say “f—ing blacks” or “f—ing Latinos” or even “f—ing relentlessly self-promoting Presbyterian white women from New Canaan.” 

Manners are the small change of morality. You, Ann, are nickel and diming yourself.  

And may all the coins in Scrooge McDuck’s money bin land on you and squash you flat. (Scrooge, by the way, is not a Jew, he’s a duck.)

Or, as Ann might say, he's an effing duck. ;)

Today's Question: Why Are Syrian Refugees Treated Differently Than Palestinians?

Many decades after the initial conflict that displaced them, Palestinians remain hunkered down in UN-sponsored refugee camps in the same general area as the '48 war.

That begs the questions: Where are the UN-sponsored Syrian camps? Where's the UNRWA for Syrian refugees?

Rhetorical queries, I know. Obviously, the only reason that Palestinians have been forced to remain in situ while Syrians flood into the West is because the OIC and the UN persist in the hope that Palestinian "refugees" will eventually flood into--and topple--the Jewish state.

Update: According to Wikipedia,

Syria has 13 [Palestinian] refugee camps and 499,189 registered refugees. Three of these camps are unofficial (*).

What has happened to these camps/refugees? Does it make any sense for there to be half a million Palestinian "refugees" in Syria while Syrians themselves are seeking refuge elsewhere?

Preening Moral Narcissists Want Lots More Syrians In Canada, Please

The following half-page ad appears in today's Toronto Star (hat tip: BCF):



The self-adorers of The Mosaic Institute got the headline wrong. It should read: WE CAN ENSURE THAT JIHAD WINS. Alternatively, WE CAN ENSURE THAT THE CIVILIZED WORLD LOSES would work, too.

Update: The push to bring Syrians to Canada is a slap in the face to Judy Feld Carr and the thousands of Syrian Jews she singlehandedly rescued. To recap what motivated the rescue:

Judy Feld Carr and her late husband, Dr. Ronald Feld, developed a mutual interest in the plight of Syrian Jewry in the 1970's. An article in the Jerusalem Post about twelve young Jews whose bodies were mutilated when they stepped on a minefield while trying to escape from Qamishli, Syria, captured the sympathy of the couple, and they brainstormed for ways they could help Syrian Jews. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Syria vented its rage by burning synagogues and forbidding Jews from leaving the country. Restrictions reminiscent of the Nuremberg Laws which ushered in the Holocaust were passed in Syria; Jews were not allowed to travel more then three kilometers without a permit and were forced into ghettos. Business and educational opportunities for Jews were strictly limited, and those who tried to escape were often tortured or killed.

And now the preening moral narcissists, including some Jewish ones, want to import these Syrian antipathies into Canada?

That's insane, suicidal and just plain stupid.

Update: A poem for a Mosaic man:

Bernie's plea for "humanity"
Is a clear-cut case of insanity.
What's bound to deflate us
Is importing people who hate us.
God save us from such preening vanity!

Hajj Fudge

Despite this year's Hajj death toll, a true believer finds a silver lining (scroll down; it's the final letter of the day):

Hajj a moment of unity

Re: Muslim Nations Tally Hajj Casualties, Sept. 26.The hajj pilgrimage is performed during the Muslim month of Dhul Hijjah, two months after the festival of Eid-Al-Fitr. It is a unique event that holds paramount historical significance in Islam with the Ka’ba, which was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham 4,000 years ago to pray in. 

Now, it stands in the middle of a large courtyard of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, with thousands of Muslims gathered around it in a unified manner, regardless of colour, creed, nationality or any other factors. When Muslims are killing Muslims, and Muslims can’t agree on fundamental Islamic teachings, this kind of unity is needed most. I hope this year’s pilgrimage instills that sense of unity in Islam that is so badly needed.
Saba Sadiq, Calgary.

And, hey, what are the lives of a few hundred pilgrims trampled to death while fulfilling one of the fundamental obligations of their faith so long as those who manage to survive and those who didn't go can feel good for a time about Islamic "unity" (an even bigger chimera than that much-vaunted "two-state solution)?

You know how in the U.S. the cry is "Black Lives Matter"? In Saudi Arabia, site of the Ka'ba, the cry is "Muslim lives don't matter (because if you're killed during Hajj, it's Allah's will and has nothing to do with our feckless mechanisms for crowd control)."

 How is that supposed to instill a "sense of unity in Islam"?

Mark Steyn's "Free Speech" Speech in Copenhagen

It's not to be missed! The money line: "I take the same view to the civilized world that Islam takes to the Dar al Islam: Once we hold this, we hold this forever, and we will not surrender it."

Where Does The Green Party Stand On Israel?

Exactly where you'd expect it to stand--or rather, squat; or, rather, sit. Here's Green leader Elizabeth May outlining her party's stance to the Canadian Jewish News:

Where does the Green party stand on Israel? 

We stand very firmly in support of the right of the State of Israel to exist and defend itself. We do think that there is a question of proportionality, so we have been critical from time to time of the decisions that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has made, but we are very mindful of campaigns that can verge into anti-Semitism.  

We are very concerned about Palestinian rights and Palestinian justice, but we are also very concerned about any rise in anti-Semitism either in the region or in Canada.

I think that’s the responsible position to take, and I think we are where most Canadians are.

In the annals of wishy-washy, mealy-mouthed political pronouncements, May's mewlings rank right up there. And, reading between the lines (which doesn't exactly require exceptional cryptography skills), you know she'd throw Israel under the bus first chance she gets.

The Future Belongs to the "Sock Puppets"

In a CBC TV interview about efforts to get Muslims out to the polls on election day, a familiar name, one I couldn't immediately place, jumped out at me:

Getting Canadian Muslims to vote

Muneeza Sheikh is communications director for the Canadian-Muslim Vote, a non-partisan group that encourages Canadian Muslims to vote

I know I've heard that name before...

Could it be...? Wasn't she...?

Why, yes she was...one of the three then-law students (a.k.a "the sock puppets") who puts their names to a "human rights" complaints filed by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean's magazine. (Maclean's alleged crime against sharia and Canada's "human rights" codes: it was too snippy and free speechy about Islam and radical Muslims for the taste of the CIC and its then-president, Mohamed "All Jewish Israelis are Fair Game for Terrorists" Elmasry.) The names of the other two "sock": Naseem Mithoowani and Khurrum Awan.

Of course, you wouldn't expect the CBC to mention Ms. Sheikh's past puppet antics--and in the TV interview it definitely lived up to expectations.

Mark Steyn, who debated the fresh-faced activists on TV back then, said something that has turned out to be prophetic:

“At one point,” remarked Steyn after that televised “debate,” “I looked across at the Sock Puppet Three and thought: It’s not about who wins the argument. They’re the future of this country, and that’s that.”

"That's that"?: that's for sure. The three young debaters have certainly come into their own since their socks days:

• Along with being the public face of The Canadian-Muslim Vote, Muneeza Sheikh is a partner at a downtown Toronto law firm that represents union interests, and has had a documentary film made about her life.
• Naseem Mithoowani has had her name in the news for representing--and winning a case for--a Muslim woman who demanded her "right" to keep her face covered while reciting Canada's Oath of Citizenship.
• Khurrum Awan, now a lawyer in Regina, sued Ezra Levant for defamation and was awarded $80,000 by the court.

Yup, the ex-socks are on their way and making a name for themselves in Pierre's Trudeaupia. The questions that remain to be answered: will enough Muslims heed Ms. Sheikh's call to throw flex their voting muscle on October 19, and will Canada officially become Justin's Trudeaupia?

Because if the future belongs to the socks, it makes sense that it must belong to "mosqueteer" Justin--or someone Justin-like--too.

Betcha Didn't Know There's an "Islamic Party of Canada"

I know it wasn't on my GPS until just now, when my son sent me the link to the party's website.
 
What's the point of the outfit? Would you surprised to learn that it's nothing less that a complete overhaul of Canada and its economy based on the sharia way of doing things?

 The purpose of the Islamic Party of Canada is to encourage an political, economic, social, and educational reform, and an exponential increase in knowledge. The last time such a thing has been observed was the Islamic world's renaissance (900-1200 years ago) that produced the best scholars of the time, Muslim and non-Muslim, in all disciplines. Politically, we use this knowledge approach (see "Philosophy") and apply it to contemporary issues such as education, economics, health, and social wellbeing Several examples of which have been published or are in the process publication [1].  

We hope to dismantle the ruling corporate elite in Canada, restructure the economy, encourage peace and tolerance, protect the poor and oppressed domestically and abroad, and become an example for the rest of the world.

Don't worry, though. The site assures us that this is not another "faith-based" party:

The denomination of Islam as a ‘religion’ is a misnomer at best. Averroes, the man that introduced Islamic cognition to Europe is known as the “Father of secular philosophy in Europe”. What the IPC-PIC does is follow the model perfected by prophet Muhammad whose revolution over 1400 years ago marked the most significant change in human history...

My question: if Muhammad perfected the model long ago, why can't any Muslim nation seem to follow it?

Or could it be that they are following the paradigm, and that that, in fact, is the problem?
 
No matter. Not when the party has such lofty goals:

Goals include restructuring of the inherently oppressive capitalist economy and provide a true free market, focusing on internal security including domestic non-violent threats to the nation, and dismantling of the ruling elite in Canada.

Wow. Sounds a lot like the goals of that other "green" endeavor, the "leap" being led by that scourge of capitalism, Ms. Naomi Klein.

Hillary's Latest Claim Notwithstanding, She's As "Transparent" as Mud

The following parody of a Chicago number was inspired by this headline about Hillary Clinton's alleged transparency:

If someone's server was wiped clean
And claims were made that it's routine
And her supporters were still keen
You'd notice it.

If someone, a la "let 'em eat cake,"
Said (re Benghazi), "What diff does it make?"
And she seemed callous and awf'ly fake
You'd notice it.

And even if Bill's shifty foundation
Accepts shekels from ev'ry dubious nation,
Unless, of course, they indict the cur
(We're stuck with) untrustworthy, un-transparent her.

Opacity,
Ms. Opacity,
Her name's Hillary,
Ms. Opacity.
'Cuz she can lie right to you,
Tell fibs to you,
And never even care.

I say Opacity,
Ms. Opacity,
Her duplicity
Is so plain to see.
'Cuz she can lie right to you,
Tell fibs to you,
And think it's fair and square...

Hitler's Clock Boy Rant

Enjoy!

 

Another Ceeb Hit Piece on Harper Gov't: Syrian Immigrants Feel Sad Because Mean, Islamophobic Feds Don't Like 'Em

Get out your 3-ply tissues because this one's a real tear-jerker:

In the camps for Syrian refugees, Canada is an ideal destination for those who have escaped the horrors of war.

"I think Canada is a great country," said Amar Aldoura, who fled Damascus nearly two months ago with his wife and baby boy. They stayed for a few weeks in a refugee camp along the Syrian-Turkish border before heading to Istanbul.

Aldoura is pondering his next move. Europe is a more likely destination for the English teacher and his family. But he says he's heard Canada and its government have changed their attitude somewhat.

"I think Canada now is less welcoming to people like me," he told CBC News..

Actually, Amar, you're dead wrong on that score. Despite "progressive" types decrying this government for being a hotbed of "Islamophobia," the Harper Tories remain committed to letting in as many Muslims as possible:

Top 10 Source Countries of Canadian Permanent Residents - 2013
(People who have been granted permanent residency through immigration but are not Canadian citizens)

• 10. Korea (4,509)
• 9. Iraq (4,918
• 8. France (5,624)
• 7. United Kingdom (5,826)
• 6. United States (8,495)
• 5. Iran (11,291)
• 4. Pakistan (12,602)
• 3. Philippines (29,539)
• 2. India (33,085)
• 1. China (34,126)

Top Three Reasons for Immigrating to Canada

• 3. Refugees (27,915)
• 2. Family (66,794)
• 1. Economics (155,707)  

But, hey, why allow reality to get in the way of your faulty perceptions (which, come to think of it, could be the CBC's slogan)?

The Other Exodus (The One INTO Syria From the West)

While thousands are teeming out of Syria, thousands are also flooding in. And no one in the Obama regime seems to have a clue about the numbers--or what to do about 'em:

WASHINGTON — Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters. 

Among those who have entered or tried to enter the conflict in Iraq or Syria are more than 250 Americans, up from about 100 a year ago, according to intelligence and law enforcement officials. 

President Obama will take stock of the international campaign to counter the Islamic State at the United Nations on Tuesday, a public accounting that comes as American intelligence analysts have been preparing a confidential assessment that concludes that nearly 30,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria from more than 100 countries since 2011. A year ago, the same officials estimated that flow to be about 15,000 combatants from 80 countries, mostly to join the Islamic State.

"President Obama will take stock" of the situation: hardly a phrase to inspire confidence that now, finally, something substantive will be done. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Oy Vey and God Help Us: CIJA Wants In On "Solving" the Syrian "Refugee" Crisis

CIJA, Canada's Official Jews du jour, wants in on that "let's save Syrian refugees" action. On its website one learns, for example, that CIJA is all for a number of efforts aimed at bringing these folks to our shores, no questions asked and for the sake of, what else?, "tikkun olam." (There's no mention, of course, that some of these refugees are likely to be ISIS/Al Qaeda plants, or that Syrians in general harbour ill-feelings, if not downright hatred, towards Israel: that would be such a buzz kill on the galloping feel-goodism, don't your think?)
 
As well, CIJA wants us to know that, in an effort to help resolve the crisis, it has linked arms with a famous Hashemite:

Partnership with Jordan

This week, a CIJA delegation led by National Chair, David J. Cape, held high-level meetings with the King of Jordan and His Majesty’s senior advisors. CIJA proposed a partnership between the Canadian Jewish community along with other stakeholders in the private sector and Jordan directed at addressing and alleviating the acute humanitarian conditions for the growing refugee population currently situated in Jordan.

King Abdullah welcomed the initiative and over the coming weeks, CIJA will be working directly with His Majesty’s staff to develop the proposal and share with other potential partners here in Canada.

First off, CIJA has no business meeting with Abdullah--or, for that matter, making plans with him. Second,  Abdullah is no doubt laughing at these foolish Jews, who have allowed reveries of "tikkun olam" and memories of "None is too many" to override their common sense.

The Very Old News of Jews Versus Jews

The phenomenon of Jews who despise other Jews on ideological grounds is nothing new in our long history, and it transcends borders, including the 49th parallel. In a review of a new book examining the actions and thinking of Jew-hating Jews, Gabriel Schoenfield writes this (I've added the links):

In the 20th century and especially in our own, the self-repudiation of earlier Jewish apostates has taken a novel turn. Even while retaining its trademark spite against the Jews, with the state of Israel most frequently serving as a convenient stand-in, it often does so while waving the banner of Judaism or Jewish “values” themselves. Alexander quotes Cynthia Ozick’s pithy summary of the phenomenon: whereas “the Nicholas Donins and Pablo Christianis of ages past ran to abandon their Jewish ties even as they subverted them, . . . the Nicholas Donins and Pablo Christianis of our own time run to embrace their Jewish ties even as they besmirch them.”

I would venture that, for many leftist Jews, Israel is more than "a convenient stand-in" for Jewry and Judaism, which they deplore. Rather, it epitomizes everything they deplore--"colonialism," "imperialism," Likkudism, and what's more, it isn't nearly "tikkum olam"-y enough for their taste. And because Israel is Jewish and they, too, are Jewish, they feel the need to broadcast their scorn for Israel as loudly as they can so that other leftists won't mistake them for (shudder!) Zionists, and cast them out of the club.

An Aussie In "Weird" Austin

Tim Blair meets up with David Burge (a.k.a. iowahawk) in Austin, Texas; hilarity ensures, of course:

Well, here’s one reason to head for Austin. I’m staying at the sprawling compound of mysterious internet identity David Burge, among America’s most perceptive and hilarious online commentators. A routine is quickly established. By night, the Burges take me around Austin’s finest and lowest establishments (often they’re the same). By day Dave runs whatever business he’s involved in – stolen human organs, for all I know – while Mrs Burge and I check out the sights. I buy a pair of shoes at a store that also sells pistols, rifles and semi-autos, drop by Torchy’s for a Trailer Park Taco (experienced hands know to order them ‘extra trashy’) and then we wheel the Burge family’s train-sized Ford F150 through a car wash. Remarkably, the car wash is beneath a scale replica of the University of Texas tower – a structure notorious for gunman Charles Whitman’s 1966 killing spree, which reduced the university’s need for graduation diplomas by 14. ‘You should have seen it before,’ an employee tells me. ‘The university made us change the top so it didn’t look the same.’ The university is notable, of course, for reasons other than Whitman’s mass slaying. For a start, it’s the only place in Austin where people seem glum. UT attendees are just as beat-down and dismal as any sad second-year sociology students at the University of Sydney. In 1966, UT students rushed to their dormitories, grabbed their rifles and pinned Whitman down while police stormed the tower. The current mob look like they’d read Sylvia Plath’s poetry at him. A statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy during the Civil War, has stood at the university since 1933. The day after I photographed it the statue was removed due to complaints about racism. Students cheered. Finally, something made them happy. The bronze statue is now destined for a museum, where it will presumably appear alongside other university relics such as jokes, freedom of speech and students who aren’t total whiny bitches.

When we were in Austin about a year and half ago, my son bought this T-shirt:



"Weird" it certainly was. How so? We ate supper at a downtown pizza joint that's popular with UT kids. The front of the establishment did take out, but you could have a sit down meal at the back, which consisted of an open-air courtyard with a bar and tables and chairs. In the middle of the courtyard there was a spiral staircase, and all through dinner we watched as young'uns dressed in wacky get ups (some looked like Super Heroes; others like space aliens from that famous scene in Star Wars; still others seemed to have just arrived from a Renaissance fair) descended from apartments on the upper levels.

The three of us (my husband, son, me) agreed that Austin did appear to have more than its share of strange ones, even for a college town.

A bit later we learned what was up with all the weirdness: an Anime convention was in town.

Update: A line in the Wikipedia entry about Anime epitomizes the kind of lefty thinking that infuses university campuses (including UT in Austin) these days--and made me laugh:

Some scholars suggest defining anime as specifically or quintessentially Japanese may be related to a new form of orientalism.^[7]

Some scholars have feces for brains.

My Fair Bernie?

From his bully pulpit in the Canadian Jewish News, an ex-Official Jew surveys the current political scene in Canada, where Jews no longer march in lockstep with the "progressive" agenda, and asks like a kind of leftist Henry Higgins, why can't Canadian Jews be more like Americans?:

Recently a Montreal Gazette opinion piece written by an admitted Jewish Liberal lamented the fact he was being treated as a “one-issue” voter.  

Many Jews, I believe, silently share his concerns. Yet our Jewish neighbours to the south seem to struggle less with the use of Israel as a divisive community wedge. In fact, the vast majority of American Jews remain Democrats, despite attempts by the American Jewish right to paint President Barack Obama as anti-Israel. Why?

Here's the letter I wrote in response to that "Why?":

Bernie Farber says that American Jews "seem to struggle less with the use of Israel as a divisive community wedge." There's an excellent reason for that. Most American Jews are so far removed from both Israel and the practice of Judaism that they play little if any role in their lives. As such, American Jews are free to pledge allegiance to their real religion: "progressivism" and the holy Democratic Party.

 

I think that's a big problem, both short term and long term. In the short term, it means American Jews cannot be counted upon to see who their true friends are--and, truth be told, Barack Obama and John Kerry are not their friends. In the longer term, it has profound implications for the future of Judaism. 

That being so, Canadian Jews have little to learn from American ones, and should make no apologies for their clear-sightedness and their willingness to evolve politically, even if it displeases some Jews who cannot fathom the change. American Jews, however, distanced from their Jewishness, stuck in a "progressive" rut, unable to discern friends from enemies, have much to learn from us.

Do Iranian Clerics Dream of Eliminating Israel?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Whaddya Know? Some "Poseurs" Are Hosers

Germany, as we know, is the Syrian refugees' preferred destination. What type of impact will this tsunami of Muslims, most of them young and male, have on that country? As Mark Steyn points out, if you don't want to be declared "racist"/"prejudiced"/"bigoted"/"Islamophobic," it's probably best not to ask:

Best to talk about the dangers of "climate change", as the Pope is doing this week, even as in the heart of Christendom the post-Christian future is showing up at the express check-in. For us 19th century imperialists a hundred years past our sell-by date, the migrant army indicts almost every contemporary western worldview: from Iraq and Afghanistan come the product of a decade of ineffectual desultory "nation-building"; from Libya of frivolous pointless interventionism, and from Syria of non-interventionism; and from everywhere else from across the map of the ruthless demographic logic of what happens when an impoverished dysfunctional tide of humanity next door to a depopulating not-so-gated community of soft decadent poseurs has sufficient access to "social media" to figure out whose system is easiest to game. The west's cultural imperialism - the smart phones, the TV shows - do not spread western "values" but only western weakness: Look at how we live! And how close and undefended we are! 

I love the phrase "soft decadent poseurs," and find it most apropos. However, many of the poseurs--and I'm thinking here of a gaggle of Canadian infidels who signed this statement--aren't soft and decadent as much as they are clueless and naïve, and, in some instances, even downright moronic. And that's a function of their particular brand of religion and politics (which lean heavily on "social justice" rationales/platitudes).

Ahmed the Clock Kid's Impeccable Timing

Coasting on his 15 minutes of fame (which may last longer since "Islamophobia" is involved), clock deconstructor Ahmed Mohamed and his mishpacha were in New York City yesterday, where they were reportedly going to schmooze with "foreign dignitaries" at the UN.

So what's next for the Mohameds? Well, before taking President Obama up on his invitation to come see him at the White House, the Mohameds, pere et fils, were going to try to fit in a brief vaca:

...if they can get a visa, [papa] Mohamed wants to take Ahmed on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He hopes the family can better plan the future from holy ground.

“I ask Allah to bless this time,” Mohamed said. “After that, we’ll see.” 

Allah may not be able to do any blessing right now because, pilgrimage-wise, he's got his hands full.

As for the fresh-faced clock kid: by avoiding the Mecca stampede, for the second time in a row his timing has turned out to be impeccable.

Update: Barbara Kay (impishly; tongue lodged firmly in cheek) hypothesizes a "surreal" reason behind Ahmed's clock antics:

Ahmed may be quite benignly channelling the postmodern playfulness and irony of the artist René Magritte’s “this is not an apple” painting of an apple.

Oh, you mean like "Ceci n'est pas une bombe"? Yes, that is quite playful.

Scribbler for The New Republic Says Ben Carson Is Wrong to Believe That Islam Is "Not Consistent" With the U.S. Constitution

Actually, the scribbler prefers not to delve into the matter of whether or not Islam and the Constitution are consistent because, according to him,

Islam is neither consistent nor inconsistent with the Constitution; Islam is irrelevant to any discussion of the Constitution or rules of our governance. The same is true of Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, and every Protestant sect—even atheism, as the document does not once mention God.

Reality check: not only is Islam not irrelevant to any discussion of the Constitution, Islamic law, the sharia, is antithetical to the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, sharia is in competition with--and, in many part of the globe, at war with--the precepts that are set out in this American foundational document. So even if God isn't mentioned specifically, knowing that our freedom and human rights come from Him, not from the government, He is still understood to be there. However, when a Muslim shouts "Allahu Akbar!"--God is great--that individual is acknowledging something else, something entirely different. In that situation, what's being endorsed isn't the idea, as expressed in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, that America is "one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all." It's the certainty that there is no real freedom unless one submits and pays obeisance to Allah and his law. (In other words, in the idea of "one planet, under Allah, with liberty and justice as sharia unpacks those concepts.")

Mr. Rose Regrets He's Unable to Speak Today

Mark Steyn takes note of a last-minute cancellation:

This weekend I shall be speaking in the Danish Parliament on the tenth anniversary of their publication. (See here for ticket details.) For the last few weeks Douglas Murray and I have been doing a mordant back-and-forth on how the only reason we're top of the bill is because everyone else is dead, or in hiding under 24-hour police protection. So there's no one but us to invite. Oh, wait - I see that just a couple of days ago there was a last minute change in the program:

Due to the general situation of the newspapers, Jyllands-Posten and Politiken on occasion of the ten year anniversary of the Muhammad cartoons Flemming Rose has had to cancel (among other events) his participation in this conference.

Mr Rose is the editor who commissioned those cartoons. Which would not happen today - speaking of "the general situation of the newspapers".

I can't say I'm too surprised about Rose's 11th hour decision to skip the event.  Not when, as Toronto Sun columnist Alan Shanoff pointed out re Rose's book documenting the Motoons kerfuffle and his part in it,

Ironically, it doesn't contain any cartoons or illustrations that set off the wave of protests and violence...

It's extra-ironic, of course, because of what the book is called: The Tyranny of Silence.

Sanctimonius Social Media Mob Gets a Skeptical Richard Dawkins to Back Down After Questioning Ahmed Mohamed's Holy, Heroic Clock Project

Dawkins' experience shows how easy it is for the mob to exact vengeance and demand contrition when someone dares to question received "wisdom." (If Dick had had any backbone, he'd have told 'em all to take a hike.)

"I Believe Karl Marx Could Have Subscribed to the Sermon on the Mount"

Cuba's eminence grise, Fidel Castro, presents the Pope with the book chock-full of Castro's zany views on Christ, Marx and the Cuban revolution (which, go figure, banned Catholicism and declared atheism--and, of course, Marxism--to be the new state religion).

Now, that's what even those ensconced in the Vatican might call "chutzpah"!

Another Bone-Headed Obama Scheme

He's asking the Pope--yes, the Pope!--to help get American hostages sprung from Iran.

Because, as everyone knows, the head of the Holy Roman Catholic Church has mucho influence with fanatical Shia theocrats who are awaiting the return of their messiah, the long-missing 12th imam, so he can kick-start the end times.

"Let's All 'Invent' a F-king Clock and Send It To Obama"

Works for me, but since we're not a resourceful 14-year Muslim (whose dad is a perennial presidential candidate in Somalia), we'd likely get arrested.

Facebook Is Creating an Empathy Button

Surely a "this is total bullsh*t" button would be more helpful, no?

Karl Marx's Revenge: The Frankfurt School Won Even Though Communism Lost

Here's my latest for The Megaphone:

Want to know why conservatives face more than an uphill struggle these days?

A lot of it has to do with the insidious and pervasive influence of the Frankfurt School, a group of German thinkers whose nutty Marxist ideas have thoroughly infested academia, politics and popular culture.

Victor Davis Hanson reviews a new book on the subject -- The Devil's Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Thinking and the Subversion of the West, by Michael Walsh.

Here's VDH, who calls the Frankfurt intellectuals “charlatans,” laying it all out for us:

Note that Republicans have taken back both houses of Congress, often win in the Supreme Court, have majorities in the state legislatures and governorships, and may win the presidency in 2016. And yet if one examines the schools and universities, Hollywood, the art world, what shows up on televisions and the news, whom the foundations are funding, what the clerks in government do — everything really from our monuments to poetry — it is hard not to confess that “we lost.” 

In a word, relativism seems to have won. There are few standards left. Everything is negotiable, from the now fossilized idea of a traitor like Bergdahl to a neo-Confederate sanctuary city. A play, a movie, a building, a novel — anything really — cannot be assessed by absolute criteria, given that such “standards” are always set by oppressors of some sort, usually the children of capitalism and bourgeoisie consumerism who wish to enshrine their “privilege.” Take a sentence, chop it up into lines, and presto — a poem. By what standards is Chopin any more a genius than a Snoop Dogg? I thought of Walsh’s book yesterday when watching the various newscast reactions to the migration crisis in Europe and the deer-in-the-headlines faces of the European Eloi: Who are we to say that our culture is better than theirs? What is a border anyway? What even is a migrant? Whose values construct someone into the “Other”? Why do hosts enjoy privilege and guests do not?

Frankfurt intellectuals have done a lot of damage: from multiculturalism to postmodern art, they have destroyed the individual experience and made us cardboard cut-outs by their constant Marxist-inspired dumbing down, ending in a dreary predictable sameness. The past has become melodrama adjudicated by 30-year-old PhDs rather than muscular tragedy. When Obama decides to rename a mountain or brags that Trayvon looks like the son he never had or urges Latinos to “punish our enemies” and quips “typical white person,” he is more or less offering a paint-by-numbers version of the postmodernists who despise both the rich capitalist West whose bounty created their own leisure and subsidizes their nihilism, and the rest of us who lack their awareness and thus are unthinking cogs in a huge monotonous wheel. For the postmodernist, Middle America lacks the romance of the poor of the inner city that is never visited and the high culture of the Upper West Side or Georgetown that is prized...

You know how Karl Marx claimed that history occurs twice, the first time as tragedy, the second time as comedy? I have to say that when you consider the tragic loss of life spawned by the Communist vision around the globe and, in our time, the unintentionally hilarious nonsense engendered by the Frankfurt School ("triggers," "microaggressions," "white privilege," the cult of victimhood and the rest of that crapola), you have to admit that old Karl kind of, sort of, got it right.

Ironically, though, it is these later lunacies, silly as they are, and not old school Communism (which went down to defeat decades ago, not long after a Republican implored a Communist to "tear down that wall!"), that are helping pave the decline and fall of the West.

In so doing, they are handing Karl Marx the posthumous victory that was snatched from his hands (symbolically, at least) when the Soviet Union fell.

Quelle Surprise (Not): UN Taps Saudi Ambassador for "Human Rights" Gig

In Saudi Arabia, wacky Wahhabism is the order of the day, and chicks are victims of a strictly-enforced gender apartheid (they can't, for example, drive a car; nor can they perambulate in public sans a heavy, black, head-to-toe body shroud or a close male relative to act as chaperone). But why should that be an impediment to the Saudi UN ambassador being appointed to a UN "human rights" position? After all, when it comes to the Middle East's sole democracy, the UN's "human rights" ethos is fully in line with the Wahhabis' (the reason you would never see an Israeli getting one of these cushy "human rights" gigs). So why should this appointment come as any surprise?

Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, for one, isn't the least bit surprised. Outraged: yes. Surprised: not really: 

The election of Faisal bin Hassan Trad to chair a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) follows a barrage of criticism aimed at the Saudi regime over its treatment of minorities and its apparent fondness for capital punishment. 

Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was appointed to the role in June - shortly after the kingdom posted an advert for eight new executioners. 

UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer described the move as a victory for cheap oil over human rights.  

Mr Neuer said: “Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi.” 

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who has been leading a campaign to free her husband, said the move gave Saudi Arabia “a green light to start flogging [him] again”.

Apparently the UN's HRC is copacetic with Wahhabi flogging (and its other draconian punishments, including amputations, beheadings and stoning). But don't get 'em started on the wickedness of the Jewish State because they could (and often do) go on for days and days about that.

"It Is Understood the Men Fled the Scene, Probably By Parachute"

Had I been writing the news report about the Eifel Tower being shut down due to three men who were seen to be carrying large backpacks, the way they fled--"by jumping off with parachutes or hand gliding before the guards arrived," a brazen new way for terrorists to escape such a scene--would have figured prominently in my lede.

This Is What Happens When You Set the Bar Really Low

UN Nuke Agency: Iran's Role in Nuclear Probe Meets Standards

Palestinians Seek to Expel Israel's Magen David Adom From The Red Cross For Using a Red Magen David

How dare those Jews use the Star of David instead of the non-specific symbol (a red diamond) that was foisted upon them as a condition of Red Cross membership?

Personally, I have always thought it disgusting and more than a little anti-Semitic that the International Red Cross has no problem with Muslims using a red crescent but does not permit Israel to use a red Magen David.

Never Trust an Administration That Can't Get Its Pirate Lingo Right

In honour of this year's Talk Like a Pirate Day (which was yesterday), the White House tweeted this:

Arrgh businesses have added 13.1 million jobs over the past five and a half years. #TalkLikeAPirateDay pic.twitter.com/V6GwVWjilN

According to the International Talk Like a Pirate Day website, the correct word isn't "Arrgh" (which, as Twitchy notes, is more Peanuts than pirate), it's "Arrr!"

"Zumera Ishaq Sounds Like the Kind of Immigrant This Country Desperately Needs. She Should Be Allowed to Wear Whatever She Wants"

Typical--and terminal--Ceeb cluelessness from one of the Mothercorp's lamest lefties.

The Canadian "Human Rights" System Is In Its Death Throes. When Can We Pull the Plug?

An article that appeared last month in The Lawyers Weekly  points out the federal "human rights" racket is sliding into obsolescence (as, no doubt, are its provincial and territorial equivalents):

When the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Canadian Human Rights Tribunal were established in 1977, the Canadian Human Rights Act offered the first real protections against discrimination federally, notably by government. Eight years before the enactment of s. 15 of the Charter, the possibility of scrutinizing workplaces, service-providers, government and federal law itself to enable Canadians to realize their full potential without being hamstrung by race, sex and such made for exciting times for human rights lawyers and rights-seekers alike.

But in more recent days, after budgetary cutbacks, legislative repeals and a jurisprudential transfer of its once exclusive jurisdiction, the commission and tribunal process suffers from endemic backlogs and delays, the by-product of which is an aggressive screening mechanism that dismisses or does not deal with a large percentage of complaints and results in shockingly few ["human rights"] tribunal decisions...

Not so shocking, really. Not when you consider that most "human rights" complaints are nuisance ones, the reason they don't make it through. One can understand, though, why a lawyer would want screening to be less stringent; more cases being green-lighted means more money in lawyers' pockets. However, isn't it time for Canadians to take a hard look at this rickety and largely irrelevant apparatus and ask whether it is worth it--both in terms of annual costs and value for money--to keep the moribund beast up and running?

You Said It, Brother

Apropos a South Park episode that didn't exactly venerate Cait, the trans-Jennered heroine of the "progressive" crowd, a Slate (yes, Slate!) TV critic writes:

Being part of an oppressed minority does not automatically make one ‘good,’ well-intentioned, or correct. And likewise, knowing the social justice script by heart does not necessarily mean you are making the world more just.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Syrian Refugees In Canada: Crunching the Numbers

Let's see: if Canada is going to fast track 10,000 displaced Syrians, and 2 of every 100 of them could be ISIS members, that means we'll only be letting in around 200 ISIS fighters.

Hockey Icon Wayne Gretzky Publicly Backs Stephen Harper: Well, Ain't That a Kick in the Head?

One "progressive" tweeter (who's quoted in this Ceeb report) attributes Gretzky's support for Harper and other conservatives to--what else?--a concussion.



Update: The tweeter's malady is examined here. Also here--my musical take on it.

What Rhymes With "Migrants"?

This limerick appears on the NatPo's Letters page (it first appeared here):

The notion of wide open doors
For Syrians fleeing from wars
Is one the Prime Minister
Perceives to be sinister
And openly rather deplores.

I openly rather prefer my effort:

The sight of their flight is upsetting
But how will we know what we're getting?
If some support ISIS
We're in for a crisis
Which means they need serious vetting.

Great Advice

Don't Bring A Clock To School Unless It Looks Like a Clock

This does not look like a clock:



The money quote:

If Mohamed was a Christian, a Buddhist or a follower of Zeus, the school would’ve reacted in the same manner to his mysterious briefcase. 

But if Mohamed was a Christan, a Buddhist or a follower of Zeus, he wouldn’t be receiving any attention right now and his case would’ve been buried in the back pages of the local paper.

The reason why this particular teen is now a national story is because it fits a narrative. The chattering class wants to believe that middle America is an inhospitable place toward Muslims and followers of the Islamic faith are routinely discriminated against in our country.

To paraphrase Facebook's Zuckerberg on the subject: the future belongs to those who use claims of "Islamophobia" to advance their cause, be it leftist or Islamist.

Update: Who is this young my clock-looks-more-like-a-bomb-maker? Mark Steyn fills in his back story. The lad is

the son of a belligerent Muslim activist and perennial Sudanese presidential candidate whose brother runs a trucking company amusingly called Twin Towers Transportation.

Wow. That is amusing.

In an Islamist kind of way.

Unexpected RO'mance Du Jour

Tatum O'Neal and Rosie O'Donnell?!?

Hillary Clinton "Appalled" That The Donald Didn't Challenge a Supporter's Assertion Re Obama's Muslimness

That's the difference between Hillary and me (one of 'em, anyway). She reserves her opprobrium for Trump's non-response in New Hampshire while I think the following incidents are exponentially more appalling:

• the claim that an "offensive" movie trailer about Islam's founder was responsible for riots resulting in the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi;
• "What difference, at this point, does it make?";
• Bill Clinton and his sketchy Foundation trolling Foggy Bottom for lucrative speaking gigs while his wife was in charge of that racket;
• lies about what was--and wasn't--on Hillary's e-mail server (which for some as yet unexplained reason was kept in the bathroom of a Mom 'n' Pop operation in Denver, Colorado).

There are lots more, but that should suffice for now.

Judge Rules Omar Khadr Can Remove His "Restrictive" Monitoring Bracelet and Visit His Family in Toronto

Some of his family, anyway. For, as we learn in this Ceeb report, at least two of Omar's nearest and dearest have apparently flown the coop:

Khadr's mother and one of his sisters made pro al-Qaeda remarks in the past. But Khadr's lawyers say they aren't even in Canada. He told the judge that his client is now mature enough not to be influenced by their views. ​

If, as his lawyer claims, Mom and Sis Khadr (who look like this) aren't even in Canada, then where the hell are they?

Pakistan?

Afghanistan?

Syria/Iraq (say, helping out ISIS)?

Isn't their current location kind of a crucial bit of information, and shouldn't this judge have been less blasé and more proactive about sussing it out? Before deciding that Omar could go visit his Hogtown mishpachah, I mean.

There's a "Refugee Camp" in East Jerusalem?

Why and WTF?

The Toronto Public Library Stands With, Urges Us to "Celebrate" the Young Muslim Whose School Project Looked Oddly Bomb-Like

Found this on the TPL site:

American teen Ahmed Mohamed made international headlines after he was arrested earlier this week for bringing a homemade clock to school. The 14-year-old Texan brought his creation to show his teacher, who mistook it for a bomb. 

The incident generated a social media firestorm – with many people throwing their support behind Mohamed, even starting an #IStandWithAhmed hashtag. 

Some of Mohamed’s high profile supporters included US President Barack Obama, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – who invited Mohamed to the White House, Toronto, and Facebook headquarters respectively...

Mohamed’s creativity and ingenuity provide a great reason of why it is important to support young makers by providing them with encouragement and access to technology resources and training...

That's for sure. Fingers crossed, though, that this isn't the kind of technological resource/training they end up accessing.

Update: The madness of PC in America--it's okay to go nuts because of a Pop Tart that's been bitten into a gun-like shape, but don't you dare raise a ruckus about a clock that looks a lot more bomb-like than it does clock-like. Especially if the clock maker is Muslim.