COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The thought police and the Anti-Semitism Racket



Israel's Overplayed 'Anti-Semitism' Card
Posted: 05/08/2013 1:25 pm


Legitimate [adj.] -- in accordance with established rules, principles or standards.
In our interconnected, postmodern world, "anti-Semitic" has become synonymous with "morally indefensible," unworthy of rebuttal, able to swiftly kill careers and conversations. As with nuclear weapons, though, this power should be exercised sparingly and responsibly.
Barely a day goes by without someone being branded "anti-Semitic" or "borderline" anti-Semitic for criticizing or condemning Israel or its supporters -- as Chuck Hagel learned when he was nominated for Secretary of Defense. And yet, we're told, there's always room for "legitimate criticism of Israel." So what is the difference -- what should be the difference -- between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism? If Israel is rightly and proudly proclaimed as "the Jewish State," must this mean that anti-Israel remarks are automatically anti-Jewish (i.e., anti-Semitic)?
The absence of clear or consistent "rules of the road" is a persistent barrier to open dialogue and conversation. It limits the meaning and effectiveness of efforts to counter the persistent manifestations of genuine anti-Semitism. Sometimes inadvertently, and out of ignorance, interlocutors use terminology that deeply offends Jews, so there's also a need to translate bad wording into constructive language that Jews can hear and absorb.
The Israel criticisms and "anti-Semitism" counter-attacks vary depending on whether they involve career politicians and cynical propagandists, or seekers and bridge-builders with real grievances and prejudices.
On the political level, especially on Capitol Hill and college campuses, crying "anti-Semitism" can gain instant, if short-lived, tactical advantage by marginalizing Israel's critics and stifling unpleasant debates. Sadly, some of the people who'd be interested in real answers get turned away and turned off.
At the United Nations, diplomats routinely engage in hardball rhetoric and parliamentary tricks to gain advantage and penalize adversaries. It's the big league, it's not meant to be fair. As a small but staunch U.S. ally, Israel is an easy target, and would gain neither respect nor lasting advantage by throwing down the "anti-Semitism" card every time it got bumped or singled out. States do have their own interests -- there is a difference between wanting to isolate Israel for political gain and humanitarian redress, and wielding anti-Israel policies and statements as a diplomatic form of anti-Semitism.
Formulaic Third World political attacks on Israel emanate as much from the Cold War-era battle lines between East and West -- and lingering de-colonization resentment by the "global South" -- as from religiously inspired anti-Semitism. Even when Israel's enemies are truly motivated by anti-Semitism, intellectual honesty and self-respect demand this be demonstrated and not merely assumed. Aside from looking bad to others, doing otherwise cultivates a culture of uncharacteristic detachment, self-delusion and paranoia that filters down and reinforces popular prejudices on both sides.
On the human level, where people ideally strive to know each other and find a way forward, openness needs to be reciprocated and not punished with charges of "anti-Semitism." If there can be no legitimate disagreement, even acrimony, there can be no dialogue and potential for mutual acceptance and genuine respect. Criticism can be unfair, disingenuous, inaccurate and even offensive, without being anti-Semitic. We must also beware of watering down dialogue to the point of hollow politeness, lacking substance or purpose.
Short of portraying Israelis as hook-nosed Nazis devouring babies, with blood dripping from their fangs, what crosses the line and what does not? In the hopes of opening this taboo topic, and emphasizing that I don't necessarily agree with each "legitimate criticism," I offer some examples in form and content:
Anti-Semitic: The Palestinians are victims of a Holocaust.
Legitimate: As a people subjected to centuries of persecution, Jews should be more sensitive to the plight of others.
Anti-Semitic: The Holocaust is an exaggeration, if not a myth, created to justify Jewish control of the Middle East and global institutions.
Legitimate: Israel uses its post-Holocaust victim status to distract from its present-day humanitarian obligations.
Anti-Semitic: Israel is the Apartheid state.
Legitimate: Israel's Separation Wall and other practices are reminiscent of Apartheid-era South Africa.
Anti-Semitic: Zionism is Racism.
Legitimate: Granting automatic citizenship to Jewish immigrants while denying Palestinians the right to return to their birthplace is hypocritical.
Anti-Semitic: You wouldn't say that if you were true to your Torah.
Legitimate: I truly have trouble understanding how Israel's behavior comports with the powerful ethical teachings of the Jewish tradition.
Anti-Semitic: The Jewish State is a cancer that must be wiped off the map.
Legitimate: Israel tries to dominate the Middle East, just like its American patron.
Anti-Semitic: The Jew-controlled media won't give Muslims a chance.
Legitimate: The media are biased against Muslims and Palestinians.
Anti-Semitic: I don't have a problem with Jews, only with Zionists.
Legitimate: There are better ways of securing Jewish physical and cultural survival than having a Jewish state.
Anti-Semitic: All Israeli Jews are legitimate targets.
Legitimate: Israel doesn't seem to care if Palestinian civilians get hurt.
Anti-Semitic: Israel and the Jews were behind 9/11.
Legitimate: Israeli and U.S. policies made attacks like 9/11 inevitable.
Anti-Semitic: Israel's attack on the Gaza Flotilla in 2010 was a typical Zionist war crime.
Legitimate: Israel was at fault in the fatal Flotilla raid, and its blockade of Gaza is unjust.
Over the past several decades, I have heard each of these arguments leveled against Israel, and often directed at me. Many of them struck me as repugnant canards, and that includes some that I've categorized as "legitimate." If we want to have an open discussion, if we want to address Israel's critics head-on -- if we want to earn or share the moral high ground rather than living off the dividends of Crusades, Holocaust and Arab hostility -- then we need to allow the airing of criticism even we consider it unfounded, uninformed and ill-intentioned.
Anti-Semitism is a real phenomenon, and we shouldn't shrink from calling it by its name, when warranted. But we ought not reduce it to a one-size-fits-all fig leaf, and better stick to answering Israel's critics on the merits.



66 comments:

  1. Anti-Semitic: I don't have a problem with Jews, only with Zionists.

    That's not anti-Semitic, that's just anti-Zionist. If I'm anti-Nazi that doesn't make me anti-Teutonic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then you have a problem with Jews. Israel is all about a Jewish homeland and a Jewish state. These were the goals of Zionism and they have been met. Sabras and emmigrants are not displeased. Indeed, Mr. Netanyahu's method of bargaining with Abbas is growing in popularity.

      Every Jew living in Israel today has been the beneficiary of Zionism as that is expressed by the reality of a Jewish state, and the Jews of Israel have no intention of having it anyother way. It's Israel for Jews. Others take second place (and the space available to that second place is huge if they find the Jewish state not to their liking

      .

      Delete
    2. I'm anxiously awaiting the answer to a question posed by another netizen of this blog to the Jewish contingent here as to whether the Jews in the US and Tel Aviv who oppose Zionism on anti-colonialist grounds are anti-Semitic.

      Delete
    3. For days, this blog has concentrated on the Israel-Palestinian problem. All the opponents of Israel have found excuse after excuse to fault Israel for all manner of faults, real and imaginary. But as Doug has pointed out, where is the outrage over the destruction and murder being committed in the name of Islam in the rest of the neighborhood? The silence reeks of hypocrisy.

      Israel is expected to accommodate the demands of Abbas and company and Israel is accused of purposefully stalling on the "flimsy" recent pretext of a "Jewish state". Anyone characterizing the sixty-five year insistence of the UN and Israel to the use of the phrase "Jewish state” must be a paleontologist.

      The startling hypocrisy is obvious by the silence by some commenters here of Abba's blatant refusal to allow a single Jew to live in the PA or enter Jerusalem. This is the same Muslim intransigence that lost the Palestinians a homeland in the first place. Of course Jews are going to visit East Jerusalem, even if they have to fight their way in. So folks, how come Abbas gets a pass on racism in the flesh? There surely must be some satisfying ultimate answer that will convince Jews that he is not an anti-Semitic barbarian. Who goes first from the Palestinians first side? Please, why is the ethnic cleansing of Jews okay?

      Delete
    4. Teresita RedingerSun Jan 12, 05:08:00 PM EST
      I'm anxiously awaiting the answer to a question posed by another netizen of this blog to the Jewish contingent here as to whether the Jews in the US and Tel Aviv who oppose Zionism on anti-colonialist grounds are anti-Semitic.

      No, they are just as ignorant and stupid about Zionism as they are about voting overwhelmingly for Obama.

      Delete
    5. Any Jew living in Tell Aviv would probably not raise the issue of colonialism. Tell Aviv did not exist 100 years ago. The land upon which the city rests was purchased from an Ottoman absentee landowner by Zionists.

      Delete
    6. "For days, this blog has concentrated on the Israel-Palestinian problem."

      You could not be more wrong.

      The question is, has it been weeks, or months?

      I'm starting to wonder if Deuce isn't practicing that time-tested MSM trick of

      "If it bleeds, it leads."

      Delete

  2. Teresita RedingerSun Jan 12, 04:31:00 PM EST
    Anti-Semitic: I don't have a problem with Jews, only with Zionists.
    That's not anti-Semitic, that's just anti-Zionist. If I'm anti-Nazi that doesn't make me anti-Teutonic.


    And yet your comments range from calling Jews Yids, big nosed and you bash Judaism on a regular basis.

    hmm me thinks you protest to much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WiO,

      You may use "Y" but not the word itself. I am going to agree with Deuce on this one. Such language would, if nothing else, detract from this site and invite fascists with similar views to check in.

      As you know, I did not miss the crude "big nose" putdown yesterday. I also ignored being called a racist for pointing out certain flaws in Christian orthodoxy. It was perplexing since Christianity does not rest on race as does Judaism.

      Delete
    2. Ever hear of argumentum ad absurdam? Why would a brown lady pursue a racial angle?

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Why are the blacks and Hispanics shooting it out in L.A.?

      Why do the Chinese think of me as a "white ghost"?

      Why am I a Peckerwood?

      And worst of all, why do city people call me a Hick?

      All this makes me a White Ghost Peckerwood Hick.

      A WGPH.

      ;)

      Delete
    5. "Ever hear of argumentum ad absurdam?

      Why would a brown lady pursue a racial angle?"

      T's forgotten her opening act at the Belmont Club!

      Delete
    6. She has 'strategically forgotten', a subset of selective memory syndrome.

      Delete
    7. In 2009, in Los Angeles County, Latinos committed 77% of the hate crimes against black victims and blacks committed half of the hate crimes against Latinos.[116]

      Delete
    8. As of 2000, the ten most populous places with Hispanic majorities were

      East Los Angeles (97% Hispanic), Laredo, Texas (94%), Brownsville, Texas (91%) Hialeah, Florida (90%), McAllen, Texas (80%), El Paso, Texas (77%), Santa Ana, California (76%), El Monte, California (72%) Oxnard, California (66%), and Miami (66%).

      Why are Anglo's almost never referred to as minorities?

      Delete
    9. Teresita RedingerSun Jan 12, 08:04:00 PM EST
      Ever hear of argumentum ad absurdam? Why would a brown lady pursue a racial angle?

      For the same reason she has lied about one hundred other things: She has an inferiority complex and an insatiable need for attention.

      Delete
  3. "The startling hypocrisy is obvious by the silence by some commenters here of Abba's blatant refusal to allow a single Jew to live in the PA or enter Jerusalem"

    This is the kind of thing that really ticks me off.

    The poor Palestinians are said to be o so put upon, but the is truth they are the real practitioners of apartheid, and wish to drive on into genocide.

    Since the Palestinians themselves are so dedicated to apartheid, I think we should support them........these two peoples cannot live together and it is foolish to urge them to try to do so........what is needed is an amicable divorce....but that is tough too.....look how Gaza has been used as a rocket pad.....

    ReplyDelete
  4. The crisis with Iran is over !!

    Peace is now breaking out for sure....


    Iran to begin dismantling nuclear program next week?


    posted at 6:31 pm on January 12, 2014 by Jazz Shaw

    You can choose to believe it or not as you prefer, but it seems that Iran is claiming that they will begin unwinding some of their nuclear weapons program on January 20th. This from CNN.


    Save the date: Iran has pledged to start eliminating some of its uranium stockpile on January 20, the White House said Sunday.

    That gives an official start date for the six-month interim deal with Iran, which was first announced in November.

    “As of that day, for the first time in almost a decade, Iran’s nuclear program will not be able to advance, and parts of it will be rolled back, while we start negotiating a comprehensive agreement to address the international community’s concerns about Iran’s program,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Sunday.

    As part of the agreement, Iran has agreed to start eliminating its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium, to dismantle some infrastructure that makes higher-level uranium enrichment possible, and not to start up additional centrifuges.

    In exchange, some sanctions against Iran will be eased as part of “modest relief,” the White House said.

    That “modest relief” is apparently in the form of $4.2B in frozen assets to be released in a series of payments stretching over six months. Is this worth believing on any level? Dr. James Joyner apparently suggests caution, but doesn’t see it as entirely without hope.


    Now, it should go without saying, Iran’s pledging to do something and their doing it are not the same thing. Indeed, even Kerry, the architect of the deal, is highly wary and rightly so.

    Caveats notwithstanding, however, this has to be viewed as a major diplomatic coup for Kerry and the Obama administration. Few of us thought Iran would voluntarily roll back its program. In my own case, it wasn’t a function of simply distrusting a ruthless regime that has from its outset viewed the United States as evil. Rather, it’s very much in the interest of both the Iranian state and the mullahs to acquire nuclear weapons to bolster their security and prestige and there didn’t appear to be anything the United States or the international community could offer by way of a carrot that would be more valuable. Sanctions relief, while obviously of great value to the people of Iran, certainly didn’t seem to be that highly prized by the regime.

    This entire story puts the US in a rather odd position on the world stage. As Erika reported yesterday, Congress appears to be moving closer and closer to ignoring these negotiations entirely and introducing new sanctions on Iran, even as Kerry and Obama are dangling a carrot in front of Iran to gain concessions. If we are to assume that Iran’s entire motivation to even give the appearance of backing down on their nuclear ambitions is to get some of the sanctions removed, such an action would undoubtedly put the brakes on whatever dismantling they claim to be starting.

    Is this a serious offer by Iran or just a chess move to put a halt to Congress moving against them? Taking Iran at their word is dubious at best, but it does highlight the fractured nature of the current US administration. Traditionally, the executive branch would take the lead on these sorts of maneuvers, but they’d have gotten some back room, tacit agreement from the legislative branch before doing it. This just seems to advertise to the world that Barack Obama is not in control of his own foreign policy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Is this a serious offer by Iran or just a chess move to put a halt to Congress moving against them?"

      It's a chess move.

      John Bolton was saying the other day we don't know that Iran doesn't already have nuclear weapons.......

      Delete
    2. Thank God for the strategic principle of L1G2B4F (Lob One Get Two Back For Free).

      Delete
  5. Nothing short of annihilation of the Jews will suffice for the rabid, bloodthirsty rage filled Islamist fundie.
    Israel cannot appease these death eaters.

    War is eminent.

    And Israel will not lose, imo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dougman,

      Israel cannot lose! There is no second choice.

      Delete
  6. Thought Police?

    Want to talk Thought Police?

    Try this -

    January 12, 2014



    Malaysia: Mufti forbids non-Muslims to use 40 words, including "Allah," "Qur'an" and "Sharia," on pain of fines or imprisonment



    HassanAhmad.jpgPenang Mufti Hassan Ahmad


    Islamic supremacism gallops on in modern, moderate Malaysia. "Penang mufti outlaws 40 words to non-Muslims," by Predeep Nambiar for New Straits Times, January 11 (thanks to Lookmann):

    GEORGE TOWN: "SOLAT", "Surau" and "Masjid" are words non-Muslims in Penang are prohibited from using in their writings.
    The words are among the 40 decreed by the Penang mufti, as provided under subsection 48(3) and (4) of the Penang Islamic Religious Administration Enactment 2004, as exclusive to Muslims.

    The other words are "Allah", "Firman Allah", "Ulama", "Hadith", "Ibadah", "Kaabah", "Qadhi'", "Illahi", "Wahyu", "Mubaligh", "Syariah", "Qiblat", "Haji", "Mufti", "Rasul", "Iman", "Dakwah", "Wali", "Fatwa", "Imam", "Nabi", "Sheikh", "Khutbah", "Tabligh", "Akhirat", "Azan", "Al Quran", "As Sunnah", "Auliya'", "Karamah", "Syahadah", "Baitullah", "Musolla", "Zakat Fitrah", "Hajjah", "Taqwa" and "Soleh".

    A Penang Mufti's Department spokesman said besides prohibited from using the words, non-Muslims were also forbidden to write or publish any of the words in any form, version or translation in any language or for use in any publicity material in any medium, including print, electronic and any form, that could insult the sanctity of Islam.

    The decree was enforced on April 29, 2010.

    Those found flouting the decree would be charged under Section 3 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Penang) 1996.

    The section says any person, whether he or she is Muslim or not, who develops doctrines or religious beliefs other than Islamic religious doctrine or belief among Muslims is guilty of an offence triable in the civil court and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding RM3,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

    The spokesman said so far, no action had been taken against any individual or group since the law was enforced.

    Yesterday, the New Straits Times reported that Kelantan had enforced the law prohibiting non-Muslims from using 24 Islamic words and phrases, including "Allah" for more than 30 years.

    Posted by Robert Spencer on January 12, 2014 3:47 PM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Booze and your brain cells -

    http://gizmodo.com/drinking-alcohol-doesnt-actually-kill-brain-cells-1498785941

    Your dendrites are at risk, but you've got a lot of them........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I recall telling Quirk:

      "Quirk, you are killing your brain cells with those gallons of cheap Vodka."

      Now I understand why he replied:

      "It's my dendrites I'm worried you moron."

      Delete
  8. Sick Day

    Hung Chow calls into work and says,

    "So solly, I no come work today,
    I really sick.
    Got headache, stomach ache and legs hurt,
    I no come work.
    "

    The boss says,

    "You know something, Hung Chow, I really need you today.
    When I feel sick like you do, I go to my wife and tell her to give me sex.
    That makes everything better and I go to work.
    You try that
    ."

    Two hours later Hung Chow calls again.

    "I do what you say and I feel great.
    I be at work soon, You got nice house!!
    "

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just opened my freezer and saw a little alien masturbating... Naturally I was shocked and said what the hell are you doing?! He replied "I cum in peas"

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pregnancy Advice: A stork might bring you a baby, but a swallow never will

    ReplyDelete
  11. Replies
    1. It's just good science, Bob.

      Delete
    2. Christy needs a Pacifier.

      Delete
    3. He's going to need more than that to stay calm.

      but regardless of the scandal I am happy to see him losing weight and getting healthy. good lord that man was big.

      Delete
  12. The startling hypocrisy is obvious by the silence by some commenters here of Abba's blatant refusal to allow a single Jew to live in the PA or enter Jerusalem.

    Abbas don't let Jews enter Jerusalem. Check. The Old City's Jewish Quarter is closed to Jews. News to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that assertion by Allen is a prime example of his intellectual dishonesty. Allen knows it is not true yet he persists in trying to spout his propaganda. Sad but true. It tells you alot about his ethics.

      Delete
    2. Meet the new Blog, same as the old Blog.

      Delete
    3. This is no Joseph's tomb. For one, we already know who Joseph is. Joseph was Imhotep. The reasons are the following. He was the vizier to Djozer. He is linked to the seven year famine through the inscription found on the Famine Stele. He is said be the architect of the Step Pyramid complex to which has huge grain bins. It was a city to distribute grain. Imhotep was also a physician. Joseph was the chief of physicians. So the evidence is clear. But the Jews insist they brought the bones of Joseph up out of Egypt and buried them in Shechem in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And of course, Shechem is near modern day Nablus in the West Bank, so the shade of Joseph suffers many indignities today by Palestinians, all for nought. This is the insanity of the Middle East.

      Delete
    4. All perfectly clear, by know means.

      Delete
    5. I think he was the visor of the dozer though, a son of Caterpillar, who starved to death during the Famine as there was no alpha alpha to feed the draft horses the year all the beer had been drunk up by Rufus IV a son of Hammer.

      Delete
  13. what gets long when u jerk it, fits between boobs, slides in a hole, and loves to be pulled?













    A SEAT BELT U PERVERT!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Allen wrote:

    " It's Israel for Jews. Others take second place"

    'nuff said. He is his own worst enemy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the West Bank and Gaza for the Palestinians, all others especially Jews have no place at all except the Mediterranean Sea.

      'nuff said.

      Delete
    2. No Jews, same as in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, etc and etc and etc and etc........you fill in all them little Kingdoms and such what.....

      It's the lack of balance some are pissing about, Ash, the lack of fair and balance.

      Delete

    3. "Palestinian" Muslim murders his wife in honor killing because she appeared in a group photo with another man

      Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.

      The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

      In light of all this, until authorities get the courage to tell the truth about honor killing, there will be many more such murders.

      "Ex-resident of UAE allegedly stabbed to death by husband in Palestine," by Nasouh Nazzal for Gulf News, January 12

      Ramallah: A Palestinian woman was allegedly murdered by her husband after a dispute between him and his cousin.
      Sources in Kofr Al Deek near Salfit of the West Bank claim that the 35-year-old mother of five, Suha Abdul Aziz Al Deek, was a respectable woman.

      “We believe that the woman was a victim of a problem that she had nothing to do [with],” sources told Gulf News.

      The alleged murder was part of an ongoing conflict between her husband, 46-year-old Abdul Moeti Fayeq, and his cousin, sources said.

      According to sources, the cousin and his family lived in Abdul’s family home in the village while Abdul, Suha and the five children lived in Sharjah.

      When they returned to Kofr Al Deek two years ago, Abdul took up a job as an Arabic teacher in the nearby village of Deer Balout.

      The dispute started when Abdul asked his cousin to vacate the house.

      The cousin refused to leave and “threatened the husband with a picture he had for the man’s wife,” said the sources.

      “The cousin and his family were forced out of the house but the husband became suspicious and could not stand the claim that his wife had been photographed with him,” said the sources. The picture was apparently just a general one taken with the cousin as they had all been living in the same house and was taken without the victim noticing.

      As a result of his distress, the husband did not go to work for five days. The family elders, meanwhile, summoned the two men for a reconciliation and the issue of the photograph was resolved.

      However, the husband could not overcome his suspicion so allegedly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his wife several times. The woman was taken to Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit where she was declared dead.

      Suha was buried on Saturday in the village.

      Her husband and his cousin have been arrested by the Palestinian Police who launched an investigation into the murder.

      “We never imagined that this respectable woman would be the victim of the family dispute,” said the sources.


      Posted by Robert Spencer on January 12, 2014

      Delete
    4. The husband and cousin are gonna walk, Ash.

      Delete
    5. Ash, the mice studies show these apes will need at least two generations to decompress, and that's with intensive intervention, isolation, and cold turkey. It's in their DNA, just like Rufus theorized years ago.

      See: my Lamarckian studies posts from earlier......

      Delete
  15. Mystery of Alexander the Great's death finally solved -

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mystery-of-alexander-the-greats-death-solved-ruler-was-killed-by-toxic-wine-claim-scientists-9054625.html

    Bad conquest brew, never leave home with it or pick it up in the great abroad.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "You have everlasting life, as you are a part of the universe. You have one over the universe in that you know that you exist and the universe doesn’t know that it exits. By being alive at all you won the lottery. For an absurd instant you shine. That is a gift that should not be pissed away. You, I, and everyone else is in the better place. Live well and be good for goodness sake. We are the mind and soul of the universe, at least our part."-Deuce

    AHA!
    So you do believe in some 'Other' , or dare I say a Creator?
    You can only receive a gift from another.
    But another what, Deuce?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just who says the universe doesn't know it exists? And if you have everlasting life why do you shine just for an absurd instant? And why should shining for an absurd instant be thought a gift? Quirk says such shining "Sucks". Why shouldn't something that Sucks be pissed away ?

      Delete
    2. And who said the universe was everlasting in the first place ?

      The questions persist, the mystery remains.....

      Delete
    3. The Hindus only say that there is always 'an universe', not that this one is everlasting......

      So they didn't say it. The Christians, Jews and Moslems didn't say it......well, not forthrightly anyway......

      Delete
    4. The Mormons didn't say it. They say one can become a God oneself, and go about creating one's own universe.

      I need a guide for the perplexed.

      Delete
  17. Quirkquake in Seattle - those White's huge logging boots Quirk wore worked.....

    SEATTLE (CBSNewYork/AP) — Seismologists say Seahawks fans shook the ground under Seattle’s CenturyLink Field during Saturday’s defeat of the New Orleans Saints, causing another fan-generated earthquake.

    The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynch’s famous “beast quake” touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game.

    John Vidale of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington told The Seattle Times they will know for sure in a few days.

    Fans jumped and stomped their way to magnitude 1 or 2 earthquake in 2011 during Lynch’s rambling, tackle-breaking “beast quake” run

    ******

    Nobody but nobody can stomp and holler like the Quirk when he's on the Vodka......not even Rufus......

    ReplyDelete
  18. INTERVIEWER: So you think it would be necessary to first transfer and remove every Jew-

    AREIKAT: Absolutely. No, I'm not saying to transfer every Jew. I'm saying to transfer Jews who, after an agreement with Israel, fall under the jurisdiction of a Palestinian state.

    INTERVIEWER: Any Jew who is in the borders of Palestine will have to leave?

    AREIKAT: Absolutely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That seems clear enough.

      Are you able to understand that, Ash?

      Delete
    2. Sounds like the Palestinians are the ones running the real anti-Semitism racket.

      Delete
  19. What the hell? Ash says it goes great with cookies......and that's food......


    Colorado bill may prevent use of food stamps money to buy pot. Wait… what?


    posted at 2:01 pm on January 12, 2014 by Jazz Shaw


    Admit it… when Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, some of you thought that the entire state had taken leave of its senses and the population was already well on its way to sinking into a Cheetos filled haze of confusion. But apparently there are still some sane – or at least somewhat less stoned – heads doing business out there. A bill is under consideration which would prevent make it somewhat more difficult to use cash from food stamps cards to buy pot. (You mean they can do that?) The details from Townhall.


    A bill proposed this week by several Republicans would add marijuana dispensaries to liquor stores, gun shops and casinos as places where recipients of public assistance payments and food stamps can’t use their electronic benefits cards to access cash.

    There haven’t been any reports of public EBT cards being used at marijuana dispensaries. But lawmakers say pot shops should be added to the law to make clear it’s not legal.

    “We need this bill, if for nothing else, as a statement,” said Rep. Jared Wright, R-Grand Junction.

    “We shouldn’t be enabling anyone to buy a substance that is banned under federal law. It’s not a good use of taxpayer money,” he said.

    Of course, as Daniel Doherty points out, it’s not exactly a fool proof plan.


    Presumably, EBT card recipients could still take out cash elsewhere — and then go and buy pot. (I hope I’m not giving anyone any ideas). But at least this kind of a law would prohibit them from flagrantly ripping off taxpayers, by making it illegal to withdraw government cash inside marijuana dispensaries.

    That’s got to count for something, no?

    We don’t want to just dismiss this plan out of hand and throw the baby out with the bong water here, guys. Okay, so in theory the pot smoker could grab some cash at the Piggly Wiggly and then head on down to Ye Olde Pot Shoppe, but consider the sequential thinking and planning that would be required to pull that off. Once they have the cash in hand they would probably have to walk past the inevitable snack food impulse purchase racks which stores always put near the checkout counters. The rows of Ho-Hos, Little Debby’s and (non-medicinal) brownies would probably be too much to resist. Before you know it the cash is gone and then they have to start the process all over again.

    Ah, Colorado. If nothing else, you’ll provide a huge boon to bored bloggers for years to come. And for that, America thanks you.

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  20. :)


    January 12, 2014
    Arab Spring Fever in Jordan
    JanSuzanne Krasner




    Many in the western world believe that the Arab Spring fever is by-passing Jordan and King Abdullah's government has only the challenge of containing the Syrian War from pouring into Jordan, along with an occasional protest demanding political and economic reform...and the end of government corruption.

    But, according to Mudar Zahran, one of 15 leaders of the growing "Dignity Revolution" in the Middle East, a leader of the secular Jordanian Opposition Coalition, and an outspoken critic of the Hashemite King, the realities on the ground are quite different.



    Zahran:


    "Palestinians [of Jordan] and Bedouins, they hate the Hashemites...That is what you see today - people chanting against them."

    "All Arab countries, all of these names - Jordanian, Palestinian, a Qatari, etc. - are bogus names; they never existed...We were all Arabs and proudly so... The Hashemite regime, like all Arab regimes, works on our divisions to make us hate one another, creating bogus animosities between us. In order to make us hate each other for the last 40 years and therefore stay in power, the Jordanians of Palestinian origin were deprived of education and government jobs; no more than 10 percent of the ministers in Jordanian government can be Palestinian."



    It is statements like these by Mudar Zahran that demonstrate all is not well in King Abdullah's Kingdom and have gotten him indicted in a Jordanian court, in absentia, and he is now awaiting trial. If convicted by the military state security court, court officials say Zahran stands to go to prison for up to 15 years and do several years of hard labor.



    Meanwhile, Zahran has been living in exile with his family in the UK for several years and has been granted political asylum. During these last years he has been writing and criticizing King Abdullah II and his government through his published articles in the Gatestone Institute, the Middle East Forum and his latest articles in Israel's Jerusalem Post.








    It must be noted here that Jordan, like all Arab nations, makes it lawful to prosecute any activist, peaceful or a terrorist. Zahran's articles that have recently appeared in the Israeli newspaper must have been the final straw that broke the King's back and he has been called on the carpet, according to Zahran, to be "silenced."







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    Replies
    1. In reviewing Zahran's commentary in the Israeli newspaper, one will see how he condemns the Hashemite Monarchy for their decades of deception. Just the titles of a few of his articles have obviously called attention to Zahran's poor opinion of the King: Is Jordan the Hashemite-Occupied Palestine?; Jordan's King Trying to Play on Israel's Fears; and Jordan's King and the Islamists: In One Boat? (http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/SearchResults.aspx?q=Mudar%20Zahran)



      In a Jerusalem Post interview, Zahran explained that the four separate charges against him relate to




      "incitement against the ruling political regime of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, "The court has indicted me for the crime of inciting hatred and attacking Jordan's image and the image of its one nation."



      But, Zahran's critique doesn't stop with Jordan's King. It includes criticism of other Islamic leadership for using the "Palestinian cause" for their own agenda.




      "It is the Demonization of Israel in the Western media that is not good for the Palestinians... It is a threat to Palestinians... Arab dictators such as Jordan's current King, have been able to butcher and oppress Palestinians only because the media is busy demonizing Jews in Israel."



      Zahran claims that he is intentionally being targeted by the King because he speaks the truth and there are many Palestinian-Arabs who listen to him. Zahran's name was recently heard being chanted at a protest aimed at the King's mistreatment of the Palestinian Arab citizenry. His statements that the Jordanian Palestinians continue to be "treated as second-class citizens in comparison to the Bedouin and Muslim Brotherhood" seem to threaten the security of the King's position.



      Zahran asserts that the majority of the Jordanian population, somewhere between 60-80%, identify themselves as Palestinians with family having lived in the land now called Jordan, while the King's Hashemite dynasty originates from a small tribe in what is now called Saudi Arabia. In addition, the 'West Bankers,' Jordanian-Palestinians now living in the West Bank, have been stripped of their Jordanian citizenship.




      "The ruling Hashemites insisted that the West Bank become a part of the Hashemite kingdom as well [starting in 1948]. Then, when they retreated and ran away wearing women's clothes in 1967, they came back and told us suddenly: 'You from the West Bank are now not Jordanians any longer, you are Palestinian.'"

      "My call for a civil state that provides equality to all Jordanians including the West Bankers, East Bankers and Christians are a major threat to a King who survives on an apartheid regime...otherwise, why would the king single me out of all of his opposition members living in exile?"



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    2. And in an interview with Al Jazeera, Zahran once said he wished "Jordan's King would treat his (Palestinians) the way Israel treats the Palestinians".



      Mudar Zahran has not forgotten history, so he does not buy into the myths and lies that the Islamic leaders have perpetrated on his people and the rest of the world for decades.




      "I am a textbook Palestinian... I have seen it all. We've had family members who were imprisoned because of terrorist acts, just like any family in the West Bank... I have a cousin who was killed by Israeli forces on my wedding day, and I saw his corpse on Al Jazeera." "Of course Al Jazeera didn't report that he had been caught in cross fire between Israel and PLO forces."



      Zahran adds:




      "The king is trying a secular, anti-Islamist leader who wants to change Jordan through peaceful means and who seeks equal rights for Christians as well as peace with Israel, while the Muslim Brotherhood is free to preach hatred."



      Zahran is talking to the Israelis now and the Israelis are listening. They know what is happening on the ground in Jordan, of King Abdullah's growing weakness, and Zahran's political coalition may represent the basis for a democratically ruled Jordan, for real peace and cooperation with Israel, and the recognition of Jordan as the Palestinian Arabs' rightful homeland.



      Mudat Zahran is the outspoken Muslim leader of the non-sectarian coalition that wants to take Palestinian-Arabs out of the 7th Century and bring them into the 21st Century. He is an important person, one whom the rest of the world ought to be listening to, especially Americans, when it comes to looking at options for a democratic government in Jordan and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue. But it is certain that King Abdullah is listening to what Mudar Zahran is saying...and one can believe Zahran when he claims the king wants to silence him.


      :)

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