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."

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Which vile interest groups will take advantage of this deliberately polarizing atrocity to push their own agenda?

Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)
The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarizing the French and European public.
The problem for a terrorist group like al-Qaeda is that its recruitment pool is Muslims, but most Muslims are not interested in terrorism. Most Muslims are not even interested in politics, much less political Islam. France is a country of 66 million, of which about 5 million is of Muslim heritage. But in polling, only a third, less than 2 million, say that they are interested in religion. French Muslims may be the most secular Muslim-heritage population in the world (ex-Soviet ethnic Muslims often also have low rates of belief and observance). Many Muslim immigrants in the post-war period to France came as laborers and were not literate people, and their grandchildren are rather distant from Middle Eastern fundamentalism, pursuing urban cosmopolitan culture such as rap and rai. In Paris, where Muslims tend to be better educated and more religious, the vast majority reject violence and say they are loyal to France.
Al-Qaeda wants to mentally colonize French Muslims, but faces a wall of disinterest. But if it can get non-Muslim French to be beastly to ethnic Muslims on the grounds that they are Muslims, it can start creating a common political identity around grievance against discrimination.
This tactic is similar to the one used by Stalinists in the early 20th century. Decades ago I read an account by the philosopher Karl Popper of how he flirted with Marxism for about 6 months in 1919 when he was auditing classes at the University of Vienna. He left the group in disgust when he discovered that they were attempting to use false flag operations to provoke militant confrontations. In one of them police killed 8 socialist youth at Hörlgasse on 15 June 1919. For the unscrupulous among Bolsheviks–who would later be Stalinists– the fact that most students and workers don’t want to overthrow the business class is inconvenient, and so it seemed desirable to some of them to “sharpen the contradictions” between labor and capital.
The operatives who carried out this attack exhibit signs of professional training. They spoke unaccented French, and so certainly know that they are playing into the hands of Marine LePen and the Islamophobic French Right wing. They may have been French, but they appear to have been battle hardened. This horrific murder was not a pious protest against the defamation of a religious icon. It was an attempt to provoke European society into pogroms against French Muslims, at which point al-Qaeda recruitment would suddenly exhibit some successes instead of faltering in the face of lively Beur youth culture (French Arabs playfully call themselves by this anagram). Ironically, there are reports that one of the two policemen they killed was a Muslim.
Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, then led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, deployed this sort of polarization strategy successfully in Iraq, constantly attacking Shiites and their holy symbols, and provoking the ethnic cleansing of a million Sunnis from Baghdad. The polarization proceeded, with the help of various incarnations of Daesh (Arabic for ISIL or ISIS, which descends from al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia). And in the end, the brutal and genocidal strategy worked, such that Daesh was able to encompass all of Sunni Arab Iraq, which had suffered so many Shiite reprisals that they sought the umbrella of the very group that had deliberately and systematically provoked the Shiites.
“Sharpening the contradictions” is the strategy of sociopaths and totalitarians, aimed at unmooring people from their ordinary insouciance and preying on them, mobilizing their energies and wealth for the perverted purposes of a self-styled great leader.
The only effective response to this manipulative strategy (as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani tried to tell the Iraqi Shiites a decade ago) is to resist the impulse to blame an entire group for the actions of a few and to refuse to carry out identity-politics reprisals. 
For those who require unrelated people to take responsibility for those who claim to be their co-religionists (not a demand ever made of Christians), the al-Azhar Seminary, seat of Sunni Muslim learning and fatwas, condemned the attack, as did the Arab League that comprises 22 Muslim-majority states.
We have a model for response to terrorist provocation and attempts at sharpening the contradictions. It is Norway after Anders Behring Breivikcommitted mass murder of Norwegian leftists for being soft on Islam. The Norwegian government launched no war on terror. They tried Breivik in court as a common criminal. They remained committed to their admirable modern Norwegian values.
Most of France will also remain committed to French values of the Rights of Man, which they invented. But an insular and hateful minority will take advantage of this deliberately polarizing atrocity to push their own agenda. Europe’s future depends on whether the Marine LePens are allowed to become mainstream. Extremism thrives on other people’s extremism, and is inexorably defeated by tolerance.
Let me conclude by offering my profound condolences to the families, friends and fans of our murdered colleagues at Charlie Hebdo, including Stephane Charbonnier, Bernard Maris, and cartoonists Georges Wolinski Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, and Berbard Verlhac (Tignous)– and all the others. As Charbonnier, known as Charb, said, “I prefer to die standing than to live on my knees.”.

UPDATE
________________________

Cherif Kouachi: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know


Cherif Kouachi, 32, has been named as one of three suspects in the January 7 terror attack that killed 10 journalists and two police officers at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satire magazine in Paris. 
The other suspects have been named as Said Kouachi, 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18. 
Here’s what we know so far:

1. He’s a Convicted Terrorist

cherif kouachi photos
(Handout)
The Associated Press reported in 2008 that Cherif Kouachi had been sentenced to three years in prison in Paris for helping to funnel prospective jihadi fighters from France to Iraq. He served 18 months, with the remainder of his sentence was suspended. In that case, Cherif was named as a member of the 19th arrondissement network, named for the mainly North African neighborhood where they were based. 
The New York Times first reported on Cherif in 2005. It was reported that he had become inspired to fight in jihad due to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses. Prior to the emergence of those abuses, the Liberation newspaper reported, that Cherif was not a devout muslim. He had girlfriends and smoked and drank alcohol.

2. Cherif & Said Are Orphan Brothers

Said Kouachi Passport Photo
Said Kouachi. (Handout)
Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi were born in Paris, raised in the French city of Rennes, and later moved to Paris, where Cherif worked as pizza delivery man, reports Metro News. The Kouachi brothers were orphaned by their Algerian-immigrant parents as children, reports Liberation.
(Handout)
(Handout)

Said Kouachi: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Said Kouachi has been named as one of the terrorist suspects who killed 12 journalists inside the offices of satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7.
Click here to read more

3. The Terrorists Were Armed With Rocket Launchers & Assault Rifles


It’s alleged that Mourad and his accomplices were armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers. In total 12 people were killed when the terrorists, who were described as commandos, stormed the offices of French satire magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
Of the 12 dead, 10 are journalists and cartoonists and two are police officers. Early reports suggest that specific journalists were called out by the gunmen before being shot. One of the police officers was shot at close range as he lay on the street. You can see more raw footage of the attack above.
A further 10 people were wounded in the attack, with a police spokesman describing the terrorists as “commandos.” Some of the wounded are reported to be in critical condition. Up to 50 shots were fired during the murders. 
French President Francois Hollande called the attack one “of exceptional barbarity.” Some of the deceased people have been named as Georges Wolinski, an 80-year-old famed cartoonist and economist Bernard Maris. The other victims have only been mainly referred to through their pen names, Cabu, Charb and Tignous. In 2012, Charb, Stephanie Charbonnier, was quoted as saying, “I prefer to die standing than to live on my knees.” He had received numerous death threats in the past and had been living in police protection. The magazine’s editor-in-chief Gerard Biard was not hurt in the attack, he was in London when the shooting occurred. 

4. The Investigation Is Centered in the City of Reims

Reims to Paris terrorist map
The city of Reims is about 90 miles east of Paris. (Google Maps)
French security forces have elevated the terror threat in the country to the highest possible level. La Parisien reported that cops had made raids on homes in Paris and also in the city of Reims related to the Charlie Hebdo attack. 

Hamyd Mourad: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Hamid Mourad has been named as one of the suspects in the terrorist attack on the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. 
Click here to read more

5. One of Cherif’s Alleged Comrades Just Graduated High School

charlie hebdo shooting, pictures, photos
(Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images)
While Cherif is an experienced jihadi, Hamyd Mourad is reported to be just 18 years old. Metro News in Paris reports that he was a student at a high school in in Charleville-Mezieres, in the city of Reims. 

56 comments:

  1. French officials say police have identified the three suspected gunmen in Wednesday's mass murder at the Paris headquarters of the satirical weekly paper "Charlie Hebdo."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. Not really.

      A couple straight weeks of quoting Jihad Watch would be much better.

      " Extremism thrives on other people’s extremism, and is inexorably defeated by tolerance."

      Gibberish.

      Delete
    2. The first of the vile step forward.

      Delete
    3. Or were you referring to yourself, Anonymous?

      Delete
  3. Author Salman Rushdie, whose book ‘The Satanic Verses' prompted Iranian clergy to issue a death fatwa on him, has condemned the attack on the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

    Speaking in support of the publication, which had its old offices burned down after printing cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad, Mr Rushdie said ‘religion deserves our fearless disrespect'.

    He added that the strike by suspected Al Qaeda militants, which left 12 dead, was a sign of the 'deadly mutation in the heart of Islam.'
    Mr Rushdie was named alongside Staphane Charbonnier, the newspaper’s editor, on Al Qaeda's 'most wanted' list last year.

    The militants opened fire on staff after seeking out journalists by name.

    Witnesses said the suspected Al Qaeda gunmen were heard to shout 'the Prophet has been avenged' and 'Allahu akbar!' – Arabic for 'God is great' – as they stalked the building.

    They headed straight for the paper's editor and cartoonist, Stephane Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard.

    The security had been recruited to protect him after extremists firebombed the offices in 2011 over a satirical cartoon about the Prophet Mohammed.

    A year later, Mr Charbonnier famously dismissed threats against his life, declaring: 'I would rather die standing than live kneeling.'
    The militants also killed three other renowned cartoonists – men who had regularly satirised Islam – and the newspaper's deputy chief editor. They shot two policemen as they left the building.

    Mr Rushdie said: ‘Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms.

    'This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2900976/Salman-Rushdie-condemns-Charlie-Hebdo-attack-sign-deadly-mutation-heart-Islam.html#ixzz3OAxKsku9
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mr Rushdie said: ‘Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The deep black ink contagion spreads....

      Rushdie is noble in some ways, but he doesn't really know much about the vast subject of 'religion'.

      Glad he is still alive for sure....

      Delete
    2. Hinduism is now nuclear armed.

      I don't feel my freedoms threatened by that fact.

      I don't feel my freedoms threatened by Judaism, also nuclear armed.

      Nor even by the 'Christian' Putin.

      That is really a broad deep black meaningless quote.

      The Soviet Union was atheist. I felt threatened by the nuclear armed Soviet Union at times.....

      Didn't we all?

      Delete
    3. I will feel threatened by a nuclear armed Iran, though.

      Won't you too?

      They have said they want a world without any of us.

      And have the apocalyptic theology to back the desire up.

      Delete
    4. This may be intellectually inconvenient for you but the apocalypse is a Christian concept from the Christian New Testament.

      Delete
    5. This may be intellectually inconvenient for you, but apocalypse is a very world wide concept predating Christianity.

      And why would it be inconvenient for me, a long lapsed 'Christian'?

      I'm your friendly Joe Campbell monomyth guy.



      Delete
  5. PARIS - Police are hunting three French nationals, including two brothers from the Paris region, after suspected Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at a satirical magazine on Wednesday, a police official and government source said.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The men have been named as French nationals Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, along with 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad. His nationality is unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Which "VILE" interest group?

    I'd say the Israel Jew haters…


    ReplyDelete
  8. Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski among 12 dead in Paris shooting

    Read more: http://www.jta.org/2015/01/07/news-opinion/world/jewish-cartoonist-georges-wolinski-among-12-dead-in-paris-shooting#ixzz3OB8NBBR9


    Interesting with all the space you gave, you didn't mention this:

    Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski among 12 dead in Paris shooting

    Read more: http://www.jta.org/2015/01/07/news-opinion/world/jewish-cartoonist-georges-wolinski-among-12-dead-in-paris-shooting#ixzz3OB8NBBR9

    Oh, he's a Tunisian born jew.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know a Hadji Murad in a short story by Tolstoy.

      Tolstoy gave him many good qualities, actually.

      >>Inspiration

      Tolstoy seems to have first heard of the historical Hadji Murad while he was serving in the Caucasus, according to letters he wrote to his brother Sergei. The thistle described at the opening of the story was actually encountered by Tolstoy near his country estate and led him to remember the character and create a story about him.

      The theme of struggle while remaining faithful resonated with Tolstoy even though he was in ailing health; later letters suggest this work gave him a brief, final moment of vigor. Just as the author was struggling with his near death, his extended meditation on the concept of the individual refusing to give in to the demands of the world helped him to complete the book, although he himself had no inclination to publish it and was only concerned with its completion. In addition to the theme of resistance, there are many other ideas that can be found in the novel, such as determinism; this echoes Tolstoy's major work War and Peace. An even clearer theme is the struggle between a Christian Russia and Muslim Chechnya, the classic West vs. East theme found in Russian history and many different stories and novels (and which is once again pertinent in light of First and Second Chechen Wars in Chechnya and Russia).

      The work is very similar to Alexander Pushkin's work The Captain's Daughter in that it is a realist work based on actual people and events and has a similar direction, though the main character in this novel does not meet the same end.Tolstoy used material in Russian archives, including Hadji Murad's own account of his life.<<

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadji_Murat_%28novel%29

      Delete
  9. Marina Le Pen is much more cogent than Juan Cole, IMHO.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So according to Deuce, Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, Isis are all freedom fighters fighting to stop the occupation of their lands……

    By this logic? Deuce is now telling the 850,000 Jews and their decedents it's ok to murder arabs in the arab world (and anywhere in the world) that are occupying their homes of 60 years ago?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As usual your ability to comprehend a simple declaration in English befuddles you. This is what I said. Will highlight for you to further simplify:

      Deuce ☂Wed Jan 07, 12:57:00 PM EST
      No one has any proof that any of those groups are involved. My sense it is ISIS. Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah are fighting Israel occupation of their territory. Hezbollah is fighting ISIS. Israel has bombed the enemies of ISIS.


      That was in response to your comment:

      What is "Occupation"Wed Jan 07, 07:21:00 AM EST
      Hamas, Hezbollah, Isis, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood, Al Queda...


      What do they have in common?


      They hate the west, Israel, Jews.....

      Delete
    2. Let me explain what that means:

      Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah are opposed to Israeli occupation of their lands and treating their people in a manner that has been condemned by the vast majority of the World.

      I said I thought it was ISIS: My sense it is ISIS.

      Hezbollah is fighting ISIS. Israel is not. The US is fighting ISIS. Israel is not. The Syrians are fighting ISIS. Israel is not. Jordan is fighting ISIS. Israel is not. Iran is fighting ISIS. Israel is not. Iraq is fighting ISIS. Israel is not.

      Israel has been pounding the unarmed civilians in Gaza and Israel has been attacking the military forces fighting ISIS in Syria.

      What do all of those countries have in common? They are all fighting ISIS. Israel is not.

      Delete
    3. Israel may soon be fighting ISIS around the Golan.

      Israel has bombed some weapons they wished not to be used against them in Syria.

      "unarmed civilians in Gaza"

      Right.

      All those hundreds and hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza into Israel.......sounds like highly armed to me.

      I am happy Israel has the Iron Dome. The Iron Dome may have, ironically, prevented Gaza from being totally flattened in the last assault on Israel from the Gazans, who use their children as human shields.

      Was this last aggression from Gaza #3, 4 or 5?

      One loses count.

      Delete
    4. Israel has bombed some weapons in Syria they wished not to be used against them, is clearer.

      Delete
    5. Notice deuce's ignoring the point?

      The arabs threw out 850,000 Jews, stole their lands, businesses and drove them into Israel.

      Do they now have the right that you claim the Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah has in fighting the occupiers?

      Delete
  11. An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated just outside of the NAACP office building in Colorado Springs Tuesday morning.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 9 Die in Confrontations With Mexican Forces in Michoacan

    Federal troops and police engaged in two clashes with armed civilians in a western Mexico city Tuesday, and nine civilians were killed, the federal security commissioner for Michoacan state said.

    Commissioner Alfredo Castillo said the confrontations in Apatzingan began Tuesday morning when federal forces moved in to take control of city hall, which had been held for days by civilians whose demands and identities were unclear.

    Castillo said a civilian was killed when he was run over while trying to flee and two federal police officers were injured during the operation. He said authorities detained 44 people with 13 rifles or shotguns and seized 23 vehicles.

    The second clash came when gunmen attacked soldiers who were transporting the seized vehicles to an impound lot, Castillo said. Eight civilians died and two were wounded, he said.



    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexican-army-kills-michoacan-confrontation-28031615

    ReplyDelete
  13. .

    For those who require unrelated people to take responsibility for those who claim to be their co-religionists (not a demand ever made of Christians), the al-Azhar Seminary, seat of Sunni Muslim learning and fatwas, condemned the attack, as did the Arab League that comprises 22 Muslim-majority states.

    What nonsense. No one is asking Muslims to take responsibility for the acts of these terrorists. All I've ever seen is people asking them to condemn those acts. A reasonable request to my mind.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've yet to see a Moslem demonstration condemning such acts.

    A pro forma denunciation by a Moslem leader or group here and there, yes.

    Reading of 1400 years of the same shit and one learns not to expect much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pedophile priests and burning witches at the stake, damned Christians

      Delete
    2. Really dumb comment, Anonymous.

      Pedophilia is accepted in Islam.

      How many witches have burned at the stake? When was the last occurrence? How do your witch numbers stack up with the numbers of Hindus killed in the Moslem assaults on just India, for instance?

      You are a shallow idiot.

      Delete
  15. According to Fox, two of the perps are captured and one dead now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of the perps seems to have dropped an identity card when they were transferring into another car.

      Delete
    2. Big mistake to take an identity card on a homicide mission, seems to me.

      Delete
  16. I suppose France doesn't have the death penalty, but the guillotine sounds appropriate to me.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What is "Occupation"Wed Jan 07, 05:48:00 PM EST
    Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski among 12 dead in Paris shooting

    Read more: http://www.jta.org/2015/01/07/news-opinion/world/jewish-cartoonist-georges-wolinski-among-12-dead-in-paris-shooting#ixzz3OB8NBBR9


    Interesting with all the space you gave, you didn't mention this:

    Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski among 12 dead in Paris shooting


    I didn’t mention any of the individuals killed. I find it interesting that out of the 12 killed, you bring attention to only one who is Jew, as if that somehow makes it a greater tragedy. Only someone like you would sniff around to find out who is a Jew or not. With you, everything revolves around whether it is someone from the Israeli First tribe in all things and all matters. I care about the fact that they were people, innocent intelligent people.

    Your analysis, as always shows the real deal with you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your ignoring of the targeting in france of jewish targets is the issue.

    You just can't wrap your mind around the fact that Fatah, Hamas, Isis, the Iranian, Hezbollah, Moslem brotherhood are ALL FROM THE SAME CLOTH.

    It's your club's friends that murder innocents on purpose, targets them.

    The real deal?

    You got nerve.

    Just how many threads do you target Israel and Zionism and Jews?

    Even this thread you say "Which vile interest groups will take advantage of this deliberately polarizing atrocity to push their own agenda?"

    HOW SICK ARE YOU?

    LOOK IN THE MIRROR

    It will show a small, ever increasingly shall I dare say? EVIL supporting person...

    Your heart is black.

    ReplyDelete
  19. In the end it is simple.

    Hezbollah, a part of the Iranian revolutionary guards, helped assad slaughter 300,000 in syria and created 11 MILLION refugees.

    Isis? Sunni crazies are slaughtering back and have murdered 20k.

    But they are all from the same cloth.

    It is not unknown for sunnis and shiias to fight each other and another day, fight on the same side.

    Deuce stands with Assad, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

    Now that's the real deal...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Deuce ☂Wed Jan 07, 06:32:00 PM EST
    Let me explain what that means:

    Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah are opposed to Israeli occupation of their lands and treating their people in a manner that has been condemned by the vast majority of the World.



    Now that made me laugh....

    The world doesn't like how Israel treats Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah's "people"?

    LOL

    That statement has so many angles it dazzles the mind...

    How does the world feel about how the arab world treats the palestinians?

    LOL

    Iranian mass murder of the arabs in Iran, the Iraq mass murder of eveyone, the syrians mass murder of HUNDREDS of thousands, including tens of thousands of Palestinians and the world condemns ISRAEL?

    LOL

    Too funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is this the same "world" that applauded the german treatment of the Jews?

      Were silent when 850.000 jews were driven from their homes in the arab conquered middle east?

      Is this the same world that passes dozens and dozens of UN resolutions in the General Assembly? (to the exclusion of any other nation?)

      The world?

      The world has done its best to genocide the jews, time and time again...

      the "world'? Can go fuck it's self.

      Delete
  21. deuce: I didn’t mention any of the individuals killed. I find it interesting that out of the 12 killed, you bring attention to only one who is Jew, as if that somehow makes it a greater tragedy. Only someone like you would sniff around to find out who is a Jew or not. With you, everything revolves around whether it is someone from the Israeli First tribe in all things and all matters. I care about the fact that they were people, innocent intelligent people.



    We don't KNOW if there were any others that were Jews.

    I listed the most famous, one of the principle cartoonists for the magazine...

    you are jewaphobic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only someone like you would sniff around

      SNIFF?

      VILE INTEREST GROUPS..

      nice code words.

      Delete
  22. The youngest suspect in today's deadly attack at a satirical newspaper's office in Paris has turned himself in, French police said, while the other two are “on the loose, armed and dangerous."

    French authorities have named the three suspects who they believe are responsible for the shooting deaths of 12 people, U.S. law enforcement officials told ABC News.

    Officials identified the suspects as Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, two relatives both in their 30s and still at large, and 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, who is in custody after surrendering to police in the French town of Charleville-Mezieres, about 2 miles north of Paris.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdie both have made al-Qaeda's "Most Wanted List".

    Now that's an honor.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Bernie Goldberg on Fox, who is always wonderful, is saying our Chicken Shit Big Journalism should now show ALL the cartoons AND NOW.

    Anyone disagree with that?

    I don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Big Journalism in the USA certainly chickened out before, Charlie.

      Time for them to step up to the plate and defend the Amendment that allows them to make a living, and 'FIGHT FOR FREEDOM'.

      Delete
    2. I wonder by the way where the Iranian Government stands on all of this.

      Delete
  25. I've noticed a remarkable uptick in Quirk's watching of Fox News, especially when 'Outnumbered' is on -

    Does this sound familiar, Quirk? -


    What I’ve Learned From Dropping Fox News

    I switched cable providers, and the new one inexplicably lacks Fox News. Although Fox isn’t perfect, I’m suffering.
    January 7, 2015 By Greg Scandlen

    I switched to Dish from Comcast about three months ago. Dumb. I was hoping to save some money and don’t care for Comcast’s politics. I knew satellites have some reception problems during storms, but was willing to live with that. I had no idea they would drop the only channel worth watching on television.

    Now, I don’t like everything about Fox. Sean Hannity is too strident for my tastes, and Bill O’Reilly is a blowhard bully, but I’m less interested in the prime-time programming than in the daytime news, now that I’m retired and at home most days.

    Of course, being retired means I’m far from the “key demographic” advertisers crave, so no one really cares what I think. The advertisers are right: I don’t spend much money these days. I have all the clothes and furniture I will ever need, we mostly eat at home, I’m not a drinker, and I’m certainly not buying expensive gifts to impress a love interest—we’ve been together long enough that she is beyond being impressed by anything I might do.

    But I am, and have always been, a news junkie. Even in elementary school my favorite topic was “current events,” and I’ve been active in politics my whole life. So, unlike most of the public, I relish the “24-hour news cycle.” So, life without Fox News has been educational.

    This is what I have learned so far.

    The Other Outlets Are Shallow and One-Sided

    Both MSNBC and CNN are far more one-sided than I ever realized. Other than “Morning Joe,” they simply do not allow dissenting voices on their daytime programming. Anytime there is a story that needs a political comment, CNN will have a single has-been Democrat member of Congress. When MSNBC wants a variety of viewpoints, they will range from the Huffington Post on the Right to Mother Jones on the Left. Nobody ever disagrees with one another on these shows. It is really extraordinary.

    Now, I will concede that Fox tilts Right and the liberal voice is usually outnumbered by conservatives, but at least there is an alternative point of view. That makes for much more interesting television..........

    http://thefederalist.com/2015/01/07/what-ive-learned-from-dropping-fox-news/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope Fox News runs all the cartoons.

      Delete
  26. The 'Question of the Day' on Fox's 'The Megyn Kelly File' is precisely that, Je Suis Charlie - 'should we run all the cartoons?'.

    Pop over to her site and tell them what you think.

    Since Quirk has been good today he gets a candy -

    Megyn Kelly pics -

    https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A86.JyEoH65UkyYAZrAPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsOXB2YTRjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkAw--?_adv_prop=image&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&va=Megyn+Kelly&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

    ReplyDelete
  27. Many great pics of the Je Suis Charlie rallies and protests in France and other places......

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2900835/Crowds-gather-central-Paris-solidarity-murdered-Charlie-Hebdo-journalists-slogan-Je-Suis-Charlie.html

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Meanwhile the website of French newspaper Le Monde last night showed an interactive map of vigils being held across the world in Dublin, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, and as far afield as Tunis, Lima, Rio de Janeiro and Madagascar.

      Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2900835/Crowds-gather-central-Paris-solidarity-murdered-Charlie-Hebdo-journalists-slogan-Je-Suis-Charlie.html#ixzz3OD5Us5ki
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  28. John Bolton on Fox is saying that the mid east is descending into chaos and that the Administration for the last six years has acted as if the biggest threat to peace is the Israelis building a few apartment buildings in East Jerusalem.

    John Bolton is another great commentator at Fox News.

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