Neo-Nazi youths murdered boy, 17, for looking like a Jew

I found this story on Prolegomena and sadly agree with Michael's remarks on it: 'This horrifying story in Germany will not get the attention that Matthew Shepard still gets.' Killing Jews, or those who 'look' like Jews, isn't news.
# Posted 2:03 PM by Karol

I love music. I don't know if that's evident by my writing but I really, really do. My boyfriend quit his job and is opening a record store. It's going to sell mostly independent label music. I've been helping him out by contacting labels to get their catalogs. I was doing a search for a label called 'Cute Kids Music'. Inadvertantly, I found a website, called Freaky Trigger, dedicated to music. I don't read much about music, I usually find out about new artists via word of mouth, because I find that my love of music and my love of politics often clash. Nothing is cooler these days than making fun of President Bush, a leader I strongly support, and somehow working your hatred of him into a piece of writing irrelevant to politics makes you not only cool but brilliant among the intellectually lazy. The first piece I read on the site was making fun of indie kids. No mention of politics. I then went on to read an overview of music in 2002. Surely they were going to, at the very least, mention the war with Iraq. Nope. An article called 'My War' has nothing to do with war at all. I was sold. I haven't read every article on the site and I hope I don't get proven wrong by a slew of articles in their archives but for now, I'm happy to have found a website about music that leaves politics out of it. I just thought I'd share.
# Posted 10:38 AM by Karol

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair is greeted by school children in Basra.

But what about the looting and the missing WMD and and and.......
# Posted 1:20 PM by Karol

Abbas Says Militants May Cease Attacks

Wait, I thought the Palestinian Authority had no control over the militants?
# Posted 1:07 PM by Karol

I know it's just the LA Times, but this leaked memo is certainly a start.
# Posted 11:03 AM by Karol

My biggest praise of Bush has always been that he is not a talker. Clinton was a talker. Bush is a do-er. I appreciate action a million times over words. Seems like an unlikely celebrity agrees with me.
# Posted 6:43 PM by Karol

I just picked up my NY Sun and saw this picture on the cover. All I have to say is WHAT?



US singer Whitney Houston smiles next to her husband Bobby Brown during her meeting with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
# Posted 2:15 PM by Karol

My internet has been going in and out of service today and I'm really busy so I hope you will forgive me for just copying and posting something funny I read in Best of the Web yesterday.

From BOTW:

French Whines

In an interview with London's Guardian, rocker Neil Young engages in some Hedges-like liberal illiberalism:

"The US is like a baby with a bomb," he barks, his eyes blazing with the famous stare. "The reaction to France that the administration allowed to happen is so immature. These people have their own opinion--they're French! They're not f---in' Americans, they're French! Vive la difference, hello?"

Uh, Neil, it wasn't the administration that allowed the anti-French reaction to happen. It was the First Amendment. ESPN reports that the French don't seem to have much of a sense of humor:

And after she won the NASDAQ-100 Open in April, Serena Williams--the reigning French Open champion--smiled mischievously, mustered a cartoonish French accent and said, "We want to make clothes. We don't want the war."

The backlash in France was immediate. A number of Paris boutiques removed clothing endorsed by Williams and a French firm canceled plans to design blouses with her.

Now, if the French don't want to do business with Serena, that's their business. But where are all the folks who were wetting their beds a few weeks ago over an "assault on democracy" because some people were boycotting the Dixie Chicks for being anti-American?

The New York Times reports on a street demonstration in Paris:

The scope of the protests [Sunday] surpassed the pension issue, bringing people into the streets with a long list of disparate gripes, not all of which were well articulated. Florence Teyssier, a university student from Rouen, grew flustered when asked what she was protesting, eventually pulling a flier from her knapsack to read several paragraphs about education reform.

"I'm not sure myself, but it's all here," she said, showing a reporter the piece of paper, which decried government plans that would allow universities greater freedom in setting curriculums and let them be more selective in admitting students.

Zee French, zey are so intellectual!
# Posted 1:22 PM by Karol

Gun crime is growing in the UK "like a cancer".

I hope the anti-gun folks in the US are paying attention (as handguns are completely illegal in Britain and yet....)
# Posted 11:35 AM by Karol

'Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to G-d'
-Thomas Jefferson

I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day and remembering, especially now, that's this day is about more than barbeques and shopping sales.
# Posted 12:44 PM by Karol

The New York Times has caught onto the fact that there are -gasp- young conservatives out there. The New York Times makes the shocking discovery that these young conservatives wear jeans, aren't bigots and have convictions. Don't worry though, they don't say anything overly positive about them, going as far as accusing the conservatives of getting over on their innocent liberal prey 'by acting like everybody else'. I wonder how these young conservatives manage to hide their horns for days at a time and 'act' like their classmates.
# Posted 3:27 PM by Karol

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this president?



President Bush drives Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in his truck at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Thursday, May 22, 2003.
# Posted 12:09 PM by Karol

I direct you all to a phenomenal piece called 'Ten Tips on How to Be an Arafat Apologist' by Jamie Glazov. A must-read for those who in any way believe Arafat is a partner in 'peace'.

Via Experimental Insanity.
# Posted 1:37 PM by Karol

Clinton Aide Competes for Iraqi Information Minister Job

Bill Clinton took the stage at the Beacon Theatre in New York to introduce Willie Nelson and was loudly booed. 'The concert was taped for a Memorial Day showing on the USA network but even with serious editing, it will be hard to use the Clinton part at all. Clinton "seemed angered" and made a comment about "angry Republicans," which stirred the crowd on more.' Clinton's Aide uses the 'they are not even within 10 miles of Baghdad, they are committing suicide at the gates!' technique saying 'There was so much applauding that he had to quiet them down so he could introduce Willie. Clinton was not upset at all. They gave him quite a rousing ovation and he was mobbed by all the talent.' Mmmmhmmm. Sure.
# Posted 12:50 PM by Karol

Some notes to the French president Jacques Chirac:

1. If you're planning to 'embarrass' someone, and that someone is the head of the most powerful and richest country in the world, perhaps announcing it to the press ahead of time isn't the smartest way to go.

2. If you're 'baffled and exasperated' with the way you've been 'frozen out' after being an obnoxious obstacle to a country you call an ally, maybe the best way to remedy this isn't to further agitate the leader of the country that is causing you this grief, seeing as said leader is enjoying a high rate of popularity among the people he leads.

3. If you are leader of a country that is laughed at the world over for it's lack of military prowess maybe you should stop 'clinging' to the idea that in your 'vision of a global balance of powers' has 'France as an alternative to America.' Alternative what? Alternative superpower? Alternative economic powerhouse? C'mon. France can try being an alternative to Belgium, maybe.

4. Last, if part of your plan to embarrass President Bush has you challenging him on economic issues, maybe co-opting his main economic plan-lowering taxes-isn't the way to go about it.

Just some thoughts Jacques.
# Posted 11:06 AM by Karol

From BOTW:

You Don't Say

"New Saddam Sculptures Finding No Buyers"--headline, Associated Press, May 20
# Posted 12:14 PM by Karol

''Can you believe that some Democrats are going to run on being tougher — way tougher — than President Bush on terrorism and homeland security? I mean, why should they even try? Will anyone buy this? It's so . . . counterintuitive, among other things. I mean, it's like Republicans claiming that they'll give you more socialized medicine than their opponents. Why even the feint?'-Jay Nordlinger

Oh, I can believe. Sometime shortly after 9/11 I wrote that the only way to beat Bush in the next election will be to run to the right of him, to show that he is weak on terrorism. I'm not surprised that that is what Democrats are doing. Jay Nordlinger plays right into the set-up stereotypes: that Democrats are nice and Republicans are tough. Republicans shouldn't rest on this assumption. Things change all the time, stereotypes shift. Bush has been tough on terrorism and election time will be the time to lay that out, to speak of all the plots that were foiled and to note that the road ahead is long and filled with crazy men with bombs strapped to their chests.

# Posted 11:04 AM by Karol

I woke up to my NY Sun yesterday, like I do everyday, and in my half sleepy haze looked at the cover and did a double-take. They had a photograph of the bus that was bombed in Israel on the front page (the top photo in this link was the one in my Sun). There were dead people and bloody half-dead people. It was revolting.

The day went on. There were reports of Palestinians killing Israelis and also other Palestinians. I was having a bit of the 'glaze over' effect that Jonah Goldberg uses to describe people as having when they hear about violence in Israel. The picture stayed in my head all day but I didn't really have anything to write about it. What was I going to say about the deaths that I haven't said before, that blogs all over the internet weren't saying?

My boyfriend, Peter, came home and I asked him if he had seen the Sun. I showed him the picture. He said 'and they're going to reward these people with their own state.' To understand the implications of Peter saying something like this you would have to know a little bit about him. Here goes: he is fair and even-tempered. He never raises his voice or gets unduly annoyed or angry or critical. He has done two bad things in his whole life: the first in fifth grade when a girl was cheating off him on a test and he changed the answers around so she'd get them wrong; the second when he rode around London on an expired bus card for about a week. That's it. He is a moderate in every sense of that word, working out the different angles of blame and responsibility, trying to see every side of every issue. My brother's girlfriend, sometimes commenter Brigeta, will say to my brother 'I wish you were more like Peter.' My brother will reply 'and you think I don't wish YOU were more like Peter?' I'm going on at length about him not just to brag about what a phenomenal guy I have but to say that if the Palestinians have lost him as a friend, he who is a friend to everyone, then I don't know what kind of friends they can have left. This latest intifada has made people unable to see the cause of the Palestinians. I know I have lost any sympathy I previously had for them. I wasn't always like this about Israel, I used to see two sides in this story, now there is only one. Don't get me wrong, I was always a Republican, but even Republicans used to have some feeling for the Palestinians, some urge to help 'solve' the crisis in the Middle East. I know President Bush is trying to do something there with his 'road map' but most Republicans see it as the pipe dream that it is. James Taranto notes that 'the "road map" calls for an end to Palestinian Arab terrorism by the end of this month. You've got 12 days left, Abbas--good luck'. I don't think that urge to solve the problems exists anymore in me and it has certainly been strongly diminished by those around me who once sat comfortably on the left side of the aisle, pleading for understanding about the Palestinian cause.

I've written several times about the difference of being against the Iraq war and being anti-American. It's not that I think they are the same things, it's just that when 70% of Americans support the president on the war, you can't just say you are against the president, you are against the 70% just the same. In other words, when a solid majority of the population supports something, to be against it is to be against them. Over 70% of Palestinians agree with suicide bombings. How can I not be anti-Palestinian? How can I not despise this culture of death?
# Posted 10:34 AM by Karol

Quote of the Day:

'Re: the Roadmap: Those in the State Department who did not wish to retaliate for the murdering of Marines in Lebanon, who were willing to let Kuwait remain Iraq's 19th province, who balked at going to Baghdad in 1991, who shrugged when thousands of Shiites and Kurds were butchered, who sought to pass on Milosevic, who raised the possibility of a coalition government with the Taliban, and who were opposed to Iraqi freedom — now would entrust the security of our only true Middle East ally (and the only real democracy in the region) to the pledges of an Abu Mazen. The latter, known for his Holocaust-denying "scholarship," shares power with an autocrat and terrorist, and only haphazardly reins in a "street" that cheered 9/11, rooted for Saddam Hussein to kill American soldiers, and praises killers who slaughter innocents, among them Americans, across the Middle East.'

-Victor Davis Hanson
# Posted 9:55 AM by Karol

Sad news: Ari Fleisher is resigning. I don't know if it's just in the Jewish community that he is such a cult figure, a nice Jewish boy done good, or if his popularity is more widespread, but his smart and sarcastic way of handling the press will be missed by many.

Via 'Spot On' reader SMFA.
# Posted 9:55 AM by Karol

A looooong time ago I wrote that I wanted some guest bloggers for weekends. Many people expressed interest and then I never heard from any of them again (perhaps blogging is harder than it looks, hmmm). This morning I got a guest blogger post from 'long-time commenter, first-time poster Dawn Summers', as she would like to be introduced. If you love her post, hate her post, agree, disagree, please use the comment sections to let her know (this is a plea to not fill up my already overflowing email inbox with your praise or disgust). Without further delay here is the first ever guest blogger piece on 'Spot On':

Last week, Robert Stack passed away, hmm I should probably link to some story on CNN here since it seems like the blog-worthy thing to do (here's one-K). Anyway, most of the news reports focused on his tough guy roles in the Untouchables and Unsolved Mysteries . Well, today I want to highlight his comedic turn as Captain Rex Kramer in Airplane!

When I was about nine or ten I watched some of the Airplane! movie on television. I liked the beginning when the Jaws theme music played as the plane navigated the clouds and then crashed into the terminal when the controller accidentally points it in the wrong direction while talking to someone else on the ground … but then the icky love story between Robert Hays and the stewardess lady ruined the whole experience and sent me running back to my room to play Donkey Kong on my handheld videogame. Well, this weekend, almost twenty years later, I rented Airplane! from Netflix. (For anyone attempting to figure out my age, I meant to say no where near twenty years later).

What can I say: when a lone cab driver walks up to the ticket counter to buy a one way (smoking ticket) to Chicago and says “no baggage,” I knew this was going to be an important film. This movie has everything that should make any self-respecting New Yorker in a post 9/11, SARS epidemic, Columbia Shuttle tragedy, Monica Lewinsky, world shudder - a pedophilic airline Captain, a strange illness which sweeps through the cabin taking out the whole flight crew, a gun-toting passenger, people walking back and forth through the cockpit, a fiery descent from the sky, EGAD even a man with a turban dousing himself with gasoline and lighting a match to kill himself. And it was still funny. That’s right Hollywood producers and magazine writers, I didn’t cringe when the old lady hung herself on the flight to escape Robert Hays’ sappy retelling of his romance with Elaine or worry when the airport security let any number of vehicles idle at the curbside or when little Joey was brought up to the cockpit to see how the controls worked. Even Elaine having to blow up the automatic pilot was a funny bit (hint, the airtube was very inappropriately located between the doll’s legs.) Terrible things happen in real life all the time --- as anyone who caught Beyonce’s performance on Saturday Night Live this week can attest --- but the point of movies, theater, television, any entertainment --- is to tell good stories that suck their audiences into their made up worlds. I have nonchalantly rolled my eyes whenever I've read reports of entertainers or directors cutting scenes from movies due to sensitivity because of some real life tragedy or “wanting to support the troops.” (Yeah Madonna, I’m looking at you.) But watching Airplane this weekend made me realize that we are losing valuable footage that twenty years from could make someone laugh or cry or think, all for the sake of some “sensitivity.” Does anyone really think that because ten minutes of carnage was deleted from Terminator 3, we’re all going to feel better about the current state of international affairs? If it were that easy, the makers of Paxil and Zoloft (not to mention the makers of Duct Tape) have got some serious problems. In fact, it’s probably just going to make T:3 suck for ten minutes less than it would have otherwise (No Linda Hamilton? what the hell were they thinking…)

So, Rest In Peace Robert Stack, may we all remember the fateful words of your Captain Kramer: “Flying a plane is no different from riding a bike, it’s just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.” And since I don’t know what that means and this is my first ever blog post, perhaps Lloyd Bridges’ “It looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking” is more appropriate.

P.S. I have far too few links in the post so here’s one for all you true fans out there who want an accurate count down to “Chosen.”
# Posted 11:07 AM by Karol

Quote of the Day:

'Yes, but you see, Schumer's life is important. He needs the protection. It's not like he's just some single mother working late at a convenience store or something.'

-Instapundit on the news that 'the Senate's leading gun control advocate, Senator Charles Schumer - who's currently pressuring the White House to extend the 1994 assault weapons ban - travels with an armed bodyguard'
# Posted 12:13 PM by Karol

Via RealPolitik
# Posted 10:54 AM by Karol

New York is in a time of absolute absurdity. On paper we're in an economic slump but you still can't get a cab or a reservation for dinner. There is no smoking in our bars. You have to put money in the parking meters on Sunday. Our mayor is a Democrat who calls himself a Republican. And the one that takes the cake: the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hid money to make it seem like they were having a budget crisis in order to raise fares on buses and trains. Now, a court has reversed the increase. I can't imagine a situation in which the price of anything goes down once it has gone up, especially if the government is in charge, so I will believe it when I see it. Does anyone else feel like New York is going through a bizarro time and nothing is what it seems?
# Posted 11:22 PM by Karol

We're living in a police state maaaaaaaan! We're having our rights stripped away every day! The constitution! Through a shredder! 'Ask anyone who’s lived in a communist country, and he’ll tell you: Modern America is deja vu all over again.' And now for a little humorous sanity, go read Lileks.
# Posted 11:27 AM by Karol

Just a quick thought running through my head after attending a debate tonight: Someone who condemns Israel can sound positively peaceful and moderate when they say they are against the suicide bombers targetting 'civilians'. The only problem with this is the huge hole it leaves by which to escape to the idea that it is ok for the suicide bombers to kill anyone: there are very few civilians in Israel as the army is mandatory for most people over the age of 18. Service continues throughout ones life in the form of the Reserve Army. Those who voice opposition to just 'civilians' being targetted get to sound peaceful while hiding their true intentions. It's similar, I think, to the 'I'm not anti-Semitic, I'm just anti-Zionism' excuse. It is hating not what Israel does but what Israel is.
# Posted 9:08 PM by Karol

Some very mature maneuvering from the Democrats in Texas. Heres to hoping the whole party takes to hiding out in Oklahoma.

Article via Spot On reader DTDT.

Update: link has been fixed

# Posted 10:48 AM by Karol

Song of the Day: 'The State I Am In' by Belle and Sebastian. So pretty and summer-y on this damp, cloudy Monday.
# Posted 1:40 PM by Karol

Via RealPolitik
# Posted 1:22 PM by Karol

Quote of the Day

'To get it back from the institutional to the personal: look at me. I have not the slightest doubt that I am a conservative by thought, feeling and instinct, yet on a lot of the issues that define American conservatism, I barely move the needle from the zero mark on the dial.'

-John Derbyshire in a terrific article on Metropolitan Conservativism that I can not help but relate to.
# Posted 6:15 PM by Karol

I missed Bush's speech on the USS Lincoln last week but I saw the photos, read the transcript and believe it was an incredible moment in history, a notch below Reagan at the Berlin wall, but nevertheless one of those moments that will live on after all of us. The Democrats, at a loss on how to compete with Bush, are making the speech an issue. They say it was a photo-op for election 2004, they say how dare Bush keep these soldiers, who have been at sea for 10 months, an extra day because of his visit, they say the cost of the speech aboard the Lincoln was an astonishing 1 million dollars. The charges are absurd but somewhat understandable due to how completely lost the party of the left seems these days. David Frum quotes a Democrat writer, Matthew Miller who writes quite intelligently on the matter:

“For foes of Bush’s domestic agenda, like myself, the worst part of these Democratic attacks is how ineffective and tone deaf they are. The party’s most idiotic argument (it’s hard to find a gentler word that’s also accurate) is that in staging this event, Bush showed disrespect for the troops, because he delayed their return to their families by an extra day after a 10-month deployment. Isn’t it obvious even to Democrats that, if you took a vote of the sailors on board, they’d have unanimously hailed the idea of a visit from their commander in chief to deliver the thanks of a grateful nation? It’s a moment they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives and tell their grandchildren about. Democrats, inspired perhaps by the trial lawyers who bankroll the party, are acting as if these troops are good prospects for a class-action suit.

“The cost was puny anyway. Early Democratic salvos complained that the photo-op cost at least $100,000, as if we should be outraged. Reality check, please. Fifty million dollars for Kenneth Starr’s investigation was an outrage; $100,000 to land on deck and welcome troops returning from war is patriotic pageantry. Earth to Democrats: There is nothing wrong with a little patriotic pageantry. And the costs of presidential movements are always extraordinary. When a president changes where he eats a meal one afternoon, taxpayers probably drop $100,000. You know what? We give the head of the free world a budget for that.

“Democrats, of course, know this. Which helps explain why as I write this I’ve already received fresh e-mails from a Democratic press office raising the cost estimate for Top-Gun-Gate to $1 million. Bet they’ll get it to $10 million before week’s end.

James Taranto adds 'The idea of the Democrats worrying that the government may have wasted a whole million dollars brings a smile to our face. Speaking of smiling faces, did you see those sailors in the audience when Bush spoke last week? They didn't seem to mind being part of a "photo-op." And of course, every time there's a news report of the Dems' carping, it's accompanied by triumphal footage of the president on the Lincoln. The main effect of the Democrats' petty complaining seems to be to give the Bush re-election campaign a lot of free advertising.' Taranto also quotes Jonathan Chait of the New Republic, a lefty publication, as writing 'Perhaps the most disheartening development of the war--at home, anyway--is the number of liberals who have allowed Bush-hatred to take the place of thinking. Speaking with otherwise perceptive people, I have seen the same intellectual tics come up time and time again: If Bush is for it, I'm against it. If Bush says it, it must be a lie. Their opposition to Bush has made liberals embrace principles--such as the notion that the United States must never fight without U.N. approval except in self-defense--to which the Clinton administration never adhered (see Operation Desert Fox in 1998, or the Kosovo campaign in 1999). And it has made them forget that there are governments in the world even more odious and untrustworthy than the Bush administration.'

It continues to interest me how 'idiot' Bush has managed to completely confuse the party of the supposed intellectual. In my lifetime, I have never seen a party with less focus. Why do I care? Why don't I just gloat and enjoy this time? Because I like politics. And, I'd like to see a race in 2004. I want to see issues argued out. I want to have my mind affected about my 'fence-sitting' issues. I want to see both parties rise above where they are now. The Democrats are nowhere and the Republicans will no doubt become complacent. I guess I want action and to have poltical action involves at the minimum two inspired parties. If this is the best the Democrats can do in their criticism of Bush, I don't forsee any life in the next election.
# Posted 12:33 AM by Karol

I have a question. Accusing Jews of trying to control the governments of the U.S and Britain is, apparently, not anti-Semitic. And, all of the hoopla during the anti-war demonstrations were supposedly anti-Bush, not anti-American. So what does Madonna congratulating France on it's stand during the Iraq war(to be clear, that stand was completely contrary to that of the U.S) make her? Can we finally use the term 'anti' to describe something? Is Madonna's approval of France's position not an inherent disapproval of the U.S's, especially considering that the war has already been fought? Does that not make her anti-America? Just asking.
# Posted 7:40 PM by Karol

In one of the most incoherent and rambling pieces I've ever read, British writer Margaret Drabble admits 'my anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease.' Well, at least she admits it, I thought while reading it. I rather have open admission by someone that hates me rather than having a 20 comment argument about where paranoia because anti-Semitism, or in this case anti-Americanism.

She is so pleased with herself, though, for openly despising America: 'There, I have said it. I have tried to control my anti-Americanism, remembering the many Americans that I know and respect, but I can't keep it down any longer. I detest Disneyfication, I detest Coca-Cola, I detest burgers, I detest sentimental and violent Hollywood movies that tell lies about history.' Good for her, one less lunatic visiting our shores can never be a bad thing.

She writes that she hates America for what it has 'done to Iraq'. In other words, freed the Iraqi people from the tyranny they have lived under for decades. Then, she jumps into how America has this triumphant attitude towards wars it has not even won. She mentions, of course, Vietnam. She rants on into how miserable life is for the 'winning' Vietnamese. So just to be clear, America is bad because America wages war in places with no freedom and no hope like Vietnam and Iraq, America is bad because America loses the war in Vietnam, but America is also bad because it has won the war in Iraq. O-k.

She pretentiously calls Britain the land of Shakespeare several times and embarrasses herself further by quoting Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. How teenage and adorable. She mentions living under the boot and how she has had enough of boots. My hope for people like her, idiots who think that their perfect little lives are lived in a 'police state' or 'under the boot' is for them to actually have to live in a place where this is so. To see America like people with their faces pressed to the pavement see America. My anti-Idiotarianism has become uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease.
# Posted 11:32 AM by Karol

Big News:

Salam is back.

Hat tip to 'Spot On' reader Scott.
# Posted 10:28 PM by Karol

For the British readers:
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 low fares airline, announced it will give away 1000 FREE SEATS for every €1 Million Easyjet have lost in the half-year. Easy Jet has lost €66.2m.
**Booking from 9am until Midnight Wednesday 7th May 2003**
www.ryanair.com
# Posted 1:31 PM by Karol

The first time I heard of the 'powerful Jewish lobby in America' was while I lived in Britain. It was funny, how matter-of-factly it is said over there, like if you disagree you must be under the influence of the lobby too. Well, it turns out that the powerful lobby has got Tony Blair. Tam Dalyell, a Labour MP, doesn't only suggest that Mr. Blair is under this evil influence, he takes the next step- he names names. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Left-wing Labour MP named Lord Levy, Tony Blair's personal envoy on the Middle East, Peter Mandelson, whose father was Jewish, and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who has Jewish ancestry, as three of the leading figures who had influenced Mr Blair's policies on the Middle East. Mr. Dalyell added that Mr. Blair was also indirectly influenced by Jewish people in the Bush administration, including Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser, Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defence secretary, and Ari Fleischer, the President's press secretary.'They very much have captured the ear of the President of the United States. I said [to Vanity Fair] I thought that Blair was very sympathetic to them. I cannot understand why.' Of course, Mr. Dalyell does not consider himself anti-Semitic, no Jew hater is these days, although I'm not sure the usual 'I'm just anti-Zionist' bullshit excuse for anti-Semitism applies here. Mr. Dalyell tries the 'but I have a Jewish friend' approach to covering his disgusting comments. 'I am not going to be labelled anti-Semitic. My children worked on a kibbutz,' he said. Well, that makes it alright for you to be an anti-Semitic asshole then. Where are the kids off to next?
# Posted 11:36 AM by Karol

Verdict for Chanterelle: waaaaaaay overrated.

Please see April 25th post at 11:51 AM for background
# Posted 9:11 PM by Karol

What is the world coming to when 'Anarchists' have 'Meet-ups' and one of the choices for possible locations is Starbucks (the others are the hipper than thou bar 'Barmacy' and a bar in a swanky midtown hotel).... Fight the power, maaaaaan, and bring me another Cosmo.
# Posted 9:01 PM by Karol

Galloway suspended by Labour Party.
# Posted 4:16 PM by Karol

The biggest story in America right now is the 'gotcha' of Bill Bennett. Bennett is a conservative, once the Drug Czar under the first President Bush and now the leader of a great organization called AVOT, who wrote a book, that I admittedly have never read, called 'The Book of Virtues'. In it, apparently, he advocated the benefits of living a virtuous life. Now, it turns out, that he has been gambling large sums of money for many years.

I'm not completely clear on why this is as huge a story as it is, other than yesterday was one of the slowest news days in history. From what I understand of the book, Bennett has never spoken out against gambling, so the whole 'hypocrisy' claim doesn't really hold. It's not illegal, since he did it in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, two places where gambling is legal. He didn't hide it, he filed all the correct papers with the IRS. Most importantly, he did not play more than he could afford. I think the big story is that Bennett has been hard to 'get' since he does live a pretty virtuous life, and so this is a big deal only because no other big deal has been found. In the wake of this 'scandal', Bennett has said he is going to quit gambling. I wish instead of going into the typical apologetic mode he would have said that he is a model of what gambling should be like- never spending more than he can afford, asserting self-control , doing it legally.

Jonah Goldberg has a much more thorough piece on the situation, if you are interested, here.
# Posted 10:51 AM by Karol

I have previously mentioned how much I am irked by these two phrases:

'winning the hearts and minds.....'
and
'losing the peace'.

I'd like to add 'slippery-slope' and 'being put through a shredder' which have got to be the biggest cliches ever to describe the path that our Consititution is supposedly on.
# Posted 6:44 PM by Karol

Quote of the Day:

"How would you feel if you were Putin? Your guys kill more people in a single Moscow theatre than Bush's do liberating Baghdad. Bush wraps Iraq up in a month, while you've spent years killing hundreds of thousands and reducing Grozny to rubble and your boys are still coming home in boxes."

-Mark Steyn on how Bush is so 'stoooopid' in a piece called 'What counts is what a guy does when he's not talking'.
# Posted 2:54 PM by Karol

I only caught the last 10-15 minutes of the debate between the Democratic presidential hopefuls but it made me feel soooooo much better about election 2004. I'm not naive, I know that a lot can happen between now and the election, but the lackluster bunch that we have been presented with from the Dems make me believe that Bush is a near lock to win. Did anybody watch the whole thing? Did I miss all the clever and interesting parts?
# Posted 11:38 AM by Karol

I owe emails to everyone and their grandmother and I'm sorry for the delay in my responding. I had a really hectic week last week. I made some rash decisions and am kind of waking up to their implications, both good and bad, this week. I promise to be a better emailer, a better commenter and a better blogger over all in the days ahead. :-P
# Posted 9:59 AM by Karol

What a difference a war makes.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Bush deserved "great credit" for his leadership during the war and praised the work of the military. He added "In 21 days, we eliminated somebody who for 20 years has repressed and tortured his own people and posed a serious security risk,"

Via Drudge Report.
# Posted 12:08 PM by Karol

On 'human shields' being neutral:

'The two British suicide bombers who blew up a seafront bar in Tel Aviv, killing three people, had posed earlier as peace activists, acting as "human shields" for Palestinians, sources in the Gaza Strip said yesterday.'
# Posted 11:39 AM by Karol

I knew Lyndon LaRouche was an anti-Semitic kook, but I never knew that he thought that Britain secretly controls the whole world and in particular the Jews. A sample quote: 'America must be cleansed for its righteous war by the immediate elimination of the Nazi Jewish Lobby and other British agents from the councils of government, industry, and labor.' Wow. Maybe that's why I feel so comfortable in Scotland. I'm a British agent and I didn't even know it! That's so sneaky!

Via J.R Taylor on New York Press's Billboard.
# Posted 4:59 PM by Karol

Looks like congratulations are in order:

'Cuba has now overtaken Eritrea, Burma, and China as the world's biggest prison for journalists'.

Via Jay Nordlinger.
# Posted 11:10 AM by Karol

This is the bar that was blown up and a picture of the waitress that was killed. What a great accomplishment for the Palestinians, on the day that the 'road map' for peace was released.
# Posted 10:09 AM by Karol

The two suicide bombers who attacked a seafront bar in Tel Aviv yesterday were British. The implications of this are, of course, huge. The argument often used to describe the Islamo-fascist terrorists in Israel and beyond is that they are 'desperate' and poor and uneducated and suffering. Well, here were two men, one actually born in Britain, living in one of the richest countries in the world, afforded every opportunity to live a free and rich life, and still they return to Israel and kill themselves in the name of the intifada. You can not tell me this isn't about religion, them hating mine AND yours. You can't tell me there are explanations or rational arguments to be made for their behavior. Most of all, you can not tell me that there is anything to offer in return for ending hatred like this. These men weren't even Palestinians. Their pain of not having Israel was felt by proxy and they still had hatred enough to kill people hanging out in a bar.
# Posted 9:07 AM by Karol