Why the Muslims Misjudged Us

An insightful and unsparing article by the military historian Victor Davis Hanson published in the Wall Street Journal in February, 2002.

Machine-gun Packing Robots Headed for Iraq

A modified version of an Army robot designed to deal with IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq is on display at the 2006 Auto Show at the Washington, DC Convention Center. Terrorists in Iraq likely will soon confront robots that can fight back, according to a Sgt Mero, who works for the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. The robot can be fitted with several types of machine-gun as well as rockets, 40 mm grenade launchers, and the M-16 rifle. Terrorists will likely think twice before engaging machine-gun-packing robots, Mero predicted. “You’re not going to try to sneak up on it,” the Sgt said, “and if you shoot at it, it’s going to know right where you are.” I think I might check out the auto show this year.

Who Killed Daniel Pearl?

On WAMU, a DC area NPR station, Kojo Nnamdi interviewed Bernard-Henri Levy, the French philosopher and Journalist, last Tuesday (Sept. 23, 2003). Fortunately, WAMU makes these interviews available on their website (Realaudio streaming, but better than nothing): go to http://www.wamu.org/ram/2003/k2030923.ram. This is a fascinating and shocking interview mainly about Mr Levy’s recent book, Who Killed Daniel Pearl. He implicates high-ranking members of the Pakistani government in the support of terrorism, including the September 11 attacks on the United States; these connections were being investigated by Mr Pearl, and it is believed by many that members of the Pakistani government were responsible for his murder. See also a critical review of the book and a reprint of another interesting interview. This recent development (April, 2020) sheds some more light on the situation.

Religion

Saudi police ‘stopped’ fire rescue

“Saudi Arabia’s religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress [….] One witness said he saw three policemen ‘beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya’.”

Religiosity Correlates with Societal Ills

From the Journal of Religion and Society; the article is by Gregory S. Paul and is called “Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies”.

Other

The Maduro Regime Is Modeling Venezuela’s Repression on Horror Movies: A weird, dark, and horrible side to Venezuela’s brutal dictatorship.

Another Infant Gets Herpes from a Rabbi: “Two babies in New York City died from MBP-transmitted herpes over the past 11 years and two others suffered serious permanent brain damage.”

Sleight of words – Why the function of language matters: Brilliantly exposes the gender cult as medical gay conversion, and the tactical wielding of language as its chief weapon.

Woody Allen, Feminism, and “Believing the Survivor”: Allen was almost definitely the victim of false accusations by a jealous Mia Farrow, who also abused her daughter Dylan Farrow by creating false memories of abuse.

Gapminder World Chart for 2006: This beautiful chart compares the world’s territories by income and infant mortality.

Rachel Levine is a Quack Promoted by Pharma-Backed Group to Normalize Disembodiment

German Politicians Fight for Circumcision: They seem determined to push back against the court decision banning superstition-based genital mutilation of infants.

Black, white and shades of grey - what’s behind sprint’s race divide?: Ability in sports is largely inherited—but that has nothing to do with the folk conceptions of “race”.

Lying About Richard Dawkins: It’s getting tiresome and predictable.

What Is Systemic Racism?: Scroll down to the contribution by Kenny Xu for an eye-opening demonstration of the racist Asian exclusion policies of elite US universities.

India is not a Democracy: Not as long as freedom of speech takes a back seat to religion.

The EU asks the UN to ban genital mutilation while failing to stop it at home.: 500,000 women and girls in Europe have been mutilated.

Washington Post Foreign Desk, Accused of Pro-Hamas Bias, Teems with Al Jazeera Veterans: If you read the Washington Post you need to be aware of this.

You Are Still Crying Wolf: Overstatement of the racist component of Trump’s support does real harm. An excellent article making a strong case that Trump is not so much racist as simply weird, random, and incoherent; but glosses over his very racist behavior as a landlord.

DC’s insane gun laws: The DC government cares about you.

Burkas for Babies: A Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa calling for female babies to wear burkas, in order to protect them from sexual abuse.

Eleven Magic Words: A moving story of a bewildering success in the courtroom. This lawyer can write!

Anti-pronouns letter to companies: Do you allow your staff to add “their pronouns” to their email signatures on official correspondence? This letter explains why you need to forbid this insidious practice.

The Kindergarten Intifada: “a well-coordinated, national effort between teachers, activist organizations, and administrators to indoctrinate American children against Israel.”

Penis-Sucking Rabbis Infect Two More Babies: New York City has failed to stop the unsanitary and inherently dangerous practice of metzitzah b’peh.

“Hitler” Clothing Store: The establishment in the Indian state of Gujarat creates a bit of controversy.

Comment at April 7^th, 2022 APS School Board Meeting: Expanded Version

Explaining Trump Supporters: I’ll take my journalism where I can get it.

Embarrassing pond name to be changed: Probably a good idea.

Fantasy Worlds on the Political Right and Left: QAnon and Trans-Sex Beliefs

Al Franken, the latest casualty of the “Weinstein” effect, now a victim of sexual McCarthyism: “Tweeden herself has been photographed groping a male musician’s rear”.

EFF to Court: No Qualified Immunity for Wrongful Arrest of Independent Journalists

Gmail will call the cops on you based on the content of your emails: Don’t make the same mistake as this innocent man, and rely on Google services. If you do, when they separate you from all your data and erase your phone number and email address, and falsely tell the police that you’ve committed felonies, don’t ask how you could have known this might happen.

Joseph Epstein’s “Lucky Life” in Literature

Muslim Censorship of YouTube: Google’s appeasement of censors affects content and search results within the US, sometimes even when those censors are foreign governments.

How Italians Became ‘White’: ‘Darker skinned southern Italians endured the penalties of blackness on both sides of the Atlantic. In Italy, Northerners had long held that Southerners — particularly Sicilians — were an “uncivilized” and racially inferior people, too obviously African to be part of Europe.’

Israel Pediatric Association Condemns Rabbinical Penis-Sucking: They now officially oppose the revolting and potentially deadly ritual.

Greece has a Blasphemy Law: This violation of human rights is not limited to India, Ireland and Afghanistan.

Osaka, Japan Mayor in Hot Water Over Extreme Comments: Toru Hashimoto’s comments have created domestic embarrassment and international outrage.

In 2023, Let’s Rediscover Wrongness: This is a dangerous article and nobody should read it.

Jamal Khashoggi: Turkey says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate: As the two vile governments argue over what happened in this bizarre incident, two facts seem clear: the Saudi government would not have been reckless enough to do what they are accused of as a result of an official act; but, in the heat of the moment, someone in the embassy may have lost his cool (remember the words of Casper Gutman).

TheWashington Post Reports on a Shooting: Its reporting is deceptive and blatantly political.

Do Jews have horns? No, but the trope is having a comeback: If we needed any more confirmation that “pro-Palestinian” demonstrations in the U.S. and Europe are just an excuse to indulge in a frenzy of antisemitism, here it is.

Two Letters of the Law: Virginia was under the impression that it had a law requiring drivers to stop at a stopped school bus.

The Nuclear Threat from Pakistan: An alarming analysis identifies a twofold risk.

Nazi Named to European Anti-Discrimination Body: Business as usual.

J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues: Another excellent article about the new misogyny. She writes, “We’re living through the most misogynistic period I’ve experienced.” Imagine that.

When Asked ‘What Are Your Pronouns,’ Don’t Answer: “A seemingly innocuous question masks a demand for conformity with a regressive ideology.”

Hitchens Was Right: People lie when surveyed about churchgoing.

The Gay Rights Movement Has Been Hijacked by a Radical Transhumanist Agenda

Turkey Fines TV Broadcaster for Simpsons Episode: A $30,000 fine was imposed by the authoritarian regime for the blasphemy of showing the devil asking God to make him a coffee.

Brazil’s Condom Independence: Having achieved independence from foreign oil, Brazil is now exploring independence from foreign condoms.

Arrested for Possessing Information: A citizen of the UK has been jailed for possessing a recipe for the production of ricin, an extremely dangerous poison made from castor beans. He has not been accused of actually doing or having anything besides information.

A Composer Condemned Arson. Now No One Will Hire Him.: “I chose to be that guy who didn’t issue the apology,” says Daniel Elder.

“Trans” is just the medicalization of nonconformity with sex stereotypes and the U.S. medical establishment is stating that explicitly

ACLU Defends the Second Amendment: Well, indirectly.

Confusing article on gun statistics: It’s not clear what the graphs are supposed to mean.

Why Did the Most Important Story of the Campaign Slip Under the Radar?: Timing, presentation, and the distraction of “grab them by the pussy.”

Some props for capital punishment in the U.S.: ‘“In your laws there is the death penalty, so we are hopeful,” Mullah Qayoom said.’

Columbia task force reports ‘crushing’ discrimination against Jews: This report could be describing the university environment in 1930s Germany.

Cardinal Bribed Outlaw Priests: The stories of the sordid behavior of Catholic officials have become routine.

Where has Moshe Averick Been?: Rabbi Averick falsely claims that circumcision rituals are always safe, while falsely accusing Christopher Hitchens of committing an “outright lie.”

Why Is Charles Murray Odious?: I’ve read a handful of articles arguing that Murray is a racist, or that he isn’t. I’ve even listened to part of a long interview of Murray by Sam Harris. I think this is the most useful and clear-headed of the essays on the issue that I’ve encountered.

Groklaw: Timely discussion of legal news, with reader comments and an RSS feed.

School Teaching in Chinese Is a Lure for Black Children:

“while most are children of Chinese immigrants, almost 10 percent of the students are black, and many of them come from the outer reaches of the city, enduring long trips for the chance to attend a school that has developed a reputation for excellence.”

Secret “Analogue Hole” Bill

The author of the Freedom to Tinker weblog wanted to find out what was going into the Sensenbrenner/Conyers analog hole bill. So he emailed the company that sells VEIL, one of the technologies that the bill’s authors propose be required by almost all analog video devices. The company’s conditions for revealing the spec: a nondisclosure agreement and a fee of $10,000. The author asks some good questions: “Are the members of Congress themselves, and their staffers, allowed to see the spec and talk about it openly? Are they allowed to consult experts for advice? Or are the full contents of this bill secret even from the lawmakers who are considering it?”

Bus firm takes car sharers to court

A “group of French cleaning ladies who organised a car-sharing scheme to get to work are being taken to court by a coach company which accuses them of “an act of unfair and parasitical competition”.