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Politics

War

A Special Dictionary for Israel: “The claims of Israeli genocide in Gaza, however improbable, are once again couched in scholarly language and legal principles that are invented for Israel and Israel alone. Were any of them applied to any other theater of conflict, there is scarcely a military action in the world that couldn’t be classified as genocide. In this, they are following a well-worn tradition, one that thinks itself invisible, but is actually transparent.”
The Times Was Right to Worry About Obama’s Drone Program: “The precedents now being set will be carried on by successors who may have far lower standards.”
Should the President Kill with Impunity?: An editorial in the New York Times raises troubling questions about the President’s expansion of the anti-terrorism assassination program.
Live Tweeting the Bin Laden Assassination: “ReallyVirtual” is a witty guy, and happened to accidentally describe the helicopters and general scene before, during, and after the action by U.S. forces.
Does Serbian Culture Celebrate Genocide?: Karadzic lives and acts very much in a tradition expressed in Serbian epic poetry, that quite unambiguously celebrates genocide.
Afghan Pedophiles Get Free Pass From U.S. Military, Report Says: A grim followup to the Times’ 2015 reportSoldiersToldtoIgnoreAfghanAbuse?. Without the N.Y. Times’ reporting, the cooperation of the American military with endemic child rape in Afghanistan would have remained almost completely unknown.

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

The Family Research Council Does a 180: Now they want separation between church and state.
Parents shocked by judges’ comments in Pakistan child bride case: Muslims are allowed to kidnap non-muslim children and imprison them, where they are raped and forced to bear children (the perpetrators refer to this as “marriage”). This practice is officially sanctioned by the courts, with the single condition that the victim has begun to menstruate.
The Death of the Old Europe—and the Rise of the Right: Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Evelyn Markus explain Geert Wilders electoral victory in the Netherlands.
Guess the Religion: … and no cheating by using Google.
Beard Privilege: More special treatment for the faithful.
Graham Linehan’s gender blasphemy exposes the fear that stifles the trans debate: Brilliant analysis of the essentially religious nature of gender ideology.
The year the West erased women: “If the spirit of true feminism is to be reclaimed, we need more JK Rowlings and fewer Ketanji Brown Jacksons.”

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

Brazil’s Condom Independence: Having achieved independence from foreign oil, Brazil is now exploring independence from foreign condoms.
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).
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.
Greece has a Blasphemy Law: This violation of human rights is not limited to India, Ireland and Afghanistan.
Eleven Magic Words: A moving story of a bewildering success in the courtroom. This lawyer can write!
Two Letters of the Law: Virginia was under the impression that it had a law requiring drivers to stop at a stopped school bus.
“Hitler” Clothing Store: The establishment in the Indian state of Gujarat creates a bit of controversy.
Hitchens Was Right: People lie when surveyed about churchgoing.
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.
Why Did the Most Important Story of the Campaign Slip Under the Radar?: Timing, presentation, and the distraction of “grab them by the pussy.”
Penis-Sucking Rabbis Infect Two More Babies: New York City has failed to stop the unsanitary and inherently dangerous practice of metzitzah b’peh.
TheWashington Post Reports on a Shooting: Its reporting is deceptive and blatantly political.
DC’s insane gun laws: The DC government cares about you.
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.’
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.
When Asked ‘What Are Your Pronouns,’ Don’t Answer: “A seemingly innocuous question masks a demand for conformity with a regressive ideology.”
In 2023, Let’s Rediscover Wrongness: This is a dangerous article and nobody should read it.
Cardinal Bribed Outlaw Priests: The stories of the sordid behavior of Catholic officials have become routine.
The Nuclear Threat from Pakistan: An alarming analysis identifies a twofold risk.
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.
Israel Pediatric Association Condemns Rabbinical Penis-Sucking: They now officially oppose the revolting and potentially deadly ritual.
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.
Explaining Trump Supporters: I’ll take my journalism where I can get it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some props for capital punishment in the U.S.: ‘“In your laws there is the death penalty, so we are hopeful,” Mullah Qayoom said.’
Confusing article on gun statistics: It’s not clear what the graphs are supposed to mean.
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.”
Osaka, Japan Mayor in Hot Water Over Extreme Comments: Toru Hashimoto’s comments have created domestic embarrassment and international outrage.
German Politicians Fight for Circumcision: They seem determined to push back against the court decision banning superstition-based genital mutilation of infants.
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.
Lying About Richard Dawkins: It’s getting tiresome and predictable.
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.
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.
Gapminder World Chart for 2006: This beautiful chart compares the world’s territories by income and infant mortality.
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.”
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.
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”.
India is not a Democracy: Not as long as freedom of speech takes a back seat to religion.
Embarrassing pond name to be changed: Probably a good idea.

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”.


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