Another book the Left hopes nobody will read

I am talking about Obama's book.  No, I have not read it, and not going to: I know everything I need to know about his positions to not vote for him, even if he did not have racist views.  But here is Ann Coulter's review:

Has anybody read this book? Inasmuch as the book reveals Obama to be a flabbergasting lunatic, I gather the answer is no. Obama is about to be our next president: You might want to take a peek. If only people had read "Mein Kampf" ...

Nearly every page -- save the ones dedicated to cataloguing the mundane details of his life -- is bristling with anger at some imputed racist incident. The last time I heard this much race-baiting invective I was ... in my usual front-row pew, as I am every Sunday morning, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Obama tells a story about taking two white friends from the high school basketball team to a "black party." Despite their deep-seated, unconscious hatred of blacks, the friends readily accepted. At the party, they managed not to scream the N-word, but instead "made some small talk, took a couple of the girls out on the dance floor."

But with his racial hair-trigger, Obama sensed the whites were not comfortable because "they kept smiling a lot." And then, in an incident reminiscent of the darkest days of the Jim Crow South ... they asked to leave after spending only about an hour at the party! It was practically an etiquette lynching!

So either they hated black people with the hot, hot hate of a thousand suns, or they were athletes who had come to a party late, after a Saturday night basketball game.

In the car on the way home, one of the friends empathizes with Obama, saying: "You know, man, that really taught me something. I mean, I can see how it must be tough for you and Ray sometimes, at school parties ... being the only black guys and all."

And thus Obama felt the cruel lash of racism! He actually writes that his response to his friend's perfectly lovely remark was: "A part of me wanted to punch him right there."

Do read it all.  And in case someone is quick to dismiss Ann Coulter as a Right Wing firebrand, one of my co-workers actually did read the book.  It appears that everything Ann is saying is true.

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The lies media tells us

When the Pentagon report on Saddams Hussein's links to terrorism came out not too long ago, the main stream media eagerly reported that Saddam did not have any links to anti-American terrorism in general, and to Al-Qaeda in particular.  Well, guess what?  MSM lied:

Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that an investigation into over 600,000 documents captured at the end of the invasion of Iraq showed no operational links to al-Qaeda — or at least, that’s how the media reported it. After a strange few days in which the Pentagon delayed the report, it finally hit the internet last night — and it’s clear that the analysis done by the media was superficial at best. If no operational “smoking gun” could be found, the report still shows that Saddam Hussein had plenty of ties to all sorts of terrorist groups, including radical Islamist jihadis.

For instance, how about their support for The Army of Muhammad, a known al-Qaeda subsidiary operating in Bahrain? On pages 34-35 of the report, we find communications between their Bahrain agent and IIS headquarters confirming Army of Mohammad’s loyalty to Osama bin Laden. What is the response from Baghdad?

The agent reports (Extract 25) that The Army of Muhammad is working with Osama bin Laden. …

A later memorandum from the same collection to the Director of the IIS reports that the Army of Muhammad is endeavoring to receive assistance [from Iraq] to implement its objectives, and that the local IIS station has been told to deal with them in accordance with priorities previously established. The IIS agent goes on to inform the Director that “this organization is an offshoot of bin Laden, but that their objectives are similar but with different names that can be a way of camouflaging the organization.”

AoM had ambitious plans — including attacks on American interests. On page 35, the Iraqis list their aims as attacking Jewish and American interests anywhere in the world, attacking American embassies, disrupting American oil supplies and tankers, and attacking the American military bases in the Middle East. The Iraqi support for AoM may not be an operational link, but it’s certainly a financial link that goes right to Osama bin Laden. The Iraqis certainly understood that much, and hoped to keep it quiet.

Read it all on Hot Air.  And then spend some time and read the source itself.  Note that it's in PDF format.  If this link to report stops working, let me know, and I will upload the whole report: I saved it on my computer.  But basically this is the same as with the 9/11 Commission Report.  The Commission found the links, and then the media reported that they did not, hoping that nobody will bother to read the thing.  Why they keep doing it is beyond me.

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Honest leftist

Here is an article by Senator McGovern:

Nearly 16 years ago in these very pages, I wrote that "'one-size-fits all' rules for business ignore the reality of the market place." Today I'm watching some broad rules evolve on individual decisions that are even worse.

Under the guise of protecting us from ourselves, the right and the left are becoming ever more aggressive in regulating behavior. Much paternalist scrutiny has recently centered on personal economics, including calls to regulate subprime mortgages.

With liberalized credit rules, many people with limited income could access a mortgage and choose, for the first time, if they wanted to own a home. And most of those who chose to do so are hanging on to their mortgages. According to the national delinquency survey released yesterday, the vast majority of subprime, adjustable-rate mortgages are in good condition,their holders neither delinquent nor in default.

There's no question, however, that delinquency and default rates are far too high. But some of this is due to bad investment decisions by real-estate speculators. These losses are not unlike the risks taken every day in the stock market.

The real question for policy makers is how to protect those worthy borrowers who are struggling, without throwing out a system that works fine for the majority of its users (all of whom have freely chosen to use it). If the tub is more baby than bathwater, we should think twice about dumping everything out.

Health-care paternalism creates another problem that's rarely mentioned: Many people can't afford the gold-plated health plans that are the only options available in their states.

Read the whole thing.  And remember that Senator George McGovern is a member of the Greatest Generation.  All the political disagreements aside, he most definitely deserves our thanks, respect and admiration.

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Clowns of terror

That is the title of an article about Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang.  And it applies perfectly to those leftist idiot of the 1970s:

...Hopelessly incompetent, these terrorists were products of the Left-wing counter-culture of the Sixties, a group who railed against the Establishment and had bonded around casual sex, rock music and the ingestion of massive quantities of illegal drugs.

But despite their inadequacies, they left a trail of destruction and dead bodies in their struggle against the 'capitalist exploitation' of workers.

What is most shocking, though, is the support they attracted from the liberal-Left not just in Germany but throughout the western world.

The Baader-Meinhof story is a chilling lesson in the appeasement of terrorism by a Left-wing consensus so blinded by ideology that it glosses over horrendous crimes in support of its cause.

These terrorists were the lethal face of the radical generation who went on to occupy the heights of the liberal establishment across the western world.

In Britain, the Left-leaning universities, the arts, the BBC, and many more institutions are still dominated by survivors of an era whose ideologies - a disrespect for authority, contempt for the family unit, an emphasis on human rights not responsibilities - permeate every facet of our lives 40 years on.

Read it all.  And remember them when you see young idiots of today wearing black bandanas over their faces at the leftist demonstrations.

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Conservative purists

There are many Conservatives who plan to sit out the election in November.  Even now, when it is very likely that the Democratic nominee will be the Socialist Defeatocrat Obama, with all his racist and anti-American ties, rather than pragmatic leftist Hillary Clinton, even now those people are willing to risk handing the Presidency to the Democrats.  The damage that Obama's Presidency will do to this country, even if it is only 4 years, will be so huge that Jimmy Carter will look like Reagan Republican in comparison to this guy.  But those purists on the Right keep hoping that after all the damage a new Reagan will come along and somehow will rescue us all.  But we still live with Carter's damage (Iran).  And what about Reagan himself?  About a month ago there was this great article by Burt Prelutsky on World Net Daily, that only now I got around to posting about:

...But we don't live in a perfect world so, several months ago, I came out in favor of Rudy Giuliani. My main reason for doing so was that I trusted him to deal in a serious way with our Islamic enemies. Unlike, say, George Bush, who couldn't say enough nice things about Muhammad's religion, Rudy didn't seem to think he had to pussyfoot around the subject for fear of being politically incorrect. In other words, Giuliani made it clear that he was running to become president of the United States, and not the mayor of Dearborn, Mich. Perhaps he made it too clear.

I would have voted for him if he hadn't bowed out, but that doesn't mean that if Huckabee or John McCain gets the nomination, I plan to stay home and sulk on Election Day.

I happen to think that people who support Clinton or Obama have a screw loose, but they strike me as being far more rational than my fellow Republicans who are threatening to boycott the election. I can't tell you how many people have written to me insisting that they're sick and tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I understand that they're trying to convey their frustration, but I can't help sniffing the undeniable stench of self-righteousness.

It's as if they're unaware that politicians are human beings, and not God. They're people just like the rest of us, I point out, comprised in part of ambition, greed, arrogance and vanity, not to mention, on occasion, integrity, courage and even altruism. Let's face the facts, ladies and gentlemen – even those politicians we agree with also want to ride in well-guarded limousines and fly on Air Force One, have everybody stand up when they enter a room, be able to give tongue-lashings to senators and congressmen, have "Hail to the Chief" as their theme song, and never ever have to press one for English.
If there's a single thread that runs through the e-mails I receive from peevish Republicans, it's that none of the current candidates possesses the conservative purity of Ronald Reagan. One could almost get the idea that Dutch was betrayed by Pontius Pilate and crucified on Calvary. But that wasn't exactly the case. The fact of the matter is that Gov. Reagan gave Gov. Jerry Brown a run for his money – or should I say our money? – when it came to raising taxes here in California. But, in spite of the additional revenue, he was responsible in large part for the streets of our cities being turned into public latrines by the unwashed, the unwanted and the insane when, to save a few bucks, he oversaw the closing of California's mental hospitals. He also signed the nation's most liberal abortion bill. Although he had a change of heart a scant six months later, one never hears him condemned for flip-flopping on the issue.
And, lest we forget, as president, he opened the floodgates to illegal aliens by signing an amnesty bill in the mid-'80s and, for good measure, appointed Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court, neither of whom was the answer to a conservative's prayer. Frankly, as admirable as Reagan was in so many ways, I suspect that if he were seeking the GOP nomination this year, he'd be dismissed as a RINO by many of the party's zealots.

…………………………………………………………………………….

These are the nine men and women who have the final word on everything from abortion to eminent domain, and you're going to let some left-winger make the call because you don't like John McCain as much as you do Mitt Romney, or Mike Huckabee as much as Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul or Duncan Hunter? If so, you really ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

The way I see it, before boycotting the general election, you owe it to your country just to suit up, play your heart out and win this one for the Gipper.

Read it all.  I happen to agree with Mr. Prelutsky 100%.

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Lessons of history

A while ago I posted about an article comparing suppression of Nazi resistance in post-war Germany and current counter-insurgency operations in Iraq.  Today Sultan Knish provides some more information on this comparison:

While liberals commonly scoff at the comparison between WW2 and the Iraq War and prefer to dredge up their inevitable Vietnam references with even some conservatives joining in, the reality is that there is far more overlap between WW2 and the Iraq war than many realize.

Part of the problem is that most people have bought into the Spielbergized image of WW2 as a clean war with a clear enemy and for which victory brought a clean end. But the reality was quite different.

During the US occupation of Germany, American forces faced threats on two fronts. First the various elements of the Nazi party and particularly the SS, analogous to the Baathists in Iraq, also formed underground organizations with the aim of carrying on an active insurgency against America. The most famous of these was Operation Werewolf which functioned much like the original Sunni resistance did. In fact Saddam Hussein may have derived his plan for the Sunni resistance from Operation Werewolf. The irony then would be that both the US and the Baathists were replaying a modified version of a WW2 endgame with some tactical improvements.

Take your time and read the whole Sultan Knish's article.  Then go and read the article he linked to, comparing the Iraqi insurgents and Nazi Werewolves.  Sultan did something even more incredible.  I've heard many time that reporting about post-war Germany was just as defeatist and biased as the reporting today about Iraq.  I might have even wrote about it myself.  But I have never been able to find any actual articles from the late 1940s.  Well, Sultan Knish did find just such an article:

...The lieutenant has been talking about the traffic in Army property, the leaking of gasoline into the black market in France and Belgium even while the fighting was going on, the way the Army kicks the civilians around, the looting.

“Lust, liquor and loot are the soldier’s pay,” interrupts a red-faced major.

The lieutenant comes out with his conclusion: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” You hear these two phrases again and again in about every bull session on the shop. “Two wrongs don’t make a right” and “Don’t think I’m sticking up for the Germans, but….”

The troops returning home are worried. “We’ve lost the peace,” men tell you. “We can’t make it stick.”

A tour of the beaten-up cities of Europe six months after victory is a mighty sobering experience for anyone. Europeans. Friend and foe alike, look you accusingly in the face and tell you how bitterly they are disappointed in you as an American. They cite the evolution of the word “liberation.” Before the Normandy landings it meant to be freed from the tyranny of the Nazis. Now it stands in the minds of the civilians for one thing, looting.

You try to explain to these Europeans that they expected too much. They answer that they had a right to, that after the last was America was the hope of the world. They talk about the Hoover relief, the work of the Quakers, the speeches of Woodrow Wilson. They don’t blame us for the fading of that hope. But they blame us now.

Never has American prestige in Europe been lower. People never tire of telling you of the ignorance and rowdy-ism of American troops, of out misunderstanding of European conditions. They say that the theft and sale of Army supplies by our troops is the basis of their black market. They blame us for the corruption and disorganization of UNRRA. They blame us for the fumbling timidity of our negotiations with the Soviet Union. They tell us that our mechanical de-nazification policy in Germany is producing results opposite to those we planned. “Have you no statesmen in America?” they ask.

Do read it all.  This is indeed incredible.  You replace the word "Germany" with "Iraq", and the date of the article could be 2008 instead of any time between 1945 and 1949.  Ironically, this gives me even more hope: despite the leftist defeatism we will succeed, just like we did in the late 1940s.  And it also shows just how idiotic the leftist media is.

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Geert Wilders' film - updated

I am joining the long list of bloggers posting the film "Fitna" produced by the Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders.  Undoubtedly, my readership is nothing compared to big blogs like Little Green Footballs.  So, why am I bothering with this?  Here are the reasons:

1. The more people see it, the better;

2. Out of solidarity with the other bloggers;

3. My way of saying "Screw you!" to the jihadists.

So, here it is:

Update - 3/28/08, 11:00 p. m.:

LiveLeak, who originally released the video, now has removed it because of the death threats.  I am leaving their original video here below because it now displays their explanation.  Meanwhile, here is the Google video.  And to the jihadists: take your jihad and shove it up your ass!

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Obama's speech

Last Monday Barack Obama gave his speech on race.  On the Left people continue to view him as a Messiah, while on the Right people continue saying how inadequate it was.  The speech seems to fail to convince anyone of anything.  Rather, Obama's support is dwindling after vile rants of his pastor were revealed.  I heard parts of his speech while I was driving to work.  It did sound good.  And, ironically, Obama seemed to be saying: "Enough already talking about racial origins of people".  At least, it seemed that way to me.  I would never vote for someone like Obama based on his policies, but I could not care less about his race.

So, I started to think: "Is it fair to judge Obama by his associations?"  I started thinking about people I know.  Some of them harbor mistrust of Black Americans bordering on racism.  Others suspect every non-Jew of being anti-Semites.  I don't hold either of these views, so I don't think I should be judged by the views of those people.  But then I realized something.  Those people I know would not be able to promote those views in my presence without me arguing against them.  And if they would sound as vile as Obama's pastor, they would not be able to maintain their relationship with me.  When I was looking for a Hebrew School for my older daughter to attend, I actually looked for the one I would be comfortable with.  So, in my case, I ended up with Chabad, even though neither my wife nor I are religious, because any Reform Congregation would likely be, in the words of Michael Medved, "Democratic Party with candles".  Furthermore, if a rabbi in my synagogue would ever say anything even remotely close to the kind of crap spouted by Obama's pastor, I would never set my foot in that particular temple again, and my daughter definitely would not be attending Hebrew School there.  I would never allow my kids to be exposed to that kind of crap.  So, I guess, in my case, I really should not be judged by the views of the people I know.

But what about Obama?  For 20 years he sat there and listened to this stuff.  He picked this church, the church that reportedly Oprah Winfrey left, presumably because she would not stand for this crap.  He was married there and allowed his kids to listen to his pastor as well.  Some pundits on the Right are quick to say that, while they don't accuse Obama of sharing his pastor's views, they want an explanation of why he listened to Rev. Wright for 20 years.  That is political correctness at its worst.  I will not sugar-coat this.  I suspect Obama of sharing anti-American, anti-Semitic and racist views of Rev. Wright.  There are telltale signs of just that: his wife's being ashamed of this country, his refusal to wear an American Flag lapel pin etc.  The fact that he kept coming to that church for 20 years can be most easily explained by the fact that he felt comfortable listening to his pastor's rants.  There is no real way around it.  And so, there you have it: we have a Presidential Candidate from a the Democratic Party who very likely hates this country, or at least finds the views of his pastor justifiable.  Thus, I am not judging Obama by his association with his racist pastor.  Rather, I am judging Obama by his own views that allowed him to call Rev. Wright his mentor.  And those views are disgusting.

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A familiar story

Yesterday we visited out friend in Los Angeles.  Her little girl is the same age as my older daughter, and she had a birthday party, so we went there.  After the kids' party we went to our friend's house.  Later in the evening her parents came over.  We were sitting there and talking about life, politics, history etc.  And in the course of the conversation my friend's father told me a story, his story.  It was a story I've heard before.  No, not from him.  But I've heard similar stories about members of my own family and about members of my wife's family.  I've read stories like this many times.  Yet, when someone who lived through this and tells you about it is someone you know, someone sitting next to you at a dinner table, that tends to affect you much more...

My friend's family is from Berdichev, a small town in Northern Ukraine.  Her father, Mr. K., was 4 years old when the Nazis entered the city in the early July of 1941.  The Jews comprised a very large percentage of the population, perhaps even a majority: the city was historically a shtetl and a center of the Jewish life in Ukraine.  The city's male population of military age was in the Soviet Army fighting the Nazis, including Mr. K's father.  The rest of the Berdichev's Jews did not have time to evacuate and frankly did not think it was necessary.  You see, Berdichev was already occupied by the German Army once before, in 1918.  Back then the relationship between the Jews and the Germans was quite friendly.  There were Jews in the German Army, and the Germans of 1918 preferred to deal with the Jews: Yiddish is close enough to the German language, so they simply could communicate easily.  But in 1941 things were different.

According to Mr. K's recollection, around mid-September of 1941 the Jews of Berdichev were rounded up and brought to the square in the center of the city, ostensibly to be moved somewhere.  Mr. K was there with his mother, his 6 years old older brother and his 2 years old younger brother.  His grandparents were also there.  The rumor had it that those with the little kids would be left alone, and so Mr. K's mom sent his older brother to be next to the grandparents.  Soon Mr. K's mom sensed that something was not right.  She told her parents that she had a feeling they they were all going to be shot.  So she decided to make a run for it.  She picked her youngest one up, took Mr. K's hand and told her oldest to keep running with her and not to stop no matter what happens.  They ran.  The Germans were shooting at them, but they kept running.  Finally they got away far enough and hid in some orchard.  Mr. K's older brother was not with them.  They have never seen him again.  Perhaps he was hit while they were running.  They were recaptured later that day, but by that time the Nazis were done with murder for the day.  As they were recaptured, an auxiliary policeman from the locals hit Mr. K's mom in the shoulder with his rifle butt.  Ironically, a German officer intervened.  They were brought to the market place and placed in a line with a bunch of other Jews they thought were recaptured like them.  But it turned out that those people were the ones who had some skills deemed useful by the Germans: tailors, cobblers, jewelers, dentists etc.  Amazingly, all those people were released for the time being.  Mr. K with his mom and the little brother came back to their apartment.  They hoped that the oldest kid might come there if he was alive, but he was not there.  The apartment was already looted.  The only thing left there was Mr. K's father's green army-style wool blanket.  So, Mr. K's mother said: "That's it, we have to get out of Berdichev".  They picked up the blanket and left.  They figured that the further away from the city they get, the better chance they would have to survive.  The Germans and the local collaborators would be further away: they tended to stay closer to the city.  And the locals would be nicer.

They moved from one village to another for over 2 years, until the liberation.  Mr. K's mom could sew, and so they would stay with people in a village until she would sew clothes for them.  Then the peasants would ask them to leave and go somewhere else.  You can't blame those peasants for that: hiding a Jewish family in occupied Ukraine was extremely dangerous.  If discovered, the Jews had a chance of being sent to a camp: still some meager chance of survival.  But people hiding them would likely be shot on the spot, the whole family.  So, Mr. K with his mother and brother had to move around.  In the summer they hid in the farm fields, and in the winter people hid them in their houses.  They survived.  When the Soviets came back, it was still a liberation: as bad as Stalin's regime was, it was better than the Nazis.  In 1944 they got that telegram dreaded by every soldier's family: Mr. K's father was killed in action.

So, there were only 3 people left out of a pretty large family: Mr. K, his little brother and their mom.  They survived, thanks to Mr. K's mother's resourcefulness and her will to save her children.  As for those Ukrainian peasants that hid them, there are no words to express my gratitude.  Clearly, Mr. K's mom's sewing was very meager compensation for the risks they took.  It had to be their simple humanity that prompted them to save this mother with her 2 young kids.  I hope those people had long and happy lives.

In this country among Jews Ukrainians often regarded as universally anti-Semitic.  There is some truth to it: from the time of Bogdan Khmelnytsky anti-Semitism was rampant in Ukraine.  But there were people who were willing to risk their lives to save other human beings.  They sometimes might bad-mouth Jews and even call them derogatory names, but they would still save them.  In fact, I knew people like that.

This is history.  But how is it relevant now?  Well, for starters, there are some nuts that insist that Mr. K's story never happened.  And my and my wife's family members were not murdered.  Those nuts want the world to believe them, rather than Mr. K.  They don't want the world to believe the stories my grandpa told me.  There is one nut in Iran that accuses Mr. K of lying, while he himself wants to acquire weapons to make it happen again.  Look at this video that Judith Klinghoffer sent me:

While you are watching, pay close attention to those "salutes" so loved by Islamo-Fascists.  And, to refresh what you saw, take another look at the pictures in this article of mine.  There quite a number of people in the world that want to repeat Mr. K's story once again, only this time ensuring that there are no survivors.  To this I say:

NEVER AGAIN!

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Another school shooting

It's been 4 days since it happened (via Israellycool):

An Arab terrorist infiltrated Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva at around 8:30 Thursday night and murdered eight Jews. At least 10 students were wounded, including five in serious to critical condition.

Five of the dead were high school students in Merkaz Harav's Yeshiva LeTze'irim, and three studied in the upper-school Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva. 

I should have warned you: it's graphic.  The idiotic leftist media keeps talking about a "cycle of violence".  Of course, there is no "cycle": as soon as the bastards leave the Jews alone, the violence will stop.  Of course, those Nazis will not stop:

10:05PM: Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees:

“The only way that Israelis will have security is to get up and leave Palestine. All Palestinians will chase after every last one; we won’t leave them space to bury their dead. This is the first of many acts that the Palestinian resistance promised and started to carry out.”

I have an idea: let’s negotiate!

And so, we have to kill them before they kill us.  But here are the differences between this latest school shooting and a bunch of recent school shooting in America:

1. This one was undisputedly an act of terrorism, rather than possibly violence perpetrated by a disturbed individual.

2. Unlike, say, in the case of Virginia Tech massacre, the number of victims of this shooting was limited, thank G-d and a guy named Yitzhak Dadon:

The part-time yeshiva student who first shot the terrorist, 40-year-old Yitzchak Dadon, said he was in the Yeshiva's study hall when he heard the shots.  "Everyone left through a side door," he said, "and I left through a window, and lied down on a roof overlooking the library... When he came out, I shot him in the head twice.  I saw him start to stagger, and then David Shapira [a yeshiva graduate and paratroopers officer] arrived on the scene, shot him with his M-16 rifle, and then we emptied our magazines into him."

A good guy with a gun saved lives!  What a concept!  But of course the anti-gun leftist idiots would take away Yitzhak Dadon's gun, so that piece of shit Nazi would be able to go hunting for Jewish teenagers unopposed.  I also would not be surprised if some idiot calls for investigation of why Dadon and the other guy emptied their magazines into the terrorist.  After all, that surely was a violation of his civil rights.

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Helen's reply

Helen has replied to my open letter, here and here.  In order to avoid being accused of misquoting her, here is her response in full:

Hi Eric, I think you are trying to use me to make a point that isn’t there. I’ve never seen any of these photos before and have nothing to say about them. I’ve made it very clear that I believe the Holocaust was one of the most horrific events in history. Now if that’s anti-Semitic, we have done a 180! Believing that the US needs a different, more just distribution of wealth is not an endorsement of Hitler.

I find your list shallow. And as for etymology, take the word gay. Now there’s a 180! Unless, of course, you think homosexuals are the world’s happiest people.

Now find somebody else to misquote and argue with. I have more important things to do than worry about your misunderstandings of racism in this country. You are so hung up on being Jewish, which is a fine thing to be, that you don’t recognize suffering in others.

Write all the open letters that you want, but this is my final answer. For what I believe, see my blog.
Helen Losse
http://helenl.wordpress.com/

And having three copies of the same thing on the web won’t make it any more right.

So, nothing to say about those photos?  Helen hasn't seen the photographs of the Palestinian policemen and Hezbollah rising their right hands in Nazi salute prior to me showing her these photos.  And because of that she has no comments.  That is an iron-clad logic.  Here they are, those pictures, in the post below, 2 of them with working source links!  And she still can't comment.  To be perfectly honest, I did not expect an instant denunciation of the Palestinians or the leftist support for them.  Something like "Wow!", or "Oh, my God!", or "I am shocked, I did not know!" would have been enough for me.  You know, a mild expression of shock and outrage.  But instead, she has nothing to say.  And because I point out that the islamo-fascists are in fact the modern-day Nazis, because I point out the similarities between the Left and National-Socialism and because I point out the Nazi-like anti-Semitism often found on the Left, because of that I am too hung up on being Jewish.  By the way, to answer another of Helen's comments, Judaism is a religion, but "a Jew" is an ethnic definition.  Jews have their own language and distinctive physical characteristics, Southern European or Middle Eastern, to be exact.  Thus, in countries like Russia we are quite easily identified by the way we look, for example by my big nose.  So, anti-Semitism of European kind has much more in common with racism than Helen could ever imagine in this great melting pot called America.  But Helen would never know these details, because in a stereotypical leftist fashion she does not want facts to bother her, if those facts contradict her leftist views.  Rather than confronting unpleasant facts, it is much easier to just say: "I have nothing to say".  Dennis Prager often says that being on the Left means that you never have to say "Sorry", or change your views for that matter.  He is right, of course.  After all, if you are on the Left, your intentions are good.  Who cares about facts or results!

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An open letter to Helen

Some time ago I engaged in an argument with a nice leftist lady named Helen.  The argument started in the comments section of the Bookworm blog post on the issue of racism and continued on this blog and Helen's blog.  In the course of this very civil argument I suggested to Helen that she might find my "Reclaiming the Terms" article interesting.  She did read the article.  At first she commented that she will write more later.  I'll take a liberty to offer her second comment here in its entirety:

After reading this again, Eric, I really don't have much more to say. Etymology is an interesting field. But I do think it’s part of the reason the term “progressive” came into being. What you learned when you studied English has changed. All languages are living, dynamic, or else dead, like Latin. As times change, so does language. There are those who are mad because homosexuals use the term “gay.” They have to do what you have to do: Get over it.

It's been a while, but it is time to respond.

Dear Helen,

It is a pity that you don't have anything to say.  Because unfortunately you missed my point entirely.  What I said about English being my second language was meant as sarcasm.  The article has nothing to do with etymology.  You are right, the meaning of words often does change over time, but never to mean something 180 degrees opposite to the original meaning.

So, it is a pity that you don't have any comments.  I was especially eagerly awaiting your comment on so-called "liberal" support for those "saluting" Palestinian policemen.  Let's see that photograph again:

The link to the original Reuters page does not work any longer.  But this Time Magazine link still does:

I call this photograph "Hezbo-Jugend", similar to "Hitler-Jugend.  This one still works as well:

Here is the link directly to this last image.  So, do you have any comments on the "liberal" support for these people?

You say that the meaning of words changes over time.  Fine, let's recap the meaning of the word "Liberal" in the modern sense, as you understand it.

1. Government-enforced redistribution of wealth, i. e. socialism.

2. Government-enforced limitations of speech, i. e. hate speech laws, political correctness etc.

3. Awarding of privileges based on race and ethnicity, i. e. Affirmative Action.

4. Support for racist organizations like "La Raza".

5. Support for the outright Nazis - see the photographs above.

6. Support for euthanasia, like in the Terri Schiavo case.

How do you like my list of "liberal" positions so far?  In addition to this list you can also often find pretty wild anti-Semitism on the Left.  In fact, 65 years ago there was a government that pretty much held all those positions.  They even used that "salute", now appropriated by the Palestinian Arabs, those darlings of the Left.  And, if you look at the videos of Obama rallies, they will remind you of those documentaries from 1930s Germany.  So, there is only one more step that remains for the Left: to raise its collective right hand forward and repeat after those Palestinians: "Sig ..."

I sincerely hope that you will have something to say, especially about those photographs.

Best regards,

Eric.

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Feel-good racism - an answer to a comment

A commenter on this blog expressed a disagreement with my previous post on Feel-good racism.  The comment was polite, but for some reason unsigned, which is very annoying.  Nevertheless, it deserves some answers.

Whenever the subject of racism in America comes up, the Left laments on how bad it is, while the Right points out all the progress in inter-racial relations, while admitting that racism still exists.  So, let's agree what we call "racism".  If racism means feeling of prejudice on the part of ignorant individuals toward other than their own racial or ethnic groups, then it does exist.  There is no real way to combat this, other than point out the idiocy and irrationality of such prejudice.  But if racism means prejudice practiced by the government or societal institutions, then it most definitely hasn't been around for many years.  Additionally, if racism is denying privileges or awarding privileges to certain groups based on their racial or ethnic backgrounds, then Affirmative Action is, in fact, racist.

Let's get back to the subject I am more familiar with because of my own background: anti-Semitism.  There are certainly anti-Semites in this country, plenty of them.  Those who doubt that can go read any of the leftist blogs and find there plenty of ugly Nazi-like comments or posts.  But anti-Semitism as an institutional or government practice does not exist.

The anonymous commenter said something about what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf.  I doubt very much that he/she ever saw, let alone read Mein Kampf.  For the record, I haven't read it either.  So, I am not going to attempt to quote from that crap.  But I get very annoyed by people who heard something from somebody and then try to present it as fact.  So, I don't know what Hitler wrote.  I do know, however, that Jews and Gypsies were targeted for extermination, not immediately after he rose to power, but later during the war.

The anonymous commenter wrote that it does not matter if some Black kids don't perform in colleges, as long as they have a chance to go to college because of Affirmative Action.  But in fact, it does matter.  Perhaps it would be better if the kids from bad schools were offered preparatory courses in colleges, prior to attending regular classes.  Interestingly enough, there was something like this in the old Soviet Union.  That one of the very few things that were actually good there.  Shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution they instituted so called "workers' faculties".  They were created precisely in order to prepare those who were underprivileged for college.  My grandpa attended one of those.  Later preparatory courses were offered to those who entered college after military service, since they often forgot the stuff they learned in high school.  The inner city predominantly black schools are worse than suburban schools not because of some racist conspiracy, but simply because of poverty.  I am sure there are predominantly white schools in small Midwestern towns that just as poor.

The Jews never had any Civil Rights movement in this country.  They simply overcame the discrimination based on merits.  The same could be true for the Black people.  Any rational employer will hire the most qualified applicant for the job at the lowest possible price.  Those employers who inject other considerations will simply lose in the market place.

I don't care about people's color.  Neither do my kids.  Why does the Left try to force me to pay attention to those irrelevant physical characteristics?

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This is a title of the article by Russ Vaughn posted both on American Thinker and Old War Dogs:

Chronic Warrior Syndrome

Russ Vaughn
One of the things I've come to love about writing for the Internet is the new friends I make whose perception sometimes make me smack my forehead in wonder that in all my years some insight they easily offer up had so completely eluded me until now. One such is a jarhead, and believe me, as an old paratrooper, I use that term with respect and brotherly affection. Old Leatherneck, Troy Watson, introduced me to the concept of Chronic Marine Syndrome, which as best I can determine is the inspiration of retired Marine Corps Brigadier General, Mike Mulqueen.

Reading the list of symptoms associated with Chronic Marine Syndrome, I realized quickly that the New York Times and other mainstream media organizations have been right all along that those who serve their country, and especially those who have actually fought in their country's service have most likely developed a syndrome which, considering the moral fiber of the mainstream media and the nation of sheep they seek to form and lead, could accurately be categorized by them as pathological.

Russ also wrote in his e-mail to me that he would like to have a requirement of at least 3 years military service as an admission requirement for all the journalism schools in the country.  That seems like a good idea to me, at least for those who cover the military and foreign affairs.  So, do read the whole thing, either here or here.  Enjoy!  And while you are at it, be sure to visit this fine site: http://www.e27marines-1stmardiv.org/.

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Can this be clearer?

Once again Charles Johnson of LGF found this wonderful picture:

I especially like the caption:

Hizbollah militants raise their arms in salute of assassinated Hezbollah top commander Imad Mughniyeh during a memorial service in his home village of Tair Debba, south Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.

(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Can someone in the media call this "salute" what it really is?  Can it be any more clear that these are the Nazis of our time?  Note that the link to the original picture works for now, but I saved the picture, just in case the link goes away.

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Some engineering links

As an engineer, I get a bunch of professional newsletters.  While most of the articles are of interest to high tech. professionals, some are interesting to the general public.  So, I am going to make the articles that are interesting to the general public a regular feature of this blog.  So, here are some articles from the site called "Planet Analog".

Why engineers will always be lousy politicians and pundits

The world of analog engineering is the polar opposite of the way that politicians and pundits operate, and that's why engineers don't fit into that public realm

Tony Santiago
Planet Analog
Feb 02, 2008 (12:00 PM)

Its political season here, and the media (both old and new) are filled 24/7 with politicians, pundits, and consultants who are analyzing, assessing, and forecasting. I'm so sick of the meaningless energy dissipation that I have pretty much shut off the TV and radio, and restricted my web sites and surfing time severely.

It's not that I am not interested in these elections in themselves; no doubt, they are important. But when I see the typical behavior and messages of the players, I get major mental aggravation.

Why? First and least offensive is their "spin", putting as good an interpretation on the facts as possible. It's like the old joke about a race: "our guy came in second, while your guy only came in next to last"--but you don't mention that it was just a two-person race!

Second, and more offensive, is the smooth way these people evade questions asked. Imagine your project manager asks, "hey, did you get that dissipation under budget?" and you answer "that's a good question, but instead I'd like to point out that we did get the speed up 20% above plan."

Finally, there's the absolute ease with which these people make predictions and then have no shame or contrition when they are repeatedly wrong. Instead, it's just on to the next prediction. If you modeled system performance and were off by 50%, you'd not only try to figure out why, you'd likely hesitate before making your next bold statement.

This behavior is very far removed from the non-software world of analog designers. When a vendor gives you a sample part and data sheet, you should be able to get the part to do what the data sheet says (assuming you have the proper test setup and expertise). There's no facile, glib suggestion to "ignore our 90 dB SNR claim, but look at that dissipation, and we promise an uncommitted internal op amp, maybe by next quarter."

This article is absolutely correct, from my perspective.  Here is another one that I agree with completely:

Commentary: Maybe 'they' should study some science instead?
Bill Schweber
EE Times
Feb 01, 2008 (3:32 PM)

Once again, engineers are being asked to spend more time studying the liberal arts ( "Engineering schools strive to serve up Pinter with Planck). Frankly, I'm tired of hearing this proposition, and it's not due my disinterest in non-science subjects: I'd be happy to discuss Greek philosophers, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and William Shakespeare with anyone out there.

First, I see nothing other than anecdotal evidence that such purportedly well-rounded engineers will be better at their jobs than those who focus their studies on science and engineering. Second, as the clich goes, there are only so many hours in the day, and if you take time to study one thing, you'll have to give up something else. The concern I hear from engineers and scientists at all levels is that there is already so much to know in their field that they are remiss at keeping up with even associated topics. Even more annoying, every time I hear some interest group with an agenda say something like, "Doctors should study more about nutrition/geriatrics/eating disorders, etc.," all I can say is, "OK, sounds good, but what would you have them not study, then?"

I am tired of the presumption that it's the engineers who need to become "well rounded." The typical engineer has broader knowledge and interests than the average non-engineer, in my experience. Then look at the abysmal understanding the public has about basic science and engineering topics; it would be funny if it wasn't so sad. These are the same people who call upon the technical community to solve every problem quickly, painlessly, and without tradeoffs. Tell me: Who needs to learn more about the other side of life?

The split between the technical and the non-technical communities is not a new story. It was discussed widely even in the 1950s by physicist and novelist C.P. Snow, in his essays such as "The Two Cultures," among others. Since that time, the divide he deplored has become even more dramatic than he foresaw, as technology's advance has accelerated while the understanding of it by the public which consumes it has declined.

There are many reasons for this decline, including the sheer complexity of today's technologies, a lazy and jaded public, and the dumbing down of education (have you seen today's high-school chemistry labs?), to name a few. But the basic principles of science and engineering are still vital and unchanged (force, power, gravity, the list could go on and on). Why should our community accept the premise that it is we who need to learn more about that non-technical side, rather than the other way around?

This "well rounded" BS always annoyed me to no end.  Meanwhile, there are people who can't cope with a simple task of programming their VCRs and have to call a handyman to replace a light bulb.  This reliance on "experts" will doom us all.  Here is another article that illustrates exactly this point:

Are we becoming a 'cargo cult' society?
Bill Schweber
EE Times
Jan 25, 2008 (3:00 AM)

The 2007 holiday gift-buying season again brought a major step-up in the sophistication and complexity of consumer goods. The technology embedded in these products is nothing short of astounding. As Arthur C. Clarke wrote in "Profiles of The Future": "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

But there's a worrisome aspect to all this magic in a box. The very complexity of the technology makes it less necessary that users understand it. For example, today's cars are much more reliable and easier to drive than earlier cars (Choke? What choke?), but they are also much more difficult to fix, unless you are trained and have specialized equipment and documentation. The good news, in theory, is that you no longer need to understand how the car works to keep it running; the bad news is that you couldn't do much even if you wanted to.

This reminds me of a "cargo cult," a term originating with a story of Pacific Ocean islanders in WWII who built dummy replicas of radios, antennas and microphones, then called for the planes to land with their cargo, just as they saw military forces do. Physicist Richard Feynman referred to this in his insightful 1974 Caltech commencement address (www.cs.umbc.edu/www/graduate/feynman-cargo.shtml).

When I think about the trajectory of all this technology, I wonder: Will we increasingly become a society of largely ignorant consumers who happily use what is given to us but leave the design, development, debug and manufacturing to an ever-smaller group? Looking a decade or two out, will there be only a dozen experts who know how to design a decent power supply? Will these groups become like the alchemists of old, and be called upon because they are the only ones with the understanding of how things actually work?

We've come to a point where rap stars get accolades for "designing" cell phones, which really means they are prettying up the case, not the innards. How many people can actually design the phone, or the parts inside of it, and produce it?

Donald A. MacKenzie, professor of sociology at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), wrote in "Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change" that there is both "explicit knowledge," which is published and spread, and the very vital "implicit knowledge," which skilled practitioners know and bring to their work, but which is not recorded or even recognized by them.

With the combination of increasing internal product complexity and decreasing end-user understanding, are we reaching a point where the implicit knowledge may get lost, or be known to a smaller and smaller circle? Are we becoming something of a cargo cult ourselves?

Finally, I'd like to round this up with these 2 technology news articles:

Startup puts wireless monitor on a band-aid
Rick Merritt
EE Times
Feb 04, 2008 (11:54 PM)

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Sometime next year nurses may put active band-aids on hospital patients to wirelessly monitor as many as three vital signs. Startup Toumaz Technology (Abingdon, U.K.) described its custom chip to power such a disposable device at the International Solid State Circuits Conference here Monday (Feb. 4).

A chip in a band-aid is pretty cool, isn't it?  Just click on the title to read the whole thing.

Navy demos railgun to fire projectiles 250 miles
R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
Feb 04, 2008 (1:48 PM)

PORTLAND, Ore. — An electromagnetic catapult, or railgun, is on track for deployment on U.S. warships around 2012, according to the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

A railgun, which uses electricity to magnetically accelerate munitions down a track, shoots metal projectiles that hit targets at supersonic speed. They can also cause more damage than a high-explosive without collateral destruction (emphasis mine - Eric-Odessit). With GPS-enabled targeting accuracy of 15 feet, when shot from warships up to 275 miles away, the non-explosive railgun projectiles could also protect Navy personnel without requiring dangerous explosives onboard.

We create new weapons in the middle of the war and still think about minimizing civilian casualties, otherwise known as "collateral damage".  How different this is from what our enemies do!

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Why it is very important to vote for McCain

This is not my article.  The article on this subject was written by Sultan Knish, and only now I got around to linkng to it:

Why You Should Vote for John McCain

It was 1991 and Edwin Edwards was running for reelection as the Governor of Louisiana. Edwards' corruption was legendary and he had faced multiple trials and indictments. Now in 1991 he was running against David Duke and bumper stickers and signs went up reading, "Vote for the Crook. It's important."

Well this time around John McCain is running against either Barack Hussein Obama or Hillary Clinton. Either one is as bad as David Duke. Obama is a Farrakhanite with a Muslim background, membership in a racist church and is backed by the Soros wing of the Democratic party. Hillary Clinton is a dogmatic far left wing activist with a socialist agenda that would turn America into the EU before she was done.

Vote for John McCain. It's important.

Read it all.  I have very little to add to this article, besides reemphasizing that the damage potentially done to this country by either Clinton or Obama Presidency will be impossible to repair completely.  So, in full damage control mode, vote for McCain.

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Something I can relate to

As long as we are on the subject of engineering, here is another article from the same professional magazine called Embedded.com.  It's a short article, so I will just post it all here:

Why I Became an Engineer

Why did you become an engineer?

By Jack Ganssle

Embedded.com

(06/24/07, 11:37:00 PM EDT)

Some years ago my son was tasked with a high school assignment to build a circuit to re-encode a bank of switches. The teacher expected a simple diode-based design, but I suggested tossing an embedded computer in, so if the problem changed the solution would be trivial.

Also, of course, the thought of tweaking the instructor was appealing. When Graham got the thing working, the flash of excitement in his eye was a tremendous reward. He built the project, he wrote a little code. And it worked.

That's exactly why I became an engineer.

Engineering is the art of solving problems. "In order to make a machine that does X, I have to figure out how to design some hardware and firmware that does Y." Puzzling out these solutions is both an intellectual challenge and a game. Am I smart enough to do this? What will I have to invent?

Problem solving is its own reward. But it's not enough, for me at least. I want to make something that works. Not push paper, not write proposals, not document someone else's creation, though all of those tasks are an inescapable and wearisome part of this profession.

But I want the thrill of seeing the motor turn, the LEDs blink, or a message marqueeing across the display. No doubt that "I made that work" satisfaction is rooted somewhere in the same brain center that rewards gamblers and addicts.

A lot of developers work on large projects that take years of effort. More power to them, but I could never do that. I want to see something work, relatively soon. Invent solutions, see them implemented, and move on to the next project. You can have those big government projects that consume entire careers; the thought of being caught in that mill horrifies me. Thankfully others are more patient and will see these efforts through.

I sort of fell into the embedded space as it didn't exist in the late 60s when I was in high school. An obsessive interest in electronics morphed into ham radio, but the important thing to me was always building something. First, learn the material, absolutely. But do start with just an infancy of knowledge and build a small project to get feedback, for fun, and to get a visceral learning that does not come from books.

Later I learned about programming (rather, became consumed with it), and when the first microprocessors came out was accidentally and fortuitously positioned with the right skills and interests.

To me, embedded is the best of all engineering fields. One person can design circuits. Write code. Often figure out the science, or at least its application. And then make something that works.

In the olden days some companies didn't let engineers work on the hardware. Technicians soldered, scoped and instrumented under the direction of an engineer. Screw that - half the fun is working with the hardware!

The irony now is that hardware can be so hard to manipulate - I have a sub-inch-square chip on my desk with 1500 balls on it - that the required special equipment becomes a barrier to that intimate physical manipulation of a circuit that can be so satisfying. If that sounds like some sort of foreplay, well, perhaps there is a connection between those two parts of the brain, too.

What about you? Why did you become an engineer?

I am an engineer.  And I love what I do.  My Dad was an Electronics Engineer, and I saw first hand how much fun it was, while growing up.  So, I followed in his footsteps and became an Electronics Engineer myself.  You come up with an idea, you design something, implement it, and then it works!  Problem solving is, indeed, its own reward.  And then your stuff works!  I just can't describe this feeling.  I guess, only a fellow engineer can understand why I get excited over some waveform on the screen of an oscilloscope.  So, I have fun all day playing with things and get paid for it!  What can be better?

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H1B visas

This article is not from a political publication, but from an engineering one:

Like tossing a lit cigarette out the window onto a bit of dry California brush, some subjects are consistently inflammatory for engineers. If career issues always spark excited commentary, discussion about H-1B visas are like pouring gasoline on a wildfire.

The ACM and IEEE claim that enrollments in CS and EE curricula are falling precipitously. Yet readers respond that those organizations are fronts for industry; that cries of looming shortages are the tools of fat-cat employers to flood the market with cheap imported labor and drive salaries down. Is that paranoia, or does it show a firm grasp of market dynamics?

Others respond that any idiot can see there's no shortage. "Just look at all of the unemployed engineers I know!" Unemployed friends and relatives make for powerful personal imagery, but just as a single cold or hot day says nothing meaningful about the global warming shoutfest, local and personal anecdotes are tragic but not statistically-significant. The IEEE says there's practically full employment, but those who think they're a shill for industry won't believe them.

For the record, I personally think that all the H1B visas should be replaced with Green Cards, along with requirements to become American Citizens.  But this is an interesting article, so do read it.

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Someone, who knew Hillary...

...back in 1974, wrote this unflattering article about her:

I have just seen Hillary Clinton and her former Yale law professor both in tears at a campaign rally here in my home state of Connecticut. Her tearful professor said how proud he was that his former student was likely to become our next President.  Hillary responded in tears.

My own reaction was of regret that, when I terminated her employment on the Nixon impeachment staff, I had not reported her unethical practices to the appropriate bar associations.

Hillary as I knew her in 1974

At the time of Watergate I had overall supervisory authority over the House Judiciary Committee's Impeachment Inquiry staff that included Hillary Rodham-who was later to become First Lady in the Clinton White House.

…………………………………………………………………………….

After hiring Hillary, Doar assigned her to confer with me regarding rules of procedure for the impeachment inquiry. At my first meeting with her I told her that Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, House Speaker Carl Albert, Majority Leader Tip O'Neill, Parliamentarian Lou Deschler and I had previously all agreed that we should rely only on the then existing House Rules, and not advocate any changes. I also quoted Tip O'Neill's statement that: "To try to change the rules now would be politically divisive. It would be like trying to change the traditional rules of baseball before a World Series." 

Hillary assured me that she had not drafted, and would not advocate, any such rules changes. However, as documented in my personal diary, I soon learned that she had lied (emphasis mine - Eric-Odessit). She had already drafted changes, and continued to advocate  them. In one written legal memorandum, she advocated denying President Nixon representation by counsel. In so doing she simply ignored the fact that in the committee's then-most-recent prior impeachment proceeding, the committee had afforded the right to counsel to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

Read it all.  But she is still better than Obama, in case she does become President.

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