Postmodernism and New Labour

A very partisan article about Politics and lies - or postmodernism and new labour from Peter Oborne in the spectator.

Which Society would you prefer, Islaamic or Democratic?

No, it's not a trick question, it's Dan's scary sect! And the pundits say there's no discussion of the big societal issues in this election - pah!

Here's their manifesto:
Which Society would you prefer, Islaamic or Capitalist (Democratic)?

Bizarre stuff. I always wondered what the Islamist position on the rainforest was, and now I know. As an ex-Green voter, maybe I should transfer my vote to them? And in the light of our racism discussions, it's good to know that (despite those nasty allegations of a race war going on in Dafur) there's actually no racism whatsoever in the Islamist world...

Man secretly filmed wife in the bath

Man secretly filmed wife in the bath
Telegraph
28/04/2005

1. What the fuck?
2. Voyeurism is a crime??
3. He had to film his own bloody wife in secret???
4. What the fuck????
5. Thank god all those of you who have stayed at my house aren't litigious.

Jews return to Russia from Israel

Don't know what to make of this....

Once desperate to leave, now Jews are returning to Russia, land of opportunity
Times
April 28, 2005

...in the light of what I know about both historic & current Russian anti-semitism, eg this story from a couple of months ago:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_jews_20050217.ram
Jewish leaders in Moscow are preparing to take twenty Russian MPs to court for signing a letter, along with 500 intellectuals, which accuses Jews of committing ritual murder, satanism, and calling for all Jewish organisations to be banned.

Russian nationalists urge Jewish groups ban
Telegraph
26/01/2005
A group of Russian nationalist MPs have called on the prosecutor-general to ban all Jewish groups, blaming them for provoking anti-Semitism and ethnic hatred. The letter, signed by 20 members of the Duma, accuses Jews of dominating politics and the world of finance abroad and underwriting a war on Russian patriotism at home.

Half of Young Germans Can't Define Holocaust

Jesus wept...

Clueless Youth: Half of Young Germans Can't Define Holocaust
Der Spiegel
25/04/05

and all that after this a few months ago:

Half of British adults have not heard of Auschwitz
Telegraph
03/12/2004

Future of Europe

Found this satirical map.

Note the provenance (I was doing research by the way. I know that's the Pete Townshend defence, but it's the truth your honour.)

Anyway, how far removed from some Pipes and Steyn comments do y'all think it is?

Libby Purves on school discipline

Excellent article, I thought, interested in others' views. Not much chance of implementation of her ideas, I suppose.

Quiet, class, or it's handcuffs
Times - April 26, 2005
Libby Purves
With school discipline rapidly worsening, we will need to use extreme measures in the classroom

Johann says people aren't stupid...

Been meaning to post this for a while. Many fair points in the article but it amused me to see him get himself tied in nots thusly:

"Even when an actual issue emerged, it was usually distorted beyond recognition. Look at the biggest issue of the campaign so far. One man told me he knew "for a fact" that asylum seekers are given £40,000 a year each (in fact, it's £40 per week). Another guessed asylum seekers make up 20 per cent of the population. One told me it was "obvious" that refugees are more likely to be rapists. These people aren't stupid: they have been lied to."

Hmmm. There's a million news websites and newspapers. Could it not at some point be people's own responsibility to inform themselves? Bah, humbug!

When Johann met Galloway...

As you know I'm quite a fan of Johann Hari and here's an article from him about Galloway & King in Bethnal Green.

Here's a rather good bit:

"I asked Galloway how many Muslims had been murdered by his friend Aziz. The correct answer: even more than have been slaughtered by Ariel Sharon, or by Israel in 38 years of occupying Gaza and the West Bank. Galloway said, "Why don't you go and take some more drugs, you druggie?"

This is part of a pattern. Galloway consistently sides with unelected, unrepresentative Muslim leaders at the expense of the majority of Muslim people. When he talks about "siding with Muslims", I am always tempted to ask: which Muslims? Female Muslims, chafing under their veils and reeling from the fists of too many of their men? Democratic Muslims, braving suicide-bombers to vote all over Iraq? Gay Muslims, living in terror and locked in mock-heterosexual marriage? Muslim trade unionists in Iraq, dismissed by Galloway as "quislings"? Tariq Aziz, or his victims?"

Vote on Academic Boycott of Israel is Passed

You can read the story here and here.

And here's the AUT statement.

Here's the earlier impdec post on this topic.

And here's a longer version of a humorous anti-boycott piece I found on Harry's Place and orginally put in the comments section. It's worth reading because it goes far beyond the humorous bit quoted on Harry's Place.

Here's a report from the Palestine News Network.

And here's the reaction in Israel:

'The Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the union was guilty of hypocrisy. "The fact that AUT chose to target Israel, the only country in the Middle East that has complete academic freedom for all segments of the population and all political streams is scandalous," the ministry said in a statement.'

A quick Google search will yield plenty of other articles but I hope this is a good cross section. This whole affair does seem another example of 'human rights activists' turning all their attention on the one democracy in the Middle East. And I still think there's something borderline Stalinist about exempting those Israeli academics who publically denounce Sharon.

Happy Earth Day & Lenin's Birthday

Today is both Earth Day and Lenin's Birthday.

I found this curious website that suggests the two are not unrelated...

"...Americans are continually portrayed as materialistic capitalists who rape the earth, steal its riches, and are the cause of environmental problems around the world. Despite this, Americans remain largely unaware of the true goals of environmentalism while their school's textbooks are filled with Green propaganda, and their churches are infiltrated by Greens seeking to substitute earth worship to replace traditional Judeo-Christian values. U.S. entertainment and news media repeat and reinforce the Green message, and America's elected leaders, many of whom are members of the Progressive Caucus, an instrument of the Democratic Socialists of America, advance laws to achieve the goals of the Green movement.
This is why Earth Day is Lenin's birthday. It is no coincidence. It is a tribute to the ruthless founder of Soviet Communism and his goals are being fulfilled today in the guise of saving the earth from farmers, ranchers, mining, timber, oil, and chemical companies. From "urban sprawl." In short, any enterprise that seeks to utilize the earth's enormous bounty to enhance, enrich, and extend the lives of Americans and others worldwide."

Note: Due to a technical hitch this post originally went up a day late (St. George's Day as it happens - though I have no conspiracy theory about that date.) Anyway, I've corrected the date on this post so that it is archived correctly under April 22nd.

Voltaire the anti-semite

Was shocked and disappointed to find out recently that even bloody Voltaire was at it...

:-(

http://library.flawlesslogic.com/jtr_01.htm

Centuries later Voltaire's criticism of Jews, in his Essai sur le Moeurs, repeated many of the same charges: "The Jewish nation dares to display an irreconcilable hatred toward all nations, and revolts against all masters; always superstitious, always greedy for the well-being enjoyed by others, always barbarous -- cringing in misfortune and insolent in prosperity." Ironically, as Jacob Katz observes, "Voltaire did more than any other single man to shape the rationalist trend that moved European society toward improving the status of the Jew" (Katz, 34).

Still historically remembered (according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1994) "as a crusader against tyranny and bigotry," Voltaire turned repeatedly and angrily against Jews who he believed to epitomize such "tyranny and bigotry." Jews, he complained, "are ... the greatest scoundrels who have ever sullied the face of the globe ... They are, all of them, born with raging fanaticism in their hearts, just as the Bretons and Germans are born with blond hair. I would not in the least be surprised if these people would not some day become deadly to the human race ... You [Jews] have surpassed all nations in impertinent fables, in bad conduct, and in barbarism. You deserve to be punished, for this is your destiny" (Gould, 91). On another occasion Voltaire charged that "the Jew does not belong to any place except that place which he makes money; would he not just as easily betray the King on behalf of the Emperor as he would the Emperor for the King?" (Katz, 44). Thirty of 118 of Voltaire's essays in his Dictionary of Philosophy address Jews, usually disparagingly. Voltaire calls Jews "our masters and our enemies ... whom we detest ... the most abominable people in the world."

Bringing down Dictators

I realise that my posts have been most re-directs to Harry's Place and I'm afraid here is another one. It's about Bringing Down Dictators and is quite interesting. (Note: article mentioned in the post can be accessed for free by reading it at the bottom of the permalink; not by the link the main body of the post.)

Adminstrative post: an observation re: profiles

Have the rest of you seen Wembley's profile? Puts us all to shame. There's photos, favourite books, music, movies. I urge us all to follow his example.

(JP - we can take this post down after a few days. It doesn't need to be archived for posterity.)

Academic boycott of Israel

I posted something about this in a comment on another post, (admittedly full of typos) but anyway I thought the topic was interesting enough to put something else up here. (Another good post from Harry's Place.)

Say Hello to the New Pope... Same as the Old Pope

Welcome Benedict XVI.

I wonder if I'm alone in being slightly bothered by GW Bush's reaction. Most other world leaders have contented themselves with some platitudes about it being a tough and noble job.

GW on the other hand has said "He's a man of great wisdom and knowledge. He's a man who serves the Lord."

I'm squeamish about this 'serving the Lord' bit. It doesn't seem a million miles from Muslim clerics whose highest compliment is that someone is 'a good Muslim'. Or 'a man who serves Allah'. I guess as a secularist I'm just not comfortable with such professions of faith from our leaders.

By the way, The Sun's front page today is superlative.

I pleaded with them in Arabic not to shoot me

Bloody 'ell...

The man who would not die
Ten months ago, a BBC journalist and British cameraman set off on a seemingly safe assignment in Saudi Arabia. The trip left the reporter fighting for his life and his colleague dead. Now, for the first time, Frank Gardner tells his extraordinary tale of survival.
By James Meek
Tuesday April 19, 2005
The Guardian

PS I note they're still "militants" throughout this article...

Voting is an apostasy

Scary group the Saviour Sect urges Muslims not to vote. (Post from Harry's Place.)

Iran Bans Al-Jazeera

Iran Bans Al-Jazeera

What are the odds on an Al-Jazeera report on the Protocols of the Elders of Teheran?

MPs compared Gaza to Warsaw ghetto

My erstwhile sympathy for egg-bedraggled Black-Jewish Labour MP Oona King has taken a bashing on reading this.

MPs compare Gaza to Warsaw ghetto
Press Association
Thursday June 19, 2003

Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was today compared to the Nazis' creation of the Warsaw ghetto by MPs who recently returned from the region.

The controversial comparison, drawn by Oona King and Jenny Tonge, will anger the pro-Israel lobby and the visiting Israeli finance minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, who met Tony Blair at Downing Street this morning.

Labour MP Ms King, who is Jewish, said Gaza was "the same in nature" as the infamous Polish ghetto.