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I forgot about that one
Andrew Sullivan remembers that South Park portrayed Mohammed in an episode a few years ago. And no on cared. What a scam this all is.
And Kudos to the Weekly Standard for publishing the photos. The gutlessness of the American press on this one has been quite sad. The article is well worth reading as well. Quick quote:
None of these anguished reactions actually occurred, of course–no pogroms, no renunciation of U.S. and E.U. aid, no hiccup in the Iranian nuclear program. Because there was no real “anguish.” In truth, by December nothing much had happened because of the cartoons.
So a group of Danish imams took off for the Middle East to try to cause trouble. To do this, they added three cartoons to their roadshow that they seem to have ginned up–crude propaganda pieces that would be guaranteed to stir a mob, just in case the original illustrations didn’t produce the effect they were after.
The militants’ trip was a success. Various extremist groups and terror-connected Islamists decided to use the cartoons as yet another weapon in the radical Islamist attempt to intimidate the West, and various Arab dictatorships saw a political opportunity in starting some anti-European riots.
And you can understand their calculation. Since 9/11, the West has gone on offense against radical Islamists and Middle Eastern dictatorships. That assault has apparently been more threatening to them than many of us realized. From Iraq to Palestine to Iran, from Islamist enemies of liberty to dictatorial opponents of democracy, those who are threatened by our effort to help liberalize and civilize the Middle East are fighting back with whatever weapons are at hand, and with whatever invented excuses and propaganda ploys they can discover.
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I continue my way through the classics
And I must highly reccomend Paul Muni in “I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang” (1932). A somehwat true story evidently. More info here.
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I return from my work-related hiatus
- Gaza shopkeeper stocks up on Danish flags to burn
- Your tax dollars at work
- Some courage in the media
- What is the deal Iranians and the Holocoast? Are they positioning themselves to take over bin Laden’s place as anti-west figurehead in spite of whole Shiite thing?
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There’s not much more to say…..
Everything that needs to written about the current green line conflict (to use hip internationalist jargon) in Denmark has been written. I suppose the underlying theme is the need for people to participate in a society to a strong degree.It is a good display of spine by the Danes; I imagine we’ll see a lot more of this sort of thing in the future as multiculturalism wears thin for the Europeans, and diminishing marginal returns (as it becomes easier to move about that part of the world) on immigration.
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May a thousand property values bloom
Atlanta ‘McMansion’ ban fails committee vote
A proposed 120-day ban on building permits for big houses in four Atlanta neighborhoods was rejected Wednesday afternoon by a committee of the Atlanta City Council, but it remains on track for consideration Feb. 6 by all members of the council.
At least the neighborhoods can change organically.
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Tuesday rapid fire
- The story and original lyrics to Bonaparte’s Retreat.
- A very good bio-article on Micky Spillaine.
- A new conspiracy site!
- You’ve got your pain ray in my sonic blaster!
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Of moderate interest
I took the Myers-Briggs test last year and got
INTJ
IntrovertedIntuitive Thinking Judging Strength of the preferences % 78 50 88 78 I just took it again and got
INTJIntroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging Strength of the preferences % 67 62 88 56 -
Extremely well put
You know, to me Wal-Mart is a lot like George W. Bush. It’s not that I’m that big a fan in the abstract, really, it’s just that the viciousness and stupidity revealed in its enemies tends to make me view it more favorably than I otherwise would.
Which says it exactly right. For someone I didn’t vote for and for a place I rarely go (and when I do, it’s usually because of the hours, and not the price) I’ve spent a fair amount of time defending both. Ditto for the pro-lifers. Hmmm.
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An interesting graph
I recently came across this somewhat useful chart as a link off of digg.com.
It displays the discretionary budges and it quite useful in that regard. However, it does not show entitlements. Given that entitlements such as Medicaid and Social Security make up about two thirds of the total federal spending, this seems quite odd to not include.
The creator of the graph’s explanation for not including these figures is that “Congress has no control over mandatory expenditures”. These expenditures are mandatory in the sense that they are automatically renewed and their numbers altered by formula ever year, with no congressional vote needed to reauthorize them. However, a simple majority could reduce the expenditures on these things to zero.
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Ouch
Kerry has become the Paris Hilton to Al Gore’s Nicole Ritchie on the stage of American politics: creatures whose fame has become self-sustaining; and who remain in the public eye not because of any achievement or acumen, but who are simply famous for being famous.
Kind of like Dan Quayle when you think about it.
