Sunday, May 25, 2008

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Time for the weekly insanity update, where the insane, the bizarre, the ridiculous, and the completely absurd are highlighted for all to see! This has been a week of rare idiocy (as always!). So, if you want to remain sane, the best thing is to poke some fun at the more egregious absurdities.

DURING MY BLOGGING HIATUS, I WILL CONTINUE TO POST THE CARNIVAL EVERY SUNDAY! So keep those entries coming in, and try to get them to me by Saturday. If you have questions, go here before submitting an entry. You can also submit an entry via Blog Carnival.

Try to make it funny, ironic, or clearly insane, people...I get a lot of "self-help" stuff that doesn't seem particularly funny or even ironic to me--and, if it doesn't seem that way to me, then its likely it won't be included-- unless it just happens to fit in with one of the COTI themes for the week.

Also, a link back to the Carnival if your submitted post is included would be appreciated...and some extremely harsh penalties await those who do not comply with this simple and reasonable request!

REMEMBER, THERE ARE SO MANY INSANITIES AND SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. You don't see this kind of sportsmanship much anymore....certainly not in the game of politics!

2. Presenting the mascot of Jihad A&M (Assassination & Martyrdom?) University...and the Palestinian Police ForceFarce.

3. There are all sorts of terrorist ties....but they don't like the Burberry plaid ones. They prefer terrorist chic or young terrorist chic.

4. Now here's an unusual dilemma you don't see very often. I shall go pop a few of these pills instead of commenting and let the multiculti, PC types figure it out.

5. Pacifascists among us. Not to mention the neo-marxist fascists: Channeling Hugo Chavez? Or is she stupid all on her own? Get lost, losers.

6. Insensitive, but he makes a really good point :)

7. Just a tad fascist. "Leadership" means finding out what other countries want from America and then doing it! Now that's big-time change. Does it sound like anybody you know?

8. It takes little courage or brains to join any mob. A perfect example. Myths busted.

9. Speaking of myths, where in the world is Mohammed al-Dura?

10. Uh-oh...shouldn't have said that out loud....There are stupid, insensitive gaffes; then there are 'Obama gaffes', which are refered to as his 'foreign policy', i.e., "The Chat" between a hairy munchkin and a rube. Or, maybe it will go this way.

11. Dances with Mullahs would be a great name; or, perhaps, Divorced from Reality ?

12. A greater danger to free societies than a cheerfully straightforward hater? I think so.

13. One is fighting for freedom and the other is intent on preventing freedom...I guess for some it's hard to tell which is which. So we lose a city or two, so what?

14. Hope. Change. White Guilt. Perfect campaign slogan. Maybe the Hope should be Hype and he should become a relationship counselor?

15. Scientology is a cult? Well, here's another one, even more fanatic. No one, NO ONE, can be permitted to criticize the Demo-god.

16. Consider the price of gas and how much the Democrats are costing us. Oh, and forget the pursuit of happiness, too.

17. A Separate but equal flipflop.

18. Even aliens have given up on Britain! Piss on them.

19. Venn diagram despair! It's ok, not everyone can be brilliant or scientific about such things.

20. Don't know much about poetry; Don't know much geography...Bet you didn't know this about Indiana Jones, either.

21. Beat the heat! How to make your vacation more interesting.... The root of all evil.

22. Does your chewing gum lose it flavor on the bedpost overnight? And, are bananas doomed?

23. Very fortunate for some of us--the way this research is being interpreted! :)

24. Have an awesome BBQ this Memorial Day!

***************************************
Carnival of the Insanities can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival and at the BlogCarnival.

If you would like to Join the insanity, and add the Carnival of the Insanities button to your sidebar (clicking on it will always take you to the latest update of the Carnival), click on "Word of Blog" below the button to obtain the html code:


Heard the Word of Blog?

Monday, May 19, 2008

BLOGGING HIATUS

Beginning today, I am going on an extended vacation from blogging. The only exception is that I will be posting the CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES every Sunday morning, so please feel free to keep sending in your submissions every week.

However, I need a break from all the daily insanity. Unfortunately, I am suffering from "blogger burnout", and consequently my level of enthusiasm for blogging has declined. Add to that some significant personal and professional issues; as well as the fact that there are several other major writing projects I have been putting off for a long time now and would like to begin/finish--well, it was either take a long vacation, or quit the blogging rat race entirely.

Thanks to all the readers and commenters who have taken the time to visit Dr. Sanity on a regular basis. While I am away, please feel free to browse the archives and visit some of my links.

Chances are good that I'll be back after a time. Addictions are like that, you know.

I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

PRICELINE NEGOTIATION ? I THINK NOT

Siggy, in moments of agitation and tribulation, tends to refer to me as "PMS"--usually when he is linking to the Carnival of the Insanities every week (see previous post for the latest COTI). Today, he conveys some serious truths in the ramblings of the reknowned "waste in space" expert:
The left needs war and strife, because without war and strife, they would have to make actual contributions to benefit others. Bitching about democracies and freedom does not contribute to the benefit of anyone but the frauds doing the bitching. In every case, bitching is a lot easier than actually working and contributing- and if you bitch loud enough, you can convince yourself you are more relevant than you really are....

What good is the Code Pink ‘Breasts not Bombs’ campaign? If they had an ‘Elbows not Bombs’ campaign, who would show up Do you think the cameras would be there? Do you think the victims in Darfur and Congo and Sierra Leonne see Code Pink as credible ‘negotiators’ on their behalf? Code Pink doesn’t care about victims. If they or anyone else on the left gave a damn about victims or war or oppressed people, they would do things very differently.

As I have noted many time before with regard to the political left--their ideology and behavior are all about them and have very little to do with life on earth.

Siggy's edgy parody basically says it all. Dealing with terror and terrorists is not a simple matter of Priceline.com negotiating to get the best possible deal.

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Time for the weekly insanity update, where the insane, the bizarre, the ridiculous, and the completely absurd are highlighted for all to see! This has been a week of rare idiocy (as always!). So, if you want to remain sane, the best thing is to poke some fun at the more egregious absurdities.

Send all entries for next week's carnival to Dr. Sanity by 8 pm ET on Saturday for Sunday's Carnival. Only one post entry weekly per blogger, please. And you might read this before submitting an entry
**NOTE: I am now getting many more submissions than I can possibly include in the weekly Carnival. Please don't be offended if your submission is not used (oh, okay, be as offended as you like) as it only means that for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to fit it into the "flow" as I put together each Carnival.

REMEMBER, THERE ARE SO MANY INSANITIES AND SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. Like, whatever dudes. Bamboozling alert! That's some Freudian slip!

2. Nakba means never having to say you're sorry. Especially for stuff like this. And, you can still continue to play the victim card!

3. Purple PTSD? Why not? Depression is blue.

4. An empty suit? He's still mulling a Derby pick but brings several crucial voting blocs on board.... Wants to make absolutely sure he's on the winning side.

5. Not unlike these swing voters. Their endorsement makes a lot of sense, too.

6. He's really really tough on those bad guys. Bet they are shivering with...laughter. They "heart" Hezbollah.... really.

7. You're so vain, you probably think this speech is about you. How dare they??? If the shoe fits, wear it; or, if the bumper sticker fits, print it!

8. And speaking of appeasement, here's Captain Appeasement himself! What we need is Steyn ex machina to save us! Oh look! It's an entire party...and everyone's invited.

9. Politicizing foreign policy is just plain wrong--unless they do it. At least he has honor.

10. When it comes to racism, "do as we say, not as we do" is the left's motto. A postmodernist moron extraordinaire! And her perfect match! (see # ) Perhaps the inspector should probe the Democratic Party? At any rate, their moral authority is a hard sell.

11. She is suffering the fate of all non-believers. The new affirmative action in academia?

12. No, this is part of a regressive process when one become more and more diverse idiotic. Not a bad idea on first reading perhaps. Now juxtapose this art with 200o burka'd subjects in a stadium...that would be making a statement

13. Bingo! All is explained. Harbingers of the apocalypse?

14. Your perfect mate is a mouseclick away. Or is it, your perfect mouse is a mateclick away? An older version.... If a bunch of suckers think marriage is the answer to anything, that's their privilege. They'll soon find out to the contrary.

15. Extraterrestrial brothers? Pedophilia chic? Diamond-studded Mercedes? The world is truly insane.

16. Career advice for the lazy. Party advice for the batchelorette party.

17. The absolute dumbest WSJ article ever. Really.

18. A perfect Storm. We don't need no stinkin' lady journalists....

19. Email hell? That's just purgatory. She should read the emails I get.

20. Just to make it interesting....

***************************************
Carnival of the Insanities can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival and at the BlogCarnival.

If you would like to Join the insanity, and add the Carnival of the Insanities button to your sidebar (clicking on it will always take you to the latest update of the Carnival), click on "Word of Blog" below the button to obtain the html code:



Heard the Word of Blog?

Friday, May 16, 2008

Thursday, May 15, 2008

MEDIA MANIPULATION & A HINT OF POSTMODERN SEXISM?

I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, but even I am starting to get annoyed at the blatant, anti-Hillary bias of the MSM--dare I say that it is rather sexist? The casual dismissal of her presidential campaign in general since the charismatic black candidate came along by the MSM--and especially since the woman won by 41 percentage points in the most recent primary against Obama is rather striking. I can't think of a single instance where a male in her position was so vilified for deciding to stay in the race, expecially when it was so close.

Check this out from Byron York:
ABC to Clinton: You Won West Virginia? We Don't Care. Look! It's John Edwards!

John Edwards's appearance in Michigan to endorse Obama just happened to be set for 6:30 P.M., at the top of the networks' nightly news feeds. ABC's World News went to a live picture off the top, but Edwards apparently missed his slot, so ABC went to its China coverage and promised to return to Michigan live.

Unlike cable news, the network newscasts do not usually carry live events in their carefully-timed programs. But after China, ABC went back to Michigan while anchorman Charles Gibson explained that the Clinton campaign had hoped "that the headlines would be all about her victory in West Virginia, and yet with this…they seem a bit trumped." Gibson explained that Edwards' appearance was "timed for maximum exposure…timed for the evening newscasts." And with that, guess who walked onto the stage, with ABC carrying it live? "George Stephanopoulos, this is the kind of publicity that you can't buy," Gibson said. "This was designed to completely squash the West Virginia story," Stephanopoulos added. And with that, ABC took Obama's introduction of Edwards live, and…completely squashed the West Virginia story. Didn't even report it in any real sense. A big victory for Obama — the kind of publicity that you can't buy — courtesy of ABC News.


Whatever else she may be, Hillary Clinton happens to be the FIRST viable female candidate for President of the US and does not deserve this...well, maybe she does deserve it in the same way the left always talks about "chickens coming home to roost" (I can barely believe that I am actually defending her); but as a woman, even I am appalled at the way she is being treated in the media and by her fellow progressives, the compassionate and caring people of the left.

Yeah. Go away, sweetie; your very existence is starting to bother the left, who after all, have their priorities.


[Cartoons by Larry Wright ]

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A MAN FOR ALL TERRORISTS

Ralph Peters suggests that the "foolish, feckless West" is enabling Hezbollah. Here's a taste:


Hezbollah's terror army dismantles Lebanon, the world whistles "Ain't That a Shame."

With its heavily funded proxies marching through an Arab democracy's ruins, Iran has arrived on the Mediterranean, outflanking Israel.

Syria's surrogates punish Beirut. Lebanon's crippled government cringes at the whims of Hassan Nasrullah, Hezbollah's strongman. Terror rules.

And not one civilized country lifts a finger.

This doesn't mean that war will be avoided at the "negligible" cost of Lebanese lives and freedom. It just means that the inevitable showdown with Hezbollah will be a bloodier mess when it finally comes.

When will we face reality? Hezbollah can't be appeased. Hezbollah can't be integrated into a democratic government and domesticated. And Hezbollah, whose cadres believe that death is a promotion, can't be deterred by wagging fingers and flyovers.



Meanwhile, Presidential-aspirant Obama gets really really tough on Hezbollah and manages to prove Peters point nicely:


This effort to undermine Lebanon’s elected government needs to stop, and all those who have influence with Hezbollah must press them to stand down immediately. . . It’s time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, opportunities and employment.



As Paul at Power Line further notes:

The naivety of this statement is staggering. As Noah Pollak asks: "Does Obama understand that the people who 'have influence with Hezbollah' happen to be the same people on whose behalf Hezbollah is rampaging through Lebanon?" And does he really believe that Hezbollah and its sponsors can be pacified or neutralized by electoral reform, an end to corrupt patronage, and "fair" distribution of services?

Obama may well fail to comprehend the first point and believe the second, just as naive leftists of an earlier generation thought that Ho Chi Minh was, at root, an agrarian reformer. In any case, Pollak is correct that "Obama is rhetorically cornered; since his only prescription for the Middle East is diplomatic engagement, every disease gets re-diagnosed as something curable through talking."
No wonder he's Hamas's man.



Indeed, as an emblem of the idiocy of the West, you couldn't find a more perfect example than Barack Hussein Obama.

Not only is he the 'messiah' for Western dunderheads, but he is a simply perfect choice for terrorists of all stripes and degrees of investment in violence and submission to Islam. Take, for example, this mind-boggling story:

Palestinians in Gaza Are Phonebanking for Barack Obama
Phil Klein calls our attention to an al-Jazeera news report that sounds like a parody, but is genuine: A report on Palestinians in Gaza who are phonebanking in support of Barack Obama's campaign.

I transcribed the most jaw-dropping parts:

REPORTER: It may be hard to believe, but working in this tiny Internet cafe in Gaza City may just be one of Barack Obama's biggest fans.

Before every U.S. primary, 23-year-old Ibrahim Abu Jayyab gathers 17 of his friends to try and rally support for Obama's campaign in the U.S.

So why does a young Palestinian living in Gaza spend so much of his time and money on an election thousands of miles away?

ABU JAYYAB: [translated] It all started at the time of the U.S. primaries. After studying Obama's electoral campaign manifesto, I thought, 'this is a man that is capable of change inside America.' As for potential change in the Middle East, he can also do that. I think he can bring peace to the area, or at least this is what we hope.

REPORTER: And the game plan? Ibrahim and his friends call random numbers in the U.S. before every primary to deliver one simple message:

ABU JAYYAB: [in English] Elect Senator Obama. I will change. I will achieve... the justice in the Middle East.

The rest of the report is about Bush failing to achieve peace in the Middle East, the U.S. "unwillingness to apply pressure on Israel over illegal settlements," a professor who says his students are following the election but

A potttery maker says, "unless you support Israel, you won't get in the White House."

The report concludes by showing graffiti in Gaza depicting a monstrous Bush, lips dripping with blood, clutching the world and drinking blood through a straw from a pile of skulls. The caption is, "Good bye Mr. Bush, we wont' miss you."

The reporter's voice over of the graffiti: "There does to be one thing people here agree on."



The jist of all this is that terrorists from all over the world sense "hope" and "change" is in the offing.

All they have to do is get past the evil Bush Presidency, and then what will stop them from achieving their most heart-felt dreams for the world? They know they are on the cusp of a major victory.

Obama may not like it, but he has become a man for all terrorists. He needs to think about that.

BUSY

Blogging will be light today because of work committments. More tonight.

LOST BEARINGS



[Cartoons by Eric Allie]

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

HEROES AND VILLAINS

Thomas Sowell discusses the supposedly "complex" dynamics of supply and demand:
Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries-- India and China-- having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply?

The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains.

It is clear that many people prefer to blame President Bush. Others prefer to blame the oil companies, who have long been the favorite villains of the left.

Politicians understand that. Numerous times they have summoned the heads of oil companies before Congressional committees to be denounced on nationwide television for "greed," with the politicians calling for a federal investigation to "get to the bottom of this!"

Now that is emotionally satisfying, which is the whole point. By the time yet another federal investigation is completed-- and turns up nothing to substantiate the villainy that is supposed to be the reason for high gasoline prices-- most people's attention will have turned to something else.


Somehow, people have come to equate "heroism" with indulgent self-righteousness and appeals to victimization; and "villainy" with market forces. It is a formula that is tried and true in political circles, particularly on the political left, but all politicians these days suffer from the malady.

But what are "market forces"? And what is "supply and demand" all about? They are about millions of individual actions; the behavior of each and every person going about their daily business, pursuing their own happiness--for good or ill-and making choices.

In short, the marketplace is the ultimate democracy. "Supply and demand" is simply the description of the simple laws governing how that marketplace works in reality, i.e., the real world. When those millions of individuals pursuing their own happiness run up against reality--i.e., when something they want very badly is in short supply because many others also want it very badly--they have two choices: they can adjust their behavior to accommodate this reality (e.g., decide they don't want it after all; or pay the going price). The clever collectivist, whose happiness is having power over others sees a way to personally profit from this choice, and offers a third alternative to those seeking to avoid reality. He or she becomes the "heroic" politician who, telling the masses what they want to hear, assures them that, "It's not YOUR fault! You are the victim of a vast, evil capitalistic plot. YOU don't have to change YOUR behavior at all--YOU can have your cake and eat it too.... I will heroically confront the forces of greed and profit and YOU won't have to deal with any consequences of YOUR behavior. Vote for ME because I'm on YOUR side!"

This is what passes for heroism these days: finding new and creative ways to avoid reality; exploiting and empowering the inner 'victim' of people who don't want to deal with the real world by changing their own behavior.

I know all about this because I deal with people like that every day in my profession. They don't want to change their behavior, they want a pill to make themselves feel better so they can keep on doing what they have always been doing no matter how destructive or irresponsible or counterproductive it is.

Today's politicians scramble all over each other to make the most outrageous and unrealistic promises for their particular brand of feel-good pills. Funny how they denounce pharmaceutical companies for doing the same thing they do--except the politicians do it on a much larger and far more destructive scale.

And the side-effects of the politician's feel-good pills almost always result in those dreaded unintended consequences that make a bad situation far worse. From the clever politician's perspective, however, this is good because they can continue to find some greedy profiteering bastard somewhere--or, even better, their political opponent--to blame for the even worse situation.

Of course, it goes without saying that instead of recognizing the problem is their own behavior and their denial of reality, the statist will continue to insist that more regulation, more government, more telling people what to do and how to live their lives is the solution to all problems.

They are players in that good old Marxist melodrama, which gives people the choice of belonging to either the oppressed group (victimhood can be yours!) or the [evil] oppressor group.

Notice how politicians--particularly those on the political left--regret nothing, they renounce nothing and take no responsibility for the fact that their lovely policies don't work and their promises are empty. If their policies don't work; if people suffer more because of them; it's not their fault because they "meant well".

And, as they play out this little melodrama, reality continues to exist anyway.

But they are 'heroes' who promise 'hope' and 'change'.

Siggy notes:
A real hero is someone who acts out of concern not for him or herself, but rather, for the consequences his or her actions have on others. The fireman, policeman or average Joe goes into a burning building because in doing so, the consequences of those heroic efforts will impact the life of another. The real hero does not see him or herself as noble or as especially different. Rather, they see themselves as doing what needed to be done, no more and no less.

There is another kind of hero, with a very different motivation, best exemplified by the hard leftists. They act- or rather, pretend to act or demand that others act, with little or no concern about how the consequences of their efforts will impact others. The ‘heroism’ they focus on is centered around themselves. The see themselves as better or special.


Gagdad Bob goes even further in his explanation:
Among other things, the upside-down education of the left emphasizes rights over duties, self-esteem over self-transcendence, and the antihero over the hero, since the former is the authentic nihilist who sees through the sham of hierarchy, eternal values, and first principles. The left worships these monsters because only they have the courage — i.e., violence — of the leftist’s absence of convictions (see here for example).

A hero, on the other hand, is only heroic to the extent that he risks life and limb for something transcending himself. Since transcendence doesn’t exist for the secularist, the hero must therefore be an idiot or a manipulative liar — as the left regards, say, General “Betray Us.” This is why masturbatory leftism and fruitless cynicism go hand in gland.


But the crowds will always cheer for the hero politician who panders to their narcissism and tells them they don't have to make any changes to accommodate reality; who promises them everything for nothing...forever; and who awakens the powerful victimhood within.

As Sowell notes in closing, "If you want cheering crowds, don't bother to study economics. It will only hold you back. Tell people what they want to hear-- and they don't want to hear about supply and demand."

Monday, May 12, 2008

THE SANITY SQUAD LIVE TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM

Please join Siggy, Shrinkwrapped, Neo and me for tonight's Sanity Squad Podcast. TONIGHT'S SHOW BEGINS AT 7:30 PM

Listen to The Sanity Squad on internet talk radio

The call in number is is (646) 716-9116. Showtime is at 7:30 PM tonight.

PSYCHOPATHS, HAMMERS, AND NAILS

You know the saying, "To a hammer, everything looks like a nail"? Well, to Barack Obama, the "anti-hammer" , every violent terrorist crisis calls for nuanced rhetoric and negotiation--even when you are dealing with non-verbal, religiously-sanctioned murderous thugs.

Of course, these happen to be extremely nuanced religiously-sanctioned murderous thugs, who derive great honor and enjoyment lying to and manipulating infidel idiots. They understand they can achieve their purpose by making said idiots inordinately pleased with themselves for being so...useful.

Unfortunately, to Nasrallah and his gang of psychopaths--as well as to Hamas, whose leadership has gone so far as to endorse Obama for President of the US--Obama makes the U.S. look an awful lot like a nail.

THE GREATEST COMMERICAL EVER !

I'm not a big fan of commercials generally, but this one blew me away:

Sunday, May 11, 2008

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES - Happy Mother's Day !

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Time for the weekly insanity update, where the insane, the bizarre, the ridiculous, and the completely absurd are highlighted for all to see! This has been a week of rare idiocy (as always!). So, if you want to remain sane, the best thing is to poke some fun at the more egregious absurdities.

Send all entries for next week's carnival to Dr. Sanity by 8 pm ET on Saturday for Sunday's Carnival. Only one post entry weekly per blogger, please. And you might read this before submitting an entry
**NOTE: I am now getting many more submissions than I can possibly include in the weekly Carnival. Please don't be offended if your submission is not used (oh, okay, be as offended as you like) as it only means that for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to fit it into the "flow" as I put together each Carnival.

REMEMBER, THERE ARE SO MANY INSANITIES AND SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. The best political ad ever for Mother's Day !

2. An inexplicable madness. 21st century version of the insanity.

3. Release 'em all! Now! They just needed a good talking to..... they've lost their bearings, perhaps?

4. Their broomsticks don't have sufficient firepower. Their brains don't have sufficient firepower either. Just give peas a chance!

5. Let's call it 'the war on those guys'--you know the ones I'm talking about. Really they wouldn't dream of hurting us. Really. They even send fan mail!

6. Academia has become a hostile working/learning environment. Deconstruct this.

7. And the battle over which victim group is more deserving rages on! And they think they have it tough?

8. Just another rightwing distortion? Dumb as Bush, senile as McCain.... or, uber-patriot? So now he's going for the Hezbollah endorsement? Hamas wasn't enough?

9. Michelle, ma belle..errr, dumbell, these are words that go together well.

10. The Downfall? But she's picked up a crucial endorsement ! I'll bet she never planned on meeting the Barack Knight !

11. Unelectable? A crucial endorsement for Barack...no you understand the reason he wouldn't wear it! But he has customized a new one.

12. The question is, what did he know and when did he know it?

13. The party of no energy at all. That's because oil companies are sooooooo evil, you know.

14. The recession that wasn't....see for yourself. Bears weep--well, at least Democrat bears.

15. Better get off the Prozac, don't you think? Avoid all those bad chemicals! Except maybe this one.

16. Commence advice you won't get anywhere!

17. By jello obsessed !

18. A grievous squandering of rare brilliance.

19. Remember the days when comic books were just a dime?

20. The best way to avoid them is not to swim in the water at all; or, the best way to avoid them is to be very uncompromising. I won't even go into why this behavior annoys me. It would be, well...a little narcissitic, you know.

21. The fragmented Picassoesque nightmare that was once a blog... blame IE.


***************************************
Carnival of the Insanities can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival and at the BlogCarnival.

If you would like to Join the insanity, and add the Carnival of the Insanities button to your sidebar (clicking on it will always take you to the latest update of the Carnival), click on "Word of Blog" below the button to obtain the html code:

Heard the Word of Blog?

Saturday, May 10, 2008

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME !

This is an exciting day because my daughter and I will be going to the Yankee - Tiger baseball game in Detroit. In fact, we have special seats right behind the Yankee dugout and plan to arrive early to see if we can get any autographs.

For three generations my family has been ardent Yankee fans (I grew up in New Jersey) and now my daughter is carrying on the tradition. She actually knows just about every historical fact there is to know about the NY Yankess--past and present.

At any rate, we'll be spending the day at the ballpark...and there will be no joy in Blogville (well, not much, anyway, except for my detractors). I don't care if I never get back.

The game will be on national television (Fox, I believe). We'll be the two Yankee fanatics in a sea of Tiger fans, yelling and screaming right behind the visitor's dugout!

UPDATE: Yankees won, 5-2. Derek Jeter hit his first home run of the season after smiling at my daughter....and for Gagdad Bob's information (see here), the restraining order was lifted some time ago.

Friday, May 09, 2008

CORNERING THE WORLD MARKET ON PSYCHOPATHS ? When Culture Facilitates the Development of Psychopathy

Why is it that the Islamic world seems to have an excess of psychopaths in positions of power? Are they actively trying to corner the world market?

First we have the nutjob-in-chief of Iran, who Thursday declared:
...that the state of Israel is a "stinking corpse" that is destined to disappear, the French news agency AFP reported.

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as having said.

"Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."

Ahmadinejad further stated that Israel "has reached the end like a dead rat after being slapped by the Lebanese" - referring to the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.


Next we have Hasan Nasrallah, another posterboy for Islamic mega-dysfunction and hate:
The decision by the Lebanese government to shut down a private telephone network operated by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah was an act of war and Hezbollah would defend itself, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said on Thursday.

The comments were among Mr. Nasrallah’s strongest since the beginning of Lebanon’s months-long political crisis and may signal a new level of confrontation between Hezbollah and its supporters and the Western-backed government. Tensions have escalated in recent days, and clashes and gunfire continued on the streets of Beirut on Thursday as Hezbollah tried to enforce a general strike called by labor unions.

On Tuesday, the government said that it would send troops to shut down a telephone network operated by Hezbollah in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“This decision was a declaration of war and the start of war on the resistance and its weapons,” Mr. Nasrallah said, speaking via satellite at a news conference convened by Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“Our response to this decision is that whoever declares or starts a war, be it a brother or a father, then it is our right to defend ourselves and our existence,” he said.


Please note that he doesn't believe Israel has any right to defend itself. But, as long as the psychopaths of Hezbollah are kept occupied by murdering their 'brothers', Israel is probably saf.

Or, how about the recently captured leader of Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq--you know, the guy who inherited the coveted mantle of murderous-thug-in-chief after Zarqawi the Beheader was finally exterminated. Remember his most recent videotape?
In an hour-long audio tape issued last month, Masri called for renewed attacks on American troops.

He urged militants from the Sunni Islamist group to "celebrate" the recent announcement that the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq had passed 4,000.

"We must celebrate this event in our special way, and make the defeated Bush join us in this celebration," he said.

He called on al Qaeda fighters to provide "a head of an American as a present to the trickster Bush" in a month-long campaign that he called the "Attack of Righteousness."


I guess it was an "attack of Justice" that led to his capture, Allah be praised; but perhaps he doesn't see it that way...but what psychopath would, after all?

Then, don't forget all the other superpsychos whose megalomaniacal blood lust and chilling disregard for their fellow human beings are unparalleled in modern history. Names like Osama Bin Laden, Aymen Al-Zawahiri, Moqtada Al-Sadr...the list goes on and on and on, encompassing a great many of the Imams and "holy" leaders. Never have so many wanted to kill so much because it is so essential to their identity.

Then there is this guy, who seems a bit unclear on the concept of "antisocial".

So, why is this sort of hate and viciousness celebrated in the Islamic world? I note in a series on the psychopathology of terrorism that along with the parenting issues, cultural factors play an extremely strong role in personality formation and can under certain circumstances "stack the cards" against normal develoment even if all other factors are benign (which they aren't, actually, but read the entire two-part article if you are interested).

Several key factors that contribute to the development of psychopathy include:
  • Genetics

  • Constitution/temperment

  • Parenting

  • Culture


  • Children who happen to be born into authoritarian or tyrannical regimes are frequently systematically indoctrinated and programmed (by teachers or political authorities) to develop habits of thought and behavior at variance with healthy parenting and inconsistent with normal human values. Such programming can easily deform personility development in a variety of ways--none of them very healthy or humane. It is easy in such tyrannical regimes to become rigid; or mindlessly obedient; or cruel; or rebellious, bitter etc.

    Psychologists have studied people who are from fringe or outcast social groups (such as gangs), and found that the members of such groups often behave respectfully and honestly toward others within their own group, but treat outsiders as if they were not human, without any sense of wrongdoing.

    The ringleaders of such groups are often the the true psychopaths, and these leaders have a seemingly unlimited supply of morally weak or immature individuals (many of them very young)--who embrace antisocial behavior under group pressure.

    Having already a predisposition because of dysfunctional parenting issues, the culture of Islam "stacks the deck" further by:

  • encouraging the subjugation of women by men by giving it a religious basis
  • This is nothing new in the history of the world, and it certainly occurred throughout the history of Christianity too. But the idea that women are inferior to men has been challenged for a thousand years, and as women have taken their equal place with men in the countries promoting women's rights, there has been an incredible improvement in those countries' economic and political standings. The culturally sanctioned misogyny of Islam results in the dysfunctional family unit that has tremendous impact on both male and female personality development.

    The Koran says (Sureh 4, Verse 35) that men have authority over women (not just the wife but sisters, daughters, and all females). If they disobey, "first admonish them, then refuse to sleep with them, and then beat them". In Islamic countries, women are second-class citizens. They are counted as one-half a witness in a legal proceeding; and they can inherit only one-half as much as a man. Their sexuality is considered so inflammatory, they must be hidden under clothing that prevents anyone from seeing them. In Saudi Arabia, sons may be sent to foreign universities but daughters are not even allowed to drive. Under the Taliban, women were beaten and murdered for showing their ankles.

    Now, why are women's rights issue--or rather, the lack of them-- of importance in developing antisocial psychopathology? Well, in the case of Islam, the religion has set-up an ongoing potentially abusive situation in the family; in heterosexual relationships;and in the culture. It breeds sadism, because taking out your frustrations or impotence on the socially-sanctioned "lesser" half of the population, it teaches an important lesson that all developing psychopaths come to appreciate: "I am more important and powerful because I can hurt or kill this weak person".

    Through a process that Anna Freud called "Identification with the Aggressor" it also breeds the same sadistic tendency in women, though they have many fewer cultural options for acting it out (female suicide bombers; mothers who cheer the deaths of their sons and daughters in Allah's cause; and who are willing participants in the honor murders of their daughters--these are several culturally accepted ways for women to act out their sadistic fantasies.)

    Male children in societies that demonize or debase women must overemphasize their "maleness" in order to separate from the shameful female/mother. As grown men, far from being able to mitigate the aggressive impulses of a child, such men will actively encourage these impulses in order to "prove" to the world at large that they (and later, their sons) have not been "feminized".

    Cultures where women have extremely low status almost always encourage the development of inadequate, "macho" men, who need to prove their manliness and strength constantly because of the stark terror that female sexuality stimulates within them. It is not a coincidence that a pervasive current of homosexual behavior--which is ubiquitous, but tacitly unacknowledged and denied societally--runs through Islamic culture. With a boy or another man, you cannot be shamed by your fear...you are always in control; and this is not true in relationships with the demonized woman whose sexuality is so threatening and feared that it must be contained at all costs.

  • A second factor that culturally "stacks the deck" in personality development is the perpetual war against the infidel inherent in externalization of the concept of " jihad"

  • Those who perceive "jihad" as an inner struggle of faith will not generally evolve into psychopaths, because (one would hope) by internalizing the process it would foster insight and self-awareness, rather than brutality and violence against others.

    However, it is noteworthy that even the "moderate" practitioners of Islam do not stand up and loudly contradict the psychopathic elements in their religion; rather, they invite these elements to come "teach" at their mosques and abdicate leadership roles to them.

    Those who are not strong personalities become the disposable fodder that can then act out the psychopaths' scripts for them. They become the stooges--the suicide bombers--who mindlessly carry out their leaders' orders without every once considering that if holiness and sainthood are guaranteed by becoming a human bomb for Allah , then why is it that their leaders are not jumping with joy to grab the opportunity for themselves?

    Islam has become toxic, infusing the entire Middle East with a culture inimical to not just the 50% who are female; but equally to the half who are male and consider themselves "superior". Children are raised in a misogynist family and cultural environment and the young boys are thus encouraged to hatred and violence. This has been going on for decades among the Palestinians in particular; but everywhere the jihad mindset has spread it cancerous message.

    The educational tenets of this toxic culture, centered in the Saudi Arabian madrassas are exported around the Middle East and the entire globe. Even the most balanced analysis that I read of these schools (here) suggests that many madrassa students have violent personalities due to long harsh treatment by their teachers. They are politically charged and attached blindly to their respective interpretations of their faith and ideology. They seldom have the capability to analyze developments taking place around them. Although they are not a formal part of any pan-Islamic movement or Muslim Brotherhood campaign, and they are not being trained by bin Laden or anyone else against a superpower for jihad, they have a love bond with Islam and the Islamic ummah, and this can trigger the violent man inside them as they have blind faith and rigid standards. Certainly, then, they are catalysts for jihad because of the influence and education they receive in the madrassas.

    But you can also think of many of these madrassas as being a Stanford Prisoner Experiment as it applies to a larger culture. Even a normal, loving child can be carefully molded and shaped into a monster who is more than willing to hate, kill and destroy his fellow man.

    Every culture has its share of psychopaths that undermine and subvert those values that facilitate the growth and maturation of the culture. When they are in positions of political power (e.g., the leaders of North Korea and Venezuela for example) they can cause a great deal of societal and cultural damage.

    But it is important to remember, culture is not a neutral participant in personality development. It is an important source of values and as such is one of the most important factors responsible for either encouraging or discouraging the psychopathic traits that are biological or genetic. A culture that encourages psychopathy and the accompanying sadistic terror, is in the process of destroying itself.

    A combination of cultural and social factors in Islam facilitates the development of many traits inherent in the psychopathic or antisocial personality. The predominance of this personality pattern both fosters and feeds on the phenomenon of terrorism and in turn recycles the cultural underpinnings that support and insure its continuation.

    Thursday, May 08, 2008

    'UPSCALE GHETTO' RHETORIC & DEMAGOGUERY

    Thomas Sowell on Obama:
    Like everyone else, I have also been hearing a lot lately about Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of the church that Barack Obama has belonged to for 20 years.

    Both men, in their different ways, have for decades been promoting the far left vision of victimization and grievances-- Wright from his pulpit and Obama in roles ranging from community organizer to the United States Senate, where he has had the farthest left voting record.

    Later, when the ultimate political prize-- the White House-- loomed on the horizon, Obama did a complete makeover, now portraying himself as a healer of divisions.

    The difference between Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright is that they are addressing different audiences, using different styles adapted to those audiences.
    It is a difference between upscale demagoguery and ghetto demagoguery, playing the audience for suckers in both cases.

    People on the far left like to flatter themselves that they are for the poor and the downtrodden.

    ...We don't need people like either Jeremiah Wright or Barack Obama to take us backward.

    The time is long overdue to stop gullibly accepting the left's vision of itself as idealistic, rather than self-aggrandizing.


    Indeed. Notice how it is always all about them?

    AND ON IT GOES

    Will the voters begin to have second thoughts?



    As the candidates fine-tune their messages for the remaining primaries:

    Wednesday, May 07, 2008

    YES, LET'S HAVE A FRANK, OPEN AND HONEST DISCUSSION ABOUT RACE IN THIS COUNTRY, SHALL WE?

    Yeah, right. The media focus in on one specific moron to showcase their meme about white racism and how Hillary supporters are just a bunch of racist rednecks voting for Hillary because Obama is black.

    But then they ignore the key statistic from this article:
    Obama won 91 percent of the black vote in North Carolina, but Clinton took 59 percent of the white vote.


    91% of the vote? That statistic approaches the kind of result you see in elections held in totalitarian states where there is only one candidate-- and you'd better vote for him, or else.

    So, let's have a frank, open and honest discussion about those statistics, and what they suggest about residual racism in this country, shall we? Who's behaving in a stereotypically racist manner here, and for which block of voters is the color of one's skin the most important consideration?

    REALITY VS PERCEPTION: The State of Israel Turns 60

    Bret Stevens on Israel's 60th anniversary:
    Sixty years after its birth, Israel continues to test the proposition that reality counts for more than perception.

    The Web site eyeontheun.org keeps a running tally of all United Nations resolutions, decisions and reports condemning this or that country for this or that human rights violation (real or alleged). Between January 2003 and March 2008, tiny Israel – its population not half that of metropolitan Cairo's – was condemned no fewer than 635 times. The runners-up were Sudan at 280, the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 209, and Burma at 183. North Korea was cited a mere 60 times, a third as many as the United States.

    Is Israel the world's foremost abuser of human rights? A considerable segment of world opinion thinks that it is, while an equally considerable segment of elite opinion thinks that, even if it isn't, its behavior is nonetheless reprehensible by civilized standards.

    I would argue the opposite: that no other country has been so circumspect in using force against the provocations of its enemies....

    For reasons both telling and mysterious, Israel has become unpopular among that segment of public opinion that calls itself progressive. This is the same progressive segment that believes in women's rights, gay rights, the rights to a fair trial and to appeal, freedom of speech and conscience, judicial checks on parliamentary authority. These are rights that exist in Israel and nowhere else in the Middle East. So why is it that the country that is most sympathetic to progressive values gets the least of progressive sympathies?


    Take a recent example: In January of this year, Israpundit discussed this story :
    Ms. Magazine has long been in the forefront of the fight for equal rights and equal opportunities for women. Apparently that is not the case if the women happen to be Israeli.

    The magazine has turned down an AJCongress advertisement that did nothing more controversial than call attention to the fact that women currently occupy three of the most significant positions of power in Israeli public life. The proposed ad (The Ad Ms. Didn't Want You To See: http://www.ajcongress.org/site/DocServer/Ms.pdf?docID=1961 ) included a text that merely said, "This is Israel," under photographs of President of the Supreme Court Dorit Beinish, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.

    "What other conclusion can we reach," asked Richard Gordon, President of AJCongress, "except that the publishers − and if the publishers are right, a significant number of Ms. Magazine readers − are so hostile to Israel that they do not even want to see an ad that says something positive about Israel?"

    When Director of AJCongress' Commission for Women's Empowerment Harriet Kurlander tried to place the ad, she was told that publishing the ad "will set off a firestorm" and that "there are very strong opinions" on the subject − the subject presumably being whether or not one can say anything positive about Israel. Ms. Magazine publisher Eleanor Smeal failed to respond to a signed-for certified letter with a copy of the ad as well as numerous calls by Mr. Gordon over a period of weeks.
    A Ms. Magazine representative, Susie Gilligan, whom the Ms. Magazine masthead lists under the publisher's office, told Ms. Kurlander that the magazine "would love to have an ad from you on women's empowerment, or reproductive freedom, but not on this." Ms. Gilligan failed to elaborate what "this" is....

    "This flagship publication of the American women's empowerment movement publishes ads that are controversial in the general culture but not so among its readership," Ms. Kurlander said. "Obviously, Ms. believes our ad would enflame a significant portion of their readers."

    Of course, the "flagship" of women's empowerment has no problem accusing the Bush Administration of being "bent on rewarding big corporations and the rich, turning back the clock on women's rights and civil rights, and promoting a U.S. empire abroad." Such formidable courage in condemning the evil BusHitler and standing up for poor oppressed American women is simply breathtaking.

    Ms Magazine--like almost all the leftist feminists of today--would rather enshrine and perpetuate the eternal victimhood of women (they depend on it actually) than highlight anything so politically incorrect and demeaning as powerful women who don't happen to share their leftist politics. Frankly, Ms and today's feminists are just a joke, continuing to promulgate the same marxist fairy tales.

    Don't look now, sisters, but you have been 'victimized' by the overt anti-semitism and latent sexism of the political left.

    Now, consider this interesting calculation, which as far as I know, Stevens is the first to make:
    But drilling down into the data, something interesting turned up. At the time, 1,296 Palestinians had been killed by Israelis – of whom a grand total of 37, or 2.8%, were female. By contrast, of the 496 Israelis killed by Palestinians (including 138 soldiers and policemen), there were 126 female fatalities, or 25%.

    To be female is a fairly reliable indicator of being a noncombatant. Females are also half the population. If Israel had been guilty of indiscriminate violence against Palestinians, the ratio of male-to-female fatalities would not have been
    35-1.

    These are not complicated facts. Yet the effort to think them through is rarely made.

    And it certainly isn't made by progressives who supposedly champion women's rights--they are far too busy protecting Palestinian murderers by rationalizing and excusing their behavior.

    Some time back, Lisa Beyer wrote about the "big lie" of the Middle East:
    ...the pan-Arabism that once made the Palestinian cause the region's cause is long dead, and the Arab countries have their own worries aplenty. In a decade of reporting in the region, I found it rarely took more than the arching of an eyebrow to get the most candid of Arab thinkers to acknowledge that the tears shed for the Palestinians today outside the West Bank and Gaza are of the crocodile variety. Palestinians know this best of all.

    To promote the canard that the troubles of the Arab world are rooted in the Palestinians' misfortune does great harm. It encourages the Arabs to continue to avoid addressing their colossal societal and political ills by hiding behind their Great Excuse: it's all Israel's fault. Certainly, Israel has at times been an obnoxious neighbor, but God help the Arab leaders, propagandists and apologists if a day ever comes when the Arab-Israeli mess is unraveled. One wonders how they would then explain why in Egypt 4 of every 10 people are illiterate; Saudi Arabian Shi'ites (not to mention women) are second-class citizens; 11% of Syrians live below subsistence level; and Jordan's King can unilaterally dissolve Parliament, as he did in 2001. Or why no Middle Eastern government but Israel's and to some extent Lebanon's tolerates freedom of assembly or speech, or democratic institutions like a robust press or civic organizations with independence and clout--let alone unfettered competitive elections.

    Indeed, if Israel did not exist, the Arab world would have to invent it, because without Israel to blame all their problems on (and, by extension, America), the nations of the middle east would not be able to go on.

    David Frum suggested in an article titled, "Why is it Always About Israel?" that:
    Might it not be closer to the truth to say that Arab radicalism is the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute--not the result of it? There is no peace because Israel's neighbours--and too many of the world's Muslims--cannot accept the right of a non-Arab, non-Muslim minority to live unsubjugated in the Middle East. That is the true "core" of the dispute, and it cannot be fixed by negotiation.

    Frum was correct in suggesting that the problem cannot be fixed by negotiation, but he is off the mark about the source of the problem. While it is true that Arab radicalism deliberately promotes the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and continually disrupts any possibility of resolving it, the cause of that dispute lies in the psychological dysfunction of the Arabs themselves.

    Just as in a clinical case of mass hysteria (which it resembles), Arabs as a group have closed off their rational, thinking minds; and with the encouragement and justification of the most medieval aspects of their religion are operating on the basis of the most primitive and dysfunctional of unconscious needs and feelings.

    They are indulging in group projection and paranoia--deliberately developed and encouraged by their dysfunctional leaders--in order to maintain their dysfunctional identity, as well as their dysfunctional political and pseudo-religous agenda.

    And there does not seem to be any limit to the self-delusion that is rampant in the middle east.

    Psychologically, it is very difficult to abandon a delusion, particularly when that delusion serves the purpose of accounting for an unacceptable status quo. For too long the so-called leaders in the Middle East have --in a manner similar to Jim Jones--been quenching the thirst of their people with poisoned Kool Aid. They have made it easy to believe that all their problems and troubles are caused by the Jews (or America or the West). Maintaining the delusional system and nourishing it regularly is crucial to their identity as individuals and as nations--otherwise it would be necessary to look inside their own hearts and souls for the underlying causes of their political, economic and spiritual stagnation.

    SC&A wrote:
    Many in the Arab world defiantly declare their ‘Arab pride,’ but of course, that really isn’t true. That is a kind of projection. If there really was Arab pride, they would be digging holes for the foundation of schools and factories, and not digging holes to bury IED’s. If the Palestinians wanted to reflect Arab pride, they would build hospitals and not rockets and missiles.

    The Arab world is not fighting for freedom and democracy. They are fighting to retain the values of oppression, tyranny and dysfunction. There is so much self hatred of what they have come to stand for, that they are willing to blow themselves up in the process. Subconsciously, they must know what they are fighting to preserve and how they are fighting, is repulsive to any decent, civilized and religious adherent of any faith.

    In truth, the Arab world cannot be proud of itself. The Islamic and Arab cultures that contributed mightily to the progress of mankind, have willingly become the poster children for religious intolerance, hate, violence and even genocide. There is very little the Arab world has to be proud of- and pointing to past glory only serves to highlight how far they have fallen. All the phony ‘Arab pride’ in the world has not motivated them to build. All they have done is destroy- and that destruction is a symptom of self hatred. People who hate themselves, destroy everything around them. People that believe in their higher selves, build. The same is true for nations. Nations, societies and cultures are not remembered for what they destroy. They are remembered for what they have built.

    As Siggy points out in his remarkably astute post, the behavior of the Arab world is not really about pride...indeed, what do they have to be proud of? They have perverted beyond all recognition a religion that once upon a time could compete head-to-head with Christianity and Judaism in what it contributed to the whole of humanity. They long ago abandoned the ability to create, and now only possess the capacity to destroy. Their people live in poverty and oppression, controlled only by the belief that their situation is the fault of "the Jews" or America.
    This is the legacy of psychological projection and paranoia. The unacceptable thoughts or feelings are denied ("not owned") by the person or group experiencing them, and instead are projected onto another individual or--as in this case--a group (racism, anti-semitism etc. are all projections). Thus, the person who originally had the offensive thought or feeling becomes the helpless victim of the evil "other" and they do not have to cope with the fact that the evil lies wholly within themselves.

    Projection as a psychological defense mechanism can eventually lead to full-blown paranoia, where--even to the most casual of observers--the delusion (or projection) is completely out of touch with reality. And, there is plenty of paranoia to go around in that part of the world. Recently we have even been able to witness how the paranoia and hate are eagerly passed on to the next generation, thus preserving the externalization of blame and preventing any real growth or maturity as a people and ensuring the continuation of the pathology that is destroying any ability to build a functioning society.

    In fact, it has become the hallmark of Arab/Islamic decivilization, dysfunction and deterioration; and which is psychologically inevitable when a group resorts to paranoia and psychological projection to defend against reality. It took them centuries to achieve this degree of psychological, political and cultural backwardness.

    Israel on the other hand, should be very proud of its remarkable accomplishments in only 60 years. As SC&A note:
    Israel, a nation the size of New Jersey, can only lay claim to the following achievements:
    -Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.

    -Israel has the second highest output of books published per citizen in the world.

    -Israelis hold more patents per person than do citizens of any other nation.

    -More than 85% of all solid waste in Israel is treated in an environmentally sound manner.

    -Israeli companies, Amdocs, Comverse and Nice pioneered voicemail, SMS and other cellular phone services.

    -Israel has the highest concentration of high tech companies industries in the world, relative to it’s population.

    -ICQ, the technology that powers AOL Instant Messenger, was developed in 1996 by a team of 4 young Israelis.

    -Israeli start-up company TransChip developed the first high resolution camera that fits on a single electronic chip, for use in cellular phones.

    -Israel is one of only eight countries in the world capable of launching their own satellites into space.

    -Israelis developed the world’s first cellphone at the Motorola research lab in Haifa, that companies largest research center in the world.

    -Israel ranks third, after the US and Canada, in the number of publicly traded companies on Wall Street.

    -Israel has more scientists and engineers per capita than any other nation in the world.

    -American industry giants such as GM, Ford and Lockheed Martin manage their manufacturing facilities using software written by Tecnomatix, an Israeli company.

    -Israeli company Given Imaging developed a video camera small enough to fit inside of a pill. The camera helps doctors diagnose digestive tract diseases.

    -Israeli scientists developed the first computerized radiation free diagnostic scanning device for detecting breast cancer.

    -Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation in the world.

    Not bad for the offspring of monkeys and pigs.


    Or, how about these humanitarian accomplishments:
    Turkey, 1999- Israel sends 100 tons of relief and a field hospital, as well as a 250 member rescue team. They find 12 survivors and retrieve 146 bodies. The hospital performed 40 major surgeries and delivered 15 babies.

    Bosnia, 1992- In one day, Israel sent 13 tons of food and medical supplies to Zagreb. Israel was the first country to grant Muslim Bosnians refugee status and citizenship, in 1993.

    Kosovo, 1999- Israel sends a 100 bed hospital and 70 medical personnel, as well as 100 tons of aid for the Kosovar refugees.

    India, 2001- Following the January earthquake, Israel sends a field hospital and 150 medical personnel. Over 1200 treated and 12 babies delivered.

    Nairobi, 1999- After the American Embassy bombing, Israel dispatches 150 search and rescue, medical and rescue dogs and their handlers. Also sent were 30 tons of sophisticated rescue equipment. Three survivors were dug out of the wreckage.

    Mexico City, 1985- Israel sends search and rescue teams as well as trained S&R dogs to assist, after 2 powerful earthquakes leave thousands buried under the rubble.

    Armenia, 1988- Israel sends search and rescue units and aid following an earthquake that leaves 30,000 dead and 50,000 homeless. Israeli medical teams treat 2500 at a field hospital and evacuate 61 to Israel for advanced medical treatment.

    Buenos Aires, 1994- Israel dispatches 40 search and rescue team members as well as sophisticated rescue equipment, to help in the aftermath of the Jewish Community Center bombing. Many buried victims were rescued and treated.

    Afghanistan, 1998- Israel sends 15 tons of supplies, including tents, blankets, food and medicine after an earthquake hit the northern part of that country.

    Colombia, 1999- Israel sends aid sent to that country after a major earthquake.

    Greece, 1999- Israel send aid and and search and rescue teams to that country after an earthquake.

    El Salvador, 2001- Israel send aid after a major earthquake. A medical team was also dispatched.

    Vietnamese Boat People, 1977- there were 66 Vietnamese boat people granted refuge in Israel after having been denied safe haven by other countries.

    Cameroon, 1986- An Israeli medical team and supplies were sent to help people after a volcanic eruption. Thousand are treated for respiratory problems and burns.

    Central America, 1988- In response to the devastation of hurricane Mitch, Israeli medical personnel and aid is sent to Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador and Nicaragua.

    Bulgaria, 1997- Medical supplies (over a ton) were sent as a humanitarian gesture to alleviate shortages of medical supplies.

    Rwanda, 1994- As a result of a bloody civil war that left over a million dead and millions more as refugees, Israel send 270 doctors and other medical personnel. A field hospital is established. Over 3000 refugees are treated in a 40 day period.

    The list goes on- Mozambique, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, just to name a few others. And it isn't just about disasters. See this and wonder- wonder, how for even a moment, we would consider seeing Israel the way the Terrorist Supporters & Apologists want you to see her.

    Despite her own trials at home, Israel is on record as coming to the aid of over 140 nations.


    Meanwhile, on Hamas TV. Kuku and Fufu teach the little children how to kill Jews. Isn't that sweet?

    Tuesday, May 06, 2008

    "IS THE FUTURE BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD BOTH THE LEFT AND A LOAF OF BREAD ?"

    This is hardly a facetious question that Wretchard asks:
    The Left contributed almost nothing to the productive superiority of the 20th century Western world. What they succeeded in doing was winning for themselves the right to distribute the fruits of this competitive advantage. They even went so far as to distribute that largesse to millions of undocumented immigrants and in lavish aid packages where they employed themselves, naturally.

    Michelle Obama, in an interview, revealed the core of the problem when she described educational investments that did not produce a return in pure economic terms. Some activities are viable only when transfer payments are available to support them. When there is less income to transfer, there is unremitting pressure to cut back on activities like gender studies and campaigns for the preservation of endangered newts. Mark Steyn plays the funny man to Hugh Hewitt's straight man listening to Michelle's words.

    MO: Like many young people coming out of college, with their MA’s and BA’s and PhD’s and MPh’s coming out so mired in debt that they have to forego the careers of their dreams, see, because when you’re mired in debt, you can’t afford to be a teacher or a nurse or social worker, or a pastor of a Church, or to run a small non-profit organization, or to do research for a small community group, or to be a community organizer...

    MS: (laughing)

    MO: ... because the salaries that you’ll earn in those jobs won’t cover the cost of the degree that it took to get the job.

    HH: We’ve got to stop, because I heard you laughing, Mark Steyn.

    MS: (laughing) I know. I have never heard anything…I mean, if the premise is that too many people in America go to college and saddle themselves with gazillions of dollars in debt for no good reason, I would agree with that. But the idea that oh, my God, you know, I wanted to run this small non-profit, but I made the mistake of going to Harvard and Princeton, and I got hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, so I had to become a big corporate CEO, I had to found a multi-national company when all I really wanted to do was just be a nice, little grade school teacher, this is ridiculous.


    Now that the productivity advantage is eroding the pickings are getting slimmer. And since the only thing the Left knows how to do is squeeze harder and harder the really interesting question is whether future economic survival will require a diminution of the "progressive" forces for any real progress to actually take place; or whether it will prove true that the future isn't big enough to hold both the Left and a loaf of bread.


    Of course, instead of recognizing the problem is themselves, the left will continue to insist that more regulation, more government, more telling people what to do and how to live their lives is the solution to all problems.

    They are stuck in a single mode; a switch always turned to "full speed ahead". They regret nothing, they renounce nothing, they take no responsibility. If their policies don't work; if people suffer more because of them; it's not their fault because they "meant well".

    Take, for example, the biofuels issue. Environmentalists and government officials trumpeted biofuel and biodiversity as key weapons in the war on global warming; but too bad they didn't think out the longer-term consequences of their policies before they essentially embraced world hunger as a environmentally sensitive way of dealing with the climate 'crisis'

    Programs that originate with the "best of intentions" end up doing exactly the opposite of what was intended. Yet, many people are so ideologically committed to one way of thinking that they not only refuse to change, but keep pouring money into programs that can be shown to actively harm the people they are meant to help--encouraging dependence rather than autonomy; a sense of entitlement, rather than a sense of personal accomplishment; and reinforcing stereotypes they were meant to end.

    What makes matters worse is that these "champions of the poor and oppressed" and "champions of Gaia"(as progressives of the left like to style themselves)--readily demonize anyone who dares to suggest an alternate strategy, even when that strategy has been proven to work. The emotional logic and the unifying thread that links all the failed strategies and policies they champion together is the excessive narcissistic gratification they bask in by supporting it. This is like an addiction to them.

    In their minds, 'hope' is just shorthand for 'maybe next time our fantasies will work in the real world'; and 'change' means never having to say they're sorry for the mess they created and pressing on with more of the same.

    Almost all of their programs are primarily for show , with nary a hint of substance to be found. They succeed only in making the people who propose and maintain them feel good about themselves, but do little to change the underlying problems and in many cases, simply reinforce the dynamics that create and perpetuate the problem to begin with. It is always important to emphasize that the underlying goal of such 'progressives' is not a solution to the problems of the world, but merely develop new and even more clever rationales that permit them to accumulate more power to themselves over the lives of others.

    No, the future just isn't big enough to hold both their brand of selfless, sociopathic narcissism (or, utopian idealism)and even a slice of bread.

    UPDATE: David Fredosso on the 'benefits' of ethanol:
    I've served up a fairly complete history of ethanol subsidies today, together with precise calculations of what we get for the $8 billion we throw at ethanol annually (the answer is that we get two days of gasoline — that's all — with the unfortunate side-effect of starving the world's poor).

    LISTEN TO LAST NIGHT'S PODCAST OF THE SANITY SQUAD !

    Listen to last night's podcast of The Sanity Squad by clicking on the link below. Our topics were the long and short-term consequences of the divisions and chasms existing in the Democratic Party revealed by the Obama/Hillary slugfest; and the implications of the recent British elections where voters soundly rejected the Labour Party and its brand of socialism.

    Monday, May 05, 2008

    SANITY SQUAD LIVE AT 7:30 PM TONIGHT !

    Please join Siggy, Shrinkwrapped, Neo and me for tonight's Sanity Squad Podcast. TONIGHT'S SHOW BEGINS AT 7:30 PM

    Our topics for the evening will include: The Great Democrat Cultural and Social Divide---or, it's not really about politics for them; and the results of the British elections and the meaning and significance to America of the British voters'rejection of the Labour Party.
    Click on the button below to listen live:

    Listen to The Sanity Squad on internet talk radio

    The call in number is is (646) 716-9116. Showtime is at 7:30 PM tonight.

    A 'SELF-INFLICTED CATASTROPHE'

    This historical article in Commentary-- "1948, Israel, and the Palestinians—The True Story-- is extremely fascinating in its implications. Much of the early history of the Arab-Israeli is casually glossed over or completely ignored in most discussions of the catastrophe that exists in that part of the world. The article was written by Efriam Karsh, head of Mediterranean Studies at King’s College, University of London. Karsh is also the author of Islamic Imperialism: A History (Yale). Here is an excerpt from the end of the article:
    Sixty years after their dispersion, the refugees of 1948 and their descendants remain in the squalid camps where they have been kept by their fellow Arabs for decades, nourished on hate and false hope. Meanwhile, their erstwhile leaders have squandered successive opportunities for statehood.

    It is indeed the tragedy of the Palestinians that the two leaders who determined their national development during the 20th century—Hajj Amin Husseini and Yasir Arafat, the latter of whom dominated Palestinian politics since the mid-1960’s to his death in November 2004—were megalomaniacal extremists blinded by anti-Jewish hatred and profoundly obsessed with violence. Had the mufti chosen to lead his people to peace and reconciliation with their Jewish neighbors, as he had promised the British officials who appointed him to his high rank in the early 1920’s, the Palestinians would have had their independent state over a substantial part of Mandate Palestine by 1948, and would have been spared the traumatic experience of dispersion and exile. Had Arafat set the PLO from the start on the path to peace and reconciliation, instead of turning it into one of the most murderous terrorist organizations in modern times, a Palestinian state could have been established in the late 1960’s or the early 1970’s; in 1979 as a corollary to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty; by May 1999 as part of the Oslo process; or at the very latest with the Camp David summit of July 2000.

    Instead, Arafat transformed the territories placed under his control in the 1990’s into an effective terror state from where he launched an all-out war (the “al-Aqsa intifada”) shortly after being offered an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and 92 percent of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. In the process, he subjected the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to a repressive and corrupt regime in the worst tradition of Arab dictatorships and plunged their standard of living to unprecedented depths.

    What makes this state of affairs all the more galling is that, far from being unfortunate aberrations, Hajj Amin and Arafat were quintessential representatives of the cynical and self-seeking leaders produced by the Arab political system. Just as the Palestinian leadership during the Mandate had no qualms about inciting its constituents against Zionism and the Jews, while lining its own pockets from the fruits of Jewish entrepreneurship, so PLO officials used the billions of dollars donated by the Arab oil states and, during the Oslo era, by the international community to finance their luxurious style of life while ordinary Palestinians scrambled for a livelihood.

    And so it goes.


    And so it goes, on and on.

    The default position of many in the West seems to be that everything that befalls the poor, vicitmized Palestinians is, by definition, Israel's fault. ( A perfect example of this nonsense can be found here as the UN blames Israel for the fact that Hamas is dumping sewage into the Mediterranean sea and polluting the entire area).

    The West for the most part has the attitude that somehow, allowing the Palestinians or their Muslim "brothers" to suffer the consequences of their choices and behavior would somehow be "punishing them" in some horrible fashion. A typical proponent of this attitude is former President Carter, who has consistently and regularly advocates that Israel's actions should be punished, but that the Palestinians must be given a free pass by civilization.

    Carter blithely discusses the "devastating consequences" of Israel or American actions, but I have yet to see him--or any others who put forth the same compassionate view-- grapple with the "devastating consequences" of the Hamas charter. Or of suicide bombers. Or of the intent, stated repeatedly by the leaders of the Palestinians and sanctioned by the Palestinian people who voted to elect Hamas, to destroy Israel.

    Carter and the other terrorist enablers of the West ignore Palestinian behavior with the cultivated cognitive dissonance of today's postmodern left. The obsession of the West with the eternal victimhood cult of the Palestininas has been the single biggest psychological impediment toward peace in that region.

    Why should the Palestinians' behavior ever change? What could possibly motivate them to be civilized? Or deal honestly with Israel? They have every reason to believe that the Carters of the world will always let them off the hook--and bail them out--no matter what they do or how badly they behave.

    This free pass has been in effect for almost 100 years. That is several generations now raised on lies, distortions, and total dysfunction. Interestingly, the original Palestinian refugees saw things somewhat more clearly than their descendents who still live in the squalid camps they were forced into by their compassionate Arab neighbors:
    No wonder, then, that so few among the Palestinian refugees themselves blamed their collapse and dispersal on the Jews. During a fact-finding mission to Gaza in June 1949, Sir John Troutbeck, head of the British Middle East office in Cairo and no friend to Israel or the Jews, was surprised to discover that while the refugees
    express no bitterness against the Jews (or for that matter against the Americans or ourselves) they speak with the utmost bitterness of the Egyptians and other Arab states. “We know who our enemies are,” they will say, and they are referring to their Arab brothers who, they declare, persuaded them unnecessarily to leave their homes. . . . I even heard it said that many of the refugees would give a welcome to the Israelis if they were to come in and take the district over.


    When it comes to seeking peace; or establishing a civil and productive society today's Palestinians and their Islamic brethren have shown themselves to be completely hopeless and only focused on war.

    In fact, they are so committed to war; so determined to continue on their path homicidal violence for violence' sake, that they are indoctrinating the next generation into the cult of death (and they don't even need Mickey Mouse to do it).

    Western leaders are amazingly slow learners. They have been excusing the Palestinians and vilifying Israel for decades now, and yet they wonder why peace is so elusive in that part of the world.

    From the beginning, the plight of the Palestinians and the outrage of Middle Eastern countries has been a 'self-inflicted catastrophe'

    And the Western world--which still believes that these self-inflicted wounds are somehow Israel's fault--seems bent on never calling the leaders of the Palestinians, or the leaders of countries that still have Palestinian refugee camps, to account for undermining every peace process; breaking every truce; squandering every chance; and worshipping death. It is truly amazing how the West, remain willing accessories to this ongoing catastrophe.

    The myth of Palestinian victimization at the hands of the evil Jews is at the center of the insanity.

    Today's Palestinian society is almost wholly constructed on a cesspool of swirling self-destructive rationalizations, encouraged by their Muslim brothers who are perfectly happy to maintain the victimhood of the Palestinian people as long as it can be used to rationalize and cover for their own dysfunctional societies:
    To this end, Arab governments and Palestinian groups have acted in bad faith to prevent a solution to the problem. Ralph Galloway, formerly director of UN aid to the Palestinians in Jordan, stated:
    The Arab states do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don’t give a damn whether the refugees live or die. (Ralph Galloway, UNRWA, as quoted by Terence Prittie in The Palestinians: People History, Politics, p 71)


    The Israelis themselves have intermittantly encouraged and enabled some of this thinking on the part of the West; and of a certaintly they have not been perfect in all of their behavior. Nevertheless, how many times will Israel have to make honest concessions and take the first step toward peace? How many times will Israelis have to demonstrate their goodwill and willingness to live in peace with these maniacs? How many truces, treaties, aggreements, must be broken-- before the world sees the Palestinians and their Arab handlers for the suicidal/homicidal con artists they are?

    They don't want peace. They don't want to live in their own state if Israel exists. They don't care about the suffering of innocent people - either Israelis or Palestinians. They don't care, because they have no honor. They are incapable of goodwill. They have no leader with any integrity. They have nothing but their hatred.

    And they cannot bear the reality that Israeli society is more functional, more successful, and far superior in every way to their own. The very existence of Israel brings unbearable shame to the fragile Muslim egos of the dysfunctional Middle East.

    So this generation of Palestinians are mercilessly indoctrinated into hate and death. They parade and dance around with their UN-funded banners, pretending that they are real men; shooting guns in the air and setting things on fire; preparing their children for future suicide missions;

    The only thing we can be certain of is that the Palestinians will continue to squander every opportunity and waste any goodwill directed their way, subverting it to their openly stated murderous agenda and continuing the self-inflicted catastrophe.

    On and on....and so it goes.