Guns and politics

That piece of infographic is fabulous, even if it is a fake (no opinion on that from me):

(But don't forget to click on the image to read the fine print, it's vital).

Lifted from Theo Spark.

Library policemen/women have guns. I knew it all the time!

What was a rumor, hitherto only whispered about in dark corners, is now common knowledge.

Though most Americans know agents within the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Prisons carry guns, agencies such as the Library of Congress and Federal Reserve Board employing armed officers might come as a surprise.

The truth will out, ladies and gentlemen. The truth will out...

Nina Davuluri is leaving you, you ingrates!

Really, people, how could you! The lady got her title fair and square, and you heap insults at her like... like... I don't have words to describe your lowly attempts to dirtmouth this radiant beauty:

So, after a short study of your unpardonable behavior and a longer study of Ms Davuluri, I've decided that you don't deserve to share a continent with her. Thus I am coming and taking her home. I have to beef up on some finer points of Sanskrit anyway.

And don't beg me, don't crawl on your knees and don't debase yourself further. It's over.

Aaron Alexis, the Washington Navy Yard gunman, busted in 2010 for firearm-related offense?

Here it is. And here is a snapshot of the page (click to enlarge):

The age and the location match the shooter's description here and in other sources.

Amnon Lord: Obama as a grand failure - or missing the great red herring.

An Israeli veteran journalist, Amnon Lord, published an article in the Hebrew edition of Maariv, titled American pundits: Obama as a grand failure. As a critical article on the behavior of the current US administration, the piece is scorching - and still it proves that Putin's maneuver succeeded beyond expectations to create and to put on our collective table a huge red herring that effectively sidetracked everyone.

Follows its translation (Google with my assistance) and a few remarks after that.

[Lede of the article]When Assad wins immunity, Obama is also expected to give legitimacy to Iran through meetings with Rouhani and through backing Putin's initiative to build another reactor.

Only a few pundits in the American media, who were loyal to President Barack Obama, continue to rationalize his political conduct on Syria last month and claim that it works correctly. His other supporters issue prophecies styled like that of Time magazine's Joe Klein, Obama is currently showing "breathtaking incompetence*". "In the process, he has damaged his presidency and weakened the nation’s standing in the world."

But among opponents of Obama there are those who have already gone far beyond the "unsuited for the job" and other explanations relating to the seriousness of the Obama administration. Norman Podhoretz, 82, who infrequently writes lately, was the first who dared to write what some people feel for a long time : the treatment of Syria is a failure, but this failure is a huge success of Obama's strategy to weaken - Yes, weaken ! - and harm the United States and its foreign policy .

Podhoretz wrote this about a week ago in the Wall Street Journal. He tied the deliberate sabotage, as he claimed, by Obama's of American foreign policy to what the American media was trying to whitewash and to hide for the past five years: his links with the radical anti-American left, his closeness to the preacher Jeremiah Wright, etc.

The treatment by Kerry/Obama pair of the chemical attack in Damascus contains in a nutshell the lack of basic morality that comes from what is considered "progressive", "humanistic" and "peaceful" ideals of global left in the form they get in U.S. In his desire to withdraw America for better world equilibrum and as an expression of moral relativism, Obama became a collaborator with the leaders responsible - each according to his contribution - for crimes against humanity. One is Bashar al-Assad, the second is his sponsor, defender and supporter, Vladimir Putin.

Ultimately, what President Obama is doing is nothing less than legitimizing a mass murderer responsible for gassing nearly 1500 people including hundreds of children. According to what develops in negotiations between John Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov, Assad will get immunity from possible attack on Syria and immunity from the court in The Hague. These gains - that will enable him to continue the slaughter - are achieved through the chemical attack! For this he really has to say "Spasibo" to Putin, as one of Israel's senior publicists has already mentioned.

Intellectuals among those who respond to the diplomatic horror that unveils before our eyes are muttering: this is how the life looks in the post - American period. The world order built after World War II is crumbling. But it is impossible to dismiss Obama's responsibility for the melee that carries off parts of the world in the absence of American leadership. We should expect now that Obama give further sponsorship and legitimacy to the Iranian leadership through direct meetings with the new President Hassan Rouhani.

Doing this, he will give a covert support to Putin's new initiative to build another reactor in Iran and to arm Iran with S-300 missiles. I mentioned last week that Russia preserves its provocation and disinformation instruments sharpened in its extensive toolbox. This past week we have seen a demo [of these tools]: Putin's provocative article in New York Times (and Ha'aretz) , which caused many Americans to want to "throw up" as a senior senator said.

At the same time Snowden, who acts now as an  agent on behalf of the Russians, released information harmful to Israel and intelligence that brews trouble between United States and Brazil. Russia's proxies are very well planted in the Western media. But it is still a "soft" campaign. Whoever keeps Iran under their wing will sooner or later push it to break through the nuclear threshold. Let's not allow the stink of old wars to hide the new wars Russians will try to ignite, using their old techniques . It would be another "successful failure", and expected one at that, by President Obama.

(*) The full text of the sentence is: "It has been one of the more stunning and inexplicable displays of presidential incompetence that I’ve ever witnessed." Yep.

Now that you have read the article, you may (as I did) feel disturbed by some of its statements, disagree with the others - but you will probably agree with me that it's a strong one. Still, I have promised to show you the red herring.

This article, being an aggregate of several other articles that aim searing criticism (and more than that - accusations, if you mind the Podhoretz's piece), proves  beyond any doubt that Putin, with very little assistance from his buddy Baby Assad, succeeded in an endeavor he himself, probably, hardly believed in. Where the whole world was focusing on the relentless campaign of mass murder managed by Assad's regime for more than two years, ending the lives of more than 100,000 of his own people, no one talks about them now - not the Western pundits, at least. The hundred thousand** victims are swept off the table. It is as if they don't count anymore, being completely overshadowed by the Damascus gassing.

Look again at what Amnon Lord says "Ultimately, what President Obama is doing is nothing less than legitimizing a mass murderer responsible for gassing nearly 1500 people including hundreds of children." I don't blame Amnon Lord, he, like all other pundits, is seeing only the red herring created by Vladimir Vladimirovich. Mission accomplished.

Fairly soon we shall see the schedule of chemical weapons' transfer to "international control" published (but not necessarily adhered to), Baby Assad will get his "get out of jail" card, merrily turning back to his murderous daily tasks. Obama gets rescued from the "red line" crisis he created for himself, showing off now as a careful leader who is not prone to impetuous acts that could put Americans in the harm's way.

And finally, Putin will show off his new "peacemaker" crown, having succeeded in a peaceful mission where all others failed. And look hopefully in the general direction of Oslo.

And the mass graves will keep being dug and filled, again and again.

And this is the way this planet keeps revolving...

(**) The number itself is, probably, wrong by now. It is just that the "murder counter" stopped ticking, at least in the mass media, after the Damascus gassing. How many more Syrians died since the gassing? I don't know.

Million Muslim March or Dick Cheney and them Zionists did it?

Adorable. Superb. Magnificent.

And then the Jews came and debased it all...

This story, if it weren't a true one, could have served as a basis for a great joke. It started with an article, published by G.G. Kotova on a site dedicated to study of pre-Slavic civilization, having in mind to establish Etruscan - Russian links and common roots.

The article is concerned with translation (or, rather, decryption) of a text on a stone found in the area of city of Pskov. Here is the stone:

The author of the article, Dr.* Kotova, immediately assumed that the text is written in a mix of archaic Russian dialect and ancient Greek (no pun intended). I am skipping the fairly long reasoning behind this assumption, moving to the next stage. But if you know Russian, go ahead and enjoy the fine print. The text on the stone looks like this after being copied on paper:

To transliterate the text into Russian, the following matching table was used:

And here comes the result in Russian letters:

1. ЛЕТОСЬ ДРАЛИСЬ на МЕ-

2. ЖЕ, ПАВЕТКИ : ЛЕТОСЬ ЛИХОДЕ-

3. И на ОПУШКЕ ЛЕСА СЕКОМ УБИЛИ, ГОРЕ МНЕ,

4. ЛАСУ. СЫН любил ЦЕЛОВАТЬСЯ И ЛАСКАТЬСЯ.

5. ЛИЛИСЬ СЛЕЗЫ, ЛИЛИСЬ.

6. БОГ ЛИЛ.

Mind you, the resulting Russian words are declared to be belonging to ancient Russian and most of them pass through additional crunching in the article, so my attempt to translate it into English definitely pales compared with the origin. But I tried, so here:

1. Last year they fought on the property line,
2. Whining last year about the evil-doer -
3. And killed with an axe on the forest edge, woe to me.
4. Sweet toothed, my son loved to kiss and to cuddle.
5. Flow tears, flow.
6. God poured.

Well, that will be it for the story. Aside of them Jews, who came into the picture and spoiled the discovery and the related linguistic analysis. You see, they (the Jews) just had to turn it all upside down. Starting with the stone, which, when turned upside down, looks like this:

And the author of that last article, Igal Zamir from Israel, offered a very simple explanation: this is a gravestone**, inscribed in Hebrew, carrying the following text: "Here rests humble Chaia-... daughter of Yitzchak, year 1920, may her soul be bound in the bundle of life". A standard Hebrew text, roughly etched in a hard granite gravestone, is all.

Mr Zamir was so pissed off by the story that he offered a whole lecture on genealogy of Hebrew alphabet and a politically incorrect conclusion I shall avoid translating here. Needless to say, the Russian Internet carries a lot of comical responses to the Etruscan debacle. But it must be stated that Ms Kotova found it in herself to publish a retraction, even somewhat humorous, of the previous article. Good. ‏‏‏‏

Is there a lesson in this story? Hardly, aside of Etruscan-Russian relationships being still somewhat unclear out there is the fog of history. But one shouldn't lose hope...

(*) Ph.D. in chemistry, as it appears. But specializing in the study of Etruscan language, probably in her spare time.
(**) There is another, very sad story about the destruction of Jewish cemeteries during the WW II, but this is not the place for it.

The Council Has Spoken!

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes! Joshuapundit –President Obama Sends Support Message To Radical Muslim Brotherhood Front Group
• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Right Planet – The Rush to War — Examining the Evidence
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Simply Jews-Alireza Forghani: Obama’s daughter will be kidnapped and raped if America attacks Syria
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 vote – The Political Commentator -Obama’s escalation of ‘tail wagging the dog’ scandal smokescreens!
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD -Pacific Carrier Race
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – Nice Deb – Obama’s Smoking Gun Proof That Assad Was Behind Chemical Weapons Attack Was Doctored?
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – The Noisy Room-Never Let A War Go To Waste….
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm  Room- How public schools’ war on boys has led to an increase in gun crimes
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – Is It To Be Isolationists vs. Militarists?
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor – Stupid Things
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Interesting Legal News — Convicted Bomber, Drug Smuggler And Perjurer Sues Bloggers
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Liberty’s Spirit – Liberty’s Spirit: Protesting Minimum Wage-The Beginning of Class Warfare

Non-Council Winners

Read more »

Irina Rodnina Engages in Racist Propaganda

There has always been more than a twinge of racism in the Soviet "anti-Americanism".   Nevertheless, it were the Americans that used to be called "racist" by the Soviet propaganda.

Now that Barak Obama is the President (not exactly my favourite man), this hypocrisy is there for everyone to see.  Irina Rodnina, former figure-skating champion, a member of Duma from the pro-Putin party, head of various Russian government committees and other mafia groups has published a photograph of Obamas with a photoshopped banana.

The photograph has since been deleted from Rodnina's Twitter account.  Nevertheless her defense of the publication is still there.   Apparently that's how Rodnina expresses her freedom of speech.  Which doesn't exist in Russia if she were to try and insult Mr Putin. 

Rodnina has a business in the US - figure skating school, which serves as a source of her income.  Her daughter lives in California.  She works for RT - Russian disgusting propaganda Channel.   According to Rodnina the photo has been sent to her from the US. 

Yom Kippur war - 40 years

Not by a bravura of military marches and not by tearful funereal keens. This song, written by our late and much beloved Naomi Shemer 40 years ago, during the war, is part of our collective inheritance and is forever associated with that war.

What an expert sez...

After browsing through the CNN article by Matthew Teller* 10 things to know before visiting Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, I have one additional thing to add to the list. This regarding the item 9. When you visit Israel, you're also visiting biblical Palestine: when you dial the next destination on your time machine, don't use the term "biblical Palestine". Time machines are known for their capricious behavior, and you may find yourself invited to a dinosaur family lunch. As a delicacy, of course.

(*) From the linked article:

About the author: Freelancer Matthew Teller writes and broadcasts on the Middle East for media outlets around the world. He's an award-winning travel writer and a long-standing author for the global travel publisher Rough Guides.

Yeah. Beware of guide books, all I can say...

Update: It must be said that the headlines of the articles, like the unfortunate one discussed here, are usually done up by the editors. So it's unfair of me to blame the author for something done by a rather ignorant git in CNN's offices. Apologies where apologies are due.

Sorry, Senator Paul, but you are talking crap

Stumbled on this soundbite* yesterday:

Some argue that American credibility is on the line, that because President Obama drew a red line with chemical weapons, America must act or lose credibility. I would argue that America's credibility does not reside in one man. If our enemies wish to know if America will defend herself, let them look no farther than our response to 9/11. When attacked, we responded with overwhelming force and with the military objective of complete victory over our attackers.

Credibility is not something that a man or a nation could assign to themselves, Senator. Credibility is in the eyes of the beholder, and the beholder is not an American citizen or even the American nation. It is the other people and the other nations who are to judge the credibility, and I cannot say that your current administration has done any good to it, no sir. Credibility of USA is at its lowest point in too many years to count, and it will take many years to restore it. And not only because of this ridiculous red line your president drew so impetuously.

As a side issue: why is that in that family of inordinate thinkers, with whom I could easily agree on so many matters, every time that one of its members starts talking international politics, I have a feeling that the said member has just left a cave where he was spending the last ten (twenty) years? Beats me.

(*) If you want to watch the clip yourself, be prepared to endure 30 seconds of ads followed by 10 seconds of that speech, which is essentially in the quote above.

Putin's speech: when a KGB officer predicts the future

Call me paranoid - or any other name for that matter, but when I read this:

"Reports that militants are preparing another attack - this time against Israel - cannot be ignored," he adds.

, I cannot but feel that this is the moment that should cause the relevant ears and eyes to open as widely as possible.

Militants my foot...

Craig Murray: the straightforward logic of anti-Zionist

This is a third post on the subject. The first two lead to a pretty unpleasant conclusion: the man who appeared to be at first simply unfair to Israel is, in fact, brimming over with anti-American and anti-Zionist fervor.

Now, in one of his latest posts, The Troodos Conundrum, he is showing that his antipathy to the Zionists* has already crossed the red line into dimly lit corridors of obsession. Fanatics of a cause usually don't bother with elementary logic, as this post abundantly shows. Let's see the highlights of the article:

• There is a GCHQ listening post on Mount Troodos in Cyprus.
• "It monitors all radio, satellite and microwave traffic across the Middle East".
• "Troodos is highly effective – the jewel in the crown of British intelligence. Its capacity and efficiency, as well as its reach, is staggering."
• Mr Murray has been there in person. "I should state that I have actually been inside all of this facility and been fully briefed on its operations and capabilities, while I was head of the FCO Cyprus Section in the early 1990s. This is fact, not speculation." And, indeed, this is the last fact in that article of any value, if at all.
• "It is therefore very strange, to say the least, that John Kerry claims to have access to communications intercepts of Syrian military and officials organising chemical weapons attacks, which intercepts were not available to the British Joint Intelligence Committee." Now, does the fact that Mr Craig visited the installation in early 1990 make him privy to the intercepts (or lack of intercepts) by GCHQ in 2013?
• And then, without further ado: "On one level the explanation is simple. The intercept evidence was provided to the USA by Mossad, according to my own well placed source in the Washington intelligence community." Hm... is Mossad the only intelligence agency other than MI6 that provides US information? And what if it was Mossad indeed, why does it matter? You shall see in a second:
• "The answer to the Troodos Conundrum is simple. Troodos did not pick up the intercepts because they do not exist. Mossad fabricated them. John Kerry’s “evidence” is the shabbiest of tricks."

Let's try to condense this line of reasoning to a shorter chain. GCHQ are a top dog, if someone else has something GCHQ doesn't then someone else is lying, ergo Mossad has fabricated it, so Kerry was tricked.

Of course, one could ask a few questions like:

• Is GCHQ really that infallible? Couldn't it happen that some outfit that sits practically on the outskirts of Damascus sees and hears a bit more than the famed GCHQ? Or, at least, something else the wizards of GCHQ might have missed?
• Who said Kerry is using info provided by Mossad (not the Mossad, actually, but why try to confuse Craig Murray even more...)? Don't CIA, NSA, FBI, 6th Fleet etc have their own extensive listening networks?
• Why should Mossad push for something the entire population of Israel, its government included, is not sure about, e.g. attack on Syria, that, most probably, will not benefit Israel at all - just the opposite? And fabricate something that so easily could be outed as a fabrication**.

But I am afraid these simple questions will remain unanswered by our hero. It's really a pity that a great progressive thinker like Craig Murray can't follow in the steps of that other famous Brit, one Sherlock Holmes, with his "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".

But at least one can admire the straightforward way of thinking. If it's not to my liking, it is them Zionists who concocted it, says intrepid Mr Murray. So there.

And I haven't yet addressed the following passage:

Israel has repeatedly been involved in the Syrian civil war, carrying out a number of illegal bombings and missile strikes over many months. This absolutely illegal activity by Israel - which has killed a great many civilians, including children - has brought no condemnation at all from the West.

(Emphasis mine) Now I am ready to address it. Here it comes: Indeed, Mr Murray? / End of addressing.

What can I add to that uninspiring picture of a man obsessed?

(*) For lack of a better term and not knowing the man better than that.
(**) Meanwhile more and more incontrovertible evidence about Syrian army being behind the gassing is piling up. But why care?

Testicle size 'link to father role'

Another one of the (seemingly) obvious research results, with the same corollary: the scientists have to go out more frequently and get some life.

Researchers at Emory University, US, said those with smaller testicles were more likely to be involved with nappy changing, feeding and bath time.

What next? Confirmation that people with small penises are the most aggressive and vile commenters on the Internet?

Oh well, nothing more to see here, move on, ladies and gentlemen.

Hat tip: M.G.