U.N. kow tows to its masters
h/t: Linda at The Great Pumpkin
Whither Jerusalem?
By: Richard L. Cravatts, FrontPageMagazine.com:
The stridency of the Obama administration’s attitude about Israeli settlements in the West Bank has stunned some observers, not the least of whom is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Even more troubling to the Israelis is the State Department’s recent scolding of Ambassador Michael Oren about a 20-unit apartment project financed by a wealthy American philanthropist who purchased the former Shepherd Hotel property in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, adjacent to a compound of Israeli government buildings. What is stunning about this latest U.S. policy is that the project in question is in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, in an Eastern Jerusalem neighborhood that, if the Palestinians have their way, ostensibly will be the capital of their putative state; more disturbing is the fact that U.S. diplomats have now decreed that Israeli construction in Jerusalem itself constitutes the forbidden settlement activity.
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God Almighty did not restore the descendants of David to the Promised Land only to have them removed by man.
Bananas
David Warren:
Honduras has been in the news, and I’ve been tempted to write a column about developments there, where a semi-demented, Castroist-Allendist-Sandinist-Hugo Chavez Marxist was elected on the usual multi-party split. Soon he was trying to install himself as dictator-for-life, in the usual way, by rewriting the country’s constitution. He enjoys the usual avid following, among the socialist crazies in his own country; and abroad, among those who still collect Che Guevara fashion impedimenta.
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The contradictions of our elite critics
By Victor Davis Hanson:
Scolding Americans for our various sins is proving popular among an elite group of self-appointed moralists.
Take well-meaning environmentalists who warn us that our plush lifestyles heat up and pollute the planet. To listen to former vice president Al Gore or New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, we must immediately curtail our carbon emissions — or face planetary destruction.
Yet these influential prophets of doom do not have lives remotely similar to the lesser folk they lecture. From time to time, Al Gore hops on a private jet — and purchases “carbon offsets” as penances for the privilege. His mansion not long ago consumed more energy in a month than the average American home does in a year. Friedman lives on a sprawling estate reminiscent of the grandees of the 18th-century English countryside.
The rest of us would find these environmental scolds more convincing if they chose to live modestly in average tract homes. That way they could limit their energy consumption and provide living proof to us of how smaller is better for an endangered planet earth.
Elite critics in the business of racial grievance offer the same contradictions.
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Forced to think freely
Melanie Phillips:
It’s got to be one of the most unintentionally comical and yet revealing stories of the summer. An atheist summer camp has been set up to indoctrinate children in ‘free thinking’ by ensuring that not one hint of religion nor any discussion of religious ideas creeps into the programme. The ‘free thinkers’ running the camp are clearly incapable of seeing the paradox. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for a camp promoting ‘free thinking’ to be run by people who can actually think?[...]
Slouching Toward Orwell’s 1984
By Jeff Lukens:
George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” tells of an advanced world where there are no individual freedoms, and the state uses fear to manipulate and control people to conform to a prescribed belief. In the book, the Party maintains absolute power, and power has become an end to itself. His book is as relevant today as ever. In the age of Obama, the freedoms that define American life are slipping away and being replaced with ever more state control.
In Orwell’s book, the Party constantly rewrites history and rewrites the language to restrict the true meaning of words and the ideas behind them. They eliminate words to reduce vocabulary and thereby reduce uncontrolled thoughts. Doublespeak makes people believe what they would otherwise know to be false, and is encapsulated by the phrase: “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.” Orwell defined doublethink as, “The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”
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It’s Crunch Time for Israel on Iran
By JOHN BOLTON:
Legions of senior American officials have descended on Jerusalem recently, but the most important of them has been Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His central objective was to dissuade Israel from carrying out military strikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities. Under the guise of counseling “patience,” Mr. Gates again conveyed President Barack Obama’s emphatic thumbs down on military force.
The public outcome of Mr. Gates’s visit appeared polite but inconclusive. Yet Iran’s progress with nuclear weapons and air defenses means Israel’s military option is declining over time. It will have to make a decision soon, and it will be no surprise if Israel strikes by year’s end. Israel’s choice could determine whether Iran obtains nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future.
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