Academic Freedom? Not if You’re a Conservative…or a Koch
by Capitol Confidential:
[...]
Put simply, course staffing decisions at FSU are made entirely by departments and are not a part of the agreement. The agreement allows for the hire of a non-tenure track professor “to teach economics courses, primarily at the undergraduate level.” The department’s selection of the program director and the non-tenure track professor to teach another introductory undergraduate economics course was decided entirely by FSU faculty and at no point did the Koch Foundation become involved in this process.
Its appears that the original accusations against the Koch Foundation stating they had harmed academic integrity and obtained hire/fire authority over faculty were proven false, so new allegations were created in their place also lacking any factually basis.
This story has very little to do about the agreement the Koch Foundation reached with FSU and everything to do with the fact that some will never accept their involvement in higher education.
America is merely wounded, Europe risks death
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard:
[...]
EU ineptitude – or rather, German, Dutch and Finnish unwillingness to face up to the implications of EMU – have raised the risk of a traumatic August crisis in Italy and Spain. EU leaders are bringing about exactly what they pledged to avoid.
The US cannot insulate itself against the consequences of Europe’s elemental EMU blunder, but it can mitigate the effects by restoring order in its own political house. The Fed has already bought a degree of insurance by gunning the money supply in advance. The executive institutions of the US government are viable and still functioning.
We can only pray that at least one half of the Atlantic system holds relatively firm. If both go down together, buy a shotgun and prepare for 1932.
Try buying any firearm legally these days.
After 150 deaths in two Syrian cities, US accuses Assad of “full-on warfare”
DEBKAfile:
No Arab ruler before him has gone to the bloody lengths Syrian President Bashar Assad went Sunday, July 31, on the eve of Ramadan on Aug. 1, to snuff out the five month-long protest against his regime. Before dawn, troops and tanks, indiscriminately blasting city streets with cannon, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, stormed the two most active centers of resistance. By evening, the 4th division had killed 130 people and left 1,000 injured in Hama in the north, while the 7th division had left 20 dead and more than 100 injured in Deir al-Zour. Hundreds were arrested.
[...]
Lebanon War distortions
Abraham Bell, Gerald M. Steinberg:
This summer marks the five-year anniversary of the Lebanon war between Israel and the Lebanese-Iranian terrorist organization Hezbollah. The Second Lebanon War traumatized Israel politically as well as militarily. Militarily, Israel failed to dislodge the terrorist organization from its southern Lebanese foothold; politically, Israeli leaders found themselves overwhelmed by a flood of false accusations of “war crimes,” “indiscriminate and disproportionate” force, and “violations of international law.”
International non-governmental organizations played a critical role in the political warfare against Israel. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – ostensibly neutral watchdogs – led the campaign. In 35 days, they issued over 40 press releases, statements and pseudo fact-finding reports, comprising hundreds of pages, largely ignoring the war crimes committed by the terrorist organization and instead focusing overwhelmingly and negatively on alleged Israeli crimes.
The HRW and Amnesty allegations were immediately accepted, at face value, by the world’s media. Politicians and diplomats then echoed the war crimes accusations, without any fact-checking.
We are now completing a multi-year study of all the HRW and Amnesty allegations regarding the 2006 Lebanon war, and the results so far are shocking. In our systematic and detailed research, supported by the Israel Science Foundation, we found major contradictions as well as numerous unsupported charges, double standards and false or invented “evidence.”
[...]
THE LOST BOYS
By Graham Bal:
The six RAF men from 103 Squadron who died when their Wellington crashed in flames in farmland near the village of Kleiterp had been erased from history. Their bodies had been buried in an unmarked military grave and their families had been told that, officially, they were just “missing in action”. Now, thanks to the remarkable dedication of a group of Dutch patriots, the story of their bravery and sacrifice can be told.
The Wellington R1397 had taken off from Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire on the night of July 24, 1941, to take part in an attack on the docks at Emden in Germany. It had taken off with five other planes at about 11.30pm. There had been some light fog over the North Sea but visibility above the target was good.
On board were Captain Mervyn Lund, the 23-year-old pilot from New Zealand, along with four other crewmen, also in their 20s. Rear gunner Frank Walker from Yorkshire was the oldest member of the crew at 30.
[...]
I have my issues with the Dutch but at least the Dutch honour our war dead and living. And they do it in all sincerity.
Alternate universe
Something is very wrong with our culture. I’m all for capitalism, free enterprise and supply and demand economics. I don’t begrudge Mr. Manning negotiating the most lucrative deal possible as compensation for his services. Good for him. Honestly. I applaud him. However, I do wonder at a society that places this level of value on the skill of an athlete. It’s what it says about us.
For the same reason I am disgusted by the Olympics. It is no less than a perverse glorification of self and worse, yet nations are now subsidizing their athletes in a sick display of nationalistic excess all in the name of sport. It brings out the very opposite values it purports to promote. Here is Wiki’s summation of those values:
According to this philosophy, the good sportsmanship, sense of fair play, and respect for fellow athletes that is developed through participation in sports teaches men and women of different races, religions, and nationalities to work peacefully together in competition toward common goals. The Olympic Movement works to expand such lessons beyond the sports arena in the hope of promoting peace and a sense of brotherhood throughout the world.
Sure. In reality, however, we witness cheating, doping, corruption, bribery, nepotism and elitism on a scale that would embarrass Al Capone. Worse yet, the poobahs of the IOC walz around the planet like latter day Emperor Neros demanding, and receiving, lavish gifts and wordly acclaim King Solomon could only have dreamed of.
Add to all that the Bacchic rites of sexual degeneracy and excess in the athletes villages and I think it is more than fair to describe the olympics as the Pagan Games.
Patriots vs. progressives
Does it strike anyone else that this next presidential election feels less like an election and more like two opposing countries fighting for victory? Obama’s idea of America is positively un-american (collectivist, socialist, transnational). The Republican mavericks (no, not the RINOs) are channeling our founding fathers, fighting for individual rights, less government, and our unalienable rights endowed by our Creator.
Oslo and Profanity for Profane Times
Jim O’Neill:
Media Lie: Hitler was a Christian fundamentalist. This statement is sometimes coupled with the accusation that Hitler’s radical Christianity was the direct cause of the Holocaust.
The Truth: Hitler despised Christianity. The only religion that Hitler had any respect for was Islam, whose totalitarian methods and messages he admired.
Media Lie: Following the Jonestown mass suicide in 1978, the media implied that Reverend Jim Jones was a right-wing Christian wacko, who used religion as a means to trap people inside his insane “Death Cult” agenda. Talk of his radical Marxism was almost uniformly swept under the rug.
The Truth: Jim Jones was a Far Left radical, who used Christianity as a front for his Marxist agenda. One of his last acts was to send money to (then) communist Russia. He was as left-wing as they get. The Far Left and death fit together like a knife and sheath—check out some history (honest history).
Media Lie: Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was a Far Right Christian militia nut.
The Truth: Timothy McVeigh was a Far Left agnostic with ties to radical Islam (via Terry Nichols) and neo-Nazism. As faithful readers well know, I have pointed out the reasons why Fascism (and its subset Nazism) is a Far Left collectivist doctrine numerous times. That the media and clueless liberals continue to call the Nazis “right-wing” is bad enough, but that patriotic conservatives continue to do so is beyond the pale. Here’s a handy mnemonic that might help: “Nazis are left-wing, Nazis are left-wing—‘Socialist Workers Party,’ hello?—Nazis are left-wing.”
[...]
Top Syrian Generals Defect – Announce Formation of Free Syrian Army to Fight Assad (Video)
Top Syrian Generals Defect – Announce Formation of Free Syrian Army to Fight Assad (Video)
The Sad Song Of Norway: Its Antisemitic Refrain
CiF Watch:
American writer and literary critic Bruce Bawer has described antisemitism in Norway, where he lives, as being de rigeuer amongst much of “the cultural elite – the academics, intellectuals, writers, journalists, politicians, and technocrats”.
[...]
Why It’s Time to Speak about God Again
By Jay Haug:
America is living under an illusion: the idea that we can expunge God (broadly understood) from our national and public belief system and still operate a moral and accountable government.
C.S. Lewis summed up the problem in The Abolition of Man. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.” John Adams asserted, “Our Constitution was made for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Our founding fathers laid down a system that demanded conscientious, self-restrained implementation — a government dependent on the character of the people. Ben Franklin, perhaps the most deistic of the founding fathers, famously assured one curious bystander that the Constitutional Conventions had engendered “a Republic, if you can keep it.” How many people today truly understand that America’s health depends on the moral character of its citizens, of their personal “keeping” of our nation?
Many people in power have discovered that what Ivan Karamazov said is true: “If God is dead, all is permitted.” They recognize only too well that God has been removed from public life — and with Him, the attendant moral order. In their minds, there is no responsibility because there is no God. Morality, though not always agreed upon, has become a matter of opinion, easily dismissed.
[...]
Government Marco Rubio Rails on Debt Crisis Hypocrisy for 14:02 (And John Kerry Doesn’t Like It)
by Christopher Santarelli:
During by far the most dramatic 24 hours of debt limit negotiations that have had a chokehold on American politics and government since January, Sen.Marco Rubio’s remarks followed by debate with Sen. John Kerry on the Senate floor this afternoon perhaps no better captures the frustration of freshman Republicans, hypocrisy of current political rhetoric, and inability of opposing sides to form real solutions.
[...]
How to stop a jihadi GI
By KURT SCHLICHTER:
As a poster boy for the anti- war left, Pvt. Naser Jason Abdo seemed almost too good to be true: an assimilated American Muslim turned soldier — turned pious conscientious objector, after it suddenly occurred to him that some of the guys he might be pointing his M4 at were Muslims too.
And he really was too good to be true. As an Army deserter, accused child-porn aficionado and now admitted aspiring jihadi who botched his attempt to pull off a second Fort Hood massacre, the precocious Abdo has already managed to clinch the lowlife triple crown at age 21.
It’s sad that a wide array of military-haters, terrorist apologists and media meat puppets (ABC and CNN, among others, publicized his claims) were so willing to be suckered by this creepy little degenerate’s tale of one religious man’s oppression by bigoted warmongers.
[...]
Shame! AFSCME Protesters Target Company that Hires the Developmentally Disabled
by Brett Healy:
First, opponents of Governor Scott Walker’s budget reforms protested a ceremony honoring Special Olympics athletes. The negative publicity that stunt got them did nothing to give them pause. Now, AFSCME and other liberal protesters decided to picket a business that makes a point of hiring people with special needs, on Thursday. It was to be a day celebrating their success. But to Big Labor, it always has to be about Big Labor.
For a group that yells “Shame!” all the time, it is clear that they have none.
Christian Persecution: The story of Neeha
by The Right Scoop:
Neeha and her family lived in Islamabad, Pakistan just a few years ago. When Neeha’s father, a Christian, refused to convert to Islam his 2 year old daughter was kidnapped and mercilessly raped in a field. Her father was able to rescue her but she was left with serious injuries such that she can’t even urinate properly. She’s had 5 surgeries to repair the damage. Rev. Majed El Shafie heard about her story and went to meet the family who was in hiding for fear of their lives. He has since worked tirelessly and successfully for over 3 years to get them out of Pakistan and into Canada where they are now free.
This is the story of Neeha:
Demonizing Christianity
by Bill O’Reilly:
The front-page headline in The New York Times last Sunday was stunning: “As Horrors Emerge, Norway Charges Christian Extremist.”
That would be Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old who has confessed to taking at least 76 innocent lives apparently because he doesn’t like Muslims living in Europe.
But why would the Times brand Breivik a Christian? He is not attached to any church, has no history of Christian activity, has openly criticized the Protestant philosophy and has admitted to committing acts counter to all Christian teaching.
Defenders of the headline point to a Norwegian police officer who reportedly described Breivik as a Christian who desired to be a member of the Knights Templar, a medieval society that avenged anti-Christian behavior.
Perhaps The New York Times might watch out for the Knights.
According to reporting by the website NewsBusters, the Times wasn’t so quick to brand the men who killed 52 people in the London subway bombings back in 2005. The Times story on that terror incident described the situation this way: “(T)he plot was carried out by a sleeper cell of homegrown extremists rather than highly trained terrorists exported to Britain.”
Homegrown? The four London killers were all Muslim extremists, yet the Times avoided the religious label.
[...]
Life on this planet’ about to change
By MARK STEYN:
That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the “debt ceiling” negotiations the other day: “What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.”
It’s always good to have things explained in terms we simpletons can understand. After a while, all the stuff about debt-to-GDP ratio and CBO alternative baseline scenarios starts to give you a bit of a headache, so we should be grateful to the House Minority Leader for putting it in layman’s terms: What’s at stake is “life on this planet as we know it today.” So, if right now you’re living anywhere in the general vicinity of this planet, it’s good to know Nancy’s in there pitching for you.
What about life on this planet tomorrow? How’s that look if Nancy gets her way? The Democrat model of governance is to spend four trillion dollars while only collecting two trillion, borrowing the rest from tomorrow. Instead of “printing money,” we’re printing credit cards and preapproving our unborn grandchildren. To facilitate this proposition, Washington created its own form of fantasy accounting: “baseline budgeting,” under which growth-in-government is factored in to federal bookkeeping as a permanent feature of life. As Arthur Herman of the American Enterprise Institute pointed out this week, under present rules, if the government were to announce a spending freeze – that’s to say, no increases, no cuts, everything just stays exactly the same – the Congressional Budget Office would score it as a $9 trillion savings. In real-world terms, there are no “savings,” and there’s certainly no $9 trillion. In fact, there isn’t one thin dime. But nevertheless that’s how it would be measured at the CBO.
[...]
Speaking as a Hobbit
Paula Helton:
On Wednesday the “vaunted” Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “Tea Party Hobbits” in which they referred to those of us in the Tea Party movement as Hobbits. With all due respect to WSJ, bring it on. If this is the best you can do, you at the Journal are lightweights in the name-calling game. We’ve endured name tags such as “racist”, “right-wing extremists”, “terrorists”, etc. and all you have is hobbit? Speaking for myself, I’m proud to be a Hobbit.
[...]
I still don’t believe in global warming
Lorne Gunter, National Post:
Never give up on a theory that’s made you famous (and in some cases rich). Should it become hard to maintain the theory in light of contradictory real-world evidence, simply make up unprovable excuses for why your hypothesis isn’t coming true and stick with it.
[...]
‘Most Chilling Video’ From ‘Arab Spring’ Reveals Syrian Security Forces Invading People’s Home
‘Most Chilling Video’ From ‘Arab Spring’ Reveals Syrian Security Forces Invading People’s Home
Breivik’s Distorted “Agnostic Christianity”
By Marcia Morrissey:
Some of the news reports described Breivik as a “Christian fundamentalist.” I will just address the claim that he is a Christian here. I later read parts of his 1500-word manifesto, where he admits he is not a religious Christian, but rather loosely uses “Christianity” for his own political purposes. He calls himself a “cultural Christian.” He says that religious Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus or God, which he does not.
He writes, ” . . .we do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christians.” He further writes, “Being a Christian can mean many things . . . you don’t need to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus to fight for our Christian cultural heritage. It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic, or a Christian-atheist.” What the heck is he talking about?
Breivik also writes that he thinks that faith in God is a “. . . crutch for many weak people, and many embrace religion for self-serving reasons as a source for drawing mental strength. Since I’m not a hypocrite I’ll say directly that this is my agenda, as well. However, I have not yet felt the need to ask God for strength yet, but I’m pretty sure I will pray to God as I’m rushing through my city guns blazing.” So in other words, God is a “genie in a bottle God,” that you summon only when in desperate need, and put back in the bottle when you don’t.
[...]
Clearly not a Christian and clearly not a religious man in any form whatsoever. Those who insist and persist in identifying him as such do so for strictly personal or political ends.
The no votes: 22 GOPers who balked Boehner
Justin Amash (Mich.)
Michele Bachmann (Minn.)
Chip Cravaack (Minn.)Jason Chaffetz (Utah)
Scott Desjarlais (Tenn.)
Tom Graves (Ga.)
Tim Huelskamp (Kans.)
Steve King (Iowa)
Tim Johnson (Ill.)
Tom McClintock (Calif.)
Mick Mulvaney (S.C.)
Ron Paul (Texas)
Connie Mack (Fla.)
Jim Jordan (Ohio)
Tim Scott (S.C.)
Paul Broun (Ga.)
Tom Latham (Iowa)
Jeff Duncan (S.C.)
Trey Gowdy (S.C.)
Steve Southerland (Fla.)
Joe Walsh (Ill.)
Joe Wilson (S.C.)
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