Why Paleo-Libertarians Prefer Hamas To Israel

A couple of posts back I ranted about the paleoconservatives and their hatred of Israel.  Their position is strange and illogical, and I could only see antisemitism as the irrational reason for it.  Now Powerline Blog has a related article, Hamas and the Libertarians, seeking answers about this strange political anomaly.  Yaron Brooks of the Ayn Rand Institute has this to say about it:

I think that the libertarians who tend to be anti-Israel tend to be in the [Murray Rothbard wing] of the libertarian movement. They tend to be anarchists. They tend to have a deep rooted hatred of government. And it’s interesting [because] they tend to hate free governments more than they hate totalitarian governments. They tend to focus their hatred much more on the American government [and] on the Israeli government than they do on Hamas.

Read it all here.

The Middle East Conflict Explained In Five Minutes

Dennis Praeger explains the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in five minutes. Why is this so hard for liberals, paleos and Democrats to understand?  Via Young Conservatives.

 

What Praeger does not explain is WHY the Arabs want the Israelis dead. Jew-hatred is a significant part of the Muslim religion, and all Muslims are taught to hate Jews and kill them whenever possible. This is because Jews rejected Muhammad's claim of prophethood, and Mu was incensed. On his death bed, Muhammad told his gathered followers that a second religion (besides Islam) could never be allowed on the Arabian Peninsula. That is the reason the Muslims will never accept Israel's right to exist, and negotiations with them are a fool's errand.  Jew-hatred is a long, cherished religious tradition of Muslims.

As long as Islam exists in its present form, peace in the Middle East will be impossible.

The Irrational and Incoherent Hatred for Israel

Bruce Thornton of FrontPage Magazine discusses the incoherent excuses of Israel haters, over at Victor Davis Hanson's site.  He writes:

Israel’s military operation to degrade Hamas’ ability to rain rockets down on Israeli cities has stirred up the usual noisy and nasty protests in Europe. We need not dwell on demonstrations by Muslim immigrants, whose genocidal Jew-hatred has been an Islamic tradition for 14 centuries. More revealing is the hatred of Israel by so many Europeans, ranging from leftover leftists and idealizers of the dark-skinned “other,” to far-right xenophobes and morally addled Christians. Whatever its origins, one thing their bitter hatred of Israel does not have is any foundation in coherent principle.

Read it all here.

Environmentalism and Communism: Green Is Indeed The New Red

The Daily Caller reports that 130 environmental groups have called for "the end of capitalism" in order to save the world (for squirrels, humans won't be able to survive).

People on the right have been saying for some time that the environmental movement is largely a scam to promote bigger government and control of the means of production.

The Daily Caller quotes Michael Brune, director of the Sierra Club:

Climate disruption is the greatest challenge facing our generation. Until now, power plants have been allowed to dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into our air, driving dangerous climate disruption, and fueling severe drought, wildfires, heat waves and superstorms.

What a load of garbage.  Brune makes bald statements without any way to prove his absurd claim.  Whether "environmentalists" like Brune want to replace capitalism with communism, or are merely Luddite fanatics, yearning for the simpler times of, say, the 16th century, doesn't matter.  They are anti-human, and quite willing to starve millions of people with their Gaia obsession.

Read the whole thing at the link above.

Musical Interlude: Harlem Nocturne

"Harlem Nocturne" is a hauntingly beautiful, slightly mournful jazz piece that brings to mind Harlem at night. It was the theme song for the television series "Mike Hammer" a few decades back. With thanks to Pheasant Plucker for recommending it.
 

I Stand With The Jews

I stand with the Jews.  Screw the Muslims and their enablers, the political left and the paleoconservatives.

The world has become suffused in evil, but I will never give in to evil, no matter how popular it becomes with the sheeple.

Yesterday I got into a fight with Thomas E. Woods Jr. (in an online forum), and I told him off for his paleoconservative B.S.  He was angry because a website called The Washington Free Beacon (who represents the omnipresent "neo-cons") ran an article about Rand Paul deleting from his website a list of paleo anti-Israel propaganda posing as a "student reading list."  Woods was incensed that anyone could doubt that Israel secretly runs America's foreign policy.  (No doubt this is explained in "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.")

Imagine those sneaky Jews, trying to influence America just so those Jews can continue to draw breath. The nerve!  Just because they are surrounded by the world's most violent and hateful religious fanatics.  How selfish!  If the Israelis would just allow themselves to be murdered by Muslims, peace would descend on the world like manna from heaven, all of our disputes with the Islamic world would fade away, and anti-semites like the paleoconservatives could join their fellow Jew-haters in celebration, ululating and passing out sweet treats in the streets of "Palestine."

There is much value in the writings of various paleo authors, like Thomas E Woods, Jr (and I have previously included one of his sites in my link list, quoted him, and recommended some of his books), Lew Rockwell, Pat Buchanan and others.  However, what truths they purvey are rendered less credible by their antisemitism and apologia for Muslim violence.  Come to think of it, their support for the "911 was an Inside Job" kooks also reveals the paleos to be a fringe group unlikely to ever attain a serious position in American politics.

Another Music Update

I have now finished three classes of "Beginning Big Band," an adult education class, and my skills continue to grow.  The band leader is a lovely lady Brit who seems to like me a lot, probably because I am one of the few musicians in the class who doesn't play some kind of horn (we have four alto saxophones, one baritone sax, one tenor sax, two trumpets and a trombone.  Non-horn musicians include a drummer, a guitar player, and me, on string bass).

I am reading notes better and better.  Now when I look at the sheet music, it makes a lot more sense then when I first glimpsed the chaotic collection of dots and lines on the page (the notes and staff).  More and more the feeling grows, that not only is this possible (to become a literate musician), it is inevitable.  It will happen.

We have a two week break before resuming our weekly class, which ends in early August.

Last week the end pin on my bass broke, and I was wondering how to repair or replace it.  I took a chance and ordered a new end pin unit, not knowing if it would suit my bass as opposed to other brands of basses.  However, when I loosened the strings on my bass, the old end pin could be pulled out and the new one inserted.  (The end pin is held tightly in place by the strings, which are attached to the tailpiece, which in turn is attached to the end pin by a steel cable.)  Apparently, just about any end pin will fit just about any bass.

I love it when I am able to figure out and fix things for myself.

Everything Is Going to HELL

The news this week was all depressing, all a downer, all of the time.

1.  Some scumbags in the Ukraine shot down a commercial airliner, killing 298 people aboard.  Now the scumbags (Ukrainian insurgents) are looting the crash site, dragging the bodies around, and refusing to turn over the bodies to loved ones for burial.

2. Islamist insurgents have issued an ultimatum to northern Iraq's dwindling Christian population to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death, according to a statement distributed in the Islamist-controlled city of Mosul.  This is the arrangement prescribed by Muhammad himself, in a condition known as dhimmitude, where "people of the book" (the Bible) are allowed to live as third class citizens with no rights, to be shunned and humiliated, while paying a steep tax called the Jiyza.

Indeed, I saw on FaceBook pictures of Iraqi Christians being crucified for the terrible crime of being non-Muslims.  I long for the day when Islam is wiped from the face of the earth.

3. Israel invaded Gaza, after being showered for days by rocket attacks from the "Palestinians," who are motivated by their foul religion to kill all of the Jews. I hope the IDF (the Israeli Army) kills as many Hamas members as possible, then retakes Gaza for good, incorporating it back into Israel.  Meanwhile, leftists, the stooges of Islam, are helping their Muslim immigrants protest in the streets, as they both shout "death to the Jews" in the biggest European antisemitic demonstration since Kristallnacht in 1938.  The leftist mainstream press openly supports the Muslim aggressors, which is normal since the left always supports evil over good.

4.  Meanwhile, the huge influx of illegal immigrants continues, while the traitor-in-chief does nothing to stop it.   Many of the immigrants are diseased and carrying their infections with them.  This rotten excuse for a president needs to be impeached, in spite of the nay-saying of Wimp Republicans like John Boehner.  (While we're at it, let's impeach Bawling Boehner too.)

The Enemy Among Us: Muslims Attack Jews In Europe

Mark Stein explained (in "America Alone," I think) why leftist leaders in Europe have allowed millions of Muslims to immigrate there.  The traditional white populations are committing demographic suicide, not having babies, and slowly dying out.  Meanwhile, the huge social services, like pensions, promised to the older generations, depend on an increasing number of workers.  Like Social Security, the left has for years been running a huge Ponzi scheme, paying current beneficiaries with the contributions of the younger generation.  Since their populations are no longer expanding, the Ponzi schemes will eventually collapse, when pay-outs become greater than what is paid in, and the system becomes insolvent.

In order to get new workers to shore up increasingly bankrupt social benefit programs, European leaders have invited millions of Muslim immigrants in.  Now those immigrants are reaching critical mass, attacking Jews and other infidels in increasing numbers.  This week, in Paris, Jews were trapped inside their synagogue by Muslim rioters screaming "Death to the Jews."  Apparently, these Muslims are upset that Israel is giving the so-called murderous "Palestinians" a well-deserved butt-kicking.

This massive Muslim immigration into the west will eventually destroy western civilization, as Muslim birthrates create an alien majority in European countries.  White, Christian and Jewish European majorities are being replaced by a barbaric, hostile and unassimable culture.  Such immigration may help leftist leaders balance the books in the short run, but in the long run, it will prove fatal.  The signs are already there.

In the United States, our population is being replaced with Hispanics, who at least don't cut off people's heads or set off bombs.  Nevertheless, the fact of our replacement and demise is indisputable.  We can give into despair and watch the unfolding disaster helplessly from the sidelines, or we can devise a long-term strategy to stop and reverse it.  The very first step, however, is to elect politicians who understand the problem and are willing to confront it.

Barack Obama's Passive Aggression

Passive aggression is a form of indirectly expressing anger, opposition or hostility.  Barack Obama appears to be taking a very passive-aggressive stance on a number of key issues lately, including illegal immigration and the collapse of Iraq.  Instead, he's drinking beer and playing pool in Colorado.  But what is passive aggression anyway?  Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

Passive-aggressive behavior is the indirect expression of hostility, such as through procrastination, sarcasm, stubbornness, sullenness, or deliberate or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is (often explicitly) responsible.

For research purposes, the DSM-IV describes passive-aggressive personality disorder as a "pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance in social and occupational situations" [Italics added].

Passive aggression takes the form of passivity, a refusal to do what is expected, or by delaying or procrastinating in important tasks.  It can also be half-hearted performance of one's duties, performing them without energy or enthusiasm, i.e. by just "going through the motions."  It can also include withdrawal, a refusal to communicate with others.  Whatever form it takes, passive aggression is a form of resistance.  It is indirect sabotage of one's enemies -- like an employee who does a poor job or misses an important deadline, just to make his boss look bad.

Another example is the housewife and mother who lets the house become run down, dirty and chaotic, in order to punish her family.  Think piles of unwashed dishes in the sink, hampers overflowing with unwashed clothes, dust and dirt all over the floors of the house.  She is symbolically telling her family, I  don't like this job and I'm not going to do it anymore. Deal with it.

Barack Obama is being very passive-aggressive, watching America fall apart while he drinks beer at a pool hall in Colorado.  America no longer loves Obama, or believes in him or gives him his way on any and all issues.  Obama, perhaps feeling like a jilted lover, gets his revenge by letting the country go to hell, without any attempt to confront problems and solve them.  Like the housewife letting dirty dishes pile up in the sink, he allows the country to be flooded with illegal immigrants by doing nothing to stop them at the border.  You Republicans won't approve amnesty?  Okay, we'll let a flood of illegals come in.  You deal with it.

One can do much damage to his country (or his company, or family) by doing nothing when resolute action is required.  Obama is a man who refuses to do his job.  He should step down, or be removed from office.

Related Article:  Obama:  Dancing Barefoot on the Embers

Music Update

I have been reading my bass clef with increasing speed this week.  Sometimes I find myself sight reading (seeing the note and playing it simultaneously) and then I think, "I'm doing it!"  Reading notes is not that hard.  The secret to gaining most skills is patience and repetition.  Take it one measure at a time.  Don't worry about speed at first, that will come automatically (and more quickly than you think).  Knowledge is not acquired instantly, you accumulate it with experience.

I'm playing my big stand-up bass, and I do get tired standing up too long.  So I bought a wooden 29 inch stool from Walmart for only $20.  This allows me to play the bass sitting down, sort of.  Since the stool is tall, I can still handle the tall bass.

Possibly my biggest musical goal has been to play stand-up bass with a jazz and swing band.  However, how do you break in?  Where do you start?  I could never figure that out.  This class, however, appears to be the door.

Preserving Family History by Scanning and Editing Old Photographs #Photoshop

An Old Photo That I Edited

Our youngest son is getting married in November.  He is 33, and dang, it's about time.  Get busy, boy, we want grand kids.

Our son wants to make a slide show of some sort for the wedding reception, so wifey and I are gathering stacks of old pictures dating back to our son's birth in 1981.  Old pictures fade, become discolored or get wrinkled, cracked or torn.  That's why it's a good idea to scan those old pictures into a non-changing digital format -- into jpg picture files, that can be reproduced countless times on CDs and hard drives, and dispersed throughout the family members.  If you have old paper pictures that predate the digital age, you may want to do the same.

If some of your pictures have become faded, darkened, or discolored, scan them anyway.  There are numerous programs available for editing digital images.  I use Photoshop, but there are cheaper alternatives that do quite well.  Photoshop Elements can be had for $60 to $70, depending on where you buy it.  I edited the picture of my son, at left, with Photoshop.  The top image is how the picture looks in hard copy.  It became purple-pink over the past 33 years, but five minutes with Photoshop restored it nicely (see bottom pic).

We are wallowing in nostalgia, going through old photos that we haven't seen in years.  My son's pictures go all the way back to the hospital delivery room, and progress through infancy, childhood, high school, college and beyond.  After all this work, we darn well better get some grand kids out of this.  Otherwise, I am buying another dog.

Our Scanner:  We are using a Canon CanoScan Lide 200.  Current price is $79.19.  This scanner operates and is powered through a USB port on your computer. The scanner's software allows you to crop the picture before saving it, which is a big time saver.

Fourth of July

I am sitting here under my canvas patio shelter.  It's 9:25 PM.  I am surrounded by loud noises, pops and booms and the sputtering and hissing of various fireworks.  There is a faint smell of burnt gun powder in the air.

How many kids today see the holiday as nothing more than the opportunity to shoot off fireworks?  I still, on the Fourth, think of the Founding Fathers in tight pants and ruffled shirts, shoes with big buckles, wielding quill pins on parchment, writing words of great import, and the Colonial army, carrying flintlock muskets and wearing tricorn hats.  Ah, those were the days.  They made for us a great country of almost unlimited freedom.  Sorry we couldn't keep it, Founders.  Perhaps this day is, after all, just an excuse to explode fire crackers and shoot off fiery fountains and sparklers.

My dog, Bogie, is terrified of loud noises, but mom has given him a sedative and he seems almost okay with the barrage.

I hope you are having a happy Fourth of July.

My Next Project: Playing Bass With a Big Band

Lately I have greatly dispensed with my chronic depression through interesting projects.  The first was saving two baby birds, Robins, taking care of them until they could fly.  They grew, they flew.  I wish them well.

The second was restoring a 70 year old German army helmet.  This was fun because when I started the project, I had no idea what I was doing.  I googled.  I noodled.  I learned.  Amazingly enough, the project was a huge success.  I have never been "handy," so my success in this was an enormous high for me.

My next project is playing string bass with a big band, playing swing and jazz.  I have already begun, having my first practice last night.  The project is actually through an adult education class, with a band leader and various musicians.  There is a big brass section:  a baritone sax, an alto sax, a trombone and three trumpets.  We could use a drummer and a tenor sax.  A guitar is coming.  As for me, "I proudly took my place, as the one and only bass" (from the Music Man).

My attorney (and close friend) plays alto sax, and invited me to join this group.  We are having a ball doing it.  The challenge for me is reading notes.  I do read bass clef, but not nearly fast enough; I can't really "sight read," but this project will help me do that.  I found myself straining to read the notes, and it was challenging, but I am sure I can do it, with enough study and practice.

I used my Fender Jazz Bass guitar for this first meeting, but will bring my Calin Wultur Panormo string bass to the remaining sessions.  A big band must have a traditional string bass; bass guitars are just too rock and roll.   I splurged on a better pickup, a Fischer, at $200, for my string bass.  Yes, string basses do need amplification (all those horns are loud), but this pickup ostensibly does not alter the warm, woody twang of the bass.

Our first three songs to practice are (1) Sing, Sing, Sing (2) Greensleeves and (3) A String of Pearls, all from the American Songbook of great old standards, which make for excellent jazz pieces.

Invasion of the Illegals

Each day I read about the massive invasion of our Southern border by multitudes of illegal aliens, many of them unaccompanied children.  I notice that the good citizens of Murrieta, California, blocked the entry of federal buses bringing in illegals for housing or dispersion there.  I have a son who lives in Murrieta and runs a small business there.  It's a pretty little town, just north of San Diego.

It seems obvious to me that Obama is seeding the country with future Democrats, at a high cost to the taxpayers.  Illegals are now being dispersed throughout the United States, where they will soon become permanent residents, sucking up local social services and jobs, overwhelming local hospitals with demands for free medical care, and adding significantly to the crime rate.

Never before has the left been more aggressive or obvious in their intent to remake America into a socialist tyranny and a Third World nation.  Obama promises to rule by decree, via his misuse of the executive order, taunting Republicans to "sue me" if they don't like it.

In November, Republicans had better retake both houses of Congress, or the country is ruined.  When and if they do, they had better damn well do everything in their power to repeal Obamacare -- not tweak it, not amend it, not "make it better," but REPEAL it.

Another thing the Republicans had damn well better do is sue Obama for his abuse of office, and preferably impeach him.  Remove this disaster from office, and as soon as possible.

This is the final test for me -- if these things are not done, I will no longer consider myself a Republican.  It will be time to form a third party, or support one of the existing ones.  Those who say YOU CAN'T WIN WITH A THIRD PARTY should ask themselves:  When have we last"won" anything with the Republicans?  Besides, even when we win, we lose!

Nazi Helmet Restoration: The Finished Helmet

Restoration of a German M-40 Helmet of WW II
(Click to see larger image)

I have finished my project for the week:  restoring a German M-40 helmet from World War II.

I spent yesterday spray painting the helmet, then lightly rubbing it out with very fine steel wool.  I am very pleased with the results, as I have never before successfully spray painted anything in my life.

This morning I installed the new liner, a reproduction of the liner used in original German helmets.  After that, I applied the Wehrmacht decals - eagle on the left side, national colors on the right side.

The spray paint that I used and recommend is Apefelgrun [Apple Green] from 1944 Militaria.  The color is actually more of an army olive green.

The helmet's original appearance, as I received it from the seller in Europe, can be viewed here.

Note:  My interest in Nazis is strictly a historical interest.  I in no way endorse their cause or hateful ideology.

The Right's War on Children - (CARTOON)

Dixon Diaz has a real talent for demonstrating the stupidity of liberal arguments.
Subscribe to his FaceBook page here.

Good News Re: Brett Kimberlin vs Walker Et Al

This morning in Maryland, a judge in the Kimberlin vs Walker et al lawsuit, dismissed all of Kimberlin's claims except for defamation and false light -- per W.J.J. Hoge.  Also, Kimberlin was given until July 10 to answer interrogatories that he has so far failed to answer.

If I understand correctly, one of those interrogatories asked for copies of all email written or received by Kimberlin through the Breitbart Unmasked website, from a particular date (I don't remember which) through the filing of the lawsuit.  Any discussion about the swattings of conservative bloggers, between Kimberlin and his associates, might provide for interesting reading.  Was Kimberlin involved in those swattings?  Does he know who did them?

As for prevailing on the claims of defamation and false light, it would seem to me, a non-lawyer layman, that any commentary about Kimberlin's criminal convictions could not possibly qualify as defamation, since those crimes are documented fact and well publicized.  The only thing that he might prevail on (or so it seems to me) is defamation for being falsely accused of the swattings against various conservative bloggers.

Did any conservative bloggers or pundits actually accuse Kimberlin of being behind the swattings?  Or did they merely voice their suspicions?  One or two may have stepped over the line.  If so, can Brett Kimberlin be defamed any further than his own past has done?  Is Brett Kimberlin defamation proof?  Some of the legal briefs I have read in the case say that he is, i.e. that it is not possible to harm Kimberlin's reputation any more than he has already harmed it himself.  The briefs cited prior cases that support this, i.e. that someone with a particularly unsavory past cannot be legally defamed, and thus his claims for defamation cannot stand.

In any case, today's court decision is good news for the defendants.  Now the case can focus on the only truly relevant matters, assuming Kimberlin answers all interrogatories by July 10.  If he does not, I would expect the case to be dismissed for all defendants.