Archive for the ‘internet/free speech’ Category

An Art Gallery in Denmark shows Yale how it’s done:

A Danish gallery has decided to exhibit a caricature of Muhammad that unleashed a wave of protests in the Muslim world against Denmark in 2006. Citing an article in magazine Sappho, Agence France-Presse reports that the controversial caricature will be part of a larger exhibition dedicated to the watercolor works of the artist-caricaturist Kurt Westergaard at the Galleri Draupner in Skanderborg.

This is called actually speaking truth to power, as opposed to taking instruction from power as the NEA seems to be promulgating:

The NEA is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts. That is right, the largest funder of the arts in the nation – a fact that I’m sure was not lost on those that were on the call, including myself. One of the NEA’s major functions is providing grants to artists and arts organizations. The NEA has also historically shown the ability to attract “matching funds” for the art projects and foundations that they select. So we have the nation’s largest arts funder, which is a federal agency staffed by the administration, with those that they potentially fund together on a conference call discussing taking action on issues under vigorous national debate. Does there appear to be any potential for conflict here?

Discussed throughout the conference call was a hope that this group would be one that would carry on past the United We Serve campaign to support the President’s initiatives and those issues for which the group was passionate. The making of a machine appeared to be in its infancy, initiated by the NEA, to corral artists to address specific issues. This function was not the original intention for creating the National Endowment for the Arts.

A machine that the NEA helped to create could potentially be wielded by the state to push policy. Through providing guidelines to the art community on what topics to discuss and providing them a step-by-step instruction to apply their art form to these issues, the “nation’s largest annual funder of the arts” is attempting to direct imagery, songs, films, and literature that could create the illusion of a national consensus. This is what Noam Chomsky calls “manufacturing consent.”

I guess this is the soviet Chicago way of making art.

I’ll wager that there will be no Saudi money going to the Galleri-draupner anytime soon.

Via Glenn.

Let’s look back at some early posts I did over the first three months of the blog. I’m going to be busy today so it’s a quick filler post thing:

Back in December the Jammie Wearing Fool predicted that the birth of Bristol Palin’s son would be the death Knell of the Trig Truther Movement, at the time I said this:

You have to think of people who follow conspiratorial type stuff as people following a religion. Excuses will be followed by clarifications but in the end the belief will not be dropped, remember William Miller and the 2nd coming.

The only thing that will be missing is the tax-exempt status. (Believe me the collection plate WILL exist).

The other McCain, Dan Riehl and Aaron Gardner prove me almost totally right but Anne Briggs proves the last sentence wrong as she didn’t use her Trig Truther fame to improve the Amazon Rankings of the book (#2,761,947 as of this morning). No collection plate there.

Speaking of a collection plate back in January I did a post on the New Quarter Sovereign coin offered by the British Royal mint and said this:

The glory of the British Empire is long past but if you want a chance to get something to remember it by the quarter sovereign is a solid and inexpensive choice. The mint is getting £47.95 each for them at the current exchange rate that works out to around $63 each for a gold coin in it’s first year of issue.

I grabbed 3 since that’s all I can afford, If I had a job I’d grab 10.

In case you forgot the design:

Same design used for all size sovereigns

Same design used for all size sovereigns

Not only has gold gone up and the Royal Mint raised its price to £65 but the exchange rathttps://datechguy.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpe is now favoring the pound so I hope you jumped on the coin when you had a chance. It’s still worth getting as a first year issue gold coin.

I posted quite a bit about Israel going into Gaza. I mentioned this about the cease fire:

It is now up to the Palestinians are they going to stop the rockets or are they going to go through all of this again. That is when we will know if the war is actually over or not. It also remains to be seen if Israel is going to be willing to go back in during an Obama administration.

Well looking at the blog The Muqata which live blogged the war along with Israellycool looking under the category “Qassam Rockets” there is not an entry newer than Jan 18th that mentions a launch. The section under “Gaza” doesn’t either.

It looks like the war is over, but once the Palestinians are done killing each other I’m sure they’ll manage to try again.

Also in January I decided I arrived because of an increase in Spam. I’ve actually had a drop in spam lately but I’ve had an increase in comments so I guess a few more people are reading me, if you are thanks.

Considering the political landscape this post is Ironic, I hit Marc Ambinder over suggesting it was a bad idea for Republicans to vote against the stimulus bill due to the 70% Obama approval. I said this:

This is the same advice that might have been given to republicans in the first two years of the Clinton administration. Not taking it gave them control of the house for the first time in 40 years.

Anyone who thinks a vulnerable republican congressman who goes along with this plan will survive a primary challenge is silly. Remember our democrat friends were the same ones who told us McCain was the man to win with.

Bold prediction time: Anyone who thinks Obama will have approval ratings in the 60’s in two years is dead wrong. They will not be above 50%. It would not surprise me to see his ratings in the low 40’s.

That one is looking pretty good (I even used the battered wife example later in the post that Glenn uses today) and the Bold prediction is not looking so bold these days. One note, the first two sentences were in a block quote, I either missed the link or I accidentally put it in the block. I can’t find the quote elsewhere online so it might be mine but I should be more careful.

Another post that looks like it could have gone up this week is this one:

The question then is why? Why make the big deal, and why the big fuss over republican votes when the democrats have the power and the votes? Easy.

They want cover, they want power but not responsibility. They want someone to blame. They remember 1994 and the Clinton Tax increase. They also know that this country is still a 51-49 country and that the blue dogs in the house are not going to keep their seats if they go too far left.

Mark my words when things get worse (they will) the congress will get worried. In 2010 with the recovery hasn’t taken place (much too soon) Democrats in congress will be trying to deflect blame and ask for patience.

Remove the word “stimulus” and replace it withhealthcare” and it could go up now.

Several “linked” posts have particular relevance today. I promoted something from comments:

his president has already made it clear that he is above the press by his actions. It is as if he is royalty and bestowing his favors on his faithful subjects. I can’t believe that the members of the press are going to be willing to take this treatment for long. Oh they will keep their mouth’s shut for a while. Their resentment will be whispered and building, but it will take only one prominent reporter on the left to say it aloud and it will come pouring out. I actually have an opinion as to which two reporters/opinion journalists will do it. But I’m keeping that to myself for now.

It will be hard for the press to re-direct their anger to conservatives when we have so little power.

I hate to admit it but I totally forgot who those reporters were, but we have seen some of this from the base and from reporters, but it is the next line that mattered:

The whitehouse will use the Blame Bush stratagem to deflect this when it comes but I think it will come.

Ok so the White house is having trouble with their base, but I didn’t think they would be so desperate to mollify the base to risk the consequences mentioned in these two posts:

The democrats are all talk and smoke on this subject. They will try to go though some motions to mollify their guys but there is no way at all they will pursue this. It is a high risk move at a time or crisis with the only upside being among fanatics.

My explanation is here, my money quotes:

You can take this to the bank: Any successful attack on American soil during an Obama administration is going to be wholly owned by not only that administration but the Democratic party…

…Any kind of trials will be drawn out affairs and would likely be still going on during a successful attack. How much worse will it be for those who failed to protect the country if those who succeeded in protecting the nation are on trial during their failure?

It was my opinion at the time that the President would offer the pardons as he cares not what the press think. From what I’ve seen about the way the press and the news has been treating not only the incoming president but the outgoing crew even in his last days, I think the smirk is going to win. He is savvy enough to know what this would do to the Democrats they will be forced to either engage their far left base or take the risk I said above. These people won’t do it and it they did it would destroy them. It will be his final victory against them.

All the risks still exist, I think this is sheer panic to change the subject. He has fallen into the final trap laid by George W. Bush.

It was interesting reading those old posts, I’ll do it again when I hit the 1000 post mark or my year anniversary.

UPDATE: I looked at the wrong column, it was 900 comments. Pass me my idiot mittens.

…have a problem with this video?

Context is everything here. You are dealing with a pair of apparently superficial people who can’t get along. They are smug, they are smarky and they think they know it all…

THEN they need protection and they find themselves needing that woman with the shotgun to keep them alive. The “Oh my God it’s Sarah Palin” clip is exactly the reaction a pair of liberals might have, but they know that they need a Sarah Palin to keep them alive. When put in a different world they can’t cope.

I think it’s a perfect illustration of the reality.

When we whine about this kind of stuff we look not very much like the acolytes of the One. If that doesn’t scare you, it should.

Unlike some others guys like Professor Banbridge or Allahpundit are allies to be eventually persuaded and given time Sarah Palin’s performance will do so.

I’ve always maintained the right thing is usually the smart thing. The treating professor Bainbridge as “unclean” is not only wrong; it’s stupid.

A leader is known not only by who they are but by who follows them, to wit:

If we take our cues from the cult of Obama then our candidate will not only lose but it will be our fault, not hers.

(And yes this is in the free speech category. If a conservative is not allowed to disagree with Sarah Palin, I’d call that a free speech issue)

Update: This is exactly what I’m talking about:

You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama’s plan to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs.

So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?

Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and found that one county’s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent, and another study found a “55 percent decline” after reform measures were passed. [4] That’s one step in health care reform. Limiting lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act, is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the “loser pays” rule in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making the loser partially pay the winner’s legal bills. Preventing quack doctors from giving “expert” testimony in court against real doctors is another reform.

The most effective advocate for Sarah Palin is her own good sense.

How about that the New York Times says Marx is back in vogue.

Thanks to globalism’s discontents and the financial crisis that has spread across the planet, Karl Marx and his analysis of capitalism’s dark, wormy side are back in vogue. But what of Friedrich Engels, Marx’s best friend and closest ally, the co-author of “The Communist Manifesto” and the man who selflessly supported Marx while he wrote “Das Kapital”?

Oh really? Lets steal some stats from this post taken from Amazon.com. After all I’m a top 1000 reviewer* there so that’s a good reference point:

Lets start with a non conservative book UPDATE: (in fairness Mr. Scarborough would disagree with my characterization so lets call it “conservative lite”) by Joe Scarborough.

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,738 in Books

How about Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31 in Books

That’s after 5 months, how about Dick Morris’ Catastrophe?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47 in Books

How about Michelle’s Culture of Corruption?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14 in Books

Her book is a month old, and finally how about Glenn Beck’ Common Sense?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9 in Books

Those figures are all from yesterday, so lets see how they compare with Marx and some fellow travelers. Lets start with Das Kapital:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #301,437 in Books

Well that’s an expensive edition, lets try something else, how about The Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings: Marx, Marat, Paine, Mao Tse-Tung, Gandhi and Others (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback) Hey that’s got a bunch of people and it’s in paperback too and a Thrift edition that must be selling right?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,448 in Books

Hey Marxism isn’t just Marx, lets try Essential Works of Lenin: “What Is to Be Done?” and Other Writings (Paperback).

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,943 in Books

Well how about Trosky? Let’s try his book Marxism and Terrorism (Paperback)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #590,286 in Books

Well lets take a look at the actual book the New York Times was talking about; Marx’s General by Tristram Hunt, brand new book , favorablly reviewed by the times and Marxism is hot surely it can compete with all these guys who can’t stand Marx and Marxism? Can’t it?:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,317 in Books

Guess not.

Hey lets give Marx fans one more shot. How about a classic, like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United states. After all it’s back to school and a ton of colleges are assigning it as required reading I’m sure it can crack the top 100 or maybe the top 150?

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #171 in Books

Nope.

Michelle Malkin who is #1 on the Times bestseller list again links to human events which says:

Book readers seem to care less and less about what the newspaper thinks of a particular book, he says.

“You can do very well without the imprimatur of the New York Times,” he says. “The dirty little secret is that the Times doesn’t matter anymore, or it matters less and less. Many other outlets beat the Times to the stories and provide much fuller coverage.”

A chapter in Harry Stein’s new book, I Can’t Believe I’m Sitting Next to a Republican, is dedicated to the culture wars flaring within the publishing industry. Republican recalls how mainstream publishing houses turned down future smashes like Bernard Goldberg’s Bias simply because they couldn’t relate to its themes — or preferred not to even try.

I guess NYT must stand for Not (worth) Your Time.

*Ok and I admit it I’m 746 under the old system and only 1010 under the new system but I’m working on it, can I help it if Doctor Who Audios are a niche market?