Posts Tagged ‘reality’

What an interesting coincidence

Posted: July 8, 2010 by datechguy in employment, opinion/news
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Robert Stacy’s post happens to coincide with a subject that recently came up for me.

As you may or may not know my own unemployment benefits have run out and my wife recently lost her job so things have become incredibly tight around here with only two teenagers working, however I have a liberal friend who has been in much more dire straights for much longer. I’ve been hoping and praying that he would find employment and just got the news today that he has been offered a good job at good money. He will likely start next week.

I had been in a very bad mood to day so this brightened me up considerably. I congratulated him on his change of fortune and we talked about the position. I was arguing that his employment benefits others and talked about the multiplier of employment, he insisted otherwise saying that he learned to live bear bones and would likely keep doing so. Every time I mentioned an item he insisted he would still do without. Finally I brought up shopping suggesting he might purchase perhaps a name brand rather than a generic on some items. His answer blew me away.

He said it was not a fair example since he is still on Mass. Food Stamps the state gives them out 6 months at a time so he will have them for some time while employed. He maintained the example is bad because his food would be paid for with “free money” so of course he would buy better stuff now that he has some other income, but for his own money he would be not be spending a penny that he didn’t have to.

Listening to him describe how foolish Massachusetts is was really something. He talked about establishing residency in NH to avoid the Mass income tax and how he would buy the groceries in NH since stores across the border take them. Liberal views be damned, if Massachusetts was dumb enough to give him the money he was going to spend it and if he could avoid the taxes he would do so.

Liberalism you might want to vote it but you don’t want to live it.

If you want to understand the “Palestinians”

Posted: July 8, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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then read this:

In Sheba’s pediatric hemato-oncology department was Mohammed Abu Mustafa, a four-and-a-half-month-old Palestinian infant. Protruding from his tiny body were pipes attached to big machines. His breathing was labored.

“His days may be numbered. He is suffering from a genetic defect that is causing the failure of his immune system,” said the baby’s mother, Raida, from the Gaza Strip, when she emerged from the isolation room. “I had two daughters in Gaza,” she continued, her black eyes shimmering. “Both died because of immune deficiency. In Gaza I was told all the time that there is no treatment for this and that he is doomed to die. The problem now is how to pay for the [bone marrow] transplant. There is no funding.”

Pretty sad story, the irony of course being that here is a Palestinian kid in an Israeli Hospital in the first place, the story goes on as the filmmaker realizes something (emphasis mine)…

“I got to her after all the attempts to find a donation for the transplant had failed,” he relates. “I understood that I was the baby’s last hope, but I didn’t give it much of a chance. At the time, Qassam rockets falling on Sderot opened every newscast. In that situation, I didn’t believe that anyone would be willing to give a shekel for a Palestinian infant.”

He was wrong. Hours after the news item about Mohammed was broadcast, the hospital switchboard was jammed with callers. An Israeli Jew whose son died during his military service donated $55,000, and for the first time the Abu Mustafa family began to feel hopeful. Only then did Eldar grasp the full dramatic potential of the story. He told his editor, Tali Ben Ovadia, that he wanted to continue accompanying the family.

…Yup those nasty evil Jews decided to come up with dough so the kid might have a future. And what was the future the mother dreamed of for the kid? One Guess again emphasis mine:

And Eldar was angry. “Then why are you fighting to save your son’s life, if you say that death is a usual thing for your people?” he lashes out in one of the most dramatic moments in the film.

“It is a regular thing,” she smiles at him. “Life is not precious. Life is precious, but not for us. For us, life is nothing, not worth a thing. That is why we have so many suicide bombers. They are not afraid of death. None of us, not even the children, are afraid of death. It is natural for us. After Mohammed gets well, I will certainly want him to be a shahid. If it’s for Jerusalem, then there’s no problem. For you it is hard, I know; with us, there are cries of rejoicing and happiness when someone falls as a shahid. For us a shahid is a tremendous thing.“

Even assuming that she was afraid to say something different on camera it is really something.

I’ll say it again, if the Jews were even half of what the Palestinians and the Methodists thought; the Palestinians would have been wiped out 40 years ago. And if the Arabs were in the Jews place, there would not be a Jew alive in Israel.

This is Radical Islam, it can’t be negotiated with, ignored or changed via nice words. It can only be changed from within, surrendered to or destroyed.

And the longer you ignore the problem the less likely that change option will exist.

Via Elder of Ziyon and Memeorandum.

Update: In case you’ve forgotten this has been going on for a long time. Weekly standard Aug 19, 2002:

Downstairs, before we left, the head of the hospital, an Israeli named Audrey, was showing me the children’s waiting room. I couldn’t help but notice, all around, an Arab woman with her son, an Arab family over there checking in, Arab children playing with the toys while waiting. The doctor saw the look on my face and laughed. “Oh, yes, we treat everyone.” I guess I was astonished. She just shrugged. “We’re Jews. This is how we live. It’s also for the future. They’re not going anywhere, and we’re not going anywhere. There will eventually be peace. There has to be.” When? A month? A year? A hundred years? More? She didn’t know. I had to say it. You’re incredible. You take everyone, you treat everyone, no one goes first, no one goes last, you just go in order of who needs help. That’s, like, Mother Teresa stuff. “We’re not saints, we’re just doing our jobs. It’s not easy, I admit. And it gets hard when they cheer when the bodies are brought in.” I looked at her. What did you say? She sighed. “Yes, it gets hard when they cheer.” This was one of the times during my trip when I held up my hands and said, “Stop. Wait.” I turned and walked away to breathe deeply for a minute. I wonder if they’ve restocked that mini-bar. Yeah, probably. It’s a good hotel.

Can anyone explain to me why we are giving these Palestinian bastards any tax dollars at all? Yes I said bastards, how cruel of me, I should have said barbarian bastards. And yes I’d still treat their wounded and sick. Just because they are barbarian bastards doesn’t mean we should be.

and Nasr makes three

Posted: July 7, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media, opinion/news
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For the third time in a month a member of the MSM has lost a job for saying what they actually think:

CNN on Wednesday removed its senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs, Octavia Nasr, from her job after she published a Twitter message saying that she respected the Shiite cleric the Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who died on Sunday.

Ms. Nasr left her CNN office in Atlanta on Wednesday. Parisa Khosravi, the senior vice president for CNN International Newsgathering, said in an internal memorandum that she “had a conversation” with Ms. Nasr on Wednesday morning and that “we have decided that she will be leaving the company.”

Ms. Nasr, a 20-year veteran of CNN, wrote on Twitter after the cleric died on Sunday, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah … One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.”

Ayatollah Fadlallah routinely denounced Israel and the United States, and supported suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Ayatollah Fadlallah’s writings and preachings inspired the Dawa Party of Iraq and a generation of militants, including the founders of Hezbollah, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

It’s the lead on memeorandum at the moment, and the ‘sphere is reacting…

Hotair:

Nasr had a role that helped shape CNN’s overall news coverage of the Middle East. As a senior editor that apparently reported to a senior VP, Nasr presumably had a hand in story selection, assignment, and editing and shaping the final product from her reporters.

Neither Thomas nor Weigel had anywhere near that kind of influence over news reporting at their respective outlets, which makes the credibility issue much more serious than in the previous two scandals.

That CNN is worried about credibility is amazing.

Ed Driscoll wonders why this is a problem at CNN:

She’s merely toeing the party line at CNN, which, from Saddam Hussein to Yasir Arafat to Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, has never met a terrorist or dictator the network didn’t admire and wish to prop up.

I think it will be very interesting to see the reaction worldwide to this.
Tim Blair highlights some tweets on the subject:

Various instant reactions, one of them brilliant:

• Damn! 20 years in, but 140 characters and your fired!

• Shocking, Outrageous! Zionists succeed in getting @OctaviaNasrCNN fired for Fadlallah tweet

• 20 years and fired over a tweet??

• Is she joining NASA?

I’m going out on a limb to say that he likes the last one.
Don Surber gives Kudos:

Congratulations CNN for doing the right thing.

That one goes on the good side of his count.

Big Journalism gets to the heart of the matter:

As if further proof were needed that a sizable segment of the Fourth Estate is now effectively the Fifth Column, this one is right up there. Apparently it’s no longer enough that reporters and correspondents pretend to be neutral, even about the good guys — now, they’re not only not neutral, they publicly express their admiration for sheer, malevolent evil — a man who, according to the obits, was “known for his staunch anti-American stance.”

Good Lord, is this what American journalism has come to?

No this is where American journalism already was.

Pam Geller is brief:

Today the Nazi lover resigned. In a word, GOOD!

Well Pam wait till you see what the left says:

Crooks and liars plays the moral equivalence card

Evidently, if you’re CNN, it’s perfectly fine to hire commentators who refer to a US Supreme Court justice as a “goat f@$king child molester”, but God forbid an emotional, somewhat easily misinterpreted tweet should be granted similar mercy.

Apparently the difference between senior editor and a commentator is lost, but the most fun actually comes from two other sites:

Balloon Juice:

I have no idea whether Nasr was any good, but it’s pretty harsh to fire someone over one tweet without a second chance.

Talking Points Memo:

But a twenty year run down the tubes over 140 characters?

That just doesn’t seem right to me.

Oh so 140 characters aren’t enough to get someone fired? Ok lets try this…

“Barack Obama is actually a secret Muslim who was born in Kenya and supports terrorists”

That’s 76 characters. Now myself, if the senior white house editor at CNN expressed such an opinion I’d give them the boot, but according to Balloon Juice and TPM’s arguments they should not be fired.

The real problem for CNN is how significantly the loss of Octavia Nasr effects the Hotness Gap but to paraphrase Jon Sable:

I never did like the terrorist sympathizers, not even the pretty ones.

I’m sorry positive position on Honor Killings not withstanding if you back suicide bombing you are a terrorist and no amount of side stuff will change it.

the MSM story of the week…

Posted: July 6, 2010 by datechguy in media, opinion/news
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Rush just said on the air that Obama would not have been elected if he wasn’t black.

Watch MSNBC go with this all week.

“If Obama wasn’t black he would be a tour guide in Honolulu”

There is something liberating in saying something everyone knows but doesn’t want to admit.

If this isn’t the main story on Morning Joe tomorrow then it’s only because it was canceled overnight.

Update: Yes I know there was a time where because of his race he might not have had any chance for election to anything. But come on, Obama over Harold Ford? Obama over John Lewis? Cripes ethics issues aside Charlie Rangel is so much more qualified than President Obama that it isn’t funny. Look at the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus and tell me you can’t six people who were more qualified in 2008?

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