November 27, 2007
USSR 2.0: The Enthusiasm Builds Among the Fashionistas
Just as Kesher Talk predicted a few weeks ago, the cultural rebirth of the USSR is proceeding at a smart clip. Why, the New York Times says so, with an article today about hip fashion trends reflecting the symbols and images of the glorious republic of workers and peasants. Titled, "The USSR is Back (at Least on Clothing Racks)," the article says,
one of the most popular fashion designers this fall is Denis Simachev, who is selling overcoats fastened with hammer-and-sickle buttons, gold jewelry minted to look like Soviet kopecks and shirts festooned with the Soviet coat of arms, complete with embroidered ears of wheat.“People in their 30s see these kinds of symbols as reminders of happy memories, like going to pioneer camp where they lived together, ate breakfast together and played sports,” said Mr. Simachev, 33, who wears his hair in a Samurai-style ponytail. He insists he is no Communist — for one thing, his overcoats sell for about $2,100 and his T-shirts for about $600. His boutique is sandwiched between Hermès and Burberry stores on a pedestrian lane, Stoleshnikov, that is one of the capital’s most expensive shopping streets.
I see -- because he's not a "Communist," then that makes everything OK, a hip, ironic meta-commentary on happy memories. I'm sure you can find folks elsewhere who think the same thing about swastikas and Confederate battle flags. Meaning comes from emotional responses, not historical facts.
Continue reading "USSR 2.0: The Enthusiasm Builds Among the Fashionistas"
Van | 11/27/07 at 07:05 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
November 23, 2007
The Sorrow, The Pity, and the Sopranos
I had a festive Thanksgiving, sitting alone in my dimly lit apartment watching "The Sorrow and the Pity." What fun! The four-hour exploration of resistance and collaboration in France in World War II. What struck me, in the first minutes of the documentary, was the appearance of a German officer interviewed in 1969. One discussion of the film said this about him:
The closest the film comes to a standard villain is in the person of a properly plump German businessman, who takes time out at a family wedding (in front of the bride and groom) to state that the resisting Frenchmen were not considered partisans (irregular soldiers, to be accorded military rights) because they went about their 'crimes of assassination' without wearing armbands so they could be identified on sight. He puffs a cigar and still proudly wears small insignia badges of his army service, badges issued by the Nazis.
What shocked me about this talking head: He's a dead ringer for Tony Soprano. The right age, the right balding head, the right weight, the right waving around of a cigar, the same calm confidence in his violent acts. The similarity is chilling. Watch it and see.
Van | 11/23/07 at 08:36 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 04, 2007
Military speech at Yearly Kos
[ Another update at the end. ]
Watching the PJ Media video of the soldier at Yearly Kos, I don't get the same impression as some of the pro-war bloggers.
Uncle Jimbo and This Ain't Hell are debating these issues, and the comments are worth reading. Also the comments here.
[ UPDATE: More debate in the comments here and here. I am struck how much vets disagree with each other on what the regs allow. There seems to be some leeway for interpretation. Possibly the soldiers checked the regs and thought he would be okay. ]
[ UPDATE: Also here. ]
My impressions - as a civilian - of this incident:
Continue reading "Military speech at Yearly Kos"
Judith | 08/04/07 at 02:54 PM | 9 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 12, 2007
Good Neighbors on Siniora
Good Neighbors is a group effort by some Arab, Israeli, and other Middle Eastern bloggers, formed in the wake of the Lebanon War last summer. It is an attempt to continue the fragile online dialogue begun by Middle Eastern bloggers last spring,which continued during the war, although altered in tone. (The iconic example was one blogger sitting on his roof in Beirut, describing bombs falling in his neighborhood in a comment on an Israeli's blog.)
One of the Lebanese bloggers at Good Neighbors offers a gloss on a NYTimes op-ed by Lebanese PM Siniora; he begins:
Unfortunately, our Prime Minister comes off looking extremely stupid. Siniora’s Op-Ed is ludicrous when read from an international or Israel perspective, but makes sense when read in the Lebanese/Saudi context.
and proceeds to explain the subtext beneath each paragraph. Check it out.
Judith | 05/12/07 at 09:21 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 12, 2007
Muslim Leftists Love America, Western Leftists Hate America
As I've stressed repeatedly, one of the reasons for my post-9/11 political shift from left to right, and that of many others in the same camp, has been the Western left's attachment to anti-Americanism, even when it lands them on the same side as dictators, Islamists, and terrorists. Blinded by the sort of hatred of their own country and civilization produced by years of indoctrination in what I like to call the postcolonialist, self-loathing school of multiculturalism, today's leftists are incapable of recognizing the true threats to their own existence. Instead, they cling to familiar demons and push reactionary policies.
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Cinnamon | 04/12/07 at 01:07 PM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 01, 2007
Psychology Today Prints Asher Abrams' Letter
Late last year, I was interviewed for a Psychology Today article on political ideology and transformation titled "The Ideological Animal," which appeared in the January/February issue.
While I felt that the article treated my story of post-9/11 left-to-right political transformation fairly, I disagreed strongly with the author, Jay Dixit's, take on what inspires such political shifts. In short, Dixit implied that they are motivated purely by "irrational fears," including a fear of death, and he cited several highly suspect and blogosphere-debunked studies to make his point. I blogged about my concerns here, as well as linking to the many other bloggers (and one Pajamas Media "Sanity Squad" podcast) that covered the subject here.
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Cinnamon | 04/01/07 at 11:12 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Relatively Political: Left/Right Debate That's All in the Family
One of the biggest challenges for those of us who live in the left-leaning San Francisco Bay Area and whose political views are right-of-center is navigating the oftentimes treacherous waters of politics and personal relationships. And this difficult situation exists across the nation wherever left and right meet. Let's just say there's a reason for the old axiom about avoiding the topics of religion and politics.
Nowhere does this clashing of political cultures become more difficult than within the family. But Maury Litwack, a conservative strategist on Capitol Hill and Executive Director for the Conservative Coalition for Israel, and his father David Litwack, a top fundraiser for the National Jewish Democratic Council, have come up with a novel way to approach their political differences.
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Cinnamon | 04/01/07 at 02:35 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 26, 2007
The Latest from Robert Novak
Robert Novak's latest column, A President All Alone, discusses Bush's distance - even isolation - from congressional Republicans, and their chagrin at ongoing revelations of Bush administration incompetence.
"We always have claimed that we were the party of better management," one House leader told me. "How can we claim that anymore?"
But the final paragraphs in the article is what really grabbed my attention.
Continue reading "The Latest from Robert Novak"
Alcibiades | 03/26/07 at 11:16 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 19, 2007
Zombie Captures San Francisco "Antiwar" Protesters in all their Glory
As expected, the streets of San Francisco were home to the usual bizarre assortment of "antiwar" protesters this past weekend. What that actually translated into were communists, pro-terrorists, Jew-haters, 9/11 conspiracists, acid-casualties from the 60s, brainwashed college students, a sea of bloody (literally) Palestinian flags, Che tattoos, lots of skin, and a few genuine, if confused, pacifists. And the America-hating "textbook" soon to be used in San Francisco public school classrooms, "Addicted to War," also made an appearance. As has been the pattern for the past few years, a group of brave counter-protesters showed up too.
The inimitable zombie parodies the lunacy of the local left with the usual revealing photos and clever commentary. Click here to venture down the rabbit hole...
Cross-posted at CinnamonStillwell.blogspot.com.
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Cinnamon | 03/19/07 at 11:07 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 17, 2007
Political labels redux
Per the lability of political labels: Are we liberal hawks? Centrist hawks? Neocons? Civ-cons? Whatever, we are a supersaturated solution within the body politic, ready to crystallize around a label of convenience (as they are all) which enables us to focus our clout.
But "neocon" is probably not it, as this email from a reader to Jonah Goldberg illustrates:
Subject "Neocon" Now Has No Meaning Part 3,717,206You're often noted that "neoconservative" has a very hazy definition. Indeed to some people it's become what Orwell said of Fascism just another word for "bad'.
The reductio ad absurdum of this came in my women's studies class (don't judge!) where the professor put up this definition: "Neo-Conservative: racist and misogynist stereotypes but in new forms" She then asked if anyone could give any examples of "Neo-Conservative". A girl's hand shot up and gave the example of kids in the playground using the word "gay" to mean "stupid".
This anecdote confirms my experience of how this term is received. Which is not to say it can't be rescued. In the meantime I call myself a neocon whenever I want to shock people.
Judith | 03/17/07 at 07:56 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 15, 2007
Serious Questions for Henry Waxman's Show Trial
By Rick Ballard, reposted with permission:
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman will continue his show trials masquerading as Congressional hearings tomorrow with a focus on the purported outing of CIA celebrity agent Valerie Plame by the White House and Office of the Vice-President. Apparently Waxman has limited access to simple facts. If Waxman had even a minimal desire to determine the truth, Joe Wilson would have been called to sit beside his wife and testify to their joint decision to go into electoral politics.
The primary responsibility for the protection of agents’ identities rests with the agents themselves. That is a fact hammered into all CIA employees from the moment they are hired. Valerie Plame Wilson initiated her own ‘outing’ by participating in her husband’s successful effort to become an advisor to the Kerry campaign. The precise moment in which she abandoned any pretense of being ‘undercover’ is difficult to determine, but it is safe to presume it occurred prior to May 2, 2003.
On that day, during a meeting of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the Wilsons succeeded in inserting Joe Wilson into the electoral political process. They also made contact with New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof.
From Vanity Fair:
“In early May, Wilson and Plame attended a conference sponsored by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, at which Wilson spoke about Iraq; one of the other panelists was the New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Over breakfast the next morning with Kristof and his wife, Wilson told about his trip to Niger and said Kristof could write about it, but not name him.”
Continue reading "Serious Questions for Henry Waxman's Show Trial"
Alcibiades | 03/15/07 at 01:44 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 12, 2007
My Non-Review of 300
From Occasional Kesher Talk Contributor, Ben (from NY):
I haven’t seen the movie.
Some would say this one fact eliminates me from reasonable discussion of it, but on the other hand, no-one alive today has seen the actual Battle of Thermopylae, and plenty of people still discuss it. On the third hand, I’ve seen the trailer. And who’s going to tell me that I can’t form an opinion based on the trailer? That’s why they make trailers- to enable us to form an opinion of a movie; hopefully, “I want to see this one.” My contacts in the movie industry tell me the trailer is a carefully edited, formulated device designed to elicit a very specific opinion, but on the… fifth?... hand, does this mean the rest of the movie isn’t?
What I’ve learned is this: I really don’t need to see 300. Yes, it’s based on an actual historical event, but I know how that one turned out. I know the ending. The good guys lose, but their sacrifice enables other good guys to win. I know somewhat more historical detail than the average American although perhaps less than the average professor of Greek history. I would have wanted to see the Battle of Thermopylae painstakingly researched and recreated, but my preferences are apparently unusual ones. As it is, I know that I will not learn any new facts from 300 because it’s evident from the trailer that the filmmakers were not interested in accurately showing historical detail. The Spartans most definitely did not fight wearing helmets, capes, and Speedos. They wore serious armor. Did they forget the stuff?
I was reminded of a scene from the equally historically inept film Troy. Ancient Greece was renowned for its military engineering prowess, but during “Troy”, while watching hordes of Greek warriors rush towards the city walls, obviously planning to smash down towering stone fortifications with their spears, I was almost certain I heard one of them ad lib: “Oh crap, we forgot the Siege Towers!”.
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Alcibiades | 03/12/07 at 08:28 PM | 9 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 11, 2007
More on the Secular Islam Summit from Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler continues her three-part article series on the Secular Islam Summit. Here's Part II:
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Cinnamon | 03/11/07 at 01:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 10, 2007
Conversation, Hillary Style
It's just so her. As in "conversational."
Here's a direct video, but there's some useful data at the above site.
So, um, could David Geffen's people possibly be behind it? They obviously have the resources.
Alcibiades | 03/10/07 at 06:51 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 27, 2007
Lawrence of Arabia Was a Zionist
Watching Peter O'Toole at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, one couldn't help but hearken back to that David Lean film classic, Lawrence of Arabia. O'Toole's T.E. Lawrence was the archetype British Arabist, but, according to historian Sir Martin Gilbert, Lawrence was in reality a staunch Zionist.
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Cinnamon | 02/27/07 at 01:14 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 26, 2007
Aussies, Brits and Frenchmen Who Love America!
Amidst all the media doom and gloom and the vitriolic commentary coming from the America-hating left, it's easy to forget that our nation is still a beacon of light to much of the world. With that in mind, a few . . . more »Cinnamon | 02/26/07 at 04:48 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 20, 2007
Israel: the greatest short-term threat to world peace
Who recently said that Israel is the greatest short-term threat to world peace? Nope. Not Ahmadinejad. Not Abbas. Not the depressed Hassan Nasrallah. Not Jimmy Carter. [Though he probably thought it] It was said to a bunch of Hollywood liberals . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/20/07 at 06:16 PM | 16 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 08, 2007
Russert the Hypocrite
In a previous post, I produced Russert's testimony showing that privately he spoke to an FBI agent about his call with Libby, the same call that later on, publicly, he fought against "being forced to reveal" because, as a member . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/08/07 at 11:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 07, 2007
Grilling Russert to a Fine Turn
For those of you who are not Plamiacs - all Plame, all the time! now that the Libby trial is going on - there was a delicious moment in the court today. Tim Russert walked into court today, a commanding . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/07/07 at 07:27 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 04, 2007
Donald Sensing Poses A Question About Global Warming
What if global warming is a good thing? He asks this with reference to this data list compiled by J.R. Dunn that appeared in the American Thinker, Resisting Global Warming Panic. Despite the insistence of Al Gore and friends, this . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/04/07 at 09:09 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 02, 2007
Obama
Dick Morris brilliantly sums up Obama: “Obama is like a stem cell. He can become any part of the body he wants to be!” Or that the media wants him to be! In reality, he's an unleavened liberal. But the . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/02/07 at 11:50 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 29, 2007
Wall Street Journal's John Fund Raises Questions About Sandy Berger
Fresh on the heels of my recent post on the subject, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal is raising questions about the Sandy Berger affair: Paper Chase: Did investigators turn a blind eye to the seriousness of the Sandy . . . more »Cinnamon | 01/29/07 at 01:18 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 27, 2007
John Kerry Among Friends At Davos
John Kerry announced this week he was not going to run for President this election cycle, leaving him free to "speak truth to power" by proclaiming that America is an international pariah among an audience of the like minded. . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/27/07 at 12:33 PM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 26, 2007
Sandy Berger: The "Watergate" No One Wants To Talks About
Former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, who, along with colleague Bob Woodward, exposed the Watergate affair, has been grumbling that the Bush administration has done "far greater damage" than President Nixon. But perhaps the intrepid reporters of "All the President's . . . more »Cinnamon | 01/26/07 at 04:29 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 25, 2007
Israel: A Stiff Necked Country
Israel: A Stiff Necked Country That's not my opinion, by the way; rather, its my translation of Jimmy's belief that Israel was "intransigent." I guess he believed he had the God's eye view, that he shared God's perspective and God's . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/25/07 at 06:42 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 17, 2007
Blogosphere Roundup on Psychology Today's "Ideological Animal" Article
I posted an item last week regarding Psychology Today's "The Ideological Animal," an article in the current issue that purports to explain those of us who made the post-9/11 political shift from left to right (or somewhere in between). Many . . . more »Cinnamon | 01/17/07 at 07:22 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The Saudis Finally Got the Damned Memo
Bush must feel relieved. Remember when the Democrat talking points told us that in the fall, just before the 2004 elections, Bush was going to whisper in Saudi ears to increase oil production and the price of a barrel of . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/17/07 at 03:13 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 14, 2007
Do Demographics Determine Destiny?
Here's a demographic perspective on what is fueling the current surge in Muslim fundamentalism. It's worth considering because the model it uses accounts for a great deal, including Europe's current antipathy to fighting. And probably also accounts for why America . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/14/07 at 06:12 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 12, 2007
Faux Klingons are Running the War!
Congressional Eloquence at its peak: . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/12/07 at 04:27 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The Art of Counterprotesting
Friend of KesherTalk, Pamela Hall, helped lead a counterprotest against the anti-war protest in Manhattan's Time's Square last night. And for her trouble, we're pleased to note, she got quoted in the AP, where she made eminent sense: A band . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/12/07 at 01:10 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 04, 2007
Psychology Today on Cinnamon Stillwell and The "9/11 Effect"
Several months ago, I took part in an interview with the magazine Psychology Today for an article on political transformation, particularly in the post-9/11 landscape. My inclusion was based on an SFGate.com article I'd written on the subject, "The Making . . . more »Cinnamon | 01/04/07 at 03:25 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 30, 2006
Are the Pathans Descended from the Tribe of Ephraim?
A new study suggests a genetic link exists between the Pathans and the Jews, a connection rumored for many years. According to Aafreedi's study, which was published as an e-book, about 650 out of the 1,500 members of the Afridi . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/30/06 at 11:46 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 28, 2006
Iraq War Veteran To San Francisco: We Must Win This Fight!
Last year, I wrote a column for SFGate titled, "San Francisco Declares Itself A Military Free-Zone." It was about the city's propensity for anti-military activity and how taken to its logical conclusion, San Francisco might well become a military free-zone . . . more »Cinnamon | 12/28/06 at 11:54 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 26, 2006
The Christmas Kerfuffle Revisited
Although I'm a day late, this seemed a good time to revisit an SFGate column I wrote last year providing a Jewish perspective to the kerfuffle over Christmas. It remains sadly relevant and I must say, all the politicizing of . . . more »Cinnamon | 12/26/06 at 04:39 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 25, 2006
Fantastic Discussion in the Comments
Following from the recent conference in Israel on Israel and media, there is a fantastic conversation going on in the comments on a post by Liza, particularly between Richard Landes and Don Radlauer on the problem of Israel and Israel's . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/25/06 at 09:12 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 22, 2006
Spit and Baby Killers: Echoes of Vietnam
We often hear false comparisons between the war in Iraq and the Vietnam war, but one link that holds true is the anti-military attitude exhibited by the left. U.S. soldiers today are treated as either victims or butchers--whichever one happens . . . more »Cinnamon | 12/22/06 at 02:24 AM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 10, 2006
Study Group 1966: LBJ Must Talk to the Klan
Washington, December 15, 1966: Responding to the wave of violence that has engulfed the South in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, a blue-ribbon Civil Rights Study Group has made sweeping recommendations to President Johnson on how to control . . . more »Van | 12/10/06 at 07:28 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 06, 2006
More Examples of Mob Rule on College Campuses
No sooner had my last SFGate column, "Mob Rule on College Campuses" come out, when bullying behavior reared its ugly head on America's college campuses yet again. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, one of the strongest anti-illegal immigration voices in politics, . . . more »Cinnamon | 12/06/06 at 02:44 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 04, 2006
Lafayette "War Memorial" Dishonors the Dead
Looks like Bay Area Moonbats are up to their old tricks again, erecting false "war memorials" in an attempt to use U.S. casualties in Iraq to undermine the war. As always, they do so under the guise of paying respect . . . more »Cinnamon | 12/04/06 at 10:37 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 03, 2006
The Shoddy Game of Political Telephone
In his new book, Bush's War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age Professor Jim A. Kuypers precisely articulates my experience of what has gone on in the months and years following 9/11 with regard to the . . . more »Alcibiades | 12/03/06 at 03:12 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
November 21, 2006
Art imitates life
I don't have a TV, but a friend alerts me to an episode of CSI which seems to have been inspired by the Lebanon Fauxtography scandal. Twin sisters are murdered a few hours apart. Both adopted by different families, . . . more »Judith | 11/21/06 at 07:46 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
November 13, 2006
Alia Ansari Murder Leads to "Wear a Hijab/Turban Day"
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the city of Fremont (dubbed by some "Little Kabul") is known for its thriving Afghan-American community. Unfortunately, the community has been marred by violence in recent months. In August, Fremont resident Omeed Aziz . . . more »Cinnamon | 11/13/06 at 02:13 PM | 9 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 23, 2006
The False Comparison Between Islam and Christianity
The e-mail I receive from left-of-center readers in response to my SFGate columns is always revealing. Whether of the frothing-at-the-mouth variety (see Hatemail page) or the earnest and thoughtful, these missives are nothing if not enlightening. The response to my . . . more »Cinnamon | 10/23/06 at 01:09 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 22, 2006
Bush: Just a Scary Fundamentalist
Or so asserts Gerhard Schrodiger, whom the Germans, thank the scary Lord! replaced with Angela Merkel last spring. The former Chancellor, an agnostic, seems to consider President Bush to be a Christian fundamentalist, and as such less likely to make . . . more »Alcibiades | 10/22/06 at 11:41 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 19, 2006
Fauxtography Rules!
[With UPDATES at the bottom] Apparently it does in France where news suppression and journalism as propaganda has just won a victory. In appalling news from unfree France, on the first of the Al Dura trials currently ongoing in France, . . . more »Alcibiades | 10/19/06 at 11:50 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 17, 2006
It's Hunting Season For Democrats
UPDATE: According to Red State this outing is payback for not voting against Alito at the confirmation hearings, before which time Mike Rogers threatened to out a closeted United States Senator at a politically opportune time tif he voted for . . . more »Alcibiades | 10/17/06 at 11:49 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 10, 2006
Asking Tough Questions...
Alcibides' recent post on Bill Maher and Chris Matthews aroused certain emotions in me. One of them, naturally, was disgust and contempt for the self-martyrdom inherent in Matthews' obvious adoration of himself, but another was a basic sense of things . . . more »Benjamin | 10/10/06 at 05:38 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 09, 2006
Die Hard With A Vengeance - Battlestar Galactica Version
There was some amount of perturbation among Battlestar Galactica fans of the pro-Iraq persuasion when it looked like the new season might possibly turn out to be no more than a negative commentary on the Iraq war, Hollywood style. This, . . . more »Alcibiades | 10/09/06 at 04:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 17, 2006
Woe, Woe to He Who Mocketh the Shlong of the Prophet
The Guardian newspaper has an intense article about what can happen if you joke about the wrong wee-wee in Saudi Arabia. Somebody from the wrong group said the wrong thing at the wrong time, in front of the wrong ears . . . more »Van | 09/17/06 at 07:03 PM | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 05, 2006
Doomsday for Dummies
When you see a YouTube video you like, it's worth scrolling through the related list, because you might find an entertaining evisceration of moral equivalence, prompted by Hitchen's famous bird-flipping of Bill Maher's audience: . . . more »Judith | 09/05/06 at 09:52 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 04, 2006
Blacks and Jews, Blacks and Jews, That's What Makes the World Go 'Round
A new book, "Troubling the Waters: Black-Jewish Relations in the American Century," by Cheryl Lyn Greenberg, a professor of history at Trinity College in Hartford, CT., is getting strong reviews (truth in blogging: Greenberg is a Princeton classmate of mine). . . . more »Van | 09/04/06 at 01:07 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 23, 2006
Kesher Talk and Benjamin Kirstein go way back
I am very pleased to invite Benjamin Kerstein to post here. (He is not to be confused with another Ben who has posting privileges but has been a bit intimidated by the blogging process, and whose emails I have occasionally . . . more »Judith | 08/23/06 at 12:46 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 09, 2006
Stalinist Indeed!
Down below, Van headed a post, Nutroots Go Stalinist in CT. Stalinist, indeed. It turns out that Lamont's father is: Corliss Lamont was a brilliant, very wealthy by inheritance, communist fellow-traveler through the ‘30’s and ‘40’s and ‘50’s, who continued . . . more »Alcibiades | 08/09/06 at 07:46 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 26, 2006
Doves Molting Into Hawks
The last several years, since Arafat launched the second intifada, has shaken the illusions from the eyes of many a former dove in Israel. Zeev Avrahami, freelance journalist who writes for Haaretz, and once spent 45 days in a . . . more »Alcibiades | 07/26/06 at 11:36 AM | 5 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 18, 2006
Israel is the correction of a mistake
Email correspondent Ben responds to my previous post. Israel is not a mistake, but the correction of a mistake. Richard Cohen's telling and deliberate omission- the Jews of the Middle East, from Morocco to Iran- points us towards the single . . . more »Judith | 07/18/06 at 02:53 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Holocaust revisionism at the WaPo
[ UPDATE: Ben has a unique take on Cohen's argument. ] Great, now we have Richard Cohen in the WaPo questioning Israel's legitimacy, using the threadbare revisionist history of 30 years of Islamist-funded university Middle East Studies Departments. How many . . . more »Judith | 07/18/06 at 01:58 AM | 26 Comments | 15 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 11, 2006
Novak About To Spill All On the Plame Game
Drudge has the red siren flashing: Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed my attorneys that, after two and one-half years, his investigation of the CIA leak case concerning matters directly relating to me has been concluded. That frees me to . . . more »Alcibiades | 07/11/06 at 05:35 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
So If Zidane was Objecting to Being Called the Son of a Terrorist Whore...
as the London Times claims...and regarding that comment as a great insult, then that is a bit of all right, uh, not that it excuses, etc, etc. Well as long as Zidane was objecting to the terrorist part as well . . . more »Alcibiades | 07/11/06 at 11:07 AM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 09, 2006
Hold Her Responsible? But...She Identifies With Palestinians
Some of you may have already heard about Deb Frisch by now, the nutty leftist psycho-logist who was an adjunct professor at University of Arizona, who got so enraged by a discussion on Jeff Goldstein's Protein Wisdom that she began . . . more »Alcibiades | 07/09/06 at 08:47 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 07, 2006
Echoes of another war
David Gerlernter writes on the hypocrisy of the baby boomer generation toward the greatest generation, and suggests remediating this by teaching some history. For example:Before Pearl Harbor but long after the character of Hitlerism was clear--after the Nuremberg laws, the . . . more »Judith | 06/07/06 at 12:55 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 04, 2006
Some Good News for Israel and Other Things
It turns out that the confluence of events in recent months - from Europe to Gaza - is beginning to impact public opinion about the Palestinian situation in Europe. Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe New public opinion surveys conducted among . . . more »Alcibiades | 06/04/06 at 03:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 02, 2006
Compare and Contrast: The Times' Take on Two Attacks
Today's New York Times Metro section has two stories on two attacks in the city. One gets prominent display as a racial hate crime in Howard Beach, Queens. Nicholaus Minucci is on trial for the June 29, 2005 baseball-bat attack . . . more »Van | 06/02/06 at 01:05 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 19, 2006
Ciao Italia
Nearly Romano Prodi's first task on getting elected Prime Minister of Italy is to bring home its 2,700 troops from Iraq. To do so, though, he has to survive a vote of no confidence. Making his first policy address as . . . more »Alcibiades | 05/19/06 at 10:03 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The Mirror Self: A Foolish Journalistic Projection
Two stories today lay clear the perils of journalistic hubris in telling only one side of the story, both of them centered around Iraq. In the first, Ken Silverstein writes a post called: “Fairy Tales” The (lack of) intelligence underpinning . . . more »Alcibiades | 05/19/06 at 08:32 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 10, 2006
Historical Irony in Action
Isaiah 2:4: He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war . . . more »Judith | 05/10/06 at 03:06 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 07, 2006
United 93: the fault line widens
All entries on United 93 here. I wrote that this movie will further expose a fault line in the citizenry: People who believe we need to counter this threat aggressively, with war if necessary, are using the film to . . . more »Judith | 05/07/06 at 06:14 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 03, 2006
All Rise: The Mexican National Anthem, Various English Versions
With all the furor over the Spanish version of "The Star Spangled Banner," Mark in Mexico provides useful background on the lyrics of the Mexican National Anthem in the context of Mexican military history (as native Texans, Judith and I . . . more »Van | 05/03/06 at 09:07 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 02, 2006
Revealed: The Real Mexican Rules
Amidst all the protests yesterday, nobody addressed the immigration rules in Mexico. Representative Jack Kingston (R-Georgia) corrects this oversight with an astounding piece on his blog, something I've never read in the mainstream media: "Is Mexico Throwing Stones in a . . . more »Van | 05/02/06 at 06:48 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 27, 2006
United 93: good cop, bad cop
All entries on United 93 here. The premier of United 93 has come and gone, and the movie opens tomorrow. The victims' families all agreed to the making of the film, and many are positive about the results. My posts . . . more »Judith | 04/27/06 at 03:58 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 19, 2006
The Former-Leftist Manifesto
In reply to the British Euston Manifesto, promulgated by Norm Geras and Nick Cohen, among others, who classify themselves as disenchanted-with-the-left, pro-Iraq progressives, Stephen Pollard writes the Maida Vale manifesto for leftists who have already thrown off their shackles: There . . . more »Alcibiades | 04/19/06 at 11:06 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 29, 2006
The NYTimes Lying? I'm shocked, shocked
Check out how the NYTimes's reporter Eric Lichtblau entirely misrepresents the position of the FISA court judges, delivered in plain English in order to maintain the Times' narrative that Bush overreached on the NSA kerfuffle. . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/29/06 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Hewitt Does Ware
For those following the Michael Ware discussion here and here, Hugh Hewitt has a lengthy, substantive interview with him up at Radio Blogger which you can read or download and listen to as you prefer. He also has a post . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/29/06 at 10:26 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 27, 2006
Are the AIPAC Charges Unconstitutional?
Judge: AIPAC charges may be based on unconstitutional law . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/27/06 at 12:36 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The Russian Connection
Gateway Pundit has a post with links detailing ties between the Russians and Saddam's Iraq in the days before the war began and the question of whether they gave the Iraqis the US war plan: Gateway Pundit: Ouch! Photos Show . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/27/06 at 10:57 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Speaking of Michael Ware...
Judith mentioned some of Michael Ware's shenanigans below. Last week radio host Hugh Hewitt interviewed both Victor Davis Hanson and Christopher Hitchens and the subject of Michael Ware was raised. HH: TI want to play you a little bit. Michael . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/27/06 at 10:12 AM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 24, 2006
The Ivy League Moral Wilderness
The dementia which has gripped much of the leftist intellectual elite is spreading through the Ivy League, once-upon-a-time the most prestigious universities in America. Harvard fired its president and published anti-Semitic claptrap, Yale invites the Goebbels of the Taliban to . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/24/06 at 04:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 23, 2006
A Tale of a Mutual Massage: A Taliban at Yale
John Fund has another piece on the saga of the Taliban at Yale and the moral failure that allowed him to gain admission: Back in the early 1990s, when he was dean of Yale College, Yale history professor Don Kagan . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/23/06 at 05:19 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The chickenhawk paradox
Sometimes I am really glad I don't own a TV or a firearm, because watching something like this would tempt me to use one of them to destroy the other. Via Callimachus who also pointed me to the perfect rejoinder:So, . . . more »Judith | 03/23/06 at 07:04 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 21, 2006
Mr. Zarqawi's Brilliant Tactic
Christopher Hitchens has a must-read column up today in the WSJ, that points out the insanity of blaming 'Iraq's Imminent Civil War' on Bush: In February 2004, our Kurdish comrades in northern Iraq intercepted a courier who was bearing a . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/21/06 at 09:29 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 20, 2006
Maybe Iraq really is like Vietnam...
But not the way you think! . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/20/06 at 05:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 19, 2006
Hollywood Finally Gets One Right
But not in the way you think. From the annals of "It takes a Moonbat to play a Moonbat." Susan Sarandon is set to play Cindi Sheehan in a new biopic on the anti-war virago, who is famous for such . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/19/06 at 11:05 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 12, 2006
Is Islam Compatible With Democracy? II
Last week we ran a post on whether Islam was compatible with democracy - based on a lecture that Ann Althouse attended. The answer was a tentative yes, depending on whether a suitable model could be found in which was . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/12/06 at 02:03 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 09, 2006
I was Zogby Polled!
So I just got my first call from Zogby to poll my opinions: One of the questions I was asked about was of interest: To the best of my recollection, it went like this: In the next NY State Senatorial . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/09/06 at 06:30 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 04, 2006
The Beautiful Soul of Rachel Corrie
In the world of international theatre, the writers of Rachel Corrie, Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner are very upset that they cannot show American audiences the beauty of Rachel Corrie's soul. As James Nicola, the theatre's artistic director, said yesterday: . . . more »Alcibiades | 03/04/06 at 09:33 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 27, 2006
Plame's Status - Covert, Classified, or Not - Is Unimportant
Or so claims Patrick Fitzgerald, the CIA Leak Prosector, currently prosecuting Lewis Libby. CIA leak prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald argued at a hearing Friday that, as far as the perjury charges against former Cheney chief of staff Lewis Libby are concerned, . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/27/06 at 04:55 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Confabulating Once Again about Cheney
So Cheney is going to retire in a year, after the midterm elections, reports Insight magazine, quoting "Senior GOP sources". Which is nicely anonymous and means absolutely nothing. It could be senior GOP sources from previous administrations, who are not . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/27/06 at 04:46 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 23, 2006
A theory of everything
They always get interesting email at the Corner: The downfall of civilization can be traced directly to the practice of putting televisions in taverns. Men stopped talking to one another. Then they went home and started talking to their wives . . . more »Judith | 02/23/06 at 04:36 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 18, 2006
A Handy Guide to Holy Honorifics
As the Cartoon Jihad spins along, I am noticing how newspapers refer to Mohammed. The name itself rarely stands alone. The New York Times likes "the prophet Mohammed," while other papers probably go with "the Prophet Mohammed." Islamists make a . . . more »Van | 02/18/06 at 08:39 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 16, 2006
Time Waster
Things You Learn from Reading The Huffington Post: Apparently, not only was Cheney, um, dead drunk when he shot Whittington last Saturday - that appears to be the Democrat legal conventional wisdom at the moment - but he and Whittington . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/16/06 at 09:19 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 13, 2006
'If I Speak In the Arab World, I Will Be Shot'
Nonie Darwish speaks here about her childhood indoctrination education in Gaza. And in the NYSun Ira Stoll interviews both Nonie Darwish and Khaled Abu Toameh, Palestinian journalist. Khaled Abu Toameh used to work for a Palestine Liberation Organization newspaper. Now . . . more »Alcibiades | 02/13/06 at 01:26 PM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 10, 2006
The measure of artistic risk
From Kesher Talk contributor "Ben." As the cartoon story fades away, I find myself thinking of the consequences. More than a few veils have been stripped away, and not all of them have to do with the West vs Islam . . . more »levyben | 02/10/06 at 04:23 PM | 5 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 29, 2006
The slippery slope?
[UPDATE: Google is formally objecting to EU attempts to regulate the internet.] [UPDATE: Jon Henke gets it.] The People's Cube folks are having fun with Google's deal with the PRC: Google's great leap forward. So is Michelle Malkin, who has . . . more »Judith | 01/29/06 at 01:26 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 23, 2006
For What It's Worth
A closer look at Yigal Amir, the murderer of Yitzhak Rabin, based on an interview with Ari Shamay, the leftist lawyer representing him in his case to be able to impregnate his wife using artificial insemination. While the lawyer is . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/23/06 at 01:56 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 20, 2006
I see the next feminist backlash on the horizon
Previous posts on gender difference hand-wringing here, here, and here. Glenn quotes a panicky paragraph about the latest supposed gender gap, from the New Republic:. . . women now significantly outnumber men on college campuses, a phenomenon familiar enough to . . . more »Judith | 01/20/06 at 08:36 AM | 11 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 11, 2006
"Intoxicated by the exuberance of his own verbosity"
Is anyone else watching Senator Schumer bloviate at Judge Alito? Does anyone not know from observing which has the more integrity and mental discipline? Thank God his time his now up. So, um, is anyone out there actually proud of . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/11/06 at 05:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 06, 2006
An Arab Tribute to Sharon
"Courage and objectivity require us to admit that Ariel Sharon has lived all his life for his people's benefit," a commentary in Jordan's al-Dustur reads. "If he were an Arab leader and behaved as he has done in Israel, . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/06/06 at 12:59 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 04, 2006
Gaza Again
Martin Peretz writing in The New Republic on Gaza: The withdrawal from Gaza by Israel was supposed to be a test. OK, not of everything but of something. Take your pick. That the hudna (ceasefire) would hold. It didn't. Islamic . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/04/06 at 10:44 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 03, 2006
Able Danger and the NSA Surveillance Kerfuffle
[ UPDATES at end ] After all the angst this fall about why the President didn't pursue the Able Danger story more strongly to castigate - heh - his critics - and point out the inadequacies and failures of intel . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/03/06 at 05:51 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Studies in Dhimmitude
Martin Kramer deconstructs Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud's generosity in bestowing $20 million dollar worth of beneficence upon Georgetown University. Deborah Solomon questions Alaweed on the munificent Prince's equal level of generosity to Harvard in a piece called Big . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/03/06 at 01:46 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 01, 2006
Quote of the Day
I've just discovered a new blogger. New to me, that is - he's been around for a while I take it: It is, of course, well known that the only thing European leftists enjoy more than hating America is being . . . more »Alcibiades | 01/01/06 at 01:52 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
November 19, 2005
The New Jesus Seal
A newly excavated seal, from the sixth century, found in ancient Tiberias, bears the likeness of Jesus on it. On its reverse side, it contains the inscription "Christos" and the depiction of a cross. The archaeologist in charge speculates . . . more »Alcibiades | 11/19/05 at 05:29 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 28, 2005
60 Minutes Sunday: Featuring Joe Wilson, for whom Indictment day was a sad, sad occasion
Because, you know, um, that shows he has gravitas. According to Drudge, Joe Wilson will be appearing on this week's Sunday 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley to talk about how much harm has occurred to Valerie and how there have . . . more »Alcibiades | 10/28/05 at 09:43 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 21, 2005
A Cantata For Liebowitz Rachel
A play and the revival of that play all in a space of mere months isn't enough to celebrate the wonder that was Rachel Corrie. Now she rates a cantata, too! Can sainthood be far off? On 1 November the . . .
more »Alcibiades | 10/21/05 at 10:34 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 16, 2005
Art for the Masses
Apropos of my recent comments on political art: Mary's husband likes to wear an anti-Che t-shirt, but I bet he didn't get it from Cafe Press, which recently censored a similar graphic from the People's Cube, citing copyright violation. Now . . . more »Judith | 10/16/05 at 10:36 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 20, 2005
Turning The Other Cheek Right Into A Big Fist
"It is not patriotism when you say, 'My country right or wrong,'" [Cindy] said. "Because our country is very wrong now." Well, it looks like Cindy has managed to convince someone in her wake. Or maybe it was Galloway. A . . . more »Alcibiades | 09/20/05 at 07:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 17, 2005
We're about due for another bloggish kerfluffle . . .
Jeff is still on the Katrina case, this time revealing a little-known fact that Michael Brown tried to get through to Gov. Blanco through her husband, because apparently she had her fingers in her ears going "La la la la . . . more »Judith | 09/17/05 at 10:14 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 16, 2005
Post-Mortemizing The Rumble
Well I never got around to doing my full write up of the debate, just filled in some odds and ends. But here are two excellent articles on the Hitch-Galloway grapple that do it for me. So now I don't . . . more »Alcibiades | 09/16/05 at 10:51 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 15, 2005
Galloway the cliche machine
Other entries on this topic here and here. (I got my own entry at Memeorandum! Cool! So did Mary! I like this new version of Memeorandum.) BBC report (Realplayer), captures the atmosphere very well. Here are the MP3 links for . . . more »Judith | 09/15/05 at 11:49 PM | 2 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 14, 2005
March of the provincials
The people who are extolling "March of the Penguins" as a story of marital fidelity and faith must not have been listening to the narration. The Emperor penguins are monogamous couples for one year. Once the chicks are old enough . . . more »Judith | 09/14/05 at 12:37 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 12, 2005
Live from New Yawk City . . .
For you folks who couldn't get a ticket or who aren't in commuting distance of NYC: the Hitchens-Galloway debate on Wednesday night will be podcast. The hawkish democratic leftist Brits from Harry's Place have done great work in spreading the . . . more »Judith | 09/12/05 at 09:08 PM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
"Muscular liberals" . . .
. . . is the new name for us liberal hawk eagle Trumanesque Jacksonian RINO DINO swing-votercrats. Did you know we are "marching into a dead end"? And keep company with "unsavoury" people? . . . more »Judith | 09/12/05 at 06:46 PM | 1 Comments | 5 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 06, 2005
Federal, state and local spheres
As we move into the next stage of post-Katrina finger-pointing, some pundits are asking the right questions about the inept local and state handling of a crisis that had been predicted in detail by everyone from the National Geographic to . . . more »Judith | 09/06/05 at 12:55 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 31, 2005
Allegations Most Foul
Which leaves a worse taste in the mouth? In the corner on the right, we have incensed and unforgiving religious Jews blaming Hurricane Katrina on Bush for forcing the Gaza Disengagement on Israel. In the corner on the left, we . . . more »Alcibiades | 08/31/05 at 10:30 PM | 2 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 29, 2005
Iraq is just like . . .
A succinct rejoinder to all the "Iraq is Vietnam" crap, which might be especially useful to veterans attending college this fall:Iraq is just like Vietnam except: We occupy Hanoi. We've captured Ho Chi Minh. The North Vietnamese have just held . . . more »Judith | 08/29/05 at 01:18 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 22, 2005
Juan Cole disgraces himself again
Last week I linked to a radio interview with Lisa Ramaci, the widow of murdered journalist Steven Vincent. (And you can get to my previous entries on Vincent's death from there.) I said at the time that Ramaci was a . . . more »Judith | 08/22/05 at 09:45 PM | 0 Comments | 5 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 20, 2005
Disengagement isn't enough for some
Previous disengagement entries here, here, here, here, and here. Charles Krauthammer:. . . unilateralism is both correct and necessary. . . . Gaza was simply a bridge too far: settlements too far-flung and small to justify the huge psychological and . . . more »Judith | 08/20/05 at 08:25 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 18, 2005
The other Gold Star mothers
This used to be part of this entry, but as more examples rolled in I decided to give it its own space. [ UPDATE: Move America Forward is coordinating a "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" caravan to tour various . . . more »Judith | 08/18/05 at 02:02 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 12, 2005
Temple Mount blogburst: Jihadism and reality
Tisha B'Av Temple Mount blogburst main page. Shrinkwrapped writes about Memory and History, and propaganda wars. In passing he notes that Destroying and burying the past of one's enemies is an old tradition for Jihadist Islam. Many Mosques were once . . . more »Judith | 08/12/05 at 03:33 PM | 1 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Unlayering History
A series of fascinating archaeological digs are currently going on in Israel, each one of them, as it turns out, central to the religious history of Jews. For one, remains of 10th century monumental architecture have been located in the . . . more »Alcibiades | 08/12/05 at 03:00 PM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Defending America From The Truth
There's been much talk of Able Danger in the last week -- the report that Mohammed Atta and 3 other 9/11 terrorists came to the attention of elite military intelligence. But, because of the legal Wall, erected by Janet Reno . . . more »Alcibiades | 08/12/05 at 10:50 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 09, 2005
Rotten tomatoes
A friend emailed me: Any interest in seeing..... Fahrenheit 911? It is showing on one of the premium channels I subscribe to . . . I have yet to see it, prefer not induce further rage in my already enraged . . . more »Judith | 08/09/05 at 04:45 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 30, 2005
Imaginary temples
My blogburst announcement is already causing controversy (scroll down). Biblical scholar Jim Davila links to someone too busy to actually read the request, but not too busy to denounce all the things it doesn't say. Jim also sets him straight. . . . more »Judith | 07/30/05 at 12:51 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 19, 2005
Engagement
I have been avoiding writing about the Gaza disengagement because both sides have very good arguments. Every time I read something cogent about it I end up agreeing with the writer. I don't think that way about too many issues. . . . more »Judith | 07/19/05 at 12:11 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 17, 2005
Elegantly crystallized
WaPo brought together two bloggers from opposite ends of the political spectrum to tour Washington for a day and argue with each other. This jumped out at me because I've noticed the same thing: . . . more »Judith | 07/17/05 at 09:01 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 18, 2005
Smarts
Okay, here's a smarts roundup: Jews are smart. Women are smart. George Bush is smart. John Kerry is not that smart. Neither is Al Gore. Any questions? . . . more »Judith | 06/18/05 at 10:07 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 10, 2005
The genesis of intelligence
In an entry about the controversial new genetics study of Jewish intelligence, I listed some characteristics of Jewish culture which account for our success in intellectual fields well enough that genetic explanations are unnecessary. Here's more evidence. . . . more »Judith | 06/10/05 at 06:27 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 06, 2005
Genetics
A recent study purports to find a genetic basis for Ashkenazi smarts. This is not a new supposition, but the researchers claim to have verifiable evidence, which I am not qualified to judge. But there is so much evidence . . . more »Judith | 06/06/05 at 12:13 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 16, 2005
Lies, damn lies, and statistics
A new study conducted by the UN - which has no interest in making the Iraq war look like a success - dramatically refutes the infamous Lancet study rushed to publication just before the Presidential election last fall. . . . more »Judith | 05/16/05 at 04:45 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 10, 2005
Democracy, Whisky, Sexy! courtesy of the International Zionist Conspiracy
When the Fadhil brothers came to the US in December, I saw them speak here in NYC, and began to record their tour by linking to everyone who wrote about them. There was a laughable (to anyone not in . . . more »Judith | 05/10/05 at 07:59 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 06, 2005
Checking in with the patriarchy
I stopped visiting Blame Bush after the election, but that was wrong. Because Bush was re-elected, it is possible to keep blaming him for everything, for example, the patriarchal, phallocentric, oppressive, testosterone-fueled death of Andrea Dworkin: . . . more »Judith | 05/06/05 at 04:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 04, 2005
The Protestant divestment movement and the new supersessionism
I previously highlighted the work of Dexter Van Zile, a member of United Church of Christ who is very articulate about the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the divestment initiatives of the liberal American churches. Dexter works with the Judeo-Christian . . . more »Judith | 05/04/05 at 01:09 PM | 3 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 03, 2005
Political re-education
Sunday started off cool and rainy, but turned warm and sunny by the time I left shul about noon after the last shacharit service of Pesach 2005. I walked over to Union Square to join my fellow Protest Warriors . . . more »Judith | 05/03/05 at 04:27 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 17, 2005
More good news for Jews
Previous good news entry here. Solomonia posts emails from people who attended a talk by veteran Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi, at Yale. The good news is that Ashrawi is getting so mellow in her old age that some more . . . more »Judith | 04/17/05 at 09:48 AM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 14, 2005
The Feminist Sex Wars revisited
I've been reading blog eulogies for Andrea Dworkin, and remembering the Feminist Sex Wars of the early 80s, when the Dworkin-McKinnon anti-porn movement was in full swing. The anti-porn wing generated an opposition which became known as the pro-sex . . . more »Judith | 04/14/05 at 08:02 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 07, 2005
Public policy based on polls?
Some polls show that Republicans are deeply divided over federal power, But the Democrats might want to hold off on celebrating. Intermittant guest poster Catherine Johnson says about Dick Morris' political assessment of the Schiavo case: . . . more »Judith | 04/07/05 at 02:49 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 31, 2005
In your face 24/7
Jeff links to an article about how the most fundamentalist leaders of the three "Abrahamic faiths" are coming together to protest a gay pride march in Jerusalem. I fully support the rights of gays to civil marriage (and religious . . . more »Judith | 03/31/05 at 03:23 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Baruch dayan emet
All Terri Schiavo entries are here. Terri Sciavo refused to die for a very long time, long enough to enable protestors to work up an enormous amount of outrage, but unfortunately not long enough for one more legal appeal . . . more »Judith | 03/31/05 at 02:13 PM | 8 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 25, 2005
Human rights watch, cont.
All Terri Schiavo posts are here. Disability rights lawyer Harriet Johnson expands on her Slate article on NPR and CNN. She is so clear and sensible. Give a listen. . . . more »Judith | 03/25/05 at 03:25 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 17, 2005
When I was a boy, part II
Part I here. Also here and here. First of all, Howard Kurtz has weighed in on the female political blogger kerfluffle. After quoting a few high-profile female bloggers and columnists, he says:As for this column, I encourage female bloggers . . . more »Judith | 03/17/05 at 10:53 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 13, 2005
Another gender kerfluffle
Previous gender kerfluffle posts here, here, and here. The usual suspects grabbed the opportunity to cluck about "women doing a man's job" when the Atlanta murderer got away from a single guard (who happens to be female). However, if . . . more »Judith | 03/13/05 at 11:07 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
March 10, 2005
Kevin Drum, the gift that keeps on giving
It's been over two weeks since the slightly-to-the-right-of-Howard-Dean blogosphere tap-danced on Kevin Drum's head, and we were starting to get pudgy and uncoordinated from lack of exercise. So Kevin came to the rescue with more "du'oh!" comments. Michelle has . . . more »Judith | 03/10/05 at 04:04 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 26, 2005
I don't know what to think
You notice I have not been blogging about Israel much lately, even though momentous things have been happening. I know what to think about facile "cycle of violence" opinionating and the promulgation of lies and double standards. But Israel . . . more »Judith | 02/26/05 at 08:55 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 25, 2005
More popular science
The post was getting long, so I started a new one. Speaking of actual scientific studies, and science reporting that actually reports the results, Ilyka notes this NYTimes article (and even VRWC Death Beasts tend to agree that the . . . more »Judith | 02/25/05 at 05:57 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
The imperfectibility of knowledge, cont.
I am collecting examples of bias in editing and maintaining Wikipedia. Via Glenn, another example. More here, and follow the links back to earlier entries on this topic. If you have any further examples, please leave a comment or . . . more »Judith | 02/25/05 at 05:15 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Popular science
I remember studies like this being on the front page of Time in the 1980s. Women, men, math, maps, different areas of the brain. Same stuff. But look at the percentages. You still got millions of men and women . . . more »Judith | 02/25/05 at 02:04 PM | 8 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
Groundhog Day at Washington Monthly
Girls, not only is this the 87th time a male blogger has rehashed the tired old "where are all the female political bloggers?" meme, this is at least the 2nd time within a year that Mr. Kevin "there's no . . . more »Judith | 02/25/05 at 07:37 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 22, 2005
Ringside seat
Watching Horowitz and Hitchens argue about Israel would be worth the price of this trip. . . . more »Judith | 02/22/05 at 11:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 21, 2005
All together now, let's tapdance on Kevin Drum's head
I find it ironic that Kevin Drum is rehearsing Round 27 of the "why aren't there many political women bloggers" meme. Not only because - as some female political bloggers pointed out, he doesn't link to any himself - . . . more »Judith | 02/21/05 at 11:25 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
February 16, 2005
The imperfectability of knowledge, cont.
Previous posts here and here about the biases of Wikipedia. Kevin was wondering about this back in November: Has Wikipedia jumped the shark? One of his comments is from someone else who tried to contribute to a political entry: . . . more »Judith | 02/16/05 at 07:09 AM | 13 Comments | Categories: Competing narratives
February 10, 2005
The imperfectibility of knowledge, cont.
Jeff Jarvis springs to the defense of Wikinews against the supposed dinosaurs of dead-tree media like the (boo! hiss!) Encyclopedia Brittanica. I thought Robert McHenry's remarks were realistic. I have collected several examples of bias and inaccuracy at Wikipedia, . . . more »Judith | 02/10/05 at 07:47 PM | 0 Comments | Categories: Competing narratives
January 31, 2005
One more reason to be aggressive with terrorists
. One of the rationales for deposing Saddam was that WMDs and their delivery systems are getting to be so portable that the world can't afford to let nation-states build them unless they are vigilant about keeping terrorists from getting . . . more »Judith | 01/31/05 at 09:12 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 10, 2005
The imperfectability of knowledge
I don't cite Wikipedia if I can help it, because I am all too aware that an ad hoc group can be as biased as an individual in filtering facts. These days no one has any illusions that news . . . more »Judith | 01/10/05 at 11:54 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 25, 2004
Spirit of America tour update
Audio of the Global Voices blogging conference sessions is now online. You can hear Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model, and Matt of Blackfive, in "Bridge Blogging: The Global Conversation." The most recent version of the Global Voices . . . more »Judith | 12/25/04 at 01:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
November 18, 2004
PC run amok Dept.
Actually, this is an example of anti-PC run amok, which is the same thing. The indignant author of this article apparently doesn't know that CE and BCE have been standard usage in historical and archeological circles for over a . . . more »Judith | 11/18/04 at 03:08 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 26, 2004
No bias here, nope, nothing to see, move along
So now you know what filter you need to parse any kind of news and editorial content from Slate, right? Do you expect the rest of the mainstream media to be any different? Always triangulate, say I. . . . more »Judith | 10/26/04 at 10:33 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 23, 2004
Osama is dead and why we pretend he isn't
I've said before that Roger Simon has the most interesting comment threads in the blogosphere. Now, on the internet no one knows you're a dog. Or a conniving Rove operative. Or an Iraqi. Or an ex-Navy SEAL. Or al-Zarqawi . . . more »Judith | 10/23/04 at 11:23 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
October 17, 2004
Girls girls girls
. . . more »Judith | 10/17/04 at 10:55 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
August 09, 2004
Bush Derangement Syndrome Dept.
Bush Derangement Syndrome Dept. I have written admiringly of Leon Wieseltier on this blog on several occasions. When he is dissecting bad arguments, as in his evisceration of Tony Judt's "bi-national state" nonsense last year, or explaining a complex subject, . . . more »Judith | 08/09/04 at 11:03 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 08, 2004
Documentaries
Fahrenheit 911 is attracting a lot of attention around here. (Haven't seen it yet, so I don't have an opinion.) But F911 isn't the only political documentary out this summer; why aren't we talking about Control Room? . . . more »Rachel | 07/08/04 at 01:30 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 27, 2004
Across the Bay
Martin Kramer alerts us to Across the Bay, a new academic blog by "one Tony Badran, said to be a Lebanese doctoral student at New York University." Across the Bay slaps Arab pundits around with great aplomb and precision, . . . more »Judith | 06/27/04 at 02:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
June 04, 2004
Speaking truth to power
I knew about Dissent, the staunchly anti-totalitarian progressive journal whose principles have pissed off many fellow leftists over the years. But I did not know about its British counterpart Encounter, edited by Melvin J. Lasky. Lasky died this week, . . . more »Judith | 06/04/04 at 02:03 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
May 28, 2004
Reality
Catherine - one of the more insightful regulars over at Roger Simon's blog - responded to this comment: . . . more »Judith | 05/28/04 at 11:36 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 07, 2004
Google war update
In the war for the search engine results for "Jew," the Forces of Light seem to have beaten back the Forces of Darkness for the time being. But let's not get complacent, folks. I just googled "Jew" and Jewwatch . . . more »Judith | 04/07/04 at 02:06 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
April 01, 2004
The Google War again
I wrote about the Google war for the word "Jew" last week. Now the JPost has picked up the story. The war is not yet won, so . . . . Jew Jew Jew Jew Jew Jew Jew Jew . . . more »Judith | 04/01/04 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 27, 2004
European hypocrisy
Nelson Ascher is always clear-eyed and articulate, but these responses to other bloggers about the Swedish terrorist art affaire and political rhetoric in general are must-reads. Here's Nelson on an article in Dissent which exemplifies a double-standard frequently found . . . more »Judith | 01/27/04 at 06:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
January 08, 2004
Benny Morris redux
Roger and Allison are surprised by Benny Morris' latest opinions on the Palestinian-Israeli situation. Actually, Morris - formerly the poster child for revisionist Zionist history - has been re-revising his views since the start of Intifada II, but bloggers aren't . . . more »Judith | 01/08/04 at 11:46 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
December 30, 2003
Of Iranian earthquakes, tzedakah, and interethnic communication
I started to write this in Michelle's comments, but I decided it was important enough to post here. I have the utmost regard for Meryl Yourish and Lawrence Simon and we are in agreement about 95% of everything, but not . . . more »Judith | 12/30/03 at 12:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 05, 2003
Who's afraid of feminism?
The silence of the 'large F' Feminists is deafening.sniffs a commenter on Kate's blog in response to a list of outrages against women that are not news to feminists. Pardon me while I rant. . . . more »Judith | 09/05/03 at 03:46 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
September 04, 2003
Culture wars
NOTE: if you are looking for the feminism post, it's here. I took it offline and reworked it and reposted it. Okay, culture wars. Sometimes a topic really gets me riled up and I post a lot on other people's . . . more »Judith | 09/04/03 at 03:41 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
July 01, 2003
The Christopher Hitchens of the Israeli Left
Israeli historian Benny Morris lectured at Berkeley recently, and flabbergasted leftists there who apparently were not aware that he had been re-evaluating his views for the past three years. (What - they don't read the Guardian?) . . . more »Judith | 07/01/03 at 11:43 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Competing narratives
