53 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Ynet:
    “U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is ‘a strong likelihood’ that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June, according to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius.
    “Israel believes that after this time, Iran will have entered a ‘zone of immunity’ that will enable it to build a nuclear bomb at its leisure, Ignatius wrote.”
    I’m still trying to make sense of the following:

    “President Obama and Panetta cautioned Israel against an attack, because they believe it would derail ‘increasingly successful international economic sanctions’ against Iran.”

    Um, the economic sanctions are intended to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb. If Israel takes successful military action to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb, why would there be a concern about such an attack derailing “increasingly successful international sanctions” against Iran? And it’s not like Israel would be bombing the international sanctions.

  2. I’ve never been more proud of Canada.
    Monday:

    Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty journeyed to the West Bank on Monday to beard the Palestinian lions in their den. Over lunch with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, then later with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Foreign Minister Riad Maliki, the Ottawa tag-team went out of its way to impress upon the Palestinian leadership that it should abandon its efforts to obtain United Nations recognition and return to the negotiating table with Israel “without preconditions.”

    Tuesday:

    On a visit to Israel, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird told an audience of 350 at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum that “Israel has no greater friend in the world than Canada.” He then surprised them by saying “Canada does not stand behind Israel… .” After a slight pause he continued: “Canada stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel” in any threats and challenges it may face. He was met with warm applause.

    Lots of nice photos at the latter link of Baird being warmly welcomed.

  8. “Um, the economic sanctions are intended to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb. If Israel takes successful military action to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb, why would there be a concern about such an attack derailing “increasingly successful international sanctions” against Iran? And it’s not like Israel would be bombing the international sanctions.
    Posted by: EBD at February 2, 2012 10:08 PM ”
    Because,IMHO EBD, the zero and peter pan know that Iran doesn’t give a rat’s patottie about sanctions(and how DO you sanction a country who supplies so much of the worlds oil products?)and will just carry on.(which helps with his plans to destroy the USA) BUT,if Israel does blow the crap out of dinnerjackets nuke factories,then no further artsy-fartsy,pixie dust and unicorn farts sanctions are required,and the stupid who support the zero might start questioning his abilities!(well,I can dream about the last part)

  10. Ok. So I said I was going to make a comment in here tonight because I watch the video of things liberals say that was posted here last month some time. Anyway ….
    I talked to a co worker and we were bantering back and forth about the war and stuff and I told him that I was a social and fiscal conservative unlike bush who was. Fiscal socialist big government big spender . But socially conservative ….and I kinda thought for a second how can that be. Then the co worker say well I am a fiscal conservative but a social liberal.
    I started thinking something about these things did not fit at least not to me. I kept thinking and thinking then it hit me .
    How can you say that your a fiscal conservative but be a social liberal.
    To me that is like saying I am for small government and little to know regulation , free markets , volunteering ,so on and so forth , fiscal responsibility ,living with in your means ,if you don’t have the money you don’t buy it. But it the same breath you are also saying I am for all kinds of social programs funded by the government , forget about the moral issues here for a minute I am talking money terms .
    How can you be a social liberal but be a fiscal conservative . To me you can’t . Because your for small government and living with in your means , but you can’t do that if your for all the social programs and e.p.a. And all the other regulatory bodies , and big government. But all the while expecting to be a fiscal conservative. I mean I suppose you could if you set a limit and played with in it ..but we can see the world over that that don’t happen . Anyway maybe the next time some one tells you that they are a fiscal sunset active but a social liberal get them to explain that to you cause to me it does not make sence
    What do you think am I dumb here or does this have some validity?

  12. Paul – in my experience people who say they’re “fiscally conservative but socially liberal” actually mean they’re libertarians, which in practice is usually just another way of saying they want pot legalized.

  14. On another note, I wonder, when BamBam falls to his knees to pray, does he do it four times a day, facing the east?

  15. Great article from Mike Krieger at Zerohedge. He redefines class warfare by identifying three classes – those with “no skin in the game” (they take the upside, but lose nothing on the downside, e.g bankers, politicians, university professors, etc.), those with “skin in the game” (those who don’t get much of the upside but get all the downside e.g. working stiffs, homeowners, the politically unconnected, etc.), and those “outside the game”, who don’t get any of the upside, but work out of a sense of duty (the military, clergy, etc.) Long piece, but thought-provoking. It’s leadership, stupid
    And, BMamba, libertarians want pot legalized not because we’re going to rush out the door to get stoned (when 1 in 5 Canadians admits to smoking pot at least once a year, it’s pretty clear we could do that already if we wanted to), but because we’re sick and tired of seeing billions of tax dollars wasted by police, courts, and prisons year after year repeating a silly social experiment that was tried nearly a 100 years ago. That experiment failed then, it’s failing now, and it will fail into the future. It’s just following the same ludicrous policy and expecting a different result. What was the definition of insanity again?

  16. KevinB – oh, I’m fer it. Legalize away. It’s not my personal bag, baby, or anything, but whatevs. It’s just that some people confuse “liberal”, as in “leftist”, and “libertarian”, which is what I think Paul in Calgary’s co-worker was doing. I mean, Paul’s objection makes sense to me.

  17. It’s late friends, but I kid you not, AoS has a GREAT forum/comment section referring to Obama’s Jesus speech. Typical of comments is as follows:
    86 For God so loved the world, he gave you me…
    Posted by: Obama 3: 16 at February 02, 2012 02:09 PM (FUUt5)
    Brilliant

  19. Paul you can be socially liberal in terms of not wanting government to regulate “social issues” like abortion, drug use etc. That’s what I’ve always thought that meant.
    I think that’s a reasonable position but I’m not sure why someone with that view would not identify themselves as a libertarian. It’s probably because they used to be “liberals” but have now started to see the light.

  20. The nuclear family is the most economic social program in the history of mankind, which is why social liberalism inevitably eats fiscal conservatism’s lunch in the end.

  21. people who say they’re “fiscally conservative but socially liberal” actually mean they’re libertarians, which in practice is usually just another way of saying they want pot legalized.
    That’s trivializing the libertarian viewpoint. Libertarianism is much deeper than that for those who can grasp it. Some just can’t, so they attempt to trivialize it.

  22. I do understand that there’s more to libertarianism, North of 60. I was trying to sum it up in a pithy sort of way, in case Paul wasn’t quite clear on the difference between wanting an end to legislation on “morality” issues and being in favour of expanding government power via “social programs”.
    That being said, a lot of younger self-described libertarians really do seem to be in it for the drugs. You might be surprised how much of Ron Paul’s base consider that their #1 issue.

  23. Part two of the big-screen adaptation of Ayn Rand’s political novel “Atlas Shrugged” will begin production in April and hit theaters in October, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

  24. a lot of younger self-described libertarians really do seem to be in it for the drugs.
    That could be true, I wouldn’t know. In any case self-described libertarians don’t determine what libertarianism is.
    Trying to describe a philosophy or political viewpoint by the radicals that claim to be adherents is false logic.

  25. I don’t see a conflict with being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. The two are not mutually exclusive. A lot of middle-of-the-road mainstream Canadians believe that one can be both, and it doesn’t mean they want a socialist nanny-state. The recent Conservative majority was due to many of those fiscally conservative and socially liberal voters turning away from the Liberal party because it had become too left wing socialist and fiscally irresponsible.

  26. Neo-GW Progress Report.
    “the severest winter in decades in some regions.”
    …-
    “Russian scientists seeking Lake Vostok lost in frozen ‘Land of the Lost’?”
    “A group of Russian scientists plumbing the frozen Antarctic in search of a lake buried in ice for tens of millions of years have failed to respond to increasingly anxious U.S. colleagues — and as the days creep by, the fate of the team remains unknown.
    “No word from the ice for 5 days,” Dr. John Priscu professor of Ecology at Montana State University, told FoxNews.com via email.
    The team from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet’s surface. The lake hasn’t been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
    Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team — and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica’s summer season ends and winter sets in.”
    http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/02/russian-scientists-lost-in-frozen-land-lost/?intcmp=features
    …-
    “Death toll rises in Europe cold snap”
    “EUROPE’S cold snap has claimed 164 lives, as countries from Ukraine to Italy struggle with temperatures that have plunged to record lows in some places and with more cold weather forecast.
    Entire villages were cut off in parts of eastern Europe yesterday, trapping thousands, while road, air and rail links were severed and gas consumption shot up during what has been the severest winter in decades in some regions.”
    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/death-toll-rises-in-europe-cold-snap/story-fn3dxity-1226261983741

  28. Socialism: communism/National Socialism/Maoism, etc.
    “Nasty shock”? Indeed.
    …-
    “Nasty shock for Khmer Rouge leader Duch as his sentence is increased to life
    A Khmer Rouge jailer known as Duch who oversaw the deaths of some 15,000 people had his sentence increased to life in Cambodia today in a historic case.”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/cambodia/9058823/Nasty-shock-for-Khmer-Rouge-leader-Duch-as-his-sentence-is-increased-to-life.html
    …-
    Pol Pot Genocide:
    http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pol+Pot+Genocide&qpvt=Pol+Pot+Genocide&FORM=IGRE

  29. Socialist Red-Green Politician Falls.
    “This letter is to submit with much regret my resignation as energy and climate change secretary.”
    More, please.
    “Most greens ‘think Huhne has done well'”
    …-
    “Chris Huhne resigns over speeding offence charges – live updates”
    • Energy secretary says CPS decision ‘deeply regrettable
    • Huhne and ex-wife due in court on 16 February
    • Nick Clegg praises Lib Dem minister’s ‘trailblazing’ work”
    “11.40am: Huhne will be entitled to a severance payment of more than £17,000 after resigning, PA is reporting.
    “Under the 1991 Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act, the Liberal Democrat is allowed three months worth of his £68,827 annual ministerial pay, the Cabinet Office said.
    That entitles Mr Huhne to £17,207, if he chooses to accept it.””
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2012/feb/03/chris-huhne-speeding-penalty-energy-secretary-live-updates

  30. Libertarianism is much deeper than that for those who can grasp it. Some just can’t, so they attempt to trivialize it.
    I’ve heard leftists often say how deep and complicated their ideology is, too. Of course, everything is complicated for a leftist.
    Anyway, who knew? I’ve never found common sense to be very complicated.

  31. Pres. Oblamer quoted part of the following scripture so he can tax the rich:
    Luke 12:48
    48 But he that knew not,
    and did commit things worthy of stripes,
    shall be beaten with few stripes.

    For unto whomsoever much is given,
    of him shall be much required:
    and to whom men have committed much,
    of him they will ask the more.

    Another good context for him to remove from the bible is:
    “Judas went out and hanged himself,
    go ye and do likewise.”

  34. Social liberalism has brought us all kinds of things which have weakened the family unit and put our children at great risk: when adult, sexual licence is given the green light—social conservatives are very aware of this—our kids’ needs get shoved to the edge. We now have a critical mass of emotionally, intellectually, and discipline starved young people (not to mention their immature, undisciplined parents), who are not very good at either logical thinking or putting off gratification, both of which are necessary for fiscal conservatism.
    The train of social liberalism (enabled by Trudeau’s Charter) has been barrelling down the track toward rack and ruin for some time. Social conservatives have sounded the warning about the lack of stability in a society that’s deconstructed the family, to no avail. To mix my metaphors, here are a few of the shoals on which our whole society and fiscal conservatism are foundering: common-law marriage as equal to marriage: more unmarried couples having kids, so more breakups, and women and children at greater risk of abuse (Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics); abortion-on- demand: this fosters irresponsibility, low birthrates (where are future taxes to come from?), women damaged physically and emotionally, high costs to taxpayers, not to mention a lack of respect for human life. As the number of abortions has increased, so has the abuse of our living kids; no shame for irresponsible behaviour: high rates of single parenthood, G20 and OWS behaviour; radical feminists, LGBT activists and other “equality” seeking revisionists have given us affirmative action (a most divisive social policy) and sought for themselves rights and privileges that remove the rights and freedoms of the rest of us; feminists, LGBT activists, and socialists have worked very hard to deconstruct the most efficient social program ever: the nuclear family. They’ve been very successful. Once a society’s destabilized at its very foundation—the war on Christianity is a big part of that—the conditions for fiscal conservatism aren’t very promising.
    As far as I’m concerned, “I’m a fiscal conservative but a social liberal” is a self-serving oxymoron. “I like my money, but want to live my life by whatever morality I chose.” This might seem to work for the elites—look at how responsible they are!—but it doesn’t work for the ordinary or disadvantaged person, and the proof of that is all around us.

  35. One of Obama’s notable disciples, James Cameron, is leaving America and moving to New Zealand. Pretty darn convenient for a Rich Leftist to endlessly preach that society & taxes should go a certain way and then when that happens (in California) they just leave. Sounds a lot like parasites moving onto another host. 🙁

  37. and those “outside the game”, who don’t get any of the upside, but work out of a sense of duty (the military, clergy, etc.) Long piece, but thought-provoking.
    – KevinB
    You can’t actually BELIEVE this part, tho, can you KevinB? That there are actually living breathing healthy adults who get up in the morning focused solely on others and not their own self interest? That military men go into the military out of a “sense of duty” “to serve” society? That strikes me as impossibly naive. That single sentence has me passing on this “thought-proving” piece.
    KevinB is right on another matter of course: the libertarian argument against the socially destructive “War on Drugs”. I don’t actually like the word “legalize”, which sounds like some kind of approval. I prefer the, admittedly awkward, “de-illegalize”, a word of my own coinage which, due to its extreme subtlty, has yet to garner widespread usage.

  38. EBD:
    LUV that Lucinda Williams. And when that steel comes in, well, it tears my heart out. I’ve always been a sucker for steel, the more cornball the better.
    Are you familiar with Gillian Welch?

  40. Glad you like it, Me No Dhimmi. I was really hoping that the version from “Live At The Filmore” would be available online (the first minute-and-a-half is available as an mp3 at her site here; scroll down to select the album, double-click on it, and select “Ventura”).
    Re: Gillian Welch, I like her very much. Two years ago I posted her achingly beautiful cover version of “Hickory Wind. ”

  42. It’s probably way too late to post this, but, relating back to Brad Wall refusing to ban hands free phones, here are two NP links of interest:
    http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Cellphone+bans+haven+made+roads+safer/5954979/story.html
    http://www.nationalpost.com/communication+comes+full+circle/6094904/story.html
    The first is a story about the failure of cell phone laws to reduce accidents, The second tells us that the NTSB in the States wants all cell communications banned and automakers forced to install jamming devices in their cars.

  44. You can’t actually BELIEVE this part, tho, can you KevinB? That there are actually living breathing healthy adults who get up in the morning focused solely on others and not their own self interest? That military men go into the military out of a “sense of duty” “to serve” society? That strikes me as impossibly naive. That single sentence has me passing on this “thought-proving” piece.
    I read this over a few times; I still don’t understand what you mean. What Krieger meant was that most military men, most clergy, etc., don’t end up rich in material terms – that’s what I meant by “upside” . I condensed what he had to say, so my apologies if I muddled it somewhat, but I suggest you take a few minutes to read the original.

  45. this is what awaits the judicial system…we WILL be under shar’ia law within 20 years…if not before…stock up on anti-djinn talsimans now…
    http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/lawyer-wants-jinn-to-testify-in-court-2010-10-23-1.307686
    (Emirates 24/7) — A Saudi defence lawyer has asked court to summon a jinn (genie) claimed to have possessed a judge who has been arrested on corruption charges, the Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz reported on Saturday.
    The lawyer, Salim bin Atteyya, told court that the jinn must be present in court to testify in the case of the corrupt judge in Madina, Islam’s second holiest shrine after Makkah, the newspaper said.
    “The case of the corrupt judge in Madina has taken a new turn and witnessed new developments as the lawyer of an absent defendant has asked court to summon the jinn to testify,” the paper said.
    “If what the accused judge said about the jinn, then this jinn could be bad and blasphemous…this jinn could have been sent by a bad sorcerer because witchcraft is bad and non-Islamic.”

  46. “Fiscal conservative but social liberal” just means “hates paying taxes, but hates Christians way more”.

  47. POW! Right in the antenna.
    The Pinkos & “the Race for the Cure”? Ready! Set! Defraud…
    …-
    “Clueless Komen Foundation Runs Up Against the Sacrament of Liberalism
    Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | February 3, 2012 | Rush Limbaugh
    BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The Susan G. Komen bunch, the Race for the Cure, whatever? They have caved big time to the feminazis at Planned Parenthood. It is stunning! Yesterday everybody was holding firm, and today Nancy Brinker who runs the Susan Komen group (I think it was her sister) made a big time cave. Biiiig time. Abortion is the sacrament to the religion of liberalism. Nobody is gonna mess with that money’s flow. Nobody is gonna mess with that pile of money. Nobody’s gonna mess with that at all. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to talk about this Susan G….”
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2842112/posts

  50. You’re welcome, batb. As Noel Coward, wrote—and sang—“Hard Times are Just Around the Corner”!

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