Rick Moran"It should come as no surprise that women in Afghanistan who are financially able to leave are beginning to depart for friendlier climes before the Taliban takes over again." Quoting the Guardian:
Speaking to the Observer, Kakar said negotiations between the government and the Taliban and other insurgent groups were ignoring women's rights. A recent survey by charity ActionAid suggested 86% of Afghan women were fearful of a return to Taliban-style rule. One in five worried about the education of their daughters but 72% said their lives were better now than a decade ago.
PJ Media " Are you interested in becoming a Racist™? You may be eligible:
"Do you oppose the siphoning off of productive earnings and investment capital into byzantine welfare schemes, run essentially as discretionary funds for politicians who both buy votes and further reward those who have already been bought?
"Do you oppose the de facto repeal of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments?
"Do you think the “Reverend” Al Sharpton is a criminal, a liar, an antisemite, a libelist, an extortionist, a racketeer, a predator?
"Did you refuse to vote for Barack Obama not because he was half-black, but because he was all-huckster?
"Do you either ensconce the phrase “Justice Department” in scare quotes or preface it with “so-called”?
"Do you think the United States Capitol is, or should be, too important and hallowed a venue for whiny, middle-class white girls from Georgetown to be complaining about the price of contraception?
"Do you oppose the efforts of Barack Obama to debase and marginalize allies like Israel and Great Britain while simultaneously offering Russian gangster-politicos concessions made by mortgaging the nation’s well being against the results of his re-election campaign?
"Have you noticed that the only way to escape the scorn and contempt of Barack Obama is to be the representative of a hostile Third World dictatorship?"
"In other words, we may actually be reaching the point we’ve all been waiting for: the point at which the charge of Racism™ begins to lose its social power. Trust me, I’m aware we have a long way to go: Big Media is unsalvageable, and our universities are still North Korean enclaves, to name but two obstacles."
Looking Up to Our Heroes"Let's not wait for our heroes to die before we recognize them. The "New Media" needs to take up the slack in daily reporting on the heroes in our armed forces - so young, many of them, yet also so grown-up. We must also make sure that our heroes know how much the rest of the grown-ups in America appreciate and look up to them." Cindy Simpson Blogs rip MSNBC's Chris Hayes on 'heroes'"Law and Order"s favorite channel says:
“Why do I feel so uncomfortable about the word ‘hero’?” Hayes said. “I feel uncomfortable about the word hero because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism, you know, hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.”
Kurt Schlichter at Breitbart blasted Hayes for his comment, writing, “Memo to Chris: they are heroes, and you don’t get a vote.”
“So, like so many other useless progressive fops* who glide from cocktail party to panel discussion, Chris Hayes continues to push his progressive vision of collectivist serfdom from behind the unbreachable wall of American warriors,” Schlichter wrote. “He has not stood with them and, in fact, is unworthy of doing so. He is a parasite taking sustenance from the exertions of better men and women.”
* Fop: "A modern-day fop may also be a reference to a foolish person who is overly concerned about his clothing and incapable of engaging in intellectual conversations, activities or thoughts."
Jonah Goldberg"That’s what corporations do, right? At least that’s what my kid is taught. In Beethoven, the evil munitions industry shoots Saint Bernards to test bullets. In The Lorax, businesses hate trees. In The Muppets, they hate Muppets (and love oil). I think that in nearly every movie involving cute woodland creatures (Furry Vengeance, Yogi Bear, et al.), businesses are always the bad guys. "When kids get older, they learn from John Grisham movies that big businesses kill people in order to get what they want. In Aliens, the company wants to smuggle space critters that will likely wipe out all humanity, in the slim hope they’ll eke out a bit more profit. In Avatar, the Halliburton of the future slaughters intelligent aliens and rapes their planet just to make a buck." I recall what a thrilling movie "The Fugitive" was all the way through until the last when it was revealed the real evil was -wait for it- a "monster" pharmaceutical firm that manufactured dangerous prescriptions to make money faster. Pretty much standard fare on shows like "Law & Order", et al.
Romney fights Hollywood's take on big business"Take, for example, last Thursday when Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) — the heroine of the hit NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation” — squared off for a fictitious city council debate with a rich, out-of-touch businessman who threatened to ship jobs overseas unless he got his way.
" “I want to run this town like a business,” Bobby Newport (played by Paul Rudd), said to the constituents of the fictional Pawnee, Ind. “My opponent, Leslie Knope, has an anti-business agenda.”
"When it was Knope’s turn, she shot back: “Corporations are not allowed to dictate what a city needs. The power belongs to the people.”
"She then added: “Bobby Newport and his daddy would like you to think it belongs to them.”
"It’s a prominent example of how businessmen are portrayed in the modern era, examples of which are also seen in films such as “Wall Street,” “Boiler Room,” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
"And Romney is not only countering Hollywood’s portrayal of big business, he’s running against a president with pop cultural appeal."
As Memorial Day Nears, a Single Image That Continues to Haunt "Taken by the photographer Todd Heisler from his 2005 award-winning series for The Rocky Mountain News, “Jim Comes Home” — which documents the return and burial of Second Lt. Jim Cathey of the Marines, who lost his life in Iraq — the photo shows his pregnant widow, Katherine, lying on an air mattress in front of his coffin. She’s staring at her laptop, listening to songs that remind her of Jim. Her expression is vacant, her grief almost palpable."
"It is the one and only photo that makes me cry each time I see it. What brings the tears to my eyes is not just the bereaved young woman, but the Marine who stands behind her. In an earlier photo in the series, we see him building her a little nest of blankets on the air mattress. Sweet Lord, I cry just typing the words, the matter-of-fact tenderness is so overwhelming. So soldierly. But in this photo — the one that lives on and on online — he merely stands next to the coffin, watching over her. It is impossible to be unmoved by the juxtaposition of the eternal stone-faced warrior and the disheveled modern military wife-turned-widow, him rigid in his dress uniform, her on the floor in her blanket nest, wearing glasses and a baggy T-shirt, him nearly concealed by shadow while the pale blue light from the computer screen illuminates her like God’s own grace."
Second Lt. James Cathey’s body arrived at the Reno Airport in 2005
"It is the one and only photo that makes me cry each time I see it. What brings the tears to my eyes is not just the bereaved young woman, but the Marine who stands behind her. In an earlier photo in the series, we see him building her a little nest of blankets on the air mattress. Sweet Lord, I cry just typing the words, the matter-of-fact tenderness is so overwhelming. So soldierly. But in this photo — the one that lives on and on online — he merely stands next to the coffin, watching over her. It is impossible to be unmoved by the juxtaposition of the eternal stone-faced warrior and the disheveled modern military wife-turned-widow, him rigid in his dress uniform, her on the floor in her blanket nest, wearing glasses and a baggy T-shirt, him nearly concealed by shadow while the pale blue light from the computer screen illuminates her like God’s own grace." Lily Burana is the author of “I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love War and Other Battles” (Weinstein Books). Her husband, a former soldier, is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Loyal Dog Mourns, Lays at Casket of Fallen Navy Seal "The dog of slain Petty Officer Jon Tumilson refused to leave his side during the Navy SEAL’s funeral earlier this week in Rockford, Iowa. The heartbreaking photo taken by his cousin, Lisa Pembleton, shows Tumilson’s dog Hawkeye lying by the casket."
Let's also see (below) unmitigated joy at the return of a soldier:
Now, on to the next post (below) that features an altogether different form of humanity:
Big Government"In a piece that must be read to be believed, the radical publication Adbusters, which first suggested the tactic of occupying Wall Street, has now officially endorsed the Black Bloc anarchists as the next phase of the now-flaccid Occupy movement."
From Adbusters, whose stated purpose is: "We are a global network of culture jammers and creatives working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society."
In Oakland, the Black Bloc, which made up a large portion of the May Day General Strike, displayed a coordinated tactical philosophy – including the de-arresting of comrades, throwing eggs filled with paint, using homemade smoke-creating incendiaries to confuse police, and the rejection of media – that suggests prior planning, ongoing innovation and increasing sophistication. And Black Bloc tactics are just one aspect of the overall rejuvenation of anarchism that is happening right now including the increase of infoshops (there are two near Occupy Oakland:The HoldoutandThe Longhaul); the creation of bottom-upsolidarity networksto replace top-down unions; providing free food on the model of Food Not Bombs; offering a compelling DIY aesthetic.Anarchist occupiers are energized and their visceral tactics are attracting members. Now, the power of the Black Bloc is growing within Occupy and pushing the movement in unexpected directions.Round 7 goes to the Black Bloc – now let’s see what we can do for the rest of May!
Useful idiots: "This is the term Karl Marx used to describe an uneducated mass of people that accomplished a goal of political puppetmasters unbeknownst to them. These people thought that they were carrying out good works that would better society, but in reality they simply were sold a bill of goods and duped into worsening their own societal position. Used and abused by a deceitful taskmaster."
The Foundry"Deep in the cover of night in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan, a team of Navy SEALs descended from helicopters, breached the compound of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and brought him to justice. The story is the stuff that blockbuster movies are made of, but many of the details are largely a closely guarded secret. That was until the Obama White House granted extraordinary access and information to Hollywood filmmakers for their film about the raid, originally slated to be released just before the November presidential elections. As disturbing as that may be, it is not the first time this White House has disclosed confidential information under questionable circumstances." "....And then there’s the fact that Sony Pictures Entertainment, which owns the production house distributing the film, hosted a fundraiser for President Obama on its lot last month, part of a West Coast fundraising tour that raise the campaign more than $4 million." (Emphasis added; need you ask why?) ...."Those facts should raise a red flag for Congress that the White House has come awfully close to the line. It’s up to them to find out how this Administration is handling or mishandling ultra-sensitive national security secrets."
"For the record, Obama’s “heroics” surrounding the Osama bin Laden killing consisted of cutting his golf game short on that Sunday to return to the White House to watch the true national heroes take down Osama bin Laden–only to have Obama’s White House concoct a whole cloth version of what happened that has changed numerous times. Obama’s heroics also consisted of taking hours to give the initial green light on the Navy SEAL mission–and only after sleeping on it. Yes, clearly, “action,” is Obama’s middle name."
A liberal cartoonist's take
UK Mail: Revealed: How Obama was playing golf until 20 minutes before Navy SEALs began mission to take out Bin Laden "Stayed out on golf course to distance himself if it went wrong, book claims" "Mr Pfarrer says the President's role was largely inflated and suggests he stayed out on the golf course for so long so he could distance himself in case it went wrong. Mr Pfarrer writes: 'If this had completely gone south, he was in a position to disavow.' "
BuzzFeed"Barry was quite the accomplished marijuana enthusiast back in high school and college. Excerpts from David Maraniss' Barack Obama: The Story dealing with the elaborate drug culture surrounding the president when he attended Punahou School in Honolulu and Occidental College in Los Angeles. He inhaled. A lot" (Emphasis in the original)
1. The Choom Gang"A self-selected group of boys at Punahou School who loved basketball and good times called themselves the Choom Gang. Choom is a verb, meaning "to smoke marijuana."
....8. Ray The Dealer "He was a long-haired haole hippie who worked at the Mama Mia Pizza Parlor not far from Punahou and lived in a dilapidated bus in an abandoned warehouse. … According to Topolinski, Ray the dealer was "freakin' scary." Many years later they learned that he had been killed with a ball-peen hammer by a scorned gay lover. But at the time he was useful because of his ability to "score quality weed."
....
"In another section of the [senior] yearbook, students were given a block of space to express thanks and define their high school experience. … Nestled below [Obama's] photographs was one odd line of gratitude: "Thanks Tut, Gramps, Choom Gang, and Ray for all the good times." … A hippie drug-dealer made his acknowledgments; his own mother did not."
Bruce Thornton"The fundamental wisdom known by every village explainer — spend more than you earn and you’ll go broke, give people something for nothing and they will expect something for nothing forever, there is no free lunch, if something can’t go on forever it won’t — doesn’t seem to penetrate the minds of the self-styled “genius” party." ...."In other words, a hundred years of painful experience and the failure of these notions should demonstrate their danger. That liberals continue to ignore those historical lessons and recycle those discredited ideas makes them the stupid party."
Warning Signs "I don’t want a gay superhero of either gender. Deliberately making one of them homosexual serves no purpose other than to spread the gay message that altering all of society to suit their preference for their own sex is okay. It never was. It never will be. "I regard changing our perception of one of the superheroes as a slap in the face of everyone who grew up enjoying their adventures and a form of gay indoctrination for a new, younger generation. "Superman stands for “truth, justice, and the American way.” If he’s gay, then the American way has strayed so far from decency and common sense that it portends the death of our unique political and social experiment. That applies to all the rest of the DC characters as well."
...."I do not want homosexuals harmed or harassed. I want them to be ignored. That’s hard to do with relentless campaigns to highlight “bullying” as if only gays were its target or passing out literature in the schools that would make me blush. "This is, simply put, the subversion of a society that began as the result of deeply held religious beliefs that included the sanctity of marriage. It is insidious. It should be resisted." Alan Caruba
