Mere Rhetoric

Confirmed: College Doesn't Make Kids Smarter, Just More Liberal

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:50:55 -0800

They don't know much. But they're very certain that they're super-keen and that conservatives are stupid teabaggers so shut up that's why: While many graduates of American colleges cannot answer basic civics questions, a higher education does make their opinions more liberal on controversial social issues,... The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, an independent group with a tradition-minded...

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Flashback: Left Yucks It Up Over Palin Getting Blindside Tackled, Assaulted By Terry Tate [Video]

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:58:49 -0800

Just a quick jaunt down memory lane, the better to put into context the faux outrage being expressed at the gametime Tebow commercial. First the lighthearted Focus on the Family piece, which shows Tim Tebow tackling his mom and her jumping up and jokingly chiding him: "Violence against Moms," intoned Amanda Marcotte. "Violence against women," declared Women's Media Center president Jehmu...

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Wonderful: Obama Blocking Apache Sales To Israel, "Dismayed" At Use During Cast Lead

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:41:12 -0800

So perfectly does this fit the "Obama is deepy anti-Israel" narrative that I'm almost inclined to doubt it's true. A story about how the WH is generically hamstringing weapons sales, fair enough. The Pentagon is again dragging its feet on Israel's Joint Strike Fighter requests, because apparently the two year delay created by WH "obstacles" hasn't sufficiently damanged US/Israeli relations. So...

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Just A Reminder: Having Turned Gaza Into A Weapons Factory, Hamas Gearing Up For War [Video]

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:16:32 -0800

There's an Al Jazeera expose at the bottom of the post, outlining the massive indigenous weapons industry that Hamas is running in the middle of the "world's largest concentration camp" (because that's exactly how Auschwitz was - lots of spare missiles and raw materials just lying around!) They're back to mass weapons production, which as a sheer matter of statistics means a bump in "work...

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Watchers Council Nominations - Election Stumbles

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:57:54 -0800

Each week, in a contest for the week's best post, the members of the Watchers Council nominate one of their own posts and a second from outside the Council for consideration by other council members. This week's nominations got posted in the aftermath of the Illinois primary, where "anemic turnout" produced a Mark Kirk nomination on the GOP side. It's somewhat heartening that Kirk, for all that...

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Confirmed: Obama's Speeches Written For 8th Graders

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:09:44 -0800

I'm genuinely surprised. Given the previous oratorical heights to which our Vulcan Pericles had soared, I really expected more. Oh well: Text of Obama's Address has a readability score for an average 8th grader - two grades lower than George W. Bush's Addresses and the historical average for modern presidents... A Smart Politics analysis of nearly 70 oral State of the Union Addresses since the...

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Palestinian Whistleblower: Yeah, I'm A Walking Dead Man

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:04:12 -0800

Availing themselves of blatant vote rigging, the Fatah "Old Guard" reasserted themselves last August, reaffirmed terrorism as a strategy, and formally rolling back the peace process. Or, per the AP's Mohammed Daragmeh, "new Fatah leadership boosts Mideast peace efforts" in contrast to "a reluctant Israel." Given that they're neither new nor particularly peace-boosting, it makes sense that Fatah...

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Omri Ceren Show - 6:00pm PST - Anti-Israel Propaganda, Dan Diker On Israel's Gaza Investigations, Etc.

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:43:01 -0800

Note the time change. We're going on the air 30 minutes early today for scheduling reasons, which gives you just enough time to get comfortable and tune in. Everything else - from where you can find the show to the structure of the segments - should be familiar. You can listen live either via the main Omri Ceren Show page or through the page for today's episode. As always the phone lines will be...

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Chinese Diplomat: Obama "Trying To Undermine Relations"

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:45:29 -0800

At least Obama's sanctions plan for dealing with Iran - which seems to be Obama's only plan for dealing with Iran - doesn't hinge on Chinese cooperation. Because if it did then alienating China, in addition to risking a Cold War with an existing hostile nuclear power, would all but guarantee the creation of a second one. So as long as the White House never indicated that "it needed China's...

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Filmmaker: You Know Who's A Lot Like Avatar's Na'vi? The Palestinians.

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:32:15 -0800

The Palestinians also - apparently - need to attack and expel Jews like the Na'vi attacked and expelled humans. Which is probably the first time an antisemite has ever acknowledged that Jews should be treated as humans, but whatever: This week, a screening of "Avatar" erupted into a small ruckus in a suburb when one moviegoer loudly announced that the Palestinians should learn from this movie...

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Umm, Does Obama Have Any Plan For When Mexico Collapses?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:00:36 -0800

I only ask because when POTUS was in Mexico he blasted amnesty opponents as "demagogues." I understood that to mean that he didn't seriously credit the historically verified possibility of a post-amnesty illegal immigrant flood. And if he doesn't credit that possibility then he probably isn't thinking much about the very real potential for a refugee crisis in the aftermath of a Mexican collapse....

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Hamas Using Palestinian Fishermen As Human Shields

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:03:49 -0800

This story won't get international play until there's an incident between Gaza fishermen and the Israeli Navy, but apparently Hamas has found a new set of Palestinian human shields. Those explosive-filled barrels that have been washing ashore in Israel are coming from Hamas boats disguised as fishing vessels, all but guaranteeing a miscalculation that will drag in Palestinian civilians: Barrels...

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Yahoo Wipes "Ariel, Israel" Off The Map, Replaces It With "Jenin, Palestinian Occupied Territories" (UPDATED)

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:46:42 -0800

Original: Kudos to whatever seething, obsessive anti-Israel organization managed to sneak this in under the radar. Drip drip drip delegitimization of the Jewish State is after all the strategy du jour. But seriously? This is what we're doing now? Apparently someone has convinced Yahoo to go into their News Weather data, erase "Ariel, Israel" as a valid location, and replace it "Jenin,...

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Omri Ceren Show - 6:30pm PST - Dan Diker On Hamas vs. Fatah, Obama's Failed Year, Etc.

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:33:19 -0800

Given that the State of the Union is the worst political ritual evuh - to say nothing of tonight's likely content - we figure you'll be wanting an alternative about 30 minutes after Jesus Cicero starts talking. Ergo tonight's episode of One Jerusalem Radio's Omri Ceren Show, which will be kicking off at exactly 6:30pm PST / 9:30 EST. You can tune in live to call in, participate in the chat room,...

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Aww... Holocaust-Abetting Poles Try To Capture Israeli "War Criminals" On International Holocaust Day

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:15:07 -0800

In fairness it was probably their parents and grandparents who consummated millennia of Catholic antisemitism by turning over Jews to Nazis, denying supplies to Warsaw Ghetto smugglers, pretending that Auschwitz didn't exist, and so on. But still: Knesset members visiting Poland for ceremonies marking International Holocaust Day were surprised to see ads against Defense Minister Ehud Barak and...

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