Total number of comments: 896 (since 2009-07-31 16:25:09)
LanceThruster
I grew up with the conventional wisdom believing that the Israelis were the "white hats" and that the Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims were the "black hats." After 9/11, I wanted to know more about the conflict in the ME. I came to the realization that the narrative was totally one-sided. I largely credit many outstanding Jewish voices (my close friend Bernie the Attorney for one) for opening my eyes. I see on a daily basis the efforts by Zionists and their stooges to dismiss truth-tellers in the most reprehensible manner, up to and including threats of violence. Truth needs no army of thugs to establish it; only lies need enforcers.
Website: http://lancethruster.blogspot.com
HuffPo long ago had a 'great purge' of those commenters speaking in defense of Palestinians and critical of Israel. What changed? Is it safer to allow such posts up when many of the more contentious voices are absent?
From this report it would appear there is at least an entire wing of the newseum devoted strictly to gatekeeping (though obviously unacknowledged).
Sincere thanks to all who weighed in on this. I very much appreciate your input and feel you made a strong counter-argument.
I am curious as to what others think of this BDS article -
Boycott Israel?
Collective punishment is always wrong
by Justin Raimondo, May 10, 2013
link to original.antiwar.com
You know who else spoke of 'blood and soil?'...
I remember an Alan Dershowitz piece in a freethought publication (Free Inquiry?) arguing against Jewish assimilation. Even without the religious component, he said intermarrying would destroy/dilute what it means to be Jewish. I guess according to him there are sub-groups within humanism to preserve against the onslaught of the dreaded "other."
I just recently met and have started dating a woman that is a Russian Jew who served for a time in the IDF. She's sweet and gentle but I'd have to guess a little myopic on the whole IP conflict (yet smart as a whip). I don't press it at the moment but tell her of some of my activities and truth-telling Jewish heroes. When I asked her where her favorite places to eat were, she smiled broadly and said, "Israel!"
If we ever tried travelling together there, I would certainly be bullied by the members of the Zio-goon squad for my record of commenting. This is both disturbing and an outrage. Maybe one day I'll use that as a foray into one of the many reasons I have a problem with such a disfunctional society.
For the record, I find Dickerson3870's contributions consistently enjoyable, and when I feel there's too much to absorb at any given time, I just scroll down. I think it was topic related as to the claims on Jerusalem pretty much ignoring a significant subset of the people with ties, spiritual and otherwise, to the ancient city.
'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.' ~ Upton Sinclair
This is nothing but surreal. Why on earth would US med teams not be tasked with this?!?!
CNN Breaking News Update
Two men arrested and charged Monday were part of an al Qaeda-supported plot to derail a passenger train, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
The suspects, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, are accused of conspiring to kill people on a VIA train, police said. Officials said that the suspects had the capacity to carry out an attack but that the public was never in imminent danger.
The two men were receiving support “in the form of direction and guidance” from al Qaeda elements in Iran, police said. They are not Canadian citizens.
—
Jeez-Louise
I guess we’ll be getting our Iran war on soon.
Either way, we still pay for it.
He said that Israelis do not wet their pants at every act of terror, as opposed to Americans. I just chafe at the rec to be more like the Israelis as I see no advantage to living within the umbrella of a police state while being eternally fearful/suspicious of the "other."
I cringed hearing Bill Maher tonight asking, in light of Boston, shouldn't we act more like the Israelis? In context he meant the "keep calm, carry on" stoicism, but it's a frightening meme to float out there that Israel knows how to keep their Muslims in line, can use the powers of the state as both culprit and enforcer, and that we should adopt their model to any degree. Maybe they offered to train our leaders and security forces in how to always be able to find patsies to pull off the most brazen acts in plain site.
xD
Too funny!
Thanks Bumblebye - What a great and informative link. I remember being thoroughly tickled by the story and Pres. Carter's genuine joy (and Stewart's) over the results, but sort of tuned out on the gory details as they were just horrific.
It was so cool the bottled parasite Carter gifted Stewart with.
xD
Saw Pres. Carter on the Daily Show talk about how the number of cases from a parasitic worm acquired from dirty water has dropped to next to nothing from the hundreds of thousands (millions?) due to his foundation's work. I chafe every time he's badmouthed for whatever reason because he makes me proud of what my species can accomplish when their hearts are in the right place.
I like how you put that. So very true.
Sewage exposure to that degree is nothing less than bio-warfare. This is clearly criminal (as if so many of the other acts by the Israelis against the Palestinian people are not).
link to jihadwatch.org
Discuss.
As in making sure the US doesn't get wise to their lies and propaganda.
The saddest thing about this is that often this is all it takes to get the smear accepted as fact; some blowhard declaring they know the mind of the accused.
Spare me.
The banality of evil.
I like (as in "am fascinated by") the rabbinical blessing of atrocities if it serves the interest of the Jewish state.
It causes me to recall a scene in "I, Claudius" where a centurian does not want to execute a virgin minor, so he is instructed to rape the girl first in order to salve his conscience.
If the rapes and reporting of it served the expansion of Zionist power, I have no doubt there would be an Israeli official paraphrasing Colenel Kurtz of "Apocalype Now!" when he observed, "I remember when I was with Special Forces... seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate some children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried, I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out; I didn't know what I wanted to do! And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it... I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God... the genius of that! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we, because they could stand that these were not monsters, these were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us.
Powerful ad campaign images. Very enlightening.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very kindly.
Well alright!
I know...
it's only rock and roll.
But it's OK because they have the designation of "Most Moral Torturers in the World."
Can we at least declare to US to be a FOG (Fascist Occupied Government)?
Maybe I was wrong about Chosanistan.
It looks like NRA paradise [cough].
I am reminded of the feeling I got watching an Iraqi man trying to hold back the tears after the Iraqi museums were looted as US troops stood by.
I also commented on their Elie Wiesel piece -
The comment they have not posted is simply this --
Not if you remain silent on the continued brutalization of the Palestinians by the Israelis in their ongoing theft. (approx. as I post in good faith that comments meeting the guidelines will go up and I do not save many of them).
From: link to jewishjournal.com
The LA Jewish Journal commented on the photo being awarded a prize, but without showing it. I asked about that in the comments (which did not go up). I added this link for the photo just now. Doubt it will get posted either. When they banned me, they blocked every single IP I used to submit comments from. I'm at a new workstation now.
Wanna bet that this IP gets blocked at some point as well?
If you need to hide opposing views of any stripe, how strong is the actual position you're defending?
Nothing offends a person more than to reject their deeply held beliefs. ~ LanceThruster
These 'Theftright' tours are nothing if not educational.
"I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed by the white moderate," he wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice, who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice, who constantly says 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action,' who paternalistically believes that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom.'' ~ MLK
Hee-HAW!
xD
How much we talking about?
I've always loved the underground comics style (& message).
Wasn't there an artist featured here that was essentially the Palestinian Harvey Pekar (i.e."American Splendor")?
So good to finally see "cultural breakthrough" and "fellate a donkey" in the same sentence.
xD
"One lawyer, three opinions." ~ Alan "Any Way the Wind Blows" Dershowitz.
I am hard pressed to imagine what it would be like to have the safety of my home or work environment violated by high explosives from combat aircraft (let alone being overrun by ground troops). Truly sad and frightening.
That political cartoon by Matson is brilliant. Maybe the tide is turning at that as normally staunch Zionist Bill Maher in regards to the Hagel nomination mentioned on his latest show something to the effect that all Israel wants is to go to war with Iran and will continue to bully and badger the US congress into doing .
The extent that gatekeeping on every level is one of the most insidious aspects of attempting to deal intelligently with the issues. I tried to comment on a college journalism page that hosted Amb. Michael Oren. Their site covered their own institution's school paper each linking to the other. I mentioned that any discussion with Oren that did not include the mention of either "occupation" or Israel's "nuclear weapons" was a fluff piece and reflective of the sad state of journalism. There were no other comments. Still mine never went up. My comment on the college paper site that did not go up mentioned "The Samson Option" in response to a comment declaring Israel does not threaton others with nukes.
A department of journalism would rather have no interaction than any that might challenge to image put forth of both the subject and those covering it.
[sigh]
I remember the feeling seeing an Iraqi man trying to hold back the tears after the Iraqi museums were looted of priceless treasures as US forces stood by. Dictators come and go, but one's cultural artifacts are often irreplaceable.
The Shoah Foundation catalogs stories of genocide lest they be forgotten. The Shoah mindset also includes making stories problematic to their own narrative disappear.
Well put.
We can only hope.
Bravo!
Random acts of clarity.
Thanks for this.
I referenced Mr. Pieczenik in my comment (still in moderation).
I hate that it continues to promote the lie that Bin laden was still alive. Pure propaganda.
From: link to 911dude.net
Back in April 2002, over nine years ago, Pieczenik told the Alex Jones Show that Bin Laden had already been “dead for months,” and that the government was waiting for the most politically expedient time to roll out his corpse. Pieczenik would be in a position to know, having personally met Bin Laden and worked with him during the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan back in the early 80?s.
He’s said he’d be willing to go before a Grand Jury and state as a much.
But, quelle horreur, he was on Alex Jones so he must just be another nutjob truther.
[sigh]
NEWSFLASH!
Lying Liars Lie About Their Lying Lies!
[sigh]
Just wait until they charge the Palestinians for the clean-up of the properties when they're annexed (stolen) by the settlers (invaders).
Beautifully stated, Annie (as was Mr. Falk's response for that matter).
Log this right up there with God telling Pat Robertson Mitt Romney would win in 2012.
Did you remember not to kiss or show too much flesh in the square as the public easement was bought up by the church so they could bring the hammer down on miscreants?
Thx, piotr.
Xmas as a holday should be just like Halloween -- i.e. participation *completely* voluntary and at whatever level of observance (from "none" to "knock yourself out") you choose. And even then, geared mostly to the kids.
I opted out of the "Giftmas" aspects of Xmas long ago. The best gifts for me (giving and receiving) have been Xmas tchotchkes. That way, if someone takes offense at the trivial nature of it, they're not really about the true spirit of Xmas anyway, so effum. I love trotting out the little holiday decorations freiends have given me over the years (plus you can plan ahead and clean up with the after Xmas sales - I've surprised many people never expecting any gifts in just this way).
I like the Prez's card...but then one of my own favorites was one a friend gave me with "Bah Humbug" written in elaborate holiday script on the inside. Plus, there's the perennial favorite (that I got again this year which always brings a big smile) --
Money's tight, Times are hard, Here's your f#cking Christmas card!
-- scribbled on a piece of paper folded into a card (for effect it was actually on a nice cardstock).\
Merry Giftmas, Everyone! (The sect that celebrates Xmas in early January got it right because they get everything on post-holiday season sale).
How unsurprising.
That might have actually ascribed some simple humanity to the Pakistanis...and that wouldn't fit the narrative.
xD
We all understand this is not a funny subject to be sure...but that is a funny line.
And here I was going to be so bold as to compare the wholesale slaughter of Palestinian children on a regular basis to the recent carnage at Sandy Hook.
The parents of Gaza might actually be relieved if the death toll for their own children was not in the triple digits or higher.
Or more accurately...
‘We will try to make sure every American *thinks* he is an anti-Semite thanks to our tireless and pervasive smears.’
More Roger Waters --
link to desertpeace.wordpress.com
And some Brian Eno for good measure --
link to desertpeace.wordpress.com
I can't think of a better endorsement than Pam Atlas's misrepresentation of Sen. Hagel.
Seems Mr. Marcus doesn't know that rule #1 (& #2 for that matter) of fight club is that you don't talk about fight club.
It's quite possible he was singled out specifically because it was his birthday (he did hand over his ID card). What better way to sow the seeds of despair than to turn an otherwise joyful occasion into a tragedy for Mohammed Salayme, his family, and the entire community?
Mission accomplished!
Thank you for providing, Annie.
The explanation could not be more clear than this.
This is certainly not the image that comes to mind when thinking of the "faces of death."
But dead is dead no matter how photogenic those pulling the trigger are.
That phrase keeps coming to mind, "If you don't want to be compared to the Nazis, stop acting like the Nazis."
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds as Students for Justice in Palestine get bullied a lot at UC Irvine as well. It is remarkable how the situation mirrors the real world where the victimizers play the victims.
Toy guns make security forces as nervous as real ones.
So do rocks, and flags, and upraised fists, and chants, and headscarves, and angry looks, and....
Jake: Oh, please, don't kill us! Please, please don't kill us! You know I love you baby. I wouldn't leave ya. It wasn't my fault!
Mystery Woman: You miserable slug! You think you can talk your way out of this? You betrayed me.
Jake: No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!
Hauntingly apt.
The degree to which they seek to control all aspects of the message is truly mind-boggling. Props to Michael Leunig for standing firm.
An offering in keeping with the spirit of the season. Be sure to click on pic for full effect.
link to rudepundit.blogspot.com
Quietly moving.
xD
Thank you, Avigail, for deconstructing the symbolism behind these traditions. I have always felt that the Noah's Ark story was an ironic theme for baby nurseries as it celebrates the intentional drowning of innocent babies, puppies, and kittens as supposedly punishment for humanities failings (though not the failings of the Creator in the first place).
Point taken.
I wonder what the Israeli equivalent dynamic would be to LBJ telling George Wallace to get on the right side of history and support civil rights (and LBJ using his considerable persuasive power to make it so).
Away in a manger...
link to rudepundit.blogspot.com
Important observations as these "sins of omission" are indeed troubling, particularly when dealing with someone who is otherwise highly regarded as a truth-teller.
Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: [looks back, laughing] No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!
Seems that Israel's problem with Palestinians is that they won't die fast enough.
Wow. There's some nasty stuff over there. If I remember correctly, Bill Pearlman writes for "truthisrael.com" or something similar (I was banned for injecting some there)..
Well, they talk about anti-Zionism quite a bit.
link to israelnationalnews.com
Breaking the mold in that regard is Australian comic Jim Jefferies. He seems to be an equal opportunity offender. He's outspokenly atheist and was running down his views of the different major religions and gets to Islam. He notices how the crowd goes quiet just at the mention. He then notes that if he couldn't have beer and bacon, *he'd* probably fly a plane into a building. I forget what riff he did on Judaism but they were not spared.
Maher gets to pretend he has plausible deniability by sizing up the conflict in such casual terms without actually critically examining the history. That his career would get no boost from voicing a pro-Palestinian is a given so regardless of whatever might be said in their favor, it's a no-brainer for him to give them a pass at every opportunity. Dennis Miller admitted on Maher's show that after 9/11, he chose to never utter a word of criticism against Shrubya. Maher, despite his worthwhile observations in other areas, is as dishonest as Miller in this regard, and illustrates quite well the layers of gatekeeping whether enforced or voluntary. He won't do much more than parrot the Israel as white hats line because he won't have much to defend without specifics. This allows him to continue with an overall impression of progressive bona fides while trumpeting just how wonderfully restrained Israeli brutality is. It certainly helps keep his blinders in place by not looking at anything else connected with 9/11. It's possible that he's that ignorant, but I think that he is more likely just an opportunistic shill that doesn't have to worry about speaking truth to power here as it never would occur to him, because *he* can live with the consequences of Israel's actions against the Palestinians (& Iranians, and any other Muslim entity Israel chooses to designate as the enemy)
It's as if the Z-team had a conversation similar to this one with Maher -
[first lines]
Lt. Col. Korn, XO: [speaking to Yossarian] All you have to do is be
our pal.
Colonel Cathcart: Say nice things about us.
Lt. Col. Korn, XO: Tell the folks at home what a good job were
doing. Take our offer Yossarian.
Colonel Cathcart: Either that or a court-martial for desertion.
And then there's real terror -
link to cryptome.org
This is probably the most troubling aspect of media hegemony from my perspective. Voices that are otherwise considered progressive do not tackle issues that the gatekeepers bury. Pointing out the emperor has no clothes seems to do little in getting them to acknowledge to blatant omissions.
Uh-oh. That Lite-Brite graphic is the avatar I use on the interwebs (it's Err of Aqua Teen Hunger Force fame). Now I'll never get off that watch list!
"Catch-22 means people have a right to do to you anything which you cannot prevent them from doing to you." ~ Joesph Heller
In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell
When I think of the death and destruction Isreal regularly unleashes on the people of Gaza, I think of these lines from the movie "The Untouchables" as far as intent goes --
Capone: I want you to get this fuck where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!
My heart is warmed by the simple joy young Omar experiences, despite all else he continues to confront, over finding his beloved trike unharmed.
To Omar and his family, and friends and neighbors -
Be well.
How soon before they (the Palestinians) are required to have some sort of identifying mark sown onto their clothing?
This is so little known by the American public as it would conflict with the claim of Iranians (and their leadership) hating "Jews" as opposed to having legitmate issues with Zionism. While not perfect to be sure, there's no reason to damn them for statements/practices that they are not guilty of.
MURDER as cover for THEFT is *not* SELF-DEFENSE
Israel's argument against the 67 borders is that they insist there is not enough of a buffer zone to protect them from attacks. Israel will continue their encroachment by requiring that thier buffer zones have buffer zones to ensure adequate security. They already require that Palestinians exist in a controlled and continuosly weakened state, and that any improvement in their conditions directly threatens Israel's security. The Palestinian issue appears to them as nothing more than "pest control" as they complain that they are perceived as if they are instead clubbing baby seals. From the Israeli perspective, the world needs to see that Israeli raids are against "vermin" rather than human beings that one might have some empathy for.
yonah -
MURDER as cover for THEFT is *not* SELF-DEFENSE.
The history of the region is that a group of outsiders with the help of other powerful outsiders imposed their will on the indigenous people of the region who fled their homes because of the fighting. In trying to resist, more of their land was taken. Those with the power to impose their will continue to treat the victims as irrationally violent with no motivation other than bloodlust.
From Fredy Perlman - link to libcom.org
[begin text]
The trick of declaring war against the armed resistance and then attacking the resisters' unarmed kin as well as the surrounding population with the most gruesome products of Death-Science - this trick is not new. American Pioneers were pioneers in this too; they made it standard practice to declare war on indigenous warriors and then to murder and burn villages with only women and children in them. This is already modern war, what we know as war against civilian populations; it has also been called, more candidly, mass murder or genocide.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that the perpetrators of a Pogrom portray themselves as the victims, in the present case as victims of the Holocaust.
Herman Melville noticed over a century ago, in his analysis of the metaphysics of Indian-hating, that those who made a full-time profession of hunting and murdering indigenous people of this continent always made themselves appear, even in their own eyes, as the victims of manhunts.
The use the Nazis made of the International Jewish Conspiracy is better known: during all the years of atrocities defying belief, the Nazis considered themselves the victimized.
It's as if the experience of being a victim gave exemption from human solidarity, as if it gave special powers, as if it gave a license to kill.
[end text]
It sounds like she's channel Gen. William Westmoreland.
In the 1974 film Hearts and Minds, Westmoreland opined that "The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does a Westerner...We value life and human dignity. They don't care about life and human dignity."