Snapped Shot

Didn't post a "Dictator" yesterday, though I did post a "Kitty-tator." Close enough, right? Now, we continue our quest to illustrate true dictatorship to the masses with this photograph from Iran, which is a billboard of supreme mullah Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the background of a truck carrying a missile. This shot is not quite as iconic as the Soviet missile parades back in the 1950's, but it still illustrates my point nicely. There is plenty of freedom in Iran, so long as you toe the party line.

It's that time of year again. Ramadan is upon us, which means it's time for the press to pull out all the stops in their propaganda offensive against Israel the Zionist Oppressors. In light of that, we are treated to new scenes of a "market" in Hebron which is being "patrolled" by the IDF the dastardly, child-murdering Zionist military forces.

Don't expect to see any balance here. These pictures are all about making Israel looking bad, and inflaming the passions of the Arab street. Nothing less, nothing more.

After all, there is nothing more important than fanning the flames of Arab RAGE, right...?

What, you expected a news agency to report the news? They can't be bothered with that. They're too busy inventing it! Continue reading »

Following up on Yoni's report yesterday of Hezbullah transferring rockets to the Palestinian territories is a notice today that a Kassam rocket has hit a residence in the northern Israeli town of Sderot. The UnTIEd Nations responded with the typical reaction:



Can anyone give a good reason why Israel should not completely level all of south Lebanon at this point, civilians and all? Or so-called "Palestine?" I sure can't.

... to mice!

(Ok, so maybe it's just a cute shot. This one came across amidst reports of animal rescue groups, well... rescuing animals from Lebanon.)

... comes typical juvenile, intolerant acts.

During my "scholarly" pursuits at a local university, I have increasingly become aware of a new phenomenon: Campus counter-activism. Every time I run across an example of it, my heart has been warmed, and a smile comes to my face. Now, with the advent of technology (or a dearth of laziness on my part), I hope to share some of these delightful instances with you, the reader, to illustrate that there quite possibly could be hope for the future generation.

Here's my first installment in what I hope will be a long-running series. (It depends on how active the "campus counter-activists" are, of course.) Last Monday, I ran across a "Campus PRIDE" (homosexual advocacy event, to the uninitiated) advertisement chalked on the sidewalk. "Grumble," I thought. Yet, on Wednesday, when I saw the ad again, I noticed that a counter-activist (evil conservative!) scrawled their own reply to the message.


I think the Male-Female-Male symbol underneath was also a subtle crack at the PRIDE movement, but who knows for sure.

... a voice of sanity from the Israeli courts. Too bad the press will remain sympathetic to the terrorists.

... Hezbullah is openly arming itself, and preparing for the breaking of the Hudna and the continuation of its conflict with Israel.

Not that you'll see the UnTIEd Nations doing anything about it, the cheese-eating surrender apologists-for-terrorists that they are.

Once again, the question is not if the armistice will be broken. We know enough about the Arab world now to know that it will be broken. The world will now be forced to patiently wait and find out when hostilities will be resumed again.

... I mean, this is the country that usually has problems with a different group of people from the Middle East.

There have apparently been a spate of incidents in France where swastikas have been painted on Mosques, instead of the traditional Synagogues. (h/t FreeRepublic)

Are the French becoming "equal opportunity" offenders? Are these self-executed incidents intended to inflame reactionary passions?

I'm not expecting to get to the bottom of this anytime soon...

Here's the latest installment in my quest to educate the uneducated bloviators. Found outside of an historic shrine in Baghdad is this large billboard of now-deposed dictator (yes, they count too) Saddam Hussein. Because every shrine needs a reminder of Who's In Charge^(tm)!

No, we're not talking about any large-box retailers. Last Friday's military coup in Thailand has seemingly been pulled off without a single casualty, which is remarkable enough, but apparently we're now being told that soldiers are being instructed to "keep smiling."

I wonder if they'll still be smiling once the military junta starts implementing Sharia law... If this junta turns out to be as islamist and dictatorial as I fear it'll be, I also wonder if the media will be as happy to cover their crimes up as they were with Saddam Hussein.

Update 13:12 EST: DTogo on FreeRepublic is suggesting that this coup might actually be a good thing:—that it was the previous Prime Minister that was running a dictatorship, and the people are genuinely happy to be rid of him.

That very well could be the explanation for this. PM Shinawatra was certainly tied to quite a few scandalous instances of corruption. Any Thai readers out there wish to share their thoughts with us?

In the mean time, be sure to check the full article for some of the most humorous photographs from this "Smiley Coup." Continue reading »

The war with Hezbullah has not only highlighted the problems which some have raised with the Israeli government, it is now causing Israelis to reconsider the wisdom of giving away its land in pursuit of a non-existent peace.

Good news, if the international Left doesn't manage to scuttle this new inertia, that is.

From the article,

The movement to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which only a few months ago appeared to be a divided, waning political force, is experiencing a revival after summer of war that caused Israelis to question the wisdom of abandoning more territory.

I think I may have finally found a "group of militants" in the Middle East that the media does not like. Or rather, a group other than the IDF, which is still the media's favorite bad-boy.

Meet the Lebanese Christian Forces. They met in Southern Lebanon yesterday, to commemorate "militiamen" killed in Harissa.

Why in quotes? Well, the press has gone out of their way to identify this group as a "militia" (the Left's favorite negative description for this type of group), instead of using the more glowing terms "militants" and "fighters."

But what's really odd is that this group is not a militia! Instead, this group is (correctly) accusing Hezbullah of operating as a "state within a state," and declaring that Hezbullah's weaponry is "destabilizing" the region.

How about our "drive by" media? What do they think?

Well, this event was important enough that two photographers were sent to cover the event. One for AFP, which is understandable, considering that France created Lebanon, and one for Reuters, who are possibly looking for something else to obfuscate.

I haven't seen any big papers publish a story on this event either, even though a wire story or two have been sent out.

So, once again, when Muslims parade around with guns in the Middle East, we're told that they're "political parties" who are working on "debating" their differences. When Christians gather together with signs, they're reduced to the media bogeyman label, "Militia."

Welcome to newspeak, 21^st-Century style. Continue reading »

It appears that Geneva will be violating the Geneva Conventions... well, on Refugees, anyway. (h/t FreeRepublic)

Color me amused.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, described the referendum result as regrettable.

In my opinion, anything the UNHCR finds "regrettable," is the best possible policy to pursue. My hat's off to Switzerland for being one of the few countries in the world to fight back against immigration and asylum abuses!