Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Watcher's Council Nominations, 12/10/08


The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

So, let's see what we have this week....

COUNCIL

Joshuapundit - The Message Of Mumbai - The Mumbai atrocity and its aftermath had a fairly depressing effect on me. Even though I predicted where things were going some time ago, I had hoped to be mistaken...but there's simply no sense in denying the obvious any longer.

In examining the mechanics of what happened in Mumbai and the reaction to it (especially in the Muslim world) I point out where Mumbai differs from previous carnage carried out by adherents of The Religion of Peace, and what it signifies for the future.

The Provocateur - Emory’s Corrupt Broken Record - Mike covers a little reported but very indicative story on corruption in academia. At the big end of the scale professors like the one in this piece shake down corporations for bribes and play games with government grants. At the low end, they phony up research, take kickbacks and gratuities from book publishers for mandated 'sales' of required texts and even hawk merchandise in the classroom to their students...with the clear implication that a nice sized order to teacher is a consideration when it comes to grading.

Rhymes With Right - Obama Policy Speech In Muslim World? - Greg speculates on Obama's professed desire to make a major policy speech at a city in the Muslim world. He likes the idea of Riyadh, and wants Obama to stress freedom, tolerance and women's rights.

Bookworm Room - Ayers’ life was just a joyous, misunderstood frolic - I have to admit that I never thought that even the likes of the New York Times would ever get involved in whitewashing Bill Ayers. As Ms. Bookworm shows us, I was wrong. And after all, why not? If a paper glories in printing sedition and humanizing Islamist terrorists, then why not one of our own native born ones?

The Colossus of Rhodey - Those ‘ol “hate crimes” again - Hube writes on the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's attempt to keep that victim mentality going, even when statistics show that 'Islamophobic' incidents are way down since 9/11, and dwarfed by, say, anti-Semitic attacks on Jews. As most of us have guessed by now, that victim mentality is deeply ingrained in the Arab psyche.

The AADC apparently wants incidents where a supposed 'racial epithet ' was used to be reclassified and prosecuted as a hate crime...which of course means that whole sections of the Qu'ran are going to have to be outlawed and a great many imams are jail bound, I'm afraid.

There's a funny link in the article to a leftard blog that attacked Hube as a 'racist' for writing this piece, and it was amusing to actually see him attempt to debate logically with these folks.

Take a tip from WC Fields Hube and never try and teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time, and it just annoys the pig....

Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Ron Gettelfinger Must Go! - Laer thinks that the head of the head of the UAW is a huge part of the problem and must be ousted as part of any auto bailout. While I agree that he may indeed be part of the problem, there's on important distinction here - as opposed to the Big Three's management, Gettelfinger was elected to his position by the rank and file membership of his union for the sole purpose of maximizing their piece of the pie...and he obviously succeeded far too well.

Insisting on booting him out would disenfranchise his union and is fundamentally unfair. On the other hand, conditioning any bail out ( which I still vigorously oppose) on a new more realistic union contract is another matter entirely.

The Glittering Eye - Wisdom and Risk - Dave Schuler returns to a frequent theme of his, the demise of newspapers. While what he says about their failed business model is correct, I still feel that the key to rescuing them to some degree would have been integrity in reporting and improved content. They failed in that primary duty, just as network news did..so there's no reason to keep them around anymore.

The Razor - The Obama Enigma - Scott likes Obama's new national security team and has confidence in their abilities that I unfortunately don't share. I certainly hope he's correct.

Soccer Dad - Jonesing for jones - Soccer Dad takes on a David Ignatius column in the WAPO that, as the cute title says, has its author feeling a thrill down his leg for new NSA James Jones, especially when it comes to the Middle East. I'm quite familiar with General Jones and have absolutely no difficulty in saying that Ignatius will continue his track record as one of the most ill-informed and proven wrong columnists in the biz.

In fact, as a bizarro world twist, Ignatius is valuable to read simply because you can pretty much assume that the truth is 180 degrees away from what appears under his byline.

Right Truth - Chicago Politics Just Got Dirtier - Debbie looks at the most recent scandal in Chicago and provides a number of links to different takes on the matter.


NON COUNCIL

Submitted By: The Provocateur - Why is Chicago So Corrupt - Slate

Submitted By: Rhymes With Right - Obama’s Muslim Speech - Commentary’s Contentions

Submitted By: Bookworm Room - It’s time to speak out against the Mormon boycott - American Thinker

Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - Unspeakable Acts, But We Must Speak Out - Kesher Talk

Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Pearl Harbor Day - The USS Oklahoma - Okie On The Lam

Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - The Elite as a Tribe - Zenpundit

Submitted By: The Razor - Busted - Thoughts of a Regular Guy

Submitted By: Joshuapundit - Bad Time For Lovers - Rants And Raves

Submitted By: Soccer Dad - Mumbai Style Attack in the US: A Skeptical Analysis - Terror Wonk

Submitted By: Right Truth - Bankruptcy Not Bailout for Auto Industry - http://morewhat.com/wordpress/?p=3421

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