Monday, February 29, 2016

Forum: Dogs, Cats Or ? What's Your Favorite Pet?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: Dogs, Cats Or ? What's Your Favorite Pet?


Fausta's Blog: I'm very allergic to cats, so I can't have any contact with them.

Dogs are nice, but at this point in my life I don't want the responsibility, so I visit my sister and hang out with her dog, who enthusiastically greets me at the door.

The Daley Gator : Dogs, no contest! They are called man's best friend for very good reasons. Mainly the closeness you can get with a dog that just is not there with a cat, at least to me. I recall being 18, and heart-broken over a girl. As I sat on my bed, head hanging down, here came my dog. He just laid his head on my knee, and looked at me, as if to say it is OK.

The Razor : The older I get the more I like animals and the less I like people. As for cats vs dogs, both have their charms. I have 7 of each, the eldest being a 20 year old cat I raised from a kitten in Japan, down to a 6 month old Rottweiler mix puppy who bangs the kitchen cabinets like a drum when he wags his tail. All are rescues – the 20 year old cat from a plastic bag in a dumpster in Kyoto, the Rottie puppy running under parked cars as a 5 week old puppy at the local WalMart.

Cats vs Dogs... Cats are independent and perfect when you are young and relatively carefree. They aren’t needy the way dogs are, but it’s nice when one decides to curl up on you uninvited. Dogs, on the other hand, require a lot of effort. They are pack animals and can’t be ignored. The other day an early Spring storm rolled through and I had all 7 dogs either on me or within a few inches of me. They are also underfoot which can make them dangerous some times, because they always want to do what you are doing or see what you are seeing. Cats really don’t care – although the 20 year old cat like an elderly old lady has a nightly routine you could almost set your watch by where she curls up first with the Wife and then with me.

When one animal passes another inevitably finds the open niche in our hearts, transforming it into his or her own. When I cross the Rainbow Bridge I only hope that I have a multitude of hands to pet them all.

Bookworm Room : Pat Shipman, an anthropologist, believes that dogs helped humans become the earth's dominant species, giving humans the edge over Neanderthals and dominance over animal predators. Dogs and humans were natural hunting partners, since dogs could sniff and chase, while humans, using weapons, could do a long distance kill. (Dogs could only do close kills, which put them at risk.) When humans transitioned to farm life, dogs protected them against predators, both human and animal.

In other words, where would we be without dogs? And can anyone say the same thing about the human/cat relationship?

I also believe that our ability to form bonds across species is part of the necessary empathy development humans need to be civilized. Societies that cut themselves off from dogs (and I'm naming no names here) miss that developmental phase and it damages them, leading to cultures of unusual cruelty. They have less empathy because they've had less natural scope to develop it.

Finally, at a personal, rather than intellectual level, I just love dogs. I love that they wear their hearts on their sleeves, I love that that we're so important to them, I love that they can be (and want to be) trained so as to live in more harmony with us, and I love their playfulness, cuddliness, affection, and loyalty. As far as I can tell, the only real advantage cats have over dogs is that cats make for funnier videos.

 The aged lady on the left is my Chihuahua/Australian Heeler mix; the feisty lad on right is my mostly Chihuahua, a little bit Fox Terrier mutt.  The latter, especially, is my darling, loving me with a passion unique to Chihuahuas.



Laura Rambeau Lee,Right Reason :With my lifestyle and personality I have always had an affinity for cats. I have taken in many feral kittens in my life and there is no better feeling than winning the trust of a wild cat. I suppose I relate to that initial hesitation to trust people too until they have proven they are worthy of my trust. Cats are independent, they can be aloof or playful depending on their mood, and do very well when left to themselves. With both myself and my husband working odd hours and going away for long weekends a cat is the perfect pet. Having a dog would be unfair as we are not at home enough to give the attention and time needed to walk and play with them. We have talked about getting a dog when we retire. Both bring so much joy into our lives in their unique ways and I can’t imagine not having a cat or dog, or both, in our home.

I think the meme of the cat and dog sums up their differences perfectly. The dog thinks “Wow, this human takes care of my every need, he must be a God” while the cat thinks “This human takes care of my every need, I must be a God.”

The Glittering Eye : Over the course of my adult life I've had rabbits, cats, and dogs as pets. They're all great and which you prefer depends on what you want in a pet.

Cats are beautiful and don't much care whether you're there or not as long as you give them food and water. If they want to play, they might seek you out or they might not. Cats are nocturnal which means that they're predisposed to be most active when you're the least active.

Rabbits have a lot more personality than you might think and otherwise they're not unlike cats without the claws and sharp teeth. They're relatively easy to keep and tend. They might reward you with a little companionship if they're so inclined.

Dogs are needier than cats or rabbits. Food and water and a place to eliminate aren't enough for them. They need to be part of a family. Like rabbits dogs are crepuscular; most active at dawn and dusk. That's convenient if you work an ordinary 9 to 5 job because they're most active when you're getting ready for work and when you get home and are quite content to sleep while you're at work or asleep.

Virginia Right!: My family are all dog lovers. I have 2 siblings and they have a few dogs each. Can't really keep them straight, but I think they both presently have 3 dogs.

We have just two at my house, both are large dogs. I am not a fan of the little "yappy" dogs, but I have nothing against them. Just prefer the larger breeds.

Both of my dogs are mixed breeds and both are rescues.

Layla is a sweet natured girl that is somewhere around 60 - 65 pounds. She is part yellow Lab and part Boxer. She is very laid back and has a unique greeting when anyone comes in the house. She grabs a stuffed toy in her mouth and goes up to the person yelling "woo hoo". Just a happy 8 year old puppy.

The newest addition is also part Lab - we think chocolate Lab and part Irish Setter. We have had him for about 3 months now and he is around 8 months old. But he is already over 50 pounds of solid muscle. HE has eaten a sofa and several pillows and blankets. And 4 or 5 dog beds. I now wrap the beds in canvas tarps. But he has chewed through that too.

Layla is a house dog and Marley loves outside. He is a house dog too, but will spend as much time as he can in our yard. (Fenced in.)

We got a couple feet of snow last month and the drifts were higher. He was a bit skeptical at first when he saw the snow. But within a minute, he accepted it and decided he likes it. He REALLY likes snow. The snow was almost as tall as he is but he ran through the yars as fast as he could and reminded me of a dolphin following a boat. He had a smooth up and down running motion and looked like a blur. He does not feel the cold and his coat keeps him dry. I had to yell at him several times to make him come in. It was pretty cold and you don't want to leave pets out in that weather, but he was having a ball.

Yea, both of my dogs have music names. Layla from the Clapton song and Marley is, of course, Nesta, also known as Bob Marley.

I had not seen the film Marley and Me before I named him. My wife and I watched it a couple of weeks ago and I think another name would have been better.

 If you have not seen the movie, it is absolutely hilarious. But at the end of the movie, we turned the movie off. So I opted for the funny movie with the happy ending. By turning off the last few minutes.

Marley and Layla act like siblings. They love each other, but get into wrestling matches. Unfortunately, in the house as well as outside. Sounds like two bear cubs fighting.

But my dogs are a part of the family. Our daily routine includes my pups. I have had a lot of dogs in my life, and a few periods without.

I like the "with" times far better than the "without" times.

Anybody have a couch for sale? Make that two!

 Puma By Design : Growing up, we had two dogs and no imagination. Both dogs were named Boots.

Boots #1 arrived on the scene after my parents took a trip to Harlem one evening. She was a tiny thing, a mutt of mixed breeds but what Boots # 1 lacked in weight and bloodline, as she grew up, she made up for in spirit.

I recall Boots #1 was such in ill health when she arrived that my mother had to cook a special diet of eggs and beef as instructed to boost Boots #1’s immune system.

Since we lived in a dangerous neighborhood and in an equally dangerous apartment building, Boots was not allowed to mingle with anyone but immediate family members. Even our friends were off limits.

It was not long before Boots had the junkies down the hall and on the second floor on the run.

You see, it was because of the junkies that my parents decided to get a dog.

We would hear the junkies down the hall playing with their key in the apartment door lock from time to time and since my parents knew that it was just a matter of time before their keys worked and ours did not, my parents decided to beat them to the punch by getting a dog.

By the time Boots #1 was five months old, the junkies decided to go elsewhere. When they would come anywhere near our apartment door, Boots #1 would let out a bark so ferocious that people refused to believe that such a bark came from this little dog who also had the strength and might to rip a junkie to shreds.

Then there was the male Alaskan Husky down the hall named, Oliver. Oliver was four times Boots’ side and a coward.

If Miss Ludell was walking Oliver at the same time that my brother was walking, Boots, the moment they made eye contact, poor Oliver would run for his life up three flights of stairs and back into his house with Boots not far behind.

My mother would always hear Boots barking, us screaming and catch Boots just in time. As for Miss Ludell, by the time she climbed three flights of stairs and entered the apartment, the whole building could hear her shouting at poor Oliver, “I can’t believe you’re afraid of that little dog.

Hmmm, such is life in the ghetto.

Finally, Boots became an even bigger hit with my parents once their daughters began courting. The boys would told to sit on the sofa, the girls in a chair opposite them with Boots in the middle staring hard at the boy, letting out this low growl and blocking any type of physical contact.

There was no hand holding, no nothing and the boy had better not blink or fidget. So where were my parents, cheerfully in the other room relaxed, reading the newspaper or watching the evening news.

While I love cats, what cat could compare?

   Well, there you have it.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Friday, February 26, 2016

The Council Has Spoken!! Our Watcher's Council Results

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” " - George Orwell

"“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” " - Benjamin Franklin

“Progressivism, liberalism, or whatever you want to call it has become an ideology of power. So long as liberals hold it, principles don’t matter. ” - Jonah Goldberg in 'Liberal Fascism'


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This week's winning essay,The Noisy Room's #FreeStacy – Another Conservative Dissident Is Banned And Put In The Twitter Gulag. It's her examination of recent revelations about how Twitter is censoring and even deleting accounts in an attempt to silence political views they disagree with, especially on the Right. Here's a slice:


This weekend, I was shocked and saddened to learn that Stacy McCain of The Other McCain has been permanently banned by Twitter. Yes, my friends… another conservative dissident has been banished to the Twitter gulag. #FreeStacy is now trending, but Twitter won’t even display results for it. Their new Trust & Safety Council is the Twitter Ministry of Truth at work. Censorship y’all. By the way, Twitter elevated anti-GamerGate leader Anita Sarkeesian to its “Trust and Safety Council,” which put a big ole target on Stacy’s account I’m sure.

He had no warning, nothing. McCain just assumed it had to do with one of the leading “social justice warriors” who have been at war with #GamerGate since August of 2014 and thus with him. But Twitter won’t even tell him why he was shuttered over there. He switched to his backup Twitter account, @SexTroubleBook, and then it was banned as well yesterday. Someone really has it in for him. Not cool.

Here’s Stacy on the #GamerGate saga:


As I have said for years: Being notorious is not the same as being famous, but it’s better than being anonymous.
That is to say, I don’t often complain about being hated or misunderstood. It comes with the territory. I started out in the news business as a $4.50-an-hour staff writer for a tiny weekly newspaper in Austell, Georgia. Most people have no idea what I did before I got involved in political journalism as an assistant national editor for The Washington Times in 1997, or even have any idea of the work I did there. The vast majority of people who read my blog or follow my Twitter feed have no knowledge of or interest in my personal “backstory.” It’s not about me. I am not the story. I am the guy telling the story, or I am the guy making jokes about the story. I understand that. But I think some people in the New Media era lose sight of this reality.
Politics is like football. It’s a team sport. Until I was in my mid-30s, I was a very partisan Democrat. Bill Clinton (who I voted for in 1992) cured me of my Democrat loyalty. During the 1990s, I began a rather deep autodidactic study of politics, history, economics, philosophy, etc. My politics are conservative, my economics are Austrian, my faith is Christian. It’s that simple — and certain people HATE me for it. But those people hate everybody who is not a Democrat. Fine. I understand that kind of hate, having once been a Democrat myself, but Democrats think of their personal hatred as “social justice.” And so I understand them better than they understand me.
However, it’s not about me. . . .

Stacy McCain6


One of Stacy’s biggest haters is Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs infamy. That makes me adore McCain that much more. Just sayin’. And for the record, my politics are exactly the same as Stacy’s so, along with a whole bunch of other conservatives, my life cycle on social media is probably limited. With the practice of Shadowbanning having been confirmed at Twitter, the conservative blogosphere is bracing for censorship:
According to the source, Twitter maintains a ‘whitelist’ of favoured Twitter accounts and a ‘blacklist’ of unfavoured accounts. Accounts on the whitelist are prioritised in search results, even if they’re not the most popular among users. Meanwhile, accounts on the blacklist have their posts hidden from both search results and other users’ timelines.
Our source was backed up by a senior editor at a major digital publisher, who told Breitbart that Twitter told him it deliberately whitelists and blacklists users. He added that he was afraid of the site’s power, noting that his tweets could disappear from users’ timelines if he got on the wrong side of the company.
Shadowbanning, sometimes known as “Stealth Banning” or “Hell Banning,” is commonly used by online community managers to block content posted by spammers. Instead of banning a user directly (which would alert the spammer to their status, prompting them to create a new account), their content is merely hidden from public view.
For site owners, the ideal shadowban is when a user never realizes he’s been shadowbanned.
However, Twitter isn’t merely targeting spammers. For weeks, users have been reporting that tweets from populist conservatives, members of the alternative right, cultural libertarians, and other anti-PC dissidents have disappeared from their timelines.
 Stacy McCain1

Stacy McCain2


Just this month, Twitter instituted its brand spanking new and fascist “Trust and Safety Council.” According to Ricochet:

This troubling news [about shadow banning] comes shortly after Twitter leadership announced an Orwellian “Trust and Safety Council,” which is stacked with leftist anti-speech activists. Instead of groups like the Electronic Freedom Foundation or the Cato Institute, the council invited Feminist Frequency and the Dangerous Speech Project. The latter organizations lead the growing movement to silence politically incorrect thought on campuses and online.
Stacy McCain ticks off militant feminists. Good for him. Someone’s gotta do it. For being politically incorrect, he is being banished from social media. So much for free speech, huh? This just massively cries out for some entrepreneurial programmer to set up a social media outlet for conservatives where they can free range without fear of persecution. That is until the Internet Nazis come calling.
I’m not ashamed to say I love reading McCain’s posts and I personally adore the guy. I have for a long time. I guess I should tell him that some time. He’s gifted and no one should be silenced anywhere like this. Shame, shame, shame on Twitter! I am trying really hard not to let loose with some really colorful language here.


McCain is a real reporter, unlike many in the mainstream media. He does it for the sheer love of it and to get at the truth. For that, he is vilified and hated. Personally, I consider that a badge of honor. I will never be half the journalist Stacy McCain is. I’m okay with that, but what I am not okay with is silencing him. Trying to take him out socially so-to-speak.



More at the link.



In our non-Council category, the winner was Sultan Knish with Sultan Knish The First Year of President Bernie Sanders submitted by The Noisy Room.

I put the chances of Bernie Sanders becoming president on a par with me pitching a no hitter in the World Series...as a member of the Chicago Cubs (Sorry, Dave).

But Knish gives us a pretty good look at what actually happens when socialism takes over, and as always with the Sultan, it's well written and worth your attention.

Here are this week’s full results. Only the Independent Sentinel was unable to vote this week, but was not affected by the 2/3 vote mandatory penalty:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Our Weasel Of The Week!!



Yes, once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all slimy and despicable, but the votes are in and we have our winner...the envelope please...

 
 Twitter CEO And Anti-Free Speech Gauleiter Jack Dorsey!!

  Nice Deb :I'm going to nominate Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for saying in extreme weasel-like fashion, that “Twitter stands for freedom of expression, speaking truth to power, and empowering dialogue. That starts with safety.”

His emphasis was on "safety" (for special SSW snowflakes) over freedom of expression, truth to power, etc.

With the company’s decision to appoint an Orwellian “Trust and Safety Council,” freedom of expression and the ability to speak truth to power has already come under assault.

Dorsey appointed assorted lefties and Social Justice Warriors like Anita Sarkeesian to be on the council and it hasn't taken them long to use it as a platform to go after critics of feminism:


Sarkeesian’s critics accuse her of using claims of online harassment to discredit her critics and get them kicked off of services like—you guessed it—Twitter. So when Sarkeesian and the “dangerous speech” types got appointed as Twitter’s speech police, there was reason to think they’re going to turn Twitter into a university-style “safe space” where “safety” is assured by removing advocates of opposing ideas.

This comes as Twitter is already declining in value as a corporate enterprise. Allowing his troubled company to be overrun with Social Justice totalitarian freaks is not a very smart move on Dorsey's part, but what else would you expect from a pathetic little weasel?


  Well, there it is.

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Our Watcher's Council Nominations- Birthday Edition

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George Washington's birthday was February 22nd, 1732. His birthday used to be celebrated as a special day, separate and unique to him, as befitted the man who was the Father of our Country. Nowadays, he's lumped in with all the others in something called 'President's Day' while lesser men have special days of their own. I have never quite gotten used to that ingratitude.

Our Revolution was unique in that it was not class based, but anchored on the simple principle that Americans were entitled to G-d given rights and liberties as free men, not mere subjects of a foreign crown. Contrary to popular belief, there was not universal support in the American Colonies for that position.

George Washington was a man of wealth and property in what was then considered middle age.He could have chosen to sit things out, as many others in his position did. Instead, like the other Founders, he chose to risk his life, fortune and sacred honor to join in what then must have seemed a lost cause, sheer fantasy, the idea that a hastily mustered and ill-financed colonial army could win a war against a major world power.

Had the fortunes of war gone against him and the Rebellion put down, George Washington, along with the other Founders knew full well he would have been hung as a traitor to the British Crown. He didn't hesitate to risk everything for what he thought was right.

General Washington endured years of privation, defeat and dark times when the war seemed lost. It was his example that kept the starving, ragged army together, the army he eventually led to victory against all odds. At Yorktown, the band played an old tune called 'The World Turned Upside down' and perhaps no one who was there felt that turning more than George Washington. But the most amazing thing was yet to come.

As the hero of the new American Nation, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be its first leader.It was his honorable conduct and his leadership that played a huge part in keeping the diverse Colonies together, and there was nothing to stop him from taking absolute power for his own. Instead he became our first president, a servant to the people of our Republic, and refused to keep power longer than eight years when he could have hung on to it for life. George Washington was an amazing man who set the standard by which our presidents are measured. As far as I'm concerned his birth should be widely and joyously celebrated by his posterity, for when a nation forgets its great men, its heroes, it loses something precious and fine.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:


This week, The Pirate's Cove, Blazing Cat Fur, Simply Jews and The People's Cube earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

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

Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions


Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!!

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It's time once again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for the award of the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations!

Here are this weeks' nominees....


Bolivian Presidente Evo Morales!!

Fausta's Blog : Evo Morales, aspiring to be president-for-life of Bolivia, and his girlfriend and her Chinese contracts involving civil engineering projects, sugar mills, oil, and a railroad, amounting over $500 million USD.


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'Journalist' Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post!!

The Daley Gator : Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post is using a self-described anti-gun propaganda web site to lie about the number of mass shootings that have occurred in the United States this year:

On Saturday night, a 45-year-old man shot and killed six people and injured two others in and around Kalamazoo, Mich., authorities say. According to the crowd-sourced Mass Shooting Tracker, that act was the 24th mass shooting in the United States during the first 21 days of February and the 42nd mass shooting overall in 2016.

As we’ve documented in great detail previously, the founder of the Mass Shooting Tracker is a UC-Berkeley graduate who self-describes himself as an anti-gun propagandist:

Hey everyone, glad to be on board! If any of you know me its probably from/r/GunsAreCool, a sub that mocks the absurdity of American gun culture. I’ve helped mod there for a couple years now, I’m the one who owns our website www.shootingtracker.com a nice bit of work we’ve been able to get used on-air on MSNBC and CNN, in print at Mother Jones and Reuters, and cited in peer reviewed academic journals like the American Journal of Public Health among other places. I’m fairly heavily involved in politics, most recently being brought in to work with Everytown in the last election here in Oregon, helping Chuck Riley topple an incumbent in SD-15 for the express purpose of getting a stalled Universal Background Check bill on to the governor’s desk, a bill that was signed into law last week.

My fascination with propaganda began some years ago when I was studying journalism at Berkeley (fight on you Bears!) and continues unabated. The way it distills a message down to its basest form, and focuses its all on getting that message across and grabbing attention is what draws me in so much.

The long-accepted definition of a mass shooting is a single event in which four or more people are killed, excluding gang-related activity, familicide, or terrorist attacks. By that criteria, the Kalamazoo shootings may be the first mass shooting of 2016.

Mass Shooting Tracker arbitrarily redefined that definition in order to grossly and artificially inflate the number of mass shootings to an absurd degree, a blatantly dishonest strategy that angered gun control supporter Mark Folman of Mother Jones.

Christopher Ingraham is intentionally misleading the readers of the Washington Post.


 
Twitter CEO And Anti-Free Speech Gauleiter Jack Dorsey!!

 Nice Deb :I'm going to nominate Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for saying in extreme weasel-like fashion, that “Twitter stands for freedom of expression, speaking truth to power, and empowering dialogue. That starts with safety.”

His emphasis was on "safety" (for special SSW snowflakes) over freedom of expression, truth to power, etc.

With the company’s decision to appoint an Orwellian “Trust and Safety Council,” freedom of expression and the ability to speak truth to power has already come under assault.

Dorsey appointed assorted lefties and Social Justice Warriors like Anita Sarkeesian to be on the council and it hasn't taken them long to use it as a platform to go after critics of feminism:

Sarkeesian’s critics accuse her of using claims of online harassment to discredit her critics and get them kicked off of services like—you guessed it—Twitter. So when Sarkeesian and the “dangerous speech” types got appointed as Twitter’s speech police, there was reason to think they’re going to turn Twitter into a university-style “safe space” where “safety” is assured by removing advocates of opposing ideas.

This comes as Twitter is already declining in value as a corporate enterprise. Allowing his troubled company to be overrun with Social Justice totalitarian freaks is not a very smart move on Dorsey's part, but what else would you expect from a pathetic little weasel?

   Well, there it is. What a despicable group of  Weasels...ANY OF THEM COULD WIN! Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Monday, February 22, 2016

Forum: What's Your Reaction To This Weeks' Primary Results?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: What's Your Reaction To This Week's Primary Results?

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : First off, Americans are not hot for dynasty action. Jeb seems a nice enough guy, tons of gubernatorial accomplishments, yet by lecturing Americans that illegal immigration is an act of love Jeb essentially blew his own foot off and he never recovered.

Since SEN Cruz lost in South Cackalackey - can he win anywhere else? Seriously, yet the radio guy w/half his brain tied behind his back and the "Get off the phone ya big dope" cat all tell us what we already know - that the Senator is a conservative with a capital C, SC was the place where Cruz should have blitzed. If he can't win SC - where can he win?

SEN Rubio may benefit from Jeb's escape hatch maneuver - unlocking donors, cash, staff and expertise. Winning FLA, coaxing GOV Kasich to bail out and toss Rubio the support in Ohio and winning Ohio is doable - yet a long shot.

GOV Kasich and Dr Carson could still influence the race in some aspects, yet both cats are about done...

Laura Rambeau Lee,Right Reason : As had been predicted Trump handily won the South Carolina primary, with Rubio and Cruz nearly tied for second place. The Trump momentum continues to build although we still have not heard any substance to his platform. His attraction is his populist appeal, saying what many Americans want to hear. What is surprising is the number of people who profess to be constitutional conservatives that support him. No matter how vulgar or contradictory his statements Trump’s appeal seems to be increasing.

Early on he pledged to not run on a third party ticket even if he is not the GOP nominee, but now he is beginning to speak about the “unfairness” of his treatment by the GOP. It is highly likely he will run as a third party candidate if he does not win the nomination. With the SC primary signaling the end of Jeb Bush’s campaign it appears this is a three man race. Rubio will benefit the most by being the GOP establishment choice.

Cruz has strong support from true constitutional conservatives. The question is will he get enough support to force the RNC to nominate him over Rubio. That doesn’t seem likely. The competition will get uglier going forward and I believe we are witnessing the end of the Republican party as we have known it. The establishment within the party no longer stand for the principles upon which it was founded. True conservatism is being vilified not only by the left but also by the progressive right. Progressives are working in both parties to retain or win the presidency.

How this will all play out at this point is uncertain. We have to remember this is about power and control. The only candidate standing for a return to smaller government of, by, and for the people is Ted Cruz. And with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia the only one of the three we can be confident would nominate a conservative justice to replace him is Ted Cruz.

 JoshuaPundit : Nevada first. Bernie just found out that as I predicted, New Hampshire was the highlight and it's all down hill for him from there. The Clinton Machine will eat him alive and even more to the point,  many  blacks and the vast majority of Muslims won't vote for a Jew, even an irreligious anti-Israel commie like Bernie. South Carolina will be an  even bigger rout for him and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pack it in after the SEC primary.

South Carolina was supposed to be Ted Cruz's big win, the place where the Cruz Crusade  was going to march on the shoulders of the Evangelicals to shut down Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, move on to win the SEC primary and seal the deal for the nomination. He spent millions on ads, imported thousands of campaign workers and campaigned hard across the state.  There were even polls showing Cruz ahead of Donald Trump, which have now of course vanished into the memory hole. Even if the Cruz Crusade didn't quite pull off a win, at the very least he was supposed to finish a strong second and split delegates with Donald Trump.

Instead, he got decisively defeated and defeated badly, finishing third behind Marco Rubio by a hair. In his own way, so did Marco Rubio, who had likewise courted Evangelicals and was hoping for a stronger finish, but the big plus for Rubio was that Jeb Bush suspended his campaign and Senator Rubio has solidified his position as the GOP Establishment champion, the anti-Trump. He will likely get a chunk, but not all of Jeb's votes. Neither Cruz or Rubio got any of South Carolina's 50 delegates.

I found the exit polls interesting. Donald Trump carried every demographic handily except those whom self identified themselves as 'very conservative' in which he placed second by 5% or so. He won every county easily with the exception of Charleston (which Rubio won by less than a thousand votes) and Richland, where the state capitol Columbia is located. Both areas are a bit more 'cosmopolitan' and moderate than the state as a whole, although Donald Trump also won handily across the state in those whom characterized themselves as 'moderate.' Go figure.

My personal opinion for what little it's worth is that a lot of the Evangelicals deserted Ted Cruz for two reasons; first, the anger they they share at Washington is a greater force than someone pandering to them on a faith based basis and two, they perceived a huge gap between Ted Cruz's professed values and the way his campaign has been conducted thus far. I actually heard as much from two long time correspondents whom live in the Palmetto State. People might forget what you say, but they never forget how you make them feel.

I know this is going to upset some people, but from a sheer horse race perspective  it's difficult to see Ted Cruz getting the nomination at this point. The delegate math is against him. And he's not only competing with Marco Rubio for the title of 'anti-Trump' but for millions of dollars from the pro-amnesty, pro unlimited immigration, and pro continued  H1b abuse Club For Growth. They've been funding both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio quite lavishly up to now, as well as spending millions on attack ads aimed at Donald Trump. That kind of funding only happens if you embrace the Club For Growth's agenda. And both Rubio and Cruz have not only accepted the money but have been avidly chasing it.  Ted Cruz's problem is that Rubio isn't going anywhere and he's likely going to be considered a better investment by the amnesty lobby now than Ted Cruz is. Another problem is that as this stuff becomes more commonly known ( few of Ted Cruz's supporters are probably aware of it), people may perceive Ted Cruz as untrue to the principals he espouses, a problem Marco Rubio isn't going to have. But both of them probably have enough momentum to keep the fight going on for quite some time.

I doubt John Kasich is going anywhere for awhile either. There's no percentage in his doing so. He likely has the ability to deliver Ohio and might very well trade that for a place on the ticket.



Well, there you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Friday, February 19, 2016

The Council Has Spoken!! Our Watcher's Council Results

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"The more dominant the Islamic culture in The Netherlands will be, the more distant we will become from anything that has to do with freedom, tolerance and equality. Because the Islam – in contrast with other religions – will not accept anything else but the Islam. " - Geert Wilders, Dutch politician, filmmaker and author.

"Those who believe, and adopt exile, and fight for the Faith, in the cause of Allah as well as those who give (them) asylum and aid,- these are (all) in very truth the Believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins and a provision most generous." - Qu'ran, Surah Al-Anfal, 74

“Europe is no longer Europe, it is Eurabia, a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense.”
- Orianna Falacci

"The universal Caliphate, for which Europe provided a stepping-stone at the UN, stands before us, bringing together political and religious power. It has set itself up as the protector of the Muslim immigrant masses in the world and requires that they remain firmly anchored in the Islamic traditions of the Koran and Sunna, following the Sharia laws while the Europeans are called upon to abandon their historic values and even their identity condemned as Islamophobia.” - Andrew Bostom

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This week's winning essay,Bookworm Room's Europe's dystopia present and why, because I'm helpless to stop it, Schadenfreude overwhelms me is her very astute and scintillating treatment of a theme I've written on a few times myself in a far more limited and less erudite way...the Islamist conquest of Europe being carried out with hardly the need to fire a shot and the reasons behind it. Here's a slice:

Beginning on September 11, 2001, and with increasing speed since January 2009, I’ve had a very strong sense that the world — not just America, but the whole world — is unraveling. At home, venerable and often cherished institutions and ideas are falling into disrepair or being perverted beyond all recognition. Abroad, the Pax America that stabilized the world for so many years, with America acting not as a conqueror but as ballast, has broken down. I’m afraid of the world into which I’m launching my children. The dystopian future that become a stable of countless young adult novels seems to have become the dystopian present.

In many ways, the worst thing about watching the passing spectacle is that I’m helpless to do anything. Sure, I blog, but I recognize (and I don’t mean this with any disrespect, dear readers) that I’m mostly preaching to the choir. I’d be delighted if my words changed one mind, swaying one person from unthinking Progressivism to thoughtful conservatism, but I’m pretty sure that the best I can do is offer comfort and comradeship to people who share my values and my concerns. There’s nothing wrong with binding people together, but I don’t see what I’m doing as effecting any real change.

I’ve also tried to help my children understand that the Leftist political pieties forced upon them in their schools and through their media are false. Mostly, I’ve been successful — my children, when they’re willing to think at all about politics, seem to have absorbed my conservative world view, one that fears big government, believes in strong borders and self-defense, and is fanatic about a free market and the virtue for able-bodied people of self-reliance. I don’t know, though, if I’ve done them any favors. Their values clash with the world they’re entering and put them at odds with their generation. Maybe they could face their socialized, possibly Islamic, future with some equanimity if they didn’t believe in the alternative.

On my Facebook page, I politely tweak my Leftist friends by subtly inserting conservative ideas into their Feeds, but I’m not kidding myself. Even the most open-minded of them are open-minded only to the extent that they don’t “un-friend” me or get nasty. I can practically feel the pity radiating across the feed as they think “She was smart once. What the heck happened? Early dementia perhaps?” None think, “She has always been a really smart, well-informed person. Maybe she’s on to something.” Sigh.

Faced with a domestic scene that saddens me and an international scene that frightens me, I’ve come to a necessary conclusion if I’m to continue functioning — and I must continue functioning. After all, even as things come down around my ears, I still have meals to prepare, laundry to wash, bills to pay, and people (and dogs) dependent upon me for their care. I can’t allow existential anxiety to make me useless.

So here’s my philosophy: To the extent I can bring about change, I’ll fuss and try to come up with solutions that make a difference. However, when there’s nothing I do or say to make a damn bit of difference, I’m going to sit back and get whatever pleasure I can out of the show. I’ll only make myself crazy if I continuously bang my head against walls to no effect.

My lemonade-out-of-lemons philosophy applies strongly to Europe. If there were any way I could save it from its present existential collapse, I actually believe I would. However, because there is absolutely nothing I can do, I’m opting for the pleasures of Schadenfreude as I watch Europe’s passing parade.

I should say that I’m of European stock (both my parents were born and raised in the chaos of Europe’s Depression and WWII), and that I therefore have a lot of strong European values, including cynicism, a tendency to be nasty and condescending (which I periodically fight), and a palate that likes European food. I’ve lived and traveled abroad extensively, and have met good people and bad on those trips. Heck, I even met nice French people.

I have a solid knowledge of European history (especially British), art, and architecture, as well as a surprisingly good understanding of European-style Christianity in the pre-modern era. Europe was once a shining light in world history. I don’t think that anymore.

Twice in the 20th century, Europe did its best to commit suicide. Both times, America saved it. After the second saving, Europe changed dramatically in some ways and fossilized in others. It embraced an anodyne socialism, one leached of the twin scourges of nationalism and the urge to conquer. Its post-war structure echoed Mussolini’s ideal, which was “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” It didn’t go full-communist however. While it regulated private business so tightly that Europe essentially placed large parts of its economy under government control, it managed to refrain from nationalizing most of it. For a while, flush with America’s post-war cash transfers, this new model seemed to work economically, allowing people to work short weeks, take long vacations, and retire early, all without saving a penny.

At the same time that it socialized its economy, Europe also managed to fossilize itself. Both to recover from the damage wrought by war and to attract American tourist dollars, Europe began to invest as much in its past (and what a glorious past it was) as in its present and future. The end result is that Europe is a wonderful living museum. Of course, that gives it the same dynamism as a museum, which is to say not too much.

The net effect of a fundamentally stagnant economy (the stagnancy of which became apparent when the American flow of Cold War dollars ceased) and self-immolation on the altar of its own history is that Europe is a revenant, a kind of classy zombie. No wonder its citizens stopped reproducing. There’s no future in a country chained to its past, with a government firmly stifling initiative to ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

You’d think that I, a lifelong Europhile, would weep copious tears over Europe’s pathetic economy, frozen mien, and struggles with the same Muslim hoards that sought to destroy it in past centuries. In fact, though, I weep no tears. Because there’s one other piece of European history I want to discuss, and it’s why, given that I can’t save Europe, I’m able to sit back and watch Europe’s struggles as I would a TV show or a passing parade.

First, a little back story. I don’t think it’s a secret that Europe has always fervently supported the Palestinians, and has used the UN (and, most particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, aka UNRWA) as the engine of that support. The following are some of the myriad reasons why it turned its back on Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, and instead threw its support behind adherents of a totalitarian, misogynistic, antisemitic, homophobic, anti-Christian theocracy.

Many (including me) believe that Europe never forgave the Jews for Auschwitz. It was in its maddened fury to rid itself of the Jewish outsider that Europe revealed the most loathsome side of itself. It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to figure out that Europe wants to erase that stain by saying that the Jews, through their proxy nation of Israel, are just as bad as the Europeans were, thereby relieving the Europeans of their unique genocidal burden. The reality that the facts don’t support the Europeans (fact number one being the soaring population growth amongst Palestinians) is meaningless to a group that’s found a lie that allows it to walk away from its sins.


Much more at the link, and a great read awaits you.

In our non-Council category, the winner was the great Michael Totten with a piece worthy of his usual high standard, Hezbollah devours Lebanon submitted by The Watcher. Yes, Lebanon is now officially, to all intents and purposes, Hezbollahstan. In fact it's been Hezbollahstan for some time. It's just more openly recognized.

Even worse is the fact that the Obama Administration is actually sending them millions in American military aid, arming, training and equipping an officially designated terrorist group that until 9/11 held the record for murdering the most Americans. You couldn't make this stuff up.


Here are this week’s full results. Puma by Design was unable to vote this week, and another member submitted a partial vote of first choices in each category:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Is Trump Stoppable?

 
 
An interesting discussion over at Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight...as always, some of the better reality based political thought out there.

Who's The Real Christian?

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Pope Francis has made a crusade of his quest to weaken the Catholic Church and the West with demands that illegal migrants and Muslim 'refugees' be accepted into western countries. Today, he singled out presidential candidate Donald Trump for special criticism, saying that if Trump planned to build a wall to protect America's southern border, he is "not Christian" according to the Associated Press.

Trump's response? Classic:



So here we have a presidential candidate actually promising to defend Christians, something Pope Francis has never actively done during his tenure as Pope... and this pontiff attacks him??

It's also worth nothing that not only has Trump repeatedly made the point that he favors legal immigration, but that most of the Republican candidates - Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, even John Kasich - at least favor increased border security, thus proving Trump's claim that this pope is being manipulated specifically against him. Given the billions of US dollars that flow across the border in the form of cash from expatriate Mexicans legal and non-legal, the Mexican government obviously has an interest in the status quo.

And so does the Catholic Church. One thing that wasn't mentioned in the media was how much money the Church is getting from the Obama administration to' process' all these illegal aliens...a cool $9 million in addition to millions of dollars in existing grants and additional funds given by the Obama regime to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

And as far as Muslim 'refugees,' here's something else that didn't make the headlines...the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops is meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood front group the Islamic Society Of North America
(ISNA)and other similar organizations in a whole series of 'interfaith dialogues' entitled 'A common word between us.'

Having read the Qu'ran, that title immediately caught my attention, but I'll let Islamic scholar Robert Spencer tell it:

What do you think is the goal of such groups in engaging in “dialogue” with Catholic bishops? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2014 statement on “dialogue” quotes the 2007 document sent to the Pope and other Christian leaders, A Common Word Between Us and You. It is likely that not a single one of the bishops was ever curious about where the phrase “a common word between us and you comes from beyond the Qur’an citation provided in that document’s epigraph. If they had looked it up in the Qur’an, they would have found that the full passage is not a call for mutual understanding and mutual respect; rather, it is an exhortation to Christians to convert to Islam: “Say: ‘People of the Book! Come now to a word common between us and you, that we serve none but Allah, and that we associate no others with Him, and do not some of us take others as Lords, apart from Allah.’ And if they turn their backs, say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims’” (3:64). Since Muslims consider the Christian confession of the divinity of Christ to be an unacceptable association of a partner with God, this verse is saying that the “common word” that Muslims and the People of the Book should agree on is that Christians should discard one of the central tenets of their faith and essentially become Muslims.

For groups such as ICNA and ISNA, that is almost certainly what the “dialogue” is all about, along with compelling Catholic leaders to remain silent about Muslim persecution of Christians, as when Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, suppressed a planned talk at a Catholic conference on that persecution, explaining: “Talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” Evil works under the cover of darkness, and McManus, drunk on “dialogue,” was happy to supply that cover.

But the typical modern Catholic bishop, coddled, cosseted, regal, arrogant, authoritarian, ignorant, self-infatuated, and utterly devoid of charity, will never deign to acknowledge any of this. They are blind guides.

Blind guides is being charitable. Although to be fair these bishops are simply following like sheep in the path of dhimmitude set for them by the last two popes, Benedict and Francis. Neither of these popes ever did or have done anything to protect the Middle East's Christians from what amounts to genocide, or urged the Western nations to take them in as refugees or protect them in any way. Instead, they're willing to turn a blind eye and participate in the process of bringing in Muslims to America for their own Thirty Pieces of Silver.

And this Pope has the nerve to say that Donald Trump is not a Christian? Tell me, who's the real Christian? Who's pledging to defending them and their faith and who's essentially ignoring their terrible plight and selling them out?

As a parting note, I should say that Pope Francis actually does approve of border walls and strict immigration policies...for himself and the Vatican:

The Vatican, for its part, welcomes millions of visitors a year — but allows only a very select few, who meet strict criteria, to be admitted as residents or citizens.

Only about 450 of its 800 or so residents actually hold citizenship, according to a 2012 study by the Library of Congress. That study said citizens are either church cardinals who reside in the Vatican, the Holy See’s diplomats around the world, and those who have to reside in the city because of their jobs, such as the Swiss Guard.

Spouses and children who live in the city because of their relationship with citizens — including the Swiss Guard and workers such as the gardener — have also been granted citizenship. But that means few of the Vatican’s citizens are women.

A Vatican spokesman did not return an email seeking comment on its policy.





Just like most Marxists, Pope Francis is a major hypocrite.

Our Weasel Of The Week!!



Yes, once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were particularly slimy and despicable, but the votes are in and we have our winner...the envelope please..

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BuzzFeed Editor Rachel Zarrow!!

The Noisy Room: My nomination for Weasel of the Week goes to BuzzFeed editor Rachel Zarrell this time around. She posted a couple of tweets rejoicing at the news of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and then tried to cover it up. She then quickly deleted them. She also retweeted a GQ writer who wrote, “Boy is my Twitter feed not sad.” Her initial tweet consisted of a party popper emoji. Then she followed up with a tweet mocking the statement put out by Sen. Ted Cruz on the news of Scalia’s death.



Well, there it is.

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?