Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Importance of Reporting Israel's Side of the Flotilla Incident
Subject: txt 1st hots israel msm -
It's now all over the headlines: "Israeli Soldiers Kill at Least 10 Protesters on Boat Carrying Supplies to Gaza."
But with all stories, there are indeed two sides.
As international outrage mounts, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels Tuesday's scheduled meeting with President Obama, it is crucial that news outlets here offer an accurate, fair and balanced assessment of exactly what transpired in the Mediterranean Sea early Monday morning.
After all, according to Israel's Haaretz, this isn't the unprovoked massacre some in the media are depicting:
The commandos, who intercepted the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara after it ignored orders to turn back, said they encountered violent resistance from activists armed with sticks and knives. According to the soldiers, the activists threw one of their comrades from the upper deck to the lower after they boarded.
Activists attacked a commando with iron bars as he descended onto the ship from a helicopter, the army said. The IDF said its rules of engagement allowed troops to open fire in what it called a "life-threatening situation".
The soldiers said they were forced to open fire after the activists struck one of their comrades in the head and trampled on him. A senior field commander ordered the soldiers then to respond with fire, a decision which the commandos said received full backing the military echelon.
Some 700 pro-Palestinian 'activists' were on the boats... [snip]
As readers are likely aware, relations between America and Israel are currently more strained than they've been in decades as Netanyahu was largely snubbed by Obama when he was here in March.
This makes it imperative for America's normally pro-Palestinian media to be as diligent as ever in how this flotilla incident is reported.
As Ed Morrissey noted Monday:
The world will blame Israel for this, but the blockade exists to keep weapons out of the hands of Hamas, which continually attacks Israel despite the latter's withdrawal from Gaza years ago. It's a legitimate and necessary military response to Hamas' terrorism, and the flotilla knowingly sailed itself into a military conflict - and carried arms into it as well...As this flotilla incident is already sparking anti-Israeli sentiment across the globe, the press need to exercise great caution in making sure they don't consciously or unconsciously fan the flames of discontent that are already spreading.
If this incident was indeed precipitated and/or inflamed by pro-Palestinian activists aboard that vessel, it is incumbent upon America's media to make sure its reports convey the truth.
Our future relations with our greatest ally in the Middle East might depend on it.
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*****Update: As media report this incident, they might want to give some background about one of the groups participating in this aid flotilla.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported Wednesday (h/t Cubachi):
1. Prominent among the coalition organizations participating in the aid flotilla scheduled to arrive in the Gaza Strip in the coming days is the Turkish IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi, IHH, "humanitarian relief fund"). It is a radical Islamic organization which was established in 1992 and formally registered in Istanbul in 1995. [...]
3. In practice, besides its legitimate humanitarian activities, IHH supports radical Islamic terrorist networks. In recent years it has prominently supported Hamas (through the Union of Good). In addition, the ITIC has reliable information that in the past IHH provided logistical support and funding to global jihad networks.
4. IHH's orientation is radical-Islamic and anti-American, and it is close to the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas' parent movement). IHH supports Hamas and does not hide the connection between them. Hamas also considers its links to IHH and Turkey to be extremely important, and regards Turkey as a target audience for its propaganda network (Palestine-Information, Hamas' main website, has a Turkish version, and as of the end of 2009, the website of its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has also appeared in Turkish).
5. In recent years, especially since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, IHH has supported Hamas' propaganda campaigns by organizing public support conferences in Turkey. At those conferences, which featured the participation of senior IHH figures, the heads of IHH expressed their support for Hamas and its strategy (including the armed struggle it favors), in defiance of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas' rival.
6. IHH is a member of the Union of Good, an umbrella organization of more than 50 Islamic funds and foundations around the globe, which channels money into Hamas institutions in the Palestinian Authority-administered territories. As a Union of Good member IHH has connections with other worldwide Islamic funds and foundations which support Hamas. Among other things, the support includes initiating and conducting joint projects whose objectives are to bolster the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip and Hamas' civilian infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, which also supports terrorism (the infrastructure is under pressure from the Palestinian Authority security services). IHH, which has become an important factor in global fund-raising for Hamas, transfers significant amounts of money to Hamas institutions in Judea and Samaria, including the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron and the Al-Tadhamun Charitable Society in Nablus (Hamas' two central "charitable societies," both outlawed by Israel). [...]
9. Israel outlawed IHH because of its affiliation with the Union of Good and because it is an important factor in Hamas' global fund raising. It was included in a decision made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak in 2008 which outlawed 36 associations which belonged to the Union of Good (IHH appeared as number 36 on the list4). [...]
11. The ITIC has reliable information indicating that in the past IHH had links with global jihad and Islamic terrorist elements in the Middle East. As part of its connections with the global jihad it supported jihadist terrorist networks in Bosnia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya.
12. That was manifested by logistic support for the transfer of weapons and money. This information verifies findings of a study conducted by a Danish research institute into IHH's past links with Al-Qaeda (See below). [...]
14. In 2006 a Danish research institute called the Danish Institute for International Studies conducted a study which reported that in the past IHH had connections with Al-Qaeda and global jihad operatives.5 The well-documented study was conducted by Evan Kohlman,6 an American researcher who specializes in Al-Qaeda and related subjects. It deals with the involvement of Islamic charity funds and foundations in supporting terrorism. [...]
19. IHH is prominent among the many pro-Palestinian organizations in Turkey participating in the aid flotilla, which will reach the Gaza Strip in the coming days. Its participation is part of the massive aid it gives Hamas and its desire to make propaganda capital for Hamas and itself.
Will America's media share these details with the public?
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*****Update II: Al-Jazeera on Friday broadcast a piece called "Freedom Flotilla." MEMRI has published a rather disturbing clip of this program filmed aboard one of the vessels apparently involved in Monday's incident (video available here, transcript follows:
Reporter: Despite the Israeli threats and some unexpected obstacles, the arrival of the ships at the rendezvous, in preparation to set sail to Gaza, has kindled the emotions and enthusiasm of the participants.
Crowd chanting: "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return."
Reporter: Through songs about the Palestinian Intifada, the participants expressed their longing to reach Gaza.
Participant 1: The brothers here are shouting and are full of enthusiasm. They are waiting to leave soon, with the ships around us in the sea. Allah willing, we will make our way to Gaza.
Participant 2: We are now waiting for one of two good things - either to achieve martyrdom, or to reach Gaza.
We are waiting for either martyrdom or to reach Gaza.
Sound like these folks were expecting hostilities?
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Turkish protesters try to storm Israeli consulate in Istanbul
Subject: txt israel islm -
Ankara, Turkey - Turkish police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul over reports of an Israeli interdiction of at least one aid ship attempting to run a military blockade on Monday, news channels reported. CNN-Turk and NTV showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police guarding the consulate in downtown Istanbul. “Damn Israel,” the protesters shouted.
Protesters later staged a demonstration outside the consulate, holding up Palestinian flags and listening to readings from the Qoran...
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ABC and NBC Champion Illegal Alien Cause: ‘Will an Army of Protesters Be Heard?’
Subject: txt immig hots msm -
[And the super-majority of citizens who support Arizona's efforts, think they'll ever get any MSM air time?]
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Live Broadcast of 'Stand With Arizona' Rally in Tempe
Subject: txt hots immig msm -
There is a rally going on in Tempe, Arizona, Saturday evening to show support for that state's new immigration law.
Those interested can watch a UStream broadcast of the event live (live stream follows h/t Hot Air's Ed Morrissey):
[On the internet, as no coverage was aired by any network.]
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Swastikas and Nazi References at Pro-Illegal Immigration Rally, Will Media Care?
Subject: txt hots immig msm -
For over a year, America's media have been depicting Tea Partiers as homophobic racists citing inflammatory signs at rally events as evidence.
On Saturday, pro-illegal alien supporters in Phoenix, Arizona, carried signs quite similar to what our press found repulsive and extreme when present at conservative protests.
Will swastikas and the Arizona governor being referred to as "Adolf Brewer" be equally unacceptable to America's media?
Before you answer, consider the following news segment from NBC12 in Phoenix wherein an anti-SB 1070 protester was interviewed holding a sign emblazoned with swastikas claiming "Republicans Breed Ignorance," and the reporter didn't even bat an eye (video follows with commentary and additional pictures):
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A Disaster With Many Fathers
Charles Krauthammer
Here's my question: Why were we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place?
Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there.
As production from existing shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production.
Even President Obama's tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead...
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Meanwhile, in our 'professional' media...
Subject: txt hots grn engry msm bias libs - fnn -
Time Magazine: Oil Spill is ‘Bush’s Second Katrina,’
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FLASHBACK >
Nuke-kill of oil leak considered?
Subject: txt grn engry hots -
For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: top kill failed to stop Gulf Coast oil leak
What's next? Is it time to try something drastic like nuking the thing? The Soviets did it successfully several times. Would Barack "No Nukes" Obama EVER consider using such a weapon for a noble cause like this, or might that make his goal of dismantling all of our nuclear devices hypocritical?
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Putin's 'democracy' is wrapped in an iron fist
Subject: txt try - russia -
MOSCOW - Moscow police ruthlessly crushed one of the largest opposition protests of recent years yesterday evening, just two days after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said that similar rallies should be allowed to take place. Over 100 people, representing a range of opposition groups from liberals to anarchists, were detained by police and shoved into waiting buses.
There were also reports of 30 arrests at a similar rally in St Petersburg. Activists gather on the last day of every month with 31 days to protest what they say is a violation of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution...
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German President Quits Over Remarks on Military
Subject: txt gwot intl mny -
Mr. Köhler, a former director of the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shocked Germans earlier this month when he said that the country’s soldiers serving in Afghanistan or other peacekeeping missions were deployed to protect German economic interests.
“A country of our size, with its focus on exports and thus reliance on foreign trade, must be aware that military deployments are necessary in an emergency to protect our interests, for example, when it comes to trade routes, for example, when it comes to preventing regional instabilities that could negatively influence our trade, jobs and incomes.”
Usually, German leaders justify their soldiers’ presence in the American-led coalition by saying they are needed to thwart would-be terrorists who might use Afghanistan as a base for attacks in Europe.
[Resignation material? Forgive my Schadenfreude but it seems to me the standard applied to America, i.e., that there's somehow something wrong with looking out for our own interests, is spreading...]
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And So It Begins: Michigan Considering Law To 'License' Journalists
Subject: txt hots lbrty - bbro libs -
A Michigan lawmaker wants journalists to be licensed.
"Senator Bruce Patterson is introducing legislation that will regulate reporters" reported FoxNews.com Friday.
"Patterson says that the general public is being overwhelmed by an increasing number of media outlets--traditional, online and citizen generated--and an even greater amount misinformation."
[I.e., controlling the spread of information by eventually setting restrictions in connection with being 'licensed'.]
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John Stossel and the Media’s “Statist Syndrome”
Subject: txt mny lbrty msm bias othr sclm libs -
When he first began his career as a crusading consumer journalist in the 1970s, John Stossel believed fervently that higher taxes and greater government involvement in the marketplace were integral checks against corporate greed and malfeasance. With an irreverent, intelligent and skeptical tone that riled corporations – but resonated with viewers – Stossel’s career flourished, leading him to the pinnacle of his profession at ABC News.
But then Stossel experienced a metamorphosis in his thinking. After observing the chronic, costly failure of so many of the numerous big government solutions that he and his media colleagues repeatedly prescribed for society’s ills, Stossel reexamined his fundamental beliefs.
“I started out by viewing the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government and lawyers to protect people,” Stossel explained shortly after undergoing his transformation. “But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical and the best protectors of the consumer.”
In fact, Stossel realized that in most cases regulators and bureaucrats only made matters worse, spending billions of tax dollars on so-called “solutions” that invariably wound up creating larger problems. Needless to say, Stossel’s conversion to free market, libertarian principles – which he trumpeted every bit as loudly as he had previously trumpeted government interventionism – was not warmly received by his colleagues.
"Once I started applying the same skepticism to government, I stopped winning awards," the 19-time Emmy Award-winner said.
Today, Stossel is at the center of another media debate – only this time he’s not just telling the story, he’s a big part of the story...
[Not sure John's going to be able to get a journalism license in the future. Recommended > ]
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Biden: $787 Billion Stimulus Bill Created ‘New Ideas on How to Spend Government Money Wisely’
Subject: txt mny tax bbro libs fnn -
[Said with a straight face.
Just what we need: more ideas on how to spend more money.]
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Emergency Bill to Close Tax ‘Loopholes’ Includes $46 Million Tax Loophole for Hollywood Movie Makers
Subject: txt libs crpt mny - hots -
A bill titled “The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010” that will add $115 billion to the federal deficit between now and October 2011, and that the Democratic leadership intends to push through Congress before they leave for their week-long Memorial Day recess, includes a special $46 million tax loophole for Hollywood movie and television producers...
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Hollywood Trashes Reaganomics, Yet Promises Their $35 Mil Tax Credit Will Trickle Down
Subject: txt mny econ tax msm fnn - bdd -
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film production, "The Last Airbender," was recently awarded over $35 million in film tax credits from Pennsylvania over two years. The award is the largest in the history of Pennsylvania’s Film Tax Credit (FTC), breaking the record held by his previous project, "The Happening," which received $12 million in tax credits. His film "Lady in the Water" also received a film production grant.
The only good news is that taxpayers are only forced to subsidize these movies, not to watch them...
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CBS, The Toilet Network
Subject: txt hots bdd vals msm -
CBS announced its new fall lineup to advertisers and the entertainment press on May 18. After all the jawing and legal wrangling back and forth over televised profanity, and whether it's somehow not profane if it's blurted out accidentally, CBS has ended the debate over accidents. The artists formerly known as the classy “Tiffany Network” have very deliberately introduced a new show called “$#*! My Dad Says.”
That's right – the fecal curse word starting with an S in the title. They pronounce it “Bleep My Dad Says.” They could simply have called it “Stuff My Dad Says” and not lost a scintilla of descriptive power. All they would lose is the childish wish to offend.
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School districts lack $1 billion to pay retiree health benefits,
California's $100,000 Janitors need a bailout
Subject: txt cali edu crpt mny -
On June 8th, voters in Los Angeles will vote on whether to approve Measure E, a parcel tax that will fund Los Angeles Unified School District. AFP California State Director David Spady explains why voters should reject this $92.5 million tax increase...
Watch the Common Sense video…
CEI’s NASA global warming lawsuit
CEI’s NASA global warming lawsuit
In case you missed this item on Thursday (understandable, as none of the major networks reported it), the Competitive Enterprise Institute is suing NASA over its failure to respond to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act going back to 2007.
Washington, D.C., May 27, 2010 - The Competitive Enterprise Institute today filed a lawsuit to force NASA to produce records related to last year’s “ClimateGate” scandal — records the agency has refused to produce for nearly three years.
In its complaint, CEI calls for government transparency about climate science, “particularly now, when debate about climate change and ‘cap and trade’ legislation has captured sustained national attention.” “NASA is accountable to the taxpayers and to the public” and “should not be free to treat its FOIA obligations with contempt.”
The lawsuit arises out of three CEI Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, initiated in August 2007 and originally seeking internal documents about NASA improperly boosting U.S. temperature data in this decade. Five months after the first request, CEI sought documents concerning Dr. Gavin Schmidt, a taxpayer-funded NASA researcher who, chief among other NASA scientists, spends working hours running and writing for a third-party website (RealClimate.org) that was created to defend the now-debunked “Hockey Stick” temperature graph...
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Six Months Late to a Game That's Long Been Over: NYT, Newsweek Acknowledge ClimateGate's Damage
Subject: txt grn msm -
Parts of the U.S. establishment press have acknowledged "climate science" reality, six months late.
The fallout from ClimateGate (link is to the NewsBusters tag), the name eventually given to the scandal resulting from the unauthorized posting of over 1,000 emails and dozens of documents obtained from University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) in the UK, goes back a full six months to November of last year.
On November 20, Australia's Andrew Bolt crisply described the contents of the aforementioned items as providing substantial evidence of: "Conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organised resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more."
Six long months later, as the American Thinker's Marc Sheppard observed, both the New York Times and Newsweek have recognized the fallout while still not conceding the argument. The Times does so in an article by Elisabeth Rosenthal about crumbling public support in Great Britain and elsewhere, while Newsweek's Stefan Thiel addresses "The backlash against climate 'science'."
What a difference three years makes.
[The paper of record? That's because by the time it reports on anything off the liberal line it's already in the history books.]
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Europe's solar eclipse
Subject: txt grn engry intl - owg -
... Other solar companies, including many based in China, have also taken a big hit. One Chinese solar company, JinkoSolar (JKS), went public just last week and has already fallen more than 10% from its offering price. It's not just solar stocks that are plummeting. Several alternative energy exchange-traded funds that invest in companies with exposure to solar, wind turbines and biofuels...
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Three of Ten Americans are Nuts
Subject: txt mny crpt libs othr -
Well, that's not exactly what Rasmussen Reports said. Technically, the poll showed that seven of ten Americans don't believe Congress knows what it is doing when it legislates on economic issues. According to Rasmussen Reports: Even as Congress puts the finishing touches on legislation asserting more government control over the U.S. financial industry, most U.S. voters continue to believe the legislators have little idea what they're doing when it comes to the economy....
[These are the same corrupt geniuses who's new 'reform' legislation requires small business constantly report on what it does to government --- and contains not a word about either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac...]
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POLL: 51% Say United States Is Last Best Hope of Mankind
Subject: txt gdd gcon BDD EDU child heroes - sclm -
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% of voters nationwide believe the United States is the last best hope of mankind. Twenty-six percent (26%) disagree, and 24% are not sure.
Conservatives overwhelmingly believe that the United States is the last best hope. However, by a 43% to 29% margin, liberals disagree.
Just 31% of those in the Political Class see the United States in such positive terms (see more on the Political Class), compared to 58% of Mainstream voters.
Polling released earlier shows that only 45% of Political Class voters believe the United States is a more positive force in the world than the United Nations. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Mainstream voters see America as a more positive force.
Younger voters are more skeptical than their elders about the U.S. role in the world. In fact, by a 51% to 37% margin, voters under 30 reject the notion that the United States is the last best hope of mankind. [Those most recently exposed to our government run 'education' system.]
Sixty-two percent (62%) of senior citizens, on the other hand, regard the country that way.
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Charter scores soar
It's not just in math and reading that charter schools are dealing out aces. New data obtained by The Post shows that charter-school kids outperformed traditional public-school kids in three of the four grades tested in science and social studies last year -- often by leaps and bounds. The results are sure to lend ammunition to those who support the state's raising of the charter schools cap, which has been at the center of heated debate among Albany lawmakers for weeks.
According to the city's Department of Education, charter-school eighth-graders bested their public-school peers by 19 percentage points in social studies and by nearly 18 percentage points in science.
Additionally, more than 90 percent of charter-school fourth-graders aced last year's state science exams, compared with 80.3 percent of fourth-graders at traditional public schools...
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