Rants and Raves

This page will give me an opportunity to get some things off my chest. To complain. To appreciate. Hopefully I'll rave as much as I rant, but I doubt it. I could enforce it, but I'd rather just say what's on my mind. So, it will change fairly often for awhile.


        Index
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Politically Correct
Political Correctness Part 2
'I' instead of 'me'
Celebrity Beauties?
FDA and Counterfeit Drugs
Bicyclists on Sidewalk
Conspiracists
Hoax E-mails

Israel-Palestine Conflict

This certainly is no comprehensive argument, that would be too long. I understand there are differing opinions as to who is in the right, and I certainly believe that Israel is in the right, that it is their land. That any land that Israel claims was either given them by the U.N., they bought, or won after being attacked. If Palestinian leadership wanted to live in peace, Israel would love it, and there would be no fighting. Israel would give up land for them to live in, as they have done. But the Palestinians want all of the land, and only use peace talks as a means to get some control on their road to winning the land. To put it simply, Muslims do not want other religions to control any land in the Middle East, let alone live there.

So, where do we start. How about the ridiculous phrase, passed by the biased U.N.: "Zionism is Racism". The quest for a land of your own is supposed to be racist? The Japanese and Chinese and Koreans have their own land. These are countries that are pretty closed to other 'races'. And they are closer to a race than being Jewish is. They're not considered racist countries. Jews that believe in Zionism and come to Israel are not just of a European race. If Zionism were racism, Israel would not have made a huge effort to bring the Jews of Ethiopia there. Zionism is a quest for a land for a people. The common ground is the religion. Every Arab country is Muslim. And they mistreat all who are not Muslim. Are they called racist?

Then there are these journalists, and especially the liberal Jews and Jews for Palestine who condemn Israel and also call Ariel Sharon a terrorist with no mention of Arafat or what the Palestinians are doing. They talk about Sharon's responsibility for Sabra and Shatila. They never place any blame on the Palestinians, never say that Arafat is and has always been a terrorist of the worst kind. Ariel Sharon and Israel do not deliberately attack innocent civilians, as the Palestinians do. In this war, the terrorists live among the general population, and so some Palestinian innocents are hurt too. (Just calling them 'innocents' may be going too far, but lets just say they are.) Israelis make every effort to reduce the possible harming of civilians. Maybe the purpose of these liberals is just to protest Israel, but in so doing, they infer that the Palestinians and Arafat are the good ones being attacked. As to Sabra and Shatila, they give no regard to the fact that Lebanese Christians did the acts, and after all, it was in Lebanon.

Another area that makes me rant about the media is how they take what Palestinians and Arab countries claim at face value. This, they consider the truth. What Israel says is preceded by, 'Israel says'. And they never learn. Recently there was Jenin. The Palestinians claimed a massacre took place there with hundreds killed. When it was proven that there were only maybe 50 killed, or less, and all were in battles, and Israel took efforts to reduce the deaths of civilians, does this stop the media from accepting Palestinian claims after that? It occurs in every incident. The Palestinians make incidents where there are none.
As to the Arab countries doing the same thing, we can go back to the 1967 war, and all the claims by the Arabs that they were winning, they were wiping up the Israelis. There wasn't a shred of truth to it. Of course this is not much different than what any politician would say. These days there are all sorts of fantastic stories they make up. Take the one that Israel was behind 9/11. How can anyone accept anything they say?

One of the most annoying of all is that after 55 years of existence, Israel still is supposed to make concessions to Palestinians so that Israel will have the right to exist. I think the Palestinians should try to prove that they have a right to exist. So far they have not. All they show is that they breed hatred and terrorism. They were supposed to be in a peace process and their schoolbooks and camps teach hatred of Jews and Israel. Sure there are good and peaceful Palestinians, but they fly in the face of what their leadership teaches.

There has been a survey in Europe that says that 59% say that Israel is the greatest threat to world security. They have it backwards. How about that the Palestinians are the greatest threat to world security. Even though I'd give that honor to Al Queda. Further, the question was flawed. It listed Israel, but not the Palestinian Authority. This is because the P.A. is not a country. If people worried about the Israel-Palestine conflict they could only indicate Israel.

As to where I stand on the Muslim Cartoons, this banner says it all





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Politically Correct

The current wave of Political Correctness is something that has gone too far. People have gone too far in limiting free speech. You can be thrown out of school, lose your job, for expressing your opinion. Even trying to discuss wrong-headed programs can get you in trouble: Like trying to point out the ridiculous requirement that colleges have to interview blacks for coaching positions even though they plan to hire a specific person. The black coaches know they are only being interviewed due to the requirement, that they do not have a shot at the job, so they refuse the interviews. It would be different if the college was really looking around, but when they only have one person in mind, it's just games due to stupid regulations. But people get in trouble for saying this is wrong. School textbooks and tests are being so regulated that they can't have anything that would be interpreted as a stereotype, even if statistically it is correct. Like if you had a math test, it couldn't say 'if 3 women are nurses'. It would have to say 'if 3 women are doctors'. How stupid!!
Then recently (Nov. 2009) we've seen how PC has led to many deaths. A Muslim in the army was speaking how he was upset over US actions against Muslims in the Middle East and was glad when some soldiers were killed there in an attack. But those who heard him were afraid to speak up because they might be accused of being anti-Muslim. He then killed a dozen soldiers at Ft Hood. Then the army spoke of his being under stress as causing his actions, rather than just having turned against the US.


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Political Correctness Part 2

To follow up on ranting against some liberals and political correctness, let me recommend a couple of books I've recently read. The authors of these books have been liberal feminist leaders who have 'seen the light'. They've realized what these movements are doing and how the movements don't accept freedom of speech for those they disagree with. One is Tammy Bruce, a former President of the Gay Movement of California. Read her book 'The New Thought Police : Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds'. The other is Phyllis Chesler, a leading feminist writer. Her important book is 'The New Anti-Semitism. There are several books with the same or similar titles.
To quote Phyllis Chesler, 'The American and European Left have made a marriage in hell with their Islamic terrorist counterparts.' They ignore what the terrorists do, apologize for them, and protest in the same way (but without the terror acts) toward America and Jews.



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Political Correctness Part 3

Another great danger in all of this political correctness is the refusal to profile. If there is no relationship to what is being looked for and what is being profiled, then of course, profiling is wrong. But to avoid profiling just because it lets you concentrate on certain people is stupidity, and a huge waste of resources. If a killer is identified as having a tatoo on the forearm, we would not call it profiling to question people with tatoos on the forearm, even though it is profiling. When



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'I' instead of 'me'

It really annoys me every time I hear someone on TV, either a news reporter or a character in a show, use 'I' as an object in a sentence. I end up applauding those who use 'me' when they should. It should be the norm, not an exception. I even heard a news reporter using 'I' as an object in a prepared promo for the news. Unbelievable.



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Celebrity Beauties?

This isn't quite a rant, but it annoys me. Julia Roberts is always referred to as beautiful. I can't believe it. She is so plain and has no nice features, and such a mouth of teeth. How do people think she is good looking?
Then it is annoying the way Celine Dion tries to give these sexy poses. She is a great singer, but in no way is she attractive or sexy. Who does she think she is, Shania? Now she is sexy!

Since the theme of my website is my favorites, then, at the risk of being regarded as male chauvinist, I'll mention my favorite female beauties in the public limelight.

Among national news reporters, they all seem to be on CBS: Lara Logan and Tracy Smith In the Philadelphia market, there's Fox's Dorothy Krysiuk .

As for actresses/entertainers there are Catherine Zeta Jones, Catherine Bell, Heather Locklear, Shania Twain, Gail O' Grady , Sofia Vergara (who I saw for the first time on the TV show Hot Properties), Jennifer Aniston, Shannen Doherty (and I like Holly Marie Combs too), and Minnie Driver.

Then for 'others' there is Rachael Ray . After seeing Dancing with the Stars, I have to add Brooke Burke .

I'll add more as I think of them.



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FDA and Counterfeit Drugs

The FDA is trying to stop drugs being bought from Canada because they say they might not be safe. But, the FDA says "recently FDA has seen two highly publicized examples of counterfeit Lipitor and Procrit within the U.S. distribution system". So we can get counterfeit drugs when we buy at our local drugstore, so why not get from an equally safe and cheaper Canada. The FDA is just protecting the drug companies, rather than the consumer.



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Bicyclists on Sidewalk

My latest pet peeve is bicyclists on sidewalk who come up behind you expecting you to move, without even informing you that they are coming. One person even had the nerve to say sarcastically, "Thanks for moving" as he had to go into street to pass us (we were walking). My response was, "Did you say anything to let us know you were there." They don't use horns, don't say excuse me, don't say coming on you right, nothing. This is the type of people growing up in this country today?



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Conspiracists

There are some people who believe that so much that happens in the USA is a results of conspiracies. These guys are crazy. You know, like thinking that 9/11 was faked. I found one site, Serendipity that sort of sums up what these crazies are like. If you find any site that recommends the Serendipity site, then they are one of these crazies. And Serendipity does it all in the name of liberty and freedom. It's a good place for a black laugh, but unfortunately these guys believe it. Remember, don't believe a word they say.



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Hoax E-mails

E-mailing all these hoaxes must somehow be fun for the creators. What bothers me is all the people who forwards them without looking into them. They believe whatever they receive. Of course, after the initial mailing, people receive these e-mails from friends. It's so easy to check them, but most people are either too lazy or don't know how.

Like one I got that says that Pepsi just released a can of soda that has the Pledge of Allegiance on it and intentionally left off the words 'under G-d'. So I checked it at Snopes, one of several sites that tells us the true story. There is an inkling of truth to the story. But, first, it wasn't Pepsi, but Dr. Pepper. It wasn't the full pledge, but just the words 'One Nation' and 'Indivisible'. So, leaving something out didn't have any meaning. It was done after 9/11/2001 to inspire patriotism. And finally, when the e-mail says 'recently', what they refer to really occurred years ago. This shows a common thread of these types of e-mails: twisting the truth, and referring to something as just happening, when it was years ago.

As I said, the annoying part is all these people who forward this junk without finding if there is any truth to it. No wonder spam works.

The following story is from This is True dated 17 July 2005. It is Copyright 2005 Randy Cassingham, all rights reserved, and reprinted here with permission:

"Ethical" Defined

After more than 100 dead dogs were dumped in a trash dumpster over four weeks, police in Ahoskie, N.C., kept an eye on the trash receptacle behind a supermarket. Sure enough, a van drove up and officers watched the occupants throw in heavy plastic bags. They detained the two people in the van and found 18 dead dogs in plastic bags in the dumpster, including puppies; 13 more dead dogs were still in the van. Police say the van is registered to the headquarters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the two occupants, Andrew B. Cook, 24, and Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, identified themselves as PETA employees. An autopsy performed on one of the dogs found it was healthy before it was killed. Police say PETA has been picking up the animals -- alive -- from North Carolina animal shelters, promising to find them good homes. Cook and Hinkle have been charged with 62 felony counts of animal cruelty. In response to the arrests PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said it's against the group's policy for employees to dump animals in the trash, but "that for some animals in North Carolina, there is no kinder option than euthanasia." (Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald) ...Oops, my mistake: that's "Playing God" Defined.