Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Jerry Orbach, Star of 'Law & Order,' Dies

Jerry Orbach, Star of 'Law & Order,' Dies - he was really the only thing I liked about the newer episodes.

As I've said before, my wife got me into watching the shows which were good but in my mind not great. A good show is one that is intelligence-respecting, well-written, and entertaining. A great show is a must watch. Examples of Good shows, for me, are "Seinfeld," "The Shield," and "Cheers."

Great shows are "The West Wing," "the Sopranos," "Arrested Development," and the heliege "Simpsons."

But "Law and Order" was decent and I liked Orbach very much - it was nice seeing a plausible Jewish cop on TV.

Backpost finished 2/15/05

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Israeli Flag for War Crimes

In the description of American "war crimes" (that's what the story, War Crimes [washingtonpost.com], calls 'em), which includes our friendly torture of the random prisoners in Guantanamo, the interrogators would torment their victims with
"humiliations such as being wrapped in an Israeli flag."
That's a direct quote.

I love this. I love the fact that our government is torturing people. I love the fact that the people in Guantanamo are denied civil and human rights. I love that the legal genius who allowed this to happen is our new Attorney General. I love that Bush is such a friend of Israel that he uses their flag as a tool of torture and humiliation.

Can one of you GOP supporters explain this to us?

Backpost finished 2/15/05

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Oh Great, More Ghraib

According to the newest reports, Guantanamo operated under similar torture rules as did Abu Ghraib: Washpost: "At Guantanamo, a Prison Within a Prison"

Maybe I'd feel better about the torture and rape if we actually were (a) not in a fictional conflict in Iraq, (b) the prisoners were dangerous people, (c) the prisoners knew something about the people who truly are trying to hurt us. Yet there have been no convictions from the torture; no proof that what we're doing is right. We fought a war - back in 1776 - to stop this kind of stuff, no?

As it is, we are just destroying people for fun. This is shameful. Again, I implore the GOPers out there, you have a voice, talk to your commandants about stopping these un-American activities before they actually become considered American activities.

Backpost finished 2/17/05, there was just a title and a link

Friday, December 17, 2004

Kerik and Rudy

So Bernie Kerik has imploded (Lapses Feared in 2000 Vetting of Kerik) - and that's saying something for a Bush appointee. Kerik's big error was to commit his felonies *before* he joined the cabinet. The sad thing is that Kerik is so terrible that Giuliani may go down because he vouched for him!

Backpost finished 2/17/05, started Dec 17 2004 with really just one insight... I don't even know if the link works.

Monday, December 13, 2004

Protocols (Blog) Over

It's big news in the Jewish Bloggosphere, Protocols has closed!

In case that announcement means nothing to you I will explain: it means nothing to me too. There's this whole world of Jewish bloggers, growing daily, with a frightening level of cross-referencing and self-congratulations. "Protocols" was considered the mack-daddy of the Jewish Blogs because it had some important people writing for it - people so important that I'd never heard of them nor felt what they had to say was worthwhile.

I can say all this with the supercilious disinterestedness of an Old School blogger - as it says on my first post, I was blogging in the days before blogs, when Netscape ruled, when Google was still an experimental site at Stanford U, when email was still called e-mail. I don't actually expect anyone to read what I'm saying either (although I appreciate your comments) - I just need a place to release my brainwaves before they begin to rot in my skull.

Protocols is (are?) over. Long live the Blog.

Backpost finished 2/17/05, - I just had the link but I think I remember what I wanted to say

Friday, December 10, 2004

O'Reilly - A New American Hero

By "new America" I mean the world that George W. Bush has created. Fox News is nearly invincible and Bill O'Reilly is the tip of the teflon. He has survived the revelation of disgusting sexual harassment because, hey, Bush is in power not Clinton.

Now, here's some more wonderful behavior this time against Jews (who are not as numerous as women, so this will also blow away): O'Reilly attacks ADL

O'Reilly doesn't like criticism and the ADL reprimanded him for responding to a Jewish caller who said

CALLER: When I was growing up -- I'm Jewish, but I was not in a very Jewish area. There were some Jews there but, I was kind of -- grew up with a resentment because I felt that people were trying to convert me to Christianity [by introducing Christmas into schools]--

Part of O'Reilly's response:
O'REILLY: All right. Well, what I'm tellin' you, [caller], is I think you're takin' it too seriously. You have a predominantly Christian nation. You have a federal holiday based on the philosopher Jesus. And you don't wanna hear about it? Come on, [caller] -- if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then. I mean because we live in a country founded on Judeo -- and that's your guys' -- Christian, that's my guys' philosophy. But overwhelmingly, America is Christian. And the holiday is a federal holiday honoring the philosopher Jesus. So, you don't wanna hear about it? Impossible.
Read the whole thing; it's a hoot! Viva Bush! Viva Fox!

{2009 Update: great pic from here.}

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Shoot the Moon

The last men standing after all the cabinet shuffling is Don "Dishonor" Rumsfeld and John "Freefall" Snow (Snow to Stay on With Bush) - which makes total sense. While Bush has been, overall, one of the worst leaders of a North American republic, his very worst areas have been in economic policy and in war planning.

Then again, if you see things my way, that staying part of the Bush cabinet is a grave punishment, then actually Rumsfeld and Snow are getting what they deserve! Either way it's a clear case of 'aveira gorreret aveira'

Backpost finished 2/16/05.

FBI entrapped AIPAC

Bush is the best friend Israel has ever had - at least better than Clinton - at least better than his father - or actually, I'm not sure if he's such a friend. A few months ago there was a celebrated case where a member of AIPAC was entrapped in a FBI sting. Ya see, it seems that the FBI investigated two members of AIPAC who have been accused of spying for Israel, giving them details of the secret US deliberations with the Iranians. [Recent reports accuse them of leaking the secrets of the McShwarma]. Here's the original story (CBS news)

However, as the Jerusalem Post indicates the FBI set the whole thing up. It's pretty complicated - but as far as I can tell, the FBI entrapped two AIPAC members as part of a strange paranoid witch-hunt. As this article indicates, there's a subtle double-standard against Jews in the intelligence agencies about loyalty to Israel.

Thank you Ashcroft for keeping America safe. How many terrorists have you caught yet? None?

Backpost finished, kinda, 2/17/05. This is still difficult to finish because I still don't have all the right details...

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Even the Economist

In case you're wondering what kind of lily-livered pinko bleeding-heart liberals are warning about Bush's economic policies, there's the Leftist smear rag The Economist. True, The Economist is generally seen as a conservative magazine (when they say they're Tories, they mean 18th Century style), but how can they be if they claim that Bush's trade deficits and all-around economic bumbling will soon convince the world to dump dollars in favor of Euros?

Does anybody think that Bush is doing good things for the US economy? Can anyone say that our situation is truly the aftermath of 9/11 and not the results of the first MBA president (who never ran a successful company and doesn't even know what assets he himself owns?)

Thank Jezuz that Bush has a plan to save the economy by gutting social security. His evangelist-hypnotist guru must have told him that if he really wants to channel Hoover he not only needs to lose more jobs but also to plunge the country into depression. This does explain why Bush hates social-security - how else to be Hoover but to reverse everything FDR did? The next step? Bush will un-cure polio and discontinue the dime.

Backpost finished 2/16/05 - all I had was the article link, which still works, so here goes...

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Song Hall of Fame: "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen", Ren & Stimpy

Oddly enough, my obsession with Ren & Stimpy is only mentioned once before on the blog. While there is much to dislike about R&S, especially the glacial pacing and almost anything after the first year, there are episodes that are pristine in my eyes. The show is an odd litmus test, you had to have a special attraction to accurate portrayal of edgy, yet cartoonish, psychosis. I understand why people don't like it. But two episodes, Stimpy's Invention and Space Madness are pure art.

The show was known, as well, for their sick humor songs ("Happy Happy, Joy Joy" is the best known). Musically, and humor-ly, the easiest to access is the title of this post: The theme of the Kilted Yaksmen.

Unofficial Website here. Lyrics and trivia from here:
The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen Theme

Stimpy: Remember the royal anthem of the Kilted Yaksmen! (blows into a pitch pipe and begins singing as a lone piano plays in the background)

Our country reeks of trees,
Our yaks are really large,
And they smell like rotting beefcarcasses!
And we have to clean up after them,
And our saddle sores are the best,
We proudly wear women's clothing
and searing sand blows up our skirts!

(now an organ joins in as Ren begins singing)

Both: And the buzzards, they soar oooo-verhead
And poisonous snakes will devooooour us whole
And our bones will bleach in the sun!

Stimpy: That's it!

Both: And we will probably go to h(fart)ll
And that is our great reward
For being the uh-Rooooyal...
Canadian
Kilted
Yaksmen!

Stimpy: C'mon, everybody!

(now a big orchestra starts playing as various animals such as mudskippers, a whale, etc. start singing in bold, male voices)

Chorus: Our country reeks of trees,
Our yaks are really large,
And they smell like rotting beef carcasses!
And we have to clean up after them,
And our saddle sores are the best,
We proudly wear women's clothing
and searing sand blows up our skirts!
And the buzzards they soar oooo-verhead,
And poisonous snakes will devooooour us whole,
Our bones will bleach in the sun!
And we will probably go to h(fart)ll
And that is our great reward,
For being the uh-Rooooyal...
Canadian
Kilted
Yaksmeeeeeeeeeen!
Backpost finished 2009-12-14.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Netherlands Hospital Euthanizes Babies

Remember this about Holland: they are the first to legalize drugs, prostitution, and euthanasia - all in the name of social liberalism and progress - and it makes Holland feel like the front-lines of Sodom. Need proof about how libertines become cruel and inhuman? Check today's news:
Netherlands Hospital Euthanizes Babies

AP - AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A hospital in the Netherlands — the first nation to permit euthanasia — recently proposed guidelines for mercy killings of terminally ill newborns, and then made a startling revelation: It has already begun carrying out such procedures, which include administering a lethal dose of sedatives.
If I ever get sick in Holland - if MY KID gets sick in Holland - drop everything and get me the hell out of there. Drag me to Germany even, just keep me away from that charnel-house.