Quick Roundup 83

Two Reports from Northern Israel

As the fighting drags on in Israel, so does the pro-axis propaganda mill. In a Reuters story titled "Hizbollah bombards northern Israel" (as if that hasn't been going on for two weeks already), one of the opening paragraphs reads, at least to me, like Hezbollah is fighting back successfully: "Hizbollah guerrillas ... fought up to 6,000 Israeli troops in Lebanon...." If Israel had 20,000 troops there, would the Hez be "fighting" all of them, too?

In the meantime, another story from the same date puts Hezbollah's bombardment into perspective: "Hezbollah's rocket attacks into Israel, meanwhile, diminished. Hezbollah fired just 10 rockets across the border Tuesday and two early Wednesday, well below an average of about 100 a day since fighting began."

Interestingly, the first article mentions something missed by the second: One of Hezbollah's rockets landed in the West Bank. I have heard nothing about any "Palestinian" casualties from that one. One wonders how the MSM would have spun such a statistic.

Not Even Half-Cocked

Reader Hannes Hacker sent in a link to a story best summarized by the following short quote: "She said going into a gunshop with a machete was not the smartest thing for anyone to do."

How the Other Side "Lives"

According to Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna, the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West is now available as a Google Video version. (Note: This version was pulled. Go here for further information.) It lasts over an hour, but sounds like it is well worth watching.

One of the prominent themes the movie focuses on is the depraved indoctrination of children into the Palestinian death cult. There were numerous clips taken from Palestinian television in which small children -- one is three years old -- talk excitedly about killing the Jews and becoming martyrs for Allah. In one such example, the little girl shown at right is shouting about martyrdom in what looks like a classroom, under the encouragement of a teacher.

When the camera pulls back from her at the end of her recitation, you can see the grotesquely incongruous cartoon figures of Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck, among others, on a wall in the background.

Hmmm. That's not the first time I've encountered the bizarre juxtaposition of Disney and Islam-stoked hatred of the West. Nor is this -- or the one I blogged last night -- the first example I've encountered of how youth is ruined by Moslem parents.

(HT: Michael Gold)

Death by Iron Fist, Part II

Recently, in blogging about the possibility that Fidel Castro may soon liberate Cuba over his own dead body, I realized that Castro could, like Huey Long, die at the inept hands of a physician he appointed himself. Thinking of the saying, "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword," I called it "death by iron fist". The general idea is that a dictator's insistence on controlling all aspects of a society can lead to his own undoing.

Via Instapundit guest blogger Megan McArdle, here's another example of "death by iron fist". This time, it is the death of a tyrannical regime we're looking at. Apparently, Hugo Chavez, affectionately known as El Loco in Venezuela, is killing the Goose That Lays the Golden Egg.

She quotes (subscription required) the Wall Street Journal:

In some cases, Mr. Chavez has literally taken PDVSA [Venezuela's state-owned oil company --ed] assets and handed them to the poor. The elegant five-story headquarters for PDVSA Servicios, a subsidiary that oversaw communications and technology services for the oil giant, has been turned into the Bolivarian University of Venezuela. The university's 5,000 students get a free ride: tuition, materials, health care and food are paid for by the oil company.

Students and teachers view the campus's marble-lined elevators, expensive artwork and baseball field as evidence that PDVSA's executives lived too cushy a life for a poor nation before Mr. Chavez came to power. As a group of students and teachers play baseball, 36-year-old English teacher Claire Bendahan looks on in approval. "This is socialism in action," she says. "Now our country's oil money is being used for the poor."

His power depends on his being seen by the poor as some sort of savior, meaning that he is dependent on oil money. Even to say that Chavez acts like money grows on trees would be too kind, for he is taking an ax to the tree. Quoth McArdle: "[O]il revenue is eroding--by my understanding, because Chavez sacked all the managers who knew anything, and replaced them with reliable political supporters who spend money on social programmes instead of oil exploration."

I suspect that for the Castros and Chavezes of the world that physical death is preferable to losing political power. May death of either kind come quickly to both men.

Already?

Of course, if some speculation is correct, Castro might already be dead!

Ooh! Kinky!

My wife and I took this quiz, "Which of the X-Men are you?" Here are our results:

You, Gus Van Horn, are Jean Grey! Although your fate is often unknown, you always seem to survive (even after death). Your mind is your greatest weapon, literally! Powers: telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to project thoughts into the mind of others, communication with animals	You, Mrs. Van Horn, are Cyclops! Dedicated and responsible, you will always remain loyal to your cause. You are a commanding leader - after all, you can kill someone just by looking at them. Power: force beams from your eyes

Hmmm. That part about the lethal gaze certainly applies when I've done something that displeases her! But somehow, "Cyclops" seems a rather unappealing blog nickname for my better half. I'll stick with "Mrs. Van Horn" until I run a few better possibilities by her first!

--CAV

Updates

8-7-06: Added link to later post on Obsession within the text.