Quick Roundup 121

The Biographical Blurb as Unwitting Parody

Some time ago, on a visit to Tim Blair, which I've added to my blogroll, I learned of a particularly entertaining moonbat colony called Dissident Voice, which purports to "provide hard hitting, thought provoking and even entertaining news and commentaries on politics and culture that can serve as ammunition in struggles for peace and social justice".

I no longer remember why Blair sent his readers to this web site, but I did become curious and so went straight to the "about" page, where I read the following biographical sketch of co-editor Kim Petersen

DV Co-Editor Kim Petersen is an average dude who enjoys scuba diving, working out, and advancing the struggle for a world based on principles of peaceful and equitable sharing and respect for the environment and life. He studied at universities in occupied British Columbia, Canada and Norway. He contributed "Western Imperialism and China" to the upcoming Alternative Atlas, which critiques imperialism around the world over the last 15 years, to be published by French editor Le Temps des Cerises in October 2005. His articles have appeared in various progressive media, and he has been a contributing writer to Dissident Voice since 2002. He can be reached at: kim@dissidentvoice.org. [link dropped, all bold mine]

Love that leftist mini-rant that follows "scuba diving, working out"! Everything is a speech to these people. And "occupied British Columbia"?!?! Occupied by whom? The Brits left long ago. And if this is supposed to be some kind of statement of solidarity with the American Indian population, why not call the rest of Canada "occupied"? Or does Canada (snicker) "occupy" British Columbia? He does list Canada separately, although whether he sees it, too, as "occupied" is open to debate. (And if Canada is not "occupied", is this but the tip of the iceberg of Canadian Imperialism soon to be revealed by the Alternative Atlas? What are those devious Canucks up to over there, anyway?)

It was that phrase "occupied British Columbia" that allowed me to google this bio so easily. But if this bio was so easy to find, it was because there seems to be nobody else on the planet who regards BC as "occupied". If you know of any such rumors, please point them out.

And the articles? Here are a couple of samples of what its editors consider to be "hard-hitting" commentary.

First, we have "Nukes: Iran and North Korea Are Not the Problem", where one Mickey Z is careful to ask, "What is the only nation to have used nuclear weapons (and have civilians been targeted)?" Unfortunately, he never bothers to ask why the United States used nuclear weapons in the first place.

Second, we have a more recent article, which implies that Israel my have played a role in the recent assassination of Pierre Gemayel of Lebanon. After making fun of anyone who falls for the bit about Syria -- of all nations -- being involved ("and this seems to clinch it for most observers"), it delivers this damning broadside:

Conversely, civil war may pose serious threats to Syrian interests -- and offer significant benefits to Israel. If Hizbullah's energies are seriously depleted in a civil war, Israel may be in a much better position to attack Lebanon again. Almost everyone in Israel is agreed that the Israeli army is itching to settle the score with Hizbullah in another round of fighting. This way it may get the next war it wants on much better terms; or Israel may be able to fight a proxy war against Hizbullah by aiding the Shiite group's opponents.

Never mentioned is the fact that the Party of God provoked the Israeli attack. Do I detect a pattern here?

In any event, Dissident Voice is so far out there that nearly every article will deliver gasps of unbelief if not audible laughter. I will grant that it is sometimes entertaining.

Russia Meddles

I am at a loss as to which of the following is most amazing: (1) the brazenness of Russia's recent exploits on the international stage, (2) the failure of nearly anyone in the mainstream media to "connect the dots", or (3) the fact that President Bush still regards Russia as a valuable ally against North Korea.

Consider what a quick Google News search turned up this morning: Russia has been selling enormous amounts of weaponry abroad, most notably to China with whom it is busily upgrading (probably military) satellite technology and Iran, whom it is helping develop not only a nuclear capability but also missile systems. Russia is also shipping air defense systems to Iran for its new nuclear plants.

In the meantime, Russia has possibly assassinated one of its former intelligence agents in England with polonium-210. Although Russians claim not to be involved -- using a logic reminiscent of that on the pages of the second Dissident Voice article linked above -- this story is the flashiest of the bunch, but ultimately, it seems the least important. In fact, one could argue that it is distracting many in the West from all the help Russia seems so fond of giving to the regimes in Iran and China lately.

Return of the Meanderthals?

Word Spy defines "meanderthal" as "A person who walks particularly slowly and aimlessly." You've encountered them before -- usually from behind in places like the mall when you're in a hurry.

What I am speaking of isn't really the same thing, but they remind me of meanderthals because of the great annoyance they cause me.

I'm talking about highway slow-pokes. To be more precise, I'm talking about self-righteous highway slow pokes.

"Huh?" most of my readers will probably ask.

The reason many of you will ask this question is that that old Democrat favorite, the 55 mile per hour speed limit, has been repealed so long that it is a distant memory if you remember it at all. I myself had only a few years' driving experience when that silly speed limit began disappearing from southern highways shortly after the Republicans took Congress and repealed it.

One thing I remember, though, was that every once in a while, before the repeal (and even afterwards for a time), I'd be merrily cruising around at 60 or 65 and have to just about slam my breaks. (You try driving 55 some time. But take something like No-Doze first.) Why? Because some idiot was driving at exactly 55 miles per hour and doing so in such a way that he just had to be "enforcing" the limit. This is, after all, Joe rank-and-file Democrat's chance to wield the same kind of petty authority that rude civil servants abuse over line-standers every day at such establishments as the Department of Public Safety or the Post Office.

Call me crazy, but I seem to have started encountering this again lately after the Democrats took control of Congress this November. Heck, there has even been noise (and long before the election, in fact) about bringing back that particular bit of silliness.

Ugh. All I can think at such encounters is something to the effect of, "Please. At least wait until the socialists are sworn in before you do that."

They're meanderthals to me, anyway.

-- CAV