Theo Spark

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

News.........

Australia's pesky populace

Shooting 45s

What in the hell is going on here? the libyan air force? why "preserve" it as an asset, if the regime was at stake?

UK 'may keep both aircraft carriers'

NATO covert guidance steered Libyan rebel gains

BLACKFIVE: Chuck Mawhinney - Someone You Should Know

What's Newt's Real Beef with Campaign Coverage?

Libya’s Rebels Unhappy with Russia and China

American Pie

Will R2P become NMP

Peshmerga in Diyala move in coordination with Iraqi forces and under U.S. supervision

Bull semen spill shuts down US highway

Investor hopes for QE3 rescue may be dashed, traders say

Some gold bulls say it's time to cash in

Moody's cuts Japan rating one notch to Aa3

Analysis: Can Israel count on Germany

God particle may not exist after all, say experts

GOP's Paul Ryan should run for president

How Islam is trying to destroy the United States

Obama’s ineligibility: Prepare to defend America–Perp walk Obama out of the White House

Death by Amnesty -- Illegal alien on bail kills four

Shameless legislators line up for shutdown pay

Gold hits $1,913 an ounce

Restoring Courage

Iran’s Strategy To Annihilate The Jewish State

Obama's vacation: Exercise, economics

Israeli Tech Start-up Develops New Solar Window

The true about Islam

Qadaffi's End? And What Will Replace Him?

Live Free Or Die Hard

Mark Levin – Is That The Act Of A Dictator?

THE ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW - Susan Daniels -Private Eye

The Boys of Iwo Jima.

Libya: rebel fighters take control of Gaddafi compound

Libya: Britain prepares to send team to help with stability plan

Libya: Gaddafi regime could unleash chemical weapons stockpile

Libya: Col Gaddafi vows death or victory

Iran shows UN advanced nuclear equipment

UN to investigate 'crimes against humanity’ in Syria

China 'set to launch rival to International Space Station'

Red Arrows: mystery 'flash seen on plane's underside just before crash'

Kim Jong Il and his bullet-proof train annoy locals on rare Siberia visit

Mexican smugglers dig tunnel under US border

Syria's Bloody Ramadan: Running from the Ghosts of Damascus

Resentment in the North: Rich EU Members Lose Patience with the 'Olive Zone'

and finally.........

10 Common Uses of Encryption on the Web

DaleyGator DaleyThought: Sharia has no place in our courts

Planes TV: RAFA Shoreham Airshow 2011 Highlights

Wednesday Wenches..............

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

By Alan Caruba

I was a young working journalist during the era of the Civil Rights movement and one evening I was covering a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the campus of Drew University in Madison, NJ. I was accompanied by Vivian Braxton, a civil rights activist who said, “Let’s go backstage and meet him” when the speech was finished.

Backstage, Dr. King stood alone while others stood at a respectful distance, afraid to approach him, so overwhelmed by the power of his words and personality. Vivian, however, headed straight for him with myself in tow. My first reaction was that he was shorter than I had thought and my second was a smile that was an embrace.

I introduced myself as a freelance journalist who was there to cover the speech for a local black newspaper and Dr. King found that very amusing. We chatted briefly and I tucked away a great moment in my memory, never anticipating that he would fall victim to an assassin’s bullet or that, years later, a Washington, D.C. memorial would be created in his honor.

Opened to the public on August 19, a statue of Dr. King stands thirty feet tall and in an irony that boggles the mind, was carved in China, the work of a Chinese sculptor, working in an Orwellian, totalitarian society.

It is also one of the most hideous works of “art” imaginable for anyone who recalls the times and the character of a man who said, “I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I am interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.”

The statue depicts a scowling figure, his face fixed with the look of every despot whose statue is intended to instill fear or awe in those who gaze upon it. His arms are crossed over his chest as if protecting himself or preparing to pass a harsh judgment.

It is hideous because it completely obliterates the gentleness of Dr. King, the heart that strove against injustice. The awfulness of the statue reminded me of another of his quotes, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

I have no idea what the memorial committee had in mind when it sanctioned this statue, but I have little doubt that Dr. King would have been mortified by it. He was a man who, on that long ago evening on the Drew University campus, greeted Vivian and me with a big smile in the midst of a great struggle to secure the rights of blacks in America.

In these times in which Arabs in Syria, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia have put their lives on the line to overthrow their tyrants, Dr. King had anticipated that human aspiration saying, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

So, now, on a four-acre site on the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, a huge intimidating statue stands where a life-size statue would have permitted visitors to marvel at the power of love over hate, morality over oppression, and the struggle for justice that is the birthright of all men and women.

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking,” warned Dr. King. “There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

Dr, King’s life was devoted to making all Americans think about the kind of society, the kind of nation, in which they wanted to live.

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.”

The memorial will be dedicated on August 28 by President Barack Obama, a man who was elected more for the color of his skin, than the content of his character. The date marks the 48th anniversary of Dr. King’s speech, “I have a dream”, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Dr. King surely would be appalled that young blacks would be rioting in the streets of American cities, looting, attacking people, nearly a half century after the achievement of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts for which he gave his life.

I think he would have been appalled by a thirty-foot-tall statue that resembles those of tyrants like Mao tse Tung, Stalin, or Saddam Hussein.

For my part, the King Memorial completely misses his message of humility combined with tenacity, of spirituality linked to non-violent struggle, of faith that great wrongs can be put right by people of faith and of courage.

© Alan Caruba, 2011

NewsBusted 8/23/11

MEDITATIONS ON THE LONDON RIOTS . . .

Sean Linnane explores the myths of gun control, and contrasts & compares the U.K. riots to the 1992 Rodney King riots of Los Angeles . . .

. . . . . . . . . . STORMBRINGER

Cartoon Round Up....

Israeli Boys & Their Toys............by Dan Friedman

In the aftermath of this weekend’s Sinai attack, Israel has reverted to its old mindset, settling for the status quo ante and signaling her enemies, and her own citizens, that she has no intention of exacting a real price for flagrant Arab aggression - all the while, burying her dead.

Not that it will come as a surprise to the people of Israel. For years, Israeli authorities have offered them hardened roofs, new and improved bomb shelters, and now “Iron Dome” as a substitute for actually destroying the enemy’s ability to wage war. There is always a president to placate, a delicate diplomatic situation, or a “process” to protect that takes precedence over safeguarding the lives of the Israeli people.

That is not the the way a real country acts. For one thing, it encourages Israel’s enemies and as a tactic it’s entirely futile. The terrorist front arrayed against Israel isn’t standing still. They adapt and develop their own workarounds to defeat whatever Israel throws up against them. Then they reset for their next onslaught assured that Israel will fight without following through and they will live to murder Jews again another day.

Military razzle dazzle is a poor substitute for victory.

Israeli defense sources: Gaza terror groups changing tactics to avoid Iron Dome system

Dan Friedman
NYC