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geek tragedy

geek tragedy's Journal
geek tragedy's Journal
November 21, 2015

Question submitted by geek tragedy

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November 20, 2015

GOP Rep. Bashes 'Xenophobic And Knee-Jerk' Rhetoric On Syrian Refugees

Source: Talking Points Memo

Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) delivered a speech on the House floor Wednesday tearing into his colleagues' push to restrict Syrian refugees' ability to come to the U.S., arguing that such policies will make the U.S. like the Islamic State.

"While I have focused my comments on actions we should take to eliminate ISIS, one action we should not take is to become like them. America is a lamp that lights the horizon of civilized and free mankind. The Statue of Liberty cannot have a stiff arm. Her arm must continue to keep the torch burning brightly," he said in his floor speech.

"But if we use our passions and our anger, fear, and we use that to snuff our her flame by xenophobic and knee-jerk policy, the enemy wins. We have played into their hands. Period," he continued.

...

"America protects her liberty and defends her shores not by punishing those who would be free. She does it by guarding liberty with her life. Americans need to sacrifice and wake up. We must not become them. They win if we give up who we are and even more-so without a fight," Russell said.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-russell-syrian-refugee-xenophobic



The last decent Republican in America?

(and I'm sure there are lots of horrid things in this guy's voting record, but credit where credit is due)
November 18, 2015

EU envoy: Comparing labeling to Holocaust cheapens memory

This is obviously true.

Comparing the labeling of settlement goods with anti-Jewish measures of the Nazis falsifies history and cheapens the memory of the Holocaust, the European Union’s envoy to Israel said Wednesday.

“I have been shocked to hear claims of anti-Semitism and historic comparisons or analogies to the persecution of Jews in Germany in the 1930s and 40s,” Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen said in Jerusalem. “In my view, this is a distortion of history and a belittlement of the crimes of the Nazis and of the memory of their victims.”

...

The EU is opposed to boycotts of Israel products, even if they originate in settlements, the ambassador said. But marking such goods as “Made in Israel” is incorrect even in the United States, he added. “It should also be incorrect from Israel’s point of view: After all, no Israeli government has ever claimed that the West Bank is part of Israel.”


http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-envoy-comparing-labeling-to-holocaust-cheapens-memory/

This is the second time in the past month wherein the Prime Minister of Israel has needed a lesson on the Holocaust from Europeans. Very bizarre situation.

November 18, 2015

Israel said to mull downgrading ties with Europeans over labels



The measures against the countries are expected to include reprimanding ambassadors of all 16 countries and limiting their contact with Israeli officials to meetings with low-level staffers, according to a Wednesday report in Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth

Jerusalem may also minimize the amount of expertise it shares with Europe on issues like fighting terror and dealing with migrants.

The countries are Britain, France, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Malta, Holland, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium and Finland.

The EU last week published guidelines on labeling Israeli products from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, drawing harsh condemnation from politicians, including some who said the measure was akin to anti-Semitism.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again lashed out at the decision, calling it “heinous” — a term usually reserved in diplomatic speech for violent crimes or terror attacks.


http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-mulling-downgrading-ties-with-europeans-over-labeling/

Israel is governed by crazy people.


November 17, 2015

Chris Christie: U.S. shouldn't let in Syrian orphans

Source: Politico

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie doesn’t want any Syrian refugees let into the United States — not even if they're orphaned toddlers.

“I don’t think orphans under 5 are being, you know, should be admitted into the United States at this point. But you know, they have no family here. How are we going to care for these folks?” Christie said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Monday.

“The fact is, you can come up with a number of different scenarios, Hugh. But in the end, I don’t trust this administration to effectively vet the people that they’re asking us to take in. We need to put the safety and security of the American people first,” Christie continued.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/chris-christie-syria-orphans-215952



never has a fall from grace been more deserved.
November 16, 2015

Despicable truthers use photos of four different women to ‘prove’ that Paris attacks were staged

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/despicable-truthers-use-photos-of-four-different-women-to-prove-that-paris-attacks-were-staged/

Note the names in bold font--some of them may seem familiar to some folks.

At Alex Jones’ conspiracy site, Infowars, editors are of two minds about the attacks. According to Paul Joseph Watson, the assault is just the beginning of future planned attacks if Syrian refugees are allowed into western countries. Joe Biggs states that the CIA and French intelligence met secretly before the attacks with a former Israeli security adviser and questions whether they knew about the attacks beforehand.

According to Before It’s News, “There are currently numerous explanations being offered for the alleged false flag terrorist attacks orchestrated in Paris on Friday the 13th. Each of them has their own merits and ought to be read very carefully.”

As evidence, the website published a collection of photos (seen below) of a woman they claim is a “crisis actor” crying in Paris who — they assert — is the same women seen crying following the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Sandy Hook, Connecticut — as well as being spotted crying following the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

“Can it possibly be the same crisis actor yet again?! SOTN posted the top photo because of how staged it looked, and then this photo montage was brought to our attention with the same professional crisis actress,” they write before adding, “There should be no doubt that the number one reason for the alleged Paris Terror attacks is to completely lock down Paris in order to totally control the upcoming “Climate Summit”. That’s not to say there aren’t other very significant purposes operating in the background, especially some quite stealthy geopolitical strategies involving the Middle East.”

At the Activist Post, nine reasons are given to question the events in Paris, including questioning developing news reports over how many terrorists were involved and whether they used automatic weapons or shotguns.

According to Brandon Turbeville, the false flag operation was created to increase support for the “security state.”

“Considering the fact that the security had been so heightened both on the heels of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the anticipation of disorder for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, how on earth did such a major terror attack slip through the hands of the DGSE?” he wrote. “After all, France is nothing if not a police state. It is also giving the United States a run for its money in the contest for how much information it is able to nab up on its citizens. No doubt, we will be sold the line of “pre-civilized savages outsmarted first-world high end military surveillance states.”

According to Paul Craig Roberts, the attack was part of a master plan by the Hollande government to undercut Marine Le Pen’s racist National Front Party.

“Realizing its vulnerability, it is entirely possible that the French Establishment made a decision to protect its hold on power with a false flag attack that would allow the Establishment to close France’s borders and, thereby, deprive Marine Le Pen of her main political issue,” he wrote.

Roberts added, “Considering the Western World’s long tradition of false flag orchestrations, the “terrorist attacks” in Paris could be the most recent manifestation.”


Vile, horrible creatures, not a whole lot better than the perps.

November 12, 2015

Scenes from a Marriage

The worst relationship between a U.S. president and an Israeli prime minister ever—as autopsied by the people closest to them.

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/bibi-obama/

Netanyahu has said that he and Obama are "like a married couple"— the implication being that they may not love each other, but that they’re stuck together in the same mutual endeavor. Over the past year, however, we have spoken to nearly 50 former and current officials in Israel and the United States, and their interpretations are far less charitable. They speak not only of a relationship that has soured irreparably, due to a string of miscalculations on both sides—but also of lasting damage to the Israeli-U.S. alliance.




Very long piece.
November 12, 2015

US OK with EU labeling rule for settlement goods

Bibi's charm offensive, not such a triumph


http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-ok-with-eu-labeling-rule-for-settlement-goods/

The Obama administration says it doesn’t consider a new European Union rule outlawing “Made in Israel” tags on goods from the West Bank as a boycott of the Jewish state, only a technical guideline for consumers.

The US clarification of its position comes a day after the decision by the EU, which applies to goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“We do not believe that labeling the origin of products is equivalent to a boycott,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner says. “And as you know, we do not consider settlements to be part of Israel. We do not view labeling the origin of products as being from the settlements as a boycott of Israel.”



November 11, 2015

Thank you, Ted Cruz.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-moderate

Sen. Marco Rubio's (R-FL) presidential campaign brushed off repeated, yet subtle, accusations of being a moderate from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after Tuesday's Republican debate in Milwaukee.

Rubio's campaign manager Terry Sullivan told Bloomberg Politics that calling the freshman senator a moderate was "ridiculous."

It's crazy," Sullivan told Bloomberg. "Absolutely, positively most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. Marco Rubio is the conservative's conservative."


This is his version of "severely conservative."

November 11, 2015

Israel suspends dialogue with EU over product labeling

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely says Israel will suspend diplomatic dialogue with the EU for the coming weeks following the decision to label products produced in territories captured during the 1967 war.

“The double standard with which the union treats Israel is incomprehensible,” says a top official at the Foreign Ministry.

Lars Faaborg Andersen, the EU ambassador to Israel, was called for a reprimand at the Foreign Ministry following the decision.


http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-suspends-dialogue-with-eu-over-product-labeling/

Being excused from having to deal with Netanyahu, Danny Danon and Tzipi Hotovely sounds more like a gift than a punishment. Lots of Israelis would take that deal.



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