The most alarming thing about Herman Cain’s “suspension” of his presidential campaign is what it took to drag him off the stage. It wasn’t his cruelty, sexism, arrogance or rank ignorance about the world. But it should have been. Herman Cain advocated electrifying a border fence to fry Mexicans sneaking across the border. Cain predicted […]
Archives for December 2011
Israeli Ads against Marriage with American Jews are Part of a Population War
The Israeli government has been forced to withdraw advertisements aimed at Israeli-Americans, urging them to return to Israel and to refrain from marrying American Jews (depicted as ignorant of and distant from Israel). Here is Aljazeera English’s video report on the ads: Why would the Israeli government bite the hand that feeds it, and risk […]
FBI Using “Community Outreach” events to Spy on Americans
I sometimes talk to Muslim audiences. There is often an FBI agent in the audience and sometimes an ACLU representative. Maz Jobrani suggested at one such event that everyone else leave and let the two of them talk. Now it turns out that the agents often are there gathering information on participants and storing it, […]
Senate Bill Allows Arrest of Americans by Military Anywhere
The Senate passed a war expenses appropriation bill on Thursday that appears to hold out the possibility that the military could be ordered to arrest and hold an American citizen anywhere in the world (including the US) without trial and indefinitely. Senator Lindsey Graham insisted that the move is necessary so that information can be […]
Tomgram: Engelhardt, Into the Whirlwind
He was 22, a corporal in the Marines from Preston, Iowa, a “city” incorporated in 1890 with a present population of 949. He died in a hospital in Germany of “wounds received from an explosive device while on patrol in Helm…
Britain Closes Tehran Embassy
The British government has closed its embassy in Tehran and given Iranian diplomats two days to depart the UK. London has not severed diplomatic relations with Iran, but has reduced them to the lowest level possible without a break. Some other European countries have followed suit. Apparently the angry students and other forces suspected the […]