Aszilvasy

While researching another item, I came across a Townhall column written by Michelle Malkin in 2002, a couple years before she published her book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror. As you read her argument, imagine how it would have felt to do so as one of the tens of thousands of Iraqi Americans living in the United States.

She began:

How many of Saddam Hussein's sleeper terrorists are waiting dormant in the United States to retaliate against us when the War on Iraq begins? The Bush administration has begun to monitor Iraqis inside our country to identify potential domestic terrorist threats posed by sympathizers of the Baghdad regime, according to The New York Times. But while the new intelligence program is tracking thousands of Iraqi citizens and Iraqi-Americans with dual citizenship who are attending our universities or working at private corporations, there is no indication of what federal authorities are doing to locate the untold numbers of illegal aliens from Iraq who have streamed across our open borders. More than 115,000 people from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries are here illegally. Some 6,000 Middle Eastern men who have defied deportation orders remain on the loose. And an international crime ring, led by Iraqi native George Tajirian, demonstrates the scope of the alarming problem of potential terrorists pressing at our southern gate.

Columns like this are seldom revisited a decade later, given that they are totally devoid of value, but it's clarifying to look back, because there's no need to argue that her fearmongering was wrongheaded -- it can be stated as a fact that no dormant sleeper cells retaliated after the war began; that dual citizens posed virtually no problem, if any; that Iraqi illegal immigrants did not menace the American people; and that their having slipped across the border made virtually no difference.

Malkin just worked herself and who knows how many of her readers up into a pointless, paranoid frenzy about an ethnic minority on the eve of a war against the hated dictator they escaped.

Why J.J. Abrams's sci-fi experience may be exactly what the "Star Wars" franchise doesn't need.

CAITY WEAVER | Gawker

A 20-year-old Greek soccer player has been banned for life from Greece's national teams for throwing up a Nazi salute after scoring a game-winning goal on Saturday.

Giorgos Katidis maintains he didn't know what the Nazi salute meant, and was merely pointing at a teammate in the stands. (Hitler.) According to the Guardian, he described himself as "not a fascist" on Twitter before deleting his account.

Katidis' coach Ewald Lienen (incidentally: a German) defended his player's total lack of self-awareness, historical knowledge, and general brainpower, saying it was very likely that this adult human being who had grown up in the world had no idea what a Nazi salute looked like or stood for.

What "most likely" happened, according to Lienen, is that Katidis saw a picture of the move on the Internet one night while performing a Google Image search for "cool moves to do --no context," then blindly copied it.

"He is a young kid who does not have any political ideas. He most likely saw such a salute on the internet or somewhere else and did it without knowing what it means."

In other words: Katidis doesn't even know if he's a Nazi yet.

Unfortunately, Greece's national soccer federation, the EPO, isn't giving the (now former) AEK Athens player any time to make up his mind on that one. They've already released a statement banning Katidis from the federation for life:

"The player's action to salute to spectators in a Nazi manner is a severe provocation, insults all the victims of Nazi bestiality and injures the deeply pacifist and human character of the game."

To help you avoid blunders like this, here's a quick refresher on how to point to a friend:

1. Extend one arm in the direction of your friend and (IMPERATIVE) fold all of your fingers except the index into a fist.
2. Use the index finger to pinpoint the location of your friend.
3. Don't salute the Führer.

[Guardian // Image via AP]

Gawker dishes the nation's most current and cutting gossip across media, entertainment, technology, and business. Founded in 2002 and namechecked frequently in mainstream publications, the site is essential reading for those who want big media hypocrisy debunked and faux-sincerity exposed, all with a healthy dose of snark.

TAYLOR BERMAN | Gawker

Remember when conservative comedian and Fox News contributor Steven Crowder was punched in the face by a union activist outside a Michigan protest? Crowder made a big deal about it, even going so far as to challenge the protester to a "legal, sanctioned mixed martial arts bout." Then came the unsurprising revelation that the video was misleadingly edited to make Crowder look like an innocent, if obnoxious, victim.

That heavily edited video, which Fox News themselves released, is the reason why, on Monday, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III announced he will not press charges against the protester, who Dunnings said was trying to defend himself.

"It's pretty clear the person that they wanted to charge was acting in self-defense," Dunnings said of the union member who apparently slugged Crowder.

...

Dunnings questioned why Crowder didn't initially provide that original footage to Dunnings' office.

"I'm not holding that against him, but why would they provide the edited video? The longer video clearly shows the guy got pushed down and came up swinging," Dunnings said.

Dunnings's decision was based on the state police's investigation, which reviewed both the edited and unedited versions of the video.

Crowder didn't respond to requests for comment from the Lansing State Journal or The Detroit News. But earlier this month, however, he did publish another insightful and hilarious column on how to deal with husbands badmouthing their wives.

Here's my challenge to the real men out there; it's very simple. If you have a good marriage, talk about it. If you love your wife, say it. If some moron tells you that you're merely a "newlywed" or that you're still just "too young to understand," correct them. Openhanded slaps to the face are preferable.

[Detroit News/Lansing State Journal]

Gawker dishes the nation's most current and cutting gossip across media, entertainment, technology, and business. Founded in 2002 and namechecked frequently in mainstream publications, the site is essential reading for those who want big media hypocrisy debunked and faux-sincerity exposed, all with a healthy dose of snark.

By Patrick O'Riley,Natural Disastronauts,Cracked Sketch Competition  Published: March 20th, 2013  Congratulations to Patrick O'Riley for winning this month's competition! Enter the new competition here!

The founder of a Florida-based nonprofit is determined to wave gay pride in Westboro Baptist Church’s face — and he’s a lot closer than you may think.

Aaron Jackson, the 31-year-old founder of the charity Planting Peace, has long considered himself a gay rights advocate, but says he never knew quite how to get involved in LGBT activism. But then he read about Josef Miles, a nine-year-old who staged his own counter-protest against the notorious Westboro Baptist Church by simply holding up a small sketchpad that read “God Hates No One.”

That’s where Jackson got the idea to formally fight back against Westboro’s hateful activism:

“I didn’t know anything about the church or where they were located, but that story kept popping up. And one night I wondered, Where is this church? I got on Google Earth, and I was ‘walking down the road,’ and I did a 360 view. And I saw a ‘For Sale’ sign sitting in the front yard of a house. Right away it hit me, Oh my gosh, I could buy a house in front of the WBC! And immediately I thought: And I’m going to paint that thing the color of the pride flag.“

Wasting no time, Planting Peace bought a house across from the Westboro Baptist Church compound in Topeka, Kansas for about $83,000. The independent church is infamous for protesting military funerals and picketing around the country with such colorful messages as “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” and the compound stands complete with a “God Hates America” banner and an upside-down flag.

But Jackson was determined to spruce up his new place, despite its unsightly neighbors. He rallied some volunteers to paint the house in rainbow colors and hoist a gay pride flag from a 30-foot flagpole. Planting Peace has dubbed the place Equality House, and it will serve as a resource center for the nonprofit’s LGBT equality and anti-bullying initiatives.

“We want this house to be a message that where there’s hate, there’s also love. But we also want to raise awareness and capital, and we want to put all that money into creating and sustaining anti-bullying programs, along with supporting anti-bullying programs that already exist,” he said. “Beyond the symbolic message of the home, [the house] will be utilized by volunteers to live here, and these volunteers will work on promoting equality anywhere in the world and managing these anti-bullying initiatives that we plan on creating.”

As this story continues to go viral, lots of commenters have said Jackson’s efforts are misguided, and that Westboro will only benefit from the enhanced media coverage this story has created. But he says that doesn’t matter:

“The media has already given them such a huge platform, and I don’t see that stopping,” he said. “We’re taking the energy that’s being poured into them and turning it into something positive. This is how we plan on playing it: Use their energy and let’s turn it into something incredibly positive for the LGBT community.”

I agree completely. As long as Westboro is around, we need to show them we won’t take any of their bullying. Especially for the LGBT kids of Topeka who have grown up around this church — and there have to be some — this project proves that acceptance, equality and love are still out there.

I guess today's sequestration faux-controversy was about the White House easter egg roll. Meanwhile, out of Minnesota, here's a piece about how sequestration cuts are impacting schools on Native American reservations even as ordinary public schools haven't yet seen much impact. That's because reservation schools rely disproportionately on a federal funding base, so the cuts to them are larger and the impact harder to disguise by shuffling money.

The article also helpfully clarifies one reason why sequestration doesn't have a dramatic pop to it. They explain that "school officials on reservations across the state have already slashed this year’s budgets in antici­pation of sequester cuts, packing more students in classrooms, trimming class offerings and letting vacant jobs go unfilled." All told, apparent GOP willingness to swallow sequestration cuts in military spending has rendered the whole thing ineffective as a negotiating tool. But people shouldn't mistake that for a lack of impact.

Last night, I tweeted a link to this bizarre shooting story, out of Alaska: