The Signature Moral Issue of Our Time

From Melanie Phillips, "A Terrible Resonance" (via Blazing Cat Fur):

Religious fascism as thus displayed by Arabs from Ramallah to Gaza City is bad enough. But it is the evil that now consumes Britain and the west which so completely chills the heart and prompts a terrible despair. For such moral blindness and worse means that, facing the heirs of the Nazis, the Jews once again find themselves abandoned, their victimisation once again dismissed and themselves once again blamed for their own persecution. Listen to the BBC, read the British newspapers or the New York Times, read the vicious readers’ comments on so many websites (including this one) and you will see that the blind eye to deranged racism and totalitarian mass murder that paved the way for so much slaughter under Nazism and Stalinism is rampant once again, showing us once more that civilisation is merely a thin veneer for barbarism.

In the face of this crisis of western civilisation and its chilling implications for the Jewish people, Israel itself is worse than useless. This is because -- contrary to the brutish power ascribed to it by its enemies -- Israel is pathologically timid. And so, even when faced with the terrifying consequences for its own security from the moral inversion of the west, it has chosen to stay silent.

It does not say what it should be shouting from the rooftops, that it is being forced by Britain, America and Europe to cut its own throat and that it refuses to do so; that it stands for truth, justice and international law while Britain, America and the EU stand for their negation; that it is not Israel but these western powers that are the cause of the Middle East impasse, because from the get-go the more the Arabs massacred the Jews the more Britain and the west rewarded them and punished their Jewish victims, a pattern which continues to this day.

The question now has to be asked of every person in Britain and the west who promotes the boycott of Israel, or wears the keffiyeh in solidarity with the ‘Palestinians’, or so obsessively demonises the ‘settlers’ or ‘apartheid’ Israel, or makes vicious comments at the dinner tables of the elite about the bloody Jews and shitty Israel, why these ‘enlightened’ folk turn a blind eye to the slaughter of infants as they sleep, and assist Jew-hating fanatics in their racist aim of destroying Israel and denying to the Jews alone the right to live in their own historic country – and all because Israel is reluctant to reward these fanatics by giving them the territory from where they can finally achieve their murderous aims. These ‘progressives’ need to be outed for what they are – the fellow-travellers of psychotic religious fascism.

Israel is the signature moral issue of our time. Which side people choose to be on in the Arab and Muslim war against Israel tells us whether they are on the side of truth, justice and basic humanity – or the side of evil. The sickening response to the slaughter of the Fogel family shows us all too horrifyingly which side the west is on.

Legacy of Hiroshima Heightens Fears in Japan

As we discussed the earthquake and tsunami on Monday in class, I noted that Japan was the world's only country that had previously faced a nuclear holocaust. The potential (and now real) meltdown of nuclear reactors there has an enormous historical significance for the Japanese, beyond the comprehension or experience of any other nation. At WSJ, "Hiroshima's Legacy Heightens Fears":

TOKYO—Mikiso Iwasa was 16 years old when the atomic bomb struck Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. He was in the backyard of his house, a little less than a mile away from ground zero. He was smashed onto the ground by the force of the bomb.

Mr. Iwasa escaped, but the deadly effects of radiation caught up with him later: He suffered from skin cancer twice as well as prostate cancer. He lost his hair. His nose and gums bled. He developed rashes all over his body.

For the only country ever to have experienced the atomic bomb and the horrific effects of concentrated radiation exposure, the nuclear crisis escalating in Japan has had a crippling effect on the nation's collective psyche.

As the World Looks Away...

A thoughtful and acutely urgent essay, from Zilla of the Resistance, "Don't Let Them Sweep this Horror Under the Rug":

Please, do not let what happened to these people be forgotten, do not allow the media to get away with whitewashing the islamist slaughter of innocents. The MSM won't honestly report on what is happening, or why, so it falls to the rest of us. Get on your blogs, your Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, write/email/call fax news agencies and do not let this horror be ignored.

Remember what happened the last time the world looked the other way as Jews were massacred? Think it can't happen again? Well people back then thought that it could never happen in the first place.

Lots more at the link.

Silicone Snake Death Photoshoot: Israeli Jewish Model Orit Fox

At London's Daily Mail, fulsome coverage of the snake attack on model Orit Fox in Israel, "Snake dies from silicone poisoning after biting model's breast during photoshoot." The story's getting more coverage than the Fogel family killings, and that's not just at Daily Mail. Turns out the press likes large Jewish breasts. Jewish settlers. Not so much. See Closet Conservative: "New Seekrit Zionist Weapon of Massive Boobie Destruction."

HAT TIP: Blazing Cat Fur: "Decapitated Jewish babies? Nowhere."

Danny Ayalon, Israel Deputy Foreign Minister, Statement on Itamar Massacre

From an interview with Seth Mandel, at Big Peace:

Ayalon said the brutal stabbing of a Jewish family in Itamar in their sleep cannot be looked at in a vacuum, but is more evidence that without true recognition, the delegitimization of Israel and the ubiquitous incitement in Palestinian media reinforces an environment of violence that will only continue if this atmosphere of hatred isn’t reformed:

“So of course when we talk about the fact that we would like the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or the homeland of the Jews, it’s something which is more than symbolic. It’s not just something that is verbally pronounced. It’s something which is very deep. Because if we sign a peace treaty between the Israeli people and the Palestinians, it also must reflect the end of the conflict, and the end of the claims. And so long as they claim the entire land, and we see it through a systematic incitement through a systematic culture which talks about the Israelis, the Jews as colonialists that do not deserve a state, that came here from… Europe, deny 3,500 years of Jewish history and presence here. And of course glorification of terrorists. But so long as they do not accept in the fullest meaning that we are here by our own right–they are not doing any favor to us by recognizing this–then we have a problem.”

More at the link above.

Occupy Michigan!

What have I warned?!!

These are not protests or sleepovers! They're militant anarcho-communist occupations!

At The Michigan Messenger, "Activists Confirm Plans to Peacefully Take Capitol":

A group of Michigan activists has confirmed that it plans to stage a protest in the state Capitol building at 4 p.m. today.

Lance Enderle, a former Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 8th Congressional district, confirmed moments ago that he is leading the protest.

“We are planning to exercise our free speech rights in a non-violent way,” Enderle said. “We will take the Rotunda, and we are not leaving.”

The Capitol building closes at 5:30 p.m. and officials have told Michigan Messenger that anyone remaining in the building after 5:30 will be given a 10 minute warning to leave. If they don’t leave, Michigan State Police troopers could eject them or arrest them for trespassing.

Turns out that the ...

... protesters were kicked out around 5:45 this afternoon, but many of them are sitting down and refusing to leave, yelling, “This is a war on the middle class!”

Right.

So much for that big "occupation." See, "Tuesday Capitol protests anti-climatic: Crowd disperses once threatened with arrest."

But communist Michael Moore is undeterred, with plans for a big event tomorrow night, "Letter to My Fellow Michiganders":

Please show up at noon on Wednesday for our first mega-rally against this insanity. Hundreds of groups are already organizing car pools and buses. You can right now just declare yourself an organizer and get your friends and neighbors committed to being in Lansing. If ever there were a day to call in sick, Wednesday is it (because this IS sick). Students, if ever there were a day to cut class and become a participant in your democracy, Wednesday is it. This event needs to be HUGE -- and I believe it will be if you will simply be there and take a stand.

Gotta love it. Have public employees call in sick when they're not sick, and students will be truants as well as participants. Progressives just want to overthrow the entire legal and moral realm.

That is sick.

Anti-Semitism at UC Santa Cruz

Impossible!

Not.

See SantaCruz.com (via Instapundit). The U.S. Department of Education is looking into it:

The investigation comes in the wake of a 2009 complaint by lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin. Rossman-Benjamin, who teaches Hebrew on campus, has also published a paper titled “Anti-Zionism and the Abuse of Academic Freedom: A Case Study at the University of California, Santa Cruz.” According to her, no other group on campus has been subjected to “such hostile and demonizing criticism” as Jewish students.

And from that paper, published at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs:

Over the past several years, faculty members at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) have injected anti-Zionist rhetoric into their courses and departmentally-sponsored events. For example, a community-studies class designed to train social activists was taught by an instructor who described herself in her online syllabus as an activist with the "campaign against the Apartheid Wall being built in Palestine," and whose recommended readings included such unreferenced statements as: "Israeli massacres are often accompanied by sexual assault, particularly of pregnant women as a symbolic way of uprooting the children from the mother, or the Palestinian from the land."

The previous summer, the same lecturer taught a community-studies course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which she used the class email list to encourage students to participate in a demonstration against Israel's "destructive actions" in Lebanon and Gaza outside the Israeli consulate in San Francisco. UCSC students also report that some professors insert into class lectures anti-Israel or anti-Zionist materials unrelated to the course, as when a full class period in a course on women's health activism was devoted to a lecture on the allegedly ruthless treatment of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers.

At the departmental level, since 2001 more than a dozen events dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been sponsored by a number of UCSC departments and research centers, and all of these have been biased against Israel.

Nope. No anti-Semitism here. Nothing to see. Move along.

Baby Hadas Fogel Beheaded! — Palestinians and Progressive Terror-Enablers Deny Responsibility for the Attack!!

The depths of evil just got deeper.

Claire Berlinski reports, "Writing in Cold Blood About Itamar" (via Pundit & Pundette):

We went yesterday to Itamar, the West Bank settlement where Udi and Ruth Fogel, and their children--Yoav, age 11, Elad, age 4, and Hadas, their 3-month-old daughter--were murdered. A detail that wasn't widely reported, or reported anywhere that I've seen, is that their newborn baby was decapitated.

And see Aaron Worthing's post, "The Hate That Killed Hadas Fogel":

It is fashionable in some circles to excuse Palestinian terrorism as being motivated by injustice ... The murder of babies gives lie to the claim that Palestinian terror is motivated in their violence by anything but jew hate, pure, simple and ugly.

Word.

See also Bret Stephens, "Are Israeli Settlers Human?":

Unquestionably pleased are residents of the Palestinian town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, who "hit the streets Saturday to celebrate the terror attack" and "handed out candy and sweets," according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The paper quoted one Rafah resident saying the massacre was "a natural response to the harm settlers inflict on the Palestinian residents in the West Bank." Just what kind of society thinks it's "natural" to slit the throats of children in their beds?

The answer: The same society that has named summer camps, soccer tournaments and a public square in Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi, a Palestinian woman who in March 1978 killed an American photographer and hijacked a pair of Israeli buses, leading to the slaughter of 37 Israeli civilians, 13 children among them.

I have a feeling that years from now Palestinians will look back and wonder: How did we allow ourselves to become that? If and when that happens—though not until that happens—Palestinians and Israelis will at long last be able to live alongside each other in genuine peace and security.

But I also wonder whether a similar question will ever occur to the Palestinian movement's legion of fellow travelers in the West. To wit, how did they become so infatuated with a cause that they were willing to ignore its crimes—or, if not quite ignore them, treat them as no more than a function of the supposedly infinitely greater crime of Israeli occupation?

That's an important question because it forms part of the same pattern in which significant segments of Western opinion cheered Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and Robert Mugabe and even Pol Pot. The cheering lasted just as long as was required to see the cause through to some iconic moment of triumph, and then it was on to the next struggle. It was left to others to pick up the pieces or take to the boats or die choking in their own blood.

Right.

Western progressives cheer socialist butchers and give pass to the most heinous totalitarian crimes imaginable. These are crimes against humanity. So objectively bad, in fact, that Palestinians and their progressive pro-terror enablers have launched a campaign of denial, declaiming any Palestinian responsibility for the attack. See Jerusalem Post, "PA-linked sites: 'Foreign worker behind Itamar killings'." See also Jew-hating Max Blumenthal and the communist-backed Mondoweiss:

Everyone is rushing to condemn the gruesome murder of a family in the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar. Even President Barack Obama felt compelled to offer his “unequivocal condemnation” of the murders. For what it’s worth (very little), I offer my own denunciation of the killings. Murdering kids can not be justified on any human level. However, even if the motives of the killer seem obvious to everyone, journalists covering the incident must be reminded there is no hard evidence that a Palestinian terrorist committed the crime. No viable armed faction has taken credit, and Israeli police are even treating Thai workers as suspects.

Itamar is heavily guarded, surrounded by an electrified fence, and monitored 24/7 by a sophisticated system of video surveillance. Yet there is no video of the killer. Like it or not, until the identity of the killer is confirmed, the murder can only be described by journalists as an “alleged terror attack.” Legitimate outrage is no excuse to flout the basics of journalism 101.

Pro-terrorist Max Blumenthal conveniently neglects to mention that Fatah's militant wing claimed responsibility for the attack: "Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Claims Responsibility for Terror Attack on Israeli Family…" And rival Palestinian terrorists Hamas issued a celebratory approval of the killings: "Hamas Praises Savage Attack on Jewish Settlers in Arabic, Denies Responsibility in English." Now there's massive backtracking and repudiation of responsibility, but to any honest, decent thinking person there's no question about what happened. The horror is only magnified by the silence of the world community, as Mark Steyn notes at his essay, "Dead Jews Is No News." And see also Caroline Glick, "Three Jewish Children":

The enlightened peoples of Europe, and growing numbers of Americans, have no interest in hearing or seeing anything that depicts Jews as good people, or even just as regular people. It is not that the cultured, intellectual A-listers in Europe and America share the Palestinians’ genocidal hatred of the Jewish people.

The powerful newspaper editors, television commentators, playwrights, fashion designers, filmmakers and professors don’t spend time thinking about how to prepare the next slaughter. They don’t teach their children from the time they are Hadas and Elad Fogel’s ages that they should strive to become mass murderers. They would never dream of doing these things. They know there is a division of labor in contemporary anti-Semitism.

The job of the intellectual luminaries in Western high society today is to hate Jews the old-fashioned way, the way their greatgrandparents hated Jews back in the days of the early 20th century before that villain Adolf Hitler gave Jewhating a bad name.

And I'm still waiting for the activist left's denunciation of the murders. We've had faux-denunciations and febrile hand-wringing. But as I've pointed out previously, it's been mostly silence on the left. Why speak up when mass murders help your cause?

Progressives Think They Gained Momentum in Wisconsin — They Should Think Again

I wasn't able to get to it earlier, but there were a few huzzahs on the left over the size of last weekends latest protest in Madison. Was the crowd size 100,000? Impressive. But the comparison to the tea party falls flat. Conservatives have set the new standard for a sustained populist movement, and it's about returning to core values, not about confiscating other people's money. I'll have more on all of this. But meanwhile, Mona Charen writes, "Who Won In Wisconsin?"

Who won the battle of Wisconsin? Republican governor Scott Walker got a legislative victory. On the other hand, Democrats, with a wary eye on 2012 and noting the worrying drop in support for President Obama in union-heavy states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, claim to be delighted that Governor Walker has picked this fight. “Republicans have done organized labor a great favor by putting the movement back in [the] labor movement, creating a level of passion and activism for workers’ rights that hasn’t been seen in generations,” crowed Democratic strategist Mike Lux.

Maybe so. Though the three-week tantrum by union protesters in Madison (which escalated to harassment of Republican legislators by the Party of Civility), along with the flight of Democratic legislators to Illinois may well offend more Americans than it energizes ....

During the last election cycle, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) contributed $90 million to Democratic candidates. In 2006, then New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine addressed a rally of 10,000 public employees in Trenton, declaring “We will fight for a fair contract.” Corzine was supposed to be management. With whom was he fighting?

The answer, as even Democratic governors like Andrew Cuomo and Jerry Brown are discovering is — other middle-class people, i.e. the taxpayers. The taxpayers are the ones left holding the bag when elected officials team up with public-sector unions. Middle-class taxpayers, only 65 percent of whom have access to retirement plans, are picking up the tab for the 90 percent of government employees who do. Nearly 70 percent of lower-wage government workers receive health benefits, compared with only 38 percent of private-sector workers.

Many state workers avail themselves of the option to retire in their early to mid 50s at nearly full pay. If they were New Jersey teachers, they can collect free health benefits for life ...

RTWT.

More later ...

Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Catastrophe as Workers Flee Plant!

The front image at the New York Times' homepage includes an overhead picture with the caption, "The worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl explosion in 1986 is unfolding in northern Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant ..." The article link is here. See also Telegraph UK, "Japan crisis: third explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant" (via Memeorandum).

A fresh explosion rocked Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant on Tuesday and some workers were ordered to leave the site, a sign that the situation may be getting more serious.

Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism — State of the News Media 2011

The Pew report is here, "Overview." (And click through to the longer, detailed overview, which is fascinating.) And from the key findings:

Digital: In December 2010, 41% of Americans cited the internet as the place where they got “most of their news about national and international issues,” up 17% from a year earlier. When it came to any kind of news, 46% of people now say they get news online at least three times a week, surpassing newspapers (40%) for the first time. Only local TV news is a more popular platform in America now (50%). The new wild card in digital is mobile. A new survey released as part of the State of the News Media find finds that 47% of Americans now say they get some kind of local news on mobile devices such as cellphones or other wireless devices (such as iPads). As of January 2011, just 7% of Americans owned electronic tablets, according to our new survey, but that is nearly double from four months prior; and 6% of American adults have e-readers.

A summary of the findings is at LAT, "For the first time, more people got news from the Web than newspapers in 2010, Pew report says."

NYT chooses a different angle, NPR viability: "At NPR, Strong Journalism and Weak Management": After discussing the key findings, NYT announces:

Amid all that creative destruction, there was a one large traditional news organization that added audience, reporters and revenue. That unlikely juggernaut was NPR.

Isn't that great. NPR gets a crutch from the far-left New York Times. Wonders never cease. Good thing too, since the folks at National Palestinian Radio are pushing back against the O'Keefe investigation, pushing back hard: "NPR: O'Keefe 'Inappropriately Edited' Video; Exec's Words Still 'Egregious'," and "Elements Of NPR Gotcha Video Taken Out of Context" (at Memeorandum). And more from Lindsay Beyerstein, "James O'Keefe and Journalistic Malpractice." This is like calling the fire truck after the house has burned to the ground. No need to watch the full two-hour clip to know exactly what NPR execs think, and of course we have the Betsy Liley e-mails to show exactly how NPR executives act. They wanted the money and they were willing to make a Muslim Brotherhood-style organization an "anonymous donor." O'Keefe's a muckraker --- and thank goodness for that. Beyerstein practically wet herself with feigned indignation. Not a peep about NPR's extreme progressive bias. All this talk, at NYT above, about outstanding reporting, blah, blah, blah, is great if you're a granola cruncher of the Berkeley Birkenstock and Harvard Yard pedigree. For the rest of America, it's a bunch of elitist crap.

It's no surprise that newspapers are dying off. Even cable is tanking, especially CNN, which saw less viewers in 2010 than the lowly MSNBC: "CNN's Primetime Viewership Falls Below MSNBC's In 2010; Network Evening News Audience Continues A 30 Year Decline."

More later ...

Intervention in Libya?

Following-up on my earlier piece, "Regime Change Libya?"

I'm actually not all that gung-ho on U.S. military intervention, although the case is not just a matter of democracy promotion at this point. Gaddafi's now waging an all-out war on his own people. William Kristol echoes Niall Ferguson's point on Egypt a few weeks back, noting the utter bankruptcy of the Obama administration's foreign policy.

Progressives are up in arms about the possible use of force, which is a classic left-wing knee-jerk reaction to deployment of military power, no matter how limited. It's pretty shameful, especially as these tools claim Barack Hussein's doing a fabulous job with his comments on the crisis so far. Problem is, that's not going to be nearly enough, as William Kristol points out:

Perhaps progressives might wrap their tiny minds around the call from Princeton's Anne-Marie Slaughter:

The United States should immediately ask the Security Council to authorize a no-flight zone and make clear to Russia and China that if they block the resolution, the blood of the Libyan opposition will be on their hands. We should push them at least to abstain, and bring the issue to a vote as soon as possible. If we get a resolution, we should work with the Arab League to assemble an international coalition to impose the no-flight zone. If the Security Council fails to act, then we should recognize the opposition Libyan National Council as the legitimate government, as France has done, and work with the Arab League to give the council any assistance it requests.

Slaughter's a genuine "liberal interventionist," while Kristol is perhaps today's most prominent neoconservative hawk on regime change in the Middle East. That their arguments are dovetailing like this, in such a compelling way, makes for an interesting smackdown against the lame antiwar peanut-brains.

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Libyan rebels flee Port Brega as Kadafi's forces advance" (via Memeorandum).

TBogg of Firedoglake a Liar? Well It Depends On What the Meaning of the Word 'Long' Is

I'd pretty much planned to ignore the latest vile and steaming hatred over at Lawyers, Gays and Marriage. It's the same old baloney. But you know, if Scott Eric Kaufman wants to write post after post whining about my objections to him saying he was gonna "end me," then maybe he shouldn't have threatened that he was going to "end me," or something. But he's at it again, in any case, bloviating with a bunch of nonsense about how he's got some attorney friends spoon-feeding him litigation tips, which sounds totally impressive --- and totally unimportant. That said, the thread's a fabulous case of a bunch of fever swamp dickwads with too much time on their hands. Talk about getting sucked into the Douglas Vortex! I love the feedback, as demented as it may be. No doubt I'm over the target and killing these mofos. Indeed, Demon Tbogg at Firedoglake --- thinking he's some kinda netroots bigshot --- ends up lying through his effin' teeth:

I long ago decided to quit responding to or otherwise acknowledging Douglas. Back when he was going apes-hit about the budget in California I pointed out that it could come back to bite him in the ass since he is a public employee. He took that to mean I was somehow threatening to his job when I was pointing out that he had a family to watch out for.

Some people are just too stupid to be helped. Fuck ‘em.

So, Tbogg "long ago decided to quit responding to or otherwise acknowledging Douglas." And of course, he signs off his rant with the obligatory FDL profanity. Gotta love these guys. "Dumbasses", as dolt-douche Thers might say. Since naturally it was just exactly two weeks ago when TBogg in fact commented here at the blog, on February 27th. The "JuCo" dig is meant to be a slam on my position at a community college professor, but as we serve the most disadvantaged in society, it's a reminder of how out of touch progressives are with the people they profess to champion:

Tell me Donald, does your JuCo employer have anyone on staff who teaches remedial reading?

"As a pudgy FreedomWorks Warrior For Freedom demands that a Union guy discuss Freedom with him, Tabitha Hale shows up and and decides to shove her iPhone in the Union guys face..."

Even by your standards...very sloppy.

The quote's from TBogg's attack on Tabitha Hale, of which he suggests I should be correcting, since he can't write decent prose, I guess. Either way, that's a real awesome job there of not "responding to or acknowledging in any way." And just two Sundays ago --- which I'm sure we'll be learning from those in the "reality-based community" is in fact a really, really long time ago! Because, you know, it just all depends on what the meaning of the word "long" is!

And if that doesn't do it, perhaps progressives might stretch their timeline back to December, which was the last time TBogg was not acknowledging me in any way, with "Donald Dick."

But hey, you gotta love these mofo troll-freaks. They hate me so much they really like me. Sally Field would be proud!!

Japan Quake Toll May Reach Tens of Thousands

AP has that tsunami video that was replayed over and over on cable this afternoon.

And there's dramatic coverage at Los Angeles Times, "Japan quake toll could number in tens of thousands":

Reporting from Sendai, Japan, and Tokyo - With a death toll expected to climb into the tens of thousands, more than a half-million people displaced and a nuclear crisis continuing to unfold, rescuers converged Monday on Japan's devastated earthquake zone while workers in relatively unaffected areas struggled to return to offices and factories.

A new explosion rocked the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, wire services reported, sending a plume of smoke into the air. Japan's nuclear safety agency said it could not confirm whether the hydrogen explosion at the plant's No. 3 reactor had led to an uncontrolled leak of radioactivity.

The government reported Monday that radiation levels again rose above legal limits outside the crippled nuclear complex at quake-battered Fukushima, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, where authorities have been pumping seawater into overheated reactors to try to cool them down. Several other nuclear installations were under close watch for potential problems.

Across a wide swath of earthquake-hit territory, hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors roused themselves from a third cold night spent huddled in darkened emergency centers, cut off from rescuers, aid and electricity. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without power. Rolling blackouts to conserve energy were scheduled across much of the country on Monday.

The developments there have been rapid fire and overwhelming. Danger of radiation fallout is now exacerbated by news of a volcanic eruption. And the New York Times reports, "Minister Calls Disaster Country’s Worst Since WWII." See also, "Radioactive Releases in Japan Could Last Months, Experts Say." (More at Hot Air and Memeorandum.)

Palestinians Call for New Violent Uprising, a 'Third Intifada' — Israel Says 'Murders Are Reminder of Struggle for Our Existence'

There's a glut of important news of happenings around the world, but given the scale of the atrocity in the West Bank, the response to the Fogel family massacre among progressives and the lamestream media is pathetic, if not predictable.

Importantly, despite the stern denials of the PA leadership, the Palestinian street has once again expressed the true sentiment toward Israel and Middle East peace. At Ynet, "Facebook page calls for 3rd intifada." There's a video a the link, anonymously sourced and in Arabic, announcing the launch of a new Intifada on May 15, the alleged anniversary of the Nakba. And at Commentary, "So, Who Controls the Palestinian Street?" Frankly, the it's one big happy family of Muslim fanatics: "Palestine Today: Stabbing of 3 year old, infant 'heroic and courageous'." Contrast that to the rituals denials and fake denunciation of violence: "Palestinian Arabs' new meme: 'We would never kill children!'"

In related news, last night I was ready to post this video from My Israel, "Massacre of the Israeli Fogel family by a Palestinian terrorist – Names and Faces." But just as I was about to publish, the clip was taken down by YouTube: "Video of Friday’s slaying of Jews by Palestinians banned by YouTube and Facebook." Pamela has the video, plus photos from the scene, "Islamic Jew Hatred: **GRAPHIC** Muslims Stab Jewish family of Five to Death." And Israel Matzav posts the statement from the Fogel family on the release of the Itamar photos:

Dear colleagues,

These photos were released by the family. They have given full permission for their use and they to ask you to report on the horrific reality of murdering children and babies in their sleep, simply because they are Jewish.

https://picasaweb.google.com/picsyesha/Itamar

The photos are high resolution and can be reproduced in your website and newspaper.

For more information, pls contact Roni Arazi, spokesman of the Yesha Council, Israel; 972-54-566-5999.

Plus, it turns out Power Line picks up my post from last night, "Scenes From a Massacre."

And at Los Angeles Times, "Israel vows to expand settlements after stabbings":

As thousands of Israelis gathered Sunday to bury five members of a family of Jewish settlers who were stabbed to death in their beds over the weekend, the government said it would respond to the attack by building an additional 500 homes in the West Bank.

Israeli security forces continued their manhunt for unknown infiltrators who broke into the heavily guarded settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus, and killed Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children, including an infant. The military has named no suspects, but officials are blaming Palestinian militants for the attack.

The government decision to expand housing construction in several large settlement blocs was intended to signal that Israel's presence in the West Bank will not be deterred by violence, officials said.

"This murder reminds everyone that the struggle and conflict is not about Israel's borders or about independence of a repressed nation, but a struggle for our existence," Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said at the funeral. "In this difficult hour we must rise from the rubble and do the most natural thing — continue building and developing Israel."

Plus, at Jerusalem Post, "PM visits Itamar victims' families: 'They shoot, we build'."

Added: More from Israel Matzav, "The New York Times blames the 'settlers'."

Progressives Won't Condemn Savage Massacre of Jewish Family in West Bank Settlement of Itamar

At Business Week, "Netanyahu Urges International Condemnation of West Bank Murders."

Good luck with that.

There's a Memeorandum thread now, and while hardly representative, not one progressive blog is linked there. Maybe later, although the left-wing sources I'm seeing so far are not only refusing to condemn the massacre, they're blaming the settlers for the violence, saying that:

It was the first killing of settlers since four adults were shot dead in a drive-by shooting near Hebron on the eve of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians in September. The talks stalled after three weeks following Israel's refusal to extend a freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a pivotal issue for the Palestinians.

The West Bank has seen few militant operations in recent years as the Palestinian Authority has stepped up security measures as part of its efforts to build the basis of a future state. Last month, Israel removed the infamous Hawara checkpoint, close to Itamar, in an indication of improved security in the area.

But there has been continued tension between Palestinian villagers and hardline settlers, with regular skirmishes over the destruction of olive trees. Settlers have pledged to resist the evacuation of unauthorised outposts, which Netanyahu said last week would be completed by the end of this year.

Itamar, home to around 100 families, is an intensely nationalist-religious isolated settlement deep inside the West Bank. Nationalist-religious Jews believe they have a divine right to the land irrespective of legal ownership.

Well, wouldn't want to tweak the story, eh, Al-Guardian?

And then there's the notoriously pro-terror Mondoweiss, who pooh-poohs the killings while announcing that he's for the boycott. Hello, distinction without a difference, dickwad. The same BDS types are pushing to end the blockade, which will facilitate the increased smuggling of arms into Gaza. Duh. And here's this from the comments:

Accuse supporters of justice in Palestine of having double standards for not denouncing Palestinians for responding in kind to the atrocities committed upon them by settlers? As I recall there was such a discussion on MW with several commentators quite critical of the above mentioned killing of four Jewish settlers. And didn’t human rights organizations condemn this taking of life, just as they do with settler violence against Palestinians? Yet the violence (by far mostly IDF/settler on Palestinian) continues, which suggests that condemnation alone isn’t a major deterrence. Not when settler violence includes land and water theft, house destruction, chopping down olive trees, putting up illegal walls, denying sick people access to hospitals (which kills), attacking peaceful protesters, kidnapping and imprisoning members of various political parties. If the Israelis really are serious about ending the violence, why don’t they cease and desist in perpetrating all these acts of violence? That would really give peace a chance. Instead what do they do? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze the Palestinians, waiting for one of them to break down and commit an act of violence, so that the settlers can leap up and shout “see, told ya so, they ain’t nothing but savages.” And they use this rationalization to justify squeezing down ever more on the natives, stealing more land, putting up walls and roads that chop the West Bank into tiny disconnected Bantustans, all the while so outlandishly righteous and self-serving. How to stop all the violence? Only one way, Justice for Palestinian, that’s how.

Nowhere in all of that is a condemnation of the killings. It's all Israel's fault. And of course "Justice for Palestine" is a euphemism for the extermination of the Jewish state, so the loyalties are pretty clear.

Sickening.

Of course, it's not the settlements, and it's not the olive trees, or whatever other faux-outrage of the progressive moment. Melanie Phillips comments, "And Still Western 'Liberals' Support These People":

We don’t yet know who perpetrated this latest atrocity. What must be emphasised however is that, quite apart from the open calls to genocide of the Jews by Hamas, as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the ‘wild incitement’ by the Palestinian Authority against Israelis, perpetrated without remission through its educational materials, in its mosques and on PA-controlled TV, is directly to blame for creating the incendiary atmosphere of hysterical and fanatical hatred that gives rise to such savagery. Through these channels the PA indoctrinates its people into hatred of Jews and the glorification of mass murder of Israelis. As CAMERA has noted:

The brutal attack comes only days after a West Bank Palestinian youth center announced a soccer tournament named after Wafa Idris, the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, who killed an 81-year-old man and injured over 100 other Israelis... The killer undoubtedly internalized the message, reinforced time and time again, that it’s noble and heroic to kill Jews. The same goes for the person who planned the attack, and the one who transported the killer, and any other enablers.

In the light of this, the sickeningly ambiguous response by the Holocaust-denying PA ‘President’ Mahmoud Abbas was all too telling:

In a statement released by his office, Abbas ‘stressed his rejection and condemnation of all violence directed against civilians, regardless of who was behind it or the reason for it. Abbas added that ‘violence produces violence and what is needed is to speed up a just and comprehensive solution to the conflict.’ Earlier on Saturday, the Palestinian Authority said that there was no evidence of Palestinian involvement in the terror attack in Itamar.

Of course, a ‘just and comprehensive solution’ will only arrive when the Arabs stop promoting the genocidal murder of Israelis and the conquest of their country -- and when we no longer see as a result nauseating scenes such as in the picture above, where Gazan Arabs celebrated the murder of the Fogel family by handing out sweets.

Actually, we do now know who was responsible, or at least Fatah's al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades have claimed responsibility, to the desperate denials of the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. Aaron Goldstein, at American Spectator, responds to that:

The day I believe that Abbas, Fayyad and the Palestinian Authority want to live peaceably with Israel is the day they ... remove all anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli imagery from their televisions, their schools and their mosques and replace them with messages of acceptance and respect of Jews and Israelis. Until that day, I strongly maintain that the Fatah run Palestinian Authority wants to destroy Israel every bit as much as Hamas does.

And don't miss Assaf Wohl's piece at Ynet, "Following Attack, Leftists Must Decide Whether They're 'Useful Idiots' or Anti-Semites."

Also, more background at Ynet, "Horror in Samaria: Terrorist murders family of 5," and at New York Times, "Suspecting Palestinians, Israeli Forces Search for Killers of 5 West Bank Settlers."

And at Israel National News, "Photos of Fogel Family Murder."

RELATED: There is this, FWIW, at +972, "The entire activist Left must condemn the murder of the settler family":

The sheer viciousness of this cold-blooded butchery should have provoked furious condemnation from those unequivocally opposed to the targeting of civilians – Israel’s civil society, the Left and the activist (“radical”) Left. However, at the time of writing, only two organizations spoke out: B’tselem, which has done the most extensive work of documenting the opposite sort of violence – by settlers against Palestinians – led the way late Saturday morning, announcing on Facebook and on its website that it is “appalled by the attack in Itamar and strongly condemns it. Intentional killing of civilians is a war crime and is unjustifiable. The Israeli and Palestinian authorities must work to locate and bring to justice those responsible for the attack.” About an hour later, Physicians for Human Rights joined in, announcing that the organization “strongly condemns the appalling attack in Itamar and calls the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to act in order to bring those responsible individuals to trial. Once again we learn that fences and security systems are not a guarantee for security. Only brave steps towards peace agreement and putting end to the conflict will bring end to these murderous acts.”

The piece is updated with the announcement that two more leftist organizations have condemned the violence. But these so-called "activist" left groups obviously aren't authentically progressive, otherwise they'd be out with the Muslims in Rafah handing out candy in celebration.

Palestinians Celebrate Horrific Murder of Jewish Family in West Bank Itamar Settlement

This is why Israel maintains the wall. And really, what does this solve? Nothing. But it proves that Israelis have overwhelming reason to fear for their lives. Among the dead is an infant, Hadas Fogel, the youngest child of Udi Fogel, 36, and his wife Ruth, 35. Also dead are Yoav, 11, and Elad, 4. Three other children were orphaned by the murders. See Jerusalem Post, "Fogel family identified as victims of Itamar terror attack."

And at Ynet, "Gaza celebrates; Fayyad condemns terror attack" (at Memeorandum). Muslims in Gaza handed out candy in celebration of the barbarity. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned the killings, which is essentially meaningless, since Hamas applauded the slaughter:

IDF and security forces have been scouring the West Bank area since late Friday night, and have arrested 20 Palestinians from the villages of Awarta, Zababdeh, Sanur and Siliya. The IAF employed unmanned aerial vehicle in an effort to search for the suspects.

The Hamas movement accused the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus of arresting three of its activists near Qalqilya and Jenin.

"The report of five murdered Israelis is not enough to punish someone," said Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri, adding, "However; we in Hamas completely support the resistance against settlers who murder and use crime and terror against the Palestinian people under the auspices of the Israeli occupation soldiers."

A pamphlet distributed by the Islamic group said the PA also detained activists from Nablus, who were previously imprisoned and released.

According to an unverified report, Fatah's military wing – the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades – claimed responsibility for the attack. A group spokesman told a Palestinian news agency that a terror cell infiltrated the settlement of Itamar and committed the attack.

The spokesperson stressed that the attack "came as a response to Israel's continues hostile policy toward the Palestinian people."

I first saw this at Legal Insurrection, "Palestinian Terrorist Stabs Infant and Family to Death."

See also, Blazing Cat Fur, "Peace Loving Gazans celebrate murder of 3 month old Baby," Jawa Report, "Brave 'Mujahid' Murders Israeli Family of 5 Including Infant, Hamas Celebrates," and Weasel Zippers, "Palestinian Terrorists Stab Three Israeli Children and a Baby to Death While They Sleep, Gaza Residents Celebrate by Handing out Candy and Sweets…"

Also at Pamela's, "Muslims Celebrate Mass Murder with Passing Out Candy to Children." And Bare Naked Islam, "Palestinian vermin stab to death 5 Israeli family members, including 3 children, in their sleep."

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Brutal West Bank killings shock Israel, stir fears of renewed violence."

Radiation Scare as Japan Copes With Blast at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

At ABC News, "Radiation Dangers Heightened at Japanese Nuclear Plant: Nuclear Expert Recommends Emergency Distribution of Potassium Iodine to Children Within Range of Reactor":Also, update on developments at Stratfor: "Officials Claim Positive Signs on Japanese Reactor":

New developments at Japan’s earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor No. 1 may suggest positive signs for authorities’ efforts to contain the problem. But many dangers and risks remain.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that while an explosion did occur at the plant, it did not damage the steel container around reactor No.1, where emergency workers are still struggling to cool down the reactor core after nuclear fuel rods were damaged following the failure of cooling systems due to the earthquake damage and short power supply. Edano said the explosion did not occur within the reactor container and thus did not lead to a large leak of radioactive material. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency claims that radiation levels support the view that there has been no breach of the container around the reactor, though they have risen as a result of actions taken to relieve pressure in the container by releasing radioactive steam.

If accurate, these would be positive developments for the attempt to avert a meltdown in the reactor core ...

Also, previously at Time's science blog, "Nuke Plant Crisis Worsens as Radiation Levels Rise."

Plus, "Nuclear Meltdown at Fukushima Power Plant in Japan!", and "Meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant?"

RELATED: At New York Times, "Japan Pushes to Rescue Survivors as Quake Toll Rises" (via Memeorandum).

Nuclear Meltdown at Fukushima Power Plant in Japan!

Well, maybe it's not as bad is it sounds.

Stratfor calls it a full meltdown, although still contained: "Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant." (Via Mememorandum.) And a roundup at POWIP, "Video of Fukushima Nuclear Plant Explosion."

See also New York Times, "Explosion Rocks Japan Nuclear Plant After Quake," and Los Angeles Times, "Japan's fears mount with nuclear plant blast":

Officials try to calm residents wary of a possible radiation leak -- or worse -- at the Fukushima power plant, which lost its cooling system in Friday's massive earthquake. Nationwide, the death toll from the quake and tsunami could top 1,700.

Reporting from Tokyo and Beijing — A day after responding to one of the worst earthquakes on record and a massive tsunami, the Japanese government sought to allay fears of a radioactive disaster at a nuclear power plant on the country's battered northeastern coast.

The outer walls of the Fukushima power plant's No. 1 reactor were blown off by a hydrogen explosion Saturday, leaving only a skeletal frame. Officials said four workers at the site received non-life-threatening injuries.

The inner container holding the reactor's fuel rods is not believed to be damaged, said Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, and workers were cooling the facilities with seawater.

In a press conference shortly after the explosion, which left the facility shrouded in plumes of gray smoke, Edano explained that the reactor is contained within a steel chamber, which in turn is surrounded by a concrete and steel building. Although the explosion destroyed the building, it did not occur in the chamber.

"The escape of hydrogen mixed with the air between the chamber and the concrete-and-steel building and led to the explosion," Edano said.

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. has confirmed that the inner reactor is undamaged," he added. "There was no massive release of radiation."

RELATED (WITH additional links and information): "Meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant?"

Progressive Politics After Wisconsin's Budget Showdown

At Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel, "Walker signs bill removing most bargaining rights from public unions."

Interestingly, sleaze-blogger E.D. Kain went way out on a limb to suggest the budget finale was the "real Republican Waterloo." Kain's views are about as stable as a weather vane, and there's even less to recommend him in the smarts and decency department. So it's good that William Jacobson smacked him upside the head a bit. And following the links there takes us to Da Tech Guy, "Yes E.D. Kain Wisconsin is the Republican Waterloo …":

…they are playing the role of Wellington.

Was it only 48 hours ago that liberals buoyed by polls and news reports were convinced that Scott Walker and the republicans were about to back down?

Now not even one day after they were proved spectacularly wrong the left has decided on a new meme to replace the old one that didn’t seem to work. Apparently now this vote is a case of political suicide for Republicans. E. D. Kain is convinced this will be their doom:

And now conservatives have chosen public-sector workers and teachers as their hill to die on. They have followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and elected Scott Walker, Rick Scott, and various other Tea Party candidates. Heavily funded by big campaign donors like the Koch brothers and other corporate interests, the Republican party has made a concerted effort across the country to take on unions, public pensions, and social services for the poor.

It is to laugh. Apparently E. D. hasn’t figured out that the “interest” that public unions fight against is…”the public” that is the taxpayer.

Wow. These guys are just mopping up with this idiot.

That said, while some of the recent surveys have been badly skewed (from oversampling progressives and union members), the public has been pretty consistent in accepting collective bargaining rights while asserting that public workers should concede some givebacks on pay and benefits (see Gallup, "Americans' Message to States: Cut, Don't Tax and Borrow"). A lot depends on the economy, since economic recovery over the long term will take some pressure off state benefits and give unions a leg to stand on in negotiations. But this year's budget cycle is bad all around the country, and astute GOP leaders can make this about the larger conservative agenda of restoring limited government (and basic dignity) to the people. Progressives have gone over the top and out of control this last few weeks --- they're like possessed demons --- because conservatives have leftists by jugular. It's life or death out there, and honestly, Scott Walker pounded a stake to the progressive heart in Madison. Here's to wishing good tidings on similar efforts around the statehouses. See also, "Anger brews over government workers' benefits."

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer on Fox Business 'Follow the Money'

Robert Spencer, at the initial segment, is just on!

And Pamela writes:

You'll enjoy this. Robert Spencer and I were on Eric Bolling's show on Fox Business. This is the first time we have appeared together on the same show. Very cool. Un-indicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked CAIR joined also and "debated" Spencer, if you can call lies, deceit and ad hominem attacks a "debate" ...

Today's CAIR spokesperson was a doozy. Going by the name "Christina Abraham" (got that? looks like she's got the Christians and the Jews covered with that name), an uncovered Western-looking woman unleashed her fury on Robert. Apparently she is a devout Muslim, because in undercover footage of her urging Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement, she is in full Muslim garb. Muhammad said, "war is deceit." Indeed. Watch the video -- there is nothing she doesn't twist or lie about ...

More lies. Why am I not surprised? And hey, is that Thers I hear chirping somewhere?

More of the Left's 'New Tone'

From Michael Stickings at The Reaction, "Fuck You, Peter King, You Bigoted Piece of Anti-Muslim Shit" (on Twitter).

I've never really been puritanical about profanity, but what is it with progressives? Dolt-douche Thers at Whisky Fire extols the virtues the f-ety f-word, and he'd rather have that than civility --- or he'd rather have some effin' profanity over the alleged effin' conservative liars he's been rambling about. Funny thing is, though, the lies of recent days have been the exclusive domain of the left, first with the Madison protests and yesterday with Keith "Crybaby" Ellison's boo-hoo testimony on Capitol Hill. It turns out that Ellison's whiny blather about Mohammed Salman Hamdani was an effin' fat one: "Grotesque Liar Keith Ellison's Crocodile Tears Over Made-Up Tale."

I doubt the makes the slightest difference to progressives like Michael Stickings and Thers. They'll hurl the f-ety f-word at effin' conservatives for any effin' reason.

Effin' dirtbags.

400 Little Mubaraks!

From Mary Katharine Ham, "Hammertime: Moore’s National Resources":

Meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant?

It's not looking good, actually.

See LAT, "Post-quake events at Japan nuclear plant raise concerns":

A portion of Japan's nuclear reactors have been shut down in the wake of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but officials are worried about the Fukushima plant, where the emergency cooling system is problematic.

About 18% of Japan's 33 nuclear reactors have been shut down in the wake of the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck offshore Friday and triggered a massive tsunami, but officials are particularly troubled by events at one of them — the 480-megawatt Fukushima No. 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture, where the emergency cooling system has not been functioning properly.

Emergency authorities have ordered the evacuation of all civilians in a two-mile radius around the power plant, a total of about 3,000 people, and are planning to vent slightly radioactive steam from the plant, which is located about 160 miles north of Tokyo. Those within a six-mile radius were warned to stay in their homes.

See also NYT, "Quake and Tsunami Leaves Wake of Destruction Across Northern Japan." And "Japan Orders Evacuation Near 2nd Nuclear Plant" (via Memeorandum).

RELATED: At Scientific American, "How to Cool a Nuclear Reactor."

Madrid Train Bombing 7-Year Anniversary

At ABC News, "Spain Marks 7th Anniversary of Terror Attacks: Spaniards remember their dead on 7th anniversary of Islamic terror attacks on that killed 191."

Also, another grim anniversary, at Legal Insurrection, "The Coastal Road Massacre - March 11, 1978":

Last year the Palestinian Authority proposed naming a town square after the female leader of the attack, Dalal Mughrabi, but put off the decision under pressure. Al-Jazeera regularly glorifies Mughrabiin its coverage, as well.

'Islamic Radicals Programmed and Trained My Son to Kill' — Melvin Bledsoe Testimony at House Homeland Security Committee Hearings on Radicalization

Mr. Bledsoe's testimony is here: "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response."

It's riveting. And almost heartbreaking to hear how Mr. Bledsoe pleaded with his son, at 2:40 minutes, "not to take Dr. King's picture off the wall." That of course is not in line with the progressive narrative, I'll tell you. Kinda sad, when you think about it, how lamestream Democrats hijacked the hearings and thus effectively drowned out the messages of people like Mr. Bledsoe. Truth is the new hate speech, so look for the Bledsoe family to be sold up the river by the nihilist left. LAT has the story, "Hearings on U.S. Muslims Stir Passions":

Melvin Bledsoe, speaking in his deep Tennessee accent at a long-awaited House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the domestic radicalization of U.S. Muslims, said his son Carlos "was captured by people best described as hunters" after he converted to Islam.

"He was manipulated and lied to," Bledsoe said, recalling the events that preceded his son's arrest in an attack on an Army recruiting station and the death of a soldier.

His testimony that his son was radicalized by Muslims in Tennessee bolstered assertions by committee Chairman Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) that more needs to be done to investigate radical U.S. Muslims and convince Islamic leaders they must cooperate with authorities.

But prosecutors in Little Rock, Ark., where the 2009 shooting occurred, tell a different story. They believe Carlos Bledsoe, now known as Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, was radicalized while abroad in Yemen, where he spent time with extremists in jail, and they have not charged him with terrorism. Rather, he likely will go to trial later this year on a state charge of capital murder.

That dispute symbolized the divide at the hearing, the first in a series that critics of King — Democrats on the panel as well as leading Muslim officials — said could exacerbate the problem of homegrown terrorism rather than help end it.

A defiant King said after the hearing that he had "broken down a wall of political correctness on an issue that needs to be addressed." At the beginning, he blasted his many critics, saying they had engaged in "paroxysms of rage and hysteria."

The Times reports that prosecutors say Carlos Bledsoe was not in fact "radicalized" in the U.S., but instead in Yemen, although it's been something of a revolving door, so that sounds like a distinction without a difference. Either way, listen to the testimony. Mr. Bledsoe is acompelling figure.

RELATED: At New York Post, "Dad reveals his torment over son's 'brainwash' by Islamists: Warns House panel of recruiting by Muslim 'hunters'." And, "The mindless left still won't face the truth."

Betty Friedan famously wrote about "the problem that has no name." Decades later, domestic Islamic radicalism bids fair to become the new nameless problem, at least if the left gets its way.

The outraged reaction to Rep. Peter King's hearings into the radicalization of the domestic Muslim community was so mindless, it bordered on a collective self-lobotomy. If the congressional committee devoted to homeland security -- which held hearings on "The Future of FEMA's Grant Programs Directorate" among sundry other topics during the past two years -- can't examine why some Muslims born and raised in the United States wage war on their own country, we might as well turn off the lights on our common culture.

Bingo! Climate Change Caused Japan Earthquake!

Well, I promised I'd "update with progressive reports that climate change caused it ..." So, right on cue: "Climate Change Fanatics Blame Japan Earthquakes, Tsunamis on Global Warming" (via Memeorandum).