Hannah Davis for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

It won't be long now until the 2014 issue is out.

Meanwhile, enjoy some Hannah Davis.

Inadvertent Comedy From the ASA, or, an Ecofeminist Does Milk

A good read, kinda highbrow, from Roger Kimball, at PJ Media.

Kimball plugs Glenn Reynolds' new book, TheNew School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself.

Reynolds makes the economist Herb Stein’s observation a centerpiece of his book. Repellent pseudo-intellectual horrors like “Toward a Feminist Postcolonial Milk Studies” cannot go on forever; therefore, they won’t. This ruin of taxpayer money, to say nothing of the intellectual sanity of students and teachers, is too egregious to continue. It will not continue. “Toward a Feminist Postcolonial Milk Studies” is just one of many, many signs that the house of intellect in this country has become a sort of Augean Stables, full of malodorous waste and bovine mooing. It awaits its Hercules to perform a much needed lustration. The assembled cattle may not know it, but Glenn Reynolds shows that his advent is nigh.

I hope that's right, but we'll see.

Fossil Fuels to Power Retrieval of Trapped Climate Scientists

An hilarious editorial, at the Wall Street Journal, "Carbon to the Rescue" (via Google):

Reporting on the environmental movement has always required a certain sense of humor. And now we have an expedition launched in part to study the melting of Antarctic ice sheets that has been trapped since Christmas in ice so thick that rescue attempts have failed to reach the frozen vessel.

In an earlier age, explorers who so badly underestimated the expanse of polar ice would surely have perished. But the 74 passengers and crew of the Akademik Shokalskiy are thriving. An expedition spokesman reports that, "Surprisingly, all the passengers seem to be considering it the adventure of a lifetime."

And why not? The rich abundance of our carbon-based economy has not only provided the means to sustain their lives, but even to post a cheerful sing-along on Youtube. And the helicopters and ships that participate in the next rescue attempt won't be powered by renewable-energy credits.

Take off! second team gone. Looking good. #spiritofmawson Alok Jha https://t.co/wdrtEYbKPq

— Chris Turney (@ProfChrisTurney) January 2, 2014

#ObamaCare Disaster Faces New Test

It's not a new test, really. It's the same death spiral people have been talking about all along.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Health Law's Uneasy Launch: Affordable Care Act Faces Next Hurdles (at Google):

Nearly four years after President Barack Obama signed his health initiative into law, the Affordable Care Act is officially reshaping America's $2.75 trillion health-care system.

A survivor of bare-knuckle political fights, a U.S. Supreme Court challenge and a technologically disastrous rollout, the law now faces a fundamental test: Can its mix of government subsidies and market-based competition extend health insurance to millions of people whose medical conditions, income level or personal choice left them without it?

So far, there are some troubling signs. A high proportion of people signing up for new plans are older or have existing health problems—and not enough younger, healthier people may be joining the plans to balance them out and make the plans profitable.

Early glitches in HealthCare.gov, the federal marketplace serving 36 states, as well as in some state marketplaces likely deterred younger customers, said insurers and actuaries. Less-healthy shoppers were more likely to persist and sign up, they said.

If the trend continues as 2014 enrollment closes at the end of March, insurers in the new marketplaces "will think twice about losing money" and withdraw plans, said Jim O'Connor, an actuary at Milliman Inc. Provisions of the law aim to limit insurers' risk by redistributing money to those with less-healthy customers, but it isn't yet clear how effective they will be.

Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the law's rollout, said the law "is making health insurance more affordable for young adults." Officials aren't yet able to provide demographic breakdowns of marketplace enrollees, she said.

Julie Bataille, communications director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told reporters this week that as of Jan. 1, "millions of Americans will have health insurance, many for the first time."

Meantime, some previously insured consumers are vexed that deductibles under the new policies are higher than under prior plans, which can make doctors' visits and procedures more expensive than they anticipated.

Moreover, 25 states have refused to expand Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for low-income people. The expansion was envisioned under the law as a backstop for the poorest uninsured, who now have few options in those states.

The array of challenges has hurt Mr. Obama's standing and public support of the law, which polls show dropped to a new low in late December.

Boosted by repairs to the online exchanges, 2.1 million people used them to obtain private insurance through Dec. 24, the deadline for picking coverage effective Jan. 1 in most states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

The number represents a surge since Nov. 30, when the nationwide figure was about 365,000, but it falls short of a September estimate by the administration that some 3.3 million people would sign up for private plans by year's end.

Well, not even that last part about 2.1 million is true. Just one more lie the administration's foisted on a compliant sheeple. See Philip Klein, "No, 2.1 million haven't enrolled in Obamacare plans."

And until it's repealed, ObamaCare will continue to drag down the quality of healthcare in America. WaPo has that, "With new year, Medicaid takes on a broader health-care role."

Hilarious! Angry Voices Now Calling for Melissa Harris-Perry's Termination

I say let the market work.

The idiot Harris-Perry'll be out of there before you know it.

Still, you gotta love CNN fanning the flames, via Nice Deb, "CNN: Some People Are Demanding That Host Melissa Harris-Perry Be Fired (Video)."

New Year's Day Roundup

I'm holding off on my New Year's essay (not sure what I have to say).

In the meanwhile, there's some good blogging going down.

Check Robert Stacy McCain, "Holiday Tradition, Texas-Style," and "In The Mailbox, 01.01.14."

And Pat Austin, "Doolittle Raider Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole Accepts Spirit of Independence Award."

Also from the Mad Jewess, "CONservatives Are Quiet as Militant Mary’s Marry at Rose Bowl Gay Pride Parade."

And at Director Blue, "Larwyn's Linx: Where Do We Go From Here America? Will There Be Anything Left?"

At Marooned in Marin, "Obama Approval Rating Lowest Since Nixon at Same Time In Presidency."

More at Maggie's Farm, "Weds. morning links."

And Maggie's Notebook, "2014 Arrives – Coburn Say 2013 May Be One Of Our Worst: Congress Do Your Job – Debate, Pass INDIVIDUAL Appropriations Bills," and "McAfee’s “Malicious Defamation on Innocent Websites:” NaturalNews Paid McAfee $32K to Clear Website Reputation – “Gangs of Online Paid Trolls”."

And the Tea Party News Network, "Hypocrite: Anti-Gun Bloomberg Enters Civilian Life Surrounded by Armed Guards."

Also at Blackmailer's Don't Shoot, "Camille Paglia and Her Problems."

Over at Egotastic!, "99 Celebrity Bikini Butts to Celebrate the New Year."

At Twitchy, "At Bill de Blasio’s mayoral inauguration, invocation speaker says NYC is a ‘plantation’."

See Blazing as well, "The Islamic takeover of the U.S. is gaining ground."

At the Chive, "I like girls because squishy (45 Photos)."

And Bro-Bible, "Iowa Player Pulls the Derpiest Play of the Day By Dropping the Ball Before Entering the Endzone."

Still more at Power Line, "THE NEW YORK TIMES MISLEADS ON ECONOMICS, TOO."

From Lonely Con, "Pastor at DiBlasio Inauguration Calls NYC a ‘Plantation’."

Proof Positive has "Predictions for 2014."

And at Right Wing News, "Rose Parade Subverted to Promote Gay Agenda."

More from Reagan Girl, "Pushing Back Against Perversity."

And at Flopping Aces, "Hillary Clinton – The Principal Enemy."

Also from Weasel Zippers, "Climate Change Loons Move the Goal Posts: No Significant Global Warming Until 2100…"

Plus at Minority Report, "Majority of Americans Still in the Dark About Incandescent Light Bulb Phase-Out."

At Daley Gator, "RAISING A GENERATION OF BROWNSHIRTS?"

And finally, at Truth Revolt, "It Begins: Michael Moore Calls for Conversion of Obamacare to Single-Payer."

It's a North Korean New Year!

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Happy New Year From Kim Jong-Un 'Should another war break out on this land, it will result in a deadly nuclear catastrophe and the United States will never be safe'."

And no second thoughts about deep-sixing Uncle Jang Song, it turns out, at NBC, "North Korea's Kim Jong Un says elimination of 'factionalist filth' strengthened nation," and Telegaph UK, "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasts of removal of 'filth' after execution of uncle":

Kim Jong-un claims in his New Year address that North Korea has been made stronger by the elimination of 'factional filth', the purge and execution of his once powerful uncle."

Butthole Bangers on Parade: In-Your-Face Homosexuals Defile Tournament of Roses

I don't think Robin Abcarian gets it --- and that's pretty surprising, considering how well the Duck Dynasty deal turned out for the GLAAD ayatollahs.

Here's her piece, "Relax. Rose Parade gay marriage float is not the apocalypse":

Breaking: Sky still intact after gay wedding on Rose Parade float. Mazel Tov to the grooms! pic.twitter.com/ueUdY4vVRu
— Robin Abcarian (@robinabcarian) January 1, 2014

A commenter named Angela Wingenroth, who identified herself as a stay-at-home mother, vowed not to allow her daughters to watch the parade:

"We don't care what the states say about it -- God is clear that this isn't right and I will NOT have this SHOVED DOWN MY CHILDREN’S THROATS!! The intolerance is theirs. They will not accept peoples' objections to their lifestyle -- you HAVE to accept that it's not just ok, but GOOD or you're a bigot! If they want to get ‘married,’ that's their choice, but my kids don't need to see it.”

Putting aside the twisted logic of accusing someone of intolerance because they are intolerant of your intolerance, I think I can put Wingenroth’s fears to rest.

As it turns out, the gay marriage float, sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is not a “featured float” with microphones. Most people who see it in person will only hear the Indigo Girls song “Power of Two” emanating from its speakers.

As for the actual wedding ceremony? It will be on camera for just 15 seconds, when the float passes in front of the KTLA-TV cameras, at precisely 9:44:50 a.m. Pacific time.

At that moment, Aubrey Loots, 42, and Danny Leclair, 45, who own a chain of Los Angeles hair salons, will be joined in holy matrimony by the Rev. Alfreda “Freda” Lanoix. A lesbian couple, Sharon Raphael and Mina Meyer, who have been together for 42 years and married in California in 2008, will serve as witnesses.

In other words, Ms. Wingenroth, blink and you and your daughters will miss the wedding.

Again, Duck Dynasty shows it's not "twisted logic." Millions of Americans are tired of in-your-face homosexuality. And they're tired of being harassed as "bigots" if they dare express their disagreement with such objectively depraved behavior.

And notice something else here: The Los Angeles Times makes sure to announce how the homosexual wedding went off without a hitch, with a photo of the lucky homos getting married, "Same-sex wedding occurs without incident on Rose Parade float." But the truly big story is how many leftist protesters were arrested while demonstrating against Sea World's parade float. Twitchy has that, "PETA protests Sea World float at Rose Bowl Parade; 17 arrested." I guess that doesn't fit with the left's "radical right-wing" narrative, or something. Pathetic.

PETA tweets fotos of arrest after protesting SeaWorld RoseParade float http://t.co/zdktSoL01w @sarahbatcha #blackfish pic.twitter.com/mPIooJkE4K
— OrcaSOS (@OrcaSOS) January 1, 2014

Bwahaha! 'Palestinian' Ambassador Blown to Smithereens in 'Freak' Explosion at Prague Embassy

Yes, because everyone needs a few extra explosive devices at foreign diplomatic embassies

It serves the f-ker right.

Here's the New York Times, "Palestinian Diplomat in Prague Is Dead After Explosion."

And I tweeted earlier. Screw the bitch:

Karma's a bitch: Palestinian ambassador to Czech Republic killed by exploding contents of old safe. http://t.co/C6BnRasQ2M

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2014

The Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic was killed in an explosion at his Prague residence on Wednesday after a safe blew up as he was trying to open it.

Jamal al-Jamal, 56, suffered severe head, chest and stomach wounds in the incident. He was taken to Prague military hospital but later died from his injuries. An unidentified 52-year-old woman was also treated in hospital for shock and smoke inhalation.

There was no definitive explanation for the cause of the blast but early indications suggested it may have been an accident. Czech police said there was no evidence that the ambassador had been the victim of terrorism while Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, insisted no foul play was involved.

He said the safe had not been opened in at least 30 years when Mr al-Jamal - who had been in his post for less than three months - tried to open it.

"The ambassador decided to open it. After he opened it, apparently something happened inside (the safe) and went off," AP quoted Mr Malki as saying.

It is believed Mr al-Jamal had been taking the safe from the embassy's old building to its new complex in the Suchdol neighbourhood in northern Prague...

The embassy as terrorist compound. Yes, you might have a couple of work accidents here and there, mofos.

Jahi McMath Family Fights for Life

From Michelle Malkin, "The gifts of Jahi":

New Year’s Day should be a time of fresh beginnings and forward motion. But for the family of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, the holiday season has been suspended in a cloud of unfathomable pain and suffering: A routine tonsillectomy gone wrong. A beautiful child declared “brain dead.” Lawyers, TV cameras, tears.

The McMaths are fighting for life. On Monday, they won a court order that prevents Children’s Hospital of Oakland from pulling the plug on Jahi until Jan. 7. Her relatives have been attacked as “publicity hounds” for doing everything possible to raise awareness about the young girl’s tragic case. They’ve been criticized as troublemakers for challenging powerful hospital officials. They’ve been labeled “selfish” and ignorant because they are praying for a miracle.

Why, many observers ask, don’t they just “accept reality” and let go?

As the mother of a 13-year-old girl, I would have done everything Jahi’s mom has done to this point. Everything. Here’s reality: Children’s Hospital faces serious malpractice questions about its care of Jahi. Hospital execs have a glaring conflict of interest in wielding power over her life support. According to relatives, medical officials callously referred to Jahi as “dead, dead, dead” and dismissed the child as a “body.”

The McMath family refused to be rushed or pushed around. They demanded respect for their loved one. I say more power to them.

There are plenty of reasons to question the medical establishment’s handling of catastrophic cases involving brain injury and “brain death.” In 2008, doctors were dead certain that 21-year-old Zack Dunlop was legally deceased after a horrible ATV accident. Tests showed there was no blood flow to his brain. His hospital issued a death notice. Authorities prepared to harvest his organs. But family members were not convinced. A cousin who happened to be a nurse tested Zack’s reflexes on his own one last time as the hospital swooped in. The “brain dead” “body” responded. Forty-eight days later, the supposedly impossible happened: “Brain dead” Zack Dunlop walked out of the hospital and lived to tell about his miraculous recovery on the Today Show.

The immense pressure Jahi’s family faces to give up and give in reminded me of another child written off by medical and government officials: Haleigh Poutre. She’s the miracle child who was nearly beaten to death by her barbaric stepfather. Hooked to a ventilator in a comatose state, she was then nearly condemned to death by Massachusetts medical experts and the state’s criminally negligent child welfare bureaucracy, which hastily declared her to be in a hopeless vegetative state and wanted to pull the plug on her life.

The “experts” were wrong. Haleigh breathed on her own; a caring team of therapists nursed her back to health. Soon, she was brushing her hair and feeding herself. She lived to testify against her abusive stepfather, now behind bars. Her survival is a stark warning against blind, yielding trust in Big Nanny and Big Medicine.

We don’t know what God has planned for Jahi. But I do know this: America has become a throwaway culture where everything and everyone — from utensils to diapers to cameras to babies — is disposable. Elites sneer at the sanctity of life. The Terri Schiavo case brought out the worst, most dehumanizing impulses of American medical ethics debates. And from the attacks I’ve seen on the McMath family, little has changed.

Watch the video. Jahi's mother says her daughter is responsive.

For 2014, Tweet Less, Read More

Good advice.

From Frank Bruni, at the New York Times:

Lately there’s been a bit of academic attention to our etiquette online, which is where so many of us spend more and more of our time. It rightly notes how much rudeness makes its way onto message boards and into Facebook threads, how quickly the back-and-forth on websites turns nasty.

That happens in part because the exchanges are disembodied: We don’t have to face whomever we’re lashing out at. But it’s also because they’re impulsive. Their timbre conforms to their tempo. Both are coarse.

Conversely, there was talk this year about the benefits of an activity that’s in some ways the antithesis of texting and tweeting with their rat-tat-tat rhythm. That activity is the reading of fiction. According to some researchers, people who settle into it are more empathetic — more attuned to what those around them think and feel — than people who don’t.

I buy that, and not from a vantage point of cultural snobbery or because I’m a Luddite. Trust me, I watch inexcusable amounts of television, much of it proudly lowbrow. I consume most of my newspapers and magazines online and almost all of my books on an iPad, and I depend gratefully on email and instant messaging to maintain friendships that might otherwise have fallen by the wayside.

But I’d bet big on real reading, fiction or nonfiction, as a prompt for empathy and a whole lot more: coolheadedness, maybe even open-mindedness, definitely deliberation. It doesn’t just yank you outside of yourself, making you consider other viewpoints without allowing for the incessant interjection and exaltation of your own. It slackens the pace. Forces a pause.

I'd argue especially for young people to put down their mobile devices and start reading. And I say that as the father of a 17-year-old. Bruni's making an argument to improve civility by increasing reflection, which reading actualizes. Reading is something for me that takes more effort than just about anything else. I can watch TV and blog without stressing the lack of concentration, but picking up a book forces me to turn off the electronics. It's nice to do it. I'm currently reading Mark Helprin's "Soldier of the Great War," a fairly epic novel which I'm not in a hurry to finish. (Years ago I used to pressure myself to finish novels with great speed; shoot, I'd never not finish a book I once started. Now, I just don't worry and enjoy it.)

In any case, more at that top link. Certainly, social media captures too much of our attention and drives too much of our outrage. It's something to think about.

Terror-Lawyer Lynne Stewart Released from Federal Prison

I saw the headline "compassionate release" earlier today, but I didn't know they were talking about left-wing terrorist attorney Lynne Stewart.

Shameful. She should rot in jail.

At the New York Times, "Judge Orders Release of Dying Lawyer Convicted of Aiding Terrorism":

A federal judge in Manhattan ordered a “compassionate release” on Tuesday for Lynne F. Stewart, the former defense lawyer convicted of assisting terrorism who is dying from cancer in a federal prison in Texas.

Ms. Stewart, 74, who was convicted in 2005, sought release in 2013 under a Bureau of Prisons program for terminally ill inmates, but did so without the bureau’s support. The judge, John G. Koeltl of United States District Court, rejected the request in August, but indicated that he would look favorably upon such action if the Bureau of Prisons itself made such a motion....

Ms. Stewart, in a 12-page handwritten letter to the judge during the summer, said she did not want to die in prison, “a strange and loveless place,” as she put it. “I want to be where all is familiar — in a word, home.”

Judge Koeltl’s order says that Ms. Stewart shall be released “as soon as her medical condition permits, the release plan is implemented, and travel arrangements can be made.”

This woman is vile. Screw her.

See Sharon Chadha, at FrontPage Magazine, "Lynne Stewart, Jihadi Lawyer." And Michelle Malkin, "No Tears for Lynne Stewart":

The jihadists’ favorite American lawyer, Lynne Stewart, reportedly has stage-4 breast cancer. Her radical friends — ranging from the “Party for Socialism and Liberation” and “Workers World” to Pete Seeger, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal — want her freed from jail. There’s only one decent response to the Lynne Stewart Fan Club’s criminal-coddling demand:

No, hell, no....

This case remains a shining example of just how dangerous it is for America to give foreign-born jihadists the full panoply of American constitutional rights and all the attendant benefits of a civilian trial. Stewart’s treacherous collaboration with the Blind Sheik endangered — and cost — innocent lives.

Stewart remains unrepentant. She called 9/11 an “armed struggle.” Upon her initial sentencing, she boasted that she could serve the term “standing on her head.” After she was convicted of aiding and abetting Rahman, she told an interviewer she “would do it again.”

Now she wants mercy, medical comforts and freedom? No, hell, no. This messenger gal for murderous barbarians made her prison bed. Die in it.

2013: The Year Defiance of the State Became Cool

Well, to a point.

Too many libertarians are anarcho-nihilists, with no conception of legitimate security needs of the state. They form a civil liberties cult, elevating people like Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden to hero status, and evincing a virtual sickness, according to Robert Stacy McCain, "a psychological complex we might call Post-Republican Anti-War Syndrome."

With that caveat, here's Reason, "The year saw many Americans rally behind rebels, explicitly siding with them over the government, in opposition to the powers-that-be":

Flipping the bird to the state doesn't guarantee universal acclaim. It certainly doesn't ensure personal safety. But more than at any time in recent memory, defying governments and their laws has a constituency—a large one—that sees such action as necessary and even heroic.

RTWT.

#LiberalismIn4Words

A great hash-tag, on Twitter.

And at Twitchy, "Rep. Steve Stockman, others hijack #LiberalismIn4Words":

#LiberalismIn4Words Dissent is not tolerated.

— Rep. Steve Stockman (@StockmanSenate) December 31, 2013

2013: The Year of Mainstreaming Homosexual Depravity

At AmericaBlog, "2013 LGBT year in review: A great year for gay homosexual rights."

And from ABC News, "A Game-Changing Year for Gay Homosexual Rights, From the Supreme Court to the Soccer Field."



Same-sex fast food via Dr. Marty Fox, on Twitter.

Dr. Kate Stone, Transgender Cambridge Academic, Gored by Giant Stag

She's paralyzed.

At Telegraph UK, "Cambridge University academic 'fighting for life' after being gored by giant stag":

Kate Stone, 44, suffers life-threatening injuries in 'the most unlucky freak accident ever', after the stag appeared to single out the 6ft academic who was the tallest of the group.

And see London's Daily Mail, "Transgender Cambridge academic seriously ill after being gored through the neck by a STAG during holiday in the Highlands."

'A few years ago, when the company went to London, some of them were able to go to the factory and meet their maker...'

An interesting quotation, about dancers for New York's City Ballet, who have their point shoes custom-made by a London shoe company. And occasionally, they visit the factory to "meet their maker."

At NYT, "At City Ballet, Footwear Is Almost as Important as Feet."

A photo-slideshow at the link. David H. Koch, of the left's reviled billion Koch brothers, is a benefactor of the company.

London's St. James's Church in Piccadilly Builds 'Apartheid Wall' to Demonize Israel

This is something else. Bloody outrageous, you might say.

From Jack Engelhard, at the Washington Times, "London's St. James Church chooses Hitler as its savior, sparks outrage":

NEW YORK, December 29, 2013 —  Maybe it is time for British Jews to start packing again. Surely there are millions of Muslims ready to replace them.

Hundreds of churches and synagogues throughout Britain and the rest of Europe are already being supplanted by mosques.

This certainly ought to gladden the leadership at St. James Church, Piccadilly. They chose Christmas to prove their loyalty to Palestinian Arab terrorists, whose godfather will always be Adolf Hitler. To scorn the Jewish State, they have festively replicated the “wall” (Israel’s security fence) on Church grounds to symbolize Palestinian “suffering” and Israeli “occupation.”

In fact, the “wall” is a chain fence that only touches Bethlehem from where Muslim terrorists emerged.

Thousands of Israelis were murdered before the barrier went up.

That does not concern this particular Anglican Church, which was designed and built by Christopher Wren in the late 1600s. So it is famed and historic and sits in the heart of London. Worshippers and passersby are able to rejoice and fill their hearts, once again, with baseless hatred.

The Jew Jesus, would He approve this message of loathing against His kin?

The extravaganza will run until January 5. The replica, we are told, is as large as the Church itself and features anti-Israel images and slogans.

Britain’s finest singers have been assembled to joyfully denounce Israel.

The party includes dancing, as there was dancing in Gaza and Ramallah when New York’s Twin Towers were taken down.

St. James apparently does not object to Christians being ethnically cleansed out of existence by Palestinians in total control of Bethlehem. Why worry?

Nor do Christians being murdered in Egypt and elsewhere throughout the Muslim world trouble St. James. Why be concerned?

Within the region, only in Israel are all religions welcomed and protected. This obviously goes blithely without notice at St. James...

Keep reading.

And see Melanie Phillips, "A church of hate: An open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby":

Israel is currently the victim of a mind-bending campaign of demonisation and delegitimisation based on falsehoods, libels and gross distortions. Your church, Archbishop, has now become part of this sinister and wicked attempt to exterminate a country by reversing truth and lies in the minds of decent people.

You surely do not need me to tell you that this anti-Israel bigotry in your church – going far beyond St James’s, Piccadilly – is infused by a revival of the ancient Christian calumny that the Jews have forfeited God’s love and all the promises he made to them on account of their refusal to believe in Jesus, as a result of which they were to be considered in league with the devil.

This terrible doctrine of ‘supersessionism’, which was responsible for centuries of Christian persecution and mass murder of the Jews, has become resurgent in recent years through the influence of Palestinian Christians who have attempted to rewrite the Bible as a lexicon of hate to further the cause of Palestinianism. To that end, they have attempted to airbrush the Jews out of their own history, while seeking to appropriate the Christian story itself by depicting Palestinians as suffering the torments of Jesus. Cashing in on this trend, Mahmoud Abbas ludicrously referred in his own Christmas message to Jesus – the Jew from Judea ­– as a Palestinian.

The influence upon your Church, Archbishop, of this virulent cocktail of ancient theological bigotry and exterminatory Palestinianism cannot be exaggerated.

In a climate in which every Jewish communal or religious event, every Jewish school and institution in Britain has to be guarded against attack, and in which there is a direct correlation between the emotive lies told about Israel and attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions, for one of your churches to lend itself to such incitement is simply obscene.

The ‘wall’ is of course a stunt. But the damage it has done to the Church of England is immense. Because what it does is put the Church on the side of lies and hatred against truth and justice. It has put the Church of England on the side of evil.

The only purpose of Israel’s security barrier is to save life and prevent mass murder. The only purpose of the St James’s Church ‘Bethlehem Unwrapped’ stunt is to stir up hatred.

To stay silent is to make the rest of the Church an accessory to this obscenity. I therefore trust that you will take all necessary steps to counter the calumny promulgated by St James’s and prevent the stain upon the wider Church from now spreading.

RTWT.

And at Blazing Cat Fur, "An open letter to St. James’s Church at Christmas," and Israel Matzav, "London's Saint James Church promotes Christian torment in 'Palestine'."

Here's the website for the St. James's Church. Let them know how you feel.

The Top Washington Story of 2013?

What's your pick?

I say the Snowden NSA leaks and the disastrous ObamaCare rollout. A year's a long time in the frame of the daily news cycle.

But see WSJ, "Review & Vote: 2013′s Top Washington Stories."

The 25 Essential Reads of 2013

It's mostly long reads, of which I rarely have the time. (Or, I rarely take the time.)

At the Verge, "The best online writing of 2013":

Each week we round up some of the best writing on the web in order to cut through the flood and highlight the best original online reporting, interviews, and writing. 2013 saw fantastic coverage of the NSA leaks, Silicon Valley’s larger aspirations to change the world, DNA testing, and much more, and many publications continued pushing the boundaries of movement, video, illustration, and design. And so as 2013 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at the stories, profiles, and characters that stayed with us: we’ve narrowed it down to 25 essential reads from Grantland, Mother Jones, domus, The London Review of Books, The Awl, Fast Company, and many more.

Well, get reading!