A TANGLED WEB

On This Day...

1900 - Coca Cola goes on sale in the UK for the first time.

1908 - At the age of 60, and after a career spanning 43 years, the legendary English cricketer W.G. Grace retires from first class cricket.

1962 - Chris Bonnington and Ian Clough become the first Britons to conquer the north face of the Eiger.

1969 - American boxing legend Rocky Marciano is killed in a plane crash.

1983 - The Soviet Union shoots down a South Korean airliner, killing all 268 passengers and crew on board.

1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales and her lover, Dodi Al Fayed, are killed in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma underpass in Paris - reportedly after being chased by the paparazzi.  The driver of the car, Henri Paul, is also killed.

IGNORE THE AID DONORS...

Millions of dollars are apparently "urgently needed to help Lebanon back to its feet after its bombardment by Israel, aid agencies have urged international donors."

Governments and international organisations are gathering in Sweden to pledge money to rebuild the country, with $500m (£260m) the target. Oxfam said the bombing campaign had ruined Lebanon's agricultural sector.

I just love the bias in that first sentence, taken from the BBC news site.

First of all, the inference that Lebanon was bombarded by Israel. Wrong. Those parts of Lebanon that were being used by the terrorist group Hezbollah were bombarded by Israel, and rightly so. The fact that Hezbollah cowards dug in around civilian structures is a problem of Hezbollah's making.

Second, Lebanon has allowed itself to be used as an active base from which Hezbollah has built up its terror infra-structure. As such it is complicit in the circumstances that led to the Israeli action. So WHY should it be given one dollar in International Aid?

Third. just remember that Israel has been the victim in all of this. EVERY Hezbollah rocket attack was aimed at civilians, Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed in an act of war on July 12th, and Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation. No calls for "International Aid" for Israel though, not a cent. No calls from Oxfam to help the Jews.

So, the aggressor - Lebanon/Hezbollah - is to rewarded by vast amounts of money whilst the victim - Israel - gets the cold shoulder. Isn't that such a disgrace? And isn't it further proof that the "International Community" is just another term for the Jew-hating rabble that refuses to take sides in the war on Islamic fascism?   

Kofi Annan's farewell tour in the region is such a laugh. This pompous buffoon has not a clue, and yet the simpering coverage of his visit by the MSM would lead one to believe that the Messiah himself had returned. We know that the MSM is besotted by the UN - but they could at least TRY and moderate their bias, couldn't they?

Post the first

In Which Mr Smith Introduces Himself

So, following on from the other new bloods' introductory posts, I thought it a good idea to say hello myself. Before David and Andrew decide they were misguided in inviting me at all. This will just be a quick bio and a mini-post to start me off here. More detailed and longer posts will turn up when I have more time.

Biographical, then:

Mid-20s, white lower middle class (insofar as class is still a useful label at all), good fun office job and a fondness for HTML (which sadly doesn't equate to great cleverness with it).

As I don't have a bonnet anywhere near as fetching as Mike Cunningham's, it hasn't attracted any bees. However, I do have some pet peeves:

- Moral relativism
- Cultural relativism
- Dhimmitude and similar attitudes
- The belief that sympathising with those who would 'wipe Israel off the map' is not anti-Semitism
- Anti-Semitism
- 'Christophobia', to misuse a PC term
- PC
- Moonbat liberalism (of the sort closely associated with the above factors)
- Religious adherence to 'tolerance' as a sort of panacea deity

I could probably go on, but I'm even boring myself with this list, so on to the mini-post.

Molly Campbell is gone.

It appears to be the case that nobody knows where this child is now, beyond the fact that she was flown to Lahore, Pakistan, with her biological father (from a previous marriage of her now unmarried mother). The biological father has, according to the girl's grandmother, previously attempted to take the girl.

It is, of course, hard to say anything particular about this without falling prey to unjustified stereotypes. However, there is at least one known fact which is, to put it mildly, worrying:

Violet Robertson, 67, the girl's grandmother, said her daughter and former son-in-law met when he was running a market stall in Glasgow when she was 16 and he was 23.

Hmmn.... and then we have a police officer declaring that

'suggestions that Molly would be forced into an arranged marriage were "speculation".'

Really? When a 23-year-old who has taken a 16-year-old into the kind of relationship that turned into a marriage suddenly and without warning removes her suddenly to Pakistan.

But of course! Such things are completely, utterly, alien to the Pakistani and moslem mind. It just couldn't happen.

For a mini-post, this story is ideal because it touches on so many areas. The concept of childhood, the idea of the family, the purpose and sanctity of marriage, relationships between adults (anyone above the age of 18) and children (anyone under the age of 18), cultural relativism, moral relativism, and so forth. At base, though, there is an Absolute right and an absolute wrong. This story is riddled with events falling into one of the two categories.

Bad news for Tarantino fans

Good news for those of us who don't consider access to violent pornography as an unassailable right. Liz Longhurst, whose daughter was murdered three years ago, has won her battle to see the Law changed to criminalise the possession of such images.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/5297600.stm

The question of censorship and obscenity has perplexed our liberal masters ever since they abolished the concept of morality and succumbed to the doctrine of non-judgementalism. Whereas they are no doubt happy to accept the malign influence of, say, racist or homophobic views if allowed free circulation, they find it almost impossible to countenance restrictions on 'artistic' expression.

Not to say that the change in the Law addresses this last issue, but if Mrs. Longhurst can rest a little easier, and feel her daughter's death was “not entirely in vain”, I for one am happy. However, reading the article to the end, my brief optimism for the legal system begins to seep away, in learning of the valient attempt our Law Lords are waging on behalf of the imprisoned killer who's horrific actions have led to today's decision. It seems he's been unfairly treated, because the jury was not offered the option of manslaughter, but only murder, guilty or not guilty? They found him guilty.

The fact that he did what he did is not disputed, but murder implies responsibility for one's actions, and this doesn't sit well with our philosopher-judges. Perhaps they would rather see him as a victim of forces beyond his control instead of as a man who took the decision to commit a terrible crime and who must be held responsible, no matter how twisted and abnormal his mind no doubt is.

THE BEST MEMORIAL FOR VICTIMS...

This made me want to vomit.

Ideas on how to remember victims of Northern Ireland's violent past are being sought by a cross-community group. Healing Through Remembering was set up to help deal with the effects of the Troubles. Spokesman Alan McBride said they wanted to establish a museum but had not yet decided what form this should take. Mr McBride's wife and father-in-law were among nine people killed in a bomb in a Shankill Road fish shop in 1993. Local singer Brian Kennedy is due to meet the group on Wednesday.

Now setting aside the surreal aspect of failed Euro-singer Brian Kennedy  having ANY relevance to the topic, I think we need to quickly dismiss this "Healing through Remembrance" nonsense.

The BEST memorial for those who have suffered at the hands of terrorism is to convict and punish the terrorists concerned. Let justice be done and be seen to be done. McBride and his crew are stuck on planet uberliberal, funded by the government, and unable to distinguish between right and wrong. A sort of Cindy Sheehan for Northern Ireland. All this talk of a "museum" is just plain nonsense.

Those who slaughtered and maimed our fellow citizens must not get away with literally, murder. Talk of remembrance museums is just an empty meaningless diversion.

UP AND RUNNING...

I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to Mike and Richard for taking a deep breath and making the plunge into the churning waters of ATW!

Great first posts guys - just keep it coming! As you both will have figured by now, you will be challenged on your views by our wonderfully eclectic readership and that is a good thing, makes you think, keeps you sharp.

It's been a pleasure to see your names under our banner, and I wish you every success in the future! You will be joined very shortly by our 3rd new blogger - just a few technical things to clear up and we will up to full strength. It takes a while for things to settle in but I am more than happy with the tone and content of all that has been written so far - and as I say I am certain that our regulars will ensure blogging is kept sharp and precise!

WELCOMING NEW TALENT...

I'm not sure what the age demographics might be of those who surf the blogosphere, but I suspect they skew somewhat younger than those who watch the MSM news! That is a good thing in many ways, as it is a pointer to the future. Since I am in my mid-40's I often feel like one of the older residents on ATW but I I was very pleased to read about this site, called A YOUNG CONSERVATIVE, run by a 17 year old fellow Ulsterman and unionist, living in Poole.

I've been having a review of his posts and he has some very mature views for one his young age, and I just really wanted to give his blog a bit of a profile here. I trust that other Unionist inclined bloggers will pick up on this and link him in. It's NOT easy being young and holding solid Christian unionist and conservative views in a society that mocks such things. I believe such things are admirable and everyone benefits from encouragement. My best wishes to Will.

A proper introduction

I won't compete with Mr Cunningham's tour de force below,

http://atangledweb.typepad.com/weblog/2006/08/first_past_the_.html

but I should introduce myself, having volunteered my services, and been invited me to contribute to ATW. Thank you, David, and thanks to the others who have welcomed me through the comments on my first post earlier this week.

Biographical sketch: mid thirties, live in London, non-descript job, read too many books, interested in politics, history etc., and thus inevitably drawn to the internet, the free market of ideas.

ATW has entertained me and I've enjoyed posting comments and involving myself in various controversies, since coming across the site. I haven't blogged before, so forgive me if I offend against any rules of etiquette I'm unaware of.

Although in my experience opinions found in places such as ATW are widespread, especially with regard to so-called "Right-wing" views of Law and Order, Crime and Punishment etc.,you'd never guess that if you relied on from the MSM to tell you what it going on in the World.  Part of my aim in contributing is to help people realise where the true majority opinion lies in these matters and just how small a minority the woolly-thinking "liberal consensus" comprises.

The post announcing changes at ATW attracted a high number of comments (over one hundred). Much of this focused on the Left versus the Right, and who's the more tolerant of dissenting views. 

Personally I always try to fit my opinions to the Truth, rather than the other way round, therefore I'm happy to listen to arguments that contradict my assumptions.  If the Right is more tolerant, it is probably because they can accept this starting-point, whereas people of the Left will switch off at the first mention of Truth, and start refuting the concept. 

Not all people like arguing, of course. Many's the time I've had would-be adversaries backing off, refusing the gauntlet I've thrown down, dismissing the mountain of evidence I'm offering to assemble for them and declining to provide me with anything to the contrary that would support their opinions, almost reproaching me for using the unfair tactics of reading a book on the subject in question.

I dare say I won't be able to compete with David's prostigious output, but I look forward to adding my voice to ATW and hope I can give back some of the pleasure I have derived over the last few months as a reader.

"Eyes down, your first number is....

The Seven Principals of Public Life.............

Selflessness Integrity Objectivity Accountability

Openness Honesty Leadership

Excerpt taken and shortened from the Casino Advisory Panel website.

Given the above requirements, and noting that the Chairman, one Prof. Stephen Crow CB is a long-term bosom buddy, office colleague, planning advisor and maybe even a croquet partner of John Prescott, is it surprising at all to note that the ill-fated Millennium Dome, where the Anschutz empire has proposed that the regional ‘Super Casino’ be built, is at the top of the list of preferred sites for this lucrative construction project!

Two additional thoughts come to mind:-

Principals — Definition...... The major investors in a company or corporation

Principles — Definition ......The values that govern a person’s behaviour.

Quotation from a Blackpool resident:- “I live in Blackpool, please keep the casino in London!”

IRISH ANTI-SEMITISM...

I was reading a prominent letter in this morning's Irish Independent (subs required) and I was struck by the seething anti-Israeli sentiment behind it. It is a point which ATW visitor Felix Quigley picks up on, and I wish to reinforce the validity of his argument here.

Here are a few excerpts...

Dear Sir,

Could you tell me if the new UN force (which has agreed not to use force..DV) going to Lebanon is sanctioned to defend themselves against the Israelis?

I have read that the new UN force will be allowed to disarm Hizbollah (Must be reading the wrong papers, pal, Kofi Annan has made it clear that the UN force will NOT disarm Israel..DV) but nothing about the Israelis in the border zone.

Clearly this is an important issue as it was the Israelis, not Hezbollah that killed four UN peacekeepers and wounded others during the conflict. (Those would be the four UN peacekeeprs whose base was being used by nearby Hezbolloh terrorists to provide space to launch rockets into Israel. DV)

Israel has continued to attack Reuters (Lie) and the Red Cross (Lie) marked vehicles over the past few days, so it is Israel that we should be most concerned about. (Yes, that is quite right but only if we don't think that Iranian backed Hezbo stormtroopers roaming Lebanon is a problem. DV)

It drones on in this whiny tone until the end which is a tour de (un)force

The last person to demand UN inspections of Israel's nuclear facilities at Dimona was John F Kennedy in 1963. Three months later, he was assassinated! (Ah - so it was the Joooos who killed John, I see) Who is regulating the trigger happy nuclear state of Israel?

Gavin Smith,

Clontarf 15

Now, I'm not sure if Gavin is the President of the Clontarf chapter of the Hezbollah fan club, but his stunning ignorance of Middle East affairs must appeal to the letters editor of the Irish Independent. I wonder if a letter pointing out that the UN is corrupt, that Lebanon colludes with Hezbollah to please the puppet masters in Syria and Tehran, that the MSM's anti-Israeli bias has been shockingly exposed by new media, and that Israel must return and finish Hezbollah off would get equal status?