Sunday, February 19, 2006

FINANCIAL REWARD NOT EXPECTED, AND FOR GOOD REASON

In his latest post Antony Loewenstein begs for donations:
Since launching this new site, my monthly costs have slightly increased. As you’ll see, I’m featuring a Donate button. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I’m not a journalist for the financial rewards…but I really enjoy eating crunchy, fresh vegetables.
We can only hope he has his mentor's financial sense. The Donate button is impossible to miss; it's the most prominent feature on the page. Whether he's a journalist is debatable... bullshit, he's no more a journalist than I am and if he ever rises above the level of partisan hack I'll be absolutely fucking amazed.

One could work out Loewenstein's no journalist by reading damn near any of his posts. Here's a classic of stupidity or slackness, or both, from earlier today – unedited, so no-one can accuse me of manipulation. Be warned: that rambling introductory sentence is near mesmerizing.
While the Bush administration acknowledges that key indicators of the Iraqi economy were better performing before the war and the British government pleads for the public to understand the “ethical” British army - note the Defence Secretary’s concern, and palpable anger, at having to deal with “human rights standards” - perhaps the most intriguing piece of news in the last week is this:

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) is set to file a complaint in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide, EJC president Pierre Besnainou told Haaretz.

This is a truly bizarre idea. Ahmadinejad’s statements on Israel and the Holocaust are both unacceptable and sinister, but for the Jewish community to attempt to isolate a leader of a country that has not launched a war of aggression against any nation, while the US-occupation of Iraq has claimed the lives of untold thousands, shows the priorities of European Zionists. Perhaps the EJC should consider the words of any number of commentators inciting hatred and discrimination against Islam and Muslims. But why should they worry, it’s only Muslims being targeted?
It's not bizarre to want Ahmadinejad charged with incitement to genocide because that's exactly what he preaches:
President Ahmadinejad's speech to the Iranian student organization Union of Islamic Students Association's "World Without Zionism" conference last week stating, "Very soon, this stain of disgrace [i.e. Israel] will vanish from the center of the Islamic world".
Ant is obviously unaware of Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel rants as the link in his post is to an article about Holocaust denying Iranian officials – Ahmadinejad isn't even mentioned. What is bizarre is that Ant thinks the EJC shouldn't worry about the very real threat posed by Islam and Muslims, who, by the way, are doing a fine job inciting hatred without any outside help.

Maybe Loewenstein will luck out and someone will hit that button and donate him a brain. Hey, there is a largish blogging rodent whose brain wouldn't be missed, and has hardly been used.

Update: Here's "journalist" Loewenstein on the recent Packer memorial service:
Rich Australians deserve sympathy and a tax-payer funded funeral. Really.
Commenter captain observing:
Antony, it was a memorial service, not a funeral. I am surprised you didn’t know the difference. Really.
Soon thereafter I lodged the following comment:
Antony, it was a memorial service, not a funeral. I am surprised you didn’t know the difference.

I'm not.
Upon lodging the comment I received notification it was awaiting moderation but it never appeared and was obviously rejected. I've emailed Angry Ant twice asking why the comment was rejected:
Yesterday I lodged a two-word comment in the Congrats Kerry thread at your blog. The comment did not make it past moderation. I can't see that the comment violates your comment policy: would you care to elaborate on your rejection of the comment?
I'm guessing he hasn't responded because he's a very busy man – trying to extract his head from his arse would be a full-time job in itself.

Update II: In News bytes Loewenstein attempts pithy commentary:
The Murdoch press offers a textbook case of inaccurate reporting on Latin America. Note how every issue is framed around problems for the US, rather than potential benefits for the Latin American people.
The linked article's title is "Chavez the joker not funny for Bush"; it's about, as the title indicates, the problems Chavez is causing for the US. Duh. Ant really should point out some of the "inaccuracies".

News byte two:
Russia’s chief rabbi condemns the country’s gay pride march. “Sexual perversions” have no right to exist, he said. When an Islamic leader makes such statements, they are rightly condemned, but when a Jew is equally offensive, little outcry is heard.
The rabbi said no such thing: here's the quote, in context:
Rabbi Lazar on Thursday said that anything promoting what he called “sexual perversions” does not have the right to exist.

“I would like to assure you, that the parade of homosexuals it is not less offensive to the feelings of believers than any caricatures in newspapers.”
Another duh for Ant.

News byte three:
Israel’s army chief warns the world that Hamas cannot be trusted and negotiations are futile. If Hamas made similar comments about Israel, they would be accused of not “being serious about peace.”
Ant is sort of close to right on this one: here's the intro to the linked article:
Hamas should be tested not by its declarations to the world, but rather, by what it says behind the scenes, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz warned Sunday during a government meeting called to discuss Israel's response to the terror group's election win.
Close ain't good enough; another duh.

News byte four:
The University of Louisville’s McConnell Center has decided the 10 worst US Presidential “blunders“. The Iran/Contra affair and escalation of the Vietnam war is described as a “blunder”, not a crime.
Since the title of the article is "And the top 10 worst presidential blunders are...", it's about, naturally, presidential errors. Ant should look for a story about presidential crimes, not criticize the article for staying on the topic nominated in its title. Drum roll... duh.

And, saving the best for last:
Our Dear Leader lashes out at “jihad” Muslims. Little Johnny wants to tell Australians that “zealous multiculturalism” is a problem. Of course, Howard would prefer an Australia with few or no Muslims, but he can’t say this in public. Instead, he damns Islam because of a tiny number of Islamists. Maybe he could next inform Australians of the dangers of Zionism, an ideology that has advocated ethnic cleansing.
Howard doesn't lash out or damn Muslims. In any event, under Howard the Australian Arab population – presumably mostly Muslim – has actually increased:
Paul Keating had left office in 1996 with Arabs accounting for 7.7 per cent of our immigration intake. Howard lifted their share to a record 10.5 per cent in 2004-05.
In striving to be a journalist Ant has set himself a goal he will never reach.

1 Comments:

Anonymous MK said...

Its funny how leftists and howard haters are always criticising Howard for his migration policies and refugees and anti muslim/arab feelings, yet the facts show otherwise.

10:54 AM  

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