Outrageous: BBC NEWS - Japan puts whale burger on menu. Email of Japanese Embassy: jicc@embjapan.org

Keller Says 'N.Y. Times' Must Look Beyond Its Urban, Liberal Base

Paul Johnson in Commentary - The Anti-Semitic Disease aruges that anti-semitism is a nationally self-destructive behaviour. He cites many examples including this one:

An important instance of this historical law is the expulsion of the Jews (along with the Moors) from Spain in the 1490’s, and the subsequent witchhunt of New Christians, or converted Jews, by the Inquisition—a process that took place at precisely the moment when Spain’s penetration of the New World had opened up unprecedented opportunities for economic expansion. The effect of official anti-Semitism was to deprive Spain (and its colonies) of a class already notable for the astute handling of finance. As a consequence, the project of enlarging the New World’s silver mines and importing huge amounts of silver into Spain, far from leading to rational investment in a proto-industrial revolution or to the creation of modern financial services, had a profoundly deleterious impact, plunging the hitherto vigorous Spanish economy into inflation and long-term decline, and the government into repeated bankruptcy.

World Tribune.com -- New Israeli system IDs terrorists without profiling suspect

Prevent Japanese Whaling

My letters to my representatives concerning the attempt by Japan to resume commerical whaling.

I am deeply concerned by Japan's proposal to more than double its whaling program and attempts to overturn to the long-standing moratorium on commercial whaling.

Whales are uniquely intelligent and beautiful creatures that man has already hunted to the brink of extinction. As a neuroscientist, I am struck by the similarity of the brains of whales and dolphins to those of people and believe they most likely have a degree of sentience like that of our own.

Under International Whaling Commission rules, Japan has engaged in whaling for 'scientific' purposes for the last 18 years. It is widely accepted that the Japanese research program is not more than a sham - a front for continuing its commercial whaling program. This view is supported by the paucity of peer-reviewed publications that have emerged from Japanese studies over the last 18 years, and the unnecessary use of lethal techniques employed in those studies. Such activities mock the intentions of the IWC and allow Japan to covertly flaunt the international consensus reached on protecting cetacean species.

Since its inception, the United States has supported the moratorium on commercial whaling. Now Japan wishes to expand its program, again using pseudo-scientific arguments to support the proposal and is seeking to overturn the moratorium itself. It is important that the US oppose these efforts and finally put a stop to Japan's on-going whaling activities.

Unfortunately Japan has a history of offering trade incentives to IWC member countries which support its position. Mongolia, a landlocked country with no historical interest in whaling, has recently joined the IWC merely to add its vote to the Japanese block. There is a real danger that Japan will achieve its objectives at the IWC meeting currently taking place.

It is unacceptable that Japan is openly buying votes on the IWC. In the face of such provocation it is only reasonable that the United States should flex its economic muscles as well - I urge you to ask Congress to authorize trade sanctions against any nation supporting an expanded whaling program, or an end to the moratorium.

Sea Shepherd - Showdown at the IWC – Sea Shepherd Prepares to Battle Japan

The International Whaling Commission has been meeting all this month in Ulsan, South Korea. The official delegate meeting begins next week, and it promises to be a showdown between the whale-killing nations led by Japan and the whale-defending nations.

The whale killers are Japan, Norway, Iceland, and a bunch of small, puppet nations in the Caribbean and the South Pacific whose votes have been purchased by Japan. Japan has even enlisted landlocked Mongolia to join the IWC to vote for killing whales.

The strongest voices in defense of the whale are Australia and New Zealand. But other nations are also speaking up in defiance of the incredible arrogance of Japan.

This year, Japan has given the finger to international public opinion confident that they have finally bought enough votes to overturn the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.

OpinionJournal - Citizen of the World

Oriana Fallaci faces jail

Vegan Athletes Flex Their Muscles

In a recent interview Olympic track star Carl Lewis, who was a vegan during his best years, says he believes that “most athletes have the worst diet in the world, and they compete in spite of it.

Tintin and Asterix were the two cartoon strip characters I loved as a kid. Both comic books age well - its enjoyable to read them again as an adult. On a recent trip to Montreal, I took cover from the rain and sat in a bookshop and read through "The Shooting Star" ; a slightly guilty hours pleasure. There's a short biography of Herge on Expatica, including a hint about a most intruiging unfinished work:

Herge passed away on 3 March 1983, leaving his last book, “Tintin and Alpha-Art” unfinished. The book was to delve into the world of modern art and sects.
Expatica - The Adventures of Herge

Mmmm... a collection of 100 halal recipes from ...
The Gitmo Cookbook - Helping you support the troops, mock the MSM and eat like a Gitmo detainee!

WFTV.com - Top 25 World's Most Expensive Cities

Top 25 World's Most Expensive Cities

1. Tokyo, Japan (1)
2. Osaka, Japan (4)
3. London, Britain (2)
4. Moscow, Russia (3)
5. Seoul, South Korea (7)
6. Geneva, Switzerland (6)
7. Zurich, Switzerland (9)
8. Copenhagen, Denmark (8)
9. Hong Kong, Hong Kong (5)
10. Oslo, Norway (15)

A terrible blow to New York's collective ego - it comes in at number 13 ;-)

Analysis of the pro's and con's of dietary soy intake.
The Food Revolution

Expatica:

Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk has ordered three imams accused of being a threat to public order and national security to get out of the Netherlands.

Quite a turnaround for the Dutch.

Mountaineers who ascend North America's loftiest peak are often brought down to earth by 'virus-laden poo'...
CNN.com

LILEKS on Time's report about US interrogation methods

Banned words on MSN blogs

The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes - an irresistable book title. I stumbled across this gem in a second hand bookshop a few weeks ago and am hooked. The author introduces readers to a type of chess puzzle known as retrograde analysis, working the puzzles into a cheesey but fun Sherlock Holmes narrative. I just found a website devoted to the form: The Retrograde Analysis Corner

Feminists lining up on both sides of the Hirsi Ali debate

Amnesty has really lost the plot. Not only did they compare the US imprisonment of 540 jihadi fighters to the Gulag (parodied by Scrappleface here) but as Captain's Quarters points out, they have also called for foreign nations to arrest and prosecute US officials. I guess I won't be renewing my Amnesty membership this year. They apparently suffer from a drastic deficit in perspective and moral clarity.

If the US government continues to shirk its responsibility, Amnesty International calls on foreign governments to uphold their obligations under international law by investigating all senior US officials involved in the torture scandal. And if those investigations support prosecution, the governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them. The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera because they may find themselves under arrest as Augusto Pinochet famously did in London in 1998.
Amnesty International USA

Rum and Monkey - The Historical Lunatic Test

cooperation - monkeys - prostitution - prisoners dilemna
Monkey Business - New York Times

The conviction of Le Monde for anti-semitic reporting prompted HonestReporting.com to review European media overall. They give two examples of stomach turning cartoons from Greece. The Arab media prints such examples frequently, but that such cartoons should appear in Western print - its pathetic. The former seat of civilisation is now just its butt.
Silence on French Court Ruling

Fresh speculation that Ashkenazi intelligence may be linked to the lipid disorders prevalent in that population. It's a little strange - its just a new round of hypothesis making, no fresh evidence. I agree with the authors that putting the high frequency of Tay-Sachs and other disorders down to a 'Founder effect' is pretty silly - there are too many independent mutations in each part of the sphingolipid pathway for this kind of explanation. On the other hand, its a bad idea to actually test this hypothesis (ie link carriers of a Tay-Sachs or other allele to IQ) - the jewish dating scene is already shallow and traumatic enough. Having a Tay-Sachs allele would be the ultimate form of yichis.
Researchers Say Intelligence and Diseases May Be Linked in Ashkenazic Genes - New York Times

New York Post Online Edition - 'LINK STINK' ART

Artist Mike Bouchet's odorific 'Celebrity Hot Tub for Kofi Annan' sculpture — which features a rotting sausage stewing in a tub of noxious water — produces an overwhelming stench that is sickening visitors to the MoMA-affiliated museum.

...

Reached for comment in Switzerland, Bouchet, 34, compared himself to the Old Masters. "As much as Velazquez painted portraits of his royal patrons, I am making works for contemporary celebrities," he wrote in an e-mail.

When pressed, he admitted, "I assumed that the salami would probably emit odor.

OEDILF - The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

OEDILF - The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form... Say no more!

An amusing interchange between Hitchens and Germaine Greer on the Iraq war:
Labour Friends of Iraq - Christopher Hitchens and others debate Iraq on Start the Week 30 May 2005

Christopher Hitchens – Germaine, can I just say very quickly, to the extent that you are right that there was international collusion in the rule of the Ba’ath party- and you are right to some extent - doesn’t that double our responsibility to cancel that debt to the Iraqis?

Germaine Greer – Oh! That’s a tricky way of thinking about it.

CH – What’s tricky about it?

Germaine Greer - I thought we agreed that this war wasn’t fought for regime change but now it turns out that it was and you knew all along. Well, the rest of us are a bit surprised.

Christopher Hitchens – Well, the rest of you should have been paying more attention.

Ynetnews reports that Egypt has refused to allow Ali Salem, Egyptian novelist and peace activist to travel to Israel where he was to accept an honorary doctorate from Ben Gurion. They twice prevented him from leaving the country. If Egypt is moving toward democracy, its doing so in baby steps.

Nazi Medical Myth Debunked:

Ear physicians were taught for decades that otosclerosis is made progressively worse by pregnancy and can lead to hearing losses or deafness in the expectant mother. Thus doctors often told women with the condition not to get pregnant, and as late as 1950, having otosclerosis was a reason for abortions in many countries, including Israel. The condition has been treatable since the 1960s, thanks to stapedectomy – surgery that restores flexibility to the damaged ear bone. Hearing aids can also benefit patients who do not have surgery.

Lippy, who spent extensive time working and teaching in Israel and was a visiting professor at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center, said he began to suspect that 'common medical knowledge' regarding otosclerosis was untrue when he observed that many of his female haredi patients with otosclerosis who had numerous pregnancies did not have any worse hearing than the women who were childless. Upon investigation, he discovered that the original 'correlation' between pregnancy and otosclerosis came from a paper written by eight German physicians in 1939.

The findings in this paper were far from conclusive: Only two really believed that otosclerosis was really speeded up or worsened by pregnancy, Lippy said.
Jerusalem Post - Israeli study disproves Nazi myth