Pun Salad

I missed this sappy article in our local paper, Foster's Daily Democrat, on Sunday, covering a recent "peace" demonstration in Dover, New Hampshire. It is a dreadful example of uncritical reporting (and apparently zero editing) allowing one-sided unfiltered anti-Israel propaganda to pose as a news article:

DOVER -- Nur Shoop displayed what was one of the simplest, yet most forceful signs during a protest Saturday against the violence on the Gaza Strip as Israel and Hamas engage in an armed conflict.

Her sign, as she stood on the traffic island at Lower Square in the downtown area, simply read "Gaza." Around the word were children's handprints, all in red, symbolizing the innocent lives that Shoop said are most deeply affected by the violence.

There's more, much more, of the same at the link; I won't bother quoting here. Loaded heartstring-tugging language about "ending the violence" but somehow always putting the entire blame and burden on Israel.

Oh, and Foster's has no problem with providing free advertising for the cause as well:

A Palestine peace vigil sponsored by the UNH Peace and Justice League and the Durham Students for a Democratic Society also will take place in downtown Durham on Jan. 18 from noon to 2 p.m. For more information about that event, contact Alex Freid at durhamsdsgmail.com [sic] or 608-9859.

Over at Granite Grok, Doug is as disgusted by this as I am. He notes a counter-demonstration is in the works for Durham on Sunday, just to show that not everyone around here is a Hamas dupe; click over for more information.

Foster's has been getting slimmer and slimmer as it gets stupider and stupider. I won't cry when it's gone.

• We were just talking about The Prisoner a couple days back, and now comes word that Patrick McGoohan has gone to that great Village in the sky.

• Mr. Peter Ferrara, writing in the American Spectator, notes the problems with what's been revealed about Obama's economic program so far: (a) it doesn't use tools that work (actual tax cuts, spending discipline, deregulation, control of the monetary supply); (b) instead, concentrates on braindead strategies that have never worked in the past (one-time giveaways, onerous regulation, subsidies, spending out the waz, e-z money).

  "Other than that, though, it's fine."

  Ferrara also notes the utter weirdness of this:

  Finally, on ABC's This Week, Obama started talking about over the course of his Presidency "some kind of a grand bargain" dealing with entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, "where everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good." In response to George S. emphasizing that means "eventually sacrifice from everyone," Obama said, "Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game."

  Ahem: If "everyone" is sacrificing, exactly to whom does the "greater good" redound? If we have a truly negative-sum game, why start playing at all?

• The 2009 Index of Economic Freedom, comparing "countries' commitment to free-market capitalism" is out. The US of A is in sixth place. It could be worse. In view of the above item: it probably will be worse.

• Little Green Footballs has opened voting for the 2008 Idiotarian of the Year Award. So far, it's a runaway, but make your mouse heard.