The Bookworm Beat 3-5-15 — “I’m still standing” edition and open thread

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Woman writingLast year I had virtually no work; this year, if the pace keeps up, I’ll be working almost full time. Frankly, I preferred no work.

Fortunately — and the lawyers amongst you will appreciate this — I’m getting access to Westlaw again, and won’t be trapped in Lexis hell. When it comes to Westlaw, it’s a brilliant interface and I feel like a brilliant practitioner when I use it.

I’m not going to stop blogging, though, just because of a little legal work.  I’ve been collecting interesting information, and now I get to share it with you:

Obama’s misguided (or evil) efforts to spin his Middle Eastern failures as successes

I’ve been trying to have a more optimistic view of things in my life lately, along the lines of “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Traffic tickets are an opportunity to be a better driver. Joint problems are a reminder to repair my body before old-age makes doing so impossible. Things like that — seeing problems as opportunities for improvement.

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#BibiSpeech #NetanyahuSpeech — Open Thread

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Netanyahu's 2015 speech to CongressHave you listened to Netanyahu’s speech yet?  It was a masterful speech (and I wish American conservatives would listen and learn from it). In clear, elegant, often clever English, Bibi explained precisely why Obama’s proposed deal with Iran is an awful deal, one that paves the way for Iran to have a nuclear weapon system on the sly in the near future or completely legally in a decade. Bibi reminded his audience that Iran isn’t just any state — it is now, and has been for 36 years — the largest single terrorism sponsor in the world.

If you haven’t heard it yet, here’s the video:

Or, if you prefer reading to listening, here’s the transcript.

Bibi made a point that every sane person understands: Rewarding a bad actor does not make him less bad, it makes him more bad.

Along the way, Bibi addressed a point that has troubled some conservatives: Israel is much more worried about Iran than it is about ISIS, while the American people are more worried about ISIS than Iran. I really think that part of the speech gets to the heart of what should be every civilized person’s concern about what’s happening in the Middle East and around the world:

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SPOILER ALERTS: House of Cards, Season 3, Episode 7 — after jumping the shark, show goes full anti-Israel

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House of CardsHaving now watched episodes 6 and 7 in House of Cards, I’m done with the show. I’m freeing up several hours of my life to read books, write, visit with friends — indeed, do anything but watch something that’s turned into yet another boring, polemic, Leftist wish factory.

BEWARE — HERE BE SPOILERS. If you haven’t given up on House of Cards, don’t read past this paragraph. You’ll regret it if you do.

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The Bookworm Beat 2-26-15 — the evening edition and open thread

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Woman writing

Alan Dershowitz challenges the talk about boycotting Netanyahu’s speech

Read and enjoy Alan Dershowitz’s fiery denunciation of the Obama administration’s efforts to get Democrats — especially black ones — to boycott Netanyahu’s speech about the existential threat Obama’s policies pose to Israel.

I won’t comment on the article — it speaks for itself — but I will comment on a couple of peripheral things. Dershowitz is a Democrat, but he’s also an ardent Israel supporter. I therefore can’t help but think that, as Obama prepares to break with Israel and ally America with Iran, it’s not a coincidence that Dershowitz suddenly found himself swept up in the pedophile sex scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein.

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The Bookworm Beat 2-23-15 — Post-Vegas edition and Open Thread

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Woman writingI do like Vegas. I love its manic energy, crazed corporate imagination, over-the-top shows, brilliant colors, and flashing lights. And then, after three days, I’m desperate to get away from the noise and smoke and, often, the desperation floating above the casino floors. In other words, I had a great trip there and then was glad to come home again. This time, coming home also meant going through about 800 backed-up emails (a lot of people got heartfelt apologies from me for delaying so long before responding to them), and finding some awesome things to share with you.

A glowing French eye-view of American troops

When we think of the French, we tend to think of hyper-critical people who look down upon Americans. That stereotype might be true on the Île-de-France, but it turns out to be untrue in the theater of war, at least as to one French soldier who served with American troops (Echo Company) in Afghanistan. If this doesn’t make you want to stand up and salute, I truly don’t know what will:

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The Israelis are waking up to Obama’s anti-Israel agenda

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Back in 2010, in a prescient interview for the New English Review, Richard Rubenstein, PhD, predicted with quite amazing accuracy the approach that Obama would take to the Middle East in the coming years. You and I suspected this all along but what makes this prescient video quite fascinating is that it’s starting to make the rounds amongst Israelis. I received it from an Israeli cousin who has gone from a lifetime of being a Leftist (his mother was a Communist to the day she died) to fearing Obama and, for that reason, supporting Netanyahu.

Getting Obama to the right place in dealing with Israel

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Obama in IsraelJust a random thought, but could Obama be persuaded to stop Iran from developing the bomb by convincing him that the mere possibility of a nuclear accident or intentional detonation is bad for the environment and would, in fact, worsen climate change?

Or perhaps we could convince huge numbers of LGBTQs to immigrate to Israel (the only country in the Middle East that welcomes them, rather than kills them) so that he’d have a reason he could live with to justify Israel’s continued existence?

Or maybe we could convince Obama that, if the land really does belong to the Palestinians, all the Jews there are illegal immigrants and therefore entitled to amnesty (not to mention lots of American money).

Come on, folks!  Work with me here.  We need to spin this so that Obama feels ideologically and emotionally comfortable supporting Israel.

The Bookworm Beat 2-4-15 — The “Obama’s not sad” edition and Open Thread

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Woman writingIt’s been pouring paying clients lately, which is a good thing but, as always, it cuts into my blogging time.  I’ll skip the preliminaries and throw myself in the round-up.

It’s a bad thing when our president is happy

My Mom, in commenting on the state of the world today, said “Everybody’s unhappy.” I disagreed. “Obama is happy,” I said. “So is Iran.”

Why are these two happy? Because Obama is working on a grand plan that will hand the Middle East over to nuclear Imams from Iran, that’s why. Victor Davis Hanson carefully breaks the Obama strategy down. You should definitely read VDH’s post, but be prepared to be depressed for hours or even days afterwards.

As for those Sunni outposts that Iran cannot reach or does not want to control, there’s always Obama’s good friend The Muslim Brotherhood.

And that’s why Obama’s happy.

The Jordanian pilot’s immolation is even making Progressives scared . . . except for Obama

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[VIDEO] Brilliant Netanyahu campaign commercial

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Wow! Can you imagine if American elections had commercials this good? It plays at so many levels: Superficially, it’s just plain funny. It also subtly and ably attacks the candidates running against Netayanhu. Lastly, at a very visceral level, the commercial forces voters to ask themselves which candidate will best care for their children — all without mentioning any of the ugly threats facing Israel:

Hat tip: Sadie

Another jihadist attack in Israel

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Muslim protester in London

Muslim protester in London

When you’re in the front line of the war against psychopaths inspired by fundamentalist Islamic doctrines, the war never ends, and every civilian finds himself being turned into a target.  This time, it happened in Tel Aviv (if story doesn’t load, click on word “post,” below):

Post by StandWithUs.