Feria Del Libro

Every year in April, the International Book Fair (Feria del Libro) is held in Buenos Aires.  Just imagine a super-sized Barnes and Noble divided into sections by publishers, themes and countries of origin divided into huge pavillions interspersed with food stands.  Then add a constant schedule of book signings, lectures and other video presentations and you’ll get an idea as to why this is my favorite event on the Argentine cultural calendar.

I also have a soft spot for the Feria del Libro because when I first came to Argentina back in April 1997 it had just opened and provided me with an instant feeling of being among a like-minded people who care about the written word.

I’m hoping to check it out tomorrow. (The picture below is from last year’s fair)

By the way, yesterday leftist protesters essentially forced the cancellation of a lecture by an anti-Castro author after it had already begun.   It is not unusual here for leftists/anarchists to intimidate people they don’t like, which includes Israelis and their supporters.

Obama is a uniter – Both Israelis and Palestinians don’t like him

In an interview with Argentine newspaper Clarin during his visit to the country, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had this to say about the U.S. involvement in moving the peace process along (my translation below):

Q: ¿Cree que Barack Obama está haciendo lo suficiente por el proceso de paz Oriente Medio?

A: Por ahora no está haciendo nada. Pero nos ha invitado a reactivar el proceso de paz. Espero que en el futuro pueda tener un rol más importante.

————————————————–

Q: Do you think the Barack Obama is doing enough for the Middle East peace process?

A: Right now he’s not doing anything.  But he has invited us to reactivate the peace process.  I hope that in the future he can play a more important role.

Let’s all remember a promise the the President made in Cairo 6 months ago:

I intend to personally pursue this outcome (a two state solution) with all the patience and dedication that the task requires.

Right now he’s not doing anything.

Kick a Jew Day at Naples Middle School

If this happened to my kids, I would be so furious, I wouldn’t be able to speak to anyone rationally until the parents of every student involved made a public apology.

Students assaulted during ‘Kick A Jew Day’

Ten students are serving suspensions for their roles in what was called “Kick a Jew Day” at North Naples Middle.  We talked to one student Monday who said this was happening all over school.

See the video at the link with the parent(?) who doesn’t think it’s a big deal.

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being

Via Michelle Malkin.  Why do these white people think that they are the only white people who don’t need to hang out with minorities?

In Michigan, O’Donnell smugly noted that Palin’s fans were “largely white — almost no minorities in this crowd.” Matthews parroted the line, assailing the “white crowd.” Walsh likened the gathering to a “paranoid tea party.” Matthews hammered away at the “monochromatic” scene.

Ahem. Check out the masthead of MSNBC TV, “The Place for Politics.” Wear sunglasses and SPF 30 lotion. You’ll need protection from the blinding white glare.

The Costs of Leaving Afghanistan – Money and Morals

All credit to Norm…..

Reasons for staying

If you read enough pieces saying that it’s time we got out of Afghanistan, you could easily form the impression that while there are great costs involved in staying in, there are no costs to getting out. I point you towards two pieces saying different. Trudy Rubin writes about ‘the gains [Afghan] women have made, and the terrible price they will pay if the international community turns its back on Afghanistan’. Julian Glover argues:

[P]recipitous retreat would certainly result in the collapse of everything we have sustained in Afghanistan, and the triumph of a foul insurgency that would inflict horror on the people of the country and that does not have their support.

SNL: Obama Does Sex to Chinese President Hu Jintao

I think Saturday Night Live just got it’s mojo back.  Funniest thing I’ve seen in years.  Watch the whole thing.  Warning, if you’re a true Liberal, you will be offended.

Gotcha Media: SNL: Obama Does Sex to Chinese President Hu Jintao

Posted using ShareThis

Non-Defender of the Faith

A consistent reader of conservative blogs will be familiar with the refrain that President Obama has spent most of his time in foreign policy apologizing for American imperialism, capitalism and various other bad behaviours.  ( I spell this in the British style purposely in the same way that Obama transforms into a global citizen when he hits the road).

While the President, acting in our name, feels obligated to apologize and genuflect in the presence of the most un-democratic of potentates, there is no reason why the Presdient can’t profess support  for the ideas that even he must believe make America great – standing up for human rights, liberty, democracy, etc.  Apparently the President is incapable of even this.  The NY Times editors have this to say.

President Obama was elected in part because he promised a more cooperative and pragmatic leadership in world affairs. We support that. The measure of the success (or failure) of his approach won’t be known for months, and we hope it bears fruit. But the American president must always be willing to stand up to Beijing in defense of core American interests and values.

Does the President “hate America” as some conservative blogs attest?  Certianly not America the place, in my opinion.  But the idea of America that many of us have as the last, great hope on Earth - an independent beacon of freedom and defender of democracy - the very least that can be said is that he doesn’t embrace it with the passion of a true believer.

UPDATE: In his column on November 23, Roger Cohen quotes a Latvian Defense Ministry official as saying, “Watching Obama, I worry that democracy is going out of fashion.”  That’s just sad.

Can’t fight this feeling anymore

So is the comment below about Sarah Palin simply offensive, ingorant, or both?

DAVID FRUM: This is a woman who has got into a position of leadership by sending very powerful sexual signals. And we see that in the way that men like her much more than women do.

Just for fun, let’s assume that it IS possible for Palin to have obtained political success solely by winking suggestively and emitting an exceptionally large quantity of pheremones in the presence of witless males.

Do we really “see that” according to the polls?

According to a recent WaPo poll, there is about a 10-point gender gap where men have a more favorable opinion of Sarah Palin than women do.   But how much of this can be attributed to animal lust and how much to the traditional gender gap between Republicans and Democrats?  Let’s look at the results of the 2008 Presidential Election…

Women strongly preferred Obama to Senator John McCain (56 percent for Obama, 43 percent for McCain), unlike men, who split their votes about evenly for the two presidential candidates (49 percent for Obama, 48 percent for McCain).

I think we’re on to something here!  Did Obama sway the female masses with his manly swagger, impeccable pecs and general studliness?  He seems to have had a much greater affect on women than the hyper-sexual Palin currently has on men!

The answer is, of course not.  Men are more likely to be Republicans and therefore are more likely to have a favorable opinion of any Republican.  The same can be said of women and Democrats.  End of story.

Can “Battlestar Galactica” finally conquer the Emmys?

Several years ago, the Emmys created judging panels that were designed to give lower-rated series like “Battlestar Galactica” a fair shot competing against the Nielsen titans by having judges screen sample episodes. But just when McDonnell made that top 10, TV academy chiefs changed the rules last year to diminish judges’ input by half when they mixed their scores on a 50/50 with the results of the original popular vote. Ridiculous! That defeated the whole purpose of the panels’ existence, and Emmy leaders did it for the worst possible reason: They couldn’t take the heat when the producers of “Lost” screwed up the year before, submitted a lousy sample episode to judges in the best-series race and the show got snubbed, triggering screams from America’s top TV critics.

Ron Silver R.I.P.

Ron Silver R.I.P.