Imus isn't the real bad guy

Instead of wasting time on an irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture, says black columnist JASON WHITLOCK. There was a comment about the Imus affair on Tongue Tied on 9th.

Thank you, Don Imus. You've given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem. You've given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality. You've given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it's 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again. While we're fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I'm sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent's or Snoop Dogg's or Young Jeezy's latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain't saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don't have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas. It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

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IRISH ARTISTS' CALL TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL MEETS WITH MOCKERY

The Irish government has condemned an attempt by an artists' organization to boycott Israeli cultural events and institutions. Aosdana, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of creative artists, voted last week on a motion to "back the call from Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers to end all cooperation with Israeli state-sponsored cultural events and institutions." The proposal - put to a motion by composer Raymond Deane, founder of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, and seconded by playwright Margaretta D'Arcy - was defeated in the organization's general assembly.

However, a second motion, sponsored by D'Arcy and seconded by Deane, was passed calling for Irish artists and institutions to "reflect deeply" before working with Israeli cultural institutions. D'Arcy wrote last week in The Irish Times that she was convinced that a cultural boycott was necessary, "if only as an act of solidarity with those in Israel who seek to remove the inequality, discrimination and segregation of their society."

The Irish government responded to the Aosdana motion by saying it was "firmly opposed to any proposals for an academic or cultural boycott against Israel." John O'Donoghue, minister for arts, sport and tourism, said he was happy the motion had been voted down. "The only way forward is through an inclusive approach of dialogue with and between Israelis and Palestinians. The government is working directly with the parties, and with our partners in the EU, for the revival of a credible peace process with the clear objective of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Prior to the vote by Aosdana members, journalist Ian O'Doherty mocked the motion in the Evening Herald newspaper, saying that Israelis were hardly likely to feel threatened by the "stern lecturing of a bunch of state-subsidized artists who mostly reside in well-deserved obscurity." "In fairness to Aosdana," O'Doherty wrote, "the call for a boycott seem to have been led by a hardcore group." "The fact that Israel is the least segregated society in the region, and that Israeli Arabs enjoy more freedom than their counterparts in other, Arab-run, countries is something that tends to be conveniently forgotten," O'Doherty said.

An Aosdana member who did not wish to be named, said: "The move is being largely derided here, being seen as a bunch of dial-a-cause artists taking sides in a complex foreign situation they know little about." "What is more concerning is that by being elected to Aosdana as an artist, you get an annual salary from the state," the member explained. "As it is state-funded, it is surprising that [Aosdana] took this stance, given that political matters are not their remit."

Israel's embassy in Dublin released a statement condemning the motion as "wrong, unjust, biased and based on misunderstanding and misinformation." Ambassador Zion Evrony said, "It appears that a very small number of Aosdana members... have misled others and imposed their views on the whole organization."

D'Arcy, for her part, wrote an open letter to the ambassador attacking his views: "Mr. Ambassador, who the hell do you think you are, interfering with Irish artists, prescribing what we may or may not reflect upon?" she fumed. "I wonder that the Irish government does not immediately break off diplomatic relations with Israel for your absurd violation of those articles in the UN Charter of Human Rights that guarantee free expression," D'Arcy declared. [Typical Leftism: Disagreeing with them is an attack on their free speech!]

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Free speech under attack by the Australian media regulator

Media Authority on shaky ground with talkback ruling -- says an editorial in "The Australian" below

ALAN Jones can defend himself but there is a big issue of free speech at stake in the Australian Communications and Media Authority's ruling that the Sydney radio shock jock overstepped the mark in broadcasts before the Cronulla riots of December 2005. Jones's listeners are not normally considered to belong to a demographic likely to take to the streets and riot. And the history of Pauline Hanson's rise and demise is that unpopular views are best vented than left suppressed. There are also clear inconsistencies in the ACMA ruling that call into question whether the organisation would be better served with representation from the Press Council or others with more direct experience in broadcasting and publication.

The ACMA ruling follows a report by former NSW assistant police commissioner Norm Hazzard documenting the role played by mobile phones in stirring up the violence. He told NSW parliament that "more than 270,000 text messages (were) transmitted inciting a racially motivated confrontation at North Cronulla Beach on December 11, 2005". Jones read one of the offending missives on air three days before the riot, on December 8. "And the message urges Aussies ... to take revenge against Lebs and Wogs," Jones told his 2GB listeners. "Now, it's got pretty nasty when you start talking like this. It says: 'This Sunday, every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support Leb and Wog bashing day'." Later that morning, Jones corrected a caller who said "there are two sides to everything". "Yeah, let's not get too carried away, Bertha, we don't have Anglo-Saxon kids out there raping women in Western Sydney." Mr Hazzard named the caller, but not Jones, when he detailed this exchange as part of a broader critique of the media's role. Cronulla, he said, "highlight(ed) the caution the media must display when engaging public debate on issues that may lead to civil unrest".

A day earlier, on December 7, Jones read out an email from a listener, "J",who suggested that an invitation be made to "biker gangs to be present at Cronulla railway station when these Lebanese thugs arrive". "The biker gangs have been much maligned but they do a lot of good things - it would be worth the price of admission to watch these cowards scurry back on to the train for the return trip to their lairs".

It may or may not come as a surprise to Mr Hazzard that the broadcasting watchdog did not share his exact concerns with Jones's coverage. In layman's terms, the ACMA said it was OK for Jones to publicise the text message that Mr Hazzard thought contributed to the riot, but not OK to read out the email about the biker gangs. On the former, the ACMA said: "The licensee did not broadcast a program that was likely to incite, encourage, or present, for its own sake, violence or brutality." Jones "did not endorse the text messages", the authority explained. The reason the email from "J" did not elicit similar sympathy from the ACMA was that Jones did not offer any "proximate qualifying statements". Here, it found, Jones's program was "likely to encourage violence or brutality" and "likely to vilify people of Lebanese background and people of Middle Eastern background".

The ACMA also took a dim view of Jones's reference to gang rape a day later. It found his response to caller "B" was "likely to vilify people of Middle Eastern background on the basis of ethnicity". Hold that thought for a moment, and now consider another complaint against Jones that happened to be dismissed by the ACMA. On December 5, six days before the Cronulla riot, Jones referred to the people accused of bashing two lifesavers - the incident that triggered the one-week media storm - as "Middle Eastern grubs". The ACMA said this was OK because Jones had not applied his comment more generally.

We could refer to more inconsistencies in the ACMA judgment delivered on Tuesday. But this is not a defence of Jones's often over-the-top language, or even an attack on the ACMA's logic. The Australian has consistently erred on the side of free speech. The idea that a broadcasting watchdog can determine how heated a shock jock should be strikes us as inherently absurd.

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Mad Mufti too much even for the Australian Left

LABOR leader Kevin Rudd has urged the federal government to review Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali's Australian citizenship following his latest remarks declaring himself more Australian than Prime Minister John Howard. In an uncharacteristic defence of the prime minister, Mr Rudd blasted the controversial Islamic cleric, saying: "As you know, I'm not a natural supporter of the prime minister, but Mr Howard is as Australian as I am". "The sheik is out there, I think, just seeking crazy publicity, as he seems to do on a daily basis."

The Muslim cleric declared himself "more Aussie than Howard" in an interview with The Australian newspaper, in which he called the prime minister a dictator. "It's a disgrace for the leader of a democratic country to be picking on religious people, especially one who is practising a form of dictatorship that could almost be Saddam Hussein-like," the sheik told the paper. "I respect Australian values more than he does." Earlier this week, Iranian media quoted the mufti as urging Australian Muslims "to stand in the trenches with the Islamic Republic of Iran which possesses the might and the power".

Mr Rudd said the comments bordered on violating Australia's counter-terrorism laws because Iran supports the "global terrorist organisation" Hezbollah.

Federal Industrial Relations Minister Joe Hockey joined Mr Rudd today for their weekly appearance on the Seven Network's Sunrise program. Both Mr Rudd and Mr Hockey called for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock to review the mufti's Australian citizenship. "My call to Mr Ruddock is to formally review whether or not Australia's counter-terrorism laws are in any way violated by these sorts of statements by the sheik," said Mr Rudd. Mr Hockey said the mufti was using his position to turn Australian Muslims against the non-Muslim community. "Yet again, he's trying to make a headline by saying something outrageous," he said. "But, of course, he's trying to elevate his position to create an 'us-versus-them mentality' in the Islamic community. That won't work. "The great bulk of members of the Islamic community want to get rid of him. "I'm absolutely confident that Philip Ruddock will be looking at every comment made by the mufti," said Mr Hockey.

Meanwhile, Sheik Alhilali's spokesman Keysar Trad has said the mufti's comments were born of frustration. "To make these comments about John Howard, I think, indicates nothing more than the frustration that many people in the (Muslim) community are feeling about the way we were regularly placed in the spotlight," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here. For times when blogger.com is playing up, there are mirrors of this site here and here.

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