McDowell at it again...

That despicable creep is mouthing off again,this time he's criticising the 'agenda setting' role of the media. Of course the first thing anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence will do is realise how hypocritical a statement that is since he himself has been more than happy to use the media to his own ends.

I don't think I need to go into detail about how he and his buddy Sam Smith in the Irish Indo carried out what can only be called a devious and disgusting act of (I've said it before and I'll say it again) political assassination on the Centre for Public Inquiry not too long ago.

Speaking at the 10th annual lecture on "Broadcasting, Society and the Law", presented jointly by RTÉ and UCD's School of Law he outlined the duties of the media as to educate public opinion, and to uphold the rights of citizens, including the right to privacy and a good name.(of course that is as long as your name is not Frank Connolly ;)

Which leads me nicely to the next installment of Stars in his Eyes, since McD is so fond of setting the agenda of the media guess who he is this week:

Tonight Matthew I am going to be........

Click on pic to find out!

Beware the Ides of March..

Looks like March is the month for operation Shock and Awe part II. Although how the US can sustain another war in Iran I don't know.
Various scenarios have been thrown about lately with the likelihood that Israel will take the lead strike with Iran then responding in kind.
Given that Bush recently committed the US to the defense of Israel that will give him the excuse he needs to go into Iran. And may also give him a nice reason to exit Iraq, since the troops will be needed in Iran he can close up shop in Iraq saying that Iran posses a bigger threat and sure the job is done anyway!

And of course the fact that Iran is very close to opening their own Oil Bourse which greatly threatens the petro-dollar dominance and therefore the US economy is a complete coincidence!

A senior Russian parliamentary official and leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes that a U.S. attack on Iran is inevitable, he has told Ekho Moskvy radio station.

“The war is inevitable because the Americans want this war,” he said. “Any country claiming a leading position in the world will need to wage wars. Otherwise it will simply not be able to retain its leading position. The date for the strike is already known — it is the election day in Israel (March 28 ). It is also known how much that war will cost,” Zhirinovsky said

And Scott Ritter is banging the same drum:
He predicted the matter will wind up before the U.N. Security Council, which will determine there is no evidence of a weapons program. Then, he said, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, "will deliver a speech that has already been written. It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves."

"How do I know this? I've talked to Bolton's speechwriter," Ritter said.

Rove Threatens Republican Senators... Support The President On Wiretapping Or Else...

The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping.

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

Europe's Defamation of the Prophet

Indeed the only freedom of speech left in the west is bashing Islam otherwise it does have its limits. In Europe you can be prosecuted for questioning the extant of the Holocaust or criticizing Israel’s policy given western indoctrination that such “freedom” is Anti-Semitic.” Israel and its bloody history is now the “Holy Grail” for the civilized west, the champions of human rights.

Being civilized begins with education and manifests in rational behavior. The rampant ignorance of Islam in Europe leads to an irrational fear and thus prejudice. Descartes would turn in his grave if he knows that his motto has been transformed into “I don’t think, therefore I’m civilized.”

Prophetically the famed Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) described the misuse of freedom of speech as:

“People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.”

Sums it up nicely I think

Talk about hypocrisy!

Danish paper rejected Jesus cartoons

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have caused a storm of protest throughout the Islamic world, refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus Christ, it has emerged today.

The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of Christ three years ago, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny.

In April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten.

Fisk:Don't be fooled, this isn't an issue of Islam versus secularism

For those out there who do not have a log into the UK Independent site, ICH have reprinted it here:
For many Muslims, the "Islamic" reaction to this affair is an embarrassment. There is good reason to believe that Muslims would like to see some element of reform introduced to their religion. If this cartoon had advanced the cause of those who want to debate this issue, no-one would have minded. But it was clearly intended to be provocative. It was so outrageous that it only caused reaction.

Free speech is only free when Muslims are the target

A month ago, when I first became aware of the provocative anti-Muslim cartoons published in JP, I immediately contacted the editors and asked why they had allowed their newspaper to be dragged into such a ridiculous and provocative situation.

With Europe already involved in two Middle Eastern wars and with the political tension with Iran increasing daily, I asked the editors, "Do you truly wish to antagonize Muslims?"

"I support freedom of speech and am against self-censorship," Rose, who commissioned the cartoons, wrote in response. It was, however, clearly not simply to exercise Denmark's non-existent freedom of speech that Rose commissioned the anti-Muslim cartoons. The more sinister motive of advancing the "clash of civilizations" among Europeans was evidently behind the offensive images.