CUANAS

Submission


From the New York Times, via Michelle Malkin:




It would be more than regrettable Mr Frieze, it would be the end of Western Civilization.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:41 PM Comments: 1

Iran Is In The Final Stages
Israel Is Threatening
The Left Is Asleep At The Wheel


From Agence French Presse, via the Pakistani Daily Times:





The Democratic Party is truly imploding. It is no longer relevant in the slightest. History will one day heap shame on the Democratic Party, that they threw a temper tantrum against the March Of Freedom while Iran put the finishing touches on it's first nuclear weapon.

posted by Pastorius @ 3:05 PM Comments: 0

Iran Is In The Final Stages
Israel Is Threatening
The Left Is Asleep At The Wheel


From Agence French Presse, via the Pakistani Daily Times:




Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is hard at work on an "astonishing retaliation" of their own:


"It is hard to say that something is legitimate when whole portions of the country can't vote and doesn't vote," Sen. John Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. On a day when Iraqis went to the polls in large numbers, Sen. Kerry said the elections should not be "overhyped."

The Democratic Party is truly imploding. It is no longer relevant in the slightest. History will one day heap shame on the Democratic Party, that they threw a temper tantrum against the March Of Freedom while Iran put the finishing touches on it's first nuclear weapon.

posted by Pastorius @ 3:05 PM Comments: 0

THE LEFT DIDN'T KNOW
THE IRAQI'S ARE HUMAN BEINGS


Click here to see the video.

posted by Pastorius @ 9:05 AM Comments: 1

I Will Not Forgive
The Democratic Party
For What They Have Done


Tear down the wall. The Witch is dead. The Democratic Party is done.

Michael Moore and Jimmy Carter need to be relegated to the dustbins of history. A new party needs to be constituted to represent those of us who lean more to the liberal side. I will never vote for a "Democrat" again in my lifetime.

Yesterday was for celebrating. Today is for my anger at being ABANDONED by the Democratic Party.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:21 AM Comments: 0

BEING LEFT MEANS
NEVER HAVING
TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY

After the past two years of leftists telling us that we have no business in Iraq, that Saddam wasn't that bad, that Iraqi's are not ready for Deomocracy, that Iraqi's don't really want to be free, and all manner of other hateful idiocy, I believe that today is the day that we should be receiving an apology. I'm not holding my breath, however, because being Left means never having to say you're sorry. They didn't apologize for their support of Stalin, they didn't apologize for their maligning of Ronal Reagan, and they will not apologize for what they have done since 9/11.

From Melanie Phillips:

The Telegraph speaks for decency in its leader today:

'No democratic election is flawless. It is human nature that the loser in any system should blame the system rather than himself: think, for example, about our own squabbles over postal voting, the West Lothian Question, or the wording of referendums. But, yesterday, Iraq became the most democratic country in the Arab world. What a pity that so many writers who, in other circumstances, are optimists about human progress, should shut their eyes to what is happening. In their determination to say "I told you so", they are coming perilously close to siding with jihadi murderers. Shame on them'. (Pastorius note: Close? )

Of course, this is only one step on the road to peace and prosperity in Iraq. Of course, the whole thing can still go badly wrong. (Pastorius Note: And watch as the left relentlessly predicts that it will) And there may well be continuing violence as Zarqawi's jihadis try to prevent the institutions of a free society from taking root. But he has lost a crucial battle in his own war. He tried desperately to prevent this election from taking place because he knew how high the stakes were. As he said, once democracy was established in Iraq he would no longer be fighting the American 'oppressor' but other Muslim Arabs. The jihad would no longer have much logic to it. Will it now run out of steam?

All we can do now is hold our breath, and hope. But we can be sure that the anti-war camp will be praying for the violence to intensify, praying for Iraq's fragile democracy to implode, praying for any setback to enable them to crow that Bush and Blair have failed. In the New York Times, Michael Ignatieff -- with whose analysis I do not entirely agree -- expresses proper disgust at such treachery:

'All this makes you wonder when the left forgot the proper name for people who bomb polling stations, kill election workers and assassinate candidates. The right name for such people is fascists'.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:09 AM Comments: 0

The Lord Keeps Faith Forever
Secures Justice For The Oppressed
The Lord Sets Captives Free


From the Anchoress:




From TmT, on the Anchoress' comments page:

posted by Pastorius @ 2:39 PM Comments: 0

Geraldo Rivera:
"It Is Like The Berlin Wall Going Down"


I've been thinking about Geraldo Rivera quite a bit for the past few days. He really is an extraordinary man. Here in the United States, we have known him as a buffoon for so many years. He had one of those daytime TV shows where he would interview the broken, pathetic lowlife's of our world and get them to embarrass themselves deeply, for his own ratings and material gain.

I remember him being on the Howard Stern show, and it seemed clear that, to him, all life was about was chicks and money.

Anyway, this is all to set up that the other night I was watching the news on TV, which I rarely do, and I saw Geraldo giving a report from some Iraqi town (Baghdad?) and there were flashes of light behind him. Meanwhile, Geraldo was enthusiastically giving a report. At one point, the news anchor interrupted him and asked, "Geraldo, what are those flashes of light going off in the background."

"Oh, those are bombs. Yeah, they are getting close."

My friends, he didn't even flinch. It was very clear that Geraldo is a man of very little or no fear. He only wanted to get the message out that the people of Iraq were excited about the upcoming elections. That's what mattered to Geraldo.

One more thing to consider here. The light on him was bad, garish. In other words, I believe he was there with one cameraman, with a light mounted on a camera. He was, apparently, standing in the middle of the street in Iraq, in the middle of the night, with one other person, with no ability to protect himself, because he had to concentrate on doing his report.

What has happened to this man that has caused him (a former leftist) to become so dedicated to the cause of Freedom that he has lost all fear? That he would give up all the comforts of his rich life here in the United States and go stand in the streets of Iraq with bombs going off around him, and file reports with just one cameraman by his side?

Amazing. Anyway, here's a transcript of Geraldo's report last night. You can just hear the emotion welling up in his words. Geraldo is a true friend of freedom:

posted by Pastorius @ 2:16 PM Comments: 0

"Everyone We Saw Was Holding Up
His Blue Tipped Finger
With Broad Smiles On the Faces"


From Iraq The Model:

posted by Pastorius @ 1:49 PM Comments: 1

"Vote For Humanity"
"This Is A Festival For All Iraqi's"
"This Is A Wedding For All Iraqi's"

Baghdad's mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters,
"I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love,"



From Reuter's:


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.

Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.

Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.

"We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.

In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high.

One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone.

"Thanks be to God," he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted. "I hope everyone will go out and vote."

In the relatively secure Kurdish north, people flowed steadily to the polls. One illiterate man in Arbil, 76-year-old Said Rasool, came alone and was turned away, unable to read the ballot paper. He said he would return with someone to help.

Even in the so-called "triangle of death," a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid, officials said.

FESTIVE VOTING

In mainly Shi'ite Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centers. "I am not afraid," said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. "This is like a festival for all Iraqis."

A small group cheered in Baghdad as Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, a descendant of Iraq's last king, went to the polls. Ali leads a constitutional monarchy slate in the election.

Western Baghdad polling stations were busy, with long queues of voters. Most went about the process routinely, filling in their ballots and leaving quickly without much emotion.

Others brought chocolates for those waiting in line, and shared festive juice drinks inside the voting station.

Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast in October, was determined to vote. "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today I am voting for peace," he said, leaning on his metal crutches, determination in his reddened eyes.

In Sadr City, a poor Shi'ite neighborhood of northeast Baghdad, thick lines of voters turned out, women in black abaya robes in one line, men in another.

Some of the first to vote countrywide were policemen, out in force to protect polling centers from attack, part of draconian security measures put in place by U.S. and Iraqi officials.

In Samarra, a restive Sunni-Shi'ite city north of Baghdad, the crackle of gunfire was heard minutes after polls opened.

After a few hours, only about 100 people had voted at one of two polling sites. One woman, covered head-to-toe in black robes, kept her face concealed, but said she voted with pride.
In nearby Baiji, some people were unable to vote because electoral officials failed to turn up. "We are waiting for the manager with the key," said an election worker, apologizing.

"VOTE FOR HUMANITY"

In the shrine city of Najaf in the Shi'ite heartland, hundreds of people walked calmly to polling stations. Security around Najaf, attacked before, was some of the tightest.

"This is a wedding for all Iraqis. I congratulate all Iraqis on their newfound freedom and democracy," said Jaida Hamza, dressed in a black Islamic veil that also hid her face.

Shi'ites, who make up 60 percent of Iraq's people, are expected to win the vote, overturning years of oppression.

In Kirkuk, a city divided between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, Kurds turned out in force, as expected, but there were signs Arabs and Turkmen were boycotting, angered by what they see as voting rules that favor Kurds.

One of the biggest surprises was Mosul, a mixed Sunni Arab and Kurd city in the far north. "So far it's gone very well, much better than expected," said a U.S. army officer.

Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating.

"I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters.


I have tears in my eyes.

posted by Pastorius @ 1:33 PM Comments: 0

Human Shields Stand Up For Democracy?
May It Never Be


From Michelle Malkin:

posted by Pastorius @ 8:19 PM Comments: 0

Ted Kennedy Says,
"Save Yourself!
Let The Drowning Drown"


From Iowahawk:



That is satire of historic magnitude. Iowahawk has just earned himself a place in the history books. Congratulations, Iowahawk.

Absolutely devastating.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:05 PM Comments: 0

Interview With George Bush


From the Washington Times:

posted by Pastorius @ 6:52 PM Comments: 0

Fly Your Flags Tomorrow
In Celebration Of Democracy In Iraq


I am proud today, because Iraq is holding the first real election in it's history. The world has George Bush and Tony Blair to thank for this (and aditionally, Howard, Aznar, Berlusconi, and the other leaders of the coalition nations). It goes without saying that the world should also thank all the soldiers who have given their time and, in many cases, their lives, to make this great event happen. These men have bravely stood up and done the right thing through a chorus of naysaying and downright slander against their persons. I have tremendous admiration for them.

We don't know how the elections will turn out. Will Iraq elect leaders who will build on the democratic priniciples of it's new constitution, or will they elect leaders who will yield to the temptation to move Iraq back in the direction of totalitarianism? We can only hope and pray it will be the former.

Here's a piece by Larry Kurdlow, via Powerline, which states everything as I hope it to be and become:


Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi both know that free-election democracy is the death knell of terrorism. They also know that the potential impact of free Iraqi elections on the rest of the region -- including Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia -- is incalculable. The Iraqi elections will reverberate throughout the entire Muslim world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and the whole South Asian tsunami zone.

Sophisticated policy observers know full well that rather than plotting a worldwide military invasion, Bush is constructing a statement of principles; that he is setting new standards and diplomatic benchmarks that will govern our foreign policy for decades to come.

Polling and reports on the ground in Iraq indicate there will be a blowout turnout for Sunday’s election. The Iraqi election results for a new government and constitution-writing parliament will produce a pluralistic coalition that will end fears of a mullah-based theocracy or any return of Saddamite Baathism.

Bush’s inaugural vision will be proven right. His speech will be vindicated, and along with it will come a foreign-policy triumph of moral idealism, human rights, and freedom over the cynical “realist” view that after all we have seen in the past 25 years we can still do business with dictators and despots in the name of stability.


John Hinderaker, of Powerline, comments:


President Bush is not content to be the best President since Reagan; he wants to be the greatest President since Lincoln. I still think he has a shot. The next few months will tell a great deal.


Yes, we shall see.

No one really knows about my humble blog here, but there are a few "influential" people who stop by occasionally. So, I'm just going to put this out there. Please everyone, fly your flags tomorrow in celebration of the Democracy that our soldiers have fought and died to create in Iraq.

posted by Pastorius @ 6:23 PM Comments: 0

Anti-Semitism In
The Streets Of San Francisco


From Zombietime, with thanks to LGF:




Click here to see photos and video of the goings-on.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:43 PM Comments: 0

The Works Of European Hands


My friend Someguy (and he is), over at Mystery Achievment, directs us to an excerpt of the notes from the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi's calmly and methodically layed out their plan on how to do away with the Jews:


In the course of the final solution and under approriate direction, the Jews are to be utilized for work in the East in a suitable manner. In large labor columns and separated by sexes, Jews capable of working will be dispatched to these regions to build roads, and in the process a large number of them will undoubtedly drop out by way of natural attrition.

Those who ultimately should possibly get by will have to be given suitable treatment because they unquestionably represent the most resistant segments and therefore constitute a natural elite that, if allowed to go free, would turn into a germ cell of renewed Jewish revival. (Witness the experience of history.)[...]

In occupied and unoccupied France, the collection of Jews for evacuation will in all probability proceed without major difficulties.


Someguy comments:

I don't know what's more horrifying--the plans themselves, or the calm, clinical, and deliberate tone of the document itself.


And then goes on to note:


... during the opening segment of "Striscia La Notiza" last night, the host, Ezio Greggio opened by saying (I'm paraphrasing a bit), "Regarding this day, we want to say that we at "Striscia" condemn all forms racism." What I do remember with great clarity is that there was no mention of the Holocaust of of Jews.

As I have said before, the most distrubing trend by far in public discourse about the Holocaust is not the steady growth of outright denials by Islamofascists and academic cranks--as bad as that is. It is the trend to deny the Holocaust by way of conveniently "forgetting" the particular facts that made the Holocaust what it was: an attempt to exterminate every last Jew in Europe.

Whether in the example of the host of a comedy show seen by millions of Italians every night, or in the cases involving the BBC documented by Melanie Phillips (which I linked to here), these actions--which amount to a passive form of lying--both cover up the very real and growing threats to Jews today, and allow grievance groups to misuse and abuse the Holocaust to serve as an excuse for their own genocidal programs against Jews.


The casual dismissal of the reality of the Holocaust's specific targeting of Jews is revelatory. There is something wrong in the conscience's of people who have such trouble understanding the gravity of the Holocaust, and indeed, have trouble finding it's relative weight on the scales of historical justice.

In a subtle, small way, this "forgetting", as Someguy so ironically names it, is reminiscent of the way Germany seemed to have forgotten altogether that the Jews were even human beings.

Get it together, Europe, before you find yourself, once again, coming to, in a pool of blood and slime. The works of your hands.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:13 PM Comments: 0

Palestinians Elect Hamas
Is The World Also Electing Hamas?


From Reuter's, via Little Green Footballs:




It's important to understand that Hamas very openly calls for the destruction of Israel. And their charter is filled with anti-Semitic rhetoric straight out of the racist tract The Protocols Of The Learned Elders Of Zion.

Yep, and that's the organization the Palestinians want to represent them.

There are forces at work setting the stage for the destruction of Israel. I would imagine that the Palestinians believe that they have drawn very close. Iran funds Hezbollah, who is bent on destroying the state of Israel. Iran is building nuclear weapons. The Palestinians have now elected a council stacked with Islamists who openly declare their desire to destroy the Jews.

And meanwhile, the Europeans are becoming ever more compliant. From Melanie Phillips:

This scapegoating of the Jews, this moral inversion which blames them for their own destruction, is a calumny which has repeated itself over and over again throughout the long history of the oldest hatred.

I came away from that debate feeling the kind of emotion one feels — in a totally different context — when forced to listen to or even watch the details of paedophile assaults on children. It is a physical numbness, a feeling of the very darkest despair; a feeling that a very great evil has been unleashed which reveals the depths of pathological malice to which human beings can descend — to turn on their own at a time when they are already under murderous attack. It seems like a repudiation not just of their Jewishness but their humanity.

And all this wrapped up in the highest level of sanctimoniousness, humbug and sheer, laughable, intellectual dishonesty and vacuousness. Thus Professor Avi Shlaim — whose ‘scholarship’ has been comprehensively shredded by Ephraim Karsh and others —brazenly re-interpreted the motion to allow him to defame Israel by claiming that ‘Zionism today’ was one and the same thing as the policies of Ariel Sharon in the disputed territories. Not only did he grossly distort the history and present circumstances of Israel’s presence in those territories, but his approach begged the question of what in heaven’s name— if Sharonism was ‘Zionism today’ —the myriad political parties in Israel opposed to Sharonism were. Were these not Zionists too?

The fact was that by proposing this motion, Shlaim has associated himself with a statement which — despite his denials — singles out the Jews as having no right to their own country, and singles out Israel as the one country in the world whose existence is illegitimate. Zionism is today, as it has always been, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and Israel is its territorial expression.

If you click here you can read the text of Shlaim’s address, which he has circulated, and if you click here you can read an approximate text of my own remarks.

With all the condemnation of Zionism which is going around today, let me repeat, Zionism is, simply, the idea that the Jews should have their own homeland. What could be wrong with that? Especially considering the history of what has happened to them?

So, I said Europe is are becoming more compliant to this new anti-Semitism. Yes, they are. They have also revealed themselves to be complicit.


UNITED NATIONS - A United Nations agency transferred thousands of dollars to a Palestinian Arab charity affiliated with terrorism long after Israel warned of the terror connection, though the U.N. publicly claimed payments to the organization had stopped.

The money transfers in the fall of 2003 are interesting because it was made clear to the head of the UNDP office in Jerusalem, Timothy Rothermel, by the IDF four months earlier that the charity organizations were fronts for Hamas.

How clear does it have to be?

posted by Pastorius @ 2:00 PM Comments: 0

Jihad Watch Comes Out Against Freedom


You will see me, quite often, link to an article I found on the website Jihad Watch. However, I do not link to them on my blogroll. Here's why:




Hugh Fitzgeral, at Jihad Watch, seems to think of the Arab people as tinker toys that we can reconfigure into shapes which please us, and then leave the new shape to just sit there. His reasoning seems, at bottom, utilitarian and possibly racist to me. It certainly lacks an understanding of the fact that freedom is required for geopolitical security. It also seems to lack a belief in the principle that all men are created with a yearning for freedom deep in their heart.

I am very disappointed in Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald for publishing this nonesense.

On the other hand, they work very hard at cataloguing the ongoing Jihad against the West, so they are worth checking out as a resource. Just don't buy into their bullshit. Sorry for my French.

posted by Pastorius @ 1:47 PM Comments: 0

Great Moments In The
History Of Socialism


"There are no bigger donkeys than these workers.... Look at our "craftsmen"; Sad that world history should be be made with such people".

--- Karl Marx

posted by Pastorius @ 1:40 PM Comments: 0

The Enemies We Invent


Here is the transcript of Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" from last nights O'Reilly Factor TV show:




There are many in this world who have convinced themselves that there is no terrorist threat, that we could go back to the way things used to be, when we prosecuted terrorist by law, rather than by war. There is a huge gulf between such a view, and the view that O'Reilly expresses here.

O'Reilly uses apocalyptic terminology here to make his case. I think he is right to do so. I wonder, though, how we have gotten to a place where there is such a gulf in the opinions of seemingly reasonable people.

On the one side, we have people who believe we face an enemy who would literally nuke us, and on the other side there is the voice of those who would say we have invented the enemy.

You can't get much further apart than that.

I remember at the outset of the war, a friend of mine, who works as an IT guy at one of the major banks, said to me that we were going to war so Bush could make his friends at Halliburton rich. I asked him if he thought that Bush would lead would really risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and spend 100's of billions of dollars just so his cronies at Halliburton could make a few billion dollars of profit, if that.

"Yes."

"Well," I said. "That would make him among the most evil people in history, right up there with Hitler and Stalin. Maybe worse, because Hitler and Stalin did what they did on ideological grounds. They believed in a cause, however crazy. But you're saying Bush is doing it just for the money?"

"Yes."

I knew then that we were entering an era of complete insanity. But, I didn't understand how insane it would get.

Both sides have an enemy almost without precedent in the depth of his evil. One side is jousting with his enemy, while the other is tilting at windmills.

posted by Pastorius @ 1:22 PM Comments: 0

Stumbling Drunkenly
Towards Democracy


Thanks to the Anchoress for making me aware of this, from the London Times:



Nothing makes me happier than the thought of that beautiful girl gracing the posters of the Shia political party. Sauron is tumbling off his tower and a new era is dawning for the Iraqi's.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:28 AM Comments: 0

Will We Abandon God?
Jewish University Students
Ordered To Stop Using The Word Zionist


From Little Green Footballs:


Omri Ceren reports that members of the University of Southern California Muslim Student Union have been posting openly antisemitic messages on the university’s listserv, denying the Holocaust: USC Muslim Student Union Slips Into Open Anti-Semitism.

holocust schmolocost..... that whole thing drives me nuts. there arent that many holicost surviviers. most of those guys havent experienced anything — except possibly excess. its a tool the zionists use... but to be honest wonder how effective it is these days.

...

Just thought id contribute its fun reading about the holohoax. it probably happened but 6mil is a lot i think the figure was much smaller and yes i think its possible to fabricate such a story. the jews are masters at this and congrats to them for being able to do so. not only do they claim sole bearers to the “anti-semetic” crimes, but they are able to live of reparations forever. smart idea dont you think?


The school administration is clearly aware of this savage hatred, and they’ve taken measures to act against it.

They asked Jewish leaders not to call themselves “Zionists” because it might offend the delicate feelings of the MSU.


The Muslim Student Union is, of course, a university-sanctioned organization whose elected representatives represent USC Muslims to the University and to the community. How could such an environment emerge? On UC Irvine’s campus, the administration has told campus Jewish leaders that they are not to refer to themselves as Zionists because that will “undermine dialogue” with Muslims on campus.


The other day, in my post, Europe Prepares A New Holocaust", I posed the question, "How would you feel if you were a Jew and you heard such things in today's news?" LGF Reader Selpaw, who's father, apparently, was a Jew who lived through the Holocaust in Europe, comments:


One of the first steps to extermination was the effort to dehumanize Jews in a myriad of evil inhuman ways. Asking Jews to not call themselves Zionists at the expense of those who truly hate us is a play back of the same crime inflicted upon Jews since time in memorial! The only difference is that was then and this is 2005.

Day in and day out this horror grows worse. Wonder how many Jews leading up to the Shoah said the same? How haunting is that thought? And in return for the silence at the other end the world in one way or another met it's sick twisted objective.

Nothing changes, no one learns. Why the world sat by in the time leading up to the Shoah until the liberation is the real key to why no one will come to our defense now. Collectively the world aided and abetted the Nazi's while Nazi's were slaughtering our families. They did this in part by turning a blind eye. The world was silent. The objective was met. However, they could not kill us all off so that objective is every bit as 'worthy' today as it was then. Mark my words.

... the world is still silent while at the same time spreading this noxious hate at every turn.

Leaders give watered down condemnations while many who are condemning ignite the sparks themselves. In a just world this would not happen again 'however' this is not in any way a just world.

For those that lived beyond the Shoah seeing this in your face anti- Semitism once again rear its vicious head was painful to comprehend. Thinking back, it was not only the past which tormented my beloved father until his death but what is happening today! I remember his tears while emotionally asking "why in the hell this can happen again?" In a way I am glad he is gone to not witness how much worse the choke hold of Anti-Semitism is strangling us all.

Zachar Tsadick L'vracha


To my non-Jewish readers I ask, do you hear the profound sense of loneliness and resignation in his statement? That's largely our fault.

We can not sit back and let this happen again. Scroll down this page and read. Find three things that stick out to you (maybe the fact that the Russian Parliament currently is proposing legislation banning all Jewish groups for instance), and tell everybody you meet what is happening in our world today.

Jesus said that if we feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty, then it is as if we fed him. The converse is true as well. If we abandon our Jewish brothers in their hour of need, we have abandoned God on his lonely night of fear, and prayer, in the Garden of Gethsemane.

posted by Pastorius @ 3:20 PM Comments: 0

The New Mein Kampf
Why We Should Publish
And Publicize Al Qaeda Writings


Wretchard, at Belmont Club, links to, and comments on, a New Sisyphus article about Zarqawi's recent proclamation:


The underground diplomats at the New Sisyphus make an eloquent case for listening to those who want to kill us, something which the Munich generation neglected to do to Adolph Hitler.

One of the most common observations about World War II was that if only Western leaders had heeded what the National Socialist Worker's Party and its leader Adolf Hitler were saying, they would have known of the grave danger facing the world. After all, it's not as if the Nazi Party or its frenzied Fuhrer tried to hide what they were about. On the contrary, in speech after speech, newspaper after newspaper and book after book, Hitler and other senior Nazis laid out in some detail their plans for European domination, the destruction of parliamentary democracy and the elimination of the Jewish people.

But when we ourselves have supplied the rationale for our own condemnation then listening to the indictments of the enemy is a waste of time. To the question 'why does Bin Laden hate us', there are those who unhelpfully suggest that we ask Bin Laden. Besides being unacceptable it is also unnecessary because some already know why we should be hated. There is no need to listen further. The New Sisyphus observes that while there are two competing explanations for Islamic extremism, only one explanation is provided by the Islamic extremists themselves.

The first group, the "Muslim Rage School," believes that the source of Islamic Terrorism is the wide-spread anger in the Muslim world directed at the West and at Israel. For partisans of this school, US policy towards Israel and the Palestinians, US support for despotic Middle Eastern regimes, Western economic outperformance of the Muslim world and anger towards US responses to the 9/11 Attacks, all add up to one thing: a seething mass of justifiable rage that presents itself, though a minority of those affected, as radical Islamic Terrorism. ... As a rule, this school's policy preference for defeating Islamic Terrorism is to reduce the generators of the anger. Thus, the US must bring and end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, atone for past actions against the Muslim world, and generally radically change its long-standing foreign policy towards the Middle East. Only then will there be peace. ...

The second school of thought, the Clash of Civilizations School, argues that the source of Islamic Terrorism is the Muslim world's seething hatred of the fundamental values of the West, and, since the U.S. is the standard-bearer for the West at the moment, especially those of the United States. Adherents of this school, like Victor Hanson and most neo-conservative thinkers, argue that the value system of modern Islam produces a culture that is violently at odds with Western values and, because of this, it wages asymmetric war against the West when and where it can.

What is surprising is that Abu Musab Zarqawi categorically belongs to the second school, which holds that America is to be destroyed for what it is. In an audiotape released on January 23, 2005, Zarqawi puts forth a view which he has repeated many times in the past, but which, like Mein Kampf, some are determined never to hear. In the audio Zarqawi cursed democracy because it promoted such un-Islamic behavior as freedom of religion, rule of the people, freedom of expression, separation of religion and state, forming political parties and majority rule. Freedom of speech was particularly evil because it allowed "even cursing God. This means that there is nothing sacred in democracy."

While these are not the only reasons for extremist Islamic hatred, clearly if the fundamental characteristics of American society are sufficient to mark it for destruction, then nothing will deflect the hatred of the enemy. But Joe Katzman at Winds of Change argues that to some extent, the facts don't matter, because the public debate over the War on Terror within the West is in many respects as twisted as Zarqawi's. The debate, Katzman says, is dominated by activists who are incapable of seeing anything outside the prism of their own fantasies.

Al Qaeda may not be the only ones out there with a fantasy ideology ... If you see activism as the default mode of politics, goes this thesis, you shouldn't be surprised when it leads to anti-intellectualism, tolerance of extremists, retreat into fantasy, and a self-defeating kind of partisanship designed to make people feel better about themselves rather than produce meaningful change. ... There's a strongly religious quality to a lot of supposedly secular activism, in part due to the baby boomers' cultivated sense of grandiosity.


Charlie over at Rip n' Read, had an interesting post and comment on the controversy over whether to publish Bin Laden's writings:


Some say that we should limit the exposure of this dispicable human being, others say it is important to know what he said because then we will know what he is going to do. Here are some sides of the discussion over the last two days. Reuters via CNN reports that Doubleday will publish the OBL papers.

Shannen Coffin gets steamed about the potential publication here.


AQ Reader - John Miller
Doubleday is not "hyping" the Al Qaeda Reader. Far from it. The news of the signing was leaked prematurely--presumably by a disgruntled competitor, and we are responding as best we can to the resulting media storm. If Mr. Coffin had bothered to call someone here before writing his article, he would know that. I also don't know where he gets the idea that we are motivated by the liberal "peace through understanding" delusion. I'm quite sure that none of our public statements can be interpreted that way, and it is pure projection on his part. Witness the fact that we've been attacked from the left as pushing a "conservative" agenda with this book. Both kneejerk reactions are equally wrong.

THE CORNER KAMPF OVER MEIN KAMPF [Steven Hayward]Appropo the debate about the parallels between perceptions of an AQ reader and MK (I realize I'm not a neutral party), herewith some relevant passages from From Martin Gilbert and Richard Gott, The Appeasers: The Decline of Democracy from Hitler's Rise to Chamberlain's Downfall (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1963):

In 1933, shortly after Hitler's ascension to office, John Wheeler-Bennett said in the House of Commons: "Hitler, I am convinced, does not want war. He is susceptible to reason in matters of foreign policy. He is greatly anxious to make Germany once more self-respecting and is himself anxious to be respectable. He may be described as the most moderate member of his party."

During question time in the House, he admitted that he had not read Mein Kampf. Gilbert & Gott comment: "Had he done so, he might still have asserted that Hitler's foreign policy would be pacific, at least for some years."

Journalist Vernon Bartlett, Gilbert & Gott note, wrote that the evidence that Hitler wanted war was "very slight." Mien Kampf included expansionist passages, but it was "unfair" to quote from it, since it was written after the failure of a revolution, ten years earlier. It was wrong to expect from a young, embittered revolutionary "the reflections . . . that might be jotted down by a respectable politician with a distinguished university career behind him and a whiskey and soda by his side."

"Hitler must be treated as a mature statesman, not as a frustrated revolutionary. It was wrong to forbid German rearmament. A disarmed nation would never feel secure, and would resent being treated like a spoiled child.

"How could Germany be expected not to worry about her security when her neighbors, so much better armed and equipped, talk all the time about theirs."

Notice all the people trying to explain away Hitler's insanity. When facing great evil is staring you in the face, it is very hard to even believe what you are seeing, much less to look at it ann analyze it for what it really is.


Charlie Quidninc comments of Rip n' Read comments:


I think the publication should go forward. I've read and forwarded to many people the original writings of Bin Laden, in the form of his Declaration of War Against Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places. I am often disappointed by some who say it is just the flowery language of the Middle East, and not be taken literally. I can't disagree more with that sentiment, and I bet the families of the 9/11 murdered would tend to agree with me. Read it and learn, is my idea.

posted by Pastorius @ 1:43 PM Comments: 0

Remembering the Wannsee Conference
And the Liberation of Auschwitz


This article is posted by participants of the January 27, 2005, BlogBurst, to remember the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, sixty years ago, on January 27, 1945.

On January 20th, we marked the anniversary of the 1942 Wannsee Conference. In the course of that Conference, the Nazi hierarchy formalized the plan to annihilate the Jewish people. Understanding the horrors of Auschwitz requires that one be aware of the premeditated mass-murder that was presented at Wannsee.

Highlighting these events now has become particularly important, even as the press reports that '45% of Britons have never heard of Auschwitz'.

The meeting at Wannsee established the mechanism for "the final solution" -- shipment of Jews to eastern labor and death camps -- as the official policy of the Third Reich. Ever efficient and unashamed, the Nazi kept a record of the meeting, which were discovered in 1947 in the files of the German Foreign Office.

The conference addressed every aspect of Nazi genocide in chillingly ordinary logic and language, e.g., " Europe will be combed through from West to East," "forcing the Jews out of the various spheres of life of the German people." Ever efficient, the participants foresaw that, "[i]n the course of the final solution and under appropriate direction, the Jews are to be utilized for work in the East in a suitable manner. In large labor columns and separated by sexes, Jews capable of working will be dispatched to these regions to build roads, and in the process a large number of them will undoubtedly drop out by way of natural attrition."

The minutes reflect an intention to dispose of "roughly eleven million Jews." This figure was derived after a horrifyingly detailed discussion of those with only partial Jewish ancestry, sparing some only a quarter Jewish, and magnanimously exempting others from evacuation only if "sterilized in order to prevent any progeny . . . Sterilization will be voluntary, but it is the precondition for remaining in the Reich."

Many conference participants survived the war to be convicted at Nuremberg. The conference, and the bureaucratic sounding murderous minutes, provide a prototypical example of Hannah Arendt's Banality of Evil.

The Holocaust, symbolized by Auschwitz, the worst of the death camps, occurred in the wake of consistent, systematic, unrelenting anti-Jewish propaganda campaign. As a result, the elimination of the Jews from German society was accepted as axiomatic, leaving open only two questions: when and how.

As Germany expanded its domination and occupation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, the Low Countries, Yugoslavia, Poland, parts of the USSR, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Italy and others countries, the way was open for Hitler to realize his well-publicized plan of destroying the Jewish people.

After experimentation, the use of Zyklon B on unsuspecting victim was adopted by the Nazis as the means of choice, and Auschwitz was selected as the main factory of death (more accurately, one should refer to the “Auschwitz-Birkenau complex”). The green light for mass annihilation was given at the Wannsee Conference, January 20, 1942, and the mass gassings took place in Auschwitz between 1942 and the end of 1944, when the Nazis retreated before the advancing Red Army. Jews were transported to Auschwitz from all over Nazi-occupied or Nazi-dominated Europe and most were slaughtered in Auschwitz upon arrival, sometimes as many as 12,000 in one day. Some victims were selected for slave labour or “medical” experimentation. All were subject to brutal treatment.

In all, between three and four million people, mostly Jews, but also Poles and Red Army POWs, were slaughtered in Auschwitz alone (though some authors put the number at 1.3 million). Other death camps were located at Sobibor, Chelmno, Belzec (Belzek), Majdanek and Treblinka.

Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945, sixty years ago, after most of the prisoners were forced into a Death March westwards. The Red Army found in Auschwitz about 7,600 survivors, but not all could be saved.

For a long time, the Allies were well aware of the mass murder, but deliberately refused to bomb the camp or the railways leading to it. Ironically, during the Polish uprising, the Allies had no hesitation in flying aid to Warsaw, sometimes flying right over Auschwitz.

There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Suffice it to note the annual flood of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN; or the public opinion polls taken in Europe, which single out Israel as a danger to world peace; or the divestment campaigns being waged in the US against Israel; or the attempts to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. The complicity of the Allies in WW II is mirrored by the support the PLO has been receiving from Europe, China and Russia to this very day.

If remembering Auschwitz should teach us anything, it is that we must all support Israel and the Jewish people against the vilification and the complicity we are witnessing, knowing where it inevitably leads.


I want to add that supporting the PLO is not the same as supporting the Palestinian people. People are people, and all humans deserve to be treated humanely. But, the Palestinian Liberation Organization is intent on destroying the state of Israel and driving all the Jews from the land. That is racist and evil. And that is why I support this blog burst.

Thanks to Joseph Norland for arranging this, and thanks to all the participants:


A Photo Journey
Alicio i Underlandet
Alpaca Burger Forum
AMERICAN FUTURE
American On Line
And rightly so
Army Wives Serve with Pride
artitumis.com
At Level Ground
Auterrific

'
Barbara's Musings
Bellus Bellum
Blimpish
Blog Gig
Blog Willy No
CameronHome.com
CanadianComment
Cao's Blog
Captain Mainline
Catastrophic Success

'
Chimera's Ponderings and Wanderings
Christian Action For Israel
Clarity and Resolve
Crossing the Rubicon2
Crusader War College
Crystal Clear
CUANAS (Christians United Against the New Anti-Semitism)
Daily Inklings
Dakota Pundit
DANEgerus weblog

'
Dare to Inquire: Weblog of a Wondering Jew
dibbuk.se
Dodgeblogium
Dr. Forbush Thinks
Dreams Into Lightning
Dust My Broom
e-tech's
Earl's log
Elder of Ziyon
Elegance Against Ignorance

'
Enter Stage Right
Eurabian Times
Freudian Slippers
Friends of Micronesia
Godpigeon
Grandma's House
Ha-Mikdash
Harald Tribune
Hasidic Gentile
Heretics' Almanac

'
HEY KAREN
History Rules. But this will do for now.
Hyscience
I Dream, Therefore I Am
IceViking
il Gabibbo
ILoveAmerica
Inland Empress
Interested-Participant
Israel Net Daily Blog

'
IsraPundit
It Is What It Is
It's Almost Supernatural
Jeffdunetz.com
Jerusalem Posts
Jerusalem, G-D'S Eternal City
Josef?s Public Journal
KaufmaNet
Kosher Eucharist
Leaning Right

'
Letter from Israel
LGF
Liber.t@'
Life in the Ghetto
Life More Abundant
LimeyPundit
Locham Yisrael
Menorah
Mere Rhetoric
Middle East Facts

'
mikeatSE
MikeFromFR
Mugged by Reality
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Mystery Achievement
Mystical Paths
National News Register
Netiher here not there
NetWMD
News for Members of the Tribe

'
News Junkie Canada
NIF
No Oil For Pacifists
Noreen's Knit*che
Ogre's Politics and Views
Okie on the LAM - in LA
Outside the Blogway
Pajama Pundits
Pardon My English
Paul and Carls daily diatribe

'
Peace For Our Time
Plum Blossoms
Poisoning Pigeons
Pretensions of Competency
pstupidonymous
psychotoddler
Rabbi Jason A. Miller's Blog
Ramblings of a Roman Wanderer
Random Observer
Ravings of a Mad Tech

'
Res Publica 2004
Rite Turn Only
RobertPhillips.ca
Serenity Through Hope Ministries
Setting the World to Rights
Simulev - Swedish anti-Israel bias!
Sky Watching My World
Slant Point
Slapinions
Smooth Stone

'
Snugg Harbor
Soccer Dad
Solomonia
Something... and Half of Something
Somewhere on A1A
Sounding the Trumpet
Spiced Sass
sruliblog
Step-by-Step: Making Aliyah
Sweet Rose

'
Sworn Enemy
Tampa Bay Primer
Tex The Pontificator
TexasBug
The Bad Hair Blog
The Blog from the Core
The Blue Maple Leaf
The Chainik Hocker
The Commons at Paulie World
The Conservative

'
The Crusader
The Donegal Express
The Farkhole
The Hidden Nook
The House Of Wheels
The Key Monk
The Lion of Judah
The Moderate Voice
The Original Musings
The Owner's Manual

'
The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill
The Raphi's Zionist Site
The Redhunter
The Secret Life of Shoes
The Speakers Action Group
The Steiner Aid
The Truth about Israel
The Wide Awakes
Theodore's World
Think Israel

'
This Vehicle Makes Wide Right Turns
To Protect Our Heritage PAC
Toner Mishap
Uncle Jack
Unicow Farm
United Right
Vox Felisi
While yet within the heart
White Pebble
Willow Tree

'
WITH ISSUE
Yeah, Right, Whatever
Yesha Speaks Out
Yeshayah 62:1
Zibibbo is Good

posted by Pastorius @ 5:52 AM Comments: 0

Just Like Heaven


A song by The Cure

"Show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream" she said"
The one that makes me laugh" she said
And threw her arms around my neck"
Show me how you do it
And I promise you
I promise thatI'll run away with you
I'll run away with you"

Spinning on that dizzy edge
I kissed her face and kissed her head
And dreamed of all the different ways
I hadTo make her glow
"Why are you so far away?" she said
"Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you
That I'm in love with you"

You - Soft and only
You - Lost and lonely
You Strangest angel
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Assisting in the world til
You're just like a dream

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl
I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

posted by Pastorius @ 7:44 PM Comments: 1

The New Anti-Semitism
Why We Need To Fight It
With All Our Strength


There was a long article on "The New Anti-Semitism" recently, in the left-wing Jewish magazine Tikkun. As the name of this blog, CUANAS, is an acronym for Christians United Against the New Anti-Semitism, I will excerpt parts of it, and post it on a day to day basis. Here's part one:




I mentioned the fact that Tikkun is a "left-wing Jewish magazine" because I believe that people who come to this site might often think of me as a right-wing conservative Christian Zionist. While it is true that I am a Christian, and I am a Zionist (Zionism to me, means the Jews have a right to the homeland which was granted to them by the UN in 1948), it is not true that I have been a Conservative right-winger during my life time.

I am very much bothered by the fact that the Democratic Party has become the home of those who would villanize Israel and the Jews. Such hatred used to find it's home on the extreme (Pat Buchanan) right. But, it has migrated left and, at the same time, it has become marginalized on the right. When is the last time you've seen Buchanan given any credence by the Republican Party.

I say that I am "bothered" by this state of affairs, because I am a kind of "social liberal" who is more likely to agree with, what used to be, the Democratic Party on issues such as gay marriage, "faith-based initiatives", free speech and the FCC, etc. Those are big, big issues to me. I am not represented by the voice of those who would call homosexuality "deviant". I am not represented by those who would tear down the wall, which I think is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, between Church and State, by instituting the governmental funding of "faith-based inititiatives". And I am not represented by those "Conservatives" at the FCC who believe that perhaps the FCC should be regulating speech in non-choice communications mediums such as cable and satellite TV, or the internet. In fact, I am so unrepresented, and I think those three issues are so important, that I am frightened by the lack of representation.

But, I am more frightened by those who would deny the reality of international state-sponsored terrorism, and by those who would instead lay the responsibility for the problems of the world on the tiny state of Israel.

As the Democratic Party has become the party of Michael Moore , and of those who would tolerate anti-Semitism, I find I have no one to represent my beliefs. I have come to a place where a "Conservative" like George Bush represents me best, because he is focused on the issues which I consider to be the most important of our time. It is with reluctance that I say that I guess gays, and free speech, and the separation of Church and State, will just have to wait.

I go into all this because I would imagine that I am not the only person who feels like this. It is hard to change your paradigm. It is frightening and painful. But, here's how I comfort myself. America has a very long tradition of liberalism on church-state issues, and on free speech. For well over 200 years, the momentum of American history has been in the direction of the advancement of civil rights. Therefore, I conclude that I can afford to wait on such issues, because the most important issue is that America needs to exist as a strong bulwark against the forces of insanity which would tolerate and/or promote anti-Semitism and Islamofascism as reasonable.

If such forces are permitted to gain strength in our world, issues of free-speech, church-state separation, and the rights of homosexuals will be the least of our worries. History has shown that Rome can turn into a medieval nightmare over time. We need to heed that lesson and make sure that Rome stays strong, so that the forces of ignorance and chaos are not given a chance to gain power.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:19 AM Comments: 3

The Berkeley Intifada


From the blog Darn Floor, via the East Bay Express:

posted by Pastorius @ 4:12 AM Comments: 0

Iran Admits They Do Not Need
Nuclear Power


From Front Page Magazine, via Associated Press:

posted by Pastorius @ 4:04 AM Comments: 0

Europe Prepares A
New Holocaust?


Mark Steyn says Europe has taken over the Holocaust, via LGF:





But why? Why would they want to "steal" the Holocaust?

One might be tempted to think to one's self, "Well really, what's the big deal. So what if some people are sloppy with words when they get upset about current human rights abuses (as if Jenin and Fallujah fall into that category) . We live in the modern world. It's not like we're heading towards another Holocaust."

But, what happened leading up to the first Holocaust? How did it begin? What were the first shots fired, so to speak?

The answer is it began with a general ratcheting up of Jew-hatred in the press. Of course, the primary purpose of this blog is to make the point that modern day hatred of Israel is the new anti-Semitism. So, day after day, I post articles on that subject.

But, what was the second step? Well, it was the enacting of anti-Jewish legislation (from AP):





So, do I think this "New Holocaust" Europe seems to be preparing will feature a dictator giving the order to round up the Jews and gas them? No, I doubt that. However, there are a lot of Jews (about 6 million of them, in fact) sitting on a very small piece of property called Israel.

All we have to do is put two and two together. Do you think Europe would stand back and let the Arab nations have their way? Well, they've done it before. Is Iran building nuclear weapons? Yes. Is Europe trying to put an end to that?

And, by the way, think about how you would feel if you were a Jew and you heard this news from Russia?

posted by Pastorius @ 10:09 AM Comments: 1

Great Moments
In The History Of Socialism


We are socialists. We are enemies of today's capitalistic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its' unfair salaries,with its' unseemly evaluation of a human building according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance. We are determined to destroy this system under all circumstances"

-Adolf Hitler

posted by Pastorius @ 5:04 AM Comments: 2

Zarqawi and Bush Agree


From Power Line:

posted by Pastorius @ 5:01 PM Comments: 0

Al Qaeda In Iraq?


From Powerline:



So Zarqawi's chief weapons manufacturer and director of propaganda are now in custody. And note that the Mad Bomber was arrested nine days ago. The Iraqi authorities (and, of course, the US armed forces) are getting very close, at a minimum, to Zarqawi himself. These reports add considerable credibility to reports that Zarqawi himself has been captured.


They caught, and maybe even Zarqawi, just before the elections. I'm guessing that's not soon enough. We shall see.

Why do you think they take nine days before they announce the arrest? Do you think they tortured the poor man?

posted by Pastorius @ 2:35 PM Comments: 0

Pro-Abortion Rally At Holocaust Museum


This one has to be seen to be believed. Click here and then scroll down a bit.

I love No Pasaran's comment:




Commenter, Jean Martin, reminds us:

posted by Pastorius @ 7:22 AM Comments: 0

Redefining the Holocaust


The Muslim Council of Britain has called for Muslims to boycott Holocaust Remembrance Day in the UK. From the London Times, via Little Green Footballs:

This is getting very repetitive. Yesterday, I posted about how two-thirds of Germans say Israel is carrying on a "war of extermination" against the Palestinians. Earlier this week, I posted about how the BBC had done a litle "Holocaust Revisionism" on their website for kids.

At risk of repeating myself too much, let's be clear: Palestinians are not being herded into death camps, they are not being systematically starved, they are not having their throats slashed with machetes, they are not being lined up and shot, they are not being gassed. There is no genocide being enacted against the Palestinian people.

If I killed your mother, and you threw a stone at my house, and then I implied that what you did to me was just as much a murder, wouldn't that be a redefinition of the word murder? Isn't it true that the Muslim Council of Britain is trying to redefine the word "Holocaust"? Isn't that a form of "Holocaust Revisionism"?

And what's up with the "Home Office" agreeing to take this under consideration? Well, to quote myself:

It seems to me that there are forces in Europe who are preparing for a "Holocaust Revision" of terrifying proportions.

posted by Pastorius @ 6:59 PM Comments: 0

"A Spirit Of Oppression" Hangs Over France

posted by Pastorius @ 10:14 AM Comments: 5

Protesters In Berkeley Chant
"Don't believe the news, it's controlled by the Jews!"


More photos of the anti-Semites at the rally in Berkeley the other day.

What do you know? The rally included a chant. Here it is:


Why do you think the liberal, diversity-loving, human rights activists in Berkeley aren't out in the street protesting against the anti-Semites in their midst? Do you think it's because these anti-Semites and the liberal, diversity-loving, human rights activists are one and the same people?

Hmm.

The reason the anti-Semites are so bold in Berkeley is because they know they're tolerated. Hell, I'll bet they're even celebrated.

posted by Pastorius @ 5:42 PM Comments: 1

Germany Is Kicking It Old School


A new poll, from the London Times, via LGF, indicates Germans might be returning to their roots. First off, they don't are sick of being reminded of the whole Holocaust. Second, they think the Jews are perpetrating a "war of extermination" against the Palestinians. And third, they think there's just too damn many foreigners in their country:



This is more evidence that the opprobrium directed at Israel these days is merely cloaked anti-Semitism. What better way to make yourself feel that it's ok to hate Jews than to blame them for a "war of extermination", in effect, a genocide?

Think about what a "war of extermination" would look like. Wouldn't that mean that Israeli soldiers would go into a city and round everyone up and shoot them? Or maybe just make it easy on themselves, and carpetbomb the entire city, and then shoot everyone who was running away?

Genocides are not that hard to commit. The Rwandan maniacs killed 800,000 people with machetes, for God's sake. Israel certainly has better tools at their disposal than knives. Stalin killed a million Ukranians by starving them. This is also the tactic Kim Jong Il uses against his own people. It would be easy enough for Israel to simply seal off the borders and disallow food imports.

The idea that Israel is committing a systematic genocide against the Palestinian people is preposterous. It is simply a word construct with no basis in reality. In other words, it's a lie, a slander of monumental proportions. Anyone who would utter such nonesense is proving themselves to be completely irrational. And yet, two-thirds of Germans think this way. When was the last time the majority of Germans became so unhinged from reality?

It is a dangerous development, and evidence of a serious sickness in their society, that the German people are telling each other such outlandish lies.

posted by Pastorius @ 11:39 AM Comments: 0

The Palestinian Peace Process


I'm going to just blatantly rip off the master blogger at Little Green Footballs. Here's his post on the Palestinian Peace Process:

posted by Pastorius @ 11:25 AM Comments: 0

Open Source and Truth
The Media Reformation


The clash between bloggers and the Main Stream Media is one of the most important developments of our time. Wretchard comments on the Harvard Conference on Blogging, where prominent bloggers and members of the MSM squared off:





Wretchard sums it up:





I don't think it is as "out there in the dark" as Wretchard believes. It is merely that more and more people are being added to the cultural dialogue. What is happening is akin to the Protestant Reformation, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Bishop's door, stating that the people would no longer need a Priest to mediate their relationship with God. So it is now, with blogging that the people are telling the Media Priests that we do not need them to mediate our understanding of the Truth.

What is the mechanism that is making this possible? As Belmont Club commenter Meme Chose says:





True. I have friends who have elaborate recording studios in their homes entirely run through their MacIntosh computers. What was once would have cost millions of dollars can be had for several thousand. This enables more people to create more music and, once again, without the mediation of the whole studio owner/engineer/producer superstructure.

It would seem that we no longer need to buy indulgences in order to work out our salvation.

Another component of the mechanism making this possible is described by another Wretchard commenter, Marcus Cicero, at his fine blog Between Hope and Fear:





We do live in momentous times. As I said, these times are akin to the Protestant Reformation. I think the most pertinent question to have arisen out of Marcus Cicero's post is, does the open source process in blogging serve truth? I highlighted that question, and the statement about Wikipedia having no finished articles, in orange because those two ideas go together.

Open Source works in the development of software because software is more akin to mathematics, where there are real correct answers. In other words, if there is a bug in the software, a solution, once found, is self-evident.

Truth, and here I am speaking of moral Truth, is not self-evident. It does not always appear as a fix. Many times moral Truth leads us down a road which seems to become ever darker. To someone working under the rules of Open Source, such an outcome would indicate a mistake had been made. But, in the realm of moral Truth, it would seem that such an outcome is almost par for the course. There needs to be a objective set of agreed-upon values which carry us through these dark times. That is what moral Truth is.

Read the following, by Dennis Prager, and as you do, substitute the words "Open Source", or "blogging", or "Wikipedia", for his word "reason". "The Case For Judeo-Christian Values":





Blogs deal with facts well, and they serve as Open Source correction machines in that sense. But blogs also deal in the realm of Moral Truth. The decision of whether to go to war or not is a decision which is largely moral. There are facts surrounding the decision (Saddam was violating the sanctions established by the UN, so legally there was a case for going to War) but, ultimately, the decision comes down to the question of whether the world, and Iraq, will be a better place (i.e. more Good) if Saddam and his regime are removed from power?

Such a question requires us to make moral judgements. What is Good? Is the desire for Freedom inherent in the nature of man? How many deaths will ensue from military action? Are these deaths acceptable given the objective?

As Marcus Cicero wrote, "No article is finished in Wikipedia." If nothing is ever concluded then how are decisions to be made on largescale issues of life and death? The answer is they can only be made, ultimately, according to one's values. And values are articles of Faith. There is no getting around that.

With that said, let us be clear that while one may believe, as I do, that the Bible is the source for Truth, an Open Source refining system is still needed. When I read the Bible, I will inevitably understand it differently from others. So, while we may have the Truth at our disposal, we will, as humans, argue about it until the end of time.

Blogs open up the cultural dialogue on Truth just as much they do on facts. I believe this is a good thing, ultimately, as long as we are able to keep it firmly in mind that we can't use mere pragmitism and expediency as a fact-checker on Morality.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:10 AM Comments: 0

Victor David Hanson On
The Neocons


From Victor David Hanson, at the National Review:

posted by Pastorius @ 9:37 PM Comments: 0

These Amps Go To Eleven


Iran's spiritual leader renewed the Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The British government isn't too concerned. From Little Green Footballs:



Ok, so someone threatens to kill you. The police protect you. The guy dies. The police pull their protection.

Then someone else threatens to kill you. You call the police and they say, "Yeah, but that guy died."

You say, "But, this is a different guy."

The police say, "Yeah, but the other guy died."

That's some logic. Must be some of that gosh durned Europeen nuancin' again.

posted by Pastorius @ 9:28 PM Comments: 0

Saudi Arabia
"No Jews Allowed"


From Front Page Magazine:


The magazine ‘Al-Jundi Al-Muslim’ (The Muslim Soldier), published by the Religious Affairs Department of the Saudi armed forces, released an article on May 1 in its ‘Know Your Enemy’ section which stated: “The majority of revolutions, coups d'etat, and wars which have occurred in the world … are almost entirely the handiwork of the Jews … in order to implement the injunctions of the fabricated Torah, the Talmud, and the 'Protocols [of the Elders of Zion'], all of which command the destruction of all non-Jews in order to achieve their goal - namely, world domination.”

Blaming the Jews/Zionists/Israel for the world’s ills begins in the upper echelons of Saudi society. Interior Minister Prince Nayef publicly blamed 9/11 on “the Zionists.” Following terror attacks in Saudi Arabia last year, Crown Prince Abdallah blamed “Zionists,” a position that was supported by the most prominent members of the royal family. Prince Nayef explained at the time: “Israel and Zionism are behind Al-Qa’ida.”

It has been documented by official Saudi government sources that committees created by leading princes such as ‘The Popular Committee for Assisting the Palestinian Mujahideen’ and ‘The Support to the Committee for the Al-Quds Intifada,’ which are now the subjects of numerous lawsuits from victims of terrorism, have given more than $4 billion to “mijahideen fighters” and “families of martyrs.”

The daughter of King Saud, Saudi Princess Fahda is the historian of her father's reign and wrote an article last year which stated: “… King Saud made the right diagnosis: 'The Zionist threat is like cancer — in dealing with it neither medicine nor surgery will do any good.' This royal statement was meant to emphasize that the Arabs do not, and will not, accept an Israeli state amidst them.'” She added that under the leadership of King Saud, the Saudi representative to the United Nations called for the U.N. to establish an agency “to help resettle Jews [now in Israel] in their former European homes.”

Saudi Dr. Abdallah Al-Quba wrote in the journal ‘Saudi Foreign Policy’ in 1986 about the official Saudi policy of jihad against Israel: “We will not be blamed if we undertake the method of holy jihad. The racist military religious war that Israel wages … will not come to an end but by jihad. The meaning of holy jihad is a sole … Islamic confrontation, where we would replace our entire spiritual, educational, diplomatic … and military capabilities … into it, for a long persistent jihad.”

All aspects of Saudi culture, including schoolbooks, sermons, media, and government institutions espouse hatred of the Jews. In a show on Iqra TV on August 26, a reporter on the streets asked passersby: “Would you shake hands with a Jew?” Answers included: “No. Because the Jews are eternal enemies;” “Of course not, so I wouldn't have to consider amputating my hand afterwards.” Next, the interviewer asked “If a child asks you who ‘who are the Jews,’ what would you answer?” The interviewees responded: “The enemies of Allah,” and “Allah's wrath is upon them, as the Koran says… They are the filthiest people on the face of this earth… The solution is clear… If only [the Muslims] declared Jihad.”

A statement posted on the Saudi embassy in D.C.’s website detailed that the Saudi terror conference will focus on “the concepts and causes of terrorism.” It was also reported by Saudi officials that all countries impacted by terrorism will be invited. Israel’s exclusion could be because, according to Saudi law, no Jews are permitted to set foot inside Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi Ministry of Tourism website stated last year. It also could be due to the fact the Saudi royal family has always supported Jihad against Israel, and as many of its princes have repeatedly stated, suicide attacks against Israel are legitimate acts of resistance, and not terrorism.

One would hope that the State Department is aware of the Saudi position calling for Jihad against Jews and that any U.S. participation at the conference may unwittingly imply support of this policy.

I wonder if the Euros realize that it is the policy of the Saudi State that all Israeli Jews should be resettled in Europe. That's funny. I guess they oughta go back to Germany, huh? Hey, France you wanna resettle six million Jews? How about you Britain? Belgium? Anybody? Anybody?

Why, in the modern world, is it accepted that Saudi Arabia has an official state policy of "No Jews Allowed"? Imagine if the United States enacted as it's official state policy, "No Arabs Allowed". Or, imagine if Israel didn't allow Arabs into their country.

Palestinians complain about the "checkpoints" at the border, but the reality is, they are allowed into Israel, even though many of their people have entered only to blow up Israeli women and children.

There is no room for this medieval Saudi behavior. It should not be tolerated for a second, but it is. And meanwhile, the sweethearts on the Left circulate petitions calling for divestment from Israel because it is an "apartheid" state, which it isn't. Arabs are allowed to vote, own property, businesses, be members of Knesset, go to schools, and speak freely. In fact, Arab people literally have more rights, are more free in Israel, than in any of the 22 Arab nations.

Notwithstanding these facts, it is Israel who is singled out for condemnation, while we all ignore Saudi Arabia. We ignore the fact that the other 21 Arab nations will all attend this Saudi conference on terrorism and work with the Saudi's, because at bottom they agree with the Saudi's. We ignore the fact that anti-Semitic rhetoric in Saudi Arabia is echoed in many other Arab countries, among them Iran, Syria, Egypt and the Palesitnian territories.

Ah, but it's the Jews who deserve condemnation and isolation by the West, right?

Think about that. "It's the Jews." If you think it is Israel who is more to blame, and thus needs to be singled out for condemnation, then just roll that phrase around on you tongue a few times. How does that feel? Does it feel good? Do you feel good about yourself?

posted by Pastorius @ 8:27 PM Comments: 0

Bush Is A Stupid Cowboy


George Bush, from an interview in Washington Post, on the situation in Iraq:




What a stupid cowboy.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:06 AM Comments: 0

Democracy In Iraq
You Can't Keep A Good Man Down


Well, at least the Washington Post gave it a shot, anyway. From Roger Simon:




Looks like things might not work out the way the Democrats and "peace" activists planned.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:55 AM Comments: 0

Ideas Whose Time Has Passed


Thanks to Marlowe's Shade for making me aware of this, from The Diplomad:




There's more. Click on the link at the top for the rest.

On the subject of no culture being better than any other, I finally figured out a way to explain that one to people who are mired in PCtopia. Think about it this way; When the United States stopped enslaving black people, enfranchised women, and then, finally, made major strides in civil rights, did it not become a better culture?

If you can answer no to that question, then, jeez, I just don't know what to say.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:15 PM Comments: 0

The French Do The Right Thing
French Muslims Aren't Too Happy


From Reuters:




Good job, France. If I could, I'd give every one of you a big, sloppy, American kiss on the cheek.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:06 PM Comments: 0

French Filmaker
Tells the Truth About Israel


Why don't we do a little "dog bites man" and report some positive news on the French today. How's that? French filmaker Pierre Rehov has produced seven documentaries, over the past four years, which have detailed Israel and it's relations with the Palestinians. The kicker here is, he tells the truth. From Alyssa Lappen, via Front Page Magazine:




To read the rest of the article, click here.

posted by Pastorius @ 3:48 PM Comments: 1

Was The Murder Of New Jersey Family
America's Theo Van Gogh?


A few days back an entire family of Coptic Christians were murdered in New Jersey. Investigators believe they were murdered by militant Muslims who were angry with the family for arguing against Islam and attempting to convert Muslims. This is all speculation thus far. However, a friend of the murdered family contacted writer Robert Spencer and fed him the following information. From Jihad Watch:

posted by Pastorius @ 3:40 PM Comments: 0

Hey Democrats
Stop The Temper Tantrum
And Come Back To The Table
We Need You


The Anchoress writes about a subject I was thinking about all day yesterday:




The reason I was thinking about this all day yesterday is because it kept coming up in the media in various ways. For instance, what set The Anchoress off, on this well-written mini-rant, was an article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune entitled "Some In Black Ties, Some In Body Bags". Yes, that title is referring to the fact that the Inaugural festivities are taking place during a war. Last night, Powerline linked to a piece stating that ABC News was looking for a military family who might be burying their son or daughter on the day of the Inaugural. Got that? ABC News was trowling for a good death to report, with the insane notion that that would provide some "balance" to the Inaugural festivities.

Quite simply put, they must be out of their freaking minds, if they think, even for a second, that that sounds like good journalism.

Framing these different egregious stories of liberal idiocy, I heard two prescient analyses of the current dynamic between the Democratic and Republican Parties. Now, listen up Dems, because you really need to hear this. Currently, you are like the guy down the street who is always beating his wife, and screaming at his children; everybody on the block knows, but you don't know they know.

In the morning I was listening to Rush Limbaugh (disclosure, I only listen to Rush during Dennis Prager's commercial breaks, so I didn't hear the context of this statement) and he was saying that Bush is attempting to deal death blows to the Democratic Party by stealing their issues, and then letting them make fools of themselves by criticizing him for doing what they always wanted to do. In other words, "You guy want AIDS Research funding? Well, I'll give it you, and watch you scream about how horrible I am for doing it."

Then, last night, I heard Bill O'Reilly say that Bush is playing Rope-a-Dope with the Democratic Party. In other words, he lands a couple of blows, and then he just covers up, lays back on the ropes, and lets the angry Dems flail a wild series of uppercuts and roundhouses, thus expending all they've got, and looking like Dopes in the process.

Like I said, listen up Dems. Because this is what is really going on. You are being made fools of. You are being set up, and everytime you take the bait and set off into an insane temper tantrum. You look like crazy people. You know, like straight jacket time. Think Ophelia from Hamlet. Think Daffy Duck running away tearing his feathers out. You look like you are out of your freaking minds.

Get a grip on yourselves. It's unbecoming. It's embarassing. Especially to someone like me, who used to be one of you, and would still be, if you hadn't gone completely off the edge.

The net effect of your behavior is that the sane people will not want to be around you anymore. As you lose your minds, you will lose all the real brains among you (I'm not counting myself in that group). You will lose your ability to function at a high level. You will lose your power.

This state of affairs is not good for America. I do not share Rush Limbaugh's merriment at the oncoming demise of the Democratic Party. I believe the two-party system is essential to progress, to fairness, to ensuring that the whole country doesn't go bonkers, frankly.

We need two viable parties so that we can have a cultural dialogue on issues before we try to enact legislation on social issues, or make big decisions, like going to war. Do you understand?

There is a big decision coming up. Iran is building nuclear weapons. We can not allow that to happen. Bush has said all options are on the table. Bush is building bunker-busting nuclear weapons. Many have speculated that he is building them to use on Iran's nuclear facilities.

We need to discuss this before we make such a monumental decision. If all you bring to the table is, "Bush is evil. Bush is Hitler," then you, in effect, remove yourself from the conversation. You have to have alternative ideas. And, if the alternative idea is, "Let the UN handle it," well, that isn't going to fly either. The UN has proven itself unable to handle anthing, except, of course, 13 year old Congolese girls.

I, for one, do not think using bunker-busting nuclear weapons on Iran's nuclear facilities is a good idea. We have had the good fortune to have been able to shut Pandora's box, and sit on the lid, ever since Nagasaki. We need to keep it that way.

Now, take your thorazine, sit down at the table and help us out.

posted by Pastorius @ 6:10 AM Comments: 1

Anti-Anti-Terrorism Rally
More Jew-Hatred In The Streets Of Berkeley


Via LGF, here's a link to a site carrying photos from the latest anti-Semitic rally in Berkeley. Well, actually this rally began as a rally organized by a Israel-supporing group who were protesting against terrorism. Could we have really expected the Kaffiyeh wearing crowd to have refrained from open display of Jew-hatred?

Front Page Magazine comments (with more photos):

posted by Pastorius @ 7:11 PM Comments: 0

ACLU Removes a Jot
And a Tittle From The Constitution


From American Digest, via Jack of Clubs:




Jack adds:




Bravo Jack.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:00 PM Comments: 0

German Magazine "Stern"
Uses Racial Slurs Against Condoleeza Rice
And Slanders Both Bush and Rice


From Medienkritik:




And, if it's not bad enough that they offer opinion instead of facts in their description of Rice, they then go on to outright make up the rest of the story, and slander both Bush and Rice in the process:



I call this slander because George Bush has never made any statement wherein he supported any position in foreign or domestic policy by citing the Bible. In fact, as Medienkritik notes, Goerge Bush has clearly articulated that he never would do such:

posted by Pastorius @ 1:52 PM Comments: 0

The Real Meaning
Behind the Name "Arafat"?


Little Green Footballs posted a couple articles this morning about the "pilgrims" making the annual Hajj journey to Mecca. Charles points out that the Hajj demands "purity of soul, body, mind, and dress." Apparently, it is also a spiritual journey with room for hatred of Americans and Jews. Does that surprise you?:




Yeah, it's the Americans, not Hussein. Not the Iraqi's themselves. Right. Somehow, the people of Iraq, unique among all the peoples of the Earth, themselves have no responsibility for their position in the world. And somehow the evil Americans control all. Think about it, Amer. What does that say about your people?

And then, we've got Ahmed:



Now, I find this an interesting quote, because the title of the AFP article from which this quote is lifted is "Two million Muslims stand on Mount Arafat in hajj climax."

While it is notable that such a sentiment would be expressed on a mountain called Arafat, that is not actually why I find this a particularly interesting quote. The truly intereting thing about the quote is what it reveals about Arafat, his goals, and who he must have thought he was to his people.

Apparently, Mt. Arafat overlooks Mecca, which is the destination of the spritual journey of the Hajj. Does that sound familiar? At the end of Moses' life, God took him to the top of Mount Nebo, so that he could look down on the Promised Land just before he died. So, the Muslims climbed to the top of Mt. Arafat, just before they descend to the final destination of their Hajj Pilgrimage; Mecca.

Yasser Arafat's given name was not Arafat, it was al-Huesseini. The name al-Husseini was also the surname of Arafat's mentor Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during the period of the 1930's and 1940's. The Grand Mufti worked with Hitler to insure that as many Jews as possible be put to death. Here is a photo of the Mufti with Hitler.

The reality is, Yasser Arafat adopted the name Arafat at a later date. We are left to assume that the name Arafat meant something to him, if he was willing to abandon the name of his mentor to assume the new name of Arafat. I'm guessing he thought of himself as a kind of Moses leading his people to the promised land.

It is interesting to note that in his mind the final piece to the puzzle which must be completed before his people were able to reach the spiritual Mecca, was the removal of the Jews from the land of Palestine.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:10 AM Comments: 0

Dennis Prager Makes The Case
For Judeo-Christian Values


From Front Page Magazine:

posted by Pastorius @ 4:34 PM Comments: 1

Stand Up
For The Rights Of Women Everywhere


Donna Hughes is a Professor and holds the Carlson Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies at the University of Rhode Island. She believes that overthrowing the Militant Islamic government of Iran starts with standing up for the rights of women everywhere. Here's a link to her article.

That's the kind of thinking that used to make me proud to be a Democrat.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:18 PM Comments: 0

Pacifists Scream Death Threats
On the San Francisco State University Campus


How's that for a "man bites dog" headline. From Front Page Magazine:



It seems that Pacifism now just means you hate Western Civilization, America, and the Jews.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:04 PM Comments: 0

BBC Calls Auschwitz A "Prison Camp"
The Number Of Dead "Not Known"


From Melanie Phillips:




It seems to me that there are forces in Europe who are preparing for a "Holocaust Revision" of terrifying proportions. Why is it that suddenly this issue is open to debate. Why are Death Camps being turned into "Prison Camps".

I agree with Melanie that this is the result of "dismaying ignorance", but it is, at the same time, a particularly callous ignorance. It is impossible for me to believe that the people who work at the BBC do not know that the Holocaust was directed at the Jews. This conflation of the numbers of Jews killed with the numbers of people killed in battles, and for polical reasons, can only happen if one is callously uninterested in the unique position the Jews occupied in Hitler's malevolent schemes.

In other words, I am saying I believe the people at the BBC know the history, but the atrocities committed against the Jews just aren't significant enough to them to merit special mention apart from all the other deaths the Germans caused in World War II.

posted by Pastorius @ 6:12 PM Comments: 0

BBC Says The Holocaust Was A
Mass Murder Of Millions Of "People"


Melanie Phillips points out that the BBC is having a little trouble explaining the Holocaust:

posted by Pastorius @ 6:03 PM Comments: 0

Throats Must Be Slit
And Skulls Must Be Shattered


From Front Page Magazine:




But, how do they really feel about us?

I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads, "Proud To Be An Infidel".

posted by Pastorius @ 2:57 PM Comments: 0

And, they declare war against Western countries (via LGF):

It is almost impossible to accept the reality of the delusions and hatred that trouble many in the Muslim world. It is as if we come from different planets.

But by refusing to accept the reality of such viewpoints in Muslim leadership (in the interest of political correctness) we have created for ourselves an intractable enemy. And one that lives in our very midst.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:16 AM Comments: 1

Tempermental Artists
The British Rage
Against What They Have Created


From Naomi Regen, via Medienkritik:




David Kaspar, of Medienkritik, comments:




Melanie Phillips weighs in:




I doesn't surprise me that an 18 year old would do something stupid. While I think it a appropriate that a certain amount of shame be heaped upon Harry for his behavior, I also feel some pity for him. I'm glad the whole world didn't know about the stupid things I did when I was 18. People, at that age, are usually not attuned to the pain of others.

posted by Pastorius @ 5:33 AM Comments: 1

What The PCers Will
And Will Not Tolerate


From Fire, via Michelle Malkin:


Florida’s Indian River Community College (IRCC) is engaging in a campaign of repression against a Christian student group for attempting to show Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ on campus. In November 2004, the college banned the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from showing the film because it was R-rated, despite the fact that the college has hosted a live performance entitled “F**king for Jesus” that describes simulated sex with “the risen Christ.”

posted by Pastorius @ 3:50 PM Comments: 0

Fear Of A Blog Planet


Bill O'Reily is "frightened" by bloggers.

So is this guy.

:)

posted by Pastorius @ 2:15 PM Comments: 0

Sometimes You Just Gotta Love Your Enemies
Ask The Imam
Some Advice From The Fatwa Dept.


Hope you find this as funny as I do:


Question: The west is often criticised by Muslims for many reasons, such as allowing women go to work.

But shouldnt the west also recieve praise because its always them who intervenve when muslims r being tortured,they stopped Milosovic kiling muslims and sent their own troops to the country,they r usually the first to send aid when theres a flood,they r also intervening in Isreal and condeming them killing Muslims ,so should we appreciate their efforts or not?

Answer 1394: In simple the Kuffaar can never be trusted for any possible good they do. They have their own interest at heart.

Was salaam

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.

Well, I guess it's not really funny. But, you just gotta love your enemies when they show how incredibly stupid they are.

posted by Pastorius @ 2:09 PM Comments: 0

One Man's Freedom Fighter
Is Another Man's Armed Forces


I have always thought that the Palestinian terrorists were despicable in their willingness to target innocent women and children on buses, and in restaurants. I have also always been extremely disappointed in people who, when confronted with the terrorists atrocities reply by uttering the phrase "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

But, I have never denied that these terrorists are "freedom fighters" in the sense that they are fighting for a cause, and that they do want to be "free" of something. I believe that. It's just that what they want to be of is Jews.

That's very noble, right?

I think we all should just acknowledge the truth, that the noble Jihadi's are doing exactly what they say they are doing. They are waging Jihad. They are fighting for the freedom of the Palestinian people. That they are serving as the de facto army of the Palestinian Authority because "What do you expect them to do, the Israeli's won't allow them to have a real army."

Therefore, it would be reasonable for Israel to do what any sovereign state would do, when they are under attack by the armed forces of another. That is, wage all-out war against their enemy and beat them until they surrender. The Israeli government owes protection to their people, and to the state as a whole.

If the Israeli's want to be compassionate, though, they could seal off their borders and completely cut off all relationship with the Palestinian people. This would allow the Palestinians to build a state on their own, without the meddling of the Israeli's whom they hate so much.

Then, if the Palestinian's once again attack the Israeli's, it will be even more clear that the sovereign Palestinian government is waging war against the state of Israel.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:22 PM Comments: 0

Giving In To The Extortionist Demands
Of Civilization's Enemies


Following up on the post below about moral relativism, here is an excellent critique, by a self-identified liberal, of another article which had made a relativist argument about the Theo Van Gogh murder. From the Yale Daily News:

posted by Pastorius @ 10:09 AM Comments: 1

Moral Facts vs. Moral Opinions


In this article, Dennis Prager goes over some well-trod territory. Starting with the idea that there can be no absolute foundation for morality without the existence of God, he works through some interesting observations and declarations about the difference between those who have a belief in an absolute, and those who do not. His arguments may seem simplistic and heavy-handed at first, but I encourage you to follow the thread of his logic through the whole piece. Many of his observations and assertions are undeniable. From Front Page Magazine:



The most confounding thing about the Left in past years has been it's inability, or unwillingness, to make even the simplest of moral distinctions. Recently, I was discussing the War On Terror with the guy who was best man in my wedding. This man is my lifelong best friend. Anway, I said to him that it was clear that Arab culture in general is highly flawed and needs to be changed. He balked at this idea, and said something to the effect that all cultures are flawed and who are we to judge. So, I asked, "Do you mean to tell me you don't think Western culture is, in general, superior to Arab culture?"

"Nope."

"Well, what about the treatment of women in the Arab world. In many Arab countries women aren't allowed to choose education, drive a car, decide for themselves when to leave the house, whom to marry, etc. Isn't that a form of slavery. Isn't that just wrong? Doesn't it need to be changed."

It's not wrong, it's just different."

Oh yeah, right.

Now, keep in mind, my friend lives in the Bay Area and he is pretty much the epitome of the Feminist Man. This is a guy who, if someone were to say something like, "Hey, look at that girl over there. She's a hot little number, isn't she?" would be offended, not on Christian grounds (though he is a Christian Pastor himself) but because I was objectifying a female.

So, this creeping moral relativism of the secularist society has infected even Christian Pastors at this point. I, obviously, do not have any problem with making moral judgements. The enslavement of women in the Arab world sickens me, and it needs to be done away with. I base that judgement on my Christian belief that God made us with free will so that we can choose Him, or choose evil. Additionally, I believe he made us to be creative beings so that we could creatively worship Him and glorify Him. Enslavement snuffs out creativity thus, taking away almost all meaning and choice from a person's life. A life without meaning or choice is, practically, a living death.

I have no problem calling such a state of affairs "evil". I am baffled that anyone does.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:44 AM Comments: 1

A Tough Creed Indeed
Arab Doctors Association Urges Doctors
To Blow Up Infidels
And Declares Tsunami Divine Punishment


From Memri, via Little Green Footballs:




These people live by a very tough creed don't they? Think about it, God punishes them because they are oppressed.

No excuses, you sniveling little followers of Allah. If you would allow the Kuffar to oppress you, then it is Allah's will that you be punished. Now, submit to my punishment.

Ah, good believer. That is good. You have done well in your submission.

Now, go kill the Infidels.

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:25 AM Comments: 0

Soros Partners With The Mullahs


This is so insane, it is almost impossible to believe. From the New York Post, by Kenneth Timmerman:





I am outraged.

:)

Hat Tip: Allah

posted by Pastorius @ 7:37 AM Comments: 0

Iraqi Poll Reveals
Election Likely To Be A Success


Thanks to No Pasaran for making me aware of this, from David Brooks at the NY Times:

posted by Pastorius @ 7:30 AM Comments: 0

Resist The Occupation


Howard Fineman says we are watching the slow, torturous death of the Main Stream Media. He makes the point that it is, truly, the death of an American Political Party:




The Anchoeress offers her thoughts on the demise of the Mainstream Media, and offers a prediction on Academia:




I agree with Fineman that the MSM has become a political force almost like a political party. However, the MSM is more monolithich than a political party. Citizens have no opportunity to join MSM Party, so for years, all we could do was yell at the TV. Blogging is an opportunity to yell at the TV and to actually have the TV repsond. That's what happened with the Rathergate Affair, and with the reelection of President Bush.

The same goes, and will go for Academia. Blogs and websites such as Anti-Chomsky and David Horowitz' Front Page are getting the word out about the totalitarian abuses of Academia. I believe the Anchoress is right. An "insurrection" is afoot. "Militants" will soon began to "voice" their "resistance" to the "occupation" of their "territories" (read college campuses). They will demand their "right of return", and before you know it, the Academic "entity" will be overthrown.

It shall be fun to watch.

posted by Pastorius @ 5:32 AM Comments: 0

Factory Girl
A Song by
Whiskeytown


So, factory girl listened for the sound of her daddy's engine
Till the workbell sounds and she leaves town
Oh the summer's here are hot
All she seems to do is work and sleep
Wish that she were still with you

Now you don't know where she is
Lying in her mother's bed
Or, who she's sleeping with...

All the kids would laugh at her
Cause she seemed so sweet and pure
I took this shift because of her

Though i've never said a word
I once smiled and looked at her
'til the shift boss said, "get back to work."

Now you don't know where she is
Or whose bed she's sleeping in
What man she's sleeping with.


Read the following verse and then reconsider the meaning of the song:

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8

posted by Pastorius @ 8:22 PM Comments: 1

An Arab Visits Israel


From an article by Nonie Darwish, via Front Page Magazine:




I love Nonie Darwish. Visit her site Arabs For Israel, which is linked to on my blogroll.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:02 PM Comments: 2

You know, I just had an evil thought. Maybe, while we're there we ought to just "occupy" every single country and exploit their resources.

Hey, I like it.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:36 PM Comments: 0

The U.S. Military Lands In Sri Lanka


The American Military is being complimented on French TV, via Last Of The Famous International Playboys:




I include this part of the article not to put down France (for once), because they are truly trying to help. Giving it their best shot. The point is, contrary to what some French people think, if it weren't for the evil American military nothing much would be being done.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:23 PM Comments: 0

Second:




Hat tip: LGF

posted by Pastorius @ 6:59 PM Comments: 0

Charles Back In Charge


Little Green Footballs Is Back!!!

Yay!

Charles Johnson's brilliant website had been smite at the neck and brought low by some enemies of freedom the couple days.

Charles says:

Back Like Me
Well, Little Green Footballs is back, and I still have one fingernail left!

My sentiments exactly. And, I love the reference to a forgotten Liberal non-fiction work of the 1960's. It was a good book with a great perspective, which seems to have since been lost by the Left.

I also agree with the thoughts of several of his readers:


#3

Pro-Bush Canuck 1/11/2005 08:32AM PST

Charles performs a critical function in a democratic society. Leftists wish to silence those with whom they disagree. That makes them fascists and the enemy in the most literal sense.

and

#4

shan 1/11/2005 08:33AM PST

I almost had a nervous breakdown the last 2 days! Glad to see ya back!


Yes, I am an addict. And yes, I do believe that the people who did this are fascists, and haters of Freedom. Just to be clear, let us delineate between "Leftists" and left-wingers. A "Leftist" is (loose definition here) an anti-American Marxist, whereas a left-winger is a liberal. There's nothing wrong with being a liberal. I still consider myself a liberal on many issues.

However, I am not willing to sell the United States down the river for my more liberal beliefs. And I don't think squashing anyone's right to free speech is a reasonable technique of political discourse.

I hope they catch the people who did this to LGF, and I hope they are brought to justice. A jail term of 6-12 months would seem appropriate to me.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:36 AM Comments: 0

Paper Dolls
A Song By
The Innocence Mission


I am lining up my heroes
Like big paper dolls
And I find
They need a wall behind them
To lean on
No, they won't stand up by themselves
At all
Oh, I guess it's time to grow up
Now

posted by Pastorius @ 8:59 PM Comments: 0

A Day Without Little Green Footballs


What the heck? No LGF all day long? What have those Jihadi's wrought?

How is it possible in this day and age to take a major website down for a whole day?

posted by Pastorius @ 8:16 PM Comments: 0

Great Moments In The History Of Pacifism
It's Time To Slaughter The Sacred Cow


Thanks to IsraPundit for posting this damning article about Mahatma Gahndi. Here are some excerpts:

If Europe would have taken Gandhi’s advice as below, we’d all be speaking German and be part of a perfect Aryan race.

There would be no people living with disabilities or birth defects; the Roma (gypsies) would have disappeared into oblivion and there would be no homosexuality allowed. Communism and free speech would be considered crimes and there would have been no freedom of religion.

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions...If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman and child to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them."

As far as Gandhi’s advice for Jews is concerned, if we’d have followed his practice of “passive resistance”, there would have been not even one Jew remaining in Europe:

"I am as certain...that the stoniest German heart will melt [if only the Jews] adopt active non-violence. Human nature...unfailingly responds to the advances of love. I do not despair of his [Hitler's] responding to human suffering even though caused by him."

Gandhi also advised the Jews of Europe to commit mass suicide, as our forefathers were forced to do at Masada:

"Hitler killed five million [sic] Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs."

Louis Fisher, Gandhi's biographer asked him: "You mean that the Jews should have committed collective suicide?"

Gandhi responded, "Yes, that would have been heroism."

It’s very lucky that Gandhi himself used passive resistance against the civilised British, because if he’d have used the same technique with the Nazis, there would be no people of Indian descent left in this world.

It's time for the world to grow up and realize that Gandhi was not a man of great vision. He was not an incarnation of God. I would not even call him a man of peace. The emotional devastation he was willing to lay on his wife gives the lie to his being a good man in private. For a person to deprive the one he supposedly loves of physical intimacy (and the emotional well-being that goes with it), because he believes he has some special relationship with the universe, is an abominable sin.

Gandhi was a snake oil salesman who won a P.R. battle against British imperialism. Thank God he did. He was the right schmuck at the right time. His people owe him thanks.

However, his legacy is a burden on the whole human race. Unfortunately, many naiive, but well-placed, people believe we can take Gandhian "principles" and apply them to all of reality. Gandhi's notion of applying his asinine philosophy to the fight against Hitler is not just laughable, it's arrogant to the point of megalomania. It shows he was willing to let the whole human race go down with the ship because of his own belief in his special relationship with his selfish pantheistic conception of the universe.

And to sum it up, let me pose this question:

When Gandhi says,"the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife,"

How exactly does his philosophy, in practice, differ from Hitler's?

posted by Pastorius @ 6:06 PM Comments: 2

Poll Shows Attitudes of British Muslims


From the Guardian, via American Future:


Four of five believe that the war on terror is a war on Islam: Notwithstanding Bush's and Blair's statements to the contrary, 80% believe that the war on terror is a war against Islam. In March 2004, 68% disagreed with Blair and Bush.

An overwhelming majority rejects violence: 86% believe it is unacceptable for religious or political groups to use violence for political ends and 69% believe it is right that they should inform on people who are involved or connected with terrorist activities.

Plenty of trouble can be caused by the one of seven Muslims that don't reject violence.

More than one-third have experienced anti-Muslim sentiment:

38% claim that they or their family had experienced had experienced hostility or abuse in the UK from non-Muslims because of their religion, up from 33% in March.

Four of five support restrictions on freedom of speech and three of fivre think that people who violate these restrictions should be prosecuted:

81% think there should be a new law to make incitement of religious hatred a criminal offence.

58% believe that people who insult or criticize Islam should face criminal prosecution.

Three of five support Islamic laws: 61% want Islamic courts - operating on sharia principles – "so long as the penalties did not contravene British law". A major part of civil cases in this country deal with family disputes such as divorce, custody and inheritance.

Nearly nine of ten want Islam in the schools: 88% want to see schools and workplaces in Britain accommodating Muslim prayer times as part of their normal working day.

Only two of five say it's up to them to fit in: 40% say they need to do more to integrate into mainstream British culture.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:23 PM Comments: 0

New York Times
Editorial Staff
Disgraces Itself


From the New York Times, via Little Green Footballs:

Fatah was founded by Mr. Arafat. The name means “conquest,” and is a reverse acronym for the Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine. It has a nationalist rather than Islamist foundation, with the stated goal of an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, leading to Israeli and Palestinian states side by side.

Charles Johnson at LGF points out that the Fatah Charter, which is freely availalbe online, makes it very clear that Fatah goal is the destruction of Israel:


Article (12) Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.
...
Article (19) Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People’s armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.

Now, let's think about this for a second. Is it possible that the New York Times writer, Steven Erlanger, is unaware of the clearly stated goals of Fatah? I don't believe it is possible. His whole life is reporting. He's highly educated, and immersed in a culture that traffics such information.

I, on the other hand, am a goofy ex-rock n' roll musician, who became aware of these issues just three years ago. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I have never read an entire book on history. I almost never received better than a B grade in any history class. My interests and degrees are in Philosophy and Literature. Neither one of those studies provided me with any information on the history of the Middle-East, or anti-Semitism.

And yet, somehow, I am aware that the Fatah constitution states that their goal is the destruction of Israel. Somehow I, and not the Main Stream Media, am able to keep it firmly in my mind that leaders of Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority, frequently call for "death to the Jews". Somehow, I know that the Charters of both Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority, call for the destruction of the state of Israel. And that the Palestinian Authority Charter, which does so, is posted on the PA's United Nations web page.

How could this possibly be? I am not smarter than these people. I am not better educated. I have no friends (other than those who are members of CUANAS, which is a organization I formed) who are interested in political issues. One would not think that I would have access to info which a sophisticated reporter for the NY Times does not.

My conclusion is that Steven Erlanger, and the editorial staff at the New York Times, are simply lying. Their reason is a wish for peace through appeasement. They would call it compromise, but it isn't compromise when one is willing to allow a whole nation, and it's people, to be destroyed.

At the core of it, however, the truth is Steven Erlanger and the NY Times editorial staff care so little for Israel, and the Jews who live there, that they choose to spread propoganda which is anti-Semitic in effect, if not intent.

UPDATE: American Report has also recently posted an article critical of Steven Erlanger.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:38 PM Comments: 7

The Fine Distinctions
Between Good And Evil


From Nonie Darwish (whom I link to on my blogroll) comes this:


I am overwhelmed with sadness over the state of the Muslim world. I am looking at the photograph of an Iranian woman about to be stoned to death in Iran, buried to her waste in dirt to keep her from running away.

A few weeks ago, I read about a 14 year-old Iranian boy who died after receiving 85 lashes for the ‘sin’ of eating in public in the month of Ramadan. Salah Uddin Choudhury has been in prison for one year in Bangladesh for the ‘crime’ of urging his nation to recognize Israel and advocating interfaith dialogue among equals as well as warning against the growing power of Islamists in Bangladesh.

What are Muslim community activists in America doing about their homegrown brutal human rights violations? They are silent.

The picture of the stoned woman has been seen by some Muslims I know in the Middle East and also fellow Americans, Christians and Jews. The first reaction by the Muslims was “what did she do?” while the first reaction by Americans was “How could this happen?”

Got that? The first reaction of the Muslim community is to attempt to find some justification for this outrageous crime. Why would that be? Because they know their religion, as it is taught, advocates such crimes as righteousness.

Meanwhile, Americans are dumbfounded in the face of such evil. Why would that be? Because they can not imagine that there is a society on Earth, in this modern age, who would tolerate such abuses of human rights.

Such are the fine distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil.

It's not that hard, is it?

posted by Pastorius @ 7:42 PM Comments: 3

Palestinian Nazism
Sometimes You Just Gotta Love Your Enemies


From Front Page Magazine:

For years, the PA religious establishment has repeatedly portrayed the killing of Jews as a religious necessity. Today, PA TV chose to rebroadcast this same call to genocide as a historical necessity -- this time from a senior PA academic rather than from a religious leader. Dr. Hassan Khater, founder of the Al Quds Encyclopedia and a TV lecturer, cited the identical Hadith - Islamic tradition attributed to Mohammed - that the religious leaders have used to demand this genocide. This was part of a lecture focusing on what he described as the war of the Jews against Palestinian trees.

These were his words quoting the Hadith:

"Mohammed said in his Hadith: 'The Hour [Day of Resurrection] will not arrive until you fight the Jews, [until a Jew will hide behind a rock or tree] and the rock and the tree will say: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!'" PA TV Dec. 27, 2004 [Rebroadcast from July 13, 2003]

The continued teaching that this Hadith applies today could well be a dominant factor driving terror against Israeli civilians. By depicting redemption as dependent on Muslims' killing of Jews, the PA world view presents this genocide as a religious obligation and historical necessity -- not related to the conflict over borders, but as something inherent to Allah's world.
Here is the most recent call to genocide.

Here is the same call to genocide expressed in Sheik Ibrahim Madiras's Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 sermon on PA TV.

"The Prophet said: the Resurrection will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them. The Muslims will kill the Jews, rejoice [in it], rejoice in Allah's Victory. The Muslims will kill the Jews, and he will hide.

"The Prophet said: the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!. Why is there this malice? Because there are none who love the Jews on the face of the earth: not man, not rock, and not tree everything hates them. They destroy everything they destroy the trees and destroy the houses. Everything wants vengeance on the Jews, on these pigs on the face of the earth, and the day of our victory, Allah willing, will come."

You just gotta love your enemies when they tell the truth like this. I mean, that guy just layed it all out there, didn't he? No, hiding behind diplomatic doublespeak, or subtle euphemisms. Nope, just kill the Jews.

Uh, wow. Good job, bro.

Where else in history have we found members of the government of a nation calling for the death of an entire race of people?

How is it that anyone can deny that the Palestinian Authority/PLO is anything but a Jihadi-version of a Nazi government?

posted by Pastorius @ 5:18 PM Comments: 0

Imagine A World Without America


From National Review comes Victor David Hanson's brilliant column:

Imagine a world in which there was no United States during the last 15 years. Iraq, Iran, and Libya would now have nukes. Afghanistan would remain a seventh-century Islamic terrorist haven sending out the minions of Zarqawi and Bin Laden worldwide. The lieutenants of Noriega, Milosevic, Mullah Omar, Saddam, and Moammar Khaddafi would no doubt be adjudicating human rights at the United Nations. The Ortega Brothers and Fidel Castro, not democracy, would be the exemplars of Latin America. Bosnia and Kosovo would be national graveyards like Pol Pot's Cambodia. Add in Kurdistan as well — the periodic laboratory for Saddam's latest varieties of gas. Saddam himself, of course, would have statues throughout the Gulf attesting to his control of half the world's oil reservoirs.

Europeans would be in two-day mourning that their arms sales to Arab monstrocracies ensured a second holocaust. North Korea would be shooting missiles over Tokyo from its new bases around Seoul and Pusan. For their own survival, Germany, Taiwan, and Japan would all now be nuclear. Americans know all that — and yet they grasp that their own vigilance and military sacrifices have earned them spite rather than gratitude. And they are ever so slowly learning not much to care anymore.

In fact, an American consensus is growing that envy and hatred of the United States, coupled with utopian and pacifistic rhetoric, disguise an even more depressing fact: Outside our shores there is a growing barbarism with no other sheriff in sight. Any cinema student of the American Western can fathom why the frightened townspeople — huddled in their churches and shuttered schools — almost hated the lone marshal as much as they did the six-shooting outlaw gang rampaging in their streets. After all, the holed-up 'good' citizens were always angry that the lawman had shamed them, worried that he might make dangerous demands on their insular lives, confused about whether they would have to accommodate themselves either to savagery or civilization in their town's future, and, above all, assured that they could libel and slur the tin star in a way that would earn a bullet from the lawbreaker. It was precisely that paradox between impotent high-sounding rhetoric and blunt-speaking, roughshod courage that lay at the heart of the classic Western from Shane and High Noon to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Magnificent Seven.

The U.N., NATO, or the EU: These are now the town criers of the civilized world who preach about "the law" and then seek asylum in their closed shops and barred stores when the nuclear Daltons or terrorist Clantons run roughshod over the town.

Go read the rest. Here's a link, if you are interested.

posted by Pastorius @ 5:12 PM Comments: 0

The Effects Of The Propoganda Machine


Taking into consideration the post below, entitled The BBC Vs. Reality, now let's look at what the effects of a Propaganda Machine like the BBC are. From an article by Melanie Phillips:

A friend went into Blackwells university bookshop in Oxford and asked the counter clerk: 'Do you have a copy of Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel?' 'There is no case for Israel', the counter clerk replied.

A distinguished and influential military figure confided to me that Rupert Murdoch had given a personal order that articles in the Times against the Iraq war should be drastically limited — and that he had done so ‘on the instruction of the Jewish lobby in America’. Furthermore, George Bush had invaded Iraq because ‘he had Ariel Sharon’s hand up his back’.

At a recording of the BBC radio panel show Any Questions, in the solid Conservative heartland of Wokingham in Berkshire, an overwhelmingly conservative audience applauded and cheered the veteran far left activist Tariq Ali when he said that that America was the fount of world terror, that George Bush was more of a danger to the world than Saddam Hussein, and that if any country was a menace to world peace through its weapons of mass destruction it was not Iraq but Israel.

How has Middle Britain come to applaud the view – hitherto confined to the most extreme left-wing circles -- that the President of the United States is more of a danger than an unbalanced dictator with a terrorist history? How have such solid citizens come to view a democracy – Israel – that has been under attack since its foundation as the greatest threat to world peace? And how has the ancient libel of sinister global Jewish power been allowed to rear its head so openly once again?

Britain is gripped by an unprecedented degree of irrationality, prejudice and hysteria over the issues of Iraq, the terrorist jihad and Israel. All three are intimately linked; all three, however, are thought by public opinion to be linked in precisely the wrong way. This is because all three have been systematically misreported, distorted and misrepresented through a lethal combination of profound ignorance, political malice and ancient prejudices.

This systematic abuse by the media is having a devastating impact in weakening the ability of the west to defend itself against the unprecedented mortal threat that it faces from the Islamic jihad. People cannot and will not fight if they don’t understand the nature or gravity of the threat that they face, so much so that they vilify their own leaders while sanitising those who would harm them.

There's more, where that comes from. Here's a link (scroll down to her January 1, 2005 article), if you are interested. Melanie Phillips is a very brave woman in my opinion.

posted by Pastorius @ 5:02 PM Comments: 0

The BBC Vs. Reality


From National Review:

The BBC: Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, from Saudi Arabia, who opened London's biggest mosque last Friday, is a respected leader who works for "community cohesion" and "building communities."

Not mentioned on the BBC: Some of the views of Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais. In his own words: In the name of Allah, the Jews must be "annihilated." They are "the scum of the human race, the rats of the world... the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of apes and pigs."

The BBC's Charter and its Producers Guidelines state: "Due impartiality lies at the heart of the BBC. All programs and services should be open minded, fair and show a respect for truth... [BBC reports should] contain comprehensive, authoritative and impartial coverage of news and current affairs in the United Kingdom and throughout the world...."

The BBC makes many good programs when it comes to drama, comedy, sport, and science. But its enormous news division — by far the world's biggest — is another story. Using lavish public funding (courtesy of the British taxpayer) and an unprecedented worldwide news reach (its radio service alone, broadcasting in 43 languages, attracts over 150 million listeners daily), it is — in blatant breach of its own charter — virtually conducting its own anti-American and anti-Israeli foreign policy. Anyone who doesn't agree with its policies (Tony Blair, for example) finds himself at the mercy of BBC news coverage.

"B" MOVIE ACTORLast week, for example, almost every other news organization in the world (including those in the former Communist states) began their obituaries of Ronald Reagan by saying that many (including Mikhail Gorbachev) credit Reagan with helping to bring about the end of the Cold War. But the BBC online obituary ("World Edition," Sunday, June 6, 2004, titled "Reagan's mixed White House legacy," and running to almost 1,000 words — that's a full four pages if you print it out from the BBC website) didn't even mention the Cold War, let alone Reagan's calls to "tear down" the Berlin Wall.

Instead the BBC reminded us that Reagan was "a B movie actor," and stated that as president his "foreign policy was criticised for being in disarray." Accompanying photos were not of Reagan meeting Gorbachev, but of Oliver North, and of the invasion of Grenada ("a clumsy sham," according to the BBC text).

Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais (referred to in the introduction to this article, and whose surname has also been transliterated by MEMRI and others as Al-Sudayyis [1]) is not just any imam, and his hate-filled sermons are not just delivered in some peripheral setting. He is the preacher at the Grand Al-Haraam mosque — the most important mosque in Mecca, the very heart of Islam.

"Read history," implored al-Sudais to his massed ranks of followers in another of his sermons, on February 1, 2004, "and you will understand that the Jews of yesterday are the evil fathers of the Jews of today, who are evil offspring, infidels ... calf-worshippers, prophet-murderers, prophecy-deniers...the scum of the human race whom Allah cursed and turned into apes and pigs.... These are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, licentiousness, evil, and corruption...."

Al-Sudais has repeated these words, or close variations of them, at several other sermons in recent years. It is because of these and other calls for violence against Christians, Hindus, and Americans, that the Canadian government last month denied al-Sudais a visa to enter Canada.
But none of this seems to have penetrated the BBC bubble. In its reports last weekend on TV, radio, and online, on Sheikh al-Sudais's visit to Britain, in which he lead 15,000 worshippers at prayer at the opening of the enormous new six-story Islamic center in east London, the BBC mentioned none of this.

BBC Online for example, last Saturday, gave the impression that al-Sudais was nothing but a benign, kindly cleric promoting (to quote the BBC) "community cohesion" between Muslims and their neighbors.

"The centre was opened as Friday prayers took place, led by one of Islam's most renowned Imams, and celebrations will continue throughout the weekend," said the BBC. "Worshippers had come to hear Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, Imam of the Ka'ba, Islam's holiest mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.... With many unable to enter the new centre, some worshippers took to praying on a street behind the mosque using prayer mats and even newspapers." We are told that the center "will bolster London's reputation as a vibrant and diverse international city" and has a "spirit of modesty."

At the side of the BBC website, a video clip was flagged with the caption: "The BBC's Mark Easton: 'Events like today offer grounds for optimism.'"

It would be hard to imagine the BBC completely omitting diatribes such as al-Sudais's had they been made by a Christian leader — or had a prominent Israeli rabbi said anything similar about Muslims.

Go read the rest. It's amazing that the BBC is considered a credible news source. It is, in fact, a propaganda machine.

posted by Pastorius @ 4:54 PM Comments: 0

Insurgents Fighting Against Democracy


From an article in the Internation Heral Tribune, by Thomas Friedman:

There is much to dislike about this war in Iraq, but there is no denying the stakes. And that picture really framed them: This is a war between some people in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world who - for the first time ever in their region - are trying to organize an election to choose their own leaders and write their own constitution versus all the forces arrayed against them.

As the Johns Hopkins foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum so rightly pointed out to me, "These so-called insurgents in Iraq are the real fascists, the real colonialists, the real imperialists of our age." They are a tiny minority who want to rule Iraq by force and rip off its oil wealth for themselves. It's time we called them by their real names.

However this war started, however badly it has been managed, however much you wish we were not there, do not kid yourself that this is not what it is about: People who want to hold a free and fair election to determine their own future, opposed by a virulent nihilistic minority that wants to prevent that. That is all that the insurgents stand for.

And, here's a short story and photo that prove it.

A suspected insurgent asks residents for mercy after they caught him planting explosives under civilian vehicles, at a busy area in Baghdad, January 3, 2005. Insurgents killed 17 Iraqi police and National Guards on Monday in another bloody spree of ambushes, bombings and suicide attacks aimed at wrecking Iraq's January 30 national election.

Roger Simon comments:

He's a "suspected insurgent." We don't know for sure from this photo whether the fellow can officially be elevated to the exalted plain of full "insurgent" - a veritable Emiliano Zapata perhaps. Never mind that workaday Iraqis might call this dude a "terrorist" because he is about to blow as many of them to smithereens as possible ... Reuters knows best. Only through impartiality can one arrive at "the truth."

Of course that is a Big Lie. Reuters is no more impartial than I am. Language itself is not impartial--it always seeks to persuade, covertly or overtly. The word "insurgent" glamorizes fascists and its use assists the fascist cause. Do I go too far? Let me ask the people at Reuters a simple question, although I am dubious any of them would respond. Can they identify one single Iraqi "insurgent" whose politics was not Baathist or Jihadist, both different sides of the fascist coin?

posted by Pastorius @ 5:18 PM Comments: 0

Chirac Accuses U.S. Of Helping
Tsunami Victims To
Change It's Image


Thanks to Marlowe's Shade for making me aware of this, from EUBusiness.com:

"Bush is making propaganda by deploying huge resources. He is using it as an opportunity to give the United States an image other than that of the Iraq war."

We must understand that, for a French person, it is a natural leap to make such a connection. Because, for the French, everything is about fashion and image.

For instance, the French have a big problem with the growing militancy of their Muslim population. So what do they do? They declare a fashion emergency, and order that girls not wear headscarves anymore.

That oughta calm down the savages. Right?

posted by Pastorius @ 5:12 PM Comments: 2

Agence French Press Calls Abbas
Campaign "Dovish" The Day After
He Calls Israel "Zionist Enemy"


From Agence French Press, via Little Green Footballs:

NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian presidential favourite Mahmud Abbas hammered home his dovish message on the penultimate day of campaigning, as Israel denied prisoners the right to vote and settlers threatened to hamper the polls in east Jerusalem.

This is the very next day after Mahmoud Abbas referred to Israel as the "Zionist enemy". How else can you explain the cognitive dissonance other than to baldly say that Agence French Press is willing to shill for anti-Semites. And if they are willing to shill for anti-Semites, doesn't that make them anti-Semitic themselves?

posted by Pastorius @ 5:03 PM Comments: 0

America Is A Crusader Nation
A Tsunami
Of Compassion, Care, and Hope


I hope SomeGuy, over at Mystery Achievement doesn't mind, but I think his post from today is so excellent, I'm just going to lift the whole thing. If you start to read, and are interested, click over and read his site daily, it is thoughtful and full of information on a continual basis:

All you'll ever need to read about the catastrophe that has devestated South Asia (as it pertains to the moral and spiritual condition of the West) is found in two posts.Via The Anchoress, Varifrank recounts what deserves to be a historic moment in European-American diplomacy:

Today, during an afternoon conference that wrapped up my project of the last 18 months, one of my Euro collegues tossed this little turd out to no one in particular:"

See, this is why George Bush is so dumb, theres a disaster in the world and he sends an Aircraft Carrier..."

After which he and many of my Euro collegues laughed out loud.

And then they looked at me. I wasn't laughing, and neither was my Hindi friend sitting next to me, who has lost family in the disaster.

I'm afraid I was "unprofessional", I let it loose -"Hmmm, let's see, what would be the ideal ship to send to a disaster, now what kind of ship would we want?

Something with its own inexhuastible power supply?

Something that can produce 900,000 gallons of fresh water a day from sea water?

Something with its own airfield? So that after producing the fresh water, it could help distribute it?

Something with 4 hospitals and lots of open space for emergency supplies?

Something with a global communications facility to make the coordination of disaster relief in the region easier?

Well "Franz", us peasants in America call that kind of ship an "Aircraft Carrier". We have 12 of them. How many do you have? Oh that's right, NONE. Lucky for you and the rest of the world, we are the kind of people who share. Even with people we dont like. In fact, if memory serves,once upon a time we peasants spent a ton of money and lives rescuing people who we had once tried to kill and who tried to kill us.

Do you know who those people were? that's right Franz, Europeans.

The second is from The Diplomad (Hat tip: TechCentralStation), who reproduces a SITREP written by a Dutch official at an EU team meeting at one of the disaster sites:

The US military has arrived and is clearly establishing its presence everywhere in Banda Aceh. They completely have taken over the military hospital, which was a mess until yesterday but is now completely up and running. They brought big stocks of medicines, materials for the operation room, teams of doctors, water and food. Most of the patients who were lying in the hospital untreated for a week have undergone medical treatment by the US teams by this afternoon. US military have unloaded lots of heavy vehicles and organize the logistics with Indonesian military near the airport.

A big camp is being set up at a major square in the town. Huge generators are ready to provide electricity. US helicopters fly to places which haven't been reached for the whole week and drop food. The impression it makes on the people is also highly positive; finally something happens in the city of Banda Aceh and finally it seems some people are in control and are doing something. No talking but action. European countries are until now invisible on the ground. IOM staff (note: this is a USAID-funded organization) is very busy briefing the incoming Americans and Australians about the situation.

In the TCS article its author, Jay Currie, uses a parable of a broken-down car to make a startling point:

Donald Rumsfeld famously talked about "the Old Europe". At the time he was taken to mean the ponderous unwillingness to commit to the Iraqi project exhibited by the French and the Germans in particular. However, in retrospect, he was making a cultural observation of much broader implication.[...]

Between the "can do", "let's try it" world and the carefully measured, sophisticated, "precautionary principle" world there is a canyon sized chasm. One world is brash, the other timid. One world learns from its mistakes knowing it will make more, the other vows never to make a mistake again.

To extend Jay's analogy: One world still has faith in a God of love and grace to whom one's response of gratitude for same is expressed (in part) by good works as an integral part of its self-understanding. The other has faith in a yet-to-be-born utopia founded on atheistic humanism where neither love, nor grace, nor the forgiveness of sins is possible. In the former, even the avowed non-believer is capable of uncommon valor. In the latter, even the believer himself is too afraid to do what he knows he should.

I don't know what disaster befell Catholic Europe that led to this present state of affairs. But I have a naseous feeling in the pit of my stomach that the damage it has wrecked will be much harder to repair than what happened in South Asia on St. Stephen's Day.

posted by Pastorius @ 8:10 AM Comments: 5

Palestinian Nazism


These are the kinds of photos all our friends on the left need to see. Explain that away my friends.

Also, get a load of Reuter's and their neutral-language caption. The boys in the "Fatah Youth Movement" were just "chanting slogans".

posted by Pastorius @ 8:22 PM Comments: 2

France Isn't Worth The Trouble


From an article by John Miller in the International Herald Tribune:

Shortly after Bush's re-election, the current French president, Jacques Chirac, called the post-Saddam Hussein world "more dangerous," announced that the United States doesn't "return favors" to Europe and even accused Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of "a lack of culture."

Chirac managed to stuff all these comments into a single interview, which happened to coincide with Bush's firm support for a French military crackdown in the Ivory Coast, where antigovernment insurgents have endangered French citizens.Yet it's a mistake to assume that Chirac's rhetoric was just a clumsy expression of pent-up frustration with American voters.

For decades France has viewed the United States as a unique threat.

The root of the problem is Gaullism itself. More than just a form of nationalism, Gaullism insists that France must exert an outsized influence on the course of human events. During the cold war, de Gaulle spoke of his country leading Europe as "one of three world powers and, if need be one day, the arbiter between the two camps, the Soviet and the Anglo-Saxon." Hence de Gaulle developed a nuclear arsenal, threatened to destabilize the dollar and criticized American military actions.

Chirac and his neo-Gaullists recognize that France can no longer serve as a fulcrum between East and West, but they believe their country still has a vital role to play in containing the world's "hyperpower," in their pejorative labeling of the United States.

Before the invasion of Iraq, Paris didn't just express reservations - it tried to sabotage American goals in every feasible venue, from the chambers of the Security Council to the committee rooms of NATO. Since then, it has issued a raft of demands, including the hasty transfer of sovereignty to an ad-hoc Iraqi government, as well as a date certain by which the United States will remove its troops, no matter the circumstances.

Chirac's diplomats even spent October lobbying unsuccessfully for Iraqi insurgent groups - the ones now killing American troops and Iraqi civilians - to be represented at the international meeting in Egypt in November. It is difficult to see how French interests are furthered in any way by this behavior, unless France is understood to believe that its own aims are advanced whenever American ones are thwarted.

Condoleezza Rice, now Bush's nominee for secretary of state, was quoted in 2003 as telling colleagues that the United States should "punish France." This is a tempting tactic, for it holds out the promise of vengeful satisfaction.

... (but) making an example of the French is precisely the wrong approach because it elevates France in the eyes of the world's anti-Americans, who will always be with us. The one thing France and the neo-Gaullists can't possibly abide is being ignored. Perhaps that's punishment enough.

... (but) why should its views matter any more than, say, Italy, whose population and economy are nearly the same size?

I agree with Miller's points, but not wholly. For one thing, France does not really have the guts to set itself up as a wedge against the U.S. at the expense of it's own national interests. However, it does serve France's national interest to be against us most of the time. Being anti-American is there niche, kind of like how a parasite's niche is to suck the blood of it's host.

I also don't wholly agree with his assertion that France's machinations are not damaging to the United States. It is true that France's long term effect on the United States is small but, in the short term they slow us down by hypnotizing our left wing with their siren song.

posted by Pastorius @ 7:30 PM Comments: 1

The Whore Of Babylon?
U.S. Government Gives Over
$1 Billion To "Faith-Based" Charities


From Associated Press:

WASHINGTON - The government gave more than $1 billion in 2003 to organizations it considers "faith-based," with some going to programs where prayer and spiritual guidance are central and some to organizations that do not consider themselves religious at all.


Many of these groups have entirely secular missions and some organizations were surprised to find their names on a list of faith-based groups provided to The Associated Press by the White House.
"Someone has obviously designated us a faith-based organization, but we don't recognize ourselves as that," said Stacey Denaux, executive director of Crisis Ministries, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Charleston, S.C.

Other grant recipients are religious, offering social service programs that the government may have deemed too religious to receive money before President Bush (news - web sites) took office.

Visitors to TMM Family Services in Tucson, Ariz., which received $25,000 for housing counseling, are greeted by a picture of Jesus and quotes from the Bible.

"We believe that people being connected to the faith of their choice is important to them having a productive life," said Don Strauch, an ordained minister and executive director of the group, which offers a variety of social services. "Just because we take government money doesn't mean we back down on that philosophy."

You just keep telling yourself that Mr. Strauch. What about when that 25 grand becomes 50, and then a hundred, and then a million? And what will happen when another administration, with different ideas comes in and suggests that you can keep the cross, and hand out "small pamphlets", but you can't "preach the word"?

In my opinion, the mixture of church and state is the "merchants in the temple".