CUANAS: 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Bush
Will Not
Back Down

The State of the Union Address tonight offered some clues for those who are wondering whether Bush will back down in response to Hamas, or Iran:

... the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace.

The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon and that must come to an end. The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats. And tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our Nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.

The Thin
White
Cat

Blue
Scarf
Revolution

TruePeers, of YARGB, and Dag, of No Dhimmitude, are promoting the Blue Scarf Revolution:

This Thursday at 7 pm local time, I will be meeting Dag of the No Dhimmitude blog, for a discussion of free speech, multiculturalism, and Islam, at a McDonald's restaurant at Main and Terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia (the McDonald's on the southwest corner, not the one across the street in the train station). Any Flares readers in the area are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Thanks to Dag's blogging and to the Revolution Bleue movement in France that has emerged in response to elite media and government crack downs on Republican free speech, in the wake of the recent riots and the more general desire in many western countries to ban anti-Islamic and other forms of politically-incorrect speech (on this see, for example, Wretchard's recent post), there will be people meeting around the world in McDonald's restaurants and wearing blue scarves to identify each other and to show sympathy with those in France who are wearing blue scarves in public opposition to their present regime.

While we Canadians are yet unsure if we share fully in the goals of the French blue scarves - a recent anti-Masonic comment at their blog raised eyebrows because of the proximity of anti-Masonic and antisemitic rhetoric historically... but Freemasonry in France is a frankly political and anti-clerical movement, perhaps deserving some criticism, we don't know - it strikes us as nonetheless important for westerners to get out in public and find their voices in face of the various postmodern ideologies that would limit speech in the name of the supposed victims of free speech. And it is important for people to discuss this issue in terms of the ongoing conflict between the west and Islam - or Islamic radicalism, if you prefer.

What, for example, is the duty of western men and women to the Islamic women who are forced (in our opinion) to wear extreme forms of head covering, like the Burka, in our westetern cities, a symbol of their more general oppression under Islam and related forms of family life?

How do we contest the multicultural ideolgies that would defend "the choice" to wear the burka, as a "right"?This question of defending women enslaved by religion, family, and multicultural ideology is the specific topic for our meeting this Thursday.

If you cannot join us, have a look at Dag's blog - especially his archives for last week - to gain some sense of the larger blue scarf movement and consider organizing a meeting at your local McDonald's. Just get the word out in the blogosphere when you will be at McDonald's, and see if any blue scarves show up. It worked for Dag.

Dag chose McDonald's as our meeting place, not simply because they are ubiquitous and you can sit for hours with a cup of coffee. In their ubiquity McDonald's also symbolize a western secular alternative to the sacred meeting places of the Islamic world. And because the target of our discussions is not simply Islamic radicalism, but its present tactical marriage with imperialistic western multiculturalism, McDonald's is the perfect symbol since it is so often a scandal for the elitist anti-American leftists who know what is best for all of us and who would restrict our free speech and stomachs accordingly.

Of course, it is when the mouths are closed that violence is most certain, and the present moves to restrict free speech are sure to reduce the security of Muslims in the west, not strengthen it. Because we are not against Muslims as people (we are out to love and defend the better side of humanity in all of us) but simply want a venue to meet and criticize aspects of both Islamic religion and postmodern western ideologies, we expect and will welcome into our meetings people of all faiths and backgrounds.

UPDATE, Feb. 1, 3:30 GMT: Dag's blog is currently undergoing some trouble. It's not loading properly and he thinks he may be under some kind of attack. Please try the link later.

Google
On Its
Knees

From Debra Saunders in Town Hall:

Google gives life to the Eric Hoffer observation, "People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them."

Google painted itself as heroic in refusing to help the U.S. Department of Justice's efforts to reinstate a 1998 federal Child Online Protection Act, then revealed that it was going to help the Chinese government suppress free speech. That sort of goes against the company's informal corporate motto, "Don't be evil."

Read the rest.

Apparently, Google is not doing so well on the stock market either:

A sudden chill fell on Google's red-hot share price on Tuesday as the stock market's latest internet darling unveiled earnings that for the first time failed to far exceed Wall Street expectations.

The search engine company's shares slumped by more than 16 per cent in after-hours trading, wiping more than $20bn from its stock market value.

IAEA Says
Iran
In Possession
Of
Nuclear Weapons
Blueprints

Well, maybe El-Baradei isn't working for the other side after all. It seems the IAEA is getting ready to report to the UN that Iran obtained nuclear weapons blueprints on the black market:

VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said in a report Tuesday that Iran obtained documents and drawings on the black market that serve no other purpose than to make an atomic warhead. Tehran warned of an "end of diplomacy" if plans to refer it to the U.N. Security Council are carried out.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said a move to the council would "be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy."

"We will have to start all nuclear work that has been voluntarily suspended," Larijani said, though he stopped short of saying explicitly that Iran will restart its uranium enrichment program.

The findings about the design obtained by Iran on the black market were contained in a confidential report for presentation to the 35-nation IAEA board and provided in full to The Associated Press.

The four-page report also criticized Iran for refusing to provide interviews with at least one nuclear scientist linked to the military and dismissing requests for information on "tests related to high explosives and the design of a missile re-entry vehicle, all of which could have a military nuclear dimension."

In the brief report obtained Tuesday, however, the agency said bluntly that the 15 pages of text and drawings showing how to cast fissile uranium into metal were "related to the fabrication of nuclear weapon components."

Asked about the finding, a senior diplomat close to the IAEA declined to elaborate but emphasized that the documents had no other use. He demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing confidential information.

Citgo
Owned By
Venezuela

Discuss among yourselves:

The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Clinton
Administration
Knew Iran
Had Nuclear
Weapons
Program
In 2000

I think Bill Clinton was just a little too busy
to have done anything about the problem.

James Risen's book State of War is getting a lot of attention because of its criticism of the Bush Administration. But, according to this Michael Ledeen article, the book also contains the bombshell that the CIA and the Clinton Administration knew Iran had a nuclear weapons program way back in year 2000.

Note that this article is in the form of an imagined conversation with a security expert friend:

JJA: ... the really amazing part is that Risen doesn’t even notice the truly horrible aspects of his own story. He doesn’t have the wit or the energy to think half a step beyond the tale he’s been told.

ML: Okay, let’s take them in order. The first one dates back to Clinton. It’s about an operation called "Merlin," and consisted of feeding doctored information about the design of nuclear weapons to the mullahs via a Soviet scientist who had defected "years earlier" to the United States. The concept was to get the Iranians to use the snafued version in their bombs so that they would fizzle instead of explode.

JJA: Right. We’ve been doing such things for years, and for good reason. If you know that your enemies are trying to steal your blueprints, or buy good weapons on the clandestine market, you’re well-advised to try to get them to steal or buy things that won’t work, instead of running around trying to plug all the cracks in the dyke. Nothing wrong with the concept.\ML: Except that we never did it with nuclear stuff before, did we? And Risen’s got expert testimony that the Iranians could easily have sorted out the good parts of the blueprints from the disinformation, so that in the end we would have actually helped them.

JJA: Yes, I saw that. You can always get somebody to say that any given idea is idiotic. But you’d need to know a lot more than Risen knows to be able to judge it, in this specific case. And that points us to the really interesting question, the one that Risen doesn’t bother to ask, let alone answer.

ML: I’m following you. If we knew enough — in 2000, mind you — to be able to design an effective disinformation program, then...

JJA: Then (he started shouting in that gravelly voice of his) THEY KNEW THE IRANIANS HAD A NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM SIX YEARS AGO.

Sometimes
You Just
Gotta Love
Your Enemy

One good thing about Hamas is the clarity they provide to the supposedly confused Middle East Conflict. Here are the words of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, spoken on Al-Manar TV the other day:

"Palestine means Palestine in its Entirety - From the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River... We Cannot Give Up a Single Inch of it... Why Should We Recognize Condoleezza Rice... or Israel's Right to Exist?"

Like I always say, you gotta love your enemies when they tell the truth. Thanks, Mahmoud.

Hamas' Goal:
The Global
Caliphate

It would seem that Hamas is only concerned with "the plight of the Palestinian people." But, this isn't true. The overarching goal of Hamas is the same as Al Qaeda; the establishment of a a global Caliphate, so that Islam can dominate and govern the entire world under Sharia:

... HAMAS, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), is reaping the fruits of its efforts over the last six decades. It was established in Palestine in 1936 - not in 1987, as most mistakenly think. Since then, the movement, according to Abu Marzuk, has carried out its political, social agenda, including Dawa (Prosetylization) and Jihad.

Both the MB and Hamas are exploiting the U.S. call for democratization in the Middle East, using free elections to gain legitimate political power. Indeed, in December 2005, the MB won 88 seats in the 454-member Egyptian Parliament. This is while neither organization has changed its charter, or is likely to do so.

Among the many permanent, deleterious features of Shari’a is a system that subjugates and oppresses non-Muslims. It requires non-Muslims to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax, a form of extortion, creating a “contract” (dhimma) that “guarantees” the infidels' lives and possessions. In a recent essay Dr. Andrew Bostom quotes the Arabic lexicographer, E.W. Lane, who bluntly calls the tax on “free non-Muslim subjects …compensation for not being slain.”

The system's “obligations” institutionalize discrimination (dhimmitude) that targets Jews and Christians only. Others, such Hindus, and Buddhists have a choice to convert or to be slaughtered. These regulations prohibit them from possessing arms, ringing church bells, testifying in courts, building and restoring houses of worship while restricting many other civil rights as well. Like Nazi regulations, the Shari’a also require non-Muslims to wear special, identifying clothes. These key features of the Shari’a and Islamic ideology as called for by the MB and HAMAS, are political, not merely religious.

The spiritual leader of Hamas, the late Ahmad Yassin said: "The 21st century is the century of Islam," and his successor Mahmoud Zahar says, "Israel will disappear and after it the US." With its recent victory, HAMAS seems to be closer to reaching this goal.

Compare Hamas statements and its charter to those of al-Qaeda, Hizbullah and other Islamist organizations. All strive to establish a caliphate encircling the globe. Al-Qaeda says: "We will turn the White House and the British parliament into mosques," as documented by Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, director of Orient Research Group in Toronto.

HAMAS’ victory, therefore, should be seen as an important realization of the MB agenda, not merely as a localized development. In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood “is demanding "true democracy" from the Jordanian king in order to win in elections there,“ while the efforts to impose the Islamist agenda are making strides in Europe.

Denmark, for example, has in the last few years become a host country for various Muslim radical groups, mostly offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood. The most prominent of these is Hizb ut-Tahrir. Like HAMAS, members of Hizb ut-Tahrir have been connected with the recruitment of fighters for the Taliban, as well as membership in the al-Qaeda terrorist networks. Like HAMAS, they too, under the banner of democracy, are allowed to pursue their Islamofacist agenda

According to Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, director of Orient research Group in Toronto, who follows Islamist organizations, they view Denmark as an easy target for the spreading of Islam, a springboard from which to renew the Muslim occupation of Europe. As Sheikh Issam Amayra warned in a recent sermon:

"Three percent of the Muslims in Denmark constitute a threat to the future of the kingdom of Denmark. …our Danish brothers will manage to bring Islam to all the homes of the Danish citizens. Allah will grant them the victory in their country in order to raise the Caliphate in Denmark. Afterwards the citizens of the Caliphate (which will be raised in Denmark) will wage war on Oslo, [and] they will fight their neighboring Scandinavian countries in order to join their lands to the territory of the Caliphate. Then they will wage a holy war and spread the teachings of Islam to the rest of Europe, until they reach the original city of Medina.”

Given the global aspirations of these MB splinter groups and the Islamist nature of their agenda, it seems that the West’s unwillingness to recognize their threat to our democracy will enable them to exploit it until those who survive, will have to do so under the MB’s inspired Caliphate.

If you don't believe that the goal of Islamists is world domination then check this out: Just this morning the Spain Herald brought the news that Hamas is demanding the return of Seville to the world of Islam.

Europe And
America
United In
Condemnation
Of Hamas

For now:

The US and the European Union, often at odds over Middle East policy, now appear united in their stance: If it wants the world's assistance, Hamas must change.

Germany's new chancellor, Angela Merkel, presented that message during a visit here Monday. She asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of ousted Fatah, to press Hamas to forswear violence and recognize Israel.

"As a president, he should urge Hamas to respect certain principles," Ms. Merkel said. If Hamas holds to its hallmarks - calling for Israel's destruction and using suicide bombers - the EU would be unable to continue funding the PA, she said.

But in a statement Monday, the EU backed away from saying it would completely cut funding to a government led by the militant group. EU foreign ministers said they expected the new Palestinian Legislative Council to back the creation of a government "committed to a peaceful and negotiated solution of the conflict with Israel.... On this basis the EU stands ready to continue to support Palestinian economic development and democratic state-building."

Since last week's election, in which Hamas took a remarkable 76 out of 132 seats, the militia-cum-political party has been sending mixed messages.

Analysts here have long delineated differences that are developing within the organization, between extremists and the more moderate forces in Hamas. What's more, the message from the top Hamas figures in the West Bank and Gaza differs from the tone being struck by the "outside," the Hamas spokesmen living abroad, primarily in Damascus, Syria.

Ismail Haniyeh, the No. 1 on Hamas's electoral list in Gaza, called on foreign donors Monday to continue to their aid.

"We confirm to you this income will be used to pay the salaries of [government] employees and fund daily running costs and infrastructure. You can confirm this through a mechanism that can be agreed upon," Mr. Haniyeh told reporters. "We call on you to understand the priorities of our Palestinian people at this stage and continue the spiritual and financial support in order to push the region toward stability rather than pressure and tension."

Haniyeh asked the EU to understand the "Palestinian reality" and not ask Hamas to disarm. Doing so would "increase the suffering of our people who are looking for freedom, right of [refugee] return, and independence," he said.

In Damascus, where the "outside" leadership is based, the Hamas message has struck a more belligerent tone. There, top Hamas spokesman Khaled Meshal said over the weekend that Hamas would look to form its own army now that it is in power.

In an interview aired on Al Arabiya television, another Hamas official, Mohammed Nazzal, said that cutting off funds would amount to punishment of the Palestinian people; another Hamas official called it blackmail.

"If the European Union countries and the American administration see this as a means that could lead to a change in Hamas's strategic position, then they are dreaming and are mistaken. Hamas will never accept that," Mr. Nazzal said.

One proposal being floated is the possibility of Hamas appointing a moderate prime minister who is sympathetic to Hamas, but not a member of Hamas itself.

Amid the controversy, many Palestinians have grown critical of US and European demands that Hamas change its position vis-à-vis Israel. They point out that the region has been under pressure to democratize, in particular by the Bush administration.

"Aid to the Palestinian Authority is aid to the Palestinian people: either they are still in need of this aid or not, they should not be subject to hardship because of whom they elect," says Mustafa Abu-Sway, a professor of Islamic Studies at Al Quds University in East Jerusalem.

"When we look at the region, we see that if there are open and free elections in all these countries, I'm sure that Islamists will rise to power in most if not all of them," he adds. "This is where people are casting their votes, and so you can't ignore the will of those people and not agree to deal with their leaders."

I'm weary of this whole Democracy meme.

Let's be clear, when we say Democracy, we do not mean the people can vote in Hitler. The problem is we haven't been clear on what we mean by Democracy. To Westerners a Democracy means the people govern themselves through the vote, yes. But, more specifically, a Democracy is a Democratic Republic, which is a form of government which has a charter establishing human rights for its people.

Sharia, Jihad, and Burqas are all violations of human rights.

The fact that we have not been clear about this has led to all sorts of confusion, and may lead to the loss of what little Democracy has been established in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What the people have created in Gaza is not a Democracy, but is, instead, a sort of BDSM dungeon posing as a government.

The sooner our leaders make clear the distinction between a Democratic Republic, and the Muslim mob rule of Palestine, the better.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Bin Laden's
Truce Offer
Was A Warning

When Bin Laden offered a truce a week or so back, my thoughts on his offer were that it was a kind of warning. Well, it seems I was likely correct. Zawahiri seems to confirm so in his latest video:

"The war will be transferred to Bush's soil," al-Zawahiri warns.

"The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and – God willing – on your own land."

Meanwhile, Always On Watch says that ever since the day Chirac issued his warning that France would use nukes in response to any terrorist attack, the Washington D.C. area has been undergoing air-raid drills for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In addition, AOW says jets flying overhead have been keeping her up at night.

Is something big in the works?

NORAD is preparing, just in case, for an attack at the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Iran To Face
Security Council

It looks like Iran will be sanctioned:

The United States and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Tuesday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.

China and Russia, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran, signed on to a statement that calls on the U.N. nuclear watchdog to transfer the Iran dossier to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions or take other harsh action.

Foreign ministers from those nations, plus the United States, Britain and France, also said the Security Council should wait until March to take up the Iran case, after a formal report on Tehran's activities from the watchdog agency.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other foreign ministers discussed Iran at a private dinner at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. After the four-hour meeting, which spilled over into the early hours Tuesday, a joint statement called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to report the Iran case when it meets in Vienna on Thursday.

Foreign ministers from Germany and the European Union also attended the dinner and agreed to what amounted to a compromise _ take the case to the Security Council but allow a short breather before the council must undertake what could be a divisive debate.

The group agreed that the IAEA "should report to the Security Council its decision on the steps required of Iran, and should also report to the Security Council all IAEA reports as resolutions as adopted relating to this issue," a statement from the group said.

The IAEA has already found Iran in violation of nuclear obligations and issued a stern warning to Tehran in September. Thursday's vote would be the next step, one long sought by the United States.

It is still not clear how Russia and China would vote if the questions of sanctions came before the Security Council. It is also not clear that the United States will win the broad international consensus it seeks when the IAEA votes.

In other news, the London Telegraph is reporting that Iran has spies infiltrating the IAEA:

Iran has formed a top secret team of nuclear specialists to infiltrate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the UN-sponsored body that monitors its nuclear programme, The Daily Telegraph has been told.

Its target is the IAEA’s safeguards division and its aim is to obtain information on the work of IAEA inspectors so that Iran can conceal the more sensitive areas of its nuclear research, according to information recently received by western intelligence. ...

The operation to target the IAEA is being run by Hosein Afarideh, the former head of the Iranian parliament’s energy committee. Mr Afarideh, reported to have close links with Iran’s ministry of intelligence, is in regular contact with a team of Iranian nuclear engineers seconded to work at the IAEA’s Vienna headquarters.

According to western intelligence reports, Mr Afarideh heads a three-man team at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran in Teheran, to prevent more embarrassing disclosures about its nuclear facilities. ...

As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is entitled to full access to the IAEA for help with the development of its nuclear programme, so long as it is purely for peaceful purposes.

But western intelligence officials believe that the Iranians are now taking advantage of their access to the IAEA to spy on its inspection procedures so that they can conceal sensitive areas of their nuclear operations from the outside world.

I wonder if one of the spies is named Mohammed El-Baradei?

European Union
Begs Hamas:
Please Let Us
Give You
Money

We saw German President stand strong yesterday, but the leaders of the EU are looking for any little loophole they can find to continue giving Hamas money to kill Jews:

The European Union gave Hamas more time to renounce terror and accept Israel's right to exist. A Dutch leader put it in a time frame. From Bloomberg:

"We still have three or four weeks to make up our minds,'' Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said. "Once people are in power, maybe they change their position.''

And, they also said this:

"Europe always has said that it will not do business with a regime that intends to eliminate another country and that favors terrorist attacks.''

As Roger Simon points out, such concerns have not put a stop to Europe's dealings with Ahmadinejad.

Calling All Infidels

Draw cartoons, or artistic drawing of Mohammed. You don't need to be mean, or pornographic. Just draw him in everyday situations, like standing in line at Wal-Mart, or whatever comes to your mind.

Leave me a link here, or at Infidel Bloggers Alliance, so we can post them, or just post them on your own, if you have a blog.

This should be the new and omnipresent meme of the blogosphere.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

When The Stars Go Blue

Song by Ryan Adams

Dancin' out on 7th Street
Dancin' where the evening fell
Dancin' in your wooden shoes
In a wedding gown
Are you happy now?

Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue

Laughing with your pretty mouth
Laughing with your broken eyes
Laughing with your lover's tongue
In a lullaby

Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue
The stars go blue, stars go blue

Mohammed Cartoon

Go see the pretty picture Thomas the Wraith drew of Mohammed.

In light of the worldwide Muslim freakout because over some stupid cartoons of Mohammed, published in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, Thomas the Wraith is calling on all bloggers, with any artistic skill whatsoever, to also draw some nice little pictures of Mohammed.

Call it an Infidel rebellion if you will.

You don't have to do anything obscene, or even meanspirited. Just draw a simple picture, and watch them dance.

I'll have one ready in the next couple of days. I'm working on an idea. You will likey.

German
Leader
Says EU
Can Not
Fund Hamas

German Chancellor Merkel is a tough leader:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The European Union could not fund a Hamas-run Palestinian Authority if it did not renounce violence and recognize Israel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Israel on Sunday.

It was the most explicit threat to cut aid from Europe, the biggest donor to the Palestinians, since Islamic militant group Hamas won a shock victory in parliamentary elections last week. The United States has also threatened to block funding.

Hamas, expected to form the new government, has denounced Western threats to cut aid as blackmail and rejected calls to disarm and end its formal commitment to destroy Israel.

"Such a Palestinian Authority cannot be directly supported by money from the EU," said Merkel, standing beside Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem at the start of her first visit to the region.

Diplomatic sources said Merkel consulted other European leaders before the two-day trip. Last year the European Union gave the Palestinian Authority 500 million euros ($615 million), money vital for its survival.
U.S. Secretary of State Rice said she believed the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and other powers involved in the Middle East were "on the same page" -- that funding must not go to Hamas and other groups that advocated destroying Israel.

In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Congress would cut funding unless Hamas changed, echoing President George W. Bush's pledge to withhold funds.

"Stopping international donations will not undermine the work of the government," said Hamas spokesman and elected legislator Mushir al-Masri, adding that the militant group could opt to seek government funding from Arab nations.

It could be that I am wrong, and Europe really will stand tough against terrorism. I hope so.

Muslim World
Wants To Ban
Free Speech

The two main political bodies of the Muslim world want to ban all criticism of religion:

The Muslim world’s two main political bodies say they are seeking a UN resolution, backed by possible sanctions, to protect religions after the publication in Scandinavia of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of Organisation of the Islamic Conference, said in Cairo on Sunday that the international body would “ask the UN general assembly to pass a resolution banning attacks on religious beliefs”.

The deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Ben Helli, confirmed that contacts were under way for such a proposal to be made to the UN.

“Consultations are currently taking place at the highest level between Arab countries and the OIC to ask the UN to adopt a binding resolution banning contempt of religious beliefs and providing for sanctions to be imposed on contravening countries or institutions,” he said.

The world is splitting into two.

Hamas
To Impose
Sharia Law

This is going to be the first thing on their to-do list:

JERUSALEM — The incoming Hamas government will move quickly to make Islamic sharia “a source” of law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and will overhaul the Palestinian education system to separate boys and girls and introduce a more Islamic curriculum, a senior official in the movement said yesterday.

Spelling out the domestic agenda of Hamas for the first time since the group’s stunning victory in a legislative election this week, Sheik Mohammed Abu Teir also said Hamas would not go to foreign donors on bended knee if they withdrew aid to the Palestinian Authority. The armed struggle against Israel will continue as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian lands, he added.

Mr. Abu Teir, who was No. 2 on the Hamas list of candidates for Wednesday’s election, said introducing sharia — a controversial moral and legal code based on the Koran — would be the first act of the new Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council.

“The No. 1 thing we will do is take sharia as a source for legislation. Sharia has a soul in it and is good for all occasions,” Mr. Abu Teir said in an interview with The Globe and Mail over a lunch of traditional Palestinian dishes supplemented with Coca-Cola.

The table was set under photographs of Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, past Hamas leaders who were assassinated in Israeli air strikes.

He made it clear that one way Hamas planned to encourage the next generation to follow sharia was to revamp the Palestinian education system, separating girls’ and boys’ classes and introducing a more Islamic curriculum.

“We will take such measures because we look at examples in the West, like Sweden. They have the highest level of co-education and the highest level of suicides,” he said. “We would like our children to have a protected environment. We don’t want any distractions for our boys or our girls.”

Well, there you go, world. We've got the Taliban all over again. Now, what are we going to do, huh?

I'm hoping that Israel, the first time they are attacked by Hamas, will take it as a declaration of war, and go in and destroy the Palestinian regime. However, I think I am wishing for too much.

Rice:
No Mas
Por Hamas

Condoleeza Rice has made it clear that America will not be giving aid to a government run by Hamas:

LONDON - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ruled out any American financial aid to a Hamas government in the Palestinian territories and said Washington wants Arab nations and others to cut off money as well.

Humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, many of whom are poor and unemployed, is likely on a "case-by-case basis," Rice said. She indicated that the Bush administration would follow through on aid promised to the current, U.S.-backed Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The United States is not prepared to fund an organization that advocates the destruction of Israel, that advocates violence and that refuses its obligations," under an international framework for eventual Mideast peace, Rice said.

This sounds good to me. But, it seems, Rice is signalling they are willing to work with Hamas, if they change their charter:

"It is important that Hamas now will have to confront the implications of its covenant if it wishes to govern," Rice said. "That becomes a primary consideration in anything that we do."

It seems to me that a change in the Hamas charter would be merely semantic. I don't really know what it would matter. But, one good thing about Hamas is they are honest. I don't think they are going to back down on their "principles."

Extraordinary Times
Letter
To My
Pacifist
Friend

That's J standing next to me, by the way.

My best friend in the world is the guy who served as the best man at my wedding. As is so often true with good long-lasting friendships, he and I are, in many ways, opposites. We are both musicians, interested in jazz and experimental music. We are both lovers of the arts, both Christians, both interested in Buddhism, and mythology and literature, but we are also opposites.

One of the biggest differences between he and I is that he is a Pacifist and I am not.

When I was younger, I hung with a lot of College Professors, and people with advanced degrees. One of them, a guy I would call my early mentor in life, tried to convince me to join the Quakers and declare myself a conscientious objector. Even though I was only fifteen at the time, I told him no, and said I couldn't do that, because I was not a Pacifist.

Anyway, yesterday, I was talking to my friend on the phone and surprisingly, he was aware of the Hamas situation, but, he wasn't at all aware that Ahmadinejad had declared that Israel must be wiped off the map. He said that NPR has done broadcasts where they have made it known that the Hamas charter calls for death to the Jews, but, apparently, NPR isn't doing the Ahmadinejad story home with the same vigor.

Well, as you can imagine, a long conversation ensued, in which I informed my friend of some things that must have sounded suspect, considering they aren't on the news all the time. I mean, how can our world be on the brink of nuclear war, and NPR isn't doing the story 24 hours a day?

Color me perplexed.

Anyway, since I was feeding my friend info he hadn't heard before, I told him I would send him links, so that he could make sure I wasn't slanting the story. (I try not to.) So, I spent all morning gathering links and composing an email to him.

Now, that I have sent it off to him, I think it serves as a good summary of the events of the last few months, so I'm going to post it here. I'm also going to call my friend later today and ask him if he will compose a response to it to post here at CUANAS.

The reason I want to do that is because I am fascinated by his Pacifism, in the way that one is fascinated by something one knows they could never attain to. My friend is a truly peaceful person. He has worked in a caring profession pretty much all his adult life. He is a brave person as well. His job takes him into the homes of very troubled people. And, sometimes, they get between him and the door.

He does work that I not only would not do, but could not do.

However, all that being said, while I admire his Pacifism, I also think that he should not apply it to politics, and I have told him so. I have called him out on the question of whether his Pacifism is responsible in the face of evil. To his credit, he has talked with me, and expressed his doubts about his own beliefs, but he has not changed his mind. And, for that, I even have some admiration. Because, I understand that his Pacifism is central to his faith.

Also, to his credit, he is one of the few people of his nature, who I have met, who is willing to change his mind, when confronted with truth. I have found most Pacifists to be among the most dogmatic, and narrow-minded people I have ever met.

So, without further adieu (pardon my French), here's the letter I sent to my friend:

Unfortunately, we are living in very extraordinary times.

Here is an Al Jazeera article about Iran's President calling for Israel to be wiped off the map:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/15E6BF77-6F91-46EE-A4B5-A3CE0E9957EA.htm

My opinion is the Iranian leader wants to desroy Israel, killing all the Jews. If he succeeds in doing so, that will be six million Jews dead. Interesting, huh?

We are seeing a lot of the events of the thirties repeat themselves in the news today.

Watch in coming weeks, as the leaders of Europe decide that they can deal with Hamas, just as the leaders of Europe decided during the 1930's, that they could deal with Hitler.

Let's see if I am correct.

By the way, the Iranian President is probably delusional as well. Check this out:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/did-i-just-see-green-rays-coming-out.html

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/iranian-president-is-so-crazy-even.html

Iran's President is also a Holocaust denier:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/world-is-on-verge-of-change-says-irans.html

Iran's President seems to believe he may be the Islamic Messiah:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/is-beast-rising-from-sea-from-bbc-via.html

Iranian Government officials think through the practical implications of nuclear war against Israel:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/supreme-ayatollah-says-iran-will-win.html

As was the case in the 1930 and 40's, the Christian church is on the wrong side of history, in not standing against the Nazis of our time:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/11/presbyterian-church-salutes-hizbollah.html

There was a Nuremberg-like rally in London recently:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/new-nuremberg-rally-in-london-writer.html

Saudi Arabia does not allow Jews in their country:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/11/saudi-arabia-judenrein-j-at-justify.html

Here's an article about how the Middle-East is almost Judenrein (jew-free):

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/middle-east-judenrein-like-nazi.html

Read that carefully, Bob. One thing you ought to know is that when the Jews left Gaza recently, they had to dig up their dead, because the Palestinians don't even want dead Jews in their land.

The Middle East is almost monolithically anti-Semitic:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/07/100-of-lebanese-say-they-have-very.html

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/09/poll-says-100-of-jordanians-hate-jews.html

Here's a link to my friend J's blog. He is a guy who lives in England, with whom I started something called the Infidel Bloggers Alliance. We have bloggers all over the world who are working together to educate people about what's happening with anti-Semitism and Jihadism. But, anyway, when you go to J's site, scroll down and look on the left side of the page for "Pictures Islamonazism". Click on the links and you will see photos of Muslims doing the heil hitler salute.

We call this Islamofascism, or Islamic Jihadism. The world needs to know that the Muslim world is going crazy in a way which is very similar to what happened in Germany in the 1930's. We don't need to hate Muslims, but we need to acknowledge the truth and do something about it.

And, by the way, why do we look the other way, while women are treated as slaves in the Islamic world:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/12/there-yet-not-there-burqa-dehumanizes_09.html

Here's an article on anti-Semitism and Pacifism:

http://cuanas.blogspot.com/2005/11/anti-semitism-is-inevitable-in.html

You know that I believe Pacifism is for peoples spiritual life, not for political life. I respect your right to have a different viewpoint. But, I believe the Iranians are preparing a new Holocaust for the Jews. And, I believe we need to do something about it.

Eurabia
Begins
To Fall
In Line
Behind
Their
Master

Norway is the first Eurabian country to announce their intent to continue to deal with the PA, even though a major terrorist organization is now the government.

How many other Eurabian countries do you think will follow suit?

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Iceglow

Joe Citizen is a great photographer. He works tirelessly to capture the ineffable in light, color, and shape.

You owe it to yourself to check out his beautiful work every few days.

Yeshua Meshiach
King Of The Jews
UPDATED

From Eyes All Around:

Hebrew letters are more than an alphabet to Jewish people. Each letter carries significant numeric value and also interpretive meaning. The first letter of each of the major words in a phrase was dropped down one space and capitalized, which means those four major letters in the phrase “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” would be dropped down one space and capitalized.

The Hebrew letters that were used in this fashion were YHWH.

This was the reason for the anger of the Jews as they gazed at the superscription above the head of Christ.

"Unlocking the Prophecy Code" by Bryan Cutshall, p118

UPDATED: Reliapundit says this whole thing is bogus. It seems like he's correct:

the yhvh/inri connection in the post is bogus: based on a bad undestaning of hebrew.in hebrew, it would have readYeshua Ha-notzri Moshiach Yisrael.

y-h-m-y. not yhvy.

this theory from the original post is as tru as the davinci code.

IOW: bogus.

The Verdict:
Headless
In
Gaza

Hamas says they will implement Sharia in Gaza (from the Astute Blogger, with thanks to Islamophobic):

A senior Hamas official told Canada's Globe and Mail on Friday that the new government the group will form will make sharia, or Islamic law, a source of law in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

He said the government will modify the existing Palestinian education system to institute a more Islamic curriculum, and will separate boys and girls.

The Astute Blogger asks what the world will do when Hamas bans Christians from entering Gaza, making pilgrimages to Bethlehem impossible.

Good question, huh? What if they blow up the Church of the Nativity, the way the Taliban blew up the Buddhist temples?

Shaking
In Our
Boots

Yesiree, my knees are a-knockin' and my spurs are a-jinglin'. Iran says they will retaliate with missiles, if we attack them:

TEHERAN - Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief warned the United States and Britain on Saturday that Iran would retaliate with missiles if attacked, state-run television reported....

“The world knows Iran has a ballistic missile power with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,300 miles),” Safavi said on state-run television. Israel is within that range.

“We have no intention to invade any country. We will take effective defence measures if attacked,” he said.

What will we do?

"If It Became
Necessary,
I Would
Die For
The USA,
And Israel"

The above quote is from Steven Spielberg, spoken in an interview with the German paper, Der Spiegel.

What Spielberg, and many on the Left, don't seem to get is that it has already become necessary for many people to have died for America and Israel, because terrorist organizations, supported by state-sponsors, have declared war on us.

Read the labyrinthine nuance, if you dare.

Good God.

Depression
And
The Beast

Thomas The Wraith, one of the finest writers in the blogosphere, writes of his deep concern that we are losing this war:

Things are bad. Very bad. Hamas. Iran. Suicide threats against Denmark. Riots and assaults in Australia. The inevitability of an attack in Italy. A Syrian puppet of a near-nuclear Persia.

And Europe ... poor sad Europe. If America is the progeny of European culture, then we have reached a point where Europe is our invalid grandparent, bedridden and incapacitated.

I don't know any more than you do. This is a purely emotional post, not based on evidence or logic or anything tangible I can point to or use as a basis for an argument. But I feel that we are due for bad things. We here in the US have had four and a half years without a domestic attack. I'm sure that some of that is due to our security services but let's be honest, we've gotten lucky. The Enemy is patient and thorough. They are working, planning, preparing. We are overdue and unready.

But it isn't the domestic threat that disturbs me. I'm not worried by the situation here or there or in any one particular place. What haunts me is the big picture; the global impression that the Enemy is on the move while we stick our fingers in our ears and lie to ourselves that islam means peace and that it's been hijacked by an extremist fringe; the general sense that Western civilization is brittle; that we will earn our redemption only through unimagined suffering; that we will defeat the Enemy only by losing a part of what we cherish.

I think many of us are probably feeling this way these days. I know that I am.

We are surrounded on all sides; militarily, economically, and ideologically. And yes, we are sticking our fingers in our ears and closing our eyes. But, here's the thing, there are only two ways we can lose this war;

1) through a slow process of gradual dhimmification

or

2) if the terrorists are able to aquire many, many small nukes AND manage to smuggle them into the America.

I honestly don't think the enemy is wise enough to sit back and slowly dhimmify us. I think that as always happens with evil people, they will get greedy, and they will jump the gun.

So, the question is, can our enemies aquire enough small nukes to completely annihilate America, and cause us to not retaliate with nukes on the entire Middle East?

Because, you can be assured that there is a military plan in place on our part that, if we are attacked in such a way that the result will be the proverbial "Middle-East turned to glass." And, you can be assured that there are many American generals who are willing to do it.

Human nature does not change. Ethnic and cultural nature, being expressions of human nature, do not change very quickly. The appearence of change is due to ideological fads. Underneath our exterior of human rights and Democracy, the West is just as animalistic as it always has been. We are barbaric people. We will tear these peoples skulls from their bodies with our bare hands, if we have to.

So, the question becomes, are we going to allow the beast of depression to eat us from the inside, or, are we going to manifest the beast within us, and eat the hearts out of the chests of our enemies. We certainly have enough to fight for.

Keep up the fight, and don't let the bastards get you down. Because, it is your choice.

Hamas Gets It

Sharon's policy of disengagement is brilliant, in my opinion, because it forces the Palestinians to become a state and take care of themselves. Truth is, up to now, they have not accepted that responsibility. However, it seems that Hamas gets it:

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The Islamic militant group Hamas was ready to merge armed factions including its military wing to form an army to defend the Palestinian people, a senior Hamas leader said on Saturday.

"We are willing to form an army like every country ... an army to defend our people against aggression," Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference in Damascus after the group swept Palestinian parliamentary elections.

I'm sure you thought the title to this post was ironic. Well, in a way, it is. However, I really do mean it at the same time. (How's that for irony?)

Hamas has declared Gaza a Palestinian state.

After all, that's what it is.

Fatah never got that. Fatah kept saying we need this. We need that. And, yes, I am sure the Palestinians need many things, but they need to learn to provide those things for themselves. Just like they will provide themsevles, apparently, with their own army.

Good, build an army. Build some roads. Build some hospitals and schools. Build a friggin' country, damn it.

Hamas is the government of the Palestinian state. It's their responsibility.

Now, what happens when one state declares war on another state, and attacks them with their military? What happens when the military of the state declaring war is hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned by the state it is declaring war against?

The answer is, they lose.

One of the things Hamas will have to learn, either through acceptance of reality, or the hard way, is they can not beat the Israeli army.

And, as Olmert plans to give them more land, it seems to me, Hamas ought to, for now, simply concentrate on building their country.

Let's hope they see it that way.

(Thanks to J, from Justify This, for sending this over to me.)

Friday, January 27, 2006

Take It Back Y'all
Take It Back
Take It Back
Take It Back Y'all
Come on

Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry
Now check this out...uggh!
In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and right
So called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
Yo, we gotta take the power back!

Europeans are beginning to fight against the radicalized Muslims who are attempting to ruin their culture. Dag has the goods:

Take Back the Culture. That is roughly what we're beginning to see in some parts of Europe recently. From France to Norway, citizens and residents are this winter expressing their discontent with the governments, media, and public intellectuals who pander to and appoligise for Muslim madness in the nations of Europe, pretending that Islam is important, demanding, even threatening that the locals must bend and bow and scrape in order to prove their moral and social enlightenment by appeasing every whim of the Muslim minorities, violence and mayhemn not withstanding. Now there is a line drawn by artists in the proverbial sand, cartoons published in a Danish newspaper, cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims world-wide, cartoons resulting in Mulsim boycotts of Danish goods. Death threats. Riots. The wide-spread reaction one has come to expect from the religion of peace on any and all ocassions. Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, French, Belgian, they've had enough in some cases, and the cases are growing. Include the Austrians. Perhaps even the Australian. Include me, include yourself. Enough is enough. Below we see what the Danes and their fellows in the frozen far north are thinking ...

Last week a couple of Norwegian papers decided to publish the cartoons in support of the Danish paper while in Denmark moderate Muslims, encouraged by the government's refusal to be intimidated by the radicals, have distanced themselves from the imams. The latter announced on Friday that they no longer demand apologies from Jyllands-Posten for the publication. Instead they said they just want two things: a guarantee from the Danish authorities that Muslims can freely practice their religion without being "provoked and discriminated."

Honestly, it doesn't sound like those moderate Muslims get it. They need to get used to be provoked and intimidated. That's part of living in a democracy. Christians are provoked and discriminated against all the time. Here's just one example.

Here's the way it works in a Democracy. People who don't like an idea, will criticize it, because they believe they are helping to effect change. The people who ascribe to the idea criticized can choose to ignore the criticism, or address it with their own criticism, or, in some cases, agreement. We may try to shout each other down, but there is no legal recourse, unless the criticism involves slander.

Criticism is healthy. The Christian church got rid of the practice of paying for forgiveness of sins, because Martin Luther criticized the Church. Everytime any injustice has been righted, the process was begun by someone who dared to criticize the idea which supported the injustice.

So, the message to our moderate Muslim friends is, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to get used to it. This is the way it works.

America,
Fuck Yeah:
Poll Says
American
Want
Military
Action
Against
Iran

All the Dems horses and all the Dems men(?), just can't seem to bring George Bush toppling down. No matter what they do, the public still understands the war better than the very sophisticated Democrats. And, this is very good news:

WASHINGTON — Despite persistent disillusionment with the war in Iraq, a majority of Americans supports taking military action against Iran if that country continues to produce material that can be used to develop nuclear weapons, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

The poll, conducted Sunday through Wednesday, found that 57% of Americans favor military intervention if Iran’s Islamic government pursues a program that could enable it to build nuclear arms.
Support for military action against Tehran has increased over the last year, the poll found ...

I've been getting very depressed lately, thinking our country just didn't have the will needed to do what we need to do. I underestimated the American people, and I am sorry for that.

Before anyone gets angry at me for gratuitous profanity, the title is a reference to a song in the movie Team America. Here are the lyrics:

America
America
America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again, to save the mother fucking day yeah,
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way yeah,

Terrorist your game is through
cause now you have to answer too,

America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt, and suck on my balls,
America, FUCK YEAH!

See? Now that I've clarified that, I'm sure no one will be angry.

;-)

Hamas Charter

Hamas soldier does Nazi salute

I'm going to join Little Green Footballs in posting the Hamas Charter today. Please keep in mind that the last paragraph here is straight from the Koran; the Holy Book of the Religion of Peace:

"Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious...The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised...

The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times...

It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned...

The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders. It goes back to 1939, to the emergence of the martyr Izz al-Din al Kassam and his brethren the fighters, members of Muslim Brotherhood. It goes on to reach out and become one with another chain that includes the struggle of the Palestinians and Muslim Brotherhood in the 1948 war and the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1968 and after...

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...’

I would ask that everybody post this today. Please.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

President
Bush
On The
Hamas
Victory

President Bush: I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can't be a partner in peace if your party has an armed wing...I will continue to remind people about what I just said...I've talked to Condi twice this morning. She called President Abbas...

The United States does not support political parties that want to destroy our ally, Israel...

From here.

Let me be clear, my opinion is, we should never stand idly by when one people is calling for the destruction of another people. It is a blight on our souls that we are doing nothing about the situation in the Sudan.

But, at the same time, we need to make sure that none of these Jihadis is allowed to carry out their plans against Israel

Hamas Wins
Palestinian
Elections

Hamas soldier

The Palestinians have elected a terrorist organization, whose stated aim is to kill "Jews", to represent them as a government:

GAZA (Reuters) - The Islamic militant Hamas group swept to victory over the long-dominant Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, a political earthquake that could bury any hope for reviving peace talks with Israel soon.

The shock outcome, acknowledged by Fatah ahead of official results, does not automatically unseat President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate elected last year after Yasser Arafat's death. But he has said he might resign if unable to pursue a peace policy.

Of course, that's Reuters news service lying again. Abbas is not a moderate. He is a Jew-hater, who wrote his doctoral thesis on how the Jews conspired with Hitler to create the Holocaust so that they could engender sympathy for their people.

Does that sound like a "moderate" view?

But, that's beside the point today. The point is, Hamas say, quite openly, that they want to kill Jews, and the Palestinians elected them.

Gee, why would they do that?

And, why doesn't Reuters, or the world's other major media report it?

The photo is from here.

Does
Pope
Benedict
Believe
Islam Is
Incapable
Of Reform

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Father Fessio had said the Pope believed that Islam was, indeed, incapable of reforming itself, and joining the modern world.

In response, I did a post on this subject, where I questioned whether the Pope had said what Father Fessio had indicated he said. My point was that, having read much of the Pope's work, I believe he is a man who knows that all things are possible with God.

It looks like I was probably correct. Father Fessio is backtracking, er, clarifying his statement:

I think it is important for me to give context to and clarify the remarks I made recently in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, reported in Diana West's column in The Washington Times ("Silence that speaks volumes," Op-Ed, Friday). The most important clarification is that the Holy Father did not say, nor did I, that "Islam is incapable of reform."

Go read the whole thing. Father Fessio's clarification contains several important distinctions.

As does, the following from George Weigel, Pope Benedict official biographer:

“I think that Pope Benedict understands that one root of the problems that one form of Islam is presenting to the world today is theological, and you can’t get around that,” the official biographer of Pope John Paul II and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, George Weigel, said. “And that has to be faced. If you are going to have real inter-religious dialogue, it has to begin with those differences that make all the difference.”

Wow, what do you know? And, I'm not even Catholic.

Iraq's WMD
Were
Secreted
Away
To Syria

This information comes directly from the mouth of a Saddam-era General in the Iraqi military.

Atlas has all the info.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Iran Threatens
To Put
Israel
In A
"Terminal Coma"

A photograph which perfectly embodies the insanity of our times.

I hate reading shit like this, and I hate posting on it. I'm sick of everyday, turning on my computer and seeing another manifestion of malevolence emanating from Iran. The times we are living in are very dark, and the only thing that is going to save us is drastic and massive military action by the United States or Israel. Check out the latest:

Iran threatens again: Iran's Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Wednesday that the country and its allies could put Israel "in an eternal coma," like that of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, if Israel attempts to attack the Muslim republic.

"Israel does not have the courage to attack Iran, and if it commits such a big mistake, the defenders of Islamic Iran will put Israel in an eternal coma like Sharon," he said in a television appearance.

Najjar, who branded the United States and Israel as "the great and little Satan, who are using psychological war to intimidate Iran," was responding to recent statements by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who said Israel may attack Iran if diplomatic measures to neutralize its nuclear armaments efforts fail.

Sadly, the other day, I was talking to an a young woman from my church who converted to Christianity from Islam. I asked her what she thought of what was going on in her country, fully expecting to hear her condemn Ahmadinejad. Instead of an outright condemnation, she said he was being stupid for challenging America.

Instead, she saved her condemnation for George Bush who she implied was a fascist and a hypocritical Christian, and America, which she called a "terrorist state."

Am I the only person who is becoming increasingly depressed by all the lies, and the idiocy of the left, coupled with the very real danger out there in the real world?

Michael
Jackson
In
A
Burqa

The State of Bahrain likes having this guy around, so I guess that means they are in favor of cross-dressing:

MANAMA, Bahrain - Michael Jackson visited a mall in Bahrain’s capital Wednesday, covering himself in a black abaya robe traditionally worn by conservative Bahraini women and a veil hiding his face.

The 47-year-old pop star was accompanied by three children, apparently his, whose faces were covered with dark scarves. They wore yellow shirts and sweat pants or khakis, without robes.

Jackson, who seems to be settling in the Persian Gulf, was seen leaving Marina Mall holding a young child by the hand. On the way out through a back door, he shook hands with security guards.

What can one say?

UK Boosting
Troop
Levels In
Afghanistan

Thanks to Islamophobic for sending this over to me:

The UK is expected to send 3,500 extra troops to Afghanistan in April or May, bringing the total number there to more than 4,000, the BBC has learned.

Defence Secretary John Reid is to address MPs on the matter on Thursday.

The UK takes control of Nato forces in Afghanistan in May, with soldiers due to oversee reconstruction efforts.
There are currently about 850 British troops operating in Afghanistan.

Why would they be doing this? The stated reason is to put down the Taliban in a particularly dangerous reason. That might be, but, could it be that the Brits are, perhaps, planning for Iran?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Muslims
In Austria
Want All
Teachers
To Wear
Hijab

This is a pathetic translation from Google News, but everyone needs to know about this. We already know that some Muslims want to import their abuse of women into Europe, but now they want to subject European women to it, as well as their own. What a frickin' joke:

Three Muslim fathers demanded a head cloth obligation for teachers in an elementary school in Linz. The indignation about it is large: Upper-Austrian national school advice president Fritz Enzenhofer spoke of “insanity” and reported that one had directly acted. FPOe Secretary-General Herbert Kickl demanded in response a “head cloth prohibition” in schools. BZOe speaker Uwe Scheuch called the demands of the Muslims “inakzeptabel”.

The “VS 12” - designated after the social-democratic Schulreformer petrol Gloeckl - is considered as integration elementary school. Three quarters of the 178 children do not have German as native language. A teacher sent a letter to the personalvertretung, in which she weighted about three fanatische Muslim fathers - two Bosnier and a Tschetschene in the name of her colleagues. They would have required that the directress and all teachers wore head cloths.

The children might not be admonished further by their teachers publicly. They refused besides the teachers the “Sie” address, because they did not earn this as women.

In addition their pupils of children should not participate in singing appearances, that are “prostitution”. And no teacher has to ask, why the daughter does not go swimming, has a father required. The teachers should are glad to have so many Islamic children otherwise the school would have to zusperren.

Don't you wish you knew what “inakzeptabel” means. It sounds like some ancient for an evil spirit that lives in a rock, or something.

Are such ideas are consensus in the Muslim community? Think about this, they don't want teachers to publicly admonish their pupils, because it is an insult to them as Muslims. Female teachers don't deserve respectful language, because they are inferior women.

What ought to be done about these men?

The Sun Is
Getting
Darker

Since we've all been feeling a bit apocalyptic lately, because of the whole Iranian nuke situation, why not go all out. It seem that the sun is going out:

After dropping for about 15 years, the amount of sunlight Earth reflects back into space, called albedo, has increased since 2000, a new study concludes.

That means less energy is reaching the surface. Yet global temperatures have not cooled during the period.
Increasing cloud cover seems to be the reason, but there must also be some other change in the clouds that's not yet understood.

"The data also reveal that from 2000 to now the clouds have changed so that the Earth may continue warming, even with declining sunlight," said study leader Philip R. Goode of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. "These large and peculiar variabilities of the clouds, coupled with a resulting increasing albedo, presents a fundamental, unmet challenge for all scientists who wish to understand and predict the Earth's climate."

Earth's albedo is measured by noting how much reflected sunlight in turn bounces off the Moon, something scientists call earthshine. The observations were made at the Big Bear Solar Observatory in California.

The findings will be published Jan. 24 in Eos, a weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union.

On any given day, about half of Earth is covered by clouds, which reflect more sunlight than land and water. Clouds keep Earth cool by reflecting sunlight, but they can also serve as blankets to trap warmth.

High thin clouds are better blankets, while low thick clouds make better coolers.

Separately, satellite data recently showed that while the difference between high and low clouds had long been steady at 7-8 percent, in the past five years, for some unknown reason, the difference has jumped to 13 percent. High, warming clouds have increased while low clouds have decreased.

What about global warming?

Earth's albedo appears to have experienced a similar reversal during a period running from the 1960s to the mid-1980s.

Goode's team says there may be a large, unexplained variation in sunlight reaching the Earth that changes over the course of two decades or so, as well as a large effect of clouds re-arranging by altitude.

How do the findings play into arguments about global warming and the apparent contribution by industrial emissions? That's entirely unclear.

"No doubt greenhouse gases are increasing," Goode said in a telephone interview. "No doubt that will cause a warming. The question is, 'Are there other things going on?'"

What is clear is that scientists don't understand clouds very well, as a trio of studies last year also showed.
"Clouds are even more uncertain than we thought," Goode said.

I've seen clouds from both sides now
From up and down,
And still somehow,
It's clouds illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all.

Hope that makes my Canadian readers happy, even though I'm sure this is all America's fault in some way.

:)

Interim
Israeli
Prime
Minster:
Israel
Must
Give Up
More Land

Well, Ehud Olmert obviously has balls of steel to make this his first major policy statement as interim Prime Minister. I'm sure he feels he has to carry out Sharon's plans, which means keeping the momentum going towards forcing the Palestinians to accept responsibility for themselves. Check this out:

HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel had to give up parts of the occupied West Bank and quickly set a border with the Palestinians in his first policy speech since taking Ariel Sharon's powers.

"In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national home, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives," he said on Tuesday.

Olmert's comments were in line with what Sharon had said before he was incapacitated by a stroke on January 4 as he campaigned for re-election on the strength of last year's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Hinting that Israel would act alone to set a border if talks failed, Olmert said he hoped Wednesday's Palestinian election would deliver a government ready to follow a U.S.-backed peace road map.

"The most dramatic and important step we face is shaping the permanent borders of the state of Israel," Olmert said.

"We would prefer an agreement. If our expected partners in the negotiations in the framework of the road map do not uphold their commitments, we will preserve the Israeli interest at all costs," Olmert said.

Palestinians reacted warily to the suggestion of Israel acting alone while Jewish ultranationalists were furious at the prospect of giving up land they see as a biblical birthright.

As the acting leader of the centrist Kadima party that Sharon founded weeks before he collapsed, Olmert is expected to win a March 28 general election, defeating leftist Labor and Sharon's former party, the right-wing Likud.

He also urged the Palestinians to disarm militants under the plan, a process which they have not begun.

Hopes that Israel's Gaza withdrawal would spur progress on the road map have been knocked by violence. Both Israel and the Palestinians are also caught up in electioneering.

My opinion? Israel is doing the right thing. Actually, I see no need to go further than they already have, but, if, as Olmert says, they are doing it for security purposes, then they are right.

If they have to pull out of more territory, then they should. As it is, the Palestinians have their state. I think that Israel should consider any attack by Hamas or Al-Aqsa (which is part of Fatah) to be an attack by one state upon another. As such, they should retaliate with all they have, and destroy the Palestinian regime.

What other state in the world would not do the same, if they were attacked by another nations army?

German
Leaders
Put Decline
In
Birth Rate
At The Top Of
Agenda

Germany looks like it will be the first country in Europe to start facing this problem. However, as with Germany's problem with Muslim immigration, the hard part is getting over the ghosts of its past in order to find ways to deal with its current challenges :

BERLIN (Reuters) - Are Germans an endangered species?

Stunning as it may seem, a steep decline in the German population since 1972 and fears the trend will gain pace have led demographers to warn of unsettling consequences.

The number of Germans has declined by 3.2 million -- the population of Berlin -- over the last 30 years but demographers' concerns have mostly been ignored until now in a country scarred by the Nazis' nefarious procreation pressures.

German leaders have now lifted the birth rate to the top of the political agenda for the first time since the Nazi era, and the two ruling parties are trying to outdo each other with pro-family measures.

"Germans are at risk of dying out if the trend continues," said Harald Michel, managing director of the Institute for Applied Demography. He fears the German population could shrink from 75 million to 50 million by 2050 and further after that.

"The birth rates have been below the replacement rate for 35 years -- a lethal development," he added. "Germans could become an 'endangered people.' It's hypothetical now but we may have to think about 'the last German' at some point. The problem is compounded each generation. Children not born 30 years ago obviously aren't there to have children now."

Low birth rates plague other nations like Italy, Russia and Japan where the Yomiuri daily said last month that the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime fell to a record low in 2005.

But demographers say Germany is worse off because the problem has been ignored for so long. In other leading industrial nations like the United States, Britain and France, birth rates are much closer to the replacement rate.

"Why did we show so little interest the last 40 years as we went from a republic rich with children to one with a children shortage?" ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder asked last year.

Now, interest has revived. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government -- formed late last year -- recently agreed to give new mothers generous one-year wage replacement subsidies. Plans to eliminate fees for kindergarten are also being floated.

"It's the first time since 1945 that a German government has come out of the closet about population policy," wrote the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. "Family policy is suddenly chic."

"It's an extremely complex issue," said Walter. "It's a delicate topic and it's going to remain sensitive in Germany where it can't be handled as it might in a normal country."

Although it was 60 years ago, Nazi methods to encourage women to have children to bolster Hitler's future armies weigh on the collective consciousness.

The Nazis gave women a "Mutterkreuz," or "mother's cross of honor," and a certificate signed by Hitler thanking them "in the name of the German people."

A bronze "Mutterkreuz" went to women with four to five children, silver for six to seven and gold for eight or more.

"That history is still playing a role in Germany," said Michel. "Population policy was long a taboo topic."

Michel said he did not believe the sudden talk of greater state support for child care or a host of other state plans to boost the birth rate will change very much.

"We're on a downward trend; it can't be stopped," he said. "We should come to terms with a shrinking German population."

That guy has just the attitude Germany will need ... to kill itself.

I'm sure we can find a lot of strapping young American men who will be willing to go over and show the German men how to fix the problem.

Bolton:
President
Bush
Will Not
Accept
Nuclear
Iran

Man, every morning we wake up to find that it seems we are moving one step closer to some sort of dramatic confrontation:

US President George W. Bush will not accept a nuclear Iran, John Bolton, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday.

Bolton, speaking from New York via video hook-up to the Interdisciplinary Center's Herzliya Conference, said that Bush was determined to pursue the issue through peaceful and diplomatic means, "but has made clear that a nuclear Iran is not acceptable."

According to Bolton, Bush worries that a nuclear-equipped Iran under its current leadership could well engage in a nuclear holocaust, "and that is just not something he is going to accept."

Bolton said that if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) referred the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council in early February, it would still be unlikely for the UN to immediately slap sanctions on Teheran.

"In the first instance I suspect that if it comes to the Security Council in a few weeks we would look for a statement that essentially calls on Iran to comply with the existing IAEA resolutions," Bolton said. "I think that would be a gut check for the Iranians, and if they don't heed that warning we would have to consider what to do next."

Bolton said that referring the issue to the Security Council was a form of pressure on Iran to convince them to make the same strategic decision Libya made in 2004 - that their national interests would be better served, and they would be safer in giving up the purist of nuclear weapons, than in continuing that pursuit.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Hollywood:
Planning
For Failure

When something is wrong with a business, a winning strategy is to figure out what you are doing wrong, and fix it. A losing strategy is to cut down the size of your business, and start paying your best contributors less money.

So, what is Hollywood doing?

Cutting the number of movies they will make over the next year.

Paying their stars less.

Heh. Idiots.

Why don't they just start making more movies like The Incredibles, The End of The Spear, Chronicles of Narnia, and The Passion of The Christ?

The formula is pretty simple. But, Hollywood hates America more than they love money.

That's admirable, in a sick and twisted way.

Bolton:
Threat
To Israel,
Is A
Threat
Against
The World

John Bolton is a morally clearthinking man:

An IAEA crisis meeting has been called for Feb. 2, but director Elbaradai wants it postponed by a month for his report.

In a recorded speech to the Herzliya conference, American UN ambassador John Bolton said Monday the threat to wipe Israel off the map is a threat against the world.

And, once again, we see that Mohammed El-Baradei is doint exactly what the Iranians would want him to do, by rallying to postpone the meeting. Is El-Baradei working for the Iranians? We can't know for sure, but it sure does seem that way.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Swiss
Banking
Giant
Halts All
Business
With Iran
And Syria

Thanks to Islamophobic for sending this over to me:

Swiss banking giant UBS AG said Sunday it has stopped doing business with Iran because of the company's economic and risk analysis of the situation in the country.

UBS will no longer deal with individuals, companies or state institutions such as Iran's central bank, company spokesman Serge Steiner said. A similar policy is also being implemented in the case of Syria, he said.

All existing business with customers in Iran will be canceled, but Iranians in exile are not affected by the decision, Steiner said, confirming an article in Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung.

"It is a carefully prepared measure that has been under consideration since last fall," Steiner said. Iran is under increasing international pressure over its nuclear program and mindful of the freezing of its U.S. assets after the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran.

The nation has an estimated $50 billion in European banks and Iran's Central Bank governor said over the weekend that it will move its reserves quickly if it deems it necessary to do so. Steiner declined to specify the volume of business affected by the bank's decision.

Switzerland has not exactly been on the side of good over the years. Too often, there "neutrality" has merely been a marketing niche, which puts them in the right place at the right time to profit off of evil.

Pamela is also suspicious.

Iran Gives
Hizbollah
And
Islamic
Jihad
Over
$100 Million

Hizbollah troops rallying. For what? Any guesses?

The other day, Ahmadinejad visited leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad in Syria. Now, we know a little bit about what he was doing. According to Pamela, at Atlas Shrugs, he was making some sort of down-payment. Over a $100 million dollars worth.

Iran To Test
First Nuke
By March?

The Foundation for Democracy says so (Hat tip to Always on Watch for sending this over to me.):

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Tehran is planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, 2006 says a group opposed to the regime in Tehran.
The Foundation for Democracy citing sources in the U.S and Iran offered no further information.
The FDI quotes sources in Iran that the high command of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force have issued new orders to Shahab-3 missile units, ordering them to move mobile missile launchers every 24 hours in view of a potential pre-emptive strike by the U.S. or Israel. The order was issued Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The group says the launchers move only at night, and have been instructed to change their positions "in a radius of 30 to 35 kilometers." Prior to the new orders the Shahab-3 units changed position on a weekly basis. Advance Shahab-3 units have been positioned in Kermanshah and Hamadan province, within striking distance of Israel. Reserve mobile launchers have been moved to Esfahan and Fars province.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Israel
Is Getting
Ready

The other nations of the world are circling too. Iran doesn't have a chance:

JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.

"Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing," Shaul Mofaz said.

His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.

Germany's defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but argued that "all options" should remain open.

Asked by the Bild am Sonntag weekly whether the threat of a military solution should remain in place, Franz Josef Jung was quoted as responding: "Yes, we need all options."

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack.

Friday, January 20, 2006

What's
Going
On
With
Our War?

Well, here's Victor Davis Hanson's take:

On the principle of one-person one-vote, the United States has somehow enfranchised the hated Shia and Kurds, without demonizing the Sunnis. And the Sunnis will probably end up with political representation commensurate with their numbers, despite a horrific past association with Saddam Hussein and the blood of American soldiers on their hands.

And the response?

Shiites claim that we are caving in to the terrorist supporters of al Qaeda and the former Hussein regime. Sunnis counter that we are only empowering the surrogates of Iranian crazies.

The Iranians show their thanks for our support for their spiritual brethren in Iraq by humiliating European diplomats with promises to wipe out Israel.

In the larger Middle East, the democratic splash in the Iraqi pond is slowly rippling out, as voting proceeds in Egypt and the Gulf, Syria leaves Lebanon, and Moammar Gadhafi and Pakistan’s Dr. Khan cease their nuclear machinations. Hundreds of thousands of protesters hit the streets in Lebanon and Jordan—not to slur the United States, as predicted, for removing Saddam Hussein, but to damn Bashar Assad and al-Zarqawi as terrorist killers.

Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, now calls for Western pressure to root out the Syrian Baathists.

You’d never know all this from the global media or state-run news services in Europe and the Middle East.

We have sent tens of millions of dollars in earthquake relief to Pakistan, even though for over four years it has given de facto sanctuary to the killers responsible for murdering three thousand Americans. In response, the Pakistani Street expects Americans to provide debt relief, send them aid, excuse their support for our enemies—and then goes wild should we ever cross the border to retaliate against al Qaeda terrorists in their midst who are plotting to trump 9/11.

Americans tried to remain idealistic on the principle that Iraqis, if freed and helped, could craft a workable democracy, and that such consensual governments would make the volatile Middle East safer, since elected and legitimate governments rarely attack their own kind.

In response, the supposedly idealistic Left charged that we were bellicose and imperialistic — as if being on the side of the purple-fingered Iraqi voter was not preferable to being on the side of the terrorist and insurrectionist, who masked his fascism with national rhetoric.

Summarize what the media, the Europeans, the Middle East, and the opposition at home say about Iraq, and the usual narrative is that an initial mistake was made far worse by ideologues, leading to a hopeless situation that only makes the U.S. appear foolish and impotent, while ruining the military, creating a police state at home, and emptying the treasury.

Yet these same critics surely don’t want Saddam Hussein back. They concede that after three successful elections, Iraq just might be the first truly democratic society in the history of the Middle East. And they privately acknowledge that the reputations of Osama bin Laden and Al Zarqawi are on the wane. How was that possible when almost everyone fouled up?

Ahmadinejad
Meets
With
Leaders Of
Palestinian
Terror
Organizations

UPDATED
AT BOTTOM
OF POST

What do you think they needed to discuss?

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met in Damascus with the leaders of 10 radical Palestinian movements including Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

Ahmadinejad said he "strongly supports the Palestinian people's struggle" during the meeting, according to Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) official Maher Taher Friday.

Taher said the militant chiefs pledged to Ahmadinejad that the "Palestinian resistance and struggle would continue" against Israel.

"We expressed our solidarity with Syria, which is under pressure due to its national positions, as well as with Iran which has the right to possess nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," he added.

Islamic Jihad chief Abdullah Ramadan Shala, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril were among those at the meeting, Taher said.

The meeting came one day after Islamic Jihad claimed a suicide attack in Tel Aviv that wounded 19 people. Israel blamed Tehran and Damascus for supporting the attack.

"The attack was financed by Tehran, planned in Syria and carried out by Palestinians," Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying by a ministry official.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did not attend Ahmadinejad's meeting with the Palestinian chiefs, though he and Ahmadinejad met Thursday in Damascus as the two allies reaffirmed their ties amid increasing international pressure.

During his first visit to sole regional ally Syria since his shock election win in June, Ahmadinejad described Israeli Jews as "migrants" and asked if Europeans would be willing to accommodate them.

"Give these migrants authorization to come into your countries and you will see that they no longer want to live in occupied (Palestinian) territory," Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with high-ranking Syrian officials.

"Are you prepared to open the doors of your country to migrants so that they can move freely throughout Europe? Are you going to guarantee their security and no longer engage in anti-Semitic repression if they come into your countries?" he asked, adding that he doubted Europeans' "sincerity."

Ahmadinejad and Assad were to meet later Friday before the Iranian leader ended his two-day visit to Damascus.

UPDATE From The Astute Blogger:

... do the Iranians know about an impending LARGE SCALE jihadoterrorist attack - in Europe, or the USA, or anyhwere else in the West? After all, this move comes DIRECTLY on the heels of Binladen's announcement/truce-offering/warning: "preparations are underway." I believe that it is in anticipation of a series of large scale jihadoterrorist attacks.

JP at Americans for Freedon expressed why very succintly:

I am toubled by the combination of the following recent events:OBL tape, Amadinejad visiting Damascus, the upcoming IAEA / UN talks, Sharon's incapacitation and Chirac's vow to nuke any state that attacks France with WMDs. Throw this together with the large disposible cell phone purchases in the past couple months in the US and it seems to me that Iran/Syria and Qaeda are whipping up some terror coordination in the near future to prevent action against the Iran nuke regime.

Add to that list, the information in the above article, that Ahmadinejad is meeting with terrorist organizations, and that he is, apparently, warning Europe to open their borders to Israelis, and it looks like something big may be in the works.

Iran
Moves
Money
Out Of
Europe

Ali Akbar, beat-writer for the Associated Press, brings us the news that Iran is moving money out of Europe:

Iran is moving its foreign currency reserves out of European banks as a pre-emptive measure against any possible U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, the Central Bank Governor said Friday.

Ebrahim Sheibani told reporters that Iran has started transferring the foreign currency reserves from European banks to an undisclosed location, the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency reported.

"We transfer the foreign exchange reserves to wherever we deem fit," Sheibani was quoted by ISNA as saying. "We have begun transferring. We are doing that."

Sheibani would not say how much money was involved and it was not immediately clear whether Iran's investments in Europe would be affected by the move.

Iran's assets in the United States were frozen shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and installed a clerical regime.

So, let's think about this. Apparently, Iran doesn't have any money in the U.S., and hasn't since the "Islamic revolution." I didn't know that. I knew that the U.S. hadn't bought oil from Iran since the late-90's. So, what does this tell us?

It tells us, America stands on principle and Europe doesn't.

And, what it tell us that Iran is taking money out of its European investments?

It tells us that Iran is not only afraid of sanctions, but also, of possible war.

Now, one of the questions in my mind throughout this whole escalation, has been, does Iran already have a few nukes? And, if they did would they would continue on with their "cheat and retreat" policy, or would they draw a line in the sand, as they are now doing?

Or, does this mean that they are very close to having nukes, so they are drawing the line in the sand because they know they are so close to achieving their goal?

How fast can they produce weapons, once they have the enrichment process up and running?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions, and I have not, thus far, trusted the opinions of any "experts" I have read, because it seems to me, everyone has their own political agenda. Some want us to go to war now, and some want to delay any possible was, as long as they can.

What is going on? Any thoughts?

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Chirac
Tells
Terrorists,
"Go Ahead,
Make My Day"

I wonder what Chirac's "friend" and musical theatre partner thinks of his latest pronouncement?

Heh:

French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it.

Speaking at a nuclear submarine base in north-western France, Mr Chirac said a French response "could be conventional. It could also be of another nature."

He said France's nuclear forces had been configured for such an event.

France has had an independent nuclear deterrent since 1960, after an arms programme ordered by Charles de Gaulle.

The BBC's Alistair Sandford in Paris says this is the first time that Mr Chirac has so clearly linked the threat of a nuclear response to a terrorist attack.

On a visit to L'Ile-Longue base in Brittany, Mr Chirac said leaders of states who would "use terrorist means against us, just like anyone who would envisage using, in one way or another, arms of mass destruction, must understand that they would expose themselves to a firm and adapted response from us".

The president spoke of new threats in a post-Cold War world, without mentioning any specific threat against France.

"In numerous countries, radical ideas are spreading, advocating a confrontation of civilisations," he said, adding that "odious attacks" could escalate to "other yet more serious forms involving states".

While it is funny to hear Chirac talk like such a Dirty Harry, the truth is, this is the policy of the United States, and it ought to be the policy the whole West is united under.

Bin Laden
Offers
Truce
And
Threatens
U.S.

I must say, I'm really surprised the guy's alive. That being said, if he is alive, you can be sure he's threatening the Infidels:

DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden warned that al Qaeda was preparing new attacks inside the United States, but said the group was open to a conditional truce with Americans, according to an audio tape attributed to him on Thursday.

It was the first purported tape by bin Laden since 2004. Al Jazeera television, which aired the tape, said it was recorded in December.

"The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your houses as soon as they are complete, God willing," said the speaker on the audio tape, who sounded like bin Laden.

In the tape, bin Laden said al Qaeda was willing to "respond" to U.S. public opinion in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq. He did not specify conditions for the truce, but indicated that it was linked to U.S. troops quitting Iraq.

"Based on the substance of the polls, which indicate Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stand by," he said.

"There is nothing wrong with this solution except that it deprives the influential people and warlords in America from hundreds of billions of dollars, -- those who supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars."

Responding to the truce offer, the White House said that the United States "does not negotiate with terrorists."
Bin Laden also offered a truce to Europe in a tape in April 2004 but not to the United States.

Jazeera declined to give any details about how it had obtained the tape and an editor said there was a reference in the recording that indicated it had been made in December.

Al Jazeera
And Their
Pals At
CNN
Say New
Bin Laden
Video Is
On The Way

Maybe, he's not dead. We shall see.

Hilary
Clinton
Faults
Bush For
Lacking
Toughness
On Iran

Don't ever let anyone tell you this woman doesn't have ideas.

Classic Clintonian positioning:

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton called for United Nations sanctions against Iran as it resumes its nuclear program and faulted the Bush administration for "downplaying" the threat.

In an address Wednesday evening at Princeton University, Clinton, D-N.Y., said it was a mistake for the United States to have Britain, France and Germany head up nuclear talks with Iran over the past 2 1/2 years. Last week, Iran resumed nuclear research in a move Tehran claims is for energy, not weapons.

"I believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and chose to outsource the negotiations," Clinton said.

It is possible, though, that Bush has outpositioned Hilary, and her ilk. Because, Bush has been explicitly tough on Iran, and no one has listened. In a 2004 interview with Bill O'Reily, Bush had said that Iran will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and that if they keep trying to do so "all options are on the table."

That is quite a statement for a President to make regarding a potentially nuclear nation. I thought it was Bush's Cuban Missile Crisis Moment, and I celebrated his courageous stand. I expected a vigorous public debate. I expected fear to surge. But, what did we get?

Crickets chirping, loudly.

The fact that Hilary is saying Bush needs to be tougher only gives Bush more political capital to be even tougher than he has already been.

Thanks, Hilary.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Are French
Trains
Dar al-Islam?

Nidra Poller from Tech Central Station:

Paris 5 January 2006 -- French opinion makers are against the clash of civilizations the same way they are against the war in Iraq: fervently sure of their own moral superiority. But reality has a way of its own, and the Great Train Razzia that rang in the New Year on the Côte d’Azur is a smashing illustration of the clash of civilizations.

One hundred drunk and disorderly “youths” from the “sensitive neighborhoods” outside of Marseille were let loose in a train carrying revelers from Nice to Lyon via Marseille. They vandalized the train, terrorized the passengers, stole from them, sexually assaulted several young women, made convincing death threats and, when all these wicked deeds were done, pulled the emergency brake and jumped the train on the outskirts of Marseille.

It took several days for the story to break. Apparently management of the state-owned SNCF railway system and local police officials thought they could avoid bad publicity by keeping the information to themselves. Even more surprising: no local journalist scooped the story, no eyewitnesses came forward to reveal it, the media blissfully announced that New Year’s Eve had been surprisingly calm -- only 425 cars torched and 13 gendarmes injured -- that the state of emergency was lifted.

The news broke on the 4th: 600 passengers returning at dawn from Nice to Lyon were terrorized for three hours by a gang of “youths.” As the bare details filtered through several layers of protective screening, it became clear that a major clash of civilizations…in fact a head on crash of civilizations had taken place on the 1st day of the year 2006. Joyful partygoers on the star-studded Riviera were delivered into the hands of a hundred drunken marauders. Every official involved in the incident behaved stupidly, no one communicated, no one took responsibility, and the result would be comical if it were not so ominous.

The train was not hermetically sealed. The conductor’s cabin was not occupied by terrorists armed with box cutters. There are all sorts of stations between Nice and Marseille. Though the hoodlums stole cell phones, several hundred remained in the hands of their owners. And the ordeal went on for hours.

Here, as far as one can gather without having been in the train, is what happened:

Police shoved a hundred drunken rowdies into regional train N° 17430 that was carrying 600 passengers home at dawn on the 1st of January. The SNCF had been running a promotional New Year’s Eve fare of 1€20 since 2001. The idea was to save lives by discouraging people from driving after partying all night. Civilized idea, n’est-ce pas?

For the rest of the voyage, imagine a 1950s French comedy on the Riviera combined with a slapstick version of a medieval jihad raid. Now think of the train chugging its way along a breathtakingly beautiful coastline, and crossing approximately 20 frontiers in the space of three hours. Yes, France without Borders is cross-hatched into a muddle of intersecting administrations governed by a bevy of chiefs, préfets, commanders, divisionary commissioners, and assorted petty officials whose indecisions outweigh their decisions.

The four SNCF security agents who boarded the train at 6:30, seeing nothing amiss, got off at St. Raphaël at 6:50. And the rambunctious young people immediately started roughing up passengers, stealing from them, threatening to kill them if they resisted or tattled. They took possession of a first class car, ripped up the curtains, bashed the seats, vomited and who knows what else. Cultural difference, if you see what I mean. For a civilized traveler, first class means greater comfort for a higher price. For the marauders it means épater la bourgeoise, or more precisely vomit on them.

At approximately 7:30 AM, the conductor decided that the train was no longer safe and stopped at les Arcs. Employees have the right to lay down their tools and walk off the job if their safety is endangered. According to some accounts the gendarmes were waiting on the platform, others claim it took them half an hour or more to arrive. One gendarme describes “prostrate passengers who didn’t dare intervene.” Little by little the gendarmes fanned out through the 10 cars of the train, “without confronting the troublemakers.”

The train was immobilized for an hour-and-a-half, the gendarmes tried to encourage passengers to file complaints, but for some reason didn’t get much of a response. A few passengers fled the train. Including one young woman who had been sexually assaulted. When she resumed her voyage on a later train with a higher fare, the conductor made her pay the difference.

Bonk! Clash of civilizations.

A law-abiding young woman, victim of the traditional jihad treatment of conquered peoples, is expected to pay the correct fare. A horde of wild bandidos is allowed to run riot up and down the train. And when a handful, a tiny handful are caught, the judge sets most of them free.
Except for Aziz Ed Doubia of Moroccan origin and a repeat offender named Ashraf Bouzizoua; they are in prison awaiting trial.

The train pulled out of Les Arcs, under a light guard of fifteen gendarmes, who got off in Toulon as three policemen got on but for some strange reason were not able to curtail the razzia. As the train reached the outskirts of Marseille, the junior jihadis pulled the emergency brake, jumped the train, turned around and bashed and stoned it, and then scattered to their just abodes, there to sleep off a most exciting New Year’s Eve escapade.

It is easy to understand why the “youths” preferred to leave before the train pulled into the station, but who can understand why the passengers didn’t flee while it was docked at Les Arcs? Were they too terrified to try to escape? Did they think the “youths” would catch them and slit their throats? They did promise to bleed (meaning in fact to slaughter) anyone who dared denounce them. Or were the passengers so dhimmified that they considered their punishment to be justified? Or normal?

Go read the rest.

El-Baradei
Gives
Iran
A
Deadline

According to Mohammed El-Baradei, the head of the UN nuclear inspection team, Iran has until March 6th to start cooperating, or he will officially declare that investigation has reached a dead end:

As Britain, France and Germany prepared the ground to report Iran to the United Nations, the usually cautious Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke with unprecedented bluntness about his frustration with Iran.

"We are coming to the litmus test in the next few weeks," he said in an interview in Newsweek magazine.

"Diplomacy has to be backed by pressure and, in extreme cases, by force," he said. "We have rules. We have to do everything possible to uphold the rules through conviction. If not, then you impose them. Of course, this has to be the last resort, but sometimes you have to do it."

He gave Iran seven weeks to answer the IAEA's outstanding questions - including intelligence reports of secret work on nuclear warheads.

If Iran did not comply by March 6, Mr ElBaradei said he would formally declare that his investigation had reached a dead end.

And then what?

"Youthful"
Ahmadinejad
Tells
Europe
To F-Off

Youthful?

Reuters is a barrel full of laughs in this piece about Iran's response to Europe's nuclear resolution:

By Louis Charbonneau (Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Parinoosh Arami in Tehran, Kerstin Gehmlich in Paris, Chris Buckley in Beijing and Edmund Blair in Cairo)

BERLIN (Reuters) - European powers began circulating a draft resolution on Wednesday that asks the U.N. nuclear watchdog to report Iran to the Security Council, drawing a scornful response from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It is clear this is politically motivated," he said when asked about the text drafted by France, Britain and Germany.

"We are asking them to step down from their ivory towers and act with a little logic," the youthful president told reporters.

Amazing, huh? Reuters thinks it's important to let us know, in a hard news article about a hardcore Islamofascist anti-Semite, who has called for the destruction of Israel, and who is on the brink of aquiring nuclear weapons, that the anti-Semite is "youthful."

Hitler was the sprightly Chacellor of Germany.

Idi Amin was the robust dictator of Uganda.

Stalin was the vivacious leader of the Soviet Republic.

Let's see what else Reuters thinks it's important to let us know:

The West suspects Iran is seeking nuclear arms. Tehran, which resumed uranium enrichment research last week, says its atomic program aims only to generate electricity.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said nuclear weapons were against Islamic teachings, as well as Iranian interests, but he vowed to pursue atomic energy.

"The Islamic Republic, based on its principles, without being scared of the fuss created, will continue on its path of scientific developments and the world cannot influence the Iranian nation's will," state television quoted him as saying.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has accepted that we are now part of the atomic club," said Khamenei.

Not so fast there, Khameini. The world community does not at all accept what is going on with your country.

Anyway, isn't Reuters hilarious?

Iran
Must Be
Getting
Close:
El-Baradei
And France
Are Getting
Nervous

Yesterday came the news that UN Nuclear watchdog, Mohammed El-Baradei may be growing a set of stones. He's actually starting to talk about the use of force:

Newsweek: What if the Iranians are just buying time for their bomb building?

El Baradei: That’s why I said we are coming to the litmus test in the next few weeks. Diplomacy is not just talking. Diplomacy has to be backed by pressure and, in extreme cases, by force. We have rules. We have to do everything possible to uphold the rules through conviction. If not, then you impose them. Of course, this has to be the last resort, but sometimes you have to do it.

He also said this:

El-Baradei: ... if they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponization program along the way, they are really not very far—a few months—from a weapon.

Newsweek: With all due respect, the Iranians don't seem to care what you think.

El-Baradei: Well, they might not seem to care. But if I say that I am not able to confirm the peaceful nature of that program after three years of intensive work, well, that's a conclusion that's going to reverberate, I think, around the world.

In the past I have questioned whether El-Baradei was working for the other side. If he is, then this is just a clever smokescreen. Let's hope he means what he says. He does sound like a man who is fed up.

And, let's note something else here. Repeatedly, in past weeks, Reuters and AP have published articles indicating Iran is years away from having a bomb. But, here, El-Baradei himself is saying that for all he knows, Iran could be just months away.

Why do you think AP and Reuters are doing what they are doing?

The thing is, things must be getting awfully dangerous because even the French are starting to draw a line in the sand:

TEHRAN, Iran - France rejected Iran's request for more talks on Iran's nuclear program, saying Wednesday that Tehran first must suspend its atomic activities. Iran asked for a ministerial-level meeting, but its decision to resume some activities "means that it is not possible for us to meet under satisfactory conditions to pursue these discussions," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said in Paris.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Sometimes You Just Gotta Love Your Enemy
Please Don't Hit Me There Edition

Reliapundit points out that Iran attacked the Iraqi Coast Guard yesterday, in a dispute over the Shatt al-Arab waterway which marks the Iran-Iraq border.

As I always say, you just gotta love your enemy when he tells the truth. In this case, Iran is telling us exactly how to bait them into a confrontation which could give us the pretext we need to destroy their nuclear facilities.

You know, in Milton's Paradise Lost, the demons, after they are cast out of heaven, convene a symposium on how to overthrow God, and cast Him from His throne. They begin by talking strategy, but soon, they fall to arguing, and that breaks into anarchy.

That is what evil does. I have been saying on CUANAS for the past couple of years that eventually our enemy will fall to anarchy. We see it happening in the Peaceful State of Palestine, where Fatah and Hamas can't get along, and now, we see it here, with Iran attacking Iraq.

If this goes on, this is the best news of the war so far. This is all the permission we will need to destroy the Iranian regime. Iran is so stupid to not realize that simple fact. But, evil is stupid, because evil is caught up in great anger and pride.

Now, that we see what their Achilles Heal is, we ought to have Iraq repeatedly prod them, until they do something really stupid.

Golden Globe-Winning,
Terror-Supporting
Film
Not Hardcore
Enough
For Palestinians

Terrorists try on lovely new corset.

No matter how hard the liberals try, they just can't seem please the big, tough terrorists who get them so hot:

Although the film — which snared the Golden Globe in Los Angeles on Monday — has never been screened in Nablus, residents here said the clips they saw on satellite television portrayed the bombers as godless and less than heroic.

“This movie doesn’t help the Palestinian cause,” said an armed Palestinian militant who would not give his name because he’s on the run. “People who go to carry out bombings do not hesitate so much.”

Next time they should just try fellating those Palestinian bad boys. I hear they like that.

Pakistan
Says
Four
Terrorists
Died In
Zawahiri
Strike

Pakistani man protests American strike against terrorists.

At least four died, and the United States says they are not yet sure that Zawahiri is not among the dead. From CNN:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - At least four foreign terrorists died in the purported U.S. airstrike aimed at al-Qaida's No. 2 leader in a Pakistani border village, the provincial government said Tuesday.

A statement, issued by the administration of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, also said that between 10 and 12 foreign extremists had been invited to the dinner at the village hit in Friday's attack.

It was the first official confirmation by Pakistani authorities that foreign militants were killed in the attack on the village of Damadola. Women and children also died, triggering outrage in this Islamic nation. The statement did not identify who the foreigners may have been or who was the target of the missile strike.

Pakistani intelligence officials have said Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, had been invited to a dinner in the targeted village of Damadola to mark an Islamic holiday but did not show up and sent some aides instead.

There have been conflicting accounts from Pakistani officials and witnesses over who, if anyone, reclaimed bodies from the scene of the missile strike.

Damadola residents claim all the victims were locals and they buried them all. One Pakistani official told The Associated Press Saturday that the bodies had been taken away for DNA tests, although it wasn't clear by whom.

The statement, citing the chief official in the Bajur region where the Damadola is located, said its findings were from a report compiled by a ``joint investigation team'' but gave no specifics on who was included in the team.
``Four or five foreign terrorists have been killed in this missile attack whose dead bodies have been taken away by their companions to hide the real reason of the attack,'' the statement said.

``It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10-12 foreign extremists had been invited on a dinner,'' it said.

In Washington, a U.S counterterrorism official said Monday it was not yet known if al-Zawahri was killed.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said a compound that was hit has been visited in the past by significant terrorist figures.

``There were strong indications that was happening again,'' the official said, adding that it appeared that some damage was done, even if al-Zawahri was not there.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, however, would only say Tuesday there was a ``possibility'' that foreigners were killed in the strike, which destroyed three houses and killed 18 people.

He told AP the government had ``no information'' about the presence of al-Zawahri.

The attack has become an embarrassment for Islamabad, a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. Many in this nation of 150 million people oppose the government's backing of the United States in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Frustration has been growing over a recent series of suspected U.S. attacks along the porous and ill-defined frontier aimed at militants. Washington has 20,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, but Pakistan says it does not allow them to hunt down or attack militants across the border.

Thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets over the weekend, chanting ``Death to America'' and calling for the resignation of military leader President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Islamabad ``cannot accept any action within our country'' like the missile attack but stressed the bilateral relationship with Washington remained important.

Aziz reiterated he was pressing ahead with an official visit to Washington. He was due to depart Pakistan late Tuesday.

``Pakistan has committed to fighting terrorism but naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend,'' Aziz said.

``The relationship with the U.S. is important, it is growing,'' Aziz said. ``But at the same time such actions cannot be condoned.''

He made the comments during a joint press conference with former President George H.W. Bush, who is touring Pakistan as a U.N. envoy for the relief effort in areas affected by October's monster earthquake.

The Most
Fertile
Irish Man

Sounds like a joke, but it's not. Scientists have found him:

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Scientists in Ireland may have found the country's most fertile male, with more than 3 million men worldwide among his offspring.

The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty in ancient Ireland.

His genetic legacy is almost as impressive as Genghis Khan, the Mongol emperor who conquered most of Asia in the 13th century and has nearly 16 million descendants, said Dan Bradley, who supervised the research.

"It's another link between profligacy and power," Bradley told Reuters. "We're the first generation on the planet where if you're successful you don't (always) have more children."

Question: Is it a good thing that power is no longer linked to breeding?

The
Latest
In
Islamic
Fashion

Ooh, sexy. Hope my wife will wear that.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Saudi Arabia
Condemns
Iran's
Pursuit
Of Nuclear
Weapons

On the same day that the Egyptian Foreign Minister came out and condemned Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, the Saudi Arabian Prince Saud al-Faisal is doing the same thing.

Remember what I said?

"I would like to believe they really feel this way, but the way the Egyptian Foreign Minister phrased that makes me nervous. I have to wonder if this may be the first step in an Arab-world wide initiative to take Israel to the UN Security Council."

That was less than two hours ago. Looks like I was correct. Check out the way the Saudi Foreign Minister phrases his condemnation of Iran:

In an interview broadcast Monday by the British Broadcasting Corp., Prince Saud al-Faisal said Western nations’ failure to stop Israel from becoming a nuclear power “has done the damage we are all suffering from now.”

In a separate interview with the Times of London, al-Faisal said: “Nobody mentions that Israel has 100 nuclear weapons in stock, even through it is an open secret.”

The prince, in London for a conference on terrorism, said he hoped Iran would not seek to develop nuclear arms.

“Where are they going to use these weapons? If they hit Israel, they are going to kill Palestinians. If they miss Israel, they are going to hit Saudi Arabia or Jordan,” he said. “Where is the gain in that?”

Expect to hear more of this in the next few days, followed by an effort by the Muslim countries of the world to take Israel to the United Nations Security Council for violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

VI Day:
Hitchens Says
We've Won
In Iraq

Christopher Hitchens declares that we have won in Iraq:

The best news from Iraq this year would certainly be the long New York Times report of Jan. 12 on the murderous strife between local “insurgents” and al-Qaida infiltrators. This was also among the best news from last year.

For months, coalition soldiers in Iraq had been telling anyone who would care to listen that they had noticed a new phenomenon: heavy fire that they didn’t have to duck. On analysis, this turned out to be shooting or shelling apparently “incoming” from one “insurgent position” but actually directed at another one.…

The significance of this, and of numerous other similar accounts, is three-fold.

First, it means that the regular media caricature of Iraqi society is not even a parody. It is very common indeed to find mixed and intermarried families, and these loyalties and allegiances outweigh anything that can be mustered by a Jordanian jailbird who has bet everything on trying to ignite a sectarian war.

Second, it means in the not very long run that the so-called insurgency can be politically isolated and militarily defeated. It already operates within a minority of a minority and is largely directed by unpopular outsiders. Politically, it is the Khmer Rouge plus the Mafia—not the Viet Cong. And unlike the Khmer Rouge, it has no chance at all of taking the major cities. Nor, apart from the relatively weak Syrian regime, does it have a hinterland or a friendly neutral territory to use for resupply. And its zealots are now being killed by nationalist and secular, as well as clerical, guerrillas. (In Kurdistan, the Zarqawi riffraff don’t even try; there is a real people’s army there, and it has a short way with fascists. It also fights on the coalition side.)

In counterinsurgency terms, this is curtains for al-Qaida.

Which is my third point. If all goes even reasonably well, and if a combination of elections and prosperity is enough to draw more mainstream Sunnis into politics and away from Baathist nostalgia, it will have been proved that Bin-Ladenism can be taken on—and openly defeated—in a major Middle Eastern country. And not just defeated but discredited. Humiliated. Is there anyone who does not think that this is a historic prize worth having? Worth fighting for, in fact?

Let's hope he is correct.

It does indeed seem that we have won. I've been thinking that for several weeks now. However, this did not begin as a traditional war, therefore, I don't know that any of the signals of a traditional war coming to an end mean anything in this war.

I really don't know. All I can say is, we shall see.

Egypt Says
It Rejects
Iran's
Pursuit
Of Nuclear
Weapons

Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Aboul Gheit

Egypt says it supports the international communities efforts to deny Iran the ability to build nuclear weapons:

Egypt on Monday said it supported using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes but rejected the emergence of a nuclear military power in the region, in its first official reaction to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

“All countries should adhere to their commitments in a way to allow the international community to be sure of the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, as we do not accept the emergence of a nuclear military power,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement.

Aboul Gheit said Egypt was “closely watching” the development of the Iranian nuclear issue “out of its absolute keenness to support all the efforts aimed at consolidating the nuclear nonproliferation (policy) not only at the regional level but all over the world.”

I would like to believe they really feel this way, but the way the Egyptian Foreign Minister phrased that makes me nervous. I have to wonder if this may be the first step in an Arab-world wide initiative to take Israel to the UN Security Council.

What do you think?

Israeli President:
No Nukes For Iran

Israel has announced it will not allow Iran to build nuclear weapons:

MADRID (AFP) - Israel will not allow "a totalitarian" Iran which exports international terrorism to have a nuclear capability, Israeli President Moshe Katsav said in a newspaper interview.

"It would be the first step for atomic bombs to fall into the hands of terrorists of the (Shiite fundamentalist movement) Hezbollah, the (Islamist) Hamas or Al-Qaeda for example," said Katsav who was born in Iran in 1945.

"We don't have a conflict of interest with Iran, we don't have a common border but we cannot allow a totalitarian country which exports international terrorism to have a nuclear capability," he told the conservative ABC newspaper on Monday.

Iran is a threat for Israel and for the rest of the world, he added.

God, we live in frightening times.

Why Do
Muslims
Do The
Nazi Salute?

Fatah (Palestinian Authority)

Fatah Youth Rally

Hezbollah

Hezbollah Youth Rally

A Dream
(Modified by Pastorius)

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if the world is to live up to God's promise, this must become true.

Let freedom ring from the claustrophobic, tilting cities, and the amber huts of China, where baby girls are left to crawl to their deaths, because the state denies parents choice in the blessing of children. Let freedom ring from the aged minarets of Saudi Arabia, where the peoples of the world are denied entry, and the peoples of the land are denied humanity itself. Let freedom ring from plains of the Sudan, where the women are violated with the sex organs of supremacism, and the men are beheaded, and ground into the dust of the earth. Let freedom ring from the darkened starving land of North Korea, where a leader starves his people and feeds his dreams of nuclear nightmare. Let freedom ring from the the hearts of people of Persia, where ancient hatred sits coiled in its castle and sucks the blood of all that lives.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,

"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Come
Down
In Time

Song by Elton John

In the quiet silent seconds
I turned off the light switch
And I came down to meet you
in the half light the moon left
While a cluster of night jars sang some songs out of tune
A mantle of bright light shone down from a room

Come down in time I still hear her say
So clear in my ear like it was today
Come down in time was the message she gave
Come down in time and I'll meet you half way

Well I don't know if I should have heard her as yet
But a true love like hers is a hard love to get
And I've walked most all the way and I ain't heard her call
And I'm getting to thinking if she's coming at all

Come down in time I still hear her say
So clear in my ear like it was today
Come down in time was the message she gave
Come down in time and I'll meet you half way

There are women and women and some hold you tight
While some leave you counting the stars in the night

The
Foundation
Of
Western
Democracy

Yesterday, I posted a passage from The Drama Of Atheist Humanism, by Henri De Lubac, which showed how, in the Christian worldview, man sits at the pinnacle of God's creation. He is given charge of the gallery, caretaker of God's beautiful artwork. Indeed, not only is man caretaker, but he is preeminent. He stands above and beyond creation. The totality of God's creation can not contain the soul of man, which like God's has an infinite and immortal quality to it.

These are dramatic ideas. They are a bit frightening to fathom. And, in all my years as a Christian, I do not recall ever having heard a Pastor say anything of the like.

In the days, since 9/11, I have begun to think through the implications of my faith, and of what I know of the Bible. I had come to these same conclusions, when I started reading the works of Catholic thinkers within this past year. Oh, what a joy it is to find that I am not a blasphemous heathen, but that, instead, my conclusions are considered to be orthodoxy by some of the most profound thinkers to have ever walked the Earth; Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and Mr. De Lubac himself.

Today, let's look at a passage that talks about what man has come to believe of himself, and what man is, and, of how the human race needs to be reminded of its purpose:

Philosophers have told man that he is a "microcosm," a little world made of the same elements, given the same structure, subject to the same rhythms as the great universe; they have reminded him that he is made in its image, and that he is subject to its laws; they have made him into part of the mechanism, or at most, into the epitome of the cosmis machine.

Nor were they completely mistaken.

Of man's body, and of all that, in man, can be called "nature," it is true. But, if man digs deeper and if his reflection is illuminated by what is said in the Sacred Scripture, he will be amazed at the depths opening up within him.

Unaccountable space extends before his gaze. In a sort of infinitude he overflows this great world on all sides, and in reality, it is that world, "macrocosm," which is contained in this apparent "microcosm."

That looks like a paradox contained in one of our great modern idealists. Far from it. First formulated from Origen, then by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, it was later repeated by many others. Saint Thomas Aquinas was to give much the same translation of it when he said that the sould is in the world contiens magis quam contenta - containing it rather than contained by it.

Man, to be sure, is made of dust and clay, or, as we should say nowadays, he is of animal origin - which comes to the same thing. The Church is not unmindful of this, finding a warrant for it in the same passage of Genesis ("God made man in His own Image and Likeness... from dust ... He breathed life into him ...").

Man, to be sure, is also a sinner. The Church does not cease to remind him of that fact.

The self-esteem she endeavors to instill into him is not the outcome of a superficial and ingenuous view of the matter. Like Christ, she knows "what there is in man."

But, she also knows that, that the lowlinessof his origin in the flesh cannot detract from the sublimity of his vocation, and that, despite all the blemishes that sin may bring, that vocation is an abiding source of inalienable greatness.

The Church thinks that this greatness must reveal itself even in the conditions of present-day life, as a fount of liberty and a principle of progress, the ncessary retaliation upon the forces of evil.

And she recognizes in the mystery of God-mad-man the guarantee of our vocation and the final consecration of our greatness. Thus, in her liturgy she can celebrate each day "the dignity of the human substance" even before rising to the contemplation of our rebirth.

Man was made for greatness. We may have gotten a little off-track, but God still sees in us, the greatness, the infinitude of creativity and imagination, the power of love, and the longing for righteousness. Because He sees these things in us, he laid Himself down as a sacrifice, the Passover Lamb, whose blood on the doorposts of our hearts, causes death to shrink away and escape in fear.

One is not required to believe what I wrote in the preceding paragraph to understand that, whatever you believe, it is upon an idea of such greatness in man that the founders of liberty, and the Western ideal, undertook their mission to free all men from the chains of slavery to monarchies, and fiefdoms.

When the idea was first proposed, that Kings would not own men, but that, instead, men would own their kings, the powers who had always ruled, shook, and were overcome with the nausea of men set adrift at sea.

How can common people be trusted to rule themselves? How can the rabble be expected to mind the china shop of civilization? How can the bungled and the botched be expected to preserve the culture we have worked so hard to construct?

We see these same questions being asked about the Muslim world today.

How can we expect men, who are slaves to an violent ideology, a religion of the sword, to ever become civilized like us? How can we entrust them with the power of Democracy? How can we allow them to rule themselves?

The answer is to understand that they are humans too, created in God's own likeness and Image. We need to return to the foundational beliefs of our civilization. We need to do so with confidence knowing that the rights of man, firmly established, will work their magic on the frightening culture of the Muslim world.

We need to trust and enforce the rights of man, and we need to know that Muslims have the infinity of freedom and creativity within themselves, as surely as we do, and that this infinitude, connected as it is to the world of our Creator, will guide their culture in the right direction, gradually, but surely.

They will find their way to freedom, just like we did.

We weren't a very pretty bunch when we started either. Just ask the Kings who had ruled us.

Why
God
Chose
The Jews

In light of the human catastrophe, Ahmadinejad, the LA Times this morning featured an article called "Why God Chose The Jews" by crime novelis Andrew Klavan. Here's a bit:

THERE IS ONE good thing about anti-Semitism: It lets you know who the bad guys are. Right, left, black, white, freak or straight, the minute someone starts rattling on about the evil Jews, you know your train just pulled into Slimeball Station.

All bigotry is wrong, of course, but there's something about this particular form of prejudice that is weirdly reliable as a sign of deeper wickedness. Perhaps it's because the Jews contributed so much to humanity's moral code that to hate them as a race is to despise the restraints of morality itself

Whatever the reason, true, virulent anti-Semitism is such a good indicator of the presence of evil that I'm tempted to believe that when God made the Jews his chosen people, this is what he chose them for: to be a sort of Villainy Early Detection System for everyone else.

Unfortunately, in his infinite love for his creation, I suspect the Big Guy may have overestimated our intelligence. Maybe he thought that after Hitler we'd just, you know, like, get it. Instead, we still see apparently intelligent people appeasing, making excuses for and even embracing the sorts of stinkers who ought to set off the Big Alarm.

That's why I think the system could use more bells and whistles — a loud honking noise perhaps, or even closed captioning for the morally impaired. Thus, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Holocaust is a "myth" or that Israel "must be wiped off the map," you would hear a loud honk and words would appear in the air below his face:

"Hello. I am an evil madman. Please stop negotiating with me now and proceed to cripple my nuclear capability by any means necessary."

Or how about when Venezuelan leader — and anti-American Iran ally — Hugo Chavez warns that "descendants of those who crucified Christ … have grabbed all the world's riches for themselves"? Honk. His subtitle:

"Hi. I know you lefties are still enamored of the idea of socialism — fine. But personally, I'm a jerk and a friend of tyranny. Oh, and Mr. Belafonte? Go home before you make an ass of yourself."

Now, I understand the situation in the Middle East is morally and politically complex, as is the situation in South America. I know that honorable people can hold conflicting opinions about the issues in these places. But when the entrenched misery of an area nearly as large as the United States is consistently blamed on 5 million people in a country the size of a shoebox, or when the ills of the world are loaded onto less than 1% of its population, I begin to become suspicious.

(Pastorius note: Suspicious? That's what I call restraint.)

If it were only a matter of hating Jews, we could say: "Feel free, hate everyone, knock yourself out." The trouble is the suffering, the slaughter of innocents and indeed the destruction of entire nations that seems inevitably to follow when anti-Semitism is allowed to spread beyond the cesspool of the mind that contains it. History is too full of lowlifes who thought all their problems would be solved if they could just kill enough Jews — or thugs like Pontius Pilate who thought it was a matter of killing the right Jew — for us not to realize that their Final Solutions aren't final and are no solution. They are often the first, and sometimes the last, road sign pointing the way to an earthly hell.

So here's a plan. The next time you express an opinion on what's wrong with the world, take a look around to see who's nodding in agreement. If it's some clown who thinks the Jewish state should be pushed into the sea, or that the Jews killed Christ or are conspiring to subvert the world economy or the government or the media, I beg you to consider that you might be wrong.

There is no shame in changing your opinion. Falling into step with wicked fools — that's shameful, and it's dangerous too. God gave you an early detection system. Use it.

Very good. Very, very good. I wish I would have written that.

Iran
Announces
Conference
On
Holocaust

Iran pledges to get to the bottom of the Holocaust. The question is, just how low can they go?"

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Sunday it would sponsor a conference to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust, an apparent next step in hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's campaign against Israel and a move likely to deepen Tehran's international isolation.

Ahmadinejad already had called the Nazis' World War II slaughter of 6 million European Jews a myth and said the Jewish state should be wiped off the map or moved to Germany or the United States.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi did not disclose where or when the Holocaust conference would be held, nor would he say who would attend or what had prompted Tehran to sponsor it.

On Saturday, however, Ahmadinejad urged the West to be sufficiently open-minded to allow a free international debate on the Holocaust. Asefi adopted that theme.

"It is a strange world. It is possible to discuss everything except the Holocaust. The Foreign Ministry plans to hold a conference on the scientific aspect of the issue to discuss and review its repercussions," Asefi told reporters.

Earlier this month, the Association of Muslim Journalists, a hard-line group, proposed holding a similar conference, but Asefi said he was not aware of the association's wishes. He said the conference he announced was planned and supported by the ministry.

Honestly, I'm getting a little sick of this term hard-line. I know it's the kind of phrase journalists must use in place of using judgemental words like insane, or evil, but the problem with it is, the phrase "hard-line" implies that Ahmadinejad's attacks on the Holocaust occupy an actual space in intellectual reality, from which he refuses to back down. However, the truth is, the only space he occupies is in fantasy land.

And, by the way, is it just me, or do the forces of evil seem to be accelerating their attacks on the Jews, and on decency itself?

Pre-Futurism
vs.
The
Singularity:
"The
Next Level"

To what are we giving birth?

Al Fin discusses the coming changes in humanity as the result of cyborg technologies and bio-engineering. In doing so, he hits upon why I call our present age, The Pre-Future. He also makes a very important moral/intellectual distinction at the end of this essay:

When referring to the progress of humans, I typically refer to the impending higher stage of mental and physical development of humans as "the next level." The term, "the singularity," is reserved for a technological evolution of increasing machine sophistication (including nanotech) and increasing sophistication of information technologies. The singularity can occur without significant change in human nature, simply because science and technology development does not require very many people, in relative numbers.

The singularity is a technological and scientific event.

The next level is a human event, the transformation of humans.

At the present time, what I call "between-levels humans" are simply too short-lived and too stupid to take care of this part of the universe. Look at the pollution, the religious wars, the third world deforestation, the primitive and wasteful energy technologies. Look at the insane politics, the oppression, the dictators starving their people. Look at the drug abuse, the general escapism, the strong drive to retire without ever achieving anything.

Technological and scientific advances can occur at a dazzling rate, and not change basic humanity. There will be more sophisticated means of escape, virtual reality being one such grail to be sought. Machine intelligence is looked on by many as either a benign form of slavery, or as an act of creating another intelligent species with which to commune. The more likely result of machine intelligence is a dizzying escalation of non-human intelligence, engineered by non-humans, for the benefit of non-humans.

That is, unless humans become more intelligent themselves, intelligent enough to understand and anticipate their creations, before they are created.

The laws of complexity suggest that emergent phenomena can always surprise a designer. Simple starting rules give birth to complex resultant phenomena. Humans must become more intelligent, and longer lived. There has always been a shortage of wise, intelligent, experienced humans. Look at contemporary society in the western world, where the vanity and rashness of youth are valued over the wisdom and perspective of maturity. Passion and excitement are valued, which is good, but they are valued above many other things that are more integral to a satisfying life.

We must not allow ourselves to lag too far behind our technology. Evolution by natural selection is a slow worker, requiring millenia and millions of years to accomplish great things. Evolution has done its work on each of us, for good or ill. But now we are not content to wait. Diabetics take genetically engineered insulin, in order to live and function. Critically ill patients in emergency wards and ICUs are given genetically engineered potions to allow them to survive the crisis and heal. Victims of malignant tumors are given genetically engineered drugs to combat their malignancies, and other genetically engineered drugs to help their bodies rebuild.

We drink milk produced by cows given genetically engineered BGH. We consume breads and pastas made from genetically engineered grains. We are encouraged by the improvement of health in third world countries, where genetically engineered "golden rice" prevents illness and death of children.

Genetic engineering, and soon stem cells and tissue engineering, are becoming a natural part of daily human existence. Most people shy away from the gene engineering of the human genome, but that too is becoming more common. Innocent children, through no fault of their own, are born with fatal genetic illnesses. In the opulent western world, we are generally happy to do whatever we can to provide these unfortunates with any advantage possible, including genetic therapies.

On the singularity side, cyborg technologies are becoming extremely common. Cochlear implants prepare the way for retinal implants. High technology titanium prosthetics make way to pressure sensing and active responding prosthetics. We are becoming more comfortable with the idea of prosthetic technologies to assist in compensating for any deficits. Mental prosthetics are very near, in fact in many ways personal computers and communications networks are forms of mental prosthesis, taking over from the printed page and spoken word.

What I am referring to with this discussion, is the difference between a consciousness that is biologically enhanced, and a consciousness that is technologically enhanced. Yes, I realize that technology is involved in any "artificial" enhancements. The distinction is useful, nonetheless. Next levels put humans first, singularitarians put technology first, whether intentionally or not.

I want to talk, briefly, about the four points I highlighted here. Al Fin said:

1) Look at the drug abuse, the general escapism, the strong drive to retire without ever achieving anything.

Pastorius comment: Yes, that's why, to me, it's such a frightening prospect that humans are now coming to understand the DNA switches which start and stop the aging process. If we humans are, generally, such imaginatively weak creatures that we can't figure out what to do with 70 years here on Earth, why would we want to live 700 years? That's an important question to ponder. What kind of mischief will humans get themselves in with that much time on their hands?

2) That is, unless humans become more intelligent themselves, intelligent enough to understand and anticipate their creations, before they are created.

Pastorius note: This is the essence of the Pre-Futurist Age. The technologies we are currently in the process of developing are so epochal, and they are coming at us so fast, so inevitably, that we must begin to make decisions about them now, almost as if these technologies were already present with us. In a sense, we are living with the ghost of technologies future.

3) Mental prosthetics are very near, in fact in many ways personal computers and communications networks are forms of mental prosthesis.

Pastorius note: Yes, computers are mental prosthetics. That sounds like a poetic statement, but it isn't in the least. Here's why. As I have noted, we have already devloped chips which interact with the brain to both download and upload information between computer and brain. In the future, chips will be developed which will help humans speed up their ability to download and upload information to their brain. At a certain point, this transfer of informtion between computer and brain will go wireless.

At that point, there will be no distinction between the internet and human brain. The internet will, literally, be a mental prosthetic for human beings.

What will humans do with the capacity of all-known knowledge? What will happen when humans achieve this kind of functional omniscience?

4) Next levels put humans first, singularitarians put technology first.

Pastorius note: I'm not as concerned as many futurists are with the prospect that computers will take over for humans. Why? Because I think there will be a seamless melding of humans and computers, as described in the above point. The Human Will will, quite literally, possess the internet.

So, the problem isn't a loss of the human, or of humanity, but instead, the problem is whether we, as Pre-Futurists, envision the future to be set up in a humane way, or whether we set it up as a Technocracy.

What do I mean by that?

Well, what did I mean, for instance, by the phrase, "functional omniscience?"

Well, by functional omniscience, I mean, possessing all known-knowledge, including all the knowledge of the other human beings with whom we share our space. And, what does that entail?

The problem, as I say, is not whether humans will continue to exist, but whether humans will exist in a tolerable state. Will humans live in a way that is conducive to their humanity?

Can humans, for instance, live in a world where hackers can hack their mind at any time? Do such violations of privacy take away the ability to let the imagination run free? Will such technology destroy our capacity for creativity? In that sense, will we be able to fulfill our humaness?

How can we ensure that the future will hold a zone of privacy for each human, so that each human is able to retain his own mental space, and be an individual, so that each human is able to be an individually cretive entity?

U.S. Faults
Saudi
Anti-Terror
Efforts

"I'm setting up a government commission to investigate myself."

Lately, there has been much discussion on this blog about how Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are not really allies of the United States. Sure, they produce a terror suspect once in a while. And, sure, they crack down on terrorists within their borders, when terrorists attack them. But, the truth is, they support terrorism aginst the United States. Pakistan does allows the Madrassas to continue preaching Jihad against America, and Saudi Arabia continues to fund the spread of Wahabbism in America.

Here's more evidence, from the front page of this mornings LA Times:

WASHINGTON — Although Saudi Arabia has cracked down on militants within its borders, the kingdom has not met its promises to help prevent the spread of terrorism or curb the flow of money from Saudis to terrorist cells around the world, U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and other officials say.

As a result, these critics say, countless young terrorism suspects are believed to have escaped the kingdom's tightening noose by fleeing across what critics call a porous border into Iraq.

U.S. military officials confirm an aggressive role by Saudi fighters in the insurgency in Iraq, where over the last year they reportedly accounted for more than half of all Arab militants killed.

And millions of dollars continue to flow from wealthy Saudis through Saudi-based Islamic charitable and relief organizations to Al Qaeda and other suspected terrorist groups abroad, aided by what the U.S. officials call Riyadh's failure to set up a government commission to police such groups as promised, senior U.S. officials from several counter-terrorism agencies said in interviews.

Let's be honest, it says this money flows through Saudis, because the government has failed to stem the tide. Well, that's because the Saudis are the government. Saudi Arabia is governed by the Saudi family.

If the Saudi family is sending money to terrorists, why would they set up a government commission to force themselves to stop sending money to terrorists?

If they wanted to stop, they would simply stop. They don't need a government commission to put a halt to their own actions.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

The Eye Of God

From Eyes All Around

Who Is This
Promised
One
Of Whom
Ahmadinejad
Speaks?

Sorry to keep hitting you with Ahmadinejad posts, but the fact is, it's hard to keep up with this guy. It's as if he's on a 24 hour a day psychopathich rant. But, of course, he's a world leader:

As Iran rushes towards confrontation with the world over its nuclear programme, the question uppermost in the mind of western leaders is "What is moving its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to such recklessness?"

Political analysts point to the fact that Iran feels strong because of high oil prices, while America has been weakened by the insurgency in Iraq.

But listen carefully to the utterances of Mr Ahmadinejad - recently described by President George W Bush as an "odd man" - and there is another dimension, a religious messianism that, some suspect, is giving the Iranian leader a dangerous sense of divine mission.

In November, the country was startled by a video showing Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September.

When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: "What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."

The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.

One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad's government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour - denied by the government but widely believed - is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.

Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.

He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.

This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.

Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.

The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

The 49-year-old Mr Ahmadinejad, a former top engineering student, member of the Revolutionary Guards and mayor of Teheran, overturned Iranian politics after unexpectedly winning last June's presidential elections.

The main rift is no longer between "reformists" and "hardliners", but between the clerical establishment and Mr Ahmadinejad's brand of revolutionary populism and superstition.

Its most remarkable manifestation came with Mr Ahmadinejad's international debut, his speech to the United Nations.

World leaders had expected a conciliatory proposal to defuse the nuclear crisis after Teheran had restarted another part of its nuclear programme in August.

Instead, they heard the president speak in apocalyptic terms of Iran struggling against an evil West that sought to promote "state terrorism", impose "the logic of the dark ages" and divide the world into "light and dark countries".

The speech ended with the messianic appeal to God to "hasten the emergence of your last repository, the Promised One, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace".

In a video distributed by an Iranian web site in November, Mr Ahmadinejad described how one of his Iranian colleagues had claimed to have seen a glow of light around the president as he began his speech to the UN.

"I felt it myself too," Mr Ahmadinejad recounts. "I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there. And for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink…It's not an exaggeration, because I was looking.

"They were astonished, as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."

Western officials said the real reason for any open-eyed stares from delegates was that "they couldn't believe what they were hearing from Ahmadinejad".

Their sneaking suspicion is that Iran's president actually relishes a clash with the West in the conviction that it would rekindle the spirit of the Islamic revolution and - who knows - speed up the arrival of the Hidden Imam.

The
Foundation
Of
Western
Culture:
God Made
Man In His
Own Image

A little lesson in the foundation of Western Civilization from Henri De Lubac. From the book, The Drama of Atheist Humanism:

A wonderful piece of sculpture adorning the cathedral of Chartres represents Adam, head and shoulders barely roughed out, emerging from the earth from which he was made and being molded by the hands of God. The face of the first man reproduces the features of his modeler. This parable in stone translates for the eyes the mysterious words of Genesis:

"God made man in His own image and likeness."

From its earliest beginnings, Christian tradition has not ceased to annotate this verse, recognizing in it our first title of nobility and the foundation of our greatness. Reason, liberty, immortality, and dominion over nature are so many prerogatives of divine origin that God has imparted to his creatures.

Establishing man, from the outset, in God's likeness, each of these prerogatives is meant to grow and unfold until the divine resemblance is brought to perfection. Thus they are the key to the highest of destinies.

"Man, know thyself!" Taking up, after Epicetetus, the Church tranformed and deepened it, so that what had been chiefly a piece of moral advice became an exhortation to form a metaphysical judgement. Know yourself, said the Church, that is to say, know your nobility and you dignity, understand the greatness of your being and your vocation, of that vocation which constitutes your being. Learn how to see in yourself the spirit, which is a reflection of God, made for God.

"O man, scorn not that which is admirable in you! You are a poor thing in your own eyes, but I would teach you that in reality you are a great thing... Realize what you are! Consider your royal dignity! The heavens have not been made in God's image, nor the moon, nor the sun, nor anything to be seen in creation... Behold, of all that exists, there is nothing that can contain your greatness."

Ahmadinejad
Rambles On
About
"Great Event"
And "Final
Occurrence"

In any other country in the world, this guy would simply be locked up in a nuthouse (Hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):

"Iran FocusTehran, Iran, Jan. 12 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday evening that the Islamic Republic’s 1979 Islamic revolution was a great movement and a stepping stone to a final 'great event' in the world."

Speaking to a crowd in the southern city of Roudan, Hormozgan province, Ahmadinejad said, 'The Islamic Republic is the continuation of the path of the prophets which came to begin a great movement and the final occurrence'.

“'The Islamic revolution was a great leap in leading the people and reaching the climax of history', Ahmadinejad said."

It's time to take out Iran's nuclear facilities.

Bolton
Condemns
UN For
Inclusion
Of Israeless
Map

Heck, I don't know if "Israeless" is an abuse of the English language, but like Bolton, I know that map was an abuse of humanity:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton has complained to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan about an annual U.N. event where a map of pre-1948 Palestine, an area that now comprises the state of Israel, is displayed.

“It was entirely inappropriate for this map to be used. It can be misconstrued to suggest that the United Nations tacitly supports the abolition of the state of Israel,” Bolton said.

“Given that we now have a world leader pursuing nuclear weapons who is calling for the state of Israel to be ‘wiped off the map,’ the issue has even greater salience,” he said in a January 3 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Friday. The letter was first reported in the New York Sun. ...

Bolton’s letter complained about the symbolism of Annan attending the latest International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, held last November 29, along with General Assembly President Jan Eliasson and Russian Ambassador Andrei Denisov, the Security Council president for November.

He questioned whether the United Nations could promote the event when U.S. law prohibits funding such events. Washington’s dues cover about a quarter of the regular U.N. budget.

Annan’s office was preparing a response to the letter, U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. He said the secretary-general was grateful that Bolton and others had brought the matter to his attention and had raised the matter of the map with the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which stages the annual event. It was not Annan but the committee that decided in 1981 to display the pre-1948 map at the annual event, he said.

“This gives a very unfortunate impression that the United Nations favors replacing Israel by a single Palestinian state, which is not the case,” he said, stressing that Annan regularly describes Israel as a full U.N. member and strongly disapproved of the Iranian president’s comments.

It may not be Annans intent to portray that he supports the elimination of Israel, but his behavior and statements over the years do not sufficiently show that he doesn't support such a policy.

Annan needs to stand up and clarify his stance. I can't wait to hear his response.

Pope
Benedict
Personally
Asked
To Visit
Auschwitz
During
Poland Trip

Pope Benedict is the man:

WARSAW (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI personally asked that he be allowed to pray at the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau when he visits his predecessor's Polish homeland in May, a Church official said.

By the way, yes, I criticized the Pope below, for saying that Islam cannot "be brought into the modern world," (if, indeed, he did actually say that), but, while my criticism was rather harsh, let me be clear, that it does not mean that I don't like the Pope.

All human beings have failings. If, at this point, the Pope can not see how we are going to get ourselves out of the mess we're in, then, he is just like 99.9% of all humanity.

As Atlas points out, the Pope also condemns terrorism, demands religious freedom, and makes it known that terrorism is what provokes the "Clash of Civilizations."

Pakistan
Condemns
Deadly U.S.
Airstrike

Like I said, just wait for the Sunday Morning Talk Shows:

DAMADOLA, Pakistan - Pakistan on Saturday condemned a purported CIA airstrike on a border village that officials said unsuccessfully targeted al-Qaida's second-in-command, and said it was protesting to the U.S. Embassy over the attack that killed at least 17 people.

Ooh boy, impeachment talk is going to heat up.

My opinion? I condemn Pakistan for allowing monsters like Zarqawi and Bin Laden to live within their borders. If Pakistan continues to make an issue about this, and we find that Zarqawi was indeed killed in this attack, maybe we should order an attack on Musharrafs offices as well.

Obviously, we are not going to do that, but, the thing is, we know the game we're playing, and so does he. We're acting like he's our ally when in fact, he's our enemy. If he pushes us, he will be put on our listeventually. It is wisest for him to just sit down and shut his mouth.

Friday, January 13, 2006

U.S.
Airstrike
In Pakistan
Targets
Zawahiri

Wait until this hits the Sunday Morning Talk Shows. Man, are the Dems going to throw fits about this. Bush ordered a political assassination in a country with whom we are not at war.

Heh.

I hope to God we got him:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri may have been killed in a US strike on a Pakistani village which left 18 dead, US media reported.

ABC television quoted Pakistani military sources as saying five of those killed were "high level Al-Qaeda figures" whose bodies are undergoing forensic tests for identification.

They said Osama bin Laden's deputy, who has been known to stay at houses in the village, may have been one of the victims.

Citing US defense sources, NBC television said the strike targeted Zawahiri, who has been indicted in the United States for his role in 1998 attacks on US embassies in Africa.

NBC quoted Pakistani sources as saying the strikes were probably carried out by CIA Predator drones which fired up to 10 missiles in the village in the tribal zones of eastern Pakistan.

A CIA spokesman in Washington declined to comment on the reports.

The strike targeted a village which the reports said were a known hideout of Zawahiri and other Al-Qaeda figures.

Residents in the village of Mamund reported the attack earlier and said 18 people had been killed.

But the US Defense Department denied that the US military had carried out any attacks in the area.

"There is no reason to believe the US military is conducting operations there," said Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician.

British
Muslim
Leader
Calls For
Muslims
To Kill Brits

Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammed says the Muslims of the UK no longer have a "covenant of security" with the British. So, it's time for them to take up arms. Hat tip to Strange Girl In A Strange Land:

London, England, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Muslims living in Britain are facing two choices; either to migrate or to join the jihad, a key Islamic figure has said.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammed, leader of the now officially disbanded Islamic militant group Al Muhajiroun told United Press International Saturday that as the covenant of security under which Muslims previously lived in Britain has been broken, Muslims must now consider themselves at war.

"And I declare we should ourselves join the global Islamic camp against the global crusade camp," he said.

What violated the covenant, according to Sheikh Omar, was the anti-terrorist legislation introduced in the United Kingdom after the 9/11 attacks. If the British government would review these policies and release those detained without trial in Belmarsh prison and elsewhere, Muslims could live at peace in Britain. Otherwise, they must prepare themselves to fight.

"The response from the Muslims will be horrendous if the British government continues in the way it treats Muslims," he said, adding that suicide bombings were a possibility.

He called on Muslims to form a new coalition united behind al-Qaida with Osama Bin Laden as their leader.

Those who did not wish to either leave or fight would not be regarded as Muslims, said Sheikh Omar, condemning in particular the Muslim Council of Britain for urging the Muslim community to cooperate with the British government.

"They are hypocrites, we don't believe they are Muslims," he told UPI.

"I doubt if one of them would dare to walk the streets of Mecca by themselves," he added.

In other words, they ought to understand that they are marked for death just as surely as are the Infidels.

Sheikh Omar was speaking after at a conference in London ostensibly organized by Women's Dawah U.K., where around 600 attendees gathered to listen to his call for jihad.

Though he insisted the conference -- titled "The role of Muslims nowadays" was not organized by Al-Muhajiroun, a moderate Islamic source speaking on condition of anonymity that the radical Islamist group were indeed behind it.

The speakers, all leading members of the group, called for war against the kuffaar (non-Muslims) and lead chants as a projector screen showed images of dead American soldiers in Iraq.

As the infamous images of two planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center replayed again and again, the rapt watchers thrust their fists in the air and chanted "Allahu Akhbar! (God is great!)"

Osama Bin Laden "terrified them, he terrorized them, because they terrify us, because they terrorize us," he said.
The governments of the West must know that if they do not behave themselves we will "give them a 9/11 day after day after day!" he shouted, to furious chanting.

"It is our responsibility as Muslims to prepare, to fight," he said, calling on the crowd to "give up your lives for the sake of Allah."

Muslims must also beware of "the enemy within" -- moderate Muslims ...They side with "the Jewish conspirators, the Jewish occupiers and the Christian crusaders," he said, and "will sell out their Muslim brothers."

"Go forth and prepare; fighting has been ordered on both of you," she said.

Why is that guy allowed to live in England?

CUANAS
Believe It
Or Not:
Boys Head
Run Over
By Truck,
He Lives

From the Indianapolis Star:

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- An 11-year-old boy had a lingering headache two days after a pickup truck ran over his head.

Cameron Schuette said Tuesday he did not remember much about the accident, other than the sound.

"All I remember about it was that when the truck ran over my head, I could hear my bones crack," he said.

Cameron, a 5th-grader at Knapp Elementary School, and his 13-year-old brother, Tyler, had been helping their grandfather chop and load wood Sunday. The boys were sitting on the tailgate of their grandfather's truck when he began backing down his gravel driveway and Cameron either fell or jumped off.

Ron Shurley said he at first thought he ran over a piece of wood until he got out of the truck and saw his grandson lying face down in the gravel. Then Cameron stood up and ran into the house, Shurley said.

"He didn't look too worse for wear," Shurley said. "He was just saying he had a headache."

After spotting blood running out of the boy's ear, Shurley drove him to the hospital in the town about 25 miles west of South Bend.

Cameron then was transferred to a hospital in South Bend, where testing revealed he had a slight hairline skull fracture. His mother, Shannon England, said

he also had road rash on his neck and face, a black eye and a laceration on his ear canal.

He was released from the hospital Tuesday, suffering a stiff neck and a headache, but taking only Tylenol for the pain.

I higlighted the injuries the kid sustained because they indicate the truck ran over the top half of his head all the way down to eye and ear level.

I'd call this a miracle of some sort. The kid will not understand the magnitude of what has happened to him, until he is older. In fact, I would think it could profoundly troubling to try to come to grips with such an occurence.

This reminds me of the movie Fearless, starring Jeff Bridges. In the movie, Bridges' character is flying on a commercial airliner when it, all of the sudden, hurtles towards Earth, crashing, and exploding into a million pieces. All passengers die, except Bridges character, who walks away from the accident unharmed.

The movie then follows his character as he attempts to understand, and yet block out, what has happened. His character deals with guilt over the fact that he escaped while so many others died. He comes to have an irrational sense of invincibility, which is revealed, in reality, to be a way of acting out the trauma which comes from watching people in their last terrified moments, and then opening ones eyes to the sheer carnage, only to find that one is, against all sense, ok.

Bridges character drowns in a deep well of sadness, which doesn't make sense to him because he believes he ought to be happy that he was spared.

The movie is about the paradox of miracles, or the cleft that can open up in ones experience when one is profoundly set apart from the rest of the human race.

Now, this kid, obviously, will not be troubled by having watched others die, while he was spared. But, one would think that having such an experience so early in life, would set a precendence of intensity, or specialness about his life. This would lead to expectations. What will happen to me next? Am I different? Am I set apart for something? What is expected of me? How can I ever make up for this?

And yet, at the same time, the kid got up and ran into his house. His parents took him to the hospital. He was ok. Presumably, they took him home. He probably ate his favorite snack, while watching his favorite DVD. He probably sat on the couch and tried to ignore that fact that his parents were staring at him as if he had just vanished and reappeared, tranfigured; an elevated being. Someone blessed, almost messianic.

Of course, he is just a kid, and kids don't think in these terms, but, they do have a feeling for these complex notion. Children do understand the miraculous, the spiritual, usually better than adults. And yet, kids want to move on to the next thing. He wants to play his video game. He wants to go outside and play with his friends, go to the movies, go swimming, but will parents ever again say, "Yes, go ahead," without that look on their face?

And, as he grows up and is assailed by the ordinary disappointments in life, will he wonder, always in despair, "Was it for this, I was spared? Have I squandered my miracle?

And, of course, we all squander our miracles, but no one could ever make such a person understand this truth. Nor would we even try.

This is an amazing story, I pray for this kid, that his miracle can lead to a blessed life. I pray he can find a way to make it make sense.

3 Questions

In light of the Pope Benedict post, and the comments thread that ensued, I have three questions to ponder:

1) Is it more beneficial to say,

Islam needs to be reformed,

or

Islam can not be reformed ("brought into the modern world")?

2) If we say Islam can not be reformed "brought into the modern world"), does that mean we must resolve to destroy it?

3) Is it possible to destroy a religion?

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Russian Man:
"I Will
Kill Jews,"
Stabs Eight
People
In
Synagogue

Russian man storms Synagogue. Stabs eight Jews.

It appears anti-Semitism is spreading and becoming bloody in Russia:

MOSCOW - Pogroms and purges of Jews are a thing of the past in Russia, but as women scrubbed the bloodstained floors of Moscow's Chabad Bronnaya synagogue on Thursday, a day after a man burst in and stabbed worshippers, alarm spread over increasingly open anti-Semitism.

Jewish leaders warned official indifference is fueling a wave of hate attacks and called for a crackdown on aggressive nationalist and fascist groups that have mushroomed in recent years. Police should guard outside synagogues and other Jewish sites, they said.

"We expect government and law enforcement agencies to take real measures to ensure this doesn't happen again," Russia's chief rabbi, Berel Lazar, said. "If there is indifference, nothing will change."

Worshippers were somber at the synagogue in downtown Moscow, where the knife-wielding man shouting "I will kill Jews" slashed and stabbed at least eight people before a rabbi's son wrestled him to the ground.

"Until yesterday, I felt completely safe but things have gotten serious now," said Nadav Zavilinsky, a 21-year-old religious student who witnessed the attack.

Among the eight men wounded were an American, an Israeli and a Tajik, chief Moscow prosecutor Anatoly Zuyev said. Four of the victims remained in serious condition Thursday.

A million Jews live in Russia, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities, as the Jewish community has experienced a revival after a wave of emigration to Israel and other countries before and after the break up of the Soviet Union.

But hundreds of racially motivated attacks, including the occasional desecration of Jewish cemeteries and synagogues, have occurred in recent years in violence aimed at Jews as well as dark-skinned immigrants from former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region.

More than 40 people in Russia were killed in apparently racially motivated attacks last year, according to the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights. The group estimates that Russia is home to some 50,000 skinheads and numerous neo-Nazi organizations.

Rights activists say such groups are emboldened by mild prosecution of hate crimes and they complain that Nazi and other extremist literature is sold freely.

The suspect in Wednesday's attack, identified as Alexander Koptsev, 20, was reading a book about Jews betraying Russia shortly before the assault, his father told the Kommersant daily.

Two men assaulted two rabbis near another synagogue in Moscow in January but were convicted of assault and hooliganism, which carry lesser sentences than hate crimes.

Alla Gerber, head of the Holocaust Foundation, said anti-Semitism persisted within law enforcement ranks despite high-level condemnation.

"I was shocked at what happened yesterday, but not surprised. Anti-Semitism is a traditional problem in Russia, and it is flourishing now in a general climate of xenophobia," Gerber said.

In what was seen as a step forward, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged anti-Semitism as a problem when he attended ceremonies in January marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

But just before the Auschwitz commemorations, a group of nationalist Russian lawmakers called for an investigation aimed at outlawing all Jewish organizations, accusing Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred.

While the authorities ignored calls by human rights groups to prosecute the legislators, they investigated whether an ancient Jewish text incited religious hatred after a complaint from two nationalist activists.

Later Thursday, Moscow police chief, Vladimir Pronin promised to deploy officers to help protect synagogues. Lazar and Pronin also agreed in a meeting to set up a joint working group to monitor xenophobic propaganda and extremist groups, Lazar's office said in a statement.

From News of Eurabia

Ahmadinejad
Sends His
Message
To The
Faithful

Think very carefully about the words Ahmadinejad uses to describe his "peaceful" nuclear energy. (From Iran Focus Jihad Watch):

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic would obtain nuclear capabilities in the “near future”.

“In the near future, full nuclear energy for peaceful purposes will be at our disposal”, Ahmadinejad told a gathering in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

What do you think he means by "full" nuclear energy? Like, he's not just going to have half-assed nuclear energy. His nuclear energy is going to be among the best of all nuclear energy, apparently. It will really send the sparks flying. It will, you know, light up a whole city. Hell, maybe even a whole country, huh?

Ahmadinejad just out-nuanced all of Europe with one flick of the tongue.

Angela Merkel:
Our Friend
In Germany

John Vinocur, from the New York Times, on German leader, Angela Merkel:

Merkel is a leader who focused her first major speech on talking about freedom to a Germany historically obsessed with stability as a greater virtue ...Who believes Europe can never become strong and united in opposition to America.

And who wrote into the coalition agreement linking her Christian Democrats to the Social Democrats (in a government of not terribly like-minded parties) that Germans have to be educated again on the United States as creative force - when the polls show America has come to be regarded here with real mistrust.

Karsten Voigt, the Social Democrat who is a holdover as coordinator for German-American affairs in the Foreign Ministry, has caught the new line:

"Her positive America vision will have a real effect on policy. Freedom - it's very important to her. She means it."

This does not include German troops in Iraq. It involves telling Bush, as Merkel indicated over the weekend, that the Guantánamo Bay prison camp mustn't exist "in the longer term."

But it does signify, in relation to the Middle East, what Voigt called an emphasis on establishing new values there - "more human rights, more accountability. It's a gradual process, not an absolute approach." … [Among the] examples, registered by visitors, of its anything-but-adversarial stance in relation to areas of American concern (no deep-reading or textual exegesis required): …

• A clear refusal to go along with French efforts to lift the EU's embargo on arms sales to China, while maintaining cooperation with France as a vital element of German European policy.…

Fundamentally, this means - my take here - that Germany drops playing tag-along to France's vision of a world divided into rival poles; stops demonizing the United States; and abandons as a serious mistake the France-Russia-Germany axis exemplified in Gerhard Schröder's seduction by Putin, the old KGB recruiter.

It's not overdone to believe these choices involve Merkel's deepest convictions. She is forever a child of the Soviet orbit and four decades of totalitarianism growing up in East Germany. In Merkel's mind, the Reagan years signaled the downfall of the old order and German unification, not marching in protest against America's missile and Star Wars programs.

Metaphor

Hundreds of people were killed when a crowd of Muslims freaked out and stampeded each other to death:

MINA, Saudi Arabia - Thousands of Muslim pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the hajj tripped over luggage Thursday, causing a crush in which at least 345 people were killed, the Interior Ministry said.

The stampede occurred as tens of thousands of pilgrims headed toward al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said 345 people were killed. More than 1,000 people were injured, said Dr. Abbasi with the Saudi Red Crescent.

Footage from the scene showed lines of bodies laid out on stretchers on the pavement and covered with sheets. Ahmed Mustafa, an Egyptian pilgrim, said he saw bodies taken away in refrigerator trucks.

An Egyptian pilgrim, Suad Abu Hamada, heard screaming and "saw people jumping over each other."
"The bodies were piled up. I couldn't count them, they were too many," she said.

The site is a notorious bottleneck for the massive crowds that attend the annual hajj pilgrimage and has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.

A
Message
To
Moderate
Muslims

We're all getting pretty sick of waiting for the moderate Muslims of the world to begin fighting back against those who have stolen their peaceful religion from them. Here's a comment left on a post at Gates of Vienna by Mussolini, which shows how we will all come to think, if those elusive moderates don't get up off their asses and do something about the terrorists in their midst:

I had thought I was at my limit with the beheadings of the Christian schoolgirls last year by victorious muslims-for-Allah.But Islam keeps surprising me at each turn. My hatred of this murder-cult grows deeper than my perceived limits with every revelation of media cover-up of Islamic crimes.

And still, supposedly "saner" heads on the left say we must understand Islam. Even a good majority of morons on the right claim that not all of Islam is bad and that we can't declare war on a whole religion of 1.3 billion people.

On those numbers, all of the left and many idiots on the right claim that 99.99999999999999999999% of muslims are peaceful and not terrorists.

Well, I find that funny. If almost all of the 1.3 billion muslims are really peaceful, then where are the 1.3 billion outcries at the depredations in the name of Allah? Shouldn't there be billion-man marches? How many can anyone count in the last year? Oh... none? Well, okay, maybe only half are peaceful. Fine. Where are the 650 million man marches against all this terrorism?

Oh... none? So maybe only 10% of muslims are peaceful. Fine. Where are the ONE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION protesting muslims?Oh... none? So maybe only ONE fucking percent of muslims are peaceful. Fine. Where are the THIRTEEN MILLION outcries?

Oh... ... Well how about 1/10th of 1%? I mean, come on. At least 1/10th of 1% of all the muslims in the world must want peace, right? Where are the 1.3 million outcries against murder?Oh... none.

Do a google search. It's pretty depressing. Most of the muslim outcries are against Israeli "atrocities." Even MEMRI can only scratch together a half dozen protestors. Lessee.... a half dozen out of 1.3 billion.Would anyone say that 6 out of 1,300,000,000 is a "statistically insignificant" number? Well, I would.

Islam is a political murder-cult disease that needs to be outlawed. Muslims need to be "cleansed" from out of the West and sent back to their own... the lands they already took from us.

I have come to hate Islam and everyone that defends their sick "religion."

So, my friends, you Moderate Muslims out there, what do you think of that? Do you want everyone to come to hate you like that? I have a suggestion. If you are a Moderate, then go to the local church, the local synagogue, the local Mormon temple, and any other house of worship in your area, and invite their members down to your mosque to cart out all the hate literature and dump it in a recycling bin.

Start building some trust with your neighbors. Because you are losing all of it. And, when you have lost all trust, then you are only one major terrorist attack away from big, big trouble.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Israel Suspends Contact With Pat Robertson

Last week, Pat Robertson said Ariel Sharon's stroke was God's punishment for having vacated the Gaza Strip. This week, Israel has suspended all contact between their government and Pat Robertson the man, and his ministries.

Who can blame them?

Moloch

The BBC's Alan Johnston finds a way to blame the Israel (read: the Jews) for the fact that Muslims are killing each other in Gaza. Yes, he blames Israel, even though Gaza has been completely and totally ethnically cleansed of Jews. From Chistian Hate?:

‘This society has been radicalised and traumatised by its confrontation with the Israelis, who occupied Gaza decades ago and only evacuated their settlers and troops last summer.

‘Thousands of Palestinians have been killed, injured or lost their homes during years of violence.

‘There are numerous armed factions that used to channel their violent energies into attacks on the Israelis - but they now have little on which to focus.’

So, naturally, they kill each other.

Over at Mystery Achievement, we were discussing the phenomena of Muslims killing each other, when they have run out of Infidels to kill. We see this happening in the Sudan, in Iraq, during the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca, etc.

Someguy said, "Doesn't Islam kill it's followers (as a matter of course)? Aren't the majority of targets and victims of recent Islamic terrorist attacks in fact Muslims themselves?

Sometimes it seems to me that they feel that if they can't convince people to convert, make them do so through force, or kill them if they refuse, they deliberately create scenarios in which large numbers of them are killed themselves. How else can they please their false god if they fail at their mission?

It's for that reason--and for the existence of the death penalty for apostasy--that I sometimes think that Islam does, indeed, have a sacrament: human sacrifice."

To which Joseph D'Hippolito brilliantly replied,

"Islam is Moloch worship disguised as "ethical monotheism."

It seems to me that, perhaps, there is a way in which Alan Johnston is worshipping Moloch also. For, it would seem, he is only too willing to feed the Jews to the Islamofascist murderers.

Great
Moments
In The
History
Of The
Ecological
Movement

Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace said:

The environmental movement abandoned science and logic somewhere in the mid-1980s, just as mainstream society was adopting all the more reasonable items on the environmental agenda. This was because many environmentalists couldn't make the transition from confrontation to consensus, and could not get out of adversarial politics.

This particularly applies to political activists who were using environmental rhetoric to cover up agendas that had more to do with class warfare and anti-corporatism than they did with the actual science of the environment. To stay in an adversarial role, those people had to adopt ever more extreme positions because all the reasonable ones were being accepted.

Iranian
Leader
Says America
Will Regret
Attempts
To Halt
Iranian
Nuclear
Project

So, now they are threatening us:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Wednesday dismissed as futile any move to slap sanctions on Iran for its nuclear fuel program, which the West suspects is aimed at developing bombs.

Iran removed UN seals at uranium enrichment research facilities on Tuesday and announced it would resume "research and development" on producing uranium fuel, prompting angry reactions from Washington, the European Union and Russia.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain will meet in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the crisis caused by Iran's move to reactivate a nuclear fuel program mothballed under a November 2004 deal with the EU trio.

Iran's action had sent shockwaves through oil markets on Tuesday, helping push up the price of crude for a while.

"Adopting harsh measures like imposing sanctions cannot bring about the desired outcome," Rafsanjani said at Tehran University in a sermon to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.

"We will stand by our right to nuclear technology. They will regret creating any problems for us," he told worshippers, without elaborating.

Europe is shaking in their boots. America is grinding it's teeth and clutching it's fists, and Russia and China are laughing silently to themselves, as they triangulate a world war against us, without having to life a finger.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Pope
Benedict
The Next
To
Last

In 1139, St. Malachy claimed to have had a vision wherein he was shown all the 112 remaining Popes up to the End Times. Benedict is the 111th of these Popes. His papacy was declared by St. Malachy to be "The Glory Of The Olives." This prophecy is said to fit Benedict because the Bedectine Order has a branch called the Olivetans, and because, thus far, he has spoken out for peace, to a fault, if you ask me.

About a week ago, I was driving home from work, listening to the Hugh Hewitt radio program. Hugh was interviewing a Father Fessio, who relayed that he had been at a "seminar" on Islam, attended by Pope Benedict. Father Fessio relayed that, contrary to his usual habit, after Benedict listened to the scheduled speaker, he did not allow his students to speak first, but instead, took the podium for himself, and declared Islam incapable of entering into the modern world, incapable of reforming itself:

HH: Father Fessio, before the break, you were telling us that after the presentation at Castel Gandolfo by two scholars of Islam this summer with Benedict in attendance, as well as his former students, for the first time in your memory, the Pope did not allow his students to first comment and reserve comment, but in fact, went first. Why, and what did he say?

JF: Well, the thesis that was proposed by this scholar was that Islam can enter into the modern world if the Koran is reinterpreted by taking the specific legislation, and going back to the principles, and then adapting it to our times, especially with the dignity that we ascribe to women, which has come through Christianity, of course. And immediately, the Holy Father, in his beautiful calm but clear way, said well, there's a fundamental problem with that, because he said in the Islamic tradition, God has given His word to Mohammed, but it's an eternal word. It's not Mohammed's word. It's there for eternity the way it is. There's no possibility of adapting it or interpreting it, whereas in Christianity, and Judaism, the dynamism's completely different, that God has worked through His creatures. And so, it is not just the word of God, it's the word of Isaiah, not just the word of God, but the word of Mark. He's used His human creatures, and inspired them to speak His word to the world ...

... it was stunning.

Yes, I must say, I do find this stunning.

The first couple of days, after having heard this exchange, I wandered around thinking that, as I I respect and admire Pope Benedict so much, and believe him to be one of the most remarkable intellects I have ever encountered, I may have to change my worldview entirely.

I have always held that Islam can be reformed, and that the United States is pursuing the proper strategy in attempting to install Freedom and Democratic Republicanism in the Islamic world.

It would seem the Pope does not think so.

My friend Someguy, over at Mystery Achievement (and many others across the blogosphere), agrees with Father Fessio's version of what the Pope has declared.

After having given it much consideration, I have come to the conclusion that, either Father Fessio misunderstood the Pope (as I have noticed his people often do), or, the Pope is wrong on this issue. If the Pope is wrong in the way I think he may be, then it would seem logical, whether or not one believes in St. Malachy's prophecy, that Benedict may, indeed, be the next to last Pope.

Why do I say this? Because, if Pope Benedict believes that Islam can not be reformed, then the Christian worldview has reached its end. And, after Benedict would pass on, it would not surprise me that there would be just one more Pope to oversee Armageddon.

If Islam can not be reformed, then what is the solution? Are we to offer Muslims the Infidel bargain; convert or die? That would hardly be according to Christian principles? There is no way to stamp Islam out of existence. The only way to defeat the menace of Islam, which I choose to call Islamic Jihadism, is to defeat the Jihadis on the battlefield, and then to enforce changes within the ideology of Islam which will make it compatible with a Democratic Republic.

Christianity has always believed that its God was the One True and Living God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the sustainer of all being. As such, Christianity has always believed God was bigger than any evil. Christians with this understanding, have been able to accomlish amazing feats throughout history, not the least of which has been the creation of our magnificent Western Civilization; culminating in the Democratic Republic of the United States of America.

The Benedict I have come to know, from having read his books and essays, is a big believer that the Power and Grace of the living God has the authority and dominion over all things in Heaven and Earth. There is a verse in Romans which says,

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If Benedict said that Islam is an evil which can not be reformed, then he has refuted Gods Word spoken very clearly in this passage.

And, let me say, Freedom is the First Principle we need to fight for here, because freedom is the only thing which will allow individual Muslims to throw off the chains which bind them. The people of Islam, currently, live in bondage. They are enslaved to Allah. They are not evil as individuals, anymore than the people of Germany were all evil, as individuals. They are, instead, living in the chains of an ideology which has spread across their land and become monolithic.

God wants us to be free. When a government promotes an ideology which enslaves its citizens, then there can be no Freedom to choose God's Will.

To say that the ideology of Islam can not be reformed is to abandon the people of the Muslim world to slavery. It is true that freedom can lead to a lot of evil. There is no doubt about that. However, I still maintain that Freedom is the First Principle. In fact, to be clear, I will go so far as to say that Freedom was God's First Principle in Creating Man in His Image.

We face a dilemna; should we work to give freedom to those in the Muslim world, or should we set up a thug who will keep the Muslims in line?

This is the same question God faced when He created us? He saw us in His mind and thought, "I know that if I give them Freedom, they will eat of the apple. So, should I create them Free, or should I simply create them as innocents who have no choice but to live according to My Will?"

He chose to create us with free will, despite his foreknowledge of the Fall.

Milton proposed the idea of the Happy Fall. That is, God knew that He would be able to take the evil that came of sin, and create something even more glorious. He has done it.

I believe we must stick to our Judeo-Christian principles, even when they look like they are going to fail us. These are the things in which we believe. We must decide do we believe in Freedom? Do we believe in Democracy? Do we believe our own Declaration of Independence, when it says, "All men are created equal and endowed by God with certain inalienable rights."

Abraham Lincoln said, "This is the real issue ... the eternal struggle between these two principles- right and wrong - throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, You work and toil and I'll eat it."

Allah demands that his subjects work and toil so that he may eat them alive. That is the nature of the slavery of Islam, as it stands today; a God who feeds on human beings. But, that does not mean that we can not help Muslims reform Islam. Yes, with man, it may seem impossible, but with our Faith in the Principles which God has given us, with God, all things are possible.

These have carried us through the implementation of Freedom across the world. They have carried us through horrible wars. Good wins out over evil, ultimately, because the forces of evil can not forge a working alliance.

We will win if we have the faith to stick to the principles God gave us.

Bush
Plays
The Dems:
Watch
Them
Dance

President Bush, knowing the Democrats will reflexively oppose anything that comes out of his mouth, gives them the advice their P.R. people ought to be giving them:

President Bush, in full campaign mode, warned Democratic critics of his Iraq policy on Tuesday to watch what they say or risk giving "comfort to our adversaries" and suffering at the ballot box in November. Democrats said Bush should take his own advice.

Just watch as the Dems fall all over themselves trying to make ever more outrageous accusations against America. Imagine George Bush sitting in the White House laughing his ass off. This is going to be fun.

On A
Mission
From God:
Iranian
President
Is
"End Times
Fanatic"

From Front Page Magazine:

Thanks to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, a new word has entered the political vocabulary: mahdaviat.

Not surprisingly, it’s a technical religious term. Mahdaviat derives from mahdi, Arabic for “rightly-guided one,” a major figure in Islamic eschatology. He is, explains the Encyclopaedia of Islam, “the restorer of religion and justice who will rule before the end of the world.”

Mahdaviat means “belief in and efforts to prepare for the Mahdi.”

In a fine piece of reporting, Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor shows the centrality of mahdaviat in Ahmadinejad’s outlook and explores its implications for his policies.

When he was still mayor of Tehran in 2004, for example, Ahmadinejad appears to have secretly instructed the city council to build a grand avenue to prepare for the Mahdi. A year later, as president, he allocated US$17 million for a blue-tiled mosque closely associated with mahdaviat in Jamkaran, south of the capital. He has instigated the building of a direct Tehran-Jamkaran railroad line. He had a list of his proposed cabinet members dropped into a well adjacent to the Jamkaran mosque, it is said, to benefit from its purported divine connection.

He often raises the topic, and not just to Muslims. When addressing the United Nations in September, Ahmadinejad flummoxed his audience of world political leaders by concluding his address with a prayer for the Mahdi’s appearance: “O mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the Promised One, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.”

On returning to Iran from New York, Ahmadinejad recalled the effect of his U.N. speech:

"One of our group told me that when I started to say “In the name of God the almighty and merciful,” he saw a light around me, and I was placed inside this aura. I felt it myself. I felt the atmosphere suddenly change, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, the leaders of the world did not blink. … And they were rapt. It seemed as if a hand was holding them there and had opened their eyes to receive the message from the Islamic republic."

“Mahdaviat is a code for [Iran’s Islamic] revolution, and is the spirit of the revolution,” says the head of an institute dedicated to studying and speeding the Mahdi’s appearance. “This kind of mentality makes you very strong,” observes the political editor of Resalat newspaper, Amir Mohebian. “If I think the Mahdi will come in two, three, or four years, why should I be soft? Now is the time to stand strong, to be hard.”

Some Iranians, reports PBS, “worry that their new president has no fear of international turmoil, may think it's just a sign from God.”

Mahdaviat has direct and ominous implications for the U.S.-Iran confrontation, says an Ahmadinejad supporter, Hamidreza Taraghi of Iran’s hard-line Islamic Coalition Society. It implies seeing Washington as the rival to Tehran and even as a false Mahdi. For Ahmadinejad, the top priority is to challenge America. Taraghi predicts trouble ahead unless Americans fundamentally change their ways.

I’d reverse that formulation. The most dangerous leaders in modern history are those (like Hitler) equipped with a totalitarian ideology and a mystical belief in their own mission. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fulfills both these criteria, as revealed by his U.N. comments. That combined with his expected nuclear arsenal make him an adversary who must be stopped, and urgently.

The fact that Ahmadinejad is an End Times freak has been making me think of the very real possibility that we could be headed for massive destruction in our world. If this man does detonate a nuclear weapon in Israel, or in an American city, the world will fundamentally change. The response to such an attack will be horrific, and could very well involve multiple nations lobbing missiles at each other in a kind of nuclear feeding frenzy.

I don't want to see that happen. We can not allow loose cannons like Ahmadinejad to possess nuclear weapons. We must bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities before they achieve their goal.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Religion
Of Peace
Preaches
War
In Mecca

How could this be? I thought it was a Religion of Peace? And, you know, the funny thing is, their preaching of war is in response to culture changes demanded by the West. Violence in response to changes in ideological demands? But, I thought this was a ... Oh, never mind:

Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, the kingdom’s grand mufti, said Muslims faced critical challenges, among them accusations of terrorism and human rights abuses and calls for revisions in their school textbooks.

“Oh, Muslim nation, there is a war against of our creed, against our culture under the pretext of fighting terrorism. We should stand firm and united in protecting our religion,” he said, speaking at a mosque on the plain of Mount Arafat.

“Islam’s enemies want to empty our religion from its contents and its meaning. But the soldiers of God will be victorious,” said al-Sheik, the Saudi kingdom’s top religious authority.

The faithful called out: “Amen!”

They are calling for violence because they are accused of terrorism?

Zionists
Wily Plot
To Make
Jihadis
Look
Foolish

One is the Jihadis favorite ways to incite anti-Semitic hatred in Istael is to claim the Jews are digging underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with plans to build a Jewish Temple. Supernatural Blog has a post up about this phenomenon, which includes the following article from Islam Online detailing the sneaky Zionist plot:

"The synagogue has been built right beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque, some 90m from the Dome of the Rock," Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement inside the Green Line, told a press conference in the holy city, reported Al-Jazeera.

He said the synagogue includes seven rooms tracing the Jewish history. "One of these rooms features Germany's Nazi rule and the World War II Holocaust." Salah said that works were in full swing to build another synagogue for women under the mosque.

Islam Online even has purported video and photos of the supposed excavation. UPI recently featured an article debunking this whole myth:

The pictures and film the organizers provided did not prove works were under the mosque. They were pictures taken in the Western Wall Tunnels that run beside the half a kilometer long Western Wall. The tunnels are open to tourists….

The film showed an official placing a model of a temple at the site of the Dome of the Rock and said that indicated Israel's plans to replace the mosque with their temple. They showed a door open to allow a worker leave with a ladder and close immediately. Another picture showed people working behind a closed door, one of them holding wires. They took it as proof of digging behind. One picture was described as a tunnel leading into the mosque area.

Supernatural Blog recently went to Israel and took a tour, available to the public, of the dreaded tunnels leading to the excavation. Turns out they do not go underneath the Mosque, but instead simply give people an underground view of the depth of the Western Wall. (The photo above shows the underground view of the Wall.)

Those wily Zionists. They did that to make the Jihadis look like fools, didn't they?

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Pre-Futurism Vs. The Singularity
Intelligent Universe?

This post is going to start out with a rather dry discussion of the history of microprocessors. But go with me on this. I want to show how computing has developed and where it is going.

I can almost guarantee you that what you are going to read here will be one of the most incredible new ideas you have ever been hit with.

It isn't my idea, so I am not bragging. Here we go.

The information in computers is stored in binary code consisting of zeroes and ones. These zeroes and ones are processed through microchips, or microprocessors.

In the old days, the central processing unit of a computer was made from bulky discrete switching devices (and later small-scale integrated circuits) containing the equivalent of only a few transistors. In 1971 Intel developed the first microprocessor, which they called the 4004:

The 4004 was not very powerful -- all it could do was add and subtract, and it could only do that 4 bits at a time. But it was amazing that everything was on one chip. Prior to the 4004, engineers built computers either from collections of chips or from discrete components (transistors wired one at a time). The 4004 powered one of the first portable electronic
calculators.

In 1974 Intel developed an 8-bit microprocessor called the 8008, able to carry 6,000 transistors, which gave birth to the personal computing revolution.

Now check out these numbers:

In 1979 the 8088 was created with 29,000 transistors.
In 1982, the 80286 was created with 134,000 transistors.
In 1985, the 80386 was created with 275,000 transistors.

etc.

until today, when the Pentium Four Prescott carries 125,000,000 transistors.

How do they do this? Well, they put more information on a piece of silicon in smaller and smaller pieces. On the Pentium Four Prescott, the smallest wire on the chip is just .09 microns wide. For comparison, a human hair is 100 microns thick. As the feature size on the chip goes down, the number of transistors rises. The 8008 chip, by comparison, carried wires which were 6 microns thick.

Now, here's the thing. At a certain point you can't keep creating wires in smaller and smaller microns because you will be down to the atomic level. So, what do you do then?

You start turning the atoms themselves into computers:

Researchers at the University of Michigan have produced what is believed to be the first scalable quantum computer chip, which could mean big gains in the worldwide race to develop a quantum computer.

Using the same semiconductor fabrication technology that is used in everyday computer chips, researchers were able to trap a single atom within an integrated semiconductor chip and control it using electrical signals, said Christopher Monroe, U-M physics professor and the principal investigator and co-author of the paper, "Ion Trap in a Semiconductor Chip." The paper appeared in the Dec. 11 issue of Nature Physics.

Quantum computers are promising because they can solve certain problems much faster than any possible conventional computer, owing to the bizarre features of quantum mechanics. For instance, quantum computers can process multiple inputs at the same time in the same device, and quantum circuitry can be wired via the quantum feature of entanglement, dubbed by Einstein as "spooky action-at-a-distance."

One of the most favored candidate quantum computer architectures is the use of individual atoms to store quantum bits ( qubits) of information, where each qubit can hold the number 1 or 0, or even both 1 and 0 simultaneously, Monroe said.

You can see that the speed of such quantum processing will be exponentially greater than the speed of current microprocessors.

But wait, there's more. What happens if you string atoms together into an atomic chain functioning as parelell processors?:

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — The only hint that anything extraordinary is happening inside the brown stucco building at Los Alamos National Laboratory is a small metal sign posted in front:

"Warning! Magnetic Field in Use. Remain on Sidewalk." Come much closer and you risk having the magnetic stripes on your credit cards erased.

The powerful field is emanating from the supercooled superconducting magnets inside a tanklike machine called a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer.

The device itself is unremarkable. N.M.R. machines are used in chemistry labs across the world to map the architecture of molecules by sensing how their atoms dance to the beat of electromagnetic waves. Hospitals and clinics use the same technology, called magnetic resonance imaging, or M.R.I., to scan the tissues of the human body.

The machine at Los Alamos has been enlisted on a recent morning for a grander purpose: to carry out an experiment in quantum computing. By using radio waves to manipulate atoms like so many quantum abacus beads, the Los Alamos scientists will coax a molecule called crotonic acid into executing a simple computer program.

Last year they set a record, carrying out a calculation involving seven atoms. This year they are shooting for 10. That may not sound like many.

Each atom can be thought of as a little switch, a register that holds a 1 or a 0, and the latest Pentium chip contains 42 million such devices. But the paradoxical laws of quantum mechanics confer a powerful advantage: a single atom can do two calculations at once. Two atoms can do four, three atoms can do eight.

By the time you reach 10, doubling and doubling and doubling along the way, you have an invisibly tiny computer that can carry out 1,024 (210) calculations at the same time.

If scientists can find ways to leverage this achievement to embrace 20 atoms, they will be able to execute a million simultaneous calculations. Double that again to 40 atoms, and 10 trillion calculations can be done in tandem.

The goal, still but a distant glimmer, is to harness thousands of atoms, resulting in a machine so powerful that it would easily break codes now considered impenetrable and solve other problems that are impossible for even the fastest supercomputer.

"We are at the border of a new territory," said Dr. Raymond Laflamme, one of the leaders of the Los Alamos project. "All the experiments today are a very small step, but they show that there is not a wall."

In other words, less than one hundred atoms would be faster than the largest computer on Earth today.

Ok, that is amazing enough, but there is a further implication to this atomic quantum computing. Think about it.

We're talking about using atoms as computers.

What is the world made up of?

Yes, that's right, atoms.

Obviously, huh?

But, if we can use atoms as microprocessors, then can we use the matter around us as microprocessors, turning the world itself into a gigantic computer?

Ray Kurzweil believes that is going to happen This is from an interview with Mr. Kurzweil from What is Enlightenment? magazine:

WIE: You mentioned earlier that as human beings we naturally seek to expand our horizons, and that in the future we will do so largely through the expansion of our intelligence. Do you see the expansion of human intelligence as an evolutionary end in itself?

RK: Well, it's a good question. It's like asking, "What is the purpose of life?" In my mind, we will ultimately saturate all of the matter and energy in our area of the universe with our intelligence, and I suppose you could say that's an end in itself. All of this dumb matter and energy around us will wake up and become sublimely intelligent. Then it will spread out to the whole universe at the fastest speed information can flow. And one could make an argument that it's not going to take an infinitely long time because there may be other ways to get to other parts of the universe through shortcuts like wormholes, which physics has postulated. Eventually the whole universe will, essentially, wake up.

But isn't it interesting that you never see cosmologists give any role to intelligence in the future destiny of the universe? Rather, they talk a lot about whether or not the universe will contract back to a big crunch or expand indefinitely, as if these sorts of mindless forces of physics are just going to endlessly grind on like a big dumb machine.

Nowhere do they consider, "Now, wait a second, intelligence could spread through the universe and actually make an intelligent decision about what the destiny of the universe is, and even though the gravitational force and other forces might cause the universe to spin apart, the intelligent civilization infusing the whole universe will decide, 'No, we're not going to do that. We're going to do something different.'"

WIE: Some scientists and cosmologists argue that the universe is already intelligent. But what you're saying is that we will use technology to inject our own intelligence into the nonintelligent matter of the universe, that it's a purely physical accomplishment.

RK: Exactly. And that's a form of enlightenment. Because I would say that the whole universe is not intelligent at this point. But I think it will become intelligent through the process that I described.

WIE: How do you see that happening on a practical level? Can you envision it?

RK: Well, yes. We can state the fact that levels of intelligence far greater than our own are going to evolve within this century. We can't entirely describe what that will be like because it will be, by definition, more intelligent than we are. As we move through three-dimensional molecular computing, we're ultimately going to be organizing matter and energy in a very efficient way, down to the atomic level. In about twelve years, we'll be able to compute very efficiently with these three-dimensional molecular structures, which actually are based on carbon, much like life is, but organized millions of times more powerfully.

A one-inch tube of nanotube circuitry built out of carbon atoms would be a million times more powerful than the human brain. Using these incredibly small information-processing systems, which have the ability to reorganize matter, we'll ultimately be able to convert most of the matter and energy in our area of the universe into very efficiently organized processes for running intelligence.

And then, this intelligence will expand outward, almost like information, but it will actually be able to essentially convert and absorb into itself all the matter and energy that it encounters as it continues to spread outward into the universe.

I don't even know what to say about this. The thing is, it is the most incredible thing I have ever heard. It sounds insane, and yet, if we are already learning to use atoms as processors, why would this not work?

And what would happen when we had begun to use the entire universe as a computer? What would such a universe think about? We can guess it would think about some sort of creation, right?

What would it create? Another universe?

What is going on here?

Sharon's
Doctor
Says
Chances Of
Surviving
Are
Very High

Praying at the Western Wall.

Good news. Let's also pray that he can come through healthy enough to enjoy life a bit:

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chances of surviving his severe stroke are very high, but his ability to think and reason have been damaged, one of his surgeons said Saturday.

The 77-year-old Israeli leader remained in critical condition, though his vital signs were stable and a brain scan Saturday showed a slight reduction in swelling.

Doctors are to decide Sunday when to begin lifting Sharon's medically induced coma to examine the severity of the brain damage.

"Tomorrow is the day of truth," Dr. Jose Cohen, one of Sharon's surgeons, told Channel 2 TV. "Tomorrow we will all know if what we did for him helped him or not."

Cohen said he was "quite optimistic" about Sharon's prospects for survival, which he said were "very high now."

But when asked about possible cognitive impairment, Cohen replied, "To say after such a severe trauma as this that there will be no cognitive problems is simply not to recognize the reality."

Cohen's comments appeared on Channel 2 as a transcript broadcast on the screen. He did not appear himself. It was not immediately possible to contact Cohen by phone, and Sharon's other surgeon, Dr. Felix Umansky, declined to be interviewed.

The comments reinforced a widespread assumption that Sharon will never return to power. Israelis from all walks of life have lamented Sharon's likely departure from the political scene.

With his larger-than life persona and warrior credentials, he was seen as the man most capable of disentangling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Documents
Prove
Saddam
Trained
Terrorists

One of the arguments you always hear from those who oppose the war is, "Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. There were no terrorists in Iraq." Well, of course, those who live on this side of reality never believed that. We have all heard about the training camp in Northern Iraq, where terrorists trained in hijacking jets. We know that Abu Nidal lived in Iraq, at Saddam's behest.

But, such truths have never swayed those who opposed the Iraq war.

Well, now, there are documents being released by the United States government (finally) which reveal concrete evidence of Saddam's training and funding of terrorists:

THE FORMER IRAQI REGIME OF Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion, according to documents and photographs recovered by the U.S. military in postwar Iraq. The existence and character of these documents has been confirmed to THE WEEKLY STANDARD by eleven U.S. government officials.

The secret training took place primarily at three camps--in Samarra, Ramadi, and Salman Pak--and was directed by elite Iraqi military units.

Interviews by U.S. government interrogators with Iraqi regime officials and military leaders corroborate the documentary evidence. Many of the fighters were drawn from terrorist groups in northern Africa with close ties to al Qaeda, chief among them Algeria's GSPC and the Sudanese Islamic Army. Some 2,000 terrorists were trained at these Iraqi camps each year from 1999 to 2002, putting the total number at or above 8,000.

Intelligence officials believe that some of these terrorists returned to Iraq and are responsible for attacks against Americans and Iraqis. According to three officials with knowledge of the intelligence on Iraqi training camps, White House and National Security Council officials were briefed on these findings in May 2005; senior Defense Department officials subsequently received the same briefing.

The photographs and documents on Iraqi training camps come from a collection of some 2 million "exploitable items" captured in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan. They include handwritten notes, typed documents, audiotapes, videotapes, compact discs, floppy discs, and computer hard drives. Taken together, this collection could give U.S. intelligence officials and policymakers an inside look at the activities of the former Iraqi regime in the months and years before the Iraq war.

Read the whole thing.

Palestinian
Militants
Order
Election
Observers
To Leave
Jenin

From AFP, via Little Green Footballs:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Followers of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have ordered international observers overseeing this month’s Palestinian election to leave the Jenin area of the northern West Bank.

“We are sorry to tell you that you must leave Jenin as soon as possible,” said a statement Saturday from the Jenin branch of the Brigades received by AFP.

“We ask you to understand that this step is not against you. It is against the occupation and against the international community which has done nothing to stop the Israeli army’s escalations against our people.”

Is there any logic in that statement? Any at all?

What Should
The Citizens
Of France
Do In
Response
To The
Nice-Lyon
Train
Intifada?

Dag, of No Dhimmitude, left the following comment on one of my posts about the Nice-Lyon Train Intifada:

How is it that it took nearly a week for the French to admit that 600 citizens were attacked on a public train?

Politicians are responsible for this outrage. So are the media. And I'll include the universities and churches. Our intelligentsia and our moral leaders are criminals.

It's past time to rid ourselves of these people and reform our world from the bottom up.

If our moral leaders and our cultural and intellectual leaders believe in nothing at all, then they have no authority whatsoever, and we must rid ourselves of them and replace them with men and women who have some real moral standing.

What is moral? By what authority? We live in a pluralistic world, and we must find a universal moral for a plurality, one that has authority for all regardless of race, creed, or religion. If we fail

at that, then Islam and dhimmitude await us.

Today a train, and we cower in fear waiting for rescue by police who have no authority to use force against criminals. Tomorrow a school in which children are exploded, and our police haven't got the competence to rescue them.

Next day we're blown up riding the tube to work or killed in our offices or burned to death in ships defending the world and ourselves. And yet we don't fight because we don't have anything we feel we should fight for, not even our very lives, they being too meaningless to defend.

We require a moral reformation or we are lost forever.

Dag has a very good point. If the government of France will not take care of it's citizens, then, it is time for the people of France to overthrow their government.

Friday, January 06, 2006

White

by Joe Citizen

Racist
Rape
Spree

Western Muslims are on a racist rape spree across Europe and Australia(Thanks to News of Eurabia):

In Australia, Norway, Sweden and other Western nations, there is a distinct race-based crime in motion being ignored by the diversity police: Islamic men are raping Western women for ethnic reasons. We know this because the rapists have openly declared their sectarian motivations.

When a number of teenage Australian girls were subjected to hours of sexual degradation during a spate of gang rapes in Sydney that occurred between 1998 and 2002, the perpetrators of these assaults framed their rationale in ethnic terms. The young victims were informed that they were “sluts” and “Aussie pigs” while they were being hunted down and abused.

In Australia's New South Wales Supreme Court in December 2005, a visiting Pakistani rapist testified that his victims had no right to say no, because they were not wearing a headscarf.

And earlier this year Australians were outraged when Lebanese Sheik Faiz Mohammed gave a lecture in Sydney where he informed his audience that rape victims had no one to blame but themselves. Women, he said, who wore skimpy clothing, invited men to rape them.

A few months earlier, in Copenhagen, Islamic mufti and scholar, Shahid Mehdi created uproar when – like his peer in Australia – he stated that women who did not wear a headscarf were asking to be raped.

And with haunting synchronicity in 2004, the London Telegraph reported that visiting Egyptian scholar Sheik Yusaf al-Qaradawi claimed female rape victims should be punished if they were dressed immodestly when they were raped. He added, “For her to be absolved from guilt, a raped woman must have shown good conduct.”

In Norway and Sweden, journalist Fjordman warns of a rape epidemic. Police Inspector Gunnar Larsen stated that the steady increase of rape-cases and the link to ethnicity are clear, unmistakable trends. Two out of three persecutions for rape in Oslo are immigrants with a non-Western background and 80 percent of the victims are Norwegian women.

In Sweden, according to translator for Jihad Watch, Ali Dashti, “Gang rapes, usually involving Muslim immigrant males and native Swedish girls, have become commonplace.” A few weeks ago she said, “Five Kurds brutally raped a 13-year-old Swedish girl.”

In France, Samira Bellil broke her silence – after enduring years of repeated gang rapes in one of the Muslim populated public housing projects – and wrote a book, In the hell of the tournantes, that shocked France. Describing how gang rape is rampant in the banlieues, she explained to Time that, “any neighborhood girl who smokes, uses makeup or wears attractive clothes is a whore.”

Unfortunately, Western women are not the only victims in this epidemic. In Indonesia, in 1998, human rights groups documented the testimony of over 100 Chinese women who were gang raped during the riots that preceded the fall of President Suharto. Many of them were told: “You must be raped, because you are Chinese and non-Muslim.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that in April 2005, a 9-year-old Pakistani girl was raped, beaten with a cricket bat, hanged upside down from the ceiling, had spoonfuls of chillies poured into her mouth, and repeatedly bashed while handcuffed. Her Muslim neighbours told her they were taking revenge for the American bombing of Iraqi children and informed her they were doing it because she was an “infidel and a Christian.”

And then there is this, which appeared on CUANAS last month:

A Muslim man tells us how he really feels about Swedish babes. From Dymphna at Gates of Vienna:

“It is not as wrong raping a Swedish girl as raping an Arab girl,” says Hamid [link is in Swedish].

“The Swedish girl gets a lot of help afterwards, and she had probably fucked before, anyway. But the Arab girl will get problems with her family. For her, being raped is a source of shame. It is important that she retains her virginity until she marries.”

It was no coincidence that it was a Swedish girl that was gang raped in Rissne – this becomes obvious from the discussion with Ali, Hamid, Abdallah and Richard. All four have disparaging views on Swedish girls, and think this attitude is common among young men with immigrant background.

“It is far too easy to get a Swedish whore…… girl, I mean;” says Hamid, and laughs over his own choice of words. “Many immigrant boys have Swedish girlfriends when they are teenagers. But when they get married, they get a proper woman from their own culture who has never been with a boy. That’s what I am going to do."

"I don’t have too much respect for Swedish girls. I guess you can say they get fucked to pieces.”

Persecuting
The
Christians
Of The
Holy Land

Jamie Glazov interviews Justus Reid Weiner, a Human Rights Lawyer, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an independent policy studies center(Thanks to News of Eurabia):

My specific interest in the plight of Christians living in Palestinian society is more recent. Eight years ago I met a Christian pastor who, knowing that I was a human rights lawyer, urged me to investigate the human rights abuses directed at Muslims who converted to Christianity. I knew nothing about this, and frankly doubted that anyone would victimize the adherents of the world's largest religion. But as I began to interview people most were reluctant to even meet me. If they agreed to reveal what they had suffered, they insisted that I refer to them by a pseudonym.

JG: Why do you think there has been an increase in Islamic fundamentalism in Palestinian society?

Weiner: The increase is a regional phenomenon. Indeed it would be hard to find any predominantly Muslim country in the Middle East, North Africa or even into Asia, where Islamic fundamentalism is not on the rise.

JG: Tell us about the persecution of Palestinian Christians and why their persecution became so much worse since the Oslo peace process began.

Weiner: These are acutely trying times for the Christian remnant residing in areas ‘governed’ by the Palestinian Authority. Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad, while those that remain do so as a beleaguered and dwindling minority. They have faced virtually uninterrupted persecution during the decade since the Oslo peace process began, living amidst a Muslim population that is increasingly xenophobic and restless. Chaos, nepotism, and corruption are endemic.

Their plight is, in part, attributable to the influence of Muslim religious law (Sharia) on the inner workings of the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the Christians have been abandoned by their religious leaders who, instead of protecting them, have chosen to curry favor with the Palestinian leadership. That is the life of a dhimmit in a Muslim land.

Rice Cancels Trip To Indonesia

Why? Check out the info in this AP article:

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a six-day trip to Indonesia and Australia on Friday, amid uncertainty over the condition of ailing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"She decided because of the situation in the Middle East, it was the right decision to stay here in Washington," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. Rice had planned to leave Saturday.

Sharon, 77, remained in serious condition at an Israeli hospital after suffering a massive stroke on Wednesday. Sharon underwent a third brain surgery Friday morning and was expected to remain in a medically induced coma until at least Sunday.

If Sharon were to die, Rice would probably attend the funeral in Jerusalem, although McCormack did not mention that possibility.

U.S. officials have been careful not to publicly predict that Sharon will not return to power. Rice's travel decision is the clearest sign yet that U.S. officials consider his recovery unlikely.

I don't think this adds up. Indonesia doesn't have anything to do with the Middle East conflict. And, one would assume that if Condi was concerned that she might have to head off to a funeral, that she could simply take her mourning clothes with her to Indonesia.

Could it be that Sharon is already dead? Or, could it be that the Bush Administration is concerned for the safety of the Secretary of State in the wake of a possible blowup in the Middle East?

What
Time
Is It?

Shrinkwrapped questions how the world will change with Ariel Sharon's passing on the mantle of power. Are we, now, in a period comparable to the late-30's, when we still had an opportunity to stop Hitler?:

In 1971, the great Italian film maker, Vittorio De Sica directed The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival that same year. The movie was a character study of a wealthy Italian Jewish family in the town Ferrara in 1938. The Finzi-Contini family is already destroyed but do not realize it yet. The fascist government of Mussolini was not particularly energetic in their persecution of Jews but their much more powerful ally demanded that Italy at least make some attempts to aid in the "final solution." The scourge of anti-Semitism which had been in abeyance for many years in Italy was slowly gaining force and depth in 1938. The movie is a fascinating, elegiac look at wealthy, narcissistic young people who, like insects with one wing trapped in amber, do not perceive that their world is about to end.

I have written before (in "Good Muslims" and "Good Germans" and again, in A Ticking Clock) that in our war on Islamic fascism, we are in the late 1930's. We can stop Hitler/al Qaeda/Islamic fascism/Iran now at some indeterminate, possibly terrible cost, or stop them later, at horrific cost.

Of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Roger Ebert describes the family and its reaction to the approaching storm:

Giorgio's father says of the Finzi-Continis: "They're different. They don't even seem to be Jewish." They're different because wealth and privilege and generations of intellectual and social position have bred them into a family as proud as it is vulnerable. The other Jews in the town react to Mussolini's edicts in various ways: Giorgio is enraged; his father is philosophical. But the Finzi-Continis hardly seem to know, or care, what is happening. They are above mere edicts; they chose to live behind their walls long before the Fascists said they must.

The Finzi-Continis were insulated by their wealth from the realities of the world that was crashing down around them; it seems today that our liberal elites, equally insulated from the world by their wealth and success, believe if they continue to behave as if time has stopped, then they need do nothing to prevent the coming disaster. However, we are clearly approaching a pivotal moment. Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred (in a post that should be read more widely) asks some questions that need to be addressed:

The civilized world is on trial today.

It is a simple matter, really. How we respond to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks denying the Holocaust and excoriating Jews will say a lot more about us that it will about him.

What lessons have we learned from the past? What morality have we integrated into our very being as the result of the Holocaust, directed against the Jews, by design? What morality have we integrated into ourselves as a result of that wider holocaust, the one that left 50 million dead in the span of six years?

The Palestinians have only slowed their genocidal attacks in order to turn their rage on themselves, for now, yet once the Iranians have their bomb, Israel's existence will be at risk both from the air (Iranian missiles) and from the land (Palestinian suicide bombers). Al Qaeda has taken up residence in Gaza to facilitate the mass death and destruction they hope to rain upon the hated Jews.

How will the world respond? One answer is here:

Norway's Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen is backing a planned consumer boycott of Israeli goods, contradicting the coalition government's policy.

Ms Halvorsen voiced support for a campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians, due to be launched by her Socialist Left party this month.

Some on the left, especially in Europe but with fellow travelers in the United States, will hope to "feed the crocodile so as to be eaten last." Others will resort to the failed policy of using "soft power" to somehow convince Iran's mad mullahs to "play nice":

Iran nuclear research troubles EU
European nations have called on Iran to reverse its decision on Tuesday to resume nuclear fuel research, part of its controversial nuclear programme.

It is always easier and more comforting to imagine that the present will continue indefinitely; it is behind much of the isolationist impulse in this country, both on the left and the right. It is always easier in the short run to live like the Finzi-Continis, especially when one has comfort and wealth which would be put at risk by taking action.

Time is short and Israel's future may depend on whether or not their next leader can become like Sharon, one of the 20%, or like so much of Europe and the isolationists here at home, the Finzi-Continis reborn whose own well being and continued existence may well depend on what the Israelis (and perhaps the Americans) do in the next few months.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Pre-Futurism
Vs.
The Singularity
What Is
Nanotechnology?

Ray Kurzweil and others say that in the future we will be able to build robots the size of molecules to do our work for us at the atomic level. The tiny robots are called Nanobots.

My explanation is simplistic. The Nanobots will not be intelligent. They will simply be tools manipulated by humans or computers.

Why would we want to manipulate things at the atomic level? The answer is, so we can build whatever we want to build, from the ground up.

Here's an excerpt from an article called The Future of Molecular Nanotechnology by Mike Deering:

Molecular nanotechnology is the capability to build or modify any material object by adding or removing individual atoms under complete external control. Nanotechnology is performed by assembler nanobots. Assembler nanobots are molecular scale machines that can make anything from individual atoms in accordance with a design supplied by an external computer. Assembler nanobots are made by other assembler nanobots, which is kind of a chicken and egg problem.

We don't currently have assembler nanobots. People working in the nanotechnology field are very certain that we will have them soon. We already pick and place individual atoms with atomic force microscopes (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopes (STM). We have machines that can produce DNA molecules of any specified design. Experimental computer circuitry is already at the molecular level.

Mature molecular nanotechnology is the endpoint of a long history of miniaturization of mechanical and electrical systems. Kurzweil is fond of saying that all forms of engineering are reducing in size by 5.6 per dimension per decade. Few people hearing this fully understand the implications of this statement. What it means is that we are guaranteed by a long history of miniaturization trend data to reach mature molecular nanotechnology by 2020 or sooner (the trend is accelerating).

Miniaturization is the root force behind the Singularity. Computers powerful enough to support general intelligence are based on it. Tools for the reverse engineering of the human brain are based on it. Tools for the development of molecular biotechnology are based on it. Of the three Singularity technologies, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and molecular biotechnology; nanotechnology is leading the charge to the Singularity event.

Nanotechnology is at the heart of every R&D frontier. The economic and military advantages are driving investment and research efforts in nanotechnology beyond all other areas of development. Every industry is involved.

I'm presenting this, purely, as information, not as truth. This is what one man believes will happen. I'm learning as I study this material everyday.

One thing to know is that when Mr. Deering talks about "Reverse Engineering the human brain," he means mapping the molecular structure of the human brain, completely, so that we can build brains, literally.

Hmmm.

Interesting, isn't it? Sounds too crazy to be true. But, one thing I am learning is, we should not doubt the capacity of the human imagination to make a reality of anything it dreams.

Questions
Posed
In
All
Seriousness

Do the men of France deserve to be mocked for what happened on the Nice-Lyon train?

20-30 Muslim guys terrorized 600 people on a train, beating, mugging and sexually assauting them. Sexually assauting their women.

If the measure of a civilization is revealed in how women are treated, then the question must be asked, is France civilized?

When a friend has a problem, there is an intervention, and counseling is advised.

What is to be done about France?

And, the final question is, am I going to far in asking these questions? Is it possible that the problem is just exaggerated in my mind? After all, we did have similar problem in New York back in the 1960's and 70's.

A New
Barrage
Of
Holocaust
Denial
From
Ahmadinejad

The Iranian President just can't keep his mouth shut, can he? It's almost like something compels him to do what he does:

IRAN'S hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a new verbal attack against Israel as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon battles for survival in a Jerusalem hospital."

Why would you impose such a bold and corrupt regime on the nations of the region unless it (the Holocaust) is a big historical lie," Mr Ahmadinejad said, addressing Western nations.

"Be sure that not only the Palestinian people, but also all Islamic nations will not even for a moment tolerate this occupying regime and corrupt government empowered by you," the President said in the city of Qom.

Europe
Praises
Sharon

Put down your coffee and remove anything breakable from your desk, because you may experience spasms of astonished hilarity mixed with sadness as you read this, from the Associated Press:

PARIS (AP) - European leaders on Thursday fretted over the fate of Ariel Sharon, a man once seen in Europe as a danger for the Middle East but now viewed as a more complex, even crucial figure.

The concerns reflect a subtle shift in Europe - where there has been surprised admiration for Sharon's dismantling of settlements, satisfaction with the role now played by Europeans on the Gaza-Egypt border, and a growing wariness with the Islamic world.

``Ariel Sharon plays a particularly important role in the quest for lasting peace in the Middle East,'' Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said in a get-well message to the Israeli leader, who was in serious condition after a massive stroke. Austria holds the European Union's rotating presidency.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw praised Sharon as ``a towering figure not only in Israel but in the whole of the region.''

Speaking to reporters in Beirut after talks with his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh, Straw said Sharon's attempts to find a settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict had ``earned him huge respect across the world.''
Such comments contrast sharply with the cautious, even hostile European attitude toward Sharon in the past. His history as a hard-line general and his role in Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 led many to believe that when he became prime minister in 2001 he would hinder, not broker, peace.

``When Sharon was elected, Europeans saw him as an impediment to the peace process,'' said Richard Whitman, an analyst with Chatham House, a London think tank.

``But since then there's been a grudging acceptance that he has made a contribution, even if it has not been in the manner that Europeans expected. He has pursued his own peace process,'' Chatham said by telephone.
Sharon's stroke comes just as relations between Israel and Europe are at last picking up.

The latest boost came with November's deal to allow EU monitors along the Gaza-Egypt border, Europe's first security role in the region, despite years of lobbying.

The EU's role in the Middle East now hinges heavily on the patrol mission. EU officials insisted Thursday that the program was not under threat despite Sharon's illness.

Europe's experience with Islamic terrorism in recent years has also slightly shifted European sentiments toward the Middle East. Train bombings in Madrid in 2004 killed 191 people; suicide bombers killed 52 transit passengers in London last July.

``Europe has looked at terrorism differently since the attacks in London, even if the terrorism we're experiencing is fundamentally different from that in Israel,'' said Francois Gere, president of the French Institute for Strategic Analysis.

``We are not at the point where we would use the measures Israel does, but we understand them better,'' he said.

French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Sharon wishes for a speedy recovery.

Chirac said he hoped ``the courageous initiatives that Mr. Sharon embarked on - which were praised by the entire international community - will continue.''

Norway
Lines Up With
Ahmadinejad

I like the way Atlas put this, so I'm going to steal her post, and simply tell you that her blog is one of the top five on the internet. Read her everyday:

Norway's finance minister calling for a boycott of Israel today.

The link is in Norwegian but Sir Humphrey has a partial translation here of her comments at. Go over to Humphrey's site and read Chefen's most excellent post.

The minister is the leader of the Socialist Left and seems to be in love with all things anti-semitic.

Watch the global chessboard aligns itself, with the Bush Doctrine or the The Ahmadinejad Doctrine.

Yes, that is what is going to happen. We are living in a very strange time, my friends. People who have been supporters of "peace" are coming out in support of fascism. There is a worldwide cellular mitosis happening. The chromosomes are lining up and the whole world is going to split into two completely new cells; one decent, and one evil.

It is a frightening event to observe.

The
Nice-Lyon
Train Intifada

From the Washington Times comes the first English language MSM media coverage of the Nice-Lyon Train Intifada in France:

PARIS -- A gang of more than 20 youths -- thought to be North African immigrants -- terrorized hundreds of train passengers in a rampage of violence, robbery and sexual assault on New Year's Day, French officials said yesterday.

The five-hour-long criminal frenzy was "totally unacceptable," French President Jacques Chirac told reporters. "Those guilty will be found and punished, as they deserve."

The gang of between 20 and 30 youths boarded the train, heading from Nice on the French Riviera to Lyon, in eastern France, early on Jan. 1, as it carried 600 passengers home from New Year's Eve partying overnight.

Once inside, they went wild, forcing passengers to hand over mobile phones and wallets, and slashing seats and breaking windows.

A 20-year-old woman cornered by several of the marauders was sexually molested.

"It was a real scene of pillage on the train," said the regional state prosecutor, Dominique Luigi, adding that the passengers were in a state of "panic."

Train staff alerted police, and the train pulled into a station to wait. The three officers who initially turned up later were joined by reinforcements.

A waitress in a bar near the station said two young women from the train had come inside in tears.

"They told me there had been groping. They talked about sexual assaults. They were really traumatized," she said.

The train resumed its journey with the heavy police presence on board but, just before Marseille, the youths pulled the emergency stop and many escaped.

Only three -- two 19-year-old Moroccans and a minor, all living in France -- were arrested. Both men were being held for robbery and one also was facing charges of sexual assault. The minor was to be judged separately.

Three others -- a man and two boys -- were arrested briefly in Marseille but were released despite reports they were carrying a knife, a screwdriver and a small amount of hashish.

Police in Nice, meanwhile, said they had escorted the group of drunken youths and put them on the train Sunday to ensure they did not cause trouble in the city.

Police said they thought the gang was part of a bigger group of 100 youths from the Marseille area who had gone to Nice and nearby seaside resorts for New Year's Eve, taking advantage of a special $1 New Year's Day train fare.

News of the violence shocked France, which still was reeling from three weeks of rioting that flared in impoverished suburbs across the country in late October and early November last year.

The opposition Socialist Party said it viewed the incident with "astonishment."

Five hours long? Nothing was done about an "incident" that went on for five hours?

France is shocked and astonished. Yeah, they ought to be shocked and astonished at their own stupidity.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Erotic Plane
Blooming
Orchestral

From Morph Naked

The French
Resistance:
Just Bend
Over And
Enjoy It

A couple of days ago there was an incident in France where 600 French people on the Nice-Lyon train were terrorized by 20-30 "youths." Uhhmm, Muslims. There were beatings, muggings and sexual assaults.

So, what is France doing about it?

What do you think?

They are covering it up.

Meanwhile, the "youths" are blaming the whole thing on the police ...

... because the police interrupted them before they could come, I guess.

Hamas:
If
Sharon Dies,
We Hit
Israel
With
Rocket Fire

Sharon is lying in a hospital, close to death. What is the Palestinian reaction? Why, a threatened barrage of rocket fire, of course:

Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip are watching the news regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health carefully and will celebrate with Qassam rocket firings at Jewish towns if Sharon dies, terror leaders told WorldNetDaily.

One militant leader threatened the life of Sharon's temporary replacement, Deputy Minister Ehud Olmert, who was installed as prime minister just hours ago.

"I am ready with my candies and my rockets and praying to Allah that Sharon dies. We have prepared a celebratory barrage of rockets ready to fire into Israel on the occasion of the death of our enemy," said Abu Abir, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists responsible for firing hundreds of Qassam rockets and mortars at Jewish towns.

Hamas leader Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar told WND Sharon's condition "plunges the Israeli political scene into chaos, which could bring about an equal response from the Palestinians."

Sources close to Sharon told WND the prime minister's condition is life threatening, and that there was a significant chance he might not survive.

"We are not hopeful," said a senior Sharon aide.

One senior political leader said he has information Sharon is "clinically dead. He is on life support machines in the operating theater that can keep him alive for an extended period, but doctors are pessimistic he can return to normal functioning."

Celebrations reportedly are underway in the Gaza Strip, with families distributing sweets and gunmen shooting into the air.

Al-Zahar said he is hoping Sharon survives.

"Sharon's new party Kadima was good for us. They made clear in no uncertain terms that part of their platform was more withdrawals from the West Bank and from Jerusalem. His passing from the political scene now places all of that in jeopardy. We don't know what are the policies of Olmert. Whether he supports giving us the West Bank and Jerusalem."

Al-Zahar sounds like a Palestinian who actually lives in reality. The rest sound like the types of Palestinians who will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Sharon Suffers "Massive Stroke"

A sad day for Israel and the world:

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke Wednesday and was on a respirator after falling ill at his ranch. Doctors operated to drain excess blood from his brain.

Powers were transferred to his deputy, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert.

Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, said Sharon suffered "a significant stroke," adding that he was "under anesthetic and receiving breathing assistance." A few minutes later, Mor-Yosef emerged to say that initial tests showed Sharon had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding in his brain.

The Hamas Charter

Saruman? No, Sheikh Yassin, founder of Hamas.

Polls show that the terrorist organization Hamas is poised to win the upcoming Palestinian elections in January. Many media outlets, including the Washington Post, have tried to spin Hamas as being a decent political party interest only in justice and freedom for it's people.

This is absolute and unparalelled bullshit.

Hamas is, and always has been a terrorist organization. Here, from National Review, is some information about Hamas' own declaration of it's intentions; the Hamas Charter:

The 1988 Hamas charter (an acronym for "Islamic Resistance Movement" in Arabic) is both political and genocidal — yet the United Nations has never denounced it. Hamas is against any Middle East peace process: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad. All initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are a waste of time and vain endeavors" (Article 13).

And then there is the Hamas slogan, which has inspired countless jihadist bombers: "Allah is its goal, The Prophet its model, the Qur'an its Charter, jihad its path, and death for the cause of Allah its most sublime belief" (Article 8).

Hamas is committed to continuing jihad against "the Jews" until Allah's victory is implemented. The land of Palestine, it affirms, must be cleansed from their impurity and viciousness. Muslims are obligated by order of the Prophet to fight and kill the Jews wherever they find them. This call to genocide is justified by a hadith which concludes article 7 of the charter:

The Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to implement Allah's promise, whatever time that may take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until the Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them), until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! Oh Abdullah!, there is a Jew behind me, come on and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."

This controversial hadith — related by the eminent compiler al-Bukhari in the 9th century — has since become a commonplace belief among Islamists. For example: On April 12, 2002, the Palestinian Authority's Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi delivered a Friday sermon at the Sheikh Ijlin Mosque in Gaza City, broadcast live on Palestinian Authority television. Madhi quoted from this hadith — including the curious reference to the "Jewish" Gharqad tree — and then stated: "We believe in this hadith. We are convinced also that this hadith heralds the spread of Islam and its rule over all the lands... 'from the ocean to the ocean...'"

Sheikh Madhi concluded his sermon with: "Oh Allah, accept our martyrs in the highest heaven... Oh Allah, show the Jews a black day... Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters... Oh Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land... Oh Allah, forgive our sins..." (Credit to MEMRI for the translation.)

Another characteristic of the Hamas charter is the frequent references it makes to conspiracy theories ... On "Jews" and "Zionists" — called "the enemies" — the charter follows in Hitler's footsteps by appealing to the crudest of forgeries:

"Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ... The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates..." Article 22 states that "the enemies" have long since taken over the world's financial centers, controlling the world's media: "agencies, press, broadcasting, publications, etc....

With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions, and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests." Indeed, "they" have been stirring up revolutions since the one in France in 1789 — including Communist revolutions.

Unlike speeches and newspaper articles, which may change with the winds, a written charter is an essential, binding document. After his release from an Israeli prison and return to Gaza in October 1997, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual head of Hamas, declared that Israel must "disappear from the map." He added: "We have an aim and an enemy, and we shall continue our jihad against the enemy. A nation without a jihad is a nation without a purpose." The root meaning of jihad means "struggle."

If you want to read the Hamas Charter for yourself, here is a link.

Islamic
Clerics
Authorize
Sex
With Babies

Islamic Clerics in Bahrain say, go ahead, have sex with babies. One female Women's Rights Activist is objecting:

The following are excerpts from an interview with Bahraini women's rights activist Ghada Jamshir, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on December 21, 2005.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=978.

Interviewer: "What do you have against the Shari'a courts?"

Ghada Jamshir: "I have a lot against them. What they have done to Bahraini women is not a trivial matter. For years women have been going into these courts, only to be oppressed and treated unjustly. We have reached the point that we say: Enough. We have reached the breaking point."

"We have a problem with family planning. We have no family planning in Bahrain. The Shiites in Bahrain have marriages for the purpose of mut'ah [pleasure]. They bring multitudes of children into the world, without thinking, who grow up in the streets.

"It's accepted for a man to marry a Filipino woman, a Bahraini woman, and a third woman from Iran, and then he takes two or three women in mut'ah marriage... How many children will he have?!"

Interviewer: "Some people say that Ghada Jamshir is a Sunni, and that this is why she is leading the battle against [mut'ah] marriages, which are authorized by religious law among the Shi'ites."

Ghada Jamshir: "Authorized by religious law?!"

Interviewer: "Among the Shiites, yes."

Ghada Jamshir: "Does the Islamic Shari'a authorize mut'ah marriages?

Does the Islamic Shari'a authorize mut'ah according to the following classification: 'Pleasure from sexual contact with her thighs.' They have: 'Pleasure from sexual touching,' 'pleasure from sexual contact with her breasts.'

'Pleasure from a little girl.' Do you know what 'pleasure from a little girl' means? It means that they derive sexual pleasure from a girl aged two, three, or four."

Interviewer: "Let's not go into details..."

Ghada Jamshir: "Let me tell you what 'pleasure from sexual contact with her thighs' means..."

Interviewer: "Don't give me the details..."

Ghada Jamshir: "This is a violation of children's rights! This constitutes sexual assault of the girl.

What does 'pleasure from sexual contact with her thighs' mean? It means deriving sexual pleasure from an infant. How old is an infant? One year, a year and a half, a few months?

"Is it conceivable for a grown man to have sex with an infant girl? And you people tell me that the Islamic Shari'a authorizes this?

Forget about the mut'ah. Let's talk about misyar. What do misyar marriages mean? You said that I'm a Sunni and that's why I'm attacking the Shiites. No!"

Interviewer: "Some people claim that."

Ghada Jamshir: "No, no. What does the misyar marriage mean? A man marries a woman from another town, and goes to her once a month. He 'visits' her. He calls her his 'wife.'"

Interviewer: "Not ne