(Never Make A)Saint Of MeSong by
The
Rolling Stones
Saint Paul the persecutor
Was a cruel and sinful man
Jesus hit him with a blinding light
And then his life began
I said yeah I said yeah
Augustine knew temptation
He loved women, wine and song
And all the special pleasures
Of doing something wrong
I said yeah I said yeah I said yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
Oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
And could you stand the torture
And could you stand the pain
Could you put your faith in Jesus
When you're burning in the flames
I said yes, Oh yeah
And I do believe in miracles
And I want to save my soul
And I know that I'm a sinner
I'm gonna die here in the cold
I said yes, I said yeah
I said yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
Oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
John the Baptist was a martyr But he stirred up Herod's hate
And Salome got her wish
To have him served up on a plate
I said yes I said yeah
I said yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
Oh yeah, oh yeah
You'll never make a saint of me
MacheteCarrying "Youths" Terrorize East TimorAccording to Associated Press, East Timor, which is a little country which broke off from Indonesia in 1999, is having trouble with marauding "youths." 100,000 people have fled their homes in fear.
Now, of course, usually the phrase "youths" is code for Muslims. So, I ask this question in all honesty, is this problem in East Timor yet another example of the worldwide Jihad against Infidels, or is there something else going on here?
I am simply not familiar with the goings-on in that part of the world.
The Controversy Surrounding Barry Bonds Shows How Far America Has ComeDr. Blogstein makes a great point:
Lost in the hoopla and/or outrage over Barry Bonds hitting his 715th home run to pass Babe Ruth into second place on the all-time home run list is what that hoopla and/or outrage says about how far we've come as a nation.In 1935, when Babe Ruth, then of the Boston Braves, hit his 714th home run African Americans weren't even allowed to play baseball with white people. They had their own league, the Negro League.Then, in 1973, Henry "Hank" Aaron began closing in on The Babe's precious record. As the chase for 714 and beyond began heating up, so did the pens and pencils of thousands of racists across America. Aaron received hate mail and death threats, sent to try to intimidate him, so perhaps he would quit before overtaking Ruth. Here is a sampling of those racist letters, courtesy of ESPN.com:"Dear Nigger Henry,You are (not) going to break this record established by the great Babe Ruth if I can help it. ... Whites are far more superior than jungle bunnies. . My gun is watching your every black move." But instead of intimidated, Aaron was motivated and on April 8, 1974, in front of 53,775 Atlanta Braves fans, he hit 715 and took over first place on the all-time home run list.Now, its 2006 and again it seems that nobody wanted Barry Bonds to hit more homers than Babe Ruth. Bonds has been mercilessly booed and heckled in every visiting ballpark he's played in. He's been vilified and asked to retire and I'm sure he's received his fair share of death threats and hate mail. But what makes this different than 32 years ago, is that the hatred does not come from Bonds being a black man. It comes from Bonds being a cheating bastard.Well, I think it is true that Bonds is hated because he is perceived as having cheated. He is also hated because, apparently, he is not very nice to reporters. I wouldn't know whether or not that is true.
But, I honestly don't care about the steroids thing. The truth is, the future holds wonders many of us can not even begin to fathom at this time. Future baseball players, and athletes in all sports will have access to bioengineering to enhance strength and healing, computer chips in the brain to enhance reaction time, and vision, some players may even be genetically manufactured specifically for the purpose of playing their sport.
In short,
I tend to agree with this guy:
Nugent Rocks!Ted Nugent is a bow-hunter. He hunts, he kills, he eats, and he uses the skins.
In short, he is a man.
Some pussy from the UK paper, the Independant (maybe they ought to rethink the name of their paper, huh?) interviewed Ted Nugent the other day. Here are the bloody results.
From
No Pasaran:
Q : "What do these deer think when they see you coming?" I ask him. "Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man that shot my brother?"A : "They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French."I'll bet you the pussy who was doing the interview found himself strangely attracted to Ted at that very moment.
Neo-Nazis Elected In ItalyFrom Little Green Footballs comes this poor translation of an article from Corrire Della Sera:
Hour, after the ballot, reassumes them Francisco Saverio Garofani, of the Daisy, that it expresses “great worry”. The fact that a party of nazi inspiration can have 4 communal councilmen “is an absolutely not negligible data - it says -. It must reflect on the social implications that are hidden openly behind the political affirmation of a party that is recalled, and without some critical sense, to the ideology of Hitler. A formation whose leader declares nazi, asserts that ‘the Hebrew dead men are presumed’ and that ‘the extermination camps are only become to you such after 1948’”.
Ahmadinejad Interview With Der SpiegelYou have to read the whole thing. The interviewer does a very good job at confronting Ohmydumbjihad. If only our leaders were doing as well.
Why The Christian Church Must Take On The Battle For The Defense Of Western CivilizationIn yet another sign that Europe is waking up to its problem with Islamofascism,
the official church of the state of Denmark has announced that Muslim Imams are not welcome in their churches, and that Muslims and Christians do not direct their worship at the same entity (report from Dymphna at Gates of Vienna):
(The) state church, Folkekirken, which is Denmark’s official evangelical Lutheran denomination. No one has to join, and you can opt out of paying any tax for its upkeep, though if you’re a lazy or indifferent type and don’t phone the local municipality, you will be billed for church maintenance. What’s interesting is that while eighty four per cent of Danes pay the tax and are official members, only about five per cent of these citizens are actually church-goers. " ... Imams are not welcome in Danish state churches," says a new network of Islam-critical priests and theological experts. The purpose is to state that Christians and Muslims do not believe in the same God, and that the church and the mosque are not religious equals says the new network of 60 priests and theological experts. Well-known priests and opinion-makers such as Niels Højlund, Sørine Godtfredsen, Edith Thingstrup, Morten Kvist and Katrine Winkel Holm are among the prominent members. According to the Newfounded Network admitting imams into Danish churches is problematic. The Danish People’s Church cannot agree with the imams without betraying the Lord Christ — who according to Islam is nothing but an inferior “prophet”, subordinated to Mohammad. When priests and imams are praying together, they are in essence ridiculing the Gospel, the network states. At the same time it distances itself from recent events such as religious councils with imams. Bishops and imams are not religious colleagues separated only by different merchandise. It is of paramount importance that priests in the Danish Church make that fact very clear — as well as studying and criticizing Islam, says the network — which at the same time underscores that the intention is to criticize Islam, not the individual Muslim. Dymphna, at Gates of Vienna, comments:
Is this what Christians would call a “Christian attitude”? In a smaller sense, no. But in the larger sense of putting a stop to the inroads some of the more notorious imams in Denmark have made into a hither-to civilized cultural life, and the economic damage they have caused Denmark by spreading taqiyya in the Middle East, causing boycotts of Danish goods and the destruction of Danish embassies, they are possibly serving a greater good. The shameful spinelessness of American mainstream churches in the face of militant Islam, their divestment from tiny, besieged Israel, their unwitting and ignorant support of the spread of Islamicist propaganda in this country, makes Denmark’s line drawn in the sand a refreshing change. I think this is a good starting point for me to discuss something I have been thinking about of late. The question Dymphna poses is a wise one. "Is this a Christian attitude," or, in other words, does it betray Christian values to reject ecumenicism, or, an approach of agreement, cooperation, and understanding, with an Abrahamic religion?
In short, I think we need not even address that question. Because, before we even get to it, our answer should be clear to us.
The first principle of the Judeo-Christian Christian tradition, and really, the first thing the Bible, itself, discusses, in Genesis, about the relationship of God and man, is that man was created in the Image of God.
This does not mean that we look like God. What it means is that we were created with the attributes of God.
And, what are the attributes of God?
We need only look at that passage in the beginning of Genesis to understand. "In the beginning,
1) God created the heavens and the Earth,"
2) He created the beasts of the field,
3) He separated the waters,
4) He created man of dust, and
5) breathed His own life into him, and then,
6) seeing that it was not good for man to be lonely, and moved by compassion, He created, for him, a female companion named Eve.We can take from this that man God and, thereby man, are, among other things,
1) Creative and magnificent of vision
2) in love with reproduction and the process of life
3) analytical in our creativity, and completely willing to remake, or reshape, what we have already made, even if we have seen that "it is Good."
4) in love with matter itself
5) generous, willing to give of ourselves in our own creative process
6) loving, reasonable, and willing to change our plans, when moved by compassion.There are many other things that can be inferred from the opening passage of Genesis, but this is enough for my argument. The point is, both Judaism and Christianity teach that God is loving, reasonable, and creative.
Both Judaism and Christianity teach that man, having been made in the Image of his Creator, also inherently possesses these attributes to some extent. Therefore, man is meant to be creative, he is meant to love matter, he is meant to be reasonable and analytical, he is meant to reshape his work, and even, the work of God's hands, using the gifts of reason and analysis, and more than anything, man is meant to be Free, as God, most indubitably, is Himself.
And, what's more, God wants man to have Freedom of choice. He wants man to come to Him of his own accord. When man sinned, God could have unmade the sin, and started over, but instead, God worked with the new reality man had created, and even promised to make something more glorious of it. In other words, when God was confronted with man's sin, and He banished the sinners from the Garden of Eden, He did not make it His next step to take away man's Free Will, but instead, chose for man to retain Free Will, and He chose to remain a partner in man's creative endeavors.
Reading the rest of the Hebrew Bible, and the Gospels, and the Letters, it becomes apparent that God made this decision precisely because He wants man to be Free, otherwise, man would not be free to choose Him.
In other words - and I can't stress enough how important this is -
The first principle of the Bible is that man needs to be Free, and this comes before anything else.This is not at all a principle of Islam. In Islam, a good Muslim is to learn the Koran by heart, and to follow its rules by rote. He is not to be analytical, because his analysis can never add anything to that which Allah has already provided. The Koran, itself, is the final word of Allah to man. It is not to be amended or added to. It is to be followed only.
Man's creativity is to be impeded. Music must not be made of anything more than chanting and drums. Art must not be representational. It is forbidden for a Muslim to depict the human form in a sculpture, for instance.
Man is to love the paradise Mohammed calls him towards. He is not to love the Earthly realm of matter. In fact, much of the material world is haram, to the extent that man is forbidden to even view the form of any female not his own wife.
In Islam, man is not forbidden to be generous to other men, so long as his fellow man is a Muslim. But, there is no reason to be generous to a non-Muslim. In fact, one is not to take a non-Muslim as a friend.
In Islam, compassion is not the central theme. Allah can not be said to be the equivalent of Love, as the Bible tells us Yahweh is. Allah is instead, probably, more easily called a god of justice, as defined by Allah. Or, is that justice defined by Mohammed. We can't be sure, because when it comes right down to it, the only person from whom we have learned of Allah, is the prophet himself. And, we shall never hear another new word about Allah from anyone else.
So, we see, the god of Islam is not anything like the God of the Bible. We delude ourselves if we think the two can be compared.
What's more, we put ourselves in danger, and, we put our very ability to practice our religion in danger, if we accept the idea that God and Allah are the same. Because Allah does not accept divergence of opinion. It's Allah's way, or the highway. No other opinions, or ideas, or beliefs, are allowed. Free Speech, Freedom of Conscience, Democracy, these are all but the baubles and bangles of a decadent Western Civilization, as far as the most learned men of Islam are concerned. They all lead to disobedience, and sloth, and weakness, we are told. And most importantly, what we need to know is they all lead away from Allah.
Therefore, if we are to accept that Allah is the same as the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible, we are accepting that Allah is preeminent, and our God must be subservient. We are accepting, therefore, that we are no longer to be free, rational, and analytical beings. Therefore, we are accepting that we no longer can make our own choices, for Democracy, for Freedom of Conscience, or for our God Himself. If we accept such, we are condemning ourselves to the destruction of Western Civilization, and we are taking away the very duty of man himself, that is to express himself as a being made in the Image of God.
The Christian Church, in general, must come to understand these things. The most important endeavor the Christian Church can undertake, at this point in time, is to understand that the defense of Western Civilization is of utmost importance to the existence of Christianity. Without the protection Western Civilization provides to Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy, Christianity itself would go into a dark age. Christians would be forced to worship underground, away from the light of day. Fewer people would hear the gospel preached, and therefore, fewer people would be free to make a choice to follow the God of the Bible.
The Christian Church must understand that Western Civilization and the Bible go hand in hand. The Christian Church must become warriors for Western Civilization. I am not saying that this means the Church itself must call for violence. No, the Church, at this juncture has the luxury still of keeping its advocacy in the realm of peace. We can still fight our battles in the realm of ideology.
However, if the Christian Church, and the West, allow too many of our cherished Freedoms to slip away, it will become incumbent upono the Church, once again, to go into the business of War. And, that will be a shame upon us, not because it would be wrong to call for war in such a case, but, because we could have won our war without violence, if we had only acted sooner.
Let this be a warning to all Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, and Teachers of the Bible of the God of Abraham.
Memorial Day
Robert Spencer On Moderate Muslims And Moderate IslamRobert Spencer weighs in, for those who didn't already know his opinion, on whether moderate Muslim exist, and whether there is such at thing as moderate Islam:
One of the most common responses to my work that I have encountered since I have been doing it publicly is a sweeping assertion that I am ignorant, and/or maliciously ignoring the broad mainstream of peaceful Islam. Of course I do not ignore in the least the broad mainstream of peaceful Muslims, but I have repeatedly pointed out that within the various theological and legal traditions of Islam, they do not have much of a case.
All the schools (madhahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) teach violent jihad and Sharia supremacism, with some minor variations.
Accordingly, Ibn Warraq is correct when he says that there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.This bears repeating: there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.Go read the whole thing.
An Anecdote From The Land Of ToleranceHere is a story I found on Neo-Neocon's site:
... commenter DBrooks offered the following story from his personal experience:I find the level of discourse depressing and disheartening. What I have been struck by in my own experience with friends on the Left is they seem to think it is acceptable, even righteous, that they can be offensive, yet one is not allowed to be offended. To disagree or offer contrary evidence is viewed with scorn and intolerance.An example--my wife and I have very dear friends whom we love like family. We have known them for 12 years, and have traveled in the Keys, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Colorado with them. They came for dinner last month, and the woman went up to my 10-year-old son's room with him to look at some drawings he had done. He has a poster of GWB, and one of Ronald Reagan on his wall. These were given to him by his aunt. My good friend commented, "Why do you have that asshole on your wall?" referring to GWB.My son was upset, and told me that she had used "bad language" talking about President Bush. He told me what she said, and, over dinner, I told her that I thought it was inappropriate for her to say something like that to a 10-year-old. Instead of apologizing, she became more and more angry, and told me I was "brainwashing the kid." I said I would never think of commenting on some child's choice of wall posters, at least not in a negative manner--unless it was someone like Stalin, Che, or Hitler. Her response? She said, "My point exactly."We haven't spoken to them since by their choice, and my wife, who is very upset about the whole thing, really thinks they may never speak to us again. That we could lose such close friends over this incident is incomprehensible to me. Her anger seems more important to her than reality, or the people in her life. Just another casualty of our current political environment.
The Carvinal Is OverLyrics by Dead Can Dance
Outside
The storm clouds gathering
Move silently along the dusty boulevard
Where flowers turn and crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn reach up and kiss the sky
They're driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play when the circus came to town
"Over here!"
Outside the circus gathering moves silently along the rainswept boulevard
The procession moves on, the shouting is over,
The fabulous freaks are leaving town
They're driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone's calling
The carnival is over
We sat and watched as the moon rose again
For the very first time
Palestinian President Mahmoud AbbasCalls Terrorists"Our Heroes"Kiss of Death?Thanks to Mark Alexander, of A New Dark Age Is Dawning, for
making me aware of this:
While Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, takes on the position of "moderate" and attempts to convince Hamas to accept Judea and Samaria for now, his words to audiences at home present a different picture. Palestinian Media Watch, an organization that monitors and reports on anti-Israel hatred in the PA media, reveals that Abbas twice this week referred to Arab terrorists serving "tens of life sentences" in Israeli jails as "our heroes." Speaking on PA TV on May 23 about the jailed terrorists' recent "conciliation plan" between Fatah and Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas expressed his satisfaction with the initiative of those he called "our brothers, our jailed heroes... [their] initiative proves that these heroes, who are sentenced to tens of life sentences, feel too that the homeland is in danger..."Noting that the document calls for an Arab state on "all territories occupied in 1967," Abbas said, "We must stop dreaming and accept what we can take now. Let us not speak of dreams. Let us take the Palestinian state on the ’67 borders.""Clearly," PMW concludes, "Abbas rejects terror for tactical reasons only, and not because it is immoral... Abbas has always been careful, in Arabic, not to condemn terror because it is evil or immoral. He has criticized suicide terror only because it hurts the PA cause, as he did after the December 2005 suicide attack that killed five in Netanya."This was true of Arafat, who condemned terror in English, while praising it to the Arabic Press. And, it is clearly true of Abbas as well.
The Palestinian Leadership of Fatah (Abbas' party), and Hamas (the majority elected party) are simply playing a game of good cop/bad cop. Abbas appears to condemn terror, while
Hamas calls openly for the death of, not just Zionists, but all Jews.
By the way, this info about Abbas should not surprise us. After all,
Abbas is a known anti-Semite, who wrote his doctoral thesis on the idea that the Jews of Germany collaborated with Hitler to bring about the Holocaust, so that they could gain the world's sympathy, in order to steal land from the Palestinians.
That's quite a theory, huh?
Madonna, The Da Vinci Codes, Mary Magdaelene,And Jesus ChristThe Anchoress has a brilliant post up today on these three topics. I'll excerpt it here, but if you want to read the whole thing,
I suggest you click here:
I’ve had some emails wondering, “Anchoress, how come you’re not writing much about The DaVinci Code? How come you’re not outraged about Madonna’s latest provocation?”Well…actually, I have written - or more correctly I’ve linked to Amy Welborn’s writing - about the DaVinci fraud and I mentioned the pathetic Madonna here.“…am I the only one who finds her latest stunts merely predictable and perfunctory? Hey Madonna, it takes no courage to ape the Crucifixion of Christ or make a vulgar joke about George W. Bush - those are the safest things in the world to do - you want to really be daring, try this. Instead of simulating sex and bondage (didn’t you DO that back in the ’80’s?) why not come onstage wearing a Burka…yeah, that’s it…and then you can have your crew simulate a genital mutilation or an honor killing…got it? Now that’s edgy, honey, especially if you then have some dancers show up like US Troops who liberate you, and you kiss a mask of George W. Bush…now THAT would be brave and daring. THAT would be something worth looking at, too. THAT would justify the press’ pavlovian response to every ringing of your bell.”Why haven’t I written more? Well, to be honest, I just don’t care about either of these over-hyped, over-exposed things.Possibly I feel this way because I came of age when Jesus Christ Superstar was the big gasp. Oh, my! They’re distorting the relationship between Jesus and Mary! Why, they make it sound like they were lovers! And they distort the history between Jesus and Judas! They make it sound like Jesus all but begged Judas to turn him in, so he would go to trial and be crucified! Gasp! Gasp!Thirty-some years later, we’re still hearing that Jesus and Mary were lovers and that Judas was doing Jesus’ bidding because Jesus was not divine, but an ordinary human being with a messianic complex. DVC is promulgating the same nonsense, as is the so called “Gospel of Judas.” Really, there is nothing new under the sun.I’ve been hearing this stuff for all these years - most of my life - and my reason asks, “So?”
So, if the gnostics are right, and Jesus was a mere man, I guess that means St. Mary Magdalene (note, we Catholics consider her a great saint and honor her with a prominent feast day - hardly the sort of “squashing” DVC tries to argue) was a mere woman and not some vessel of “the sacred feminine,” after all.
Islamic Jihad Leader Killed In LebanonIslamic Jihad is blaming Israeli Intelligence for the killing. I suspect they are correct:
SIDON, Lebanon - Security officials said a car bomb Friday killed a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad — an Iran-backed militant group that persisted in attacking Israel while other major factions adhered to a cease-fire.His brother was also killed in the explosion, which the group blamed on Israeli intelligence, and it vowed to retaliate."With God's permission, the response will be sharp," said Abu Imad Rifai, Islamic Jihad's representative in Lebanon.Mahmoud Majzoub, a member of the group's policy-making Shura Council body and its leader in Sidon, 24 miles south of Beirut, was walking with his brother, Nidal, near the central square of this coastal city when a parked car was detonated by remote control, security officials said.Mahmoud Majzoub survived the blast but died during surgery, while Nidal Majzoub was killed instantly, said the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.Islamic Jihad's representative in Lebanon said Nidal Majzoub also was a member of the group, which has continued to launch attacks on Israel since a February 2005 truce that the main militant group Hamas, which swept Palestinian legislative elections, has respected.The explosion shattered the windows of several nearby apartment buildings. Lebanese police and soldiers sealed off the area as dogs searched for additional bombs."I rushed to the balcony after hearing the blast only to see black smoke billowing from a car," said Omran Kaddoura, 16. After running down six flights of stairs to the street, he "found the two bloodied men lying on the ground in front of the car."Before Mahmoud died, Islamic Jihad's representative in Lebanon, Abu Imad Rifai, blamed Israeli intelligence for the attack."This morning the Israeli Mossad detonated an explosive charge. ... This is the second time Mahmoud is targeted, and I believe it comes in the framework of Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people, particularly Islamic Jihad," Rifai told The Associated Press.Mahmoud, 41, his wife and infant son were wounded in an explosion in 1998 in Sidon when their booby-trapped car detonated. Islamic Jihad blamed Israel for the blast, which also injured a passer-by.Rifai confirmed that Nidal, 39, was a member of the group.In Israel, military officials said they had heard about the bombing through media reports, but had no additional information.Rifai rejected the possibility that other Palestinian or Lebanese groups were behind the attack.
"No one has an interest in assassinating him except the Israeli Mossad," he said.Palestinians have blamed the assassinations of several militant leaders on Israel. But some of the killings of leading members of Palestinian groups were the result of intra-Palestinian feuds.Islamic Jihad says its attacks on Israel are a legitimate response to a crackdown on its members.The virulently anti-Israel group backed by Iran and Syria claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 11 and wounded dozens in April in Tel Aviv, the deadliest Palestinian attack in 20 months. Islamic Jihad is led by Ramadan Shallah, a Palestinian from Gaza who now lives in exile in Syria. It considers the 1979 Iranian Revolution to be the beginning of a new era for the Muslim world and wants to turn all of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza into an Islamic state. It rejects compromise with Israel.Is it just me, or does that seem like an entirely fair news report from AP?
Member Of British ParlianmentGeorge Galloway Says Assassination Of PM BlairWould Be A-OKGeorge Galloway smoking. A cigar isn't always just a cigar.What the hell?
Isn't it against the law for him to say such a thing?The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair. In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did."The Labour MP Stephen Pound, a persistent critic of Mr Galloway during previous controversies, told The Sun that the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in east London was "disgraceful and truly twisted".He said: "These comments take my breath away. Every time you think he can't sink any lower he goes and stuns you again. It's reprehensible to say it would be justified for a suicide bomber to assassinate anyone."Mr Galloway yesterday made a surprise appearance on Cuban television with the Caribbean island's Communist dictator, Fidel Castro - whom he defended as a "lion" in a political world populated by "monkeys".Mr Galloway shocked panellists on a live television discussion show in Havana by emerging on set mid-transmission to offer passionate support for Castro. Looking approvingly into each others' eyes, the pair embraced. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It seems to me a civilized nation can not have people in high office advocating for each others assassination. Of course, he said he did not support such action, but saying it would be justified, he did, indeed provide support for the idea.
George Galloway: A fine line between clever and stupid.There is a very fine line between the two notions, if you ask me. In fact, one might need a electron microscope to find the line.
George Galloway is a dangerous man. England, and the world itself, would be better off without him.
Hey, I'm not saying someone should kill him, but, if someone did, the world would be a better place.
Extry, Extry, Read All About It,Vladimir Putin Caught In Transexual Prostitution StingWhat a man does with his personal time is his own business, but this is really a shock.
Cute OverloadI'm usually not that into cute stuff, but I think a lot of people will appreciate this website;
Cute Overload.
It is what it says it is.
Pass it around.
Pre-Futurism And The SingularityThe Melding Of Man And MachineHonda has develope a robot whose movement, it says, are
controlled by the human brain:
TOKYO (AP) -- In a step toward linking a person's thoughts to machines, Japanese automaker Honda said it has developed a technology that uses brain signals to control a robot's very simple moves.In the future, the technology that Honda Motor Co. developed with ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories could be used to replace keyboards or cell phones, researchers said Wednesday. It also could have applications in helping people with spinal cord injuries, they said.In a video demonstration in Tokyo, brain signals detected by a magnetic resonance imaging scanner were relayed to a robotic hand. A person in the MRI machine made a fist, spread his fingers and then made a V-sign. Several seconds later, a robotic hand mimicked the movements.
Further research would be needed to decode more complex movements.
The machine for reading the brain patterns also would have to become smaller and lighter - like a cap that people can wear as they move about, said ATR researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani.What Honda calls a "brain-machine interface" is an improvement over past approaches, such as those that required surgery to connect wires. Other methods still had to train people in ways to send brain signals or weren't very accurate in reading the signals, Kamitani said.The future will be amazing, if we can just win this damned war.
Beltway Sniper ArtworkThe drawings of Lee Malvo, and the Jihadi goals of the Beltway snipers are revealed
by Michelle Malkin.
Lift Every VoiceIf you are a jazz lover in general, and a Coltrane lover in particular, as I am, I recommend the album
Lift Every Voice, by Charles Lloyd.
Let's face it, most artists are moonbats, and I would imagine Charles Lloyd also falls into that category, although I have no specific knowledge of his beliefs.
All I can tell you is this album is his attempt to express his sorrow, and his sense of inevitable triumph, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. He was booked to play the Blue Note jazz club in NYC the week of September 11th. After the disgusting attacks on our nation, rather than canceling his engagements, as everyone else, including the New York Yankees, did, Charles Lloyd decided to go ahead with the gigs, and to give voice to his feelings by foregoing his usual set in favor of hymns and spirituals from around the world.
The result is astonishing.
You can download the whole album at iTunes, or go to your nearest Barnes & Noble (do not go to Borders, because they do not support Freedom of Speech, instead they support the Jihadis right to limit our Freedom of Speech through terror and rioting).
Olmert Speaks To U.S. Congress On The Topic Of IranFrom Atlas Shrugs:
Every generation is confronted with a moment of truth and trial From the savagery of slavery, to the horrors of World War Two, to the gulags of the Communist Bloc. That which is right and good in this world has always been at war with the horrific evil permitted by human indifference.Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror, and a notorious violator of fundamental human rights, stands on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. With these weapons, the security of the entire world is put in jeopardy.A nuclear Iran means a terrorist state could achieve the primary mission for which terrorists live and die: the mass destruction of innocent human life. This challenge, which I believe is The Test of Our Time, is one the West cannot afford to fail.The radical Iranian regime has declared the United States its enemy. Its President believes it is his religious duty and his destiny to lead his country in a violent conflict against the infidels. With pride he denies the Jewish Holocaust and speaks brazenly, calling to wipe Israel off the map.For us, this is an existential threat. A threat to which we cannot consent. But it is not Israel's threat alone. It is a threat to all those committed to stability in the Middle East and the well being of the world at large.
Mr. Speaker, our moment is NOW. History will judge our generation by the actions we take NOW…by our willingness to stand up for peace and security and freedom, and by our courage to do what is right.
Oh Snap, A Historic Slap?Well, How About If We Send A Thousand ICBM's Up Your Ass?Ahmadinejad is at it again, but, this time,
in his most baldfaced "threatening" mode:
TEHRAN (AFX) - Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted Wednesday that the Islamic republic had mastered the entire nuclear fuel cycle and that it would give an "historic slap" to any attacker."Today, Iran has mastered the entire nuclear fuel cycle, from start to finish, thanks to young Iranian scientists," the president said in a speech in the southwestern border town of Khorramshahr."The enemies are looking to plot and want to create differences among Iranians to stop us getting our rights," Ahmadinejad said."But if they do the slightest damage to the Iranian people, if they commit the slightest aggression, they will receive an historic slap."Let me think about this; Iran may, possibly, have between 1-20 nuclear devices. America has, well, in the thousands of nuclear devices, all perched on the tips of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missilies.
For God's Sake, who do you think will receive a "historic slap"?
Republicans Close Ranks Around One Of Their Own: A DemocratSimply because he is part of Congress:
Resentment boiled among senior Republicans for a second day on Tuesday after a team of warrant-bearing agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned up at a closed House office building on Saturday evening, demanded entry to the office of a lawmaker and spent the night going through his files. The episode prompted cries of constitutional foul from Republicans — even though the lawmaker in question, Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana, is a Democrat whose involvement in a bribery case has made him an obvious partisan political target. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert raised the issue personally with President Bush on Tuesday. The Senate Rules Committee is examining the episode. Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House majority leader, predicted that the separation-of-powers conflict would go to the Supreme Court. "I have to believe at the end of the day it is going to end up across the street," Mr. Boehner told reporters gathered in his conference room, which looks out on the Capitol plaza and the court building.A court challenge would place all three branches of government in the fray over whether the obscure "speech and debate" clause of the Constitution, which offers some legal immunity for lawmakers in the conduct of their official duties, could be interpreted to prohibit a search by the executive branch on Congressional property. Apparently, our Congress thinks it ought to be above the law. The idea that they are objecting to this search is absurd.
Today, I heard Congressman David Dreyer on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Congressman Dreyer told Hewitt that it seemed to him the Executive Branch had exceeded its authority. He said they should have informed Congress firts.
Now, think about that. If they would have informed Congress (all but the guy they were investigatin), do you think he would not have been tipped off? Do you think the $100,000 in the freezer would not have been moved.
This arrogance defies reason. It is the arrogance of a group of people who have lost all touch with reality.
When it comes right down to it, they are angry with George Bush because he is not playing by the rules of their corrupt game.
Never before have I thought that our government is truly corrupt to the bottom. I have never been a "throw the bums out" kind of guy. But, these guys do not have the interests of the nation in mind. They, apparently, see public service are a way to raid coffers. And, they do not want it to end.
Chump-Change FatwaAn Indian Christian man has issued a "fatwa" on Dan Brown, author of the Da Vinci Code. The bounty?
$25,000:
New Delhi (ENI). Some Indian Christians are so incensed with the fictional blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code" they want the government to ban it and one Roman Catholic has offered a bounty of US$25 000 on the head of author Dan Brown, leaving other members of the faithful embarrassed by the reaction. The Mumbai Catholic Council has threatened to stop the screening of the movie if the government fails to ban the recently released movie of the book. Another group called the Catholic Social Forum has said if the shows go ahead it will launch a death fast from 12 May.
Nicolas Almeida, a Catholic and former Mumbai municipal councillor, offered a reward of 1.1 million rupees ($25 000) for the head of author Brown, leading a Catholic journalist to compare Almeida to the Taliban. Still, the autonomous Delhi Commission for Minorities joined Christian groups like the All India Christian Council calling for a ban on the movie. The commission said the Da Vinci Code is "sheer blasphemy" and that it has "deeply upset Christian sentiments", in appealing on 10 May to the federal Censor Board to deny screening permission for the movie. "In a country like ours where vicious propaganda is used against Christian minorities by Hindu bigots, the movie will be handy for them to tarnish our image," Arnold James, a Church of North India member and Christian representative in the Commission, told Ecumenical News International. Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, said the fictional work "belittles what is at the heart of Christian faith and cherished in Christian life", in a statement objecting to the release of the movie. "Every individual has a right to his religious beliefs and to enjoy the respect to them from the followers of other religions," said the bishops' conference in an 11 May statement. Some Catholics have, however, rebuffed the moves to ban the fictional work. "Offering bounty for the head of the author is a Taliban-like response," Kay Benedict, a Catholic journalist, told ENI. With their protests, he said, Catholics have ensured "more than enough publicity" for the movie in India. "The Christian faith is 2000 years old and it is not so fragile as to be destroyed by a single movie."Religion is one of the most powerful institutions in human culture. Therefore, religion must be open to criticism. Often, criticism means people will say things which will be offensive to some of your personal sacred cows. This is what we have to live with, if we do not want institutions to gain undue control over our lives.
If you really think about it, it doesn't hurt you, in the least, to have an artist lie about Christ, or put a crucifix in a glass of urine, or whatever.
And, I think God is a big enough boy to take care of Himself.
Did Bolton Slip And Make A Major Admission?John Bolton says the Iranian regime can stay in power, if they aquiesce, like Libya did.
Then,
he takes it back:
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that Iran's leaders could stay in power and improve their ties with Washington if they ended their pursuit of nuclear arms.He later insisted, however, that he had not meant to threaten Tehran with regime change if its leaders failed to do so.Bolton, addressing a meeting of B'nai B'rith International, a Jewish humanitarian organization, cited Washington's move last week to normalize relations with Libya after that country gave up its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and said Iran's leaders faced a similar "clear choice.""This is a sign to the rulers in Tehran that if they give up their long-standing support for terrorism and they give up their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, that their regime can stay in place and that they can have a different relationship with the United States and the rest of the world," he said.Asked by reporters afterward about those comments, he said he did not mean to imply the United States would seek a change in the Iranian regime if Tehran refused to suspend its enrichment of uranium, as the U.N. Security Council has demanded."What it says is, if you do what Libya did, the same thing will happen," he said. "The 'regime stay' strategy is following the Libyan example."It was "flatly wrong," he added, to argue that Western powers wanted the Security Council to adopt a resolution that was legally binding on Iran "as an excuse to use force for regime change or anything else."Iran insists it wants only to produce energy for civilian use, but Western powers led by the United States, Britain, France and Germany argue it is using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for producing the highly enriched uranium needed for atomic bombs.London, Paris and Berlin, working with Washington, are drafting an offer of incentives to Tehran if it agrees to curb its nuclear ambitions, twinned with disincentives should it fail to do so."I've probably said a thousand times that the Libya example is there for both North Korea and Iran to see, and that's all I've ever said and this wasn't any different," Bolton said.
I used to believe that the Bush Administration only wants to end Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. I have, in the past few months, come to believe that it is possible that the Administration has come to the conclusion that the Mullahs are an unending regime of lunatics, and that there is no compromising with them.
In other words, if we take out their nuclear facilities one day, they will only pop back up in a few years. We will either have to do the job repeatedly (by attacking facilities), or once and for all by forcing regime change.
However, it is impossible for me to believe that the Bush Administration would want to be responsible for starting a war of the magnitude it would take to end the Iranian Regime. We just don't have the political, or monetary capital, under current circumstances.
Coupled with the story of yesterday that the FBI and the Justice Department are pursuing "urgent" investigations into Hizollah terrorist cells on American soil, I have to wonder if the Bush Administration is, perhaps, confident that the war will come to us, instead of us having to take it to them.
What do you think?
Human To Human Bird Flu Transmission?Oh Lord, help us:
May 23 (Bloomberg) -- All seven people infected with bird flu in a cluster of Indonesian cases can be linked to other patients, according to disease trackers investigating possible human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus. A team of international experts has been unable to find animals that might have infected the people, the World Health Organization said in a statement today. In one case, a 10-year- old boy who caught the virus from his aunt may have passed it to his father, the first time officials have seen evidence of a three-person chain of infection, an agency spokeswoman said. Six of the seven people have died. Almost all of the 218 cases of H5N1 infections confirmed by the WHO since late 2003 can be traced to direct contact with sick or dead birds. Strong evidence of human-to-human transmission may prompt the global health agency to convene a panel of experts and consider raising the pandemic alert level, said Maria Cheng, an agency spokeswoman. ``Considering the evidence and the size of the cluster, it's a possibility,'' Cheng said in a telephone interview. ``It depends on what we're dealing with in Indonesia. It's an evolving situation.''The 32-year-old father in the cluster of cases on the island of Sumatra was ``closely involved in caring for his son, and this contact is considered a possible source of infection,'' The WHO said in its statement. Three others, including the sole survivor in the group, spent a night in a ``small'' room with the boy's aunt, who later died and was buried before health officials could conduct tests for the H5N1 virus.
``All confirmed cases in the cluster can be directly linked to close and prolonged exposure to a patient during a phase of severe illness,'' the WHO said. While investigators have been unable to rule out human-to- human transmission in the Sumatran cluster, they continue to search for other explanations for how the infections arose, the WHO statement said. Health experts are concerned that if H5N1 gains the ability to spread easily among people, it may set off a lethal global outbreak of flu. While some flu pandemics are relatively mild, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. So far, studies of the Sumatran outbreak and genetic analyses of the virus don't indicate the virus has undergone major changes, Cheng said. Scientists at WHO-affiliated labs in the U.S. and Hong Kong found no evidence that the Indonesian strain of H5N1 has gained genes from pigs or humans that might change its power or spreading ability, WHO said.
``These viruses mutate all the time and it's difficult to know what the mutations mean,'' Cheng said. Health officials earlier found strong evidence of direct human-to-human spread of H5N1 in Thailand in 2004. Scientists reported in the Jan. 27, 2005, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that the H5N1 virus probably spread from an 11-year- old girl in Thailand to her aunt and mother, killing the mother and daughter. People who had more casual contact with the girl didn't become infected. In the Sumatran cluster, close, direct contact with a severely ill person was also needed for spread, Cheng said. Preliminary findings from the investigation indicate that the woman who died, considered to be the initial case, was coughing frequently while the three others spent the night in the same room. One of the three, a second brother, is the sole survivor. The other two, her sons, died. ``It looks like the same behavior pattern'' of close contact and caretaking during illness with the bird flu virus, Cheng said. To raise the level of pandemic alert ``it would have to be transmissible from more casual contact.''The Indonesian Ministry of Health and international scientists are continuing their investigation to trace the origins of the infections, the WHO said in its statement. ``Priority is now being given to the search for additional cases of influenza-like illness in other family members, close contacts, and the general community,'' the WHO said. ``To date, the investigation has found no evidence of spread within the general community and no evidence that efficient human-to-human transmission has occurred.''
Turkey, A European Nation?A great post from Charles Henry, at No Dhimmitude:
There was a very interesting comment left recently at an older post, which I thought merited a more elaborate answer than I could provide back in that old comments thread.
Here's how an anonymous reader of No Dhimmitude reacted to my thoughts on the news media telling us that
turkey had joined europe:turkey have been considered part of Europe for over centuries.For example Karl Marx had described Turkey as the most misunderstood country in Europe along with Spain. Thanks to its big cities Europe has become today's Europe. Along with cities like Paris, Istanbul has contributed to Europe's heritage.And many Turks had lived in a third of Europe until WW1. Institutions like BBC is of course ahead of their readers -they have an obligation to know the history. Readers do not.In writing my earlier post, one of the sentences I cut out of the initial draft was a quote from russian czar Nicolas I, labeling Turkey now and forever as "the sick man of Europe". In 1854, that quote was weighted in historical truth, for Europe had bore witness to Turkey's barbaric conquest of Bulgaria, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary, Poland, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Cypres, the Crimea... writing off the top of my head, here, no sleight intended if I leave out a nation or two.... Turkey's blood-drenched claws dug deep into european soil for centuries.
If this is the logic that ties Turkey to Europe, then why not make much of north Africa, Italian? After all, it belonged to the Roman Empire not so long ago.
Go read the rest.
Charles is a relatively new contributor at No Dhimmitude. He is a great addition. Dag is a lucky guy to have him.
Are We Losing To Islamofascism?An interview at Front Page Magazine, with award-winning journalist Abigail Esman. The subject?
How the eff is it that we are losing to Islam here in the West?FP: ... tell us a bit about your background and why Islamism's encroachment on our liberties is close to your heart.Esman: I think it's close to all our hearts. As a writer -- and as someone who writes frequently about art -- I am especially passionate about free speech issues, and watching the capitulation of so many to those who decried the Danish cartoons, or the recent report suggesting we ban the term "Islamic Terrorism" from our lexicon -- these strike me as dangerous, the latest of moves on a slippery slope that is proving to be not only more slippery but steeper than we may have realized. When you start playing with language, you start playing with the way that people think.FP: So you think democracy is losing to militant Islam?Esman: Absolutely. The idea was for democracy to create gradual changes in the Muslim world. Instead, I'm seeing pressures from Muslim militants to force gradual -- and sometimes not-so-gradual -- changes in the democratic world. We are not winning this fight.FP: So let's talk about the big recent news: Hirsi Ali. What do you make of the recent developments?Esman: The American coverage of this situation has been rather superficial, so I'm glad to have a chance to clarify much of it - or as much as I can in brief. This whole issue emerged because of two recent and very high-profile cases in which Rita Verdonk, the Immigration and Integration Minister, denied naturalization or asylum to others who had in one way or another bucked the system -- or tried to -- in their applications. Subsequently, a TV news program, a kind of "60-Minutes" sort of show, ran a piece about Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the stories she had told at the time of her application for asylum. Those stories had, for the most part -- not all of them, but most of them -- been well known, and Hirsi Ali had never made a secret of any of it. But by running the piece at this particular moment, it put the question of her naturalization in a new context for the public, and forced Verdonk to explain why, in fact, Ayaan Hirsi Ali had been able to become a Dutch citizen when she had lied on her application, and yet others were being deported. And Verdonk had to respond.But Rita Verdonk runs on a platform of being "Iron Rita" - the law is the law, the letter of the law is all that counts (which is why she has been known to do things like force some Iranian homosexuals to return to Iran, where clearly their lives are in danger). And she is running for office for 2007. It's important to her campaign, in other words, that she maintain that image. So what you have here is this woman who on one day, of her own accord, announced that "Ayaan has nothing to worry about," the next day called for an investigation, and the following day revoked Hirsi Ali's passport. And I think it's clear that someone said something to her about her campaign and her supporters and the Iron Rita image in the interim, and that alone took precedence.The irony is that within the subsequent two days, she has agreed, under pressure from the Parliament to re-review the case; then the following day, announced that she was going to hold to her decision to revoke citizenship, and the third day announced yet again that she would try desperately to find "room within the law" that would allow her to make an exception for Hirsi Ali.Hardly "iron."But there's more than that, because the whole story is more a view into the way the Dutch so often avert their eyes until called to task for something -- which is, actually, what Ayaan Hirsi Ali did to them on many issues. The fact is that Hirsi Ali never went after a career in politics. She never went after a role as a public figure. She made a statement while sitting in the audience during a lecture, and some reporter asked her to write a piece for his newspaper, and suddenly everyone was listening to her. And when she was threatened and had to leave the country, it was the VVD -- the party of which both she and Verdonk are members -- who came to her, not the other way around, and begged her to join them and to serve in the Parliament under their banner. They literally, you could say, bribed her, promising her the chance to work on the issues close to her heart and, more important at that moment, guaranteeing her round-the-clock security. FP: Profound insights, thank you.Let's switch over to anti-Semitism in Europe. What is the situation in Holland?Esman: Holland has been guilty for decades of a deadly silence, beginning with its pretense of ignorance about the death camps (in fact, it was recently confirmed that the Dutch were well aware of where the Jews were going). Now the silence takes the form of a virtual exclusion of Judaism from its culture. Every Dutch child knows what Ramadan is. In the schools, even the Muslim children dye Easter eggs and are taught about the Second Coming of Jesus. But these are people who think of Pesach as "Jewish Easter," and have no clue what it means. Their Easter breakfasts include matzoh, bagels, eggs and bacon. They've never heard of Chaunkah. Why? For many Dutch children, a Jew is someone who lives in Israel and is at war with the Palestinians. That's all.And for Muslim children, that last part is the most important definition of "Jew." It makes Jews the enemy. And so some even threaten teachers who attempt to give lessons on the Holocaust. Shocking as that is, I think the Dutch feed the problem by not educating their children - Dutch-Christian or Dutch-Muslim -- what Judaism is, who Jews are. They simply pretend we don't exist. Etc.
Go read the whole thing.
The History Of Anti-Semitism And The Da Vinci CodeThanks to Mark Alexander, at A New Dark Age Is Dawning, for making me aware of this article about the latent anti-Semitism buried within the mythos of the Da Vinci Code:
WHY should a Jew care? Consider that the alleged conspiracy underlying the "biggest cover-up in human history" bears a remarkable resemblance to another phony conspiracy, the famous hoax called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Apparently authored by Russian monarchist and anti-Semite Mathieu Golovinski in 1898, the Protocols tells of a secret society of Jewish elders that works to keep gentiles ignorant of a plot to rule the world through "Darwinism, Marxism and Nietzscheism." In both conspiracy theories, an ancient world religion turns out to be a massive fraud perpetrated to gain or maintain power. In Dan Brown's version, the "Priory of Sion" ("Sion" simply means "Zion" in French) is the good guys. They've been waiting for the right moment to reveal the secret about Jesus having children and to introduce the world to the worship of the "Goddess," a.k.a. Mary Magdalene. Meanwhile the Catholic Church plots to suppress forever the truth about the "sacred feminine." Opus Dei is willing to go to any lengths, including murder, to keep the male church hierarchy in power. Pierre Plantard (1920-2000), the French monarchist and anti-Semite who gave us the "Priory of Sion," spent much of his life inventing minuscule esoteric organizations intended to "purify" France of the evil influences of modernity - and of Judaism. In 1940 he wrote of the "terrible Masonic and Jewish conspiracy" that threatened France.The Priory of Sion was one group he started. The point of this occult order was to advance Plantard's claim to be the surviving heir of the ancient Merovingian line of French kings, whose "holy blood" was guarded by the Priory. The idea that the Merovingians were the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene was added on later. Besides highlighting the word "Zion" or "Sion," the two conspiracy theories share an understanding of how to deal with ideas you disagree with. Rather than taking traditional Christian beliefs at face value and arguing against them (as I do in my current book, by the way), Dan Brown portrays the religion itself as resting upon a conscious deception. That excuses him from having to make arguments at all. Anti-Semites do the same thing. Rather than coming out honestly against Darwinism or Marxism or modernity in general, they concoct a story about Judaism as a lie and a conspiracy. The Protocols remains a global phenomenon of staggering popularity, especially in the Arab world. I emphasize that Dan Brown never intended to foment bigotry. Yet to the cause of conspiracy theorizing, he has done a wonderful favor, training his readers in the habits of paranoia and gullibility. For people committed to finding the truth through investigation and argumentation, that's depressing. As for Jews, we haven't fared well when the culture we live in turns to entertaining fantasies and delusions at the expense of an unfashionable religion. The success of his book, now transformed into a movie blockbuster, is bad news indeed. Scratch any conspiracy theorist, and it is almost certain, you will find anti-Semitism lurking somehwere underneath.
Little Green Footballs: September, 2001Having recently seen United 93, I am once again doubly cognizant of the fact that it is very important for us to remember the visceral terror and disgust of September 11th. That was the day we found out that much of the Islamic world was not, as we always thought, simply full of bluster, but instead, that they truly want to kill us.
And, that they will do whatever they could to kill as many of us as possible.
I highly recommend that everyone go to Little Green Footballs September 2001 archive, and go back to September 1st, and read through the month. You will see the story of how September 11th completely changed the life of Charles Johnson. And, in his story, you will recall your own.
I'm willing to bet that, as soon as you are finished reading his Sept. archive, you will want to move ahead and
read the October archive as well.
Let me know what you think.
Reuters Makes The Case For Taking Out The Iranian RegimeWell, sort of, anyway ...
The legacy media is doing what it can to discredit the idea of a military attack on Iranian nuclear sites.
The following article, from Reuters, goes a long way in trying to make such a case, even quoting a guy who wants to take out the Iranian regime by using special forces.
That aside, however, I find the article interesting because it gives us just a bit of a glimpse into the relationship between ordinary Iranians and Jewish Iranians:
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Tehran-born Israeli Meir Javedanfar fondly recalls sitting around a television set with his Muslim friends back in Iran drinking copious cups of sweet tea while proudly watching the national soccer team play.With a growing crisis between the West and Iran over its nuclear program, Javedanfar is among many Iranian Jews living in Israel who fear a possible attack on their former homeland."I am strongly against any war with Iran as I do not want to see Iranian people hurt," said Javedanfar, a 32-year-old Iranian analyst, staring at the lapping waves on the beachfront of Tel Aviv, an Israeli city where many Iranian Jews live.The history of Iran's Jewish community, once over 100,000 strong, stretches back over 2,500 years to the ancient Persian empire. They are sometimes called "Esther's Children" after a Jewish queen of Persia.Jews faced intermittent persecution in Iran for centuries but flourished with the ascent of the pro-western Pahlavi dynasty in the 1920s.Since Israel's creation in 1948, more than 40,000 Iranian Jews have moved to the Jewish state, with the last big wave arriving after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.Tel Aviv shop owner Siyamak Shirazi, 37, who was born in Tehran and moved to Israel in 1979, said he hoped ordinary Iranians would not be caught up in any military action."We are Israelis but we are still Iranians. I hope there are no air strikes," he said. "I would prefer the ruling leadership being removed by U.S. or Israeli special forces. Perhaps then the people there will be able to breathe again."The United States and other countries including Israel accuse Iran of wanting to build nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.Washington has not ruled out military options if diplomacy fails to curb Iran's atomic ambitions.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ratcheted up tensions in recent months by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." He has also described the Jewish state as "a decaying and crumbling tree that will fall with a storm."Close allies when Iran was ruled by a U.S.-backed Shah, Iran and Israel have been implacable foes since the 1979 revolution.Tehran has said its armed forces would retaliate for any attack. Earlier this month, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said Israel would be the first target, a comment later played down by the deputy chief of military staff.Israel, considered the only nuclear power in the Middle East, is within range of Iranian ballistic missiles.Israeli officials have said Iran's nuclear program is the most serious threat faced by Jews since the Nazi Holocaust. Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Ahmadinejad should bear in mind that his own country could also be destroyed."I miss my friends in Iran and Tehran very much," said Morris Moradiyan, 42, originally from Iran's capital."At the same time, Israel faces an existential threat from a nuclear Iran," he said. "I know ordinary Iranian people will suffer like us. I just hope if it comes to any attack, it can be done quickly with as little bloodshed as possible."The Jewish community in Iran now numbers some 25,000 out of a population of around 69 million.Jews in Iran are often regarded with suspicion by the government. Earlier this year, the Jewish community in Iran took a dramatic step in criticizing Ahmadinejad's description of the Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews during World War Two as a myth.Despite the growing tensions, contacts between Israel's Iranian Jews and friends and family in Iran continue in secret.E-mail and telephone calls over the Internet have made it easier to stay in touch without alerting Iranian authorities. Some Iranian Jews in Israel call over regular telephone lines but use code words as a precaution."When I speak with my family in Iran we never mention the word Israel," said Shaharzad Amin-Zadeh, 45, who moved to Israel from the Kurdish Iranian city of Sanandaj. "People over there are worried."Since the 1950s, Israel Radio has run a daily Farsi language service, which it says is widely listened to in Iran.The service hosts a weekly phone-in talk show with people in Iran via a link through Europe. In the past, Israel's Iranian-born president, Moshe Katsav, has been a guest on the program, which gets on average 10 callers a week from Iran."Listeners have called the program saying they were embarrassed by Ahmadinejad's comments," said Menashe Amir, who works in the Farsi service."They also said they were happy for the U.S. to confront Iran but hoped it would not hit ordinary citizens and only target nuclear sites," Amir added.Toronto-based Iranian activist Hossein Derakhshan, one of the best-known Farsi "bloggers" on the Internet, visited Israel this year -- a trip he described as a good opportunity to break "a long-established taboo" about the Jewish state."Because of the anti-Israel propaganda of the Iranian regime there is a backlash and people have become curious," said Derakhshan, who left Iran five years ago after working as a journalist with a reformist newspaper.On his Web site, he wrote about his recent experiences in Israel and posted video clips of his visit, especially his meetings with Iranian Jews. He said more than 4,000 people, many of them in Iran, have viewed the recordings."People in Iran are intrigued by the idea of Israel and want to visit it," he said. "Tel Aviv could easily be the sister city to Tehran if Iran becomes open and democratic."I love the idea that this whole problem can be solved by Special Forces. When someone says such a thing, you know you are just one step away from Moonbat-land. Just ask them the question, "Well, if we can just send Special Forces in there and take out the Iranian regime, then why do you suppose George Bush wants to bomb Iran?
The answer will be either one of the following, or a hybrid of the three:
1) Because of the Military Industrial Complex,
or,
2) Because the Zionists want to destroy Iran,
or
3) Because we want to take over the Iranian oil wells.
Iraq's New Prime Minister Will Do What America Couldn't Get Away WithAnd,
he will probably be applauded for it:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's new prime minister promised Sunday to use "maximum force" if necessary to end the brutal insurgent and sectarian violence wracking the country, while a suicide bomber killed more than a dozen people at a restaurant in downtown Baghdad. "We are aware of the security challenge and its effects. So we believe that facing this challenge cannot be achieved through the use of force only, despite the fact that we are going to use the maximum force in confronting the terrorists and the killers who are shedding blood," al-Maliki said.Disarming militias, whose members are believed to have infiltrated the security services, will be a priority, he said, along with promoting national reconciliation, improving the country's collapsing infrastructure and setting up a special protection force for Baghdad.
Is This The Beginning Of A Civil War In America?Two things here. First comes the statistic that
fully 10% of Mexico's population is currently living in the United States:
The current migration of Mexicans and Central Americans to the United States is one of the largest diasporas in modern history, experts say.
Roughly 10 percent of Mexico's population of about 107 million is now living in the United States, estimates show. About 15 percent of Mexico's labor force is working in the United States. One in every 7 Mexican workers migrates to the United States.That is an absolutely pathetic statistic. The lesson everyone, especially the Mexican people, should learn from this statistic is that the Mexican government is completely incapable of doing its job. It can not provide a decent standard of living for its people. The Mexican government has completely failed the Mexican people.
Vincente Fox ought to be ashamed of himself. But, of course, he isn't. That is reason enough for the Mexican people to gather together, raid the Presidential home, tie Fox up, and physically remove him from office.
But, of course, they won't.
The other important story is that
experts expect a surge of volunteers to help illegal immigrants steal their way into America:
A surge in the number of volunteers fanning out across Arizona's southern deserts to aid illegal immigrants is expected this summer. The increase comes despite the ongoing prosecution of two volunteers arrested last summer on federal charges they intentionally conspired to transport illegal entrants, leaders of illegal immigrant aid groups said. Question (and really think about it before you answer): Is this the beginning of an American Civil War?
I do not think a full-scale civil war will break out in the next few weeks, but it is a serious question to ponder. Are these the first shots in what will eventually become a very large war.
Like the rest of the West, America needs to do something about its immigrant situation. The difference between America and Europe, however, is the European governments are willingly allowing the invasion of their countries. In America, the bulk of our immigrants are illegal. In theory, the American government does not willingly allow the illegal immigrants in.
However, that is only a theory, or, shall we say, that is the story they tell us, and they've been sticking to it.
However, the American people are waking up to the fact that our government is giving away our country, in the form of allowing, even facilitating, illegal immigration. Mexican illegal immigrants get free health care, they often aquire false identification, and thus become eligible for welfare services, and, they vote. I've seen it with my own two eyes, in my own neighborhood.
Of course, you would just have to trust me on the anecdotal story.
Yesterday, I wrote a post on how there was a poll in Germany which seems to show that the German people are absolutely bottoming out on their trust in the Muslims in their midst. It has gotten so bad that a plurality of Germans now do not even want to allow Mosques to be built in their country:
Asked if there should be a ban on the building of mosques in Germany as long as the building of churches in some Islamic states is forbidden, 56 per cent agreed, said the poll.
There is even considerable backing for ending Germany’s constitutional right of freedom of religion with regard to Islam, the poll showed.
Asked if strict limits should be imposed on the practice of Islam in Germany to protect the country, 40 per cent said they would support such moves.These are stunning statistics. What I believe we are seeing here is that the views of the German and American people are radically diverging from the agendas of the governments who represent them. This is a very dangerous state of affairs. If things do not adjust themselves, violence will ensue.
America has a pretty good track record of adjustment. However, this illegal immigration situation has been a long time boiling. We shall see if the problem will be addressed.
The German people, on the other hand have a history of violent swings between left and right, often veering into fascism. There is a real danger of history repeating itself there.
And, there is a real danger of America inventing a new historical trend for itself, if our government doesn't start to listen to its citizenry.
"The Underpopulation Bomb"Al Fin has a very interesting post on "The Underpopulation Bomb." The point is that there are a great number of countries in the world whose people are reproducing are less than replacement rate:
Two years ago, Phillip Longman published an article in Foreign Affairs entitled The Global Baby Bust. He convincingly argues that western nations will soon be underpopulated, due to falling birthrates. Longman's article probably helped to jump start the discussion of this topic within the mainstream, although underpopulation had long been a growing concern among western conservatives and independents. Japan, Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, South Korea, and a number of other Western/or European countries will either shrink in population, or experience severe cultural shock as populations are replaced by outsiders. Even China and India will face inevitable problems unique to their populations and economies, due to the slowing of birthrates.Here is a list of countries whose population is reproducing at rates signifigantly below replacement rate:
1. Bulgaria 1.13 children born/woman (2003 est.)
2. Czech Republic 1.18 children born/woman (2003 est.)
3. Latvia 1.2 children born/woman (2003 est.)
4. Singapore 1.24 children born/woman (2003 est.)
5. Hungary 1.25 children born/woman (2003 est.)
6. Slovakia 1.25 children born/woman (2003 est.)
7. Spain 1.26 children born/woman (2003 est.)
8. Italy 1.26 children born/woman (2003 est.)
9. Slovenia 1.27 children born/woman (2003 est.)
10. Andorra 1.27 children born/woman (2003 est.)
11. Estonia 1.27 children born/woman (2003 est.)
12. San Marino 1.31 children born/woman (2003 est.)
13. Macau 1.32 children born/woman (2003 est.)14. Hong Kong 1.32 children born/woman (2003 est.)
15. Russia 1.33 children born/woman (2003 est.)
16. Belarus 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
17. Ukraine 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
18. Greece 1.35 children born/woman (2003 est.)
19. Romania 1.36 children born/woman (2003 est.)
20. Guernsey 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
21. Germany 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
22. Poland 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
23. Japan 1.38 children born/woman (2003 est.)
24. Austria 1.41 children born/woman (2003 est.)
25. Lithuania 1.43 children born/woman (2003 est.)
26. Switzerland 1.48 children born/woman (2003 est.)
27. Portugal 1.49 children born/woman (2003 est.)
28. Liechtenstein 1.5 children born/woman (2003 est.)
29. Georgia 1.51 children born/woman (2003 est.)
30. Sweden 1.54 children born/woman (2003 est.)
31. Saint Helena 1.54 children born/woman (2003 est.)
32. Korea, South 1.56 children born/woman (2003 est.)
33. Armenia 1.56 children born/woman (2003 est.)
34. Jersey 1.57 children born/woman (2003 est.)
35. Taiwan 1.57 children born/woman (2003 est.)
36. Cuba 1.61 children born/woman (2003 est.)
37. Canada 1.61 children born/woman (2003 est.)
38. Belgium 1.62 children born/woman (2003 est.)
39. Gibraltar 1.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
40. Barbados 1.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
41. Man, Isle of 1.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
42. Netherlands 1.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
43. United Kingdom 1.66 children born/woman (2003 est.)
44. Luxembourg 1.7 children born/woman (2003 est.)
45. Finland 1.7 children born/woman (2003 est.)
46. China 1.7 children born/woman (2003 est.)
47. Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.71 children born/woman (2003 est.)
48. British Virgin Islands 1.72 children born/woman (2003 est.)
49. Denmark 1.73 children born/woman (2003 est.)
50. Moldova 1.74 children born/woman (2003 est.)
51. Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of 1.75 children born/woman (2003 est.)
52. Northern Mariana Islands 1.75 children born/woman (2003 est.)
53. Anguilla 1.76 children born/woman (2003 est.)
54. Monaco 1.76 children born/woman (2003 est.)
55. Australia 1.76 children born/woman (2003 est.)
56. Serbia and Montenegro 1.77 children born/woman (2003 est.)
57. Trinidad and Tobago 1.78 children born/woman (2003 est.)
58. Seychelles 1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.)
59. New Zealand 1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.)
60. Aruba 1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.)
61. Martinique 1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.)
62. Montserrat 1.8 children born/woman (2003 est.)
63. Norway 1.8 children born/woman (2003 est.)
64. France 1.85 children born/woman (2003 est.)
This list is like a Who's Who of the most productive and innovative populations on Earth. The only major innovating countried I am not seeing on that list are the United States and China.
And, let's face it, much of the reproduction in countries such as the U.S., Denmark, Norway, and France, is being done by immigrants. And, in Denmark, Norway, and France, those immigrants are primarily Muslims.
Another thing to note is, almost every Western European nation is represented on that list.
Eurabia Dances For Her Muslim Friend
Iraqi Parliament Approves CabinentThis is good news. They have a government. Now, let us see if they can learn to govern themselves humanely, or if they stumble and fall into a Jihadi morass:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's parliament approved a national unity government Saturday, achieving a goal Washington hopes will reduce violence so U.S. forces can eventually go home. But as the legislators met, a series of attacks killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens.In a show of hands, the 275-member parliament approved each of the 39 Cabinet ministers proposed by incoming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The new Shiite Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish ministers then took their oaths of office during the nationally televised session in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.The installation, coming after months of political wrangling following Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, completed a democratic process that began after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Pope Benedict And The JewsA blast from CUANAS past.
This is a post I did on Benedict, shortly after he was made Pope:
Much has been said in the past 24 about the New Pope and his relationship to the Jews. The media is making a big deal out of the fact that he was a member of the Hitler Youth. The truth is, all German children were enrolled in the Hitler Youth.
The Popes father was an ACTIVE ANTI-NAZI, which caused him to have to pack up and move on several occasions. The Popes whole family was anti-Nazi.
The media is bringing up this Hitler Youth stuff because the media does not like the fact that the Pope is a Christian. They would rather that he be a mushy New Age hypocrite like themselves.Too bad for the media.
The Pope, Mr. Ratzinger, is actually one of the best Christian friends the Jews have ever had. I am surprised to find how much
his ideas dovetail with my very own.
Here is an excerpt from a very long paper, entitled The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures In The Christian Bible, much of it written by The Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger himself:
Personally, Paul continued to be proud of his Jewish origin (Rm 11:1). Referring to the time preceding his conversion, he says: “I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors” (Ga 1:14). Having become an apostle of Christ, he says of his adversaries: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I” (2 Co 11:22). Still, he can relativise all these advantages by saying: “These I have come to regard as loss because of Christ” (Ph 3:7).Nonetheless, he continues to think and reason like a Jew. His thought is visibly permeated by Jewish ideas. In his writings, as was mentioned above, we find not only continual references to the Old Testament, but many traces of Jewish traditions as well. Furthermore, Paul often uses rabbinic techniques of exegesis and argumentation (cf. I. D. 3, no. 14).Paul's ties to Judaism are also seen in his moral teaching. In spite of his opposition to the pretentions of those who kept the Law, he himself includes a precept of the Law, Lv 19:18 (“You shall love your neighbour as yourself”) to sum up the whole of the moral life. 332 Summing up the Law in one precept is typically Jewish, as the well-known anecdote about Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, Jesus' contemporaries, demonstrates. 333The resistance mounted by the majority of Jews to the Christian preaching produced in Paul's heart “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” (Rm 9:2), clear evidence of his great affection for them. He said that he himself was willing to accept on their behalf the greatest and most inconceivable sacrifice, to be branded “accursed”, separated from Christ (9:3). His afflictions and suffering forced him to search for a solution: in three lengthy chapters (Rm 9-11), he goes to the heart of the problem, or rather the mystery, of Israel's place in God's plan, in the light of Christ and of the Scriptures, without giving up until he is able to conclude: “and so all Israel will be saved” (Rm 11:26). These three chapters in the Letter to the Romans constitute the most profound reflection in the whole of the New Testament on Jews who do not believe in Jesus. Paul expressed there his most mature reflections.The solution he proposed is based on the Scriptures which, in certain places, promised salvation only to a “remnant” of Israel. 334 In this phase of salvation history then, there is only a “remnant” of Israelites who believe in Christ Jesus, but this situation is not definitive. Paul observes that, from now on, the presence of the “remnant” proves that God has not “rejected his people” (11:1). This people continues to be “holy”, that is, in close relationship with God. It is holy because it comes from a holy root, the ancestors, and because their “first fruits” have been blessed (11:16). Paul does not make it clear whether by “first fruits” he means Israel's ancestors, or the “remnant” sanctified by faith and baptism. He exploits the agricultural metaphor of the tree when he speaks of branches being cut off and grafted (11:17-24). It is understood that the cut off branches are Israelites who have refused to believe in Christ Jesus and that those grafted on are Gentile Christians. To these — as we have already noted — Paul preaches humility: “It is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you” (11:18). To the branches that have been cut off, Paul opens up a positive perspective: “God has the power to graft them on again” (11:23); this would be easier than in the case of the Gentiles, since it is “their own olive tree” (11:24). In the final analysis, God's plan for Israel is entirely positive: “their stumbling means riches for the world”, “how much more will their full inclusion mean?” (11:12). They are assured of a covenant of mercy by God (11:27,31).I've been called a heretic for saying such things. Well, now I have the Pope to back me up. I absolutely agree with the Pope on this. Always have. My heart tells me this is true, and this is why I call the Jews, My Brothers in the Faith.
I believe the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope could very well be a hinge upon which history will turn. He is exactly the Pope needed to counter the problems our world is facing today.
Todays Commentary:
There is one other very important thing to note which Paul writes, in the passage Benedict quotes here. It is a warning:
... they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.22Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.--- Romans 11: 20-22
Taking into account, the post below, about Iran passing a law to force Jews to wear yellow insignias (as they were also forced to do by the Germans, in the days leading up to the Holocaust), it is wise for any believer to understand the curse that is leveled at those of us who would be "arrogant" toward the Jews.
Believe me, to ignore them in their time of peril is even worse than arrogance.
The Christian Church, the Body of Christ, stands ready to suffer the consequences if we remain silent.
You have been warned.
Iran Eyes Badges ForJews And ChristiansFor anyone having problems figuring out whether Ahamdinejad is the new Hitler (for instance, my reason-challenged relatives in Europe), well,
here you go:
Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims."This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.Ok, so Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier, who, at the same time, uses all the methods and rhetoric of Hitler.
Still having trouble figuring it out?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:9/11 Was An Inside JobThe Seattle Post-Intelligencer (I think the name means they are post-intelligent, just like post-modern means the period after the modern period) published an article claiming that the World Trade Center towers collapsed as the result of carefully placed demolition explosives.
Now, let us be clear, there is no reason for the Post-Intelligencer to publish such a thing unless they believe it has some legitimacy. If they were to publish such a thing without truly believing it, then we can conclude that part of thier agenda is to fill the minds of American citizens with anti-American conspiratorial drivel.
If the Post-Intelligencer wants to fill the minds of average American with such ideas, then the Post-Intelligencer is committing treason in spirit, if not legally.
Here's
an excerpt from the Post-Intelligencer article:
In the months after 9/11 all of the surviving New York City Fire Department personnel who were on the scene were interviewed. Those oral histories were recorded and withheld from the public until Aug. 15, 2005. Only after losing in court three times did the city of New York finally release them. All 503 are now posted on The New York Times Web site.
Why did the city fight so hard to keep them from the public?It turns out those oral histories reveal details about what was happening in the World Trade Center buildings that are completely inconsistent with the tale told by the commission. Dozens of firefighters and medics reported hearing, seeing and feeling explosives going off in the buildings that collapsed. Why were there explosives, very powerful explosives by all accounts, going off in the buildings? More disturbing, why was the pattern of those explosives identical in some important ways with the pattern used in a planned implosion (or controlled demolition of a building)?In spite of Connelly’s faith in what commission members say, the report seems to be an obvious cover-up. The question that we all need to ask is: What is the commission covering up? Was 9/11, in fact, an inside job?Last week I was in a bookstore in Wisconsin, checking out current events books in between meetings, and some middle-aged guy sidled up to me and carefully began explaining to me the same theory that is proposed here by the Post-Intelligencer. Nearby, there was a younger man sitting and reading a novel. The younger man began looking up and listening to our conversation with interest.
I let the middle-aged guy drone on for a second, so that his theory would be clear. He made the claim that demolition experts across the country had concluded that the towers could not have fallen the way they did, unless explosives had been carefully place throughout the buildings. He said the fire could not have been hot enough.
I would have let this insanity all go if we hadn't had an audience, but the idea that even one person is exposed to such bullshit, and may believe it, is not tolerable to me, so I pointed out to the guy that the architect who designed the building had said that his first reaction upon having seen that a commercial airliner had flown into the trade center was that the jet fuel fire would heat up and melt the metal which was the structure of the building.
The architect himself knew exactly what would happen.
Of course, Mr. Conspiracy Man got very angry with me, and a little scene ensued. I was ready to ask him who he thought was behind the whole thing; the Jews? But, alas, I thought better of it. And, I simply ambled over to the Lit section and bought a Milan Kundera book instead.
Meanwhile, doesn't it seem as if our whole fucking world is losing its mind.
What is going on here?
Iran Rejects European Nuclear Reactor OfferWell, gee, at least they tried:
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday rejected a possible European offer for incentives, including a light-water nuclear reactor, in return for allaying fears about his country's nuclear program by giving up uranium enrichment. Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?" Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in a speech in central Iran.Maybe Europe can offer to give him a nuclear bomb next time. Just not a very big one.
He might accept that.
Give it a try, Europe.
Power Is A BeastDoes Bush Have Any Authority Left? Could He Order An Attack On Iran?As we all know, Bush's approval ratings are in the toilet, and about to be flushed.
How bad is it?
Well,
Tom Van Dyke of The Reform Club puts it all in perspective:
Poll Gives Bush His Worst Marks YetSo sayeth the NYT headline. OK, though a bit ho-hum. Another day, another drop in the polls. Down to 31%. Buried in the last paragraph, I mean the last, folks, are some other interesting approval ratings: Al Gore, 28%. And in the next-to-last, John Kerry, 26. 28, 26. Y tu mamá también. Thank God Dubya stole those elections.Over in the UK, where he just won another term while promising to quit before it's over (how perverse!), Tony Blair is at 26%, too. And I can't even imagine how low the heinous, corrupt Chirac regime has slipped, especially among those who got their Citroens all burned up in the recent, um, civil unrest.The Battleaxis of Evil, Hillary Clinton, who says little and does nothing of value, only has an approval rating of 34%, and all-around good guy centrist John McCain is at 35. There's a pattern here.In this day and age of 24/7 bad news here in the western world, all things considered like the (un)popularity of his previous crap opponents, his political ally in another country, and senators who have no real responsibility, Dubya is lookin' pretty danged good.Well, maybe.
And, one must keep in mind that the Bush approval rating polls, themselves, are bullshit. They are being conducted by "AP-Ipsos" which means they are the polls of a French company that is used for nothing, in the American media, other than polling on Bush's approval rating.
Here's a link to a previous CUANAS article explaining just who AP-Ipsos is.
But now, let's go in a different direction with this.
I don't doubt that Bush's real approval rating is extremely low. The man's duel agenda of making war and, at the same time, granting citizenship to illegal aliens smacks of cognitive dissonance at a level the world has rarely seen.
So, if Bush's approval ratings are truly in the low 30's, then what does that mean for his agenda?
What do you think would happen if Bush decided to bomb Iran at this point? You know, what if he decided to use his dwindling authority to order a major military attack, on the foundation of his 31% approval rating?
Would he be able to get the military to do it?
That might sound like a crazy question, but think about it, at a certain point, an unpopular President wouldn't have any authority at all. What is that point?
And, where does he lost his authority first?
It seems to me he first loses his authority in Congress, and then gradually the military would follow. I don't think even the military can afford to follow the orders of a President if he has no support.
The military is not an entity unto itself. It is interlocked in the whole political world.
Political power is a beast that a strong man learns how to ride. It is not a force which resides in the heart of an individual. Bush is not policially powerful within himself. He does have some personal charisma, based on personality, and ideology, which allows him to control political power, but he does not carry the power within himself.
So, does Bush have the authority to pull off an attack on Iran at this point? And, at what point would he lose such authority?
The Angriest Dog
In The World
(Click on cartoon to view)
The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor mortis."Back on February 21, 2006, I came to the end of my rope with our current situation with regards to Iran. I realized that we were absolutely played out with the UN and the EU, and any effort to try to use diplomacy. I always knew diplomacy would not work, but I expected the diplomacy card to have been played in such a way that events would prove that it wasn't working. Instead, we have been played.
So, on February 21 of this year, I wrote the following post, entitled
Perched On The Edge Of An Abyss:
My sense tells me that if we don't do something about Iran very, very soon, we are in deep shit.
I have been writing here for the last couple of months that it seems that it will take a major terrorist attack (more than 10,000 dead) in the West before we will wake up.
I have been hoping that the Cartoon Jihad would do the job of waking us up. I really thought that a worldwide Muslim temper tantrum, over something so incredibly stupid, would cause people in the West to come to terms with who our enemy is.
I am a big nobody, but I am trying as hard as I can to get the word out. But, a couple hundred thousand hits does little to change the world. The pundits in the media read our blogs. They know what is going on, but they believe moderation is called for.
People like Hugh Hewitt are a sweet poison to Western Civilization. Urging caution at a time like this is merely adminstering soothing ether.
We are in the foxhole of history right now. The last thing we need is sleep.
Alas, it seems that maybe only five percent of us have woken up. Maybe a bit more, but not much.
I also wrote
this on that day:
Dennis Prager is one of my favorite people. I have learned so much from him over the years. It is safe to say that without him I would not be blogging today.This week he has a very important column on
why the American news media will not publish the Mohammed Cartoons.
Good commentary, very necessary and true.
BUT,(you knew that was coming, didn't you?)
It occurred to me that Mr. Prager hasn't published the cartoons either. So, here it is, my call out to Dennis Prager:
You have a website. Publish the cartoons.I'm going to be very honest here. I am tired of doing the heavy lifting for the media. Writing this blog wears on me.
Of course, there are many bloggers who are doing what we are doing here at IBA, so it's not like I am alone in this, but, at the same time, I am not an editor, publisher, or political commentator (that, I'm sure, doesn't come as a shock to any of you who read my crap on a daily basis), I am a sales guy in the media world. That's my job, not this blog.
And yet, it is people like me who have to do this work because the American media refuses to do so.
This is said in all sincerity, Mr. Prager. We need some help.
What is happening to our nation when sales guys, policemen, housewives, and marketing people are left to do the work of disseminating the most important truths of our time?
Now, the fact of the matter is, Dennis Prager is on our side. So, why do I call him out? Well, because he needs to step up and put his whole self where his mouth is, just like all of us bloggers have done.
It's time to step up, my friends.
You could say, that I have been thoroughly disgusted and fed up ever since that day. You could say that I have been chewing my sour cud ever since that day. You could say I have a permanent purple vein exploding off my forehead ever since that day. You could say I am the angriest dog in the world right about now, and you would be absolutely fucking correct.
I am poisoned with paralyzed patience. I am atrophied with apocalyptic apathy. I am solidified in stunned silence. I sit like the anti-Buddhi beneath a Bodhi tree aflame.
Ever since that day, February 21, 2006 I have had to drag myself to my computer, and choke down the news of the day. I have had to shiver and shake as I write. I have had to go for long walks, and bathe myself in the middling light of television sitcoms in order to make myself forget the events of the day. I don't even remember what it was that set me off specifically. I just know that I felt like the bottom dropped out of our world. I felt like we were all alone. We who care about Western Civilization were left without a leadership. We're to fend for ourselves without a government, without a formal agreement. Apparently, with no representation though we are endlessly taxed.
Well, it seems that I am not alone in feeling like this. For the longest time, I thought it was just me. I didn't want to mention it, because if it is just a personal depression that I am going though, then why bring other down. However, Wretchard from Belmont Club has noticed this phenomena in other people. He believe it has, in fact, spread across the blogosphere; from the right to the left of the political spectrum.
Here is his explanation:
My own hunch is that in the last two or three months there's been a change in the tone of the blogosphere. Nothing definite, simply a change in atmosphere in proportion to the degree of abstract tendencies of the blogger. Authors who trafficked in ideas and concepts have altered the most. Some have paused to take stock, pleading disgust or confusion; still others have returned to writing as seemingly different persons; others seem to be suffering a kind of nervous breakdown, obsessed with hatred for one or more public figures or inventing new words and finding conspiracies in everything they see.The least affected are authors who are largely descriptive. For example Michael Totten's review of Arabs in Israel is one of those blogposts which describes what it sees even when it finds apparent contradictions. My own theory is that all the old divisions so sharply erected between September 11, 2001 and April, 2003 have been slowly eroded by the uncertainties of the world. The Left and the Right have seen their champions turn out to be all too human, and are confounded. Issues which are a wedge on both sides of the spectrum -- like immigration or Darfur -- have scattered interest groups around like balls after a billiard break. New issues like the resurgence of a hostile Russia, the spread of Marxism in Latin America -- even the malicious buffoonery of the Iranian President -- are crowding at the fringes of the now comforting world of the War on Terror. The old play is ending and yet the new one has not yet begun. And this bothers abstract intellectuals far more than it does the men in the field. A soldier can write with perfect conviction that "the world was a slightly better place every time I pulled the trigger" because he lives in a world of specificity, but the agonized thinker can find no such comfort in cold abstractions; abstractions now in need of repair under the weight of experience.The need to keep mental furniture in order is the curse of the abstract thinker. A recent visitor from the Philippines told me -- not in so many words, but clearly enough -- about how the famous old Communists of the 1970s and 80s had all gone essentially crazy. Not clinically. But they were all of them gnawing at the ends of old plots, editing unread journals, scheming from miserable academic departments; haunting the peripheries of political life. He described this in quiet tones as we sat at some seaside saloon, a grey mist and rain having fallen over the bay; the perfect time he said "for Godzilla to come popping out of the water". And of course there was a better chance of Godzilla actually materializing than that those dusty old Commies should ever succeed at what they were doing. They knew it and that was the madness. It was better, I thought, to keep watching and have another beer.Yes, I guess I have been sitting here waiting for Godzilla to come popping out of the water. But, the problem is, while it wouldn't have seemed likely to those old Commies back in 1970's Phillipines, it does seem likely today, given the situation we are facing vis a vis Ahmadinejad.
Next pitcher's on me.
Reds In Green Clothing:The Environmentalists Want To Destroy AmericaChina is going into business with Cuba, drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. The United States is not drilling for oil in that region because of environmentalists who object to every move we make:
Cuba is exploring and potentially developing these oil fields, estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to possess more oil than the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, and Cuba is partnering with China and other countries, such as Spain, France, and Canada.Terrye, from YARGB, comments:
Honest to God, just what did the environmentalist think would happen? We do not control the world, there are plenty of countries out there who could care less about the dolphins and the whales and the ice shelf.Pure and simple, the environmentalist movement, is simply the Communist movement in green clothing. Their agenda is to bring down the United States. That is why the same people who object to every American move to increase its energy capacity (because of "concern for the environment") will, at the same time, suppor Cuba.
Now, Even Mel Gibson Hates BushThe Passion Of The Iraqi People, starring Mel Gibson as Saddam Hussein.That's not a photoshop job, folks.
The man who made The Passion Of The Christ
doesn't like George Bush very much:
Film star and director Mel Gibson has launched a scathing attack on US President George W Bush, comparing his leadership to the barbaric rulers of the Mayan civilisation in his new film Apocalypto. The epic, due for release later this year, captures the decline of the Maya kingdom and the slaughter of thousands of inhabitants as human sacrifices in a bid to save the nation from collapsing.Gibson reveals he used present day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power.He tells British film magazine Hotdog, "The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush and his guys".
Chavez Says United StatesMust Be DestroyedHugo Chavez, with musical theatre partner, Jacques ChiracVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez
told us all how he really thinks, yesterday in Rome:
Rome, May 12, IRNA-Visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in Rome on Thursday in case of a military attack against Iran, no country in the world would have access to crude oil.Chavez made the remark at a press conference, adding, “As Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has reiterated, if Tehran would come under attack, oil would get scarce for everyone.”He also said that the US President George W. Bush should be put to trial at the international court of justice for having launched genocide in Iraq. “For all the horror it has created around the globe in the course of the past century, the United States’ war machine should be dismantled, since under the current conditions it is a threat against the entire mankind, particularly against our children.”Chavez added, “The North American empire is the most cruel murderer regime that has ever come to power in world history and a serious threat for all nations.”He believes the death of the United States had better taken place in the course of the 21st century, because “otherwise the entire world would face the threat of annihilation.”This is not some crazed college student refocusing anger he feels against his parents, instead on the government. This is the leader of a major nation on the world stage. Now, we have Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, all openly advocating for the destruction of the America. Words matter. They concretize thought. They form our hearts.
When a world leader openly advocates for the destruction of another country he will have an influence in the hearts of millions, if not billions.
We are fools to allow this to keep going on.
Musing Upon Pope Benedict's EncyclicalI am sorry that posting has been so light recently. I have been under some pressure at work. Yesterday, I had to trek across multiple time zones, and today, I had to trek across multiple states. I didn't get back to the hotel and have dinner until late.
In fact, I have no idea at this point, what is going on in the world.
However, I did enjoy a lovely Pinot Noir with dinner, while I was reading an article from First Things magazine, about Pope Benedict's Encyclical. It is a profound meditation on the nature of Love, and on how Love is made of both Agape (self-sacrificing, altruistic love) and Eros, which is passionate and sexual in nature.
That's right, my friends, the Pope believes that our relationship with God is both self-sacrificing and erotic.
Just one more reason (see picture) that I love Pope Benedict.
Anyway, here is a short excerpt from the First Things article:
Benedict's purpose is to rehabilitate a Christian understanding of eros. He says that Friedrich Nietzsche and other moderns held that Christianity, with all its emphasis upon sin, sacrifice, and commandments, had "poisoned" the understanding of eros. They asked, "Doesn't the church blow the whistle just when the joy that is the Creator's gift offers us a happiness which is itself a certain foretaste of the divine?"The pagan world, the Pope says, saw eros as a dkind of intoxicated longing, a "divine madness," that found expression in fertility cults and the "sacred" prostitution that flourished in their temples. The Old Testament rejected such cults as incompatible with monotheistic faith, but it did not reject eros as such: "An intoxicated and undisciplined eros is not an ascent in 'ecstacy' toward the divine but a fall, a degradation of man."There is, Benedict says, a certain relationship between love and the divine. "Love promises infinity, eternity - a reality far greater and totally other than our eveyday experience." But the attainment of the promise is not through succumbing to instinct, but through a purification by renunciation that heals eros and restores its true grandeur.Of critical importance is the understanding of human being as both body and soul. "Should he aspire to be pure spirit and reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity. On the other hand, should he deny the spirit and consider matter, the body, as the only reality, he wold likewise lost his greatness."The body should be neither denigrated nor exalted. The latter is the cultural tendency when eros is reduced simply to sex and becomes a commodity, with the result that the person becomes a commodity. Thus, "the apparent exaltation of the body can quickly turn into hatred of bodliness."The Song of Songs in the Old Testament shows the way in which love "becomes concern and care for the other." Love's growth advances as it becomes ever more definitive in the sense of exclusivity (this person alone) and is directed to the eternal (it is forever).Such love is ecstacy, not as a moment of intoxication, but as a continuing journey, "an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self" and toward the other, and finally toward God.
Is Ahmadinejad Giving Us One Last Chance?Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch says Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush was not a peace overture. Instead, he says, it is a call to Islam, a kind of evangelism. Spencer points out that according to Hadith quoting Mohammed,
such a call to Islam ought be issued before taking offensive action against an enemy:
In a Hadith, Muhammad tells his followers to call people to Islam before waging war against them:
Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war…When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them….If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya [the tax on non-Muslims specified in Qur’an 9:29]. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim 4294)
In light of that, this letter could be -- but is not necessarily -- a prelude to an attack.There's no way we can know what Ahmadinejad's motive is, is there?
I must say, he does sound eerily calm in the letter.
Go read it.
Belgian Churhces Are Being Turned Into Mosques In Complicity With Belgian BishopsToday is a day full of the news of Eurabia. This is my third straight post chock full of bad news out of Europe. Now, Belgian bishops are handing over churches to Muslim immigrants who are promptly turning the churches into mosques.
Why are the bishops doing this? Because they are trying to make a stand for the right of illegal immigrants. You see, these Muslims have snuck into the country, so they are in some trouble with the government. So, the bishops think they are doing their Christian duty by granting the illegal immigrants asylum.
And, they Muslims thank them by
desecrating their churches.
But, that's ok. I'm guessing the Bishops don't care:
F
or more, go to
Brussels Journal, and
Dhimmi Watch.
This is a practice run for the
Abomination of
Desolation, which will ultimately take place in Israel, within the Jewish Temple itself. Christians do not hold spaces sacred, and that is, in my opinion, a good thing. But, at the same time, we ought to know that when we give up our space, we may never get it back again.
We need to protect our land, because our land is a land of just and humane law. There is no Muslim land in the world which is ruled by just and humane law.
If we give up our land to Muslims, then we will be ruled by unjust and inhumane law.
The WorldSlowly Caves InTo HamasThe other day, the Swedish government decided to deny visas to Hamas leaders travelling abroad. The next day,
they decided to do so after all:
The Palestinian Authority’s refugee minister Atef Adwan has thanked the Swedish government for allowing him to visit the country, after arriving in Malmö to address a gathering of Palestinian exiles.Sweden is the first European country to be visited by a representative of the Hamas-led Palestinian administration. The decision to grant him a visa to visit Sweden has led to protests by opponents who point out that Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.Adwan said he hoped that the Palestinian Authority under Hamas will now establish further contacts in Europe.“I saw no protests as I was coming here,” he said after arriving at Folkets Park ahead of the conference on Saturday morning.“I believe that this corresponds to the wishes of the Swedish people. They respect human rights,” he said at a press conference. ...Adwan described Israel as an enemy that wants everything without giving anything. Asked whether the two sides can accept each other, he replied:“There is maybe room for a Jewish state, but then there should also be a state for us.”Today, our friends,
the Brits, have also caved in to Hamas, although they are couching their aquiesence to a terrorist organization in a language of victory:
A PROPOSED trust fund for donors to pay overdue Palestinian salaries would 
undercut Hamas, not strengthen it, says a British document meant to increase pressure on the US to drop objections to the plan. (Pastorius note: Keep telling yourself that.) Britain circulated the memo on the proposal, aimed at averting a collapse of basic services provided by the Palestinian Authority, to major donors before tomorrow’s meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators.The four-page document argues, in response to US efforts to block creation of such a fund, that it “will not undermine the diplomatic effort” to persuade Hamas to renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by interim peace accords.The US is concerned that allowing the international community to pay Palestinians’ salaries would take pressure off Hamas, Western diplomats said.But Britain argues that if Palestinians end up receiving crucial aid through channels other than Hamas, the Islamic militant group stands to lose “a big part of its street credibility and hence have an incentive to come closer to what the international community wants”.
Of the countries that we Americans classify as "Old Europe" (France, Germany, Belgium, England), the British would seem to have the least to fear from the Islamofascists. Yes, there are many radical Islamists living in Britain, but, England is, traditionally, a strong country. I suspect their anti-Semitism has rotted out their morality.
I was speaking with an English family member of mine the other day, and it is clear that his anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism have left him completely incapable of making moral distinctions. To him, Israel is just as dangerous a country as Iran. To him, it is obvious that Ahmadinejad does not mean what he says. Instead, it is more that Ahmadinejad is forced into such rhetoric by the belligerence of the Israelis.
Get it?
Read the post below, and see where I think Britain's sickness will lead.
Read Dag's article on what he calls "Philobarbarism", the modern West's love affair with the thugs and new Barbarians.
Europe is fast becoming a continent of people who are no longer to make the most basic of moral distinctions. This bodes ill for the world. God help us.
London Review Of Books Publishes Protocols Of HarvardYou may remember that a little over a month back, two Harvard "scholars" named Walt and Mearsheimer published an official Harvard paper the thesis of which was that Israel controls American foreign policy. Well, now the London Review of Books has published the paper.
Another step towards a society that will accept the destruction of Israel:
WASHINGTON—Editors of the London Review of Books are standing by their decision to publish a paper by Harvard academic dean Stephen Walt and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer, entitled The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. The paper promotes the false and reactionary theory that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is manipulated by a Jewish lobby with support from a network of “neoconservative gentiles.”‘London Review of Books’ An edited version of the Harvard paper appeared in the March 23 London Review of Books. Despite receiving what they describe as “a great many letters” criticizing its publication, some of which they reproduced, the editors of the literary journal said in the April 20 issue they stand by their decision to publish it. They also announced they will run a reply by Walt and Mearsheimer to the letters in the magazine’s next issue. The magazine’s editors also noted that some of the letters congratulating the authors of the paper are of an “anti-Semitic nature.” One of them applauded Walt and Mearsheimer for having exposed a “secret Jewish conspiracy,” and its author felt the need to spell it “JEWISH conspiracy.” Nonetheless they asserted that what the letters supporting and opposing the article have in common is that they “come from people who appear not to have read the piece, and who seem incapable of distinguishing between criticism of Israeli or U.S. government policy and anti-Semitism.” One of the letters was from Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz. Among other points, he took exception to two of the paper’s central arguments—the United States has become a target of “terrorism” because of its support for Israel and that Washington and Tel Aviv have different, if not conflicting, interests in the Middle East.
Just a few weeks back
the London Independant published a similar article by Robert Fisk and illutrated the cover with the image you see here.
British social commentator,
Melanie Phillips, comments:
The image makes the claim that America is run by the Jews. As such, it is merely a variant on the ‘Jewish conspiracy’ theory that has long been a defining feature of anti-Jewish prejudice. In these degraded times this particular trope, which once would have caused any publication which printed it to be treated as racist or a Nazi-style pariah, has become a commonplace of mainstream media discourse because now it is Israel which is treated as a Nazi-style pariah; and so vicious libels against the Jews are regarded as fair comment. (The illustration calls to mind the notorious New Statesman ‘Kosher Conspiracy’ cover which portrayed a Star of David piercing the UK flag, and also a previous illustration in the Independent which was almost identical.) David T at Harry’s Place neatly juxtaposes the Independent illustration with near-identical ones on neo-Nazi and other racist websites. Thus our anti-racist, multicultural media. If merry ole' England had any sense they would realize that anti-Semitism is a sign of a mentally ill society. But, the problem is, England appears to be like a manic-depressive speeding along in his manic phase. They're feeling so good, so empowered right now, that no one could convince them that there is something wrong, and it might be time to go on meds.
Just wait until it comes crashing down.
Recently Britian announced that there is no way they would join America in a military attack on Iran. Announcing such a thing while we are still in the negotiation phase makes no sense. But, it is a sign of where Britain's illness will lead if the meds aren't administered; a complete abandonment of America and Israel, as they join with old Europe, on the side of the Jihad in the name of peace and political correctness.
I believe that will only be the first stage, because these decisions will come back to bite them in the ass. The Jihadis will see their abandonment of America and Israel not as the act of a friend but instead as the flinching of a frightened enemy. And, at that point the Jihadis will attack, and they will attack hard.
Britain will then have to make the decision on whether to join with Germany in a nationalistic feeding frenzy, wherein foreigners will once again become the target of Aryan rage.
History will not repeat itself, it will echo in a decaying pattern.
Evil Jews Save Mahmoud Abbas' LifeHamas was planning on killing the Palestinian President, and the Israli intelligence organization, Mossad, tipped him off;
saving his life:
A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.Hamas’s military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.Abbas, who became president of the Palestinian Authority last year after the death of Yasser Arafat, was formally warned of the danger by the Israelis and cancelled a planned visit to the territory.The murder plan is the clearest sign yet of the tensions inside the Palestinian Authority between Hamas, which swept to power after elections in January, and Abbas’s Fatah movement.Hamas leaders, who refuse to recognise the state of Israel, suspect Abbas of obstructing their attempts to govern, which have been hampered by a financial boycott from donor nations. “Hamas considers Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him,” said a Palestinian source who was an adviser to Arafat and is a close acquaintance of Abbas.It is understood that the attack would also have targeted Mohammed Dahlan, Abbas’s strongman in Gaza.
Bush Says Fight Against Terror Is World War IIIMost of us who spend our time attempting to understand this war against the Jihadis already recogize the fact that we are in WWIII. However, much of the American public thinks this is something much simpler. In fact, many lefties actually think we're not in at war at all. Thank God
Bush tells the truth here:
US President George W. Bush said the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of "World War III." In an interview with the financial news network CNBC, Bush said he had yet to see the recently released film of the uprising, a dramatic portrayal of events on the United Airlines plane before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field. But he said he agreed with the description of David Beamer, whose son Todd died in the crash, who in a Wall Street Journal commentary last month called it "our first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war -- World War III". Bush said: "I believe that. I believe that it was the first counter-attack to World War III.
"It was, it was unbelievably heroic of those folks on the airplane to recognize the danger and save lives," he said. Flight 93 crashed on the morning of September 11, 2001, killing the 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers, after passengers stormed the cockpit and battled the hijackers for control of the aircraft. The president has repeatedly praised the heroism of the passengers in fighting back and so launching the first blow of what he usually calls the "war on terror". In 2002, then-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer explicitly declined to call the hunt for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda group and its followers "World War III."All the major powers are involved, including Russia and China, who are helping Iran build their nuclear weapons. In fact, there is a sense in which, at this point, WWIII is looking an awful lot like the Cold War. During the Cold War, Russia and America fought each other primarily through proxies such as Viet Nam. One could view this war the same way. Russia and China are trying to decrease American power by strengthening the power of regional enemies such as Iran and Syria.
Problem is, they are playing a very dangerous game. Viet Nam could not have hurt Russia back in the 1960's, but Iran could very well blow up in the faces of Russia and China.
I am constatnly mystified by the fact that they think they are going to escape from this in one piece. They are playing with a firestorm.
Iran Is Going DownAtlas has a post up this morning about
President Bush's statement of "unshakable faith":
America will never desert the state of Israel, President Bush said last night, sending an unambiguous signal to the ruling mullahs in Iran - who are developing a nuclear weapon capability in the teeth of international pressure - that their threats to destroy Israel will be fiercely resisted."America's commitment to Israel's security is strong, enduring, and unshakable," Mr. Bush said in a speech to the American Jewish Committee, which was celebrating its centennial at Washington's National Building Museum, and while sitting alongside the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.He said America and Israel were "natural allies and these ties will never be broken."In his first major foreign policy speech for some time, Mr. Bush made clear his words were intended to be heeded by the Tehran regime and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who declared in October that the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map."America would be unflinching in its commitment to defend Israel's right to exist and to ensure that the mullahs would not gain possession of a nuclear weapon. Iran already has obtained missile technology from the North Korean communists capable of reaching the capitals of Europe.Mr. Bush said he was concerned by the direction Iran is heading. "We are concerned because the Iranian regime is repressing its people, sponsoring terrorists, destabilizing the region, threatening Israel, and defying the world with its ambitions for nuclear weapons," he said. "America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats."The president also reiterated his determination not to deal with terrorists, including the Palestinian Arab government dominated by the Hamas terrorist group. New York SunAt the same time as America is expressing "unshakable faith" in Israel,
Israel seems to be losing faith in itself. The plan to divide Jerusalem strikes me as a frightening turn of events.
Reminds me of the Roman centurions who cast lot for Christ's clothes as he hung on the cross. I wouldn't want to carry such Karma, but Olmert seems to think he can bear it.
Stop The Dangerous "Christian Missionary Octopus:16,000 "Apostates" Per DayA Libyan Islamic scholar says
Muslims are converting to Christianity at the rate of 16,000 per day:
This translation of a televised conversation reveals a rare glimpse into the outlook of Muslim scholars who are concerned about Christianity’s growth. The invited guest is Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani; the president of The Companions Lighthouse for the Science of Islamic Law in Libya, which is an institution specializing in graduating imams and Islamic preachers.
Katani starts off describing the overall problem: Islam used to represent, as you previously mentioned, Africa’s main religion and there were 30 African languages that used to be written in Arabic script. The number of Muslims in Africa has diminished to 316 million, half of whom are Arabs in North Africa. So in the section of Africa that we are talking about, the non Arab section, the number of Muslims does not exceed 150 million people. When we realize that the entire population of Africa is one billion people, we see that the number of Muslims has diminished greatly from what it was in the beginning of the last century. On the other hand, the number of Catholics has increased from one million in 1902 to 329 million 882 thousand (329,882,000). Let us round off that number to 330 million in the year 2000. As to how that happened, well there are now 1.5 million churches whose congregations account for 46 million people. In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Ever year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity. These numbers are very large indeed ...From what I have heard from reliable sources, six million may be too low. Reliable accounts say that one hundred thousand Africans convert to Christianity per day, though not all of them come from Islam. Then Katani says Muslims should build schools before mosques, in order to build the worshipper (Muslim) before the building. Why? To stop the the dangerous “Christian missionary octopus.”
Our Progress In IraqAnd A Prayer That SomedayThe Left Can Take CreditWretchard has an excellent post up over at Belmont Club, wherein he analyzes recent reports on the situation in Iraq by one General Barry McCaffrey. Wretchard notes that General McCaffrey is cited by the media as a "skeptic on the war as early as 2003, and as "Secretary Rumsfeld's most outspoken critic".
Here's are excerpts from McCaffrey's report from 2005:
US Military Forces in Iraq are superb. Our Army-Marine ground combat units with supporting Air and Naval Power are characterized by quality military leadership, solid discipline, high morale, and enormous individual and unit courage. Unit effectiveness is as good as we can get. This is the most competent and battle wise force in our nation’s history. (2005)The US media is putting the second team in Iraq with some exceptions. Unfortunately, the situation is extremely dangerous for journalists. The working conditions for a reporter are terrible. They cannot travel independently of US military forces without risking abduction or death. In some cases, the press has degraded to reporting based on secondary sources, press briefings which they do not believe, and alarmist video of the aftermath of suicide bombings obtained from Iraqi employees of unknown reliability. ... Military leaders on the ground are talking to people they trust instead of talking to all reporters who command the attention of the American people. (We need to educate and support AP, Reuters, Gannet, Hearst, the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc.) (2005)The initial US/UK OIF intervention took down a criminal regime and left a nation without an operational State.
The transitional Bremer-appointed Iraqi government created a weak state of warring factions.
The January 2005 Iraqi elections created the beginnings of legitimacy and have fostered a supportive political base to create the new Iraqi Security Forces.
The August Iraqi Constitutional Referendum and the December-January election and formation of a new government will build the prototype for the evolution of an effective, law-based Iraqi State with a reliable Security Force.
(2005)Now, here are some excerpts from McCaffrey's latest report.
On the American military:
The morale, fighting effectiveness, and confidence of U.S. combat forces continue to be simply awe-inspiring. In every sensing session and interaction - I probed for weakness and found courage, belief in the mission, enormous confidence in their sergeants and company grade officers, an understanding of the larger mission, a commitment to creating an effective Iraqi Army and Police, unabashed patriotism, and a sense of humor. All of these soldiers, NCOs and young officers were volunteers for combat. Many were on their second combat tour - several were on the third or fourth combat tour. Many had re-enlisted to stay with their unit on its return to a second Iraq deployment. Many planned to re-enlist regardless of how long the war went on.On the Iraqi military:
The Iraqi Army is real, growing, and willing to fight. They now have lead action of a huge and rapidly expanding area and population. The battalion level formations are in many cases excellent - most are adequate. ... The recruiting now has gotten significant participation by all sectarian groups to include the Sunni. The Partnership Program with U.S. units will be the key to success with the Embedded Training Teams augmented and nurtured by a U.S. Maneuver Commander. This is simply a brilliant success story.On the Iraqi police:
The Iraqi police are beginning to show marked improvement in capability since MG Joe Peterson took over the program. The National Police Commando Battalions are very capable ... The police are heavily infiltrated by both the AIF and the Shia militia. They are widely distrusted by the Sunni population. They are incapable of confronting local armed groups. They inherited a culture of inaction, passivity, human rights abuses, and deep corruption. This will be a ten year project requiring patience, significant resources, and an international public face. This is a very, very tough challenge ...On the political situation:
The creation of an Iraqi government of national unity is a central requirement. We must help create a legitimate government for which the Iraqi security forces will fight and die. If we do not see the successful development of a pluralistic administration in the first 120 days of the emerging Jawad al-Maliki leadership - there will be significant chance of the country breaking apart in warring factions among the Sunnis and Shia - with a separatist Kurdish north embroiled in their own potential struggle with the Turks. ... There is total lack of trust among the families, the tribes, and the sectarian factions created by the 35 years of despotism and isolation of the criminal Saddam regime. This is a traumatized society with a malignant political culture. ...However, in my view, the Iraqis are likely to successfully create a governing entity. The intelligence picture strongly portrays a population that wants a federal Iraq, wants a national Army, rejects the AIF as a political future for the nation, and is optimistic that their life can be better in the coming years. Unlike the Balkans—the Iraqis want this to work. The bombing of the Samarra Mosque brought the country to the edge of all-out war. However, the Iraqi Army did not crack, the moderates held, Sistani called for restraint, the Sunnis got a chill of fear seeing what could happen to them as a minority population, and the Coalition Forces suddenly were seen correctly as a vital force that could keep the population safe in the absence of Iraqi power. In addition, the Shia were reminded that Iran is a Persian power with goals that conflict with the Shia Arabs of southern and central Iraq.On the "insurgency":
The foreign jihadist fighters have been defeated as a strategic and operational threat to the creation of an Iraqi government. Aggressive small unit combat action by Coalition Forces combined with good intelligence - backed up by new Iraqi Security Forces is making an impact. The foreign fighters remain a serious tactical menace. However, they are a minor threat to the heavily armed and wary U.S. forces. They cannot successfully stop the Iraqi police and army recruitment.Wretchard points out that McCaffrey's chief criticism was for the State Department:
... for the institutional inability of the State Department to "live and work with their Iraqi counterparts" for extended periods.McCaffrey sums up the situation thusly:
The Iraqi political system is fragile but beginning to play a serious role in the debate over the big challenges facing the Iraqi state - oil, religion, territory, power, separatism, and revenge. The neighboring states have refrained from tipping Iraq into open civil war. The UN is cautiously thinking about re-entry and doing their job of helping consolidate peace. The Iraqis are going to hold Saddam and his senior leadership accountable for their murderous behavior over 35 years. The brave Brits continue to support us both politically and militarily. NATO is a possible modest support to our efforts.There is no reason why the U.S. cannot achieve our objectives in Iraq. Our aim must be to create a viable federal state under the rule of law which does not: enslave its own people, threaten its neighbors, or produce weapons of mass destruction. This is a ten year task. We should be able to draw down most of our combat forces in 3-5 years. We have few alternatives to the current US strategy which is painfully but gradually succeeding. This is now a race against time. Do we have the political will, do we have the military power, will we spend the resources required to achieve our aims?It was very encouraging for me to see the progress achieved in the past year. Thanks to the leadership and personal sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of men and women of the CENTCOM team and the CIA – the American people are far safer today than we were in the 18 months following the initial intervention.Click here to read Wretchard's commentary.
Let us now take a moment to remember how many of our leftist friends have said that this a war of imperialism, that we are dying "for oil", and in order to line Halliburton's pockets. Let us always remember that such was the debate, circa 2002 and onward.
Just as victims of massacres need to remember, the American public needs to always remember how we have been failed by the Left. That when we needed the kind of progress which is fostered by the dialectic of public debate, instead we received the rantings of pacifistic lunacy. That when we needed an informed public, a group of 1960's era reporters and executives steered our Mainstream Media instead made a mythology of anti-Americanism to serve the purposes of partisanship. That when our military and the Iraqi people needed support, leaders of the Democratic party such as Howard Dean, Teddy Kennedy, and Al Gore accused the President of the United States of taking the country to war under false pretenses, and engaging in torture and human rights abuses.
We must always remember these truths, and we must endeavor to ensure that this never happens again. If we can, somehow, capture the visceral reality of this virtual treason by segments of the American Left, as if in amber, then we can use it as a teaching tool when we are faced, once again, with the hard task of going to war in order to preserve, and extend, freedom.
Alas, one can not capture visceral reality in amber. The jagged reality of our time will sway in memory, gradually diffusing into something closer to a sentimental imitation of French Impressionism, and before we know it, we will all look back with pride in our country for the great work we did in Iraq. Progressives will speak of America's commitment to freedom in the Middle East, and will find a way to credit themselves for it, more than likely by contrasting it to their version of the history of the Viet Nam War.
I guess this is as it always is. All Americans like to credit themselves with our history. We all like to think we would have fought on the side of the Union against slavery, that we would have marched beside Martin Luther King in the streets of Alabama, that we would have stood with Patrick Henry proclaiming, "Give me Liberty or give me death."
Our soldiers have fought bravely for us to be able to credit ourselves as a moral people. Thank God for them, and thank God for the vision of those who have led us this far in our project in the Middle East. I pray that sometime in the near future Ted Kennedy and his friends will be able to speak with pride of their efforts in having brought freedom to the people of the Islamic world. I pray that they may be able to tell tales of their bravery in having stood down Ahmadinejad and the Mullah regime in Iran.
The Left could be heroes. Yes. And, we must always remember the truth.
A Plan To Partition JerusalemIsrael's new Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, apparently, has
a plan to partition the Holy City:
JERUSALEM -- Israel's new government has outlined the clearest picture yet of how it plans to divide the holy city of Jerusalem and abandon much of the West Bank in its move to separate from the Palestinians.Otniel Schneller _ an architect of the plan _ said in interviews this week with The Associated Press that his blueprint would give most of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians while keeping the predominantly Jewish areas for Israel."Those same neighborhoods will, in my assessment, be central to the makeup of the Palestinian capital ... al-Quds," Schneller said, calling Jerusalem by its Arabic name. "We will not divide Jerusalem, we will share it."But Israel would keep Jerusalem's Old City with its shrines sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike _ an unacceptable plan to Palestinians, particularly if carried out unilaterally.Still, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert determined to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, likely without waiting for Palestinian agreement, a division of Jerusalem looks realistic for the first time.The plan to divide Jerusalem reflects a sea change in the thinking of most Israelis, who once considered sacrilegious even the idea of abandoning part of the holy city.Since Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, Israelis had been in broad agreement that the city could never again be divided. But after five years of intefadeh bloodshed, Israeli voters swept Olmert's Kadima Party into office in March 28 elections on a platform to separate from the Palestinians for the good of the Jewish state.A plan to divide Jerusalem was first brought up in 2000 peace talks but failed to materialize. Schneller _ a Kadima lawmaker _ is reviving that plan with his blueprint. But he cautioned that the ideas are still in the planning stages, require international backing and that there's no clear timetable for carrying them out.Under the plan, which would be executed unilaterally if efforts to resume peace talks fail, Jerusalem's Old City, its holy shrines and the adjacent neighborhoods, would become a "special region with special understandings," but remain under Israeli sovereignty, said Schneller.The Old City and the adjacent "holy basin," which includes the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheik Jarrah, would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, another Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because plans have not been finalized.The plan also calls for moving the barrier westward. That means much of East Jerusalem would no longer be cut off from the West Bank and most Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem could become part of a future Palestinian state on the eastern side of the barrier, the official said.
The United States has long held the position that "borders and Jerusalem and all final status issues ... ultimately have to be decided in negotiations between the parties," U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said.But Washington is not likely to oppose unilateral Israeli pullouts from the West Bank.Olmert's plan involves dismantling dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank with tens of thousands of people and moving them to larger settlement blocs in the territory that Israel hopes to hold onto under a final peace deal.Israel has said it will give the new Hamas-led Palestinian government time to agree to international demands to recognize Israel, accept past peace deals and renounce violence. More than a month into its reign, Hamas has rejected the demands, Israel has cut off all ties with what it has labeled an enemy entity and it appears increasingly likely the Jewish state will draw its borders on its own.That's a position hotly rejected by the Palestinians, who say the result will be a truncated territory on which it will be impossible to build a viable state."President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to accept any unilateral steps and rejects any provisional solutions," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior spokesman for the moderate Abbas, who still wields considerable power as president even though Hamas took over the parliament and Cabinet.
In The Wee Small Hours Of The MorningIn the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep
You lie awake and think about the girl
And never ever think of counting sheep
When your lonely heart has learned it’s lesson
You’d be hers if only she would call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That’s the time you miss her most of all
To The French Truth Itself Is RacistSurprise, surprise,
they the movie United 93:
PropagandaStaffel trashes United 93. Already dissed by French critics who deem the film racist for showing Islamofascists praying before going into terror mode, Libé nitpicks and offers up a set of very French objections to the film.But, the truth is,
the Islamofascists were praying even as the plane was going down:
10:02:18 (Down, down.)
10:02:23 (Pull it down. Pull it down.)
10:02:25 Down. Push, push, push, push, push.
10:02:33 (Hey. Hey. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:35 (Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:37 (Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me.)
10:02:40 Unintelligible.
10:03:02 (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:03 (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:04 (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:06 (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03;06 (Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:07 No.
10:03:09 (Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.)
10:03:09 (Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.)
Bat Ye'or - Conspiracy Theorist?I must say, although I own the book Eurabia by Bat Ye'or, I have never been a believer in her thesis. Her writing is obscure and confused (possibly the result of bad translation?), her footnotes many times lead either nowhere (in at least one case, she claimed no minutes were allowed to be taken for a series of EU meetings she cited as the source of her information), or to papers published in French journals in the 1960-70's, and her overall point, that there is a formalized agreement between Europe and the Arab world to Islamicize European culture and policy seems the stuff of conspiracy theory.
In fact, I would challenge my readers to come up with a qualitative distinction between the Bat Ye'or thesis, and that of
the recent Robert Fisk Independent article United States Of Israel. One says the Jews control America, and the other seems to say the Arabs control Europe.
Now, let me be clear, there is a difference between my saying I don't buy the theory, and saying the theory is wrong. I leave open the possibility that Europe really does intend to Islamicize itself, because, certainly, from the tangible evidence, it appears to be true. But, one must pose several questions first;
1) Could Europe's Islamic initiative (the Euro-Arab Dialogue) simply be European Hudna; a kind of longterm softcore appeasement plan with little actual intent, on their part, to carry out it's policies?
2) Would it not be natural, instead of diabolical, for Europe to cozy up to Arab governments, and play Hudna with them, considering they don't have as much pull on the international oil market as the United States?
3) Is it not true that the level of influence any given trading partner has on the nations with which it trades is directly proportionate to the relative importance of the goods and services provided?
In other words, is the European-Arab Dialogue any different than the agreements the United States has with Arab governments. We trade military support (protecting the trade routes, and the borders, of the various Middle Eastern countries), while Europe has to rely on more complex agreements, involving goods and services, technology, and cultural cooperation.
This does not strike me as diabolical. Instead, it strikes me as the invisible hand of capitalism. One thing we can assume is that Europe will do what serves Europe's interests. It does not serve Europe's interest to willingly trade away its sovereignty. If Europe is multiplicitous in their dealings with America, then, can we not assume that Europe would also be multiplicitous in their dealings with the Arab world?
Have we not seen that Europe is willing to back down from it Euro-taqiiya when its interests are threatened? For instance, in the case of Iran's recent progress towards nuclear weaponry, suddenly, rather than triangulating America out, Europe has joined with America in opposition to the Arab world. It is likely that, in the final analysis, Europe will not support an American military strike, but their opposition will merely be a way of saving face in the Arab world (who I believe will also secretly support an American strike.)
In short, where Bat Ye'or sees malevolent anti-Semitism on the geopolitical stage, I see the natural, if gluttonous, interplay of competing interests.
This leads us to a story of the process of European Islamicization. The largest Muslim group in Sweden has presented
a very long list of demands for the accomodation of Islam. Although much of the list is couched in gentle, multicultural PC-speak, there is a passage which includes a threat of unrest, if the demands are not met.
Gates of Vienna has a rundown of some of the more greedy demands, a few of which I will include here, with Baron's commentary (in orange):
The problems that exist in regards to the Swedish religious freedom is that it is a Pietistic coloured understanding of individualised religion, that lie behind the Swedish laws regarding religious freedom, whereas for the Muslim minority it is the collective expressions of the religion that are central.Mahmoud Aldebe, the author of these demands for Muslims, exposes here his own cultural blindness. Muslim collective religious thought does not trump individual religious expression. Sorry, Mahmoud, you can’t argue against the Enlightenment.
The Muslim minority criticises this narrow definition of religion that is the basis of the Swedish laws regarding religious freedom… we can request corrections of the Swedish family law to adapt it to Islam. It is this law that is the most important to Swedish Muslims: marriage, divorce, child protection, and raising underage children.So far, Muslims have a great record on raising children, given the aggression of young Muslim males against Swedish women. It is the Muslim attitude (read: “contempt for”) Swedish women that needs to change.
A mosque in every city or county would have significant value to the Muslims of the country… it would greatly increase the sense of loyalty towards Sweden as your new homeland, despite being a Muslim.A little blackmail here?And now, we come to the one demand which, particularly, struck me as supporting Bat Ye'or's Eurabia thesis:
Despite the fact that Islam has existed for 32 years as an organised religion in Sweden, the construction of burial grounds has been constantly hampered. Other than in the forest church yard in Stockholm there are Muslim burial grounds in 20 something countries, but that is not enough. Today there are Muslims in nearly 100 counties that lack burial grounds. The biggest general problem that Muslims encounter is that their dead are to be buried as quickly as possible, according to Islamic custom, and by a Muslim burial in their home county.Baron asserts that this is the Islamist attempt to establish a waaf, for Dar al-Islam, in the heart of Europe:
What Mr. Aldebe fails to mention is the Islamic notion of waqf. Essentially, waqf means that any real estate in which Muslims have ever been buried becomes Islamic property in perpetuity. I can buy that. If one doubts the odd concept of property in Dar al-Islam all one has to consider is that Islamists, from Qutb to Bin Laden, have referred to Spain by its former Muslim name; Andalusia.
Once Islamic, always Islamic, under pain of death to the Infidel.
But, the point here is, this Islamic organization stated in its list of demands that Islam was established as an organized religion, within Swedish borders, precisely 32 years ago. That would be 1974, for those without a calculator. This corresponds precisely with Bat Ye'or contention that Europe traded cultural concessions for favoritism in the wake of the OPEC-induced oil crisis, which began in 1973. In fact, here is a passage from
a Front Page Magazine Interview with Bat Ye'or, which gives evidence, both, for her thesis being accurate, and for its all-encompassing paranoia:
FP: Is Europe's dependence on Arab oil a predominant factor in its pro-Arab policy?
Bat Ye'or: No, I don't think so. Arab leaders have to sell their oil; their people are very dependent on European economic, health and technological aid. America made this point during the oil embargo in 1973. The oil factor is a pretext to cover up a policy that emerged in France before that crisis. The policy was already conceived in the 1960s. It has strong antecedents in the French 19th century dream of governing an Arab empire and the exploitation of antisemitism to strengthen Arab Muslim-French solidarity against a demonized common enemy. It is a project that was conceived, planned and pursued consistently through immigration policy, propaganda, church support, economic associations and aid, cultural, media and academic collaboration. Generations grew up within this political framework; they were educated and conditioned to support it and go along with it. This is the source of the strong anti-American feeling in Europe and of the paranoiac obsession with Israel, two elements that form the cornerstone of Eurabia. Until 1971, France had been isolated in the EC in its anti-Israel stance. European Community critics accused it of bias toward the Arab world. Faced with the oil crisis, the nine EC countries -- under French and German leadership -- unified their views regarding the Middle East conflict and this generated the Euro-Arab Dialogue's overall development. Ok, so which is it? Let's be honest here. Is Bat Ye'or a prophetess of the rise of Eurabia through rational process of Islamicization motivated by a European misunderstanding of what's in its own best interests?
Or is Bat Ye'or a paranoid conspiracy theorist who has taken something which is demonstrably true (that Europe is undergoing a process of Islamicization precipitated by its Socialist need for immigration) and bundled it, with a wholistic paranoia which can all explain all manner of phenomena simply by appealing back to the idea that Europeans hate Jews?
Go Ahead BBC, Admit It Now, Don't You Feel Better?I've done a lot of complaining in the past week about the anti-Semitism in the British media. Well, after having appointed an outside agency to look into the matter,
the BBC has admitted that they are, indeed, biased. And, they may be ready to take steps to remedy the problem:
The BBC fails to always give a “full and fair account” of the Israeli Palestinian conflict but is not deliberately biased, a report has said.The BBC governors asked an independent panel to scrutinise its output.Its report said the BBC was committed to being fair, accurate and impartial and UK viewers regarded it as unbiased.But coverage was not consistently full and fair and “in important respects, presents an incomplete and in that sense misleading picture”, it found.The range of stories and perspectives was too narrow and reporters’ use of language was often inconsistent, it decided.That included the use of the words “terrorism” and “terrorist”. The BBC advises its journalists to avoid the latter because it can be “a barrier to understanding”.But the panel said the BBC should use “terrorism” to describe violence against civilians with the intention of causing terror for ideological objectives, “whether perpetrated by state or non-state agencies”.“It seems clear that placing a bomb on a bus used by civilians intending death or injury in supposed furtherance of a cause is a terrorist act and no other expression conveys so tersely and accurately the elements involved.”
Happy Birthday To IsraelAn oasis of sanity in the Middle East, a fount of creativity, and a bulwark against those who would work to bury the Law of God. Israel, may you and your people live forever. May you find peace. May you find Mesiach. And, may your message spread out to all the Gentiles across the face of the Earth
Happy Birthday, Israel:
Israel celebrates independence: With the conclusion of Memorial Day at sundown Tuesday, at 8:00 p.m. the nation launched its 58th Independence Day celebrations with a torch-lighting ceremony at the Mount Herzl plaza in Jerusalem.
The Eternal Mystery
Is It Time To Go?Dymphna, at the great blog Gates of Vienna, gives us
a little of the history of Swedish anti-Semitism:
... what has been kept under wraps for the last sixty years – is Sweden’s history of overt anti-Jewish laws:For ten years up until the end of the Second World War, Swedish priests applied Nazi race rules to marriage. Swedes who wanted to marry Germans were forced to prove that they were not Jewish. And ‘racially impure’ marriages could be annulled by Swedish courts, according to evidence presented by the Swedish Research Council on Tuesday.Since 2001, two research programmes have explored various aspects of “Swedish fear, horror and fascination, but also kinship within Swedish science, culture and church life with Nazism and Nazi Germany”.[…]Any Swede who wanted to marry an Arian German was forced to sign an affirmation stating that none of the German’s grandparents were Jewish.According to Lund University’s Professor Anders Jarlert, who led the research, Sweden’s application of these laws lacked historical and democratic legitimacy. It was also alien to the Swedish sense of justice, said Jarlert.The evidence uncovered by Professor Jarlert shows that Sweden was not merely paying lip service to its powerful neighbour. The Swedish courts were complicit too, annulling a number of marriages and declaring the children born within them as illegitimate.Stig Ekman, a professor of history with a special interest in Nazism, told DN that Sweden’s culture of secrecy is one reason why the details of the priests’ and courts’ lack of resistance to Nazi influence is only emerging now, 60 years later.As this study proves, the anti-Semitism in Sweden was well in place before any Muslim set foot there.As Maxed Out Mama said in a comment at Shrinkwrapped recently:"I think you are right about the Jews getting out of Europe. I hate it, but I think it’s time for them to go. I’d love to see the US have an official open immigration policy for any Jew of European extraction."Is this just hyperbole? Or, is it really time for Jews to be thinking about leaving Europe? The history of the Holocaust shows us that human beings while capable of great evil, have a very hard time believing their neighbors are capable of great evil.
We see this phenomenon being repeated today in the case of Iran, Ahmadinejad and the bomb. The Iranian President clearly signals his intent to kill the 6 million Jews of Israel, and yet the world debates whether military option ought even to be an option.
I honestly don't know what I'd do if I were a Jew living in Europe at this point in history. In my opinion, we Americans have a similar, but slightly different problem on our hands. If we would be honest with ourselves, we would know that it is only a matter of time before a terrorist organization hits us with nukes. If they were smart, they would wait until they had smuggled nukes into multiple American cities, so that they could bring America to its knees.
I live near Los Angeles, a prime target in the case of such an attack. Am I thinking about fleeing? No, I'm going about my everyday life, with work, family, and friends. I'm sure all of you out there are doing the same thing.
So, shall we flee? Will we look like fools in hindsight? We'll never know, will we?
Le Pen Says Anti-Immigrant Feeling Is Surging In FranceReally?!?
Who would thunk it?PARIS (Reuters) - Veteran French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen launched his 2007 presidential bid on Monday declaring his anti-immigrant views were gaining ground and that government scandals showed France was now a "banana republic". Le Pen, who shocked France (Pastorius question: How can LePen shock the French, when the French were the ones who pulled the lever?) by coming second in the 2002 race against President Jacques Chirac, told a rally outside the Paris Opera that the tough stand on immigration taken by his right-wing rivals showed strong public support for a crackdown. "I believe I can win both rounds of the presidential election," Le Pen, 77, told about 3,000 cheering supporters of his National Front party. "Our ideas are gaining ground." He also lashed out at an alleged smear campaign French media say Chirac and his Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin may have organized against Sarkozy. Both deny any role in it.
"Lies of state are now the rule in our banana republic," he told the crowd, many of whom carried maps of France emblazoned with the "Love it or leave it" slogan that Sarkozy and Le Pen's far-right rival Philippe de Villiers have been using. Referring to the 1960s slogan often shouted at Americans protesting against the Vietnam War, Le Pen said: "We were the first to use this in France, though to be completely honest, I have to say it comes from the United States." Analysts say support for Le Pen seems to have risen thanks to diverse factors such as weeks of rioting by suburban youths of mostly immigrant origin last autumn, student protests this spring and scandals marking the end of Chirac's presidency.Le Pen is now running at 12-14 percent support in opinion polls, compared to 7-9 percent one year before the 2002 election in which he knocked Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin out of the running in the first voting round. Given that a dozen or more parties tend to run in the first of the election's two rounds, a candidate can sometimes make it to the run-off with around 20 percent of the vote. Le Pen reached the 2002 second round with only 17 percent to Chirac's 20 percent. The president trounced him in the run-off with 82 percent support because voters of almost all stripes backed him as a protest against the National Front. Le Pen urged his closest rivals to join him in a far-right alliance to increase their chances of reaching the second round. Villiers, who has based his campaign on warnings against what he calls the Islamisation of France and now garners about 4 percent support, has declined to join him. But a renegade former ally, Bruno Megret, has agreed to close ranks. Wow, this ought to be interesting.
Let me be clear, I do not want LePen to win. However, I think it would be a good thing for France, if he, once again, made it to the second round, garnered big support, and lost to Sarkozy.
Clearly, Villiers is correct. There is an Islamicization of France taking place, and even if it takes a racist like LePen to bring the message to the people, it is a message which needs to be heard, and acted upon.
