Balkans Scam Beginning to Surface - New York Times Lies for ANOTHER Pulitzer

The New York Times appears to be on an institutional crusade to disprove the old adage "Honesty is the best policy." That's nice, but lying wins Pulitzers.

I never liked the idea of attacking Serbia. I didn't want to risk war with Russia just when we should have been patching up decades of mistrust. Though I'm no isolationist, the Balkans are a Eurasian problem going back centuries. All ideologies, ethnicities, and religions get bogged down in the Balkans. It's the intersection of strife.

NATO was tasked as a defensive force contra the Warsaw Pact. Sure, the UN is worse than useless, but any American action should have gone through the UN. Unlike Iraq, there was no long history of U.S. involvement and conflict in the Balkans.

Like most people, all I knew was what I saw in the news. So it seemed a bit strange when the "mass genocide" didn't turn up but one mass grave (8,000 bodies, no women and children) after the war.

Former NY Times Reporter: '93 Pulitzer Should Be Revoked
By Sherrie Gossett
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
March 22, 2006


Bill Clinton's legacy will haunt our relations with Russia for centuries.

During his recent appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Binder said it would take "at least a decade" before historians "clear out that wretched underbrush of lies and concoctions" from "despicable" politicians "like Richard Holbrooke," an international negotiator during the administration of former President Bill Clinton and "certainly the journalists" criticized in Brock's book. The rise of blogs and media watchdog groups offers a "corrective" for the public now, Binder contended.

I linked this in a previous post. What did Bill Clinton get out of the attack on Serbia? I can think of some very wealthy desert dwellers who might have been very grateful ($$$).

ITM: Know Your Enemies, Dudes!

Know your enemies, dudes!

The first step to understanding politics in Iraq is getting away from over-simple MSM or partisan politically-driven analysis. For example, "Secular Saddam would never work with jihadys." That's an obvious crock if one merely looks at the last couple years of Saddam's regime. And I'm not discussing secret meetings or Prague, but Saddam's changing public persona.

If you don't read it all, read this:

One and actually the most important is that we have an American ambassador who recognizes Iran's role in supporting both ends of violence in Iraq; that's the Shia militias, namely the notorious Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr and the extreme terror groups like al-Qaeda's Ansar al-Sunna.

Knowing that ambassador Khalil Zad will be the one leading the talks with Iran makes me feel that the talks are in good hands that are aware of the scope of the conflict.
Many people find it difficult to agree with this theory that Iran has ties with al-Qaeda and its branches and affiliates in Iraq and that's because they think the ideology difference between Wahabism and Shiasm would make any cooperation between Iran and al-Qaeda a fairy tale or a ridiculous American excuse to justify a possible offensive on Iran.

But what really frustrates me is that we have people here who are supposed to be politicians aware of the behind the scenes game who refuse to accept this theory (which I consider a fact).

A few days ago a saw a prominent politician from the UIA talking on al-Hurra and when the point of Zad's accusations to Iran was raised his response was (not literal translation) "No sane person can think that Iran is supporting the terrorists who murder Shia Iraqis…".

It is this kind of blind conviction that make me lose faith in most of the political elites in Iraq; they have entrenched themselves behind their sects to the point that they cannot accept questioning the policies and intentions of their presumed friends forgetting that it's politics 101 to not put absolute trust in anyone.

Read that last paragraph several times and never forget it.

Playing the double game is a very old trick.

Announcement - Zachary

My second son was born.

He weighed six/four.

We've decided to name him Zachary.

Please wish us luck and keep him in your prayers.

After Alexander's tragedy we really need things to go right.

Yale Fails

Why did Yale slam the door on Afghan women?


Give one of these Marines a scholarship.
Marines Notice Things

The Marines unloaded a shiny new pediatric wheelchair from one of their vehicles and rolled it into the house.

The little girl had suffered a severe spinal injury in a car accident two years ago. The old wheelchair was the best the family could do for her.

Until the Marines came.

The family's faces lit up with the smiles. The incredulous father picked up his daughter and immediately placed her in the new wheelchair. He shook the Marines' hands, saying "Thank you," again and again.

"They seemed pretty happy about it," said Cpl. Matthew Rivera.

"We knew we had to help out in some way," said Staff Sgt. Charles Evers.

The Marines didn't stay long. There were smiles and a few tears and then they jumped back into their assault vehicles and headed back to Camp Smitty.

I really like the new M-32 and this post has some interesting detail on specialty rounds.
HUNTIR, HELLHOUND, DRACO and carrying a big stick

M-32

PDF: MGL-140 (aka "M-32")

Blackfive likes it.

WOULD AN ARMY OF DAVIDS FIGHT LIKE THE UNIT?

Army of Davids provokes many reactions, some of them related to the book itself. This is not one of those reactions.

Glenn Reynolds does not own the rights to "heh" "hah" "har" "BWHAHAHA" "ROFL" "spew" "you owe me a monitor" "lol" LOLOLOLOL" or any combination of "ol" or "lo."

Indeed.

Army of Davids

Right-Wing Nuthouse visits the ethical and cultural questions of our times.

“What Would Jack Bauer Do(?)”

I'd counter with "What would THE UNIT do?"

They have a more reasonable mission statement and mandate for fighting the GWOT.

The Unit understands the importance of team work and doesn't rely so much on Jack Bauer's Army-Of-One approach to confrontation. THE UNIT knows 9mm handguns aren't the answer to every tactical situation.

Horrified?

Apocalyptic president

Even some Republicans are now horrified by the influence Bush has given to the evangelical right

Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday March 23, 2006

Within hours of its publication, American Theocracy rocketed to No 1 on Amazon. At US cinemas, V for Vendetta - in which an imaginary Britain, ruled by a totalitarian, faith-based regime that rounds up gays, is a metaphor for Bush's America - is the surprise hit. Bush has succeeded in getting American audiences to cheer for terrorism.

You're selling the Democrats, education, mainstream media, and Hollywood short, Sydney. Terrorism chic and ignorant moral equivalences as answers to everything.

I think you're playing with fire which will have long-term damaging consequences to the Democratic Party, but worse the United States and free world.

Meanwhile, in Iran, gays are rounded up and stoned to death. Girls can be hung for self-defense from attempted rapists. The UK features polygamy and honor killings now.

Hollywood and the Democrats only attack soft targets.

Christians don't believe in bringing on chaos in the world so the Twelfth Imam or Madhi reveals himself, as does Ahmadinejad. "Twelvers" are in charge of Iran. When Christians start pushing for a Senate vote on dates for an apocalypse, be sure to send me e-mail alerts.

Blumenthal claims to have a refined sense for apocalyptic danger, but it's overly selective.

Happy Norooz Everybody!

Norooz

Faith Freedom

Norooz greetings to all Mankind and particularly to those who celebrate this great Day. Norooz is the celebration of life and fertility. Its origin fades into history. This is the oldest festivity alive and it will live as long as this planet lives. Ten thousand years from now, the world will be a different place. All races will merge and become indistinguishable. Nationality would make no sense. Long after religions are thrown in the dustbin of history along with their festivities, the Mother Earth will keep celebrating Norooz in the vernal equinox as she has been doing for billions of years. Trees will blossom, deserts will bloom and life will burst with its glory and beauty. Norooz and perhaps its twin festivity Mehregan, celebrated in the other equinox will endure as long as the Earth endures. The festivity of the 21st of December, when in most of the Earth light overcomes darkness, symbolizing the victory of good over evil, will also be celebrated. These festivities do not belong to any nation or religion. They are the festivities of the Mother Earth. We humans only rejoice watching in awe the miracle of her rebirth year after year in Norooz. Happy Norooz!

South Park creator: "...the million-year war for earth has just begun!"

'South Park'-Scientology Battle Rages On
By ERIN CARLSON, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - "South Park" has declared war on Scientology. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the animated satire, are digging in against the celebrity-endorsed religion after a controversial episode mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday — with Internet rumors it was covert warfare by Cruise that led to its departure.

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the "South Park" creators said in a statement Friday in Daily Variety. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies... You have obsructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail!"

.....In another dig at the famously secretive religion, the credits at show's end are filled with names like "John Smith" and "Jane Smith."

The battle began in earnest earlier this week when Isaac Hayes, another celebrity Scientologist and longtime show member — voicing the ladies' man Chef — quit the show, saying he could no longer tolerate its religious "intolerance and bigotry."

Stone and Parker didn't buy that either.

On Monday, Stone told The Associated Press, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith in Scientology...He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians."

My Ideal War by Hitchens

.....So, now I come at last to my ideal war.

Let us start with President Bush's speech to the United Nations on Sept. 12, 2002, which I recommend that you read. Contrary to innumerable sneers, he did not speak only about WMD and terrorism, important though those considerations were. He presented an argument for regime change and democracy in Iraq and said, in effect, that the international community had tolerated Saddam's deadly system for far too long. Who could disagree with that? Here's what should have happened. The other member states of the United Nations should have said: Mr. President, in principle you are correct. The list of flouted U.N. resolutions is disgracefully long. Law has been broken, genocide has been committed, other member-states have been invaded, and our own weapons inspectors insulted and coerced and cheated. Let us all collectively decide how to move long-suffering Iraq into the post-Saddam era. We shall need to consider how much to set aside to rebuild the Iraqi economy, how to sponsor free elections, how to recuperate the devastated areas of the marshes and Kurdistan, how to try the war criminals, and how many multinational forces to ready for this task. In the meantime—this is of special importance—all governments will make it unmistakably plain to Saddam Hussein that he can count on nobody to save him. All Iraqi diplomats outside the country, and all officers and officials within it, will receive the single message that it is time for them to switch sides or face the consequences. Then, when we are ready, we shall issue a unanimous ultimatum backed by the threat of overwhelming force. We call on all democratic forces in all countries to prepare to lend a hand to the Iraqi people and assist them in recovering from more than three decades of fascism and war.....

(hat tip: LGF)

Monkey Cops keep the peace among groups

Monkey Cops keep the peace among groups
When 'law enforcement' removed, monkey society becomes divisive

....."It's not just that violence goes up, but a whole range of behavior involving a whole range of individuals suddenly disappears," said David Krakauer of the Santa Fe Institute. "It's like saying you take police out of human society, and all of a sudden people stop going to the opera, or something more important."

The study, detailed in today's issue of the journal Nature, also uncovered a complex monkey "voting" system for appointing the peacekeepers.

Peacekeepers 'appointed'
Pigtailed macaque monkeys, Macaca nemestrina, don't just pull into town like Wyatt Earp or Dirty Harry and take over. They have to be "appointed" to the position.

Instead of a paper ballot, inferior monkeys bare their teeth to a more dominant member of the group.

"It's like they're saying, ‘You don't have to beat me up to establish your dominance, I'm simply telling you that you are,'" Krakauer told LiveScience.

When an individual receives these voting signals from most of the group, it shows he is well respected — or feared — and he becomes the new sheriff in town.....

By the way, monkey cops, monkey cops, monkey cops. I love that.

Sultan and more

Women at war with the mullahs

While some acclaim her as “a voice of reason” others have denounced her as a “heretic” and insist that she deserves to die. What seems to have most infuriated many Muslims were Sultan’s comparisons between how Jews and Muslims have coped with the tragedies that have befallen them.

“The Jews have come from tragedy and forced the world to respect them,” she said, “with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.

“We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.”

Sitting in the airy living room of the spacious modern home where Sultan and her husband live, it is hard to believe this small, neatly dressed woman could be at the centre of an international firestorm. Just as improbable is that the most important and controversial critics of Islamic fundamentalism, violence and intolerance are, like Sultan, women, mostly from Islamic countries.

They include Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch politician, who has strongly criticised Islamic attitudes towards women and the widespread practice of female circumcision in Muslim north Africa; Irshad Manji, a Canadian lesbian of Pakistani descent, whose book The Trouble with Islam Today chastises Islam for its aggression towards women and for its anti-semitism; Amina Wadud, an African-American convert to Islam and Muslim academic and author, who has infuriated traditional Muslims by leading Friday prayer for Muslims in New York, a role traditionally taken only by male imams.

Other Muslim women in the front lines of the clash with Islamic governments are as diverse as Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani village woman who was brutally gang-raped in 2002 as reprisal for an alleged transgression by her 14-year-old brother, and Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2003 for her defence of the rights of women and children in fundamentalist Muslim Iran.

hat tip: New, improved, spicy graphics, Sandmonkey(.org)

Or Sandmonkey(.com)

Tehran’s Killing Fields
By Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 27, 2005

Elio Bonazzi and Alireza Saghafi were co-writers of this special feature.

Operation Swarmer

ITM: A look at the Swarmer

.....Through my humble military knowledge, the participating force is way larger than the size of the assaulted targets. All we heard from US or Iraqi officials about accomplished objectives was the capture of 50 or 60 suspects (no big names or top ranking al-Qaeda leaders), IED making materials, several missiles and 70 lbs of TNT, i.e. almost the everyday finding of weapon caches. Let alone that we didn't see any footage of the reportedly confiscated weapon caches.
(Numbers from a statement for the spokesman of Iraqi defense ministry)

I tend to believe that the primary objective of the operation is to polish the skills of future battalion-size airborne Iraqi units through real-time action against real targets and to move Iraqi forces to the stage where they can take the initiative instead of waiting for the enemy to make the first move.

As the maps show, the area where the operation is taking place is surrounded by a number of medium and large sized US and Iraqi bases and using helicopters in such great numbers is more expensive, complicated and has little advantage over ground transport of troops and you don't really need helicopters to gain the surprise factor when approaching the open plains, semi-desert area takes slightly more than an hour in vehicles from the nearest bases.

But I think Iraqi forces can benefit greatly from this kind of experience given the relatively small number of these troops compared to the area they need to cover which makes air deployment of troops vital for having quick response abilities especially when Iraqi troops are planned to become responsible for security in a growing amount of territory over time.

I also suspect there are other two possible dimensions for the operation; one deals with morale and the other is a long-term military plan to cut the lines of transportation between the eastern and western areas of action of the insurgency that pass through the rural areas near and around Samarra.....

All Omar's reasoning makes sense to me, also amateur analyst.

Practically speaking, this is one way to assault a city, with helicopters. Driving in is another. Given Iraqi-U.S. casualties (0), Swarmer sounds like a winner. It makes sense to launch airborne assaults with overwhelming force (Operation "Swarmer"). They could combine air and land. Helicopters are excellent gun platforms as well.

Commanders need to mix up tactics in order to keep the enemy guessing.

If intelligence is sketchy I'd rather be the commander who went in with overwhelming force and nobody died.

Brave (ex?)Muslim Women to the Rescue

Heroine Chic

Irshad Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Wafa Sultan

Manji says she's Muslim. Ali says she's moved on. Both must be brave to take the stands, threats, and abuse they take.

It's not my business to determine who's a Muslim, how they should behave or speak, or the rules for leaving Islam. I support all their rights to say what they want to say about any religion. Go ahead, tear up Theism or Deism, personal favorites at times. I can take it.

An ocean and a continent away is Dr. Wafa Hannah, a middle-aged, Syrian-American psychiatrist who lives in the Los Angeles area and speaks fluent Arabic. She was invited to go on Al-Jazeera and debate Islam and the so-called 'clash of civilizations'. Jaw, say hello to floor. This clip is so extraordinary, it has been clicked on by more than a million people worldwide so far. The man chairing the discussion made a wise decision to keep his head down, but the Algerian Islamist who was... debating is too strong a word as he hardly got a chance to get a word in -- her opponent, kept coming back in disbelief to take another hit. This debate, which was translated by MEMRI and is run on their site, has made Wafa Sultan a worldwide recognizable, and quoted, name.


So Irshad Manji, Aayan Hirsi Ali and Wafa Sultan all have international recognition.

Deservedly so. They should have more. Maybe jihadys will spontaneously combust from the uncovered hair rays?

Open discussion, even ridicule, of religion is a cornerstone of freedom. Taking critical issues out of public debate to avoid offending amorphous concepts like "religious defamation" will cause religion to grab more and more issues and concomitant priviliges.

Maryam Rajavi

She waves a large bound book that, she says, contains the names of 21,676 people who have died resisting the clerical regime. Another 120,000 people have been executed since the mullahs took power in 1979, she claims. Now Iran's rulers are trying to develop a nuclear weapon.

"We have always said that a viper cannot give birth to a dove, but nobody believed us," she told the Sunday Telegraph. "Only a fraction of the true nature of this regime, which is a brutal dictatorship of religious fanaticism, has come to public attention."

British MPs, lawyers and human rights campaigners are among those who have recently travelled to hear Mrs Rajavi, 52, hold court on behalf of the National Council for Resistance for Iran (NCRI). Yet while some see her as the best hope to lead a moderate Islamic government in Teheran, others are more cautious.

When I finish Jefferson's War by Joseph Wheelan I'll review Oriana Fallaci: Force of Reason (Litigated in Europe!)

Is the nation-state dying?

Austin Bay at TCS.

Yes, but not in favor of a civilized international order. Tribalism (and not just in nations with tribes), sectarianism, dictatorships, and radical revolutionary ideologies are stronger than ever. The Left's feminists have allied with Taliban at Yale. Professors favor prior restraint of mild cartoons. Global theocracy, race-baiting, authoritarianism, and lapidation are in. Borders, Enlightenment values, equal justice, and rule of secular law are out.

It's hard to believe anyone could place intellectual stock in the present-day UN. Sudan and China policing human rights? That's the most unfunny joke I've ever heard.

Using the Balkans as reason to believe in international law is a bit like using Hiroshima to push for more nuclear power plants.

Do Journalists Know How Insane They Sound? And who killed Milosevic?

Watching one of the 24-7 news channels and a pundit 'sagely' opined how a civil war in Iraq might affect President Bush's approval ratings.

If there's a difference between partisan politics and voodoo, please feel free to attempt to make the distinction.

On the other hand, two can play at the wild-speculation-based-on-no-facts game.

Former Serbian leader Milosevic just attempted to call Clinton and Blair to the stand as defense witnesses. Then he suddenly dies in captivity.

It's becoming increasingly obvious the "facts" we were sold in the lead-up to NATO action were, at a minimum, exaggerated. Unlike the many conpiracy theories with no evidence in support, a conspiracy of like-minded internationalists is easy to prove: Clinton, Soros, Heinz, the UN, CFR, the EU, MSM, NGO's, etc.

How, well, convenient that Milosevic was never allowed to present a defense by cross-examining his accusers in politics.

You can hear it coming...

"WHO BENEFITS" from the death of Milosevic?

/Proof? Since when has Justin Raimondo asked for proof? My standards for rumor-mongering are well-established in precedent.

No Jihady World Coverage, Sorry - Citizen Journalist Duties: Shirked

I said "shirk" in a story about chickening out on driving out to UCF to listen to Islamists speak. Heh.

But that's what I did, chickened out. I was going to drive out there and take pictures. I imagined myself hassled by University Police and college administrators, protecting their pet jihadis from any harm.

I can't imagine any other scenario. There's no way UCF administrators decided to stop a public university from becoming a recruiting ground for jihadis and radical Islam. They're not Christians, after all. Besides, what a wonderful opportunity to recruit some spicy diversity! Maybe there's Taliban without a full scholarship.

Welcome to Jihady World, Orlando. This is but a small lost battle in a campaign for our university system.

Back in 1944, were Nazis allowed to recruit on campus?

Jihady World, Orlando

This stinks. More on our da'wa festival and the rogues gallery of 'clerics' out at University of Central Florida.

Dremali would soon make his way to sunny Florida, where he resided previous to the IDF incident. Later, he would be chosen as the Imam of a radical Boca mosque, the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), and the home of an Al-Qaeda operative, Rafiq Sabir, and an associate of Sami Al-Arian, Bassem Alhalabi, who would receive a sentence in 2003 for shipping a $13,000 piece of military equipment to Syria.

Never let it be said we learn from our mistakes.

"SJS," but aggressive da'wa at UCF (public school)

"Sudden Jihad Syndrome"

Daniel Pipes on SJS:

Until his would-be murderous rampage, Taheri-azar, a philosophy and psychology major, had an apparently normal existence and promising future. In high school, he had been student council president and a member of the National Honor Society. A number of UNC students told the Los Angeles Times that he “was a serious student, shy but friendly.” One fellow student, Brian Copeland, “was impressed with his knowledge of classical Western thought, adding “He was kind and gentle, rather than aggressive and violent.” The university chancellor, James Moeser, called him a good student, if “totally a loner, introverted and into himself.”

In fact, no one who knew him said a bad word about him, which is important, for it signals that he is not some low-life, not homicidal, not psychotic, but a conscientious student and amiable person. Which raises the obvious question: why would a regular person try to kill a random assortment of students? Taheri-azar’s post-arrest remarks offer some clues.

He told the 911 dispatcher that he wanted to “punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world.”

He explained to a detective that “people all over the world are being killed in war and now it is the people in the United States[’] turn to be killed.”

He said he acted to “avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world.”

He portrayed his actions as “an eye for an eye.”

A police affidavit notes that “Taheri-azar repeatedly said that the United States Government had been killing his people across the sea and that he decided to attack.”

He told a judge, “I’m thankful you’re here to give me this trial and to learn more about the will of Allah.”

So he rented the largest SUV he could and tried to run down the people who'd befriended him for the last few years. Now he plans to use his trial for da'wa.

From the We're Gluttons for Punishment Department at The University of Central Florida in Orlando.

March 8, 2006 - Philadelphia, PA - PipeLineNews.org - On March 17th 2006 the Student Union of the University of Central Florida Student Union will be transformed into the Student Ummah, as it will be the venue for a Da'wa [Muslim proselytizing] event entitled "Returning to Our Rabb" [Lord] and supported by university funding

According to the posters on the Muslim Student Association website, the event aims to "teach Muslims the correct beliefs in relationship to our Lord, and also his (s.w.t.) relationship towards us. With this new information not only can we strengthen our faith- but also our Da'wah." [aggressive faith spreading]

This brazen exercise in jihad through conversion is being funding by the Student Government Organization.

No one at the administrative office, could say whether a Muslim effort to convert Christians and Jews was entitled to university funding, but one can easily imagine the protests which would have ensued had a Christian evangelical group announced an event at the university hosting Jerry Falwell. Yet the silence is this case is deafening.

The Muslim Student seminar will be presented by three "preachers of fundamentalism." - Ibrahim Dremali, Radwan Koualti and Yahya Abdulbary.

Dremali is the former Imam of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton whose present Imam, Muneer Arafat, admitted to being a member of a jihad organization while testifying during the al-Arian trial.

Dremali's ICBR has openly done fundraising for Hamas – a U.S. designated terrorist organization - via the Health Resource Center of Palestine which listed his brother as the “Gaza coordinator."

Under Dremali's leadership the ICBR has hosted fundraisers and speakers such as the now jailed Rafil Dhafir, whose Help the Needy 'charity' was closed down for illegally funneling money to Iraq, and Khalid Smaili, the director of Kind Hearts, a “terror charity" which was closed down last month by the U.S. Treasury .

Dremali is a documented radical Islamist, who completed his Islamic studies at the fundamentalist Al Azhar University.

Al Azhar U is probably best known for being the alma mater of Abdullah Azzam – bin-Laden's mentor.

It also serves as a headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Dremali's mere presence at a Muslim student event aimed at instilling in Muslims students a duty to advance the cause of radical Islam, leaves no doubt as to the focus of the seminar.

Don't let this keep you away from the attractions, recruiting jihadis and aggressive da'wa in a public university about 30 miles from Disney World.


UPDATE: Right on cue, the UNC-grad, SUV-attack, da'wa-trial defendant writes a TV station. LGF: UNC Attacker: "Allah Gives Permission in the Koran..."

UNC Attacker: "Allah Gives Permission in the Koran..."

I'm sure renting SUV's isn't in there, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar.

Oriana "gets it"

Some of us got it in stages. Most of us got it by tying up disparate events over a long period of history.

Just started The Rage and the Pride. Oriana goes through many phases I shared.

1. Jihad is a cultural/religious phenomenon. Those of us who get it reject Marxist economic determinism or capitalist reform-by-trade economic determinism. Jihad is in the books, schools, and culture. Job training and welfare won't solve the problem.

2. Those who kill, or attempt to kill, massed civilians are not legally insane, "alienated," or "troubled."

3. If it's warfare, jihidiot, follow the rules of war. Wear uniforms and don't attack civilians.

This is why people are wary of Muslims. It has nothing to do with any pre-existing bias. Fact is, most Americans learned about Islam and Arabs through terrorism and jihad conducted by 'civilians.'

4. Negotiations, apologies, and other acts of surrender (see, dhimmitude) won't make any difference.

5. Moderate Muslims should be encouraged, but we can't expect them to take down Ikhwan by force.

6. Major lefty papers like the NYT can't be trusted. They'd rather jail middle America than some of their 'Oriental' spice friends. In Europe it's worse.

"Oh, Buffy, you're dating a bearded Taliban?"

"How totally post-colonial."

UPDATING:

Oriana’s Screed:
Truth we’re sure to miss.


Roman Candle:
Oriana Fallaci sheds heat and light.


The Rage of Oriana Fallaci

It's still just a book, even today. Twelve Danish Cartoons War has a higher body count, but the fight over the Rage and the Pride rages on in Europe. I'll review Force of Reason when I get to that one as well.

Fallaci three years ago.

"How good if the Iraqis would get free of Saddam Hussein by themselves. How good if they would execute him and hang up his body by the feet as in 1945 we Italians did with Mussolini." But it does not help. Or it helps in one way only. The Italians, in fact, could get free of Mussolini because in 1945 the Allies had conquered almost four-fifths of Italy......

.....It remains for the reasons I will try to state. And the first one is that, contrary to the pacifists who never yell against Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden and only yell against George W. Bush and Tony Blair, (but in their Rome march they also yelled against me and raised posters wishing that I'd blow up with the next shuttle, I'm told), I know war very well. I know what it means to live in terror, to run under air strikes and cannonades, to see people killed and houses destroyed, to starve and dream of a piece of bread, to miss even a glass of drinking water.....

.....The second reason is that this war should not happen now. If just as I wish, legitimate as I hope, it should have happened one year ago. That is, when the ruins of the Towers were still smoking and the whole civilized world felt American. Had it happened then, the pacifists who never yell against Saddam or bin Laden would not today fill the squares to anathematize the United States. Hollywood stars would not play the role of Messiahs, and ambiguous Turkey would not cynically deny passage to the Marines who have to reach the Northern front. Despite the Europeans who added their voice to the voice of the Palestinians howling "Americans-got-it-good," one year ago nobody questioned that another Pearl Harbor had been inflicted on the U.S. and that the U.S. had all the right to respond. As a matter of fact, it should have happened before. I mean when Bill Clinton was president, and small Pearl Harbors were bursting abroad. In Somalia, in Kenya, in Yemen. As I shall never tire of repeating, we did not need September 11 to see that the cancer was there. September 11 was the excruciating confirmation of a reality which had been burning for decades.....

Media and Islam

The media and Islam
By Diana West
March 10, 2006

WASHINGTON TIMES

Way back when I was a cub reporter at this newspaper, I got hold of a book about the "art" of interviewing. It was a thin book. There was no use spending thousands of words to tell a reporter, cub or old Grizzly, to bone up on a subject and let natural curiosity take its course.
That thin book came to mind on reading a three-part series in the New York Times about an imam named Reda Shata who presides over the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, N.Y. As far as the art of interviewing goes, the reporter got it exactly backward: Thousands of words; negligible expertise; and no curiosity.
Both the New York Post and the New York Sun have already pounced on the most egregious flaw of omission: not a mention, in 11,000-plus words, of the day in March 1994 when a man walked out of that same Bay Ridge mosque and, inspired by the anti-Jewish sermon of the day (delivered by a different, unidentified imam), armed himself and opened fire on a van carrying Hasidic Jewish children. Ari Halberstam, 16, was killed. The Times series, as it happened, concluded on the 12th anniversary of his death.
Such journalistic jaw-droppers abound: gaping holes, like the one above, but also dead ends that leave countless questions that the female reporter, it seems, never thought to ask. For example, she notes, over six months of interviews, the Egyptian-born imam refused to shake her hand. "He offers women only a nod," she writes. Why is shaking hands with a woman "improper"? What does the imam think about sexual equality? She doesn't tell us. In Belgium last year, she doesn't mention, the female president of the parliament made headlines for canceling a meeting with an Iranian delegation over this same refusal to shake a woman's hand (the parliamentarian's own), while in Holland, the English-language blog Zacht Ei reported, a Muslim man lost a month's worth of welfare benefits for not only refusing to shake hands with female municipal employees, but also refusing to acknowledge their presence. This is supposed to be "the story of Mr. Shata's journey west," but the story bypasses such landmark issues.
Instead, we get a load of happy talk: "Married life in Islam is an act of worship," Mr. Shata says. So impressed were the editors of the New York Times by this load that they ran the quotation, not just above the fold, but across the very top of the front page over a gold-bathed family photo four columns wide. Does Miss Reporter ask the imam to reconcile this ecstatic notion with the Islamic custom of arranged and forced marriages, the spate of spousal abuse and "honor killings" within European Muslim communities -- as recounted in clarifying detail in Bruce Bawer's important new book, "While Europe Slept" -- or the tradition of polygamy which exists to this day in portions of Islamic society?
No, no and no. She writes: "One Brooklyn imam reportedly urged his wealthier male congregants during a Ramadan sermon last year to take two wives. When a woman complained about the sermon to Mr. Shata, he laughed. 'You know that preacher who said Hugo Chavez should be shot?' he asked," referring to a comment by Pat Robertson about the Venezuelan leader. " 'We have our idiots, too.' " One clumsy feint and presto -- the New York Times loses all interest in polygamy, from Mohammed's Mecca to Bloomberg's New York.....

New York? Wow.

UPDATE:
dilys says

As they used to say, "That's not writing, it's typing." In this case, taking dictation for a long press release.


Sounds exactly right to me.

FURTHER UPDATE:
Mark Steyn sounds a similar theme. UK to Mark Steyn "Don't let the door hit you in the ass..."

Dhimmification is not painless nor does it lead to less punishment. Buck up little leaders.

Steyn:

.....And yet the M-word appears nowhere in the Times report. Whether intentionally or not, they seem to be channeling the great Sufi theologian and jurist al-Ghazali, who died a millennium ago but whose first rule on the conduct of dhimmis -- non-Muslims in Muslim society -- seem to have been taken on board by the Western media:

The dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle. . . .

Are they teaching that at Columbia Journalism School yet?

A fellow called Mohammed mows down a bunch of students? Just one of those things -- like a gran'ma in my neck of the woods a couple of years back who hit the wrong pedal in the parking lot and ploughed through a McDonald's, leaving the place a hideous tangle of crumbled drywall, splattered patties and incendiary hot apple-pie filling. Yet, according to his own statements, Taheri-azar committed an act of ideological domestic terrorism, which he'd planned for two months. He told police he was more disappointed more students in his path weren't struck and that he'd rented the biggest vehicle the agency had in order to do as much damage to as many people as possible. The Persian car pet may have been flooring it, but the media are idling in neutral, if not actively reversing away from the story as fast as they can. Taheri-azar informed the judge he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah," and it was apparently the will of Allah that he get behind the wheel of Allah.

Meanwhile, a new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that, in the words of the Post, "nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence."

"Often" targeted? Want to put some hard numbers on that? Like to compare the "violence" Americans perpetrated on Muslims after the slaughter of thousands of their fellow citizens in the name of Allah with, say, the death toll perpetrated by Muslims annoyed over some itsy-bitsy cartoons in an obscure Danish newspaper? In September 2001, 99.99999 percent of Americans behaved with remarkable forbearance. If they're less inclined to give the benefit of the doubt these days, perhaps it's because of casual slurs like the Post's or the no-jihad-to-see-here-folks tone of the Times.

Ronald Stockton of the University of Michigan doesn't see it that way: "You're getting a constant drumbeat of negative information about Islam," he told the Post. By "negative information," Professor Stockton presumably means the London bombings, and the Bali bombings, and the Madrid bombings and the Istanbul bombings. But surely it's worth asking why in 2006 the Washington Post needs a man with a name like "Ronald Stockton" to explain Islam to us? The diversity bores in the media go out of their way to hire writers of color, writers of gender, writers of orientation. Yet, five years after 9/11, where's the New York Times' Muslim columnist? Where's the ''Today Show's'' Islamic weather girl? Why, indeed, are all the Muslim voices in the press broadly on the right -- Amir Taheri in the New York Post, Stephen Schwartz in the Weekly Standard, Fouad Ajami in the Wall Street Journal?

If Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar is not a free-lance terrorist, then what is he? Who is he? What's he thinking? In the absence of any explanatory voices from the Muslim community, all we have are the bare bones of his resume: He's a 22-year old UNC psychology major who graduated in December. And what's revealing is the link between Taheri-azar's grievance and his action.

Take him at his word: He's upset about "the treatment of Muslims around the world" -- presumably at the hands of Israelis on the West Bank, of the Russians in Chechnya, the Indians in Kashmir, the Americans in the Sunni Triangle and the Danes in the funny pages. So what does he do to avenge Islam? He goes to the rental agency, takes out the biggest car on the lot, drives it to UNC and rams it into the men and women he's spent the last few years studying with and socializing with -- the one group of infidels he knows really well.

How many Muslims feel similarly? Not many in America, perhaps -- if only when compared to Europe: For all the multiculti blather, the United States still does a better job assimilating immigrants than France or Germany. A recent poll found that 40 percent of British Muslims want sharia introduced in the United Kingdom and 20 percent sympathized with the "feelings and motives" of the July 7 London Tube bombers. Or, more accurately, 20 percent were prepared to admit to a pollster they felt sympathy, which suggests the real figure might be somewhat higher. Huge numbers of Muslims -- many of them British subjects born and bred -- see their fellow Britons blown apart on trains and buses and are willing to rationalize the actions of mass murderers.

©Mark Steyn, 2006

Copyright © Mark Steyn, 2006

What's up with the double copyright alert?

Blogging is much simpler.

Mohammed at Iraq the Model - Pajamas Media - Opinion Journal

Incoming
A mortar attack near my home makes me fear for the future of my country.

BY MOHAMMED FADHIL
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

Did you read all of Jim Pinkereton's piece?

If not, go back and read the whole thing.

Now, read all of this. I'm not playing around. People who don't educate themselves are nothing but lambs waiting to be sheared and lamb-chopped.

This, from what I understand, is what to expect from a Catholic education.

A moment of honesty. When I hear the name Mohammed I do not have what might be described as positive mental associations. But reading ITM for years has convinced me Mohammed is one of the moderate Muslims everyone loves and wants to encourage to put an end to the global jihad.

Well, isn't that special?

I think he's going to need some help.

BAGHDAD, March 6, 2006--We woke up this morning to the sounds of many explosions and since we are familiar with those sounds we recognized that these were no doubt mortar shelling but not like the usual which is one or two rounds fired by some terrorists in a hit and run manner; this time fire was exchanged between two or more groups and lasted for more than an hour.

Mortars are blind and whoever uses this kind of dumb weapon that belongs to World War I is blind too. Maybe they make good weapons in open battlefields but using mortars inside crowded cities reflects savage insanity that forces you to pick a mortar-lottery ticket and hope not to be the unfortunate winner.

When you count the homes in Baghdad and the number of daily mortars and using some logarithmic equations of probabilities you feel somewhat relieved by knowing that you are unlikely to watch a mortar round fall on your head and after each time you hear the bang of one of those dumb things you realize that it fell sufficiently away from you and you hope that it didn't hurt someone.

I wasn't home this morning but I was close enough to home to know that the relatively unusual intense bombardment was close to my neighborhood.

It still felt "normal" until my cell phone rang, I picked up and it was my father.

Yes dad?

Are you coming home soon Mohammed?

Yes, why?

I just want to tell you not to panic when you see the crowd and police vehicles in our alley . . .

What's wrong? What happened?

Don't worry (said the old seasoned former soldier) it's just a mortar round; it hit the home of one of our neighbors, some 60 meters from ours.

Anyone hurt?

No, no one was hurt . . .

I rushed home as fast as I could and when I arrived I learned that my father instructed the family to remain in the small bomb-shelter we have in the backyard. "They come in threes and fours, so I thought it was safer to keep them there for a while, until we're sure the attack is over" my dad explained.

Those were moments that brought a strong flashback from the days of previous wars especially with a strong smell of gunpowder in the air.

What is happening to us? Many questions rang in my head at that moment that were nagging for answers. I looked at my father and I prayed he could help me put things into perspective.





I always talk to my father when things get complicated; this man lived through the times of the monarchy, the first republic, the pan-Arab nationalists and the Ba'ath and he's from the generation that ruled Iraq for decades and many of our current politicians belong to this generation. This makes men like my father closer to understanding the way his generation thinks as well as its internal conflicts, so I threw at him the urging questions and confused thoughts I had in my head:
Me: How is this mess going to resolve dad?

Dad: it is not.

Me: Are you positive? Why?

Dad: People find solutions only if they wanted to and I think many of the political players do not want a solution.

Me: Is there a chance the situation will further escalate?

Dad: Most likely yes, we are a state still run by sentiments rather than reason which means it's a brittle state and any sentimental overreaction can turn the tide it in either direction.

Me: what kinds of challenges can make things worse?

Dad: Virtually anything . . . assassinating a leader, a fatwa, attack on a shrine like last time; we do not possess the institutions that can abolish the effects of severe sentimental reactions.

Me: Is there going to be no role for politics?

Dad: What politics are you talking about?! We are dealing with deeply-rooted beliefs . . . Yes, in politics everything is possible but with religion you find yourself before very few options to choose from and our people have mostly voted for the religious.

Me: And what's America's role here? Will they stand by and watch while things go against what the way they desire?

Dad: Why do you always put America in the face of the canon? America is a super power but it's not superman. These are our problems now and America has nothing to do with it. We have to fix our mess or no one will.

Me: But their interests and presence here makes Iraq's stability a top priority for them, right?

Dad: And this stability is not going to happen soon . . . Why do you always want things to be the way you like them? Failure exists just like success does.

Me: Will America leave Iraq?

Dad: Not now of course but they will at the nearest possible chance. Don't forget that America had been in the region long before 2003 and Iraq is not an irreplaceable base. Syria and Iran can be dealt with from Turkey or the Gulf countries.

Me: We need another 9th of April.

Dad: There will be no new 9th of April.

Me: Why do our politicians seek confrontation?

Dad: The religious seek death because after death comes heaven they believe . . . Do you want to deny them this dream?

Me: No but . . . will they really go to heaven?

Dad: hell, no!





As a people we have believed in democracy and elections as the best means to decide the future for our new country. We do have different visions for democracy but the massive turnout in the last elections show that the majority of people are looking up to voting as a means to choose leaderships and get representation.
We chose our representatives and we know they have a variety of programs and visions for the country and we hoped that the difference in opinions and exchange of thoughts would initiate constructive debase and bring up better decisions.

We the voters expressed our differences through the box and the paper and every one of us voted for the person or party he or she deemed the best.

And in the same manner our representatives should restrict expressing their differences to the halls of the parliament because that's what we chose them to do in the first place and violating this by turning their differences into a violent conflict in the streets is a outrageous betrayal to the people and it's so far away from the way we chose for ourselves to work out our differences.

Mr. Fadhil, along with his brother Omar, runs Iraq the Model, a blog based in Baghdad.

Ave Maria: theocratic police state or apartheid gated community?

First, look at the law school.

college

development

university

This place has more official websites than the Vatican. But wait, there's more.

Ave Maria, Discover!

Read the scrolling information on the right. If you don't make it to the end, I'll throw you a bone...

Community resources will include an on-site fire/sheriff/EMS building, as well as medical facilities provided in partnership with the NCH Healthcare System; all will be operational when the community opens.

A significant network of parks and recreational areas has been included; in fact, about 45% of the total town area is devoted to lakes and open space. The Collier County Public Schools have been gifted land for both an elementary and a middle school, and the University plans a K-12 parochial school to be operational when the first phase of the community opens.

It is anticipated that the first phase of the University and Town, including representative housing and commercial areas, will be operational in mid 2007.

Wikipedia: Holy Roman Empire

Contemporaries did not quite know how to describe this entity either. In his famous 1667 description De statu imperii Germanici, published under the alias Severinus de Monzambano, Samuel Pufendorf wrote: "Nihil ergo aliud restat, quam ut dicamus Germaniam esse irregulare aliquod corpus et monstro simile ..." ("We are therefore left with calling Germany a body that conforms to no rule and resembles a monster"). Voltaire later described it as "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire".

James "Jim" Pinkerton (watches news) explains everything.

Holy Roman Empire USA (read the whole thing)
(I'm already concerned.)

The Liberal-Left Establishment has never liked suburbia and exurbia, which are dismissed as "sprawl." And we know what the Liberal Left thinks of the Catholic Church. So what do you suppose Liberal Lefties think about a plan for a Catholic exurb? Talk about a bad twofer, in their eyes. Even worse, the new town of Ave Maria, Florida is being bankrolled by Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, the leading conservative Catholic philanthropist in the world. Yikes! No wonder it's so easy for the mainstream media to descend into name-calling -- The Times of London has mocked him as "the pizza pope," and it's likely to get worse in the future.


On the other hand, Monaghan is not without resources on his side. And by resources, I mean not only his own billion or so in wealth, much of which he has given away already. But the greater resource he has is the tradition of the Catholic Church, and its proven power, over two millennia, to create and sustain institutions. So while nobody can know the future of Ave Maria, the town, here's a prediction: It will be around longer than the Liberal-Left Establishment.

Jim's calling them out.

Now he's on a roll.

The Left has never forgiven the American working class for becoming the American middle class. Through the middle of the last century, the Left had high hopes for the Masses; Lefties hoped that Proletarians, guided by a Revolutionary Vanguard (Stalinist or Trotskyist, there was division here) would build a good Soviet United States. But even before World War Two, instead of socialism and communism, Americans embraced capitalism, consumerism, and suburbanism. Whereas the Left wanted urban renters, who could be whipped up into rent strikes and other forms of urban protest, those darn American people preferred to become suburban owners; the folks in Levittown wanted to wage war on crabgrass, not their bosses.

This is good.

So then it came: the Left's effort to eject Monaghan and his mini-metropolis right outta de game.

An article on the Lefty website workingforchange.com tossed around the obligatory buzzwords, such as "ultraconservative," before warning that Monaghan's charitable ventures "appear to be walking a thin line between conservative organization and radical cult."

More mainstream-y publications were a bit less inflammatory, while still making their anti-Ave feelings apparent. Newsweek's understated hostility toward Ave Maria began with its headline, "Halfway to Heaven." For those not familiar with Newsweek's worldview, trust me -- the magazine intended that as an ironic joke. Reacting to reports that Monaghan might seek to prevent pharmacies in his new town from carrying contraceptives, the magazine echoed the tone of the American Civil Liberties Union, which declared itself to be "worried." Happily, according to the mag, ACLU Florida executive director Howard Simon "will be watching Ave Maria for any signs of Monaghan's requests becoming a demand." And lest any reader be too thick to see the gravity of the situation, Newsweek added, "Planned Parenthood is similarly alarmed."

A subsequent AP story was even more explicit in expressing Liberal-Left fear: Ave Maria would offer "no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control." And the same Howard Simon was quoted again, this time more threateningly toward Monaghan & Co.: "If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future."

Such attempted legal bullying led Human Events columnist Mac Johnson to snap, "What do you bet this town will have low crime, high test scores, good neighbors, a healthy rate of reproduction, and be sued every day that it exists by the ACLU?"

Just a few years ago, given the correlation of forces -- people on one side, liberal litigators on the other -- one would have had to bet on the liberal litigators. But the judiciary has changed and continues to change, such that the Right is now winning victories, not just at the ballot box, but also in the courts. So it's possible, just possible, that the ACLU won't be able to clobber Ave Maria.

(More links in original)

Contrast MSNBC's story on Monaghan with Matt Lauer's treatment of Bennish.

For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism. Though he says nonbelievers are welcome, Monaghan clearly wants the community to embody his conservative values. He controls all the commercial real estate in town (along with his developing partner, Barron Collier Cos.) and is asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives.

Rumblings of litigation and unhappiness from the ACLU.

Repeal the 22nd Amendmet?

I saw recently.

No.

Domestic gridlock in the second term is good for reflection. We don't need more laws. After two centuries there are not many needs in the statutory supply department. Both Congress and the President have constitutional duties to perform without major domestic overhauls.

Entitlement spending and defense spending must be controlled. In the case of entitlements it makes more sense to start early and phase it in. Cutting discretionary spending won't cut it. I want to go to the moon, and get along with the Chinese and Russians up there.

Which should be a focus of the second term, finding a way to get on the same page with China, Russia, Japan, and Korea. We're in a multi-polar world with ineffective and corrupt international governance.

Human rights law licenses genocide. We don't need more bridges named after Senator Byrd.

President Bush can veto whatever he wants. He has never vetoed any bills, but he could veto all bills. GWB will always be the war-democratic reform-idealist presdent. If he's actually quoted instead of paraphrased. Making it work is more important than politics or a domestic agenda.

The second term is like coasting your senior year, but playing very competitive sports.

News roundup, yee-haw!

Forgiveness is so divine sometimes it's only reasonable to expect from God. (doff: PJM)

Christians sometimes take an approach to forgiveness and dialogue which amounts to suicide, which is itself a mortal sin.

More on the Muslim rape spree.

Credit Fjordman for bringing the truth to light. But revealing the truth, sadly, forced him out of blogging. Europe would rather sacrifice women to the hordes than deal with them. It's easy to punish peaceful bloggers.

More MSM lipsticking of Islam.
By the time the mainstream media realizes they are proselytizing for those who would destroy them I fear it will be too late.

I have yet to see one, ONE, mainstream media article which squarely deals with the Islamic scripture our enemy uses to justify raping, beheading, capturing, enslaving, and murdering us. Has there ever been such a ongoing failure in a critical institution which didn't lead to disaster?

On the other hand could Europe be awakening to the threat despite the best efforts of the mainstream media? Perhaps an "Army of Davids" is more powerful than the original David. The mainstream media Goliath never learns from mistakes, which is both bad for society and good for the blogosphere.

How many great articles on human rights violations around the world were scrapped so the MSM could keep picking away at the United States? How can news services and reporters sleep at night?

Of course, even the home nations or neighbors of Gitmo detainees summarily executing the prisoners is the fault of the United States. But so is military intervention to overthrow brutal regimes. And so is keeping them in Gitmo. And why can't the U.S. force other nations to give them asylum? And...? Media logic always ends at the same conclusion: U.S. bad.

How many people come out of North Korean gulags with good things to say?

(Boy, 12, recounts days as terror inmate
Youngest captive spent 17 months detained, a year at Guantanamo
)

Oh, yes, I forgot. Nobody is allowed in them, near them, or has any idea how many millions have died of starvation, human experimentation, forced abortion, or the good old Communist coup de grace to the back of the head.

Goliath, the big dumb brute, thinks he can still make us disbelieve our lying eyes.

So what changed? The answer is 1967 and Israel’s subsequent emergence as a power determined to annex territory beyond its legally recognized borders. The unbearable truth is that the left that identifies with the Palestinians today is largely the same left that identified with Israel in the 1950s and the 1960s. Moreover, it does so for largely the same reason: instinctive sympathy for the underdog. For some, the idea that anyone could see the conflict in these terms is literally unthinkable, so they are forced to impute to Israel’s critics the motive of Jew-hatred.

This reminds me of the German father who warned his son who was heading to Operation Barbarossa: "Any idiot looking at a map (could) see Germany (was) going to lose the war."

Somehow, Israel has defied every bit of accepted military wisdom and triumphed. Survival as a motivator is certainly a factor. Brilliant strategy and tactics is another. Some would argue the only way Israel has triumphed in the face of superior numbers, even equipment in some cases (upgraded Shermans v. modern Soviet T-54's in 1967), is divine intervention.

Only a Jew-hating Guardian columnist could call the Arab states the underdog. See? I didn't call you an anti-Semite.

Dueling Dystopias: A Brave New World Draws First Blood

Dystopia


A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

When I finished reading Huxley in 1986, twice because once wasn't enough, I began to wonder which dystopia would be proven more accurate when I reached manhood.

George Orwell's 1984, though brilliant, particularly Orwell's treatment of vocabulary as a means of control, is not as relevant today as A Brave New World.

Community, Identity, and Stability - The World State's Motto in A Brave New World

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (excerpt)

"If you allowed yourselves to think of God, you wouldn't allow yourselves to be degraded by pleasant vices. You'd have a reason for bearing things patiently, for doing things with courage. I've seen it with the Indians."

"l'm sure you have," said Mustapha Mond. "But then we aren't Indians. There isn't any need for a civilized man to bear anything that's seriously unpleasant. And as for doing things--Ford forbid that he should get the idea into his head. It would upset the whole social order if men started doing things on their own."

"What about self-denial, then? If you had a God, you'd have a reason for self-denial."

"But industrial civilization is only possible when there's no self-denial. Self-indulgence up to the very limits imposed by hygiene and economics. Otherwise the wheels stop turning."

"You'd have a reason for chastity!" said the Savage, blushing a little as he spoke the words.

"But chastity means passion, chastity means neurasthenia. And passion and neurasthenia mean instability. And instability means the end of civilization. You can't have a lasting civilization without plenty of pleasant vices."

"But God's the reason for everything noble and fine and heroic. If you had a God ..."

"My dear young friend," said Mustapha Mond, "civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic. Conditions have got to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise. Where there are wars, where there are divided allegiances, where there are temptations to be resisted, objects of love to be fought for or defended--there, obviously, nobility and heroism have some sense. But there aren't any wars nowadays. The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving any one too much. There's no such thing as a divided allegiance; you're so conditioned that you can't help doing what you ought to do. And what you ought to do is on the whole so pleasant, so many of the natural impulses are allowed free play, that there really aren't any temptations to resist. And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your mortality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears--that's what soma is."

In the constant struggle to avoid tears, difficulty, effort, in our world, not brave, not as new as we think, the consequence is often a long trail of tears, over centuries.

In conclusion, Orwell must get his due.

"You want a vision of the future? Imagine a boot stomping on a human face, Forever."

Perhaps the UN and EU could get some tee shirts made up? Legacy media could use the advertising dollars.

A "discourse of cultures" is much simpler if one civilization lies prostrate under foot and only listens.

Maybe sunlight will do the trick: vampire hate crimes

If a law makes you feel good, it must do good.

My favorite subject, "hate" "crimes." That's when lawyers forget every pragmatic concern they ever had about the basics of criminal law and get tough on oh-so-very-bad mens rea.

Actus reus?

Did I mention how very bad it is to have certain things in your head?

Hate crimes famously came up in James Byrd's capital murder case when Texas was hamstrung by an inability to offer any punishment beyond lethal injection, thus allowing the perpetrators to walk free as the undead for all eternity. Clearly holy water and stakes must be applied posthaste.

Here we only have multiple counts of attempted murder, in a situation where the specific intent practically jumps out at a potted plant.

Yes, more laws! That will do good!

Osama: the new, improved final prophet

Gitmo Inmate: Osama Called Himself Prophet

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 5 minutes ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Pakistani millionaire held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay testified that he met Osama bin Laden twice, and the al-Qaida leader called himself "a prophet."

.....In 1999, Paracha said, he met bin Laden in Afghanistan. The following year, he returned to Afghanistan to interview bin Laden for his news agency, Universal Broadcast Ltd.

"He delivered (preached) the Quran, and said he was a prophet," Paracha said. "He said very nice things, very impressive."

That's funny.

The holy Quran and the holy Prophet's Ahadith (teachings) eloquently prove that prophethood ('nabuwwat' and 'risalat') came to an end with our Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam).

If this keeps up I'm going to open my own Islamic university. Do Islamic rules apply to Muslims? First the Danish imams get away with blaspheming the Final Prophet and now Osama claims to be a prophet.

Punk kids playing in the street

Or a secluded university pit.

I'm so glad there haven't been any terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11/01. That "fact" has become far more important than honestly investigating dozens of crimes just like this one. Start with the boy who crashed a small airplane into a Tampa bank tower shortly after 9/11/01.

By the way, this is why Osama chose 9/11/01 to attack the United States. Remove one zero.

009.111
YUSUFALI: Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.

The "achievement supreme" in Islam is to slay and be slain for Allah. Thank goodness Islam is a religion of peace.

The trackback doesn't work for me. If it didn't for you, try this.

Wikipedia's Tamerlane

Timur

I wouldn't call it a complete whitewash. There is this:

Capture of towns and villages were accompanied, very often, with their destruction and the massacre of the inhabitants.

Given the historical obsession with Vlad Tepes and his unfortunate tendency to impale his enemies on poles, seems odd to leave out Timur's pyramids of human heads.

Timur’s campaigns are infamous for their extensive massacres and emblematic “pyramids of heads”.

Of course Wikipedia wouldn't cover up Islamic brutality while playing up the atrocities of those who fought against the jihad, would they?

Homer-Simpson Test

I'll try to name the Bill of Rights from memory.

1st: freedom of press, speech, religion: no establishment/free exercise, peaceful assembly, petition for redress of grievances

2nd: right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed

Put that in your militia pipe and smoke it.

3rd: No troops in homes during peacetime.

Don't see the Third cited very often.

4th: No unreasonable search and seizure, persons, houses, papers, effects. Warrant preference, issued on probable cause.

5th: Grand jury, self-incrimination, due process, compensation for property condemned.

6th: Speedy and public trial.

7th: Trial by jury

8th: No cruel and unusual punishment.

9th: Unenumerated rights.

10th: Reserved powers of states and citizens, would be nice if the courts respected it.


But do they ask me? Of course not.

And it figures I'd forget most of the Sixth Amendment, as I studied that one in law school. "Right to counsel" who needs it? You'll get no witnesses, and LIKE IT!