Saturday, March 11, 2006
Jejune Jimmah
"That Carter gets away with passing off his jejune axioms as serious political thought is a barometer of the senescence of liberalism. Liberal Intellectuals once looked askance at Carter. When Carter first arrived on the national scene in the mid-1970s, his superficial references to Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth, and other thinkers set off alarm bells among LIs such as Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Schlesinger, who had been close to Niebuhr, could detect none of Niebuhr's hard-headed realism in Carter's use of Niebuhr's words, causing him to wonder "whether Mr. Carter can really have understood Niebuhr." Schlesinger was not alone among LIs, who grasped immediately Carter's essential fraudulence and warned that he would be a disaster for the Democratic party. Yet now liberals look the other way as Carter fetes Michael Moore in the presidential box at the Democratic National Convention."
Ummm ... Yale Comes To Mind
"The underlying reason why America is doing so poorly in the field of "information warfare" against the Jihad is that its traditional organs of articulation -- the academy, media, Hollywood -- are largely hostile to the War on Terror itself. It's conceivable that an Iranian might flee persecution only to be taught at a US university that he ought to embrace it by the many academic departments whose point of view is exactly that. In a fundamental sense, the War on Terror is twinned to the greatest single issue dividing the Left and Right, which is whether the United States, as a nation, is legitimate or whether, as some would maintain, it is Amerika: an abomination whose demise must be hastened by any means necessary."
Except of course, Yale won't take in the refugees -- only their oppressors. The refugees being too much like whitey...
Except of course, Yale won't take in the refugees -- only their oppressors. The refugees being too much like whitey...
The Problem Of Evil
"The question that always bothered me was whether that person -- or any man -- had any right to expect someone else to do the dirty job for him. Can we ever simultaneously acknowledge the necessity of a deed and the absolute immorality of doing it? That in a nutshell is the Problem of Evil: that evil exists and that by and by we will have to face it. The question Tom Fox should have posed is "how do you stand firm against a car-bomber headed straight for a schoolbus?" And if you say, "shoot to save the children" ask yourself if it ever justified to be glad that God had sent someone else to shoot the bomber and go hell in your stead. Tom Fox stood for his beliefs to the bitter end. And now the men who killed him are out there, waiting to kill again."
And while we're at it we should ban police departments too I suppose. They just oppress the poor you know.
And while we're at it we should ban police departments too I suppose. They just oppress the poor you know.
WW0 In A Nutshell: NYeT Obliviousness Watch
"For Muslim Who Says Violence Destroys Islam, Violent Threats"
Friday, March 10, 2006
Was The Enlightenment A Mistake?
Ummm ... no. Deafeningly, resoundingly no:
"Of course I realize that some disagree, and see any even possibly pejorative reference to Mohammed — or for that matter any depiction of Mohammed — as a horrible emotional injury. But their subjective feelings, real as they may be to them, are not sufficient reasons for the rest of us to change the way we talk or write. "I'm offended" cannot be justification enough, either in law or in manners, for the conclusion "therefore you must shut up." (Among other things, note that many people are quite understandably offended when others say "I'm offended, therefore you must shut up." If mere offense on some listeners' part is reason enough for the speakers to stop saying, then I take it that those who are offended have an obligation to themselves remain silent.)
This is why this issue is so important: Those who demand that the cartoons not be published or republished are cutting at the heart of public debate. They are either demanding that some ideologies not be criticized, or that they be handled with such kid gloves that normal debate about them — which is inevitably impassioned, given the magnitude of the issues involved — is practically impossible. This is why the West must resist this pressure to silence, both as a legal matter and as a matter of editorial judgment."
"Of course I realize that some disagree, and see any even possibly pejorative reference to Mohammed — or for that matter any depiction of Mohammed — as a horrible emotional injury. But their subjective feelings, real as they may be to them, are not sufficient reasons for the rest of us to change the way we talk or write. "I'm offended" cannot be justification enough, either in law or in manners, for the conclusion "therefore you must shut up." (Among other things, note that many people are quite understandably offended when others say "I'm offended, therefore you must shut up." If mere offense on some listeners' part is reason enough for the speakers to stop saying, then I take it that those who are offended have an obligation to themselves remain silent.)
This is why this issue is so important: Those who demand that the cartoons not be published or republished are cutting at the heart of public debate. They are either demanding that some ideologies not be criticized, or that they be handled with such kid gloves that normal debate about them — which is inevitably impassioned, given the magnitude of the issues involved — is practically impossible. This is why the West must resist this pressure to silence, both as a legal matter and as a matter of editorial judgment."
By Golly, We Have Them Surrounded Now, Don't We?
"Detainee was present at a clandestine meeting in October 2001 between Taliban and Iranian officials in which Iran pledged to assist the Taliban in their war with the United States."
NYeT Again
"Call it the Islamintern. Like the Comintern, it attracts the marginal, the disaffected, the petty thugs and common criminals, and gives them a clear and simple ideology to guide their actions. It allows them to continue in their customary ways — murdering, raping, stealing and extorting — while furnishing them with a mandate from Allah to do so. The Communists were following the dictates of History, and the Islamists are carrying out the will of God.
To the willing dupes in the West, there is no connection among all these groups, just as there was none among the Viet Cong and the FMLN and revolutionaries of Angola. But somehow all these native freedom fighters just happened to be fomenting violence in the same way at the same time.
And somehow all these terrorists spread all over the globe just happen to be murdering and maiming in the name of Allah. It’s just coincidence.
The Comintern, of course, was aided in its efforts by all the fools and shills in the West.
The 1930s had George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Walter Duranty, and The New York Times.
In the 21st century, the Islamintern has Dan Rather, Cindy Sheehan, Jimmy Carter, and The New York Times.
Every generation has its useful idiots."
To the willing dupes in the West, there is no connection among all these groups, just as there was none among the Viet Cong and the FMLN and revolutionaries of Angola. But somehow all these native freedom fighters just happened to be fomenting violence in the same way at the same time.
And somehow all these terrorists spread all over the globe just happen to be murdering and maiming in the name of Allah. It’s just coincidence.
The Comintern, of course, was aided in its efforts by all the fools and shills in the West.
The 1930s had George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Walter Duranty, and The New York Times.
In the 21st century, the Islamintern has Dan Rather, Cindy Sheehan, Jimmy Carter, and The New York Times.
Every generation has its useful idiots."
Thursday, March 09, 2006
"Right then. We’ll go do military-type things within sovereign states and call that a policy designed not to piss off the rest of the world (much less get them to potentially declare war on us, since those actions themselves, whether done by Special Forces operators or Predators would be an act of war). And the UN's "obsession" with soverignty won't stand in the way. Riiiight, that's going to play out well in the intrenational arena. "
It turns out that some Sunnis know what it will actually take to avert a major spike in the Civil War. You know, the one that's been going on for DECADES. Unless you're so dim as to call Saddam and his thugs spooning children's eyeballs out as good governance.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
"Apparently when you combine a sub-par 4th grade education, a B+ college average in a special program, and a job history as a spokesperson for a regime that hates America, destroys priceless Buddhas, oppresses women, stones homosexuals, and enforces brutal sharia law in violation of UN Human Rights agreements, you have the magic formula for admission to Yale. Next time I get a phone call from a high school senior in tears over Yale's rejection, I'll tell them to visit a local museum and blow up some sacred Buddhas, stone a homosexual or threaten to beat his/her mother to death if she refuses to wear a burka.
Thank you very much for helping me understand Yale Admissions."
Thank you very much for helping me understand Yale Admissions."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Dhimmis fall apart in data-mining civil war? Irony abounds. Although I don't think people who were never actually together can fall apart ;)
TAMMY: "Yay! From Geert Wilders, the populist member of the Netherlands's parliament as the Dutch consider completely banning the burqa. It is hostile, and should be considered the equivalent of having blacks walk around in leg-irons. And don't tell me it's okay because "the women want it that way." Yes, and we don't take seriously the insistence of battered women that they deserve it. Sure, some really believe they do, but that doesn't mean civilized society looks away and allows the brain-washed to dictate social policy."
EneMedia Vietnam Update
"The -- we do know, of course, that al Qaeda has media committees. We do know that they teach people exactly how to try to manipulate the media. They do this regularly. We see the intelligence that reports on their meetings and -- now, I can't take a string and tie it to a news report and then trace it back to an al Qaeda media committee meeting.
I'm not able to do that at all. We do know that their goal is to try to break the will -- that they consider the center of gravity of this not to be in Iraq -- because they know they can't win a battle out there -- they consider it to be in Washington, D.C., and in London, in the capitals of the Western world."
And in that regard, this IS just like Vietnam.
I'm not able to do that at all. We do know that their goal is to try to break the will -- that they consider the center of gravity of this not to be in Iraq -- because they know they can't win a battle out there -- they consider it to be in Washington, D.C., and in London, in the capitals of the Western world."
And in that regard, this IS just like Vietnam.
What Holocaust?
THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN OF COURSE: "Bob Persinger doesn't remember this scene. He remembers half-dead prisoners singing and cheering, and the way he was whipsawed between elation and horror: “They were celebrating like you wouldn't believe, they were so happy. So were we, but on the other hand, we were crying.” " (HT Power Line)
Did I forget to mention the most important lesson of the holocaust? You know, the one we refuse to learn?: "When a man says he wants to kill you ... you should believe him."
Did I forget to mention the most important lesson of the holocaust? You know, the one we refuse to learn?: "When a man says he wants to kill you ... you should believe him."
Apparently, this little girl is one of those hateful Jews controlling the world that need to be wiped off the map. Well, she would be perceived as such by complete lunatics anyway... I'm sorry but this just makes me want to wretch. Period.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Excellent quotations from "Oncoming" and much, much more in "Our Darkening Sky ..."
You should be able to tell you need to read this one.
You should be able to tell you need to read this one.
"On the other hand, I suppose I'd be willing to trade direct election of the President for a return to the election of US Senators by state legislatures. "
Mullahs lied, Eurabians fried...
WHOOPS UPDATE: The comment of the day is found on this post also: "How many million Jews achieve "peace in our time" this go-round?"
WHOOPS UPDATE: The comment of the day is found on this post also: "How many million Jews achieve "peace in our time" this go-round?"
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Deja Boyz
With the recent election of the boys in the hoods to replace good ol' Yassir, you might want to go back and read this to remember how boys will be boyz. Did I mention that Hitler was elected too? And more recently as a Palestinian terrorist as well...
Oh, and by the way, this is what an actual critique of what's going on in Iraq looks like rather than all this wholly risible puerile fascifism we get slimed with by the EneMedia...
Oh, and by the way, this is what an actual critique of what's going on in Iraq looks like rather than all this wholly risible puerile fascifism we get slimed with by the EneMedia...
Did I mention that my wife is now an art blogger? Pretty good except for that geek husband post atrocity, huh?
Aggregate all their taboos and you have a vast herd of sacred cows. Let the frightened nanny state enshrine all those taboos in new laws or bureaucratic prohibitions, and you have a drastic loss of freedom. That, I think, is what is happening to us, issue by issue.
WRETCHARD AGAIN: "I think the real reason for the reluctance among Anglospheric publications to print the Danish cartoons was less timidity than the fear of tacitly repudiating the underlying assumption of the President Bush's War on Terror, that the West is not at war with Islam but only with a small group of extremists who have corrupted "the religion of peace". The Danish cartoons threatened to convert this limited war into a more general confrontation between the value systems of the West and Islam. Why, one might ask, should the media, with no love lost for President Bush, care at all about protecting the key assumption of his limited war? The reason I think, is that the Left in their reflexive opposition to President Bush since the invasion of Iraq had not bothered to create a war strategy of their own."
Today's "Islam Means Submission" Lesson
“Hurriyya”, Arabic for freedom, and the uniquely Western concept of freedom are completely at odds. Hurriyya “freedom”, as Ibn Arabi (d. 1240) the lionized “Greatest Sufi Master”, expressed it, “being perfect slavery”. And this conception is not merely confined to the Sufis perhaps metaphorical understanding of the relationship between Allah the “master” and his human “slaves.” The late American scholar of Islam, Franz Rosenthal (d. 2003) analyzed the larger context of hurriyya in Muslim society. He notes the historical absence of hurriyya as “a fundamental political concept that could have served as a rallying cry for great causes.” An individual Muslim “was expected to consider subordination of his own freedom to the beliefs, morality and customs of the group as the only proper course of behavior…” Thus politically, Rosenthal concludes, “…the individual was not expected to exercise any free choice as to how he wished to be governed…In general, …governmental authority admitted of no participation of the individual as such, who therefore did not possess any real freedom vis-Ã -vis it.”
Today's Jewish History Update
FP: In American terms, Evatt was a liberal. So were a number of significant supporters of the Jewish state idea. Many of its opponents, in contrast, were conservatives. This is largely the opposite of the situation today. What do you see as the reasons?
Mandel: It might surprise people today, but the most viscerally pro-Zionist major publication in America at the time was the Nation, then under the editorship of Freda Kirchwey. Kirchwey and Evatt were very close and Kirchwey's papers, now deposited at Harvard, show that she interceded often and strenuously with Evatt to support Zionism at different points. Liberals were not tepid in their support for Zionism, which they saw as a righteous cause for a small, endangered people trying to build a state on egalitarian principles in the face of reactionary Arab hostility. In contrast conservatives, whether isolationist or not, tended to see Zionism as a tiresome complication for American foreign policy.
Today, many conservatives have recoiled from isolationism and adopted a muscular form of liberal internationalism. This has meant that spreading and supporting democracy has become a conservative idea. It is therefore unsurprising that conservative 'realists' like Brent Scowcroft are far cooler towards Israel than conservative leaders today. Without doubt, there is a liberal influence to be found in today's conservatism. Conversely, that heritage still means something to some liberals – Tony Blair's support for removing Saddam could be described as Wilsonian internationalism revisited. Unsurprisingly, he is better disposed towards Israel than many liberal leaders today and certainly more so than much of his party.
Mandel: It might surprise people today, but the most viscerally pro-Zionist major publication in America at the time was the Nation, then under the editorship of Freda Kirchwey. Kirchwey and Evatt were very close and Kirchwey's papers, now deposited at Harvard, show that she interceded often and strenuously with Evatt to support Zionism at different points. Liberals were not tepid in their support for Zionism, which they saw as a righteous cause for a small, endangered people trying to build a state on egalitarian principles in the face of reactionary Arab hostility. In contrast conservatives, whether isolationist or not, tended to see Zionism as a tiresome complication for American foreign policy.
Today, many conservatives have recoiled from isolationism and adopted a muscular form of liberal internationalism. This has meant that spreading and supporting democracy has become a conservative idea. It is therefore unsurprising that conservative 'realists' like Brent Scowcroft are far cooler towards Israel than conservative leaders today. Without doubt, there is a liberal influence to be found in today's conservatism. Conversely, that heritage still means something to some liberals – Tony Blair's support for removing Saddam could be described as Wilsonian internationalism revisited. Unsurprisingly, he is better disposed towards Israel than many liberal leaders today and certainly more so than much of his party.
Friday, March 03, 2006
"It's interesting how odd it seems to read accounts of President Bush that are written by people who don't hate him."
Meanwhile, Theo Van Gogh remains dead.
Tim Robbins attempts a witty comment at the expense of the religious right. He remains mum on Muslims and cartoons.
Meanwhile, Theo Van Gogh remains dead.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
More Gramscian Damage: The Yale leftist / Taliban alignment. This is just risible with bells on top. Did I forget to mention Suicidalism while I was at it?
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
More Eurabia
"millions in aid, but not a penny in salary."
...
"Islam, we're often reminded these days, means "submission" in Arabic. Enlightenment, we should equally remember, means replacing half-baked notions and myths with facts."
...
"Islam, we're often reminded these days, means "submission" in Arabic. Enlightenment, we should equally remember, means replacing half-baked notions and myths with facts."
And What Resulted
"We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism."
RTWT.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism."
RTWT.
Eurabia In Play -- NOW
At first, this seems way better than average for the NYeT. Then you realize that they still have not printed the cartoons -- unlike this blog -- and are actually just a bunch of fascifists simpering in the corner.
And Denmark's future IS at stake.
The Netherlands has only a slight lead:
Since the assassinations of Fortuyn and, in 2004, the film maker Theo van Gogh, numerous public figures in Holland have received death threats and routine intimidation. The heroic Somali-born Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her equally outspoken colleague Geert Wilders live under constant police protection, often forced to sleep on army bases. Even university professors are under protection.
Europe is shuffling into darkness. It is proving incapable of standing up to its enemies, and in an effort to accommodate the peripheral rights of a minority is failing to protect the most basic rights of its own people.
The governments of Europe have been tricked into believing that criticism of a belief is the same thing as criticism of a race. And so it is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to criticise a growing and powerful ideology within our midst. It may soon, in addition, be made illegal.
I had planned — the morning after my speech — to see Geert Wilders, but instead spent the time catching up with his staff. Their leader had been called in by the police to discuss more than 40 new death threats he had received over the previous days.
As I left the Netherlands I once again felt terrible sorrow for a country that is slowly being lost. A society which should be carefree and inspiring has become dark and worried. The jihad in Europe is winning. And Holland, and our continent, takes one step further into a dark and menacing future.
RTWT -- you are guaranteed to get the shivers. (HT Brussels Journal via Pajamas)
And Denmark's future IS at stake.
The Netherlands has only a slight lead:
Since the assassinations of Fortuyn and, in 2004, the film maker Theo van Gogh, numerous public figures in Holland have received death threats and routine intimidation. The heroic Somali-born Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her equally outspoken colleague Geert Wilders live under constant police protection, often forced to sleep on army bases. Even university professors are under protection.
Europe is shuffling into darkness. It is proving incapable of standing up to its enemies, and in an effort to accommodate the peripheral rights of a minority is failing to protect the most basic rights of its own people.
The governments of Europe have been tricked into believing that criticism of a belief is the same thing as criticism of a race. And so it is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to criticise a growing and powerful ideology within our midst. It may soon, in addition, be made illegal.
I had planned — the morning after my speech — to see Geert Wilders, but instead spent the time catching up with his staff. Their leader had been called in by the police to discuss more than 40 new death threats he had received over the previous days.
As I left the Netherlands I once again felt terrible sorrow for a country that is slowly being lost. A society which should be carefree and inspiring has become dark and worried. The jihad in Europe is winning. And Holland, and our continent, takes one step further into a dark and menacing future.
RTWT -- you are guaranteed to get the shivers. (HT Brussels Journal via Pajamas)
It Doesn't Seem Like It To Me...
"Tehran has a formula for success in Iraq; Washington does not. Victory will require U.S. diplomats to recognize that any successful policy must include strategies not only to promote U.S. and Iraqi interests, but also to derail our adversaries' strategy. Iran's methods are clear. Less clear is U.S. resolve. The stakes in Iraq are high, and one side is playing for keeps. Are we?"
RTWT. It's not long at all...
RTWT. It's not long at all...
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Joe Rocks One Out
"Precisely two things have made flying safer since 9/11: sealing off cockpit doors and passengers becoming aware that they will probably have to fight back against would-be hijackers. The rest has been a net negative."
People fly a lot in America, and most of them know this. That affects their perception of legitimacy, and also of the justice of the measures being applied. The resentment is real. As one RedState.org commenter put it:
"Big government has just been caught rubber stamping for Big Commerce at the ports while leather-booting the rest of us at the airports. The national wound has just had the scab ripped from it. Nobody should be surprised that it's bleeding."
That's in a GOP blog, folks, not Atrios' Eschaton.
RTWT. And follow the link to Brown's 10 points about them cowboys and injuns ... I need to get busy and start reading my copy of "Imperial Grunts"...
People fly a lot in America, and most of them know this. That affects their perception of legitimacy, and also of the justice of the measures being applied. The resentment is real. As one RedState.org commenter put it:
"Big government has just been caught rubber stamping for Big Commerce at the ports while leather-booting the rest of us at the airports. The national wound has just had the scab ripped from it. Nobody should be surprised that it's bleeding."
That's in a GOP blog, folks, not Atrios' Eschaton.
RTWT. And follow the link to Brown's 10 points about them cowboys and injuns ... I need to get busy and start reading my copy of "Imperial Grunts"...
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Willi Munzen...Who?
As Eric was pointing out rather stunningly, your knowledge of contemporary world history is ... umm ... a bit dated if you haven't read this.
QOTD 2/25/06
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. --F. Scott Fitzgerald
Guess (Cuck)Who?
"They just don't get it," he told an audience in Bushehr earlier this month. "They think that because they pass a resolution everyone is obliged to obey them. Our message is simple: Pass resolutions until you are blue in the face! We are guided by what the Hidden Imam tells us, not what you dictate in your resolutions.""
Taheri is warming us up for his next column. Which will hopefully appear before the Cuckoo of the Hidden Imam decides to warm us up to a million degrees or so...
Taheri is warming us up for his next column. Which will hopefully appear before the Cuckoo of the Hidden Imam decides to warm us up to a million degrees or so...
Tinfoil, Lockstep And Light Sabers
Ed takes on Bill with a little history lesson. No, not his favorite target Bill -- a quite different one.
But don't worry, the right marches in lock step behind Karl Rove. Did I forget to mention again that I control Karl Rove?
< tinfoil_hat >
But speaking of tinfoil hats, as I was going through one of the exhibit rooms at the local university's physics open house today with the boys, I overheard one lady talking ever so "scientifically" to another that the damage to the Pentagon on 9/11 was caused by lasers and there was no plane that crashed into it.
Having noticed the Holocaust remembrance week posters scattered around campus as we walked to the open house, I couldn't resist pitching in and telling her companion that "there was no Holocaust either you know" and promptly moved on after noticing how it opened the eyes of the lunatic's companion. I sensed a subtle hint of the companion's agreement with my derision but chose not to linger and be blinded by the (virtually phosphorescent) glare from the lunatic's (virtual) tinfoil hat -- and risk spoiling what turned out to be a fun day with the boys.
< /tinfoil_hat >
Lasers and light sabers you know...
But don't worry, the right marches in lock step behind Karl Rove. Did I forget to mention again that I control Karl Rove?
< tinfoil_hat >
But speaking of tinfoil hats, as I was going through one of the exhibit rooms at the local university's physics open house today with the boys, I overheard one lady talking ever so "scientifically" to another that the damage to the Pentagon on 9/11 was caused by lasers and there was no plane that crashed into it.
Having noticed the Holocaust remembrance week posters scattered around campus as we walked to the open house, I couldn't resist pitching in and telling her companion that "there was no Holocaust either you know" and promptly moved on after noticing how it opened the eyes of the lunatic's companion. I sensed a subtle hint of the companion's agreement with my derision but chose not to linger and be blinded by the (virtually phosphorescent) glare from the lunatic's (virtual) tinfoil hat -- and risk spoiling what turned out to be a fun day with the boys.
< /tinfoil_hat >
Lasers and light sabers you know...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The Wolfe File Again
Another one from Raymond for Wolfe's "fascism is always descending on America but landing on Europe" file: (HT Glenn)
In the banlieus and elsewhere, Islamist pressure makes it certain that sooner or later the West is going to vomit Stalin’s memes out of its body politic. The worst way would be through a reflex development of Western absolutism — Christian chauvinism, nativism and militarism melding into something like Francoite fascism. The self-panicking leftists who think they see that in today’s Republicans are comically wrong (as witnessed by the fact that they aren’t being systematically jailed and executed), but it is quite a plausible future for the demographically-collapsing nations of Europe.
The U.S., fortunately, is still on a demographic expansion wave and will be till at least 2050. But if the Islamists achieve their dream of nuking “crusader” cities, they’ll make crusaders out of the U.S., too. And this time, a West with a chauvinized America at its head would smite the Saracen with weapons that would destroy entire populations and fuse Mecca into glass. The horror of our victory would echo for a thousand years.
I remain more optimistic than this. I think there is still an excellent chance that the West can recover from suicidalism without going through a fevered fascist episode and waging a genocidal war. But to do so, we have to do more than recognize Stalin’s memes; we have to reject them. We have to eject postmodern leftism from our universities, transnational progressivism from our politics, and volk-Marxism from our media.
The process won’t be pretty. But I fear that if the rest of us don’t hound the po-mo Left and its useful idiots out of public life with attack and ridicule and shunning, the hard Right will sooner or later get the power to do it by means that include a lot of killing. I don’t want to live in that future, and I don’t think any of my readers do, either. If we want to save a liberal, tolerant civilization for our children, we’d better get to work.
RTWT.
UPDATE: Eugene has an excellent recent post on Wolfe's little gem:
Support [for Wolfe's view that fascism wasn't coming to America] came from a quarter I hadn't counted on. It was Grass, speaking in English.
"For the past hour, I have my eyes fixed on the doors here," he said. "You talk about fascism and police repression. In Germany when I was a student, they come through those doors long ago. Here they must be very slow."
Grass was enjoying himself for the first time all evening. He was not simply saying, "You really don't have so much to worry about." He was indulging his sense of the absurd. He was saying: "You American intellectuals — you want so desperately to feel besieged and persecuted!"
He sounded like Jean-François Revel, a French socialist writer who talks about one of the great unexplained phenomena of modern astronomy: namely, that the dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.
In the banlieus and elsewhere, Islamist pressure makes it certain that sooner or later the West is going to vomit Stalin’s memes out of its body politic. The worst way would be through a reflex development of Western absolutism — Christian chauvinism, nativism and militarism melding into something like Francoite fascism. The self-panicking leftists who think they see that in today’s Republicans are comically wrong (as witnessed by the fact that they aren’t being systematically jailed and executed), but it is quite a plausible future for the demographically-collapsing nations of Europe.
The U.S., fortunately, is still on a demographic expansion wave and will be till at least 2050. But if the Islamists achieve their dream of nuking “crusader” cities, they’ll make crusaders out of the U.S., too. And this time, a West with a chauvinized America at its head would smite the Saracen with weapons that would destroy entire populations and fuse Mecca into glass. The horror of our victory would echo for a thousand years.
I remain more optimistic than this. I think there is still an excellent chance that the West can recover from suicidalism without going through a fevered fascist episode and waging a genocidal war. But to do so, we have to do more than recognize Stalin’s memes; we have to reject them. We have to eject postmodern leftism from our universities, transnational progressivism from our politics, and volk-Marxism from our media.
The process won’t be pretty. But I fear that if the rest of us don’t hound the po-mo Left and its useful idiots out of public life with attack and ridicule and shunning, the hard Right will sooner or later get the power to do it by means that include a lot of killing. I don’t want to live in that future, and I don’t think any of my readers do, either. If we want to save a liberal, tolerant civilization for our children, we’d better get to work.
RTWT.
UPDATE: Eugene has an excellent recent post on Wolfe's little gem:
Support [for Wolfe's view that fascism wasn't coming to America] came from a quarter I hadn't counted on. It was Grass, speaking in English.
"For the past hour, I have my eyes fixed on the doors here," he said. "You talk about fascism and police repression. In Germany when I was a student, they come through those doors long ago. Here they must be very slow."
Grass was enjoying himself for the first time all evening. He was not simply saying, "You really don't have so much to worry about." He was indulging his sense of the absurd. He was saying: "You American intellectuals — you want so desperately to feel besieged and persecuted!"
He sounded like Jean-François Revel, a French socialist writer who talks about one of the great unexplained phenomena of modern astronomy: namely, that the dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.
A different view to port... And did I mention that this is what really should be topic #1 and would be if it wasn't for the port ruckus?
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
"Fourth, we can believe that freedom of speech is important for people everywhere, and oppose oppressive regimes everywhere, including on the Arabian peninsula, for their intolerance of people who believe and speak inconsistently with the powers that be. Setting aside questions of feasibility and courage -- this option would require much sacrifice if it is to be backed by more than words -- how many Westerners today would support this option as desireable, even in the abstract? Libertarians of the right surely would, but how many Western leftists believe that the right of free speech is just another vestige of Occidental imperialism, another dead right discovered by dead white men?"
Strategy Page is leaning toward civil war again while Michael points to an emerging Kurdish oasis of sanity just to the north of the Sunni nutballs.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Lewis Fingers My Buddy Again
Bernard strikes again: "The New Anti-Semitism". MUST. READ. NOW. SMALL EXCERPT:
Then came the Third Reich, with connections to the Arab world and, later, to other Muslim countries. Now that the German archives are open, we know that within weeks of Hitler’s coming to power in 1933, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem got in touch with the German consul general in Jerusalem, Doctor Heinrich Wolff, and offered his services. It is interesting that the common image of the Germans pursuing the Arabs is the reverse of what happened. The Arabs were pursuing the Germans, and the Germans were very reluctant to get involved. Dr. Wolff recommended, and his government agreed, that as long as there was any hope of making a deal with the British Empire and establishing a kind of Aryan-Nordic axis in the West, it would be pointless to antagonize the British by supporting the Arabs.
But then things gradually changed, particularly after the Munich Conference in 1938. That was the turning point, when the German government finally decided that there was no deal to be made with Britain, no Aryan axis. Then the Germans turned their attention more seriously to the Arabs, responding at last to their approaches, and from then on the relationship developed very swiftly.
In 1940 the French surrender gave the Nazis new opportunities for action in the Arab world. In Vichy-controlled Syria they were able for a while to establish an intelligence and propaganda base in the heart of the Arab East. From Syria they extended their activities to Iraq, where they helped to establish a pro-Nazi regime headed by Rashid Ali al-Gailani. This was overthrown by the British, and Rashid Ali went to join his friend the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in Berlin, where he remained as Hitler’s guest until the end of the war. In the last days of Rashid Ali’s regime, on the first and second of June 1941, soldiers and civilians launched murderous attacks on the ancient Jewish community in Baghdad. This was followed by a series of such attacks in other Arab cities, both in the Middle East and in North Africa.
While in Berlin, Rashid Ali was apparently disquieted by the language and, more especially, the terminology of anti-Semitism. His concerns were authoritatively removed in an exchange of letters with an official spokesman of the German Nazi Party. In answer to a question from Rashid Ali as to whether anti-Semitism was also directed against Arabs, because they were part of the Semitic family, Professor Walter Gross, director of the Race Policy Office of the Nazi Party, explained with great emphasis, in a letter dated October 17, 1942, that this was not the case and that anti-Semitism was concerned wholly and exclusively with Jews. On the contrary, he observed, the Nazis had always shown sympathy and support for the Arab cause against the Jews. In the course of his letter, he even remarked that the expression “anti-Semitism, which has been used for decades in Europe by the anti-Jewish movement, was incorrect since this movement was directed exclusively against Jewry, and not against other peoples who speak a Semitic language.”
This apparently caused some concern in Nazi circles, and a little later a committee was formed that suggested that the Führer’s speeches and his book Mein Kampf should be revised to adopt the term “anti-Jewish” instead of “anti-Semitic” so as not to offend “our Arab friends.” The Führer did not agree, and this proposal was not accepted. There was still no great problem in German-Arab relations before, during, and even for a while after the war.
The Nazi propaganda impact was immense. We see it in Arabic memoirs of the period, and of course in the foundation of the Ba’ath party. We use the word “party” in speaking of the Ba’ath in the same sense in which one speaks of the Fascist, Nazi, or Communist parties—not a party in the Western sense, an organization for seeking votes and winning elections, but a party as part of the apparatus of government, particularly concerned with indoctrination and repression. And anti-Semitism, European-style, became a very important part of that indoctrination. The basis was there. A certain amount of translated literature was there. It became much more important after the events of 1948, when the humiliated Arabs drew comfort from the doctrine of the Jews as a source of cosmic evil. This continued and grew with subsequent Arab defeats, particularly after the ultimate humiliation of the 1967 war, which Israel won in less than a week.
The growth of European-style anti-Semitism in the Arab world derived in the main from this feeling of humiliation and the need therefore to ascribe to the Jews a role very different from their traditional role in Arab folklore and much closer to that of the anti-Semitic prototypes. By now the familiar themes of European anti-Semitism—the blood libel, the protocols of Zion, the international Jewish conspiracy, and the rest—have become standard fare in much of the Arab world, in the schoolroom, the pulpit, the media, and even on the Internet. It is bitterly ironic that these themes have been adopted by previously immune Muslims precisely at a time when in Europe they have become an embarrassment even to anti-Semites.
What encouraged this development was what one can only describe as the acquiescence of the United Nations and, apparently, of enlightened opinion in the Western world. Let me cite some examples. On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the famous resolution calling for the division of Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone of Jerusalem. The United Nations passed this resolution without making any provision for its enforcement. Just over two weeks later, at a public meeting on December 17, the Arab League adopted a resolution totally rejecting this UN resolution, declaring that they would use all means at their disposal, including armed intervention, to nullify it—an open challenge to the United Nations that was and remains unanswered. No attempt was made to respond, no attempt to prevent the armed intervention that the Arab League promptly launched.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. That would be Arafat's mentor Haj Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini. But you won't be hearing about him on 60 Minutes either. Just all about how the Danes are worse than BusHitler and risible attempts at forgery presented as Gospel.
And I think I already pointed to who's really on Hitler's side. Just like my buddy Bernard has. But what does he know anyway?
Then came the Third Reich, with connections to the Arab world and, later, to other Muslim countries. Now that the German archives are open, we know that within weeks of Hitler’s coming to power in 1933, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem got in touch with the German consul general in Jerusalem, Doctor Heinrich Wolff, and offered his services. It is interesting that the common image of the Germans pursuing the Arabs is the reverse of what happened. The Arabs were pursuing the Germans, and the Germans were very reluctant to get involved. Dr. Wolff recommended, and his government agreed, that as long as there was any hope of making a deal with the British Empire and establishing a kind of Aryan-Nordic axis in the West, it would be pointless to antagonize the British by supporting the Arabs.
But then things gradually changed, particularly after the Munich Conference in 1938. That was the turning point, when the German government finally decided that there was no deal to be made with Britain, no Aryan axis. Then the Germans turned their attention more seriously to the Arabs, responding at last to their approaches, and from then on the relationship developed very swiftly.
In 1940 the French surrender gave the Nazis new opportunities for action in the Arab world. In Vichy-controlled Syria they were able for a while to establish an intelligence and propaganda base in the heart of the Arab East. From Syria they extended their activities to Iraq, where they helped to establish a pro-Nazi regime headed by Rashid Ali al-Gailani. This was overthrown by the British, and Rashid Ali went to join his friend the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in Berlin, where he remained as Hitler’s guest until the end of the war. In the last days of Rashid Ali’s regime, on the first and second of June 1941, soldiers and civilians launched murderous attacks on the ancient Jewish community in Baghdad. This was followed by a series of such attacks in other Arab cities, both in the Middle East and in North Africa.
While in Berlin, Rashid Ali was apparently disquieted by the language and, more especially, the terminology of anti-Semitism. His concerns were authoritatively removed in an exchange of letters with an official spokesman of the German Nazi Party. In answer to a question from Rashid Ali as to whether anti-Semitism was also directed against Arabs, because they were part of the Semitic family, Professor Walter Gross, director of the Race Policy Office of the Nazi Party, explained with great emphasis, in a letter dated October 17, 1942, that this was not the case and that anti-Semitism was concerned wholly and exclusively with Jews. On the contrary, he observed, the Nazis had always shown sympathy and support for the Arab cause against the Jews. In the course of his letter, he even remarked that the expression “anti-Semitism, which has been used for decades in Europe by the anti-Jewish movement, was incorrect since this movement was directed exclusively against Jewry, and not against other peoples who speak a Semitic language.”
This apparently caused some concern in Nazi circles, and a little later a committee was formed that suggested that the Führer’s speeches and his book Mein Kampf should be revised to adopt the term “anti-Jewish” instead of “anti-Semitic” so as not to offend “our Arab friends.” The Führer did not agree, and this proposal was not accepted. There was still no great problem in German-Arab relations before, during, and even for a while after the war.
The Nazi propaganda impact was immense. We see it in Arabic memoirs of the period, and of course in the foundation of the Ba’ath party. We use the word “party” in speaking of the Ba’ath in the same sense in which one speaks of the Fascist, Nazi, or Communist parties—not a party in the Western sense, an organization for seeking votes and winning elections, but a party as part of the apparatus of government, particularly concerned with indoctrination and repression. And anti-Semitism, European-style, became a very important part of that indoctrination. The basis was there. A certain amount of translated literature was there. It became much more important after the events of 1948, when the humiliated Arabs drew comfort from the doctrine of the Jews as a source of cosmic evil. This continued and grew with subsequent Arab defeats, particularly after the ultimate humiliation of the 1967 war, which Israel won in less than a week.
The growth of European-style anti-Semitism in the Arab world derived in the main from this feeling of humiliation and the need therefore to ascribe to the Jews a role very different from their traditional role in Arab folklore and much closer to that of the anti-Semitic prototypes. By now the familiar themes of European anti-Semitism—the blood libel, the protocols of Zion, the international Jewish conspiracy, and the rest—have become standard fare in much of the Arab world, in the schoolroom, the pulpit, the media, and even on the Internet. It is bitterly ironic that these themes have been adopted by previously immune Muslims precisely at a time when in Europe they have become an embarrassment even to anti-Semites.
What encouraged this development was what one can only describe as the acquiescence of the United Nations and, apparently, of enlightened opinion in the Western world. Let me cite some examples. On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the famous resolution calling for the division of Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone of Jerusalem. The United Nations passed this resolution without making any provision for its enforcement. Just over two weeks later, at a public meeting on December 17, the Arab League adopted a resolution totally rejecting this UN resolution, declaring that they would use all means at their disposal, including armed intervention, to nullify it—an open challenge to the United Nations that was and remains unanswered. No attempt was made to respond, no attempt to prevent the armed intervention that the Arab League promptly launched.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. That would be Arafat's mentor Haj Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini. But you won't be hearing about him on 60 Minutes either. Just all about how the Danes are worse than BusHitler and risible attempts at forgery presented as Gospel.
And I think I already pointed to who's really on Hitler's side. Just like my buddy Bernard has. But what does he know anyway?
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Wasn't a Holocaust. Was a Holocaust. Wasn't a Holocaust. All perfectly logical and consistent. Well, if you're nuttier than a Cuckoo clock that is...
... "shari'a does not forbid the use of nuclear weapons." Unfortunately, this is likely much more timely than most suspect...
Saturday, February 18, 2006
"What these women want to say with the sign is unclear." Umm, not to me. Offhand, I would guess that they've been stoked up with plenty of worship of Haj Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini mixed in with being OBL whores. And -- no sorries from me -- I make absolutely no apology for my language when applied to vile cretins like this...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Pigs Leap Into Flight In France
"The accusation from French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy — which Iran quickly denied — appeared to reflect mounting exasperation and a tougher stance by one of three key European negotiators.
"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television."
My guess is that this means things are so bad that the first Iranian nuclear test is just around the corner. Maybe even the corner in a neighborhood near you...
"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television."
My guess is that this means things are so bad that the first Iranian nuclear test is just around the corner. Maybe even the corner in a neighborhood near you...
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
As if I should have ever wondered why Grandpa Olaf left Norway. I'm praying this isn't true since I can't find any other articles to confirm it yet. In the course of looking I ran across an interesting article that points out that Jyllands-Posten was hypocritical in that they previously didn't print some possibly offensive "Jesus characatures". But while being much more tame on the subject than I am it still comes down properly on the freedom side of the issue...
UPDATE: Looks like it's not true. But I wonder for how long?
UPDATE: Looks like it's not true. But I wonder for how long?
The Onion reports on Hamas' call for a "Giant Summit". Complete with 6 digit numbers and specially chartered freight trains. Did I mention that there was no holocaust? (HT LGF)
Monday, February 13, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Warren Again
"Twenty-seven years ago, as Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran, the first “Islamist” regime since the foundation of Saudi Arabia, you said it was a good thing. Islam had to find its way into a new balance between “piety” and “modernity”, and the Persians were just the civilized people to find this way. I agreed we needed both piety and modernity, in East as in West, but held little hope for “a new balance” from the ayatollahs of Iran. I reminded that many welcomed Lenin as a “reformer”, then Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse-tung, Pol Pot. But these, you said, were all atheists; they did not have the conscience of an ancient and honourable religion to restrain them. In time we both came to see that Revolutionary Iran was a new and vicious engine of totalitarianism. And you called it, “heretical to Islam”."
And you're surely read about "Incompatibilities" also?
And you're surely read about "Incompatibilities" also?
Steyn To The Dark Barricades
"The issue is not "freedom of speech" or "the responsibilities of the press" or "sensitivity to certain cultures." The issue, as it has been in all these loony tune controversies going back to the Salman Rushdie fatwa, is the point at which a free society musters the will to stand up to thugs. British Muslims march through the streets waving placards reading "BEHEAD THE ENEMIES OF ISLAM." If they mean that, bring it on. As my columnar confrere John O'Sullivan argued, we might as well fight in the first ditch as the last."
Early Showers In Denmark
"Excuse my choice of words, but all this pissing is pissing me off.
What's happening? I am not so much referring to the threats against Danish citizens and Danish commerce. Nor are the burnt down Embassies what occupies my mind. I am thinking of a word that keeps popping up whenever the Mohammed cartoons are mentioned.
That word is BUT. A sneaky word. It's used to deny or relativize what one has just said.
How many times lately have we not heard people of power, The Formers of Opinion and other people say that of course we have freedom of speech, BUT.
They have said it, all of them, from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General to our own Bendt Bendtsen [ed: Danish Politician]. Once we had to be sensitive of the easily hurt feeling of the Nazis, then came the communists, now it is the Islamists. The reason I say 'Islamists' is that I don't for a moment believe all the world's Moslems are pissing on us. I think we are dealing with thugs, fools and misled people. Those are the ones we have to deal with, and then the chickenshit politicians.
The cartoons are no longer something the Jyllands-Posten can control. They have already been manipulated and misrepresented to the point that few know what's going on and fewer know how to stop it. This affair is artifically kept buoyant in a sea of lies, suppressions of the truth, misconceptions, lunacy and hypocrisy, for which this newspaper bears no blame. The only thing the Jyllands-Posten did was that it with a pin-prick made a boil of nastiness explode. It would have happened sooner or later. That it happened more than four months following the publication of the cartoons, raises a question of its own.
Are we dealing with random events or with a staged clash of civilizations? One might hope for the former yet expect the latter.
That's why I say: Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech. There is no but."
What's happening? I am not so much referring to the threats against Danish citizens and Danish commerce. Nor are the burnt down Embassies what occupies my mind. I am thinking of a word that keeps popping up whenever the Mohammed cartoons are mentioned.
That word is BUT. A sneaky word. It's used to deny or relativize what one has just said.
How many times lately have we not heard people of power, The Formers of Opinion and other people say that of course we have freedom of speech, BUT.
They have said it, all of them, from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General to our own Bendt Bendtsen [ed: Danish Politician]. Once we had to be sensitive of the easily hurt feeling of the Nazis, then came the communists, now it is the Islamists. The reason I say 'Islamists' is that I don't for a moment believe all the world's Moslems are pissing on us. I think we are dealing with thugs, fools and misled people. Those are the ones we have to deal with, and then the chickenshit politicians.
The cartoons are no longer something the Jyllands-Posten can control. They have already been manipulated and misrepresented to the point that few know what's going on and fewer know how to stop it. This affair is artifically kept buoyant in a sea of lies, suppressions of the truth, misconceptions, lunacy and hypocrisy, for which this newspaper bears no blame. The only thing the Jyllands-Posten did was that it with a pin-prick made a boil of nastiness explode. It would have happened sooner or later. That it happened more than four months following the publication of the cartoons, raises a question of its own.
Are we dealing with random events or with a staged clash of civilizations? One might hope for the former yet expect the latter.
That's why I say: Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech. There is no but."
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Today's Econ 101 Chapter
"But despite self-righteous accusations leveled at foreigners by the likes of Senators Schumer and Graham, the fact remains that U.S. government indebtedness is not caused by foreigners buying Uncle Sam's bonds, but by Congress spending beyond its means. If government debt is a problem, then Congress should stop borrowing. Complaints about the trade deficit are a red herring.
We Americans have many real problems confronting us. The trade deficit isn't one of them."
We Americans have many real problems confronting us. The trade deficit isn't one of them."
Friday, February 10, 2006
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Well, There You Have It Then
moron99 explains our childrens future for those too dense to figure it out on their own:
old mcdonald had a farm
eeyai eeyai oh
and on that farm he had a (censored)
eeyai eeyai oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old mcdonald had a farm
eeyai eeyai oh
old mcdonald had a farm
(censored) (censored) oh
and on that farm he had a (censored) (censored) (censored) oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old mcdonald had a farm
(censored) (censored) oh
old (censored) had a (censored)
(censored) (censored) oh
and on that (censored) he had a (censored) (censored) (censored) oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old (censored) had a (censored)
(censored) (censored) oh
old mcdonald had a farm
eeyai eeyai oh
and on that farm he had a (censored)
eeyai eeyai oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old mcdonald had a farm
eeyai eeyai oh
old mcdonald had a farm
(censored) (censored) oh
and on that farm he had a (censored) (censored) (censored) oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old mcdonald had a farm
(censored) (censored) oh
old (censored) had a (censored)
(censored) (censored) oh
and on that (censored) he had a (censored) (censored) (censored) oh
with a (censored) (censored) here
and a (censored) (censored) there
old (censored) had a (censored)
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"But the government message to the headmen was really we cannot protect you and you will have to look out for yourselves though we will never officially admit it. As I said, I've heard this speech before but never expected to hear it spoken in the heart of Europe."
Are You ShrinkWrapped?
"My speculation is that the Administration knows that much of Saddam's WMD ended up in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, home of Hezbollah, and in the dessert in Syria. The race is on to attain regime change in Syria before the Israelis (or Americans) feel compelled to act. Finding proof of WMD in Iraq, moved to Syria prior to the invasion of Iraq, will force the West vs. Iran/Syria confrontation to ratchet upwards which is why the administration is not eager to translate all the documents found in Baghdad. The Democrats have no interest in the papers either since they have staked their party's position on "Bush lied" and the post-war intel could blow that meme to shreds along with the last vestiges of authority of the Democratic left.
At the same time, the Cartoon War is a diversionary tactic being used by the Iranians and the Syrians to keep European attention focused away from the Iranian Nuclear weapons program and the Syrian/Iraqi WMD. It is also a warning shot over the bow, letting the Europeans know that any move by Israel and/or America to deal with Syria (doubtful) or Iran (more likely) militarily will be met with violence in the streets of Europe. And, while there has been minimal mention of this in the MSM, Hezbollah on the northern Israeli frontier and Hamas, from Gaza and the West Bank, have been escalating their attacks against Israel in conjunction with their "spontaneous" riots against European embassies.
In some ways, this all looks like a high stakes game of chicken, with an explosive confrontation approaching quickly. "
At the same time, the Cartoon War is a diversionary tactic being used by the Iranians and the Syrians to keep European attention focused away from the Iranian Nuclear weapons program and the Syrian/Iraqi WMD. It is also a warning shot over the bow, letting the Europeans know that any move by Israel and/or America to deal with Syria (doubtful) or Iran (more likely) militarily will be met with violence in the streets of Europe. And, while there has been minimal mention of this in the MSM, Hezbollah on the northern Israeli frontier and Hamas, from Gaza and the West Bank, have been escalating their attacks against Israel in conjunction with their "spontaneous" riots against European embassies.
In some ways, this all looks like a high stakes game of chicken, with an explosive confrontation approaching quickly. "
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHINESE VIEW FROM STRATEGY PAGE: "February 7, 2006: Chinese views, among the national leadership, are often not the same as those we attribute to them. For example, India is not perceived as a major rival, unlike Japan or the U.S., They don’t believe war with the US is likely, unless we mess with Taiwan. They believe the experience in Bosnia and Kosovo indicate America understands “political warfare” much better than China does. And they don’t seem to think we’re “bogged down” in Iraq so much as that we’re gaining valuable combat experience (maybe a million “seasoned” troops by the time it’s over) as well as learning all sorts of new tricks in how to fight insurgencies, and how to use new military technologies.
The problem is that the Chinese leadership, in self-defense, have been using nationalism, and “big-bad-America” to distract the people from the corruption and other failings of the government. Don’t confuse the propaganda and hype with what the leadership really believe, and talk about among themselves."
I'm more Chinese than I look...
The problem is that the Chinese leadership, in self-defense, have been using nationalism, and “big-bad-America” to distract the people from the corruption and other failings of the government. Don’t confuse the propaganda and hype with what the leadership really believe, and talk about among themselves."
I'm more Chinese than I look...
"But then, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition. It always comes as a surprise, which, as is well known, is its main weapon."
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Walid has the best update today: how the "offensive cartoons" became the "cartoon offensive". Yes. And did I forget to mention Denmark becomes the chair of the UNSC?
Monday, February 06, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Ah, yes. It would be the Danes for $400 that will have the UNSC chair for the upcoming stern toothless treatment of Iran... And you thought the lunatics weren't logical?
Seems About Right To Me
""It is very clear: Anyone who insults the Prophet must be beheaded. Remember van Gogh?" he said, referring to the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh who was murdered in 2004 for his controversial film about Islam.
"Whoever did it, bless him. Islam is peace but you see there will only be peace when Islam is implemented across the world. In the Prophet's time anyone who insulted the Prophet was beheaded. The same should happen now.""
Well, assuming I was a psychotic madman that is...
"Whoever did it, bless him. Islam is peace but you see there will only be peace when Islam is implemented across the world. In the Prophet's time anyone who insulted the Prophet was beheaded. The same should happen now.""
Well, assuming I was a psychotic madman that is...
Glenn points out yet more supression of free speech in the South. South Korea that is. This is truly stunning. We need to invite "Yoduk Story" to America. Count me in.
"One day the British foreign secretary will wake up and discover that, in practice, there's very little difference between living under Exquisitely Refined Multicultural Sensitivity and Sharia. As a famously sensitive Dane once put it, "To be or not to be, that is the question.""
Warren is rolling: "Democracy is not just voting. Democracy is a whole bourgeois way of life, and a method for resolving disputes peacefully. It is not essentially compatible with millenarian religious schemes. We ask, “Can Islam and democracy co-exist?” What if Hamas has given us the answer?"
And again: "What I fear may hit us in due course might be awkwardly called, “the new democratic pan-Islamism"."
And again: "What I fear may hit us in due course might be awkwardly called, “the new democratic pan-Islamism"."
You won't find me quoting Juan Williams every day but: "...I pray that I don't say anything offensive to Muslims here this morning, but I gotta say it looks to me like evidence of a very weak religion when people somehow can't stand a cartoon." Keep it up Juan. You might just join the land of the sentient yet...
"Let a few more small nations succumb and someday a United States Supreme Court Justice might cite such behavior as a precedent in a decision."
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