The truth about Sharia based societies

The western MSM seems to fall all over itself, to offer excuses for shocking Islamic behaviour that most civilized people find repulsive. They leave out bits of information in order to "spin" events in a way more favorable to agendas they wish to promote. We only get the version of Islam the MSM thinks we need to know, and it's often incomplete and innacurate. The blog Dinocrat.com has an honest look at Sharia based societies, and the people in the west who cover for their failings:

Despising the Western apologists for the Islamic world’s self-imposed problems

Sharia societies are inferior in art, science, innovation, business and the standard of living of their peoples — not to mention their appalling lack of humor about these matters. They really do not have too much to offer in these areas, and the foundational cause is their bizarre idea that a seventh century book, properly interpreted, is a sufficient guide to not only spiritual, but worldly and governmental affairs.

We have catalogued just a tiny few of the problems of sharia in the Islamic world; take your pick:
– the Arab world, minus oil, has a combined lower GDP than tiny Finland
– Utah had more patents last year than the Islamic world in all of recorded history
– with a couple of exceptions, human portraiture and statuary do not exist in the Islamic world
– metaphors that art and science give us about the possibilities of life are missing from sharia societies
– sharia law on apostasy amounts to psychological torture

Today we happen to be particularly struck by the the world of Islamic banking. Sharia forbids banks to charge interest, but the world runs on leverage. Instead of interpreting such a ridiculous and impractical prohibition in metaphorical terms, we note that the Islamic world chooses to create odd financial devices (sukkuk) and engage in convoluted, and truly sad, debates, about how to get around the problem while passing muster with sharia law courts. This is a perfect miniature of why a modern country and sharia are incompatible...

You can read the whole thing, with embedded links, HERE.

Did the Cartoon Riots Kill the Ports Deal?

This is an idea I expressed earlier, and I'm starting to see articles that express this same thought. Below are some excerpts from an article on Dinocrat.com that makes a strong case for this idea:


The Cartoon Riots changed the American people’s understanding of the war; the ports deal is the proof

We have said that the Cartoon Riots were as important in their way as 9-11 and that they were responsible for killing the ports deal. The overwhelming unpopularity of the ports deal — 70% of all Americans — was likely not, however, an emotional spasm by the American people, but a turning point. The fundamental nature of the war has changed in the minds of many Americans. This is no longer is Global War on Terror, but World War IV: the War against Radical Islam. The political class would do well to figure this out.

If the ports deal had come up six months ago, it probably would have gone through. There was no opposition to the deal for the first two months after its annoucement in November 2005. If the Cartoon Riots had not occured during the approval process, the deal likely could have concluded quietly...

I think Dinocrat has a good understanding of what the "turning point" for the American people was:

...“the Islamists have contrived to make themselves and their religion look repugnant…mobs with primitive bloodlust killing people over drawings, like something out of anthropology class. These riots, making Islamist rioters look like savages, and making the mute among their co-religionists look even worse in their silence, have also brought renewed focus to the atavistic and revolting beliefs of the Islamists about art, the status of women, and their real plans for the Infidels. Many Americans have begun to ask: who would want to have anything whatsoever to do with Islam after watching such violent, threatening, irreligious behavior?” People who riot over drawings are either evil, primitive or mentally unstable; people who riot over drawings for “religious reasons” are all that and deadly dangerous too.

(Meanwhile, the MSM took one look at the violent Brownshirts of our time and their neo Nazi book burnings, and couldn’t begin to bow and scrape fast enough before them, making every kind of excuse for the mobs and their violence and threats; but the people are not as craven or obtuse as the elites.) ...

There's lots more, with links too, you can read the rest HERE.

The Mulsims who deliberately stage and organize protests and and incite riots want to provoke a reaction of revulsion by westerners, to divide the west from their Muslim allys, and weaken or drown out any truely moderate Muslim voices. This is why I'm not ready to give up on the idea of cultivating and promoting moderate Muslims; to give up on moderates is to declare war on Islam, which is what the Jihadists want. I think we are at war with a dangerous mental pathology IN the Islamic world, rather than the whole of Islam itself. It's only to the benefit of the Jihadists if we fail to make that distinction.

Related article:

No More Excuses for Muslim Violence
Here is another excellent article by Jack Kelly. An excerpt:

...The ludicrous lengths to which many in the Establishment go to avoid drawing any connection between Islamic terror and Islam itself is causing a backlash among Americans, one which is causing otherwise sensible people to overlook critically important distinctions.

The backlash was evident in the debate over the attempted acquisition by Dubai Ports World of the British firm which operates commercial terminals in some U.S. ports -- if Democratic demagoguery and Republican cowardice in the face of xenophobia can be characterized as "debate."

The rejection of the ports deal is a self-inflicted wound, one based on the assumption that all Muslims are untrustworthy.

I said in my column March 5 there are genuinely moderate Muslims who support liberty and democracy. I received a distressing number of erudite emails -- many quoting from the Koran -- from people who said no, the problem is Islam itself.

People like Mr. Taheri-azar fuel this assumption. He was, according to classmates, a friendly guy who drank and smoked pot. His murderous radicalism seemed to appear out of the blue.

"This is what I have dubbed the 'Sudden Jihad Syndrome,'" wrote Daniel Pipes. "It has the awful but legitimate consequence of casting suspicion on all Muslims. Denouncing these views as 'Islamophobia' is as baseless as accusing anti-Nazis of 'Germanophobia.'

"Instead of presenting themselves as victims, Muslims should address this fear by developing a moderate, modern and good neighborly version of Islam that rejects radical Islam, jihad, and the subordination of 'infidels,'" he said...

(bold emphasis mine) I think truely moderate PEOPLE the world over are really getting fed up. Barbarians seem to understand nothing but brute force, which is why they are so quick to use it themselves, even over silly things like innocuous Danish cartoons. The prospect of such savages being allowed to possess nuclear weapons is unacceptable.

We can argue forever about wether Islam is reformable or not. But we must also deal with the facts. If a RELIGION is being used to cultivate terrorism, why should we tolerate it, anymore than we would tolerate a country that harbors terrorists?

If Islam can reform and join the civilized world, so be it. If it can't reform, then it doesn't deserve to survive. Let it's adherents choose, and take the consequences.

You can read the whole of Jack Kelly's article HERE.

The United States of Islam

Looks like someone's got some big plans. Note the map in the lower right corner that says "After 100 Years". You can find out more about the map and the people behind it at Little Green Footballs.

Oh, and how about this:

A Sleeping Giant Awakens

Filled With Rage Against Islam

By Anonymous

Seems like the last week or so has witnessed a new willingness, in parts of the mainstream media, to speak of a problem with Islam itself, not just with "extremists." Especially in the conservative media, but not only them. The crushing of Western free press by cartoon rage seems to have been an important turning point.

It Followed so quickly on the intifada in France a few months ago. Then there was the recent gruesome 3-week torture by Muslims of a French Jew, who finally died. And the increasing awareness that Europe is rapidly turning Muslim by immigration and reproduction. There is also the wave of rapes by Muslims in Europe, who say they deem unveiled European women to be asking for it. And of course a while back there was the murder, on behalf of Muslims, of the gay Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn when he proposed shutting down further immigration to Holland, because he didn't appreciate Muslim attitudes toward gays ("gays should be killed") and he objected to Muslim supremacist goals in general. The tolerant Dutch hadn't seen a political assassination for centuries. Then there was...

There is quite a bit MORE. And by more I don't just mean the list of atrocities, but some real contemplation, about what we are facing and who we are. You can read the whole thing at The Freedom Fighter's Journal.

Which stage are you in?

So many of my postings about Islam, Muslims and "Radiacal Islam" or "Islamism", have been my own way of trying to come to terms with what it is we are REALLY dealing with.

I've been even questioning if there really is such a thing as "moderate" Muslims; questioning if Islam can ever be compatible with civilized, modern society. I know there are "modern" Muslims, who have been educated in the west, and seem to embrace aspects of our culture. But some of them actually become terrorists, and use there knowlege to kill us. And even if some Muslims are truely modern AND peaceful... how many of them are like that? And what about all the ones in between, who might teeter either way, depending on what propaganda they hear and what Imam manipulates their passions and hatereds?

There are two posts on the blog PBS Watch, which address these thoughts and more.

The first post, "Awareness", looks at general trends in thinking about the Islamic problem, in terms of stages of awareness, that for many have changed with events:

Stage One. Pre-1990s. All cultures, societies, races, and religions are equally valid and are to be welcomed and embraced. Any friction with any other group is a result of inadequate knowledge, flexibility, and sensitivity on our part. In particular, Islam is one of the world's great religions and should be admired as such. Its adherents should be encouraged and welcomed in our society as their presence adds to the diversity of thought and experience in our country.

Stage Two. September 10. Stage One views continue but it is recognized that their is a problem with a small group of "fanatical" and "extremist" Islamic "radicals." The problem is addressed in a manner similar to that of organized international crime. Better cooperation among international authorities and better law enforcement will stem the tide. In addition to our insensivities, our economic exploitation of the Muslim world is a "root cause" of the strife.

Stage Three. September 12. We are at war with "fanatical, extremist, radical" elements of Islam. As we prosecute that war, we must be careful to isolate the radicals and gain the support of the moderate Muslim majority.

Stage Four. Post-cartoons. We are at war with Islam. This is a clash of civilizations, Islam against the west. There is no moderate Islamic faction with sufficient voice or desire to influence events. Islam is functionally incompatible with democracy.

Stage Four is a tough one. I'm not ready to conceed that yet, but I also want to look at it honesty and realistically. The rest of the post goes on to discuss this, and asks such interesting questions such as what constitutes a "moderate" Mulsim; is a moderate Muslim just a "good cop" to a jihadist's "bad cop"? There's more, with some good links too, it's worth reading.

The second post I read is titled "The Heart of the Matter". It starts of by refering to an article by David Warren, who admits his fear of Stage Four thinking.

Then there is a reference to a comment made by somebody on the Volohk Conspiracy blog:

You only have 3 choices:

1. Convince these people that they are misunderstanding what God has said on this subject. You obviously don't try to do that.

2. Acquiesce in their interpretation and obey God's command (as, e.g., the editorial departments of various newspapers here have done).

3. Say, in words or substance, screw you, and go on talking about free speech and the need for 'balance' and the 'fact' that some cartoons may not be particularly offensive compared to, say, the average cartoon on the editorial pages of the Washington Post or any newspaper in Iran.

Then "P-BS-Watcher" comments:

I have proposed a muscular version of choice 3 here, here, and here,[3 hyperlinks] essentially a cold war against the Islamic world. Such a policy would allow for the emergence of moderates along the lines of those that emerged in Eastern Europe during the cold war against communism. When intervention becomes necessary to eliminate a threat, as it was in Iraq, it is worthwhile to test the current state of moderate Islamic thinking by attempting to institute democratic reforms. The corollary to such a cold war policy has to be the willingness to proceed to a large scale hot war when circumstances, such as a terrorist WMD attack, warrant.

(bold emphasis mine) I see some sense in this. It allows for moderates, but does not tolerate enemies who are bend on destroying us. So much of what we are seeing in the Middle East is a dangersous mental pathology of suicide-murder, not unlike the Japanese Kamakazi bombers of WWII. Such a pathology should not be encouraged, excused or tolerated in any way (the way the political Left and the MSM has been doing).

Of course, there would be differences in this cold war, to the one with the Soviet Union. Would the threat of MAD (Mutually Assured Destructon) even matter to crazed religious fanatics? There is a lot to consider; and if you read these two posts, you will find lots to chew on.

CAIRing too much?

CAIR's Growing Litigiousness

CAIR at UPenn: "The Right to Free Speech is Not Absolute"

Stalinism at CAIR: photo doctored for Islamic correctness

(Hat tip to CoxandForkum.com)


Media shockingly ignorant of Muslims among us
BY MARK STEYN

(Hat tip to Nealz Nuze)

Why we should care about C.A.I.R.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) needs closer scrutiny.

In the Spring issue of Middle East Quarterly, is an very detailed article (with extensive footnotes) elaborating on the activities of CAIR, it's history and it's members. The Power Line blog has listed some of the main points of the article. Consider this:

*Perhaps the most obvious problem with CAIR is the fact that at least five of its employees and board members have been arrested, convicted, deported, or otherwise linked to terrorism-related charges and activities.

*CAIR has a number of links to Hamas.

*CAIR's founding personnel were closely linked to the Islamic Association of Palestine; the Islamic Association of Palestine functions as Hamas's public relations and recruitment arm in the United States.

*CAIR encourages law enforcement in its work -- so long as it does not involve counterterrorism.

*CAIR discourages Americans from improving their counterterrorism skills.

*CAIR has consistently shown itself to be on the wrong side of the war on terrorism, protecting, defending, and supporting both accused and even convicted radical Islamic terrorists.

*CAIR has a key role in the "Wahhabi lobby" -- the network of organizations, usually supported by donations from Saudi Arabia, whose aim is to propagate the especially extreme version of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia.

*CAIR affiliates regularly speak at events sponsored by the Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella organization of the Wahhabi lobby.

*CAIR attempts to close down public debate about itself and Islam in several ways, starting with a string of lawsuits against public and private individuals and several publications.

*CAIR has a long record of unreliability and deceit even in relatively minor matters.

(bold emphasis mine) I find especially disturbing the relationship CAIR has with the Wahhabi Lobby. The Saudi money that they pump into CAIR buys it tremendous power to influence our culture and censure debate and examination of CAIR's activities and agendas. They need to be publicly challenged and discredited, not sucked-up to and promoted, like our government and the MSM have been doing.


Related Links:

CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment
This is the detailed article by Daniel Pipes and Sharon Chadha, in the Middle East Quarterly. A wealth of information, with extensive links to sources, it is a MUST READ.

On the Homefront
This is the article at the Power Line blog, which is a good summary and also has many links to other relevant sources and articles.

An Arab Muslim Challenges CAIR
Here is an "in-your-face" challenge to CAIR by Dr. Tawfik Hamid, an Arab Muslim and a Reformer of Islam. We need to be promoting and giving voice to genuinely moderate Muslims like Dr. Hamid, NOT cult funded groups like CAIR.

Sunday Funnies 03/12/06

Here is a photo from the Chinese Ice Festival. To see more beautiful photos, Click Here.


Annual Neologism Contest

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

The winners are:

1. Coffee (n.) the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.) appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.) to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.) to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.) impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.) to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.) olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.) a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.) a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.) the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n) a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.) a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Circumvent (n.) an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.


(H.T. to The Chatterbox Chronicles)


PONDERISMS
>
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
>
Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
>
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
>
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
>
There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
>
Life is sexually transmitted.
>
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
>
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
>
Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.
>
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
>
Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
>
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
>
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
>
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
>
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
>
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
>
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
>
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt."
>
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
>
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
>
Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
>
Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
>
Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
>
If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
>
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
>
If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
>
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
>
Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
>
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
>
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
>
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
>
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
>
Do you ever wonder why you gave me your email address?

****

BUSH HAS TO GO

I am a senior citizen.

During the Clinton Administration I had an extremely good and well paying job.

I took numerous vacations and had several vacation homes.

Since President Bush took office, I have watched my entire life change for the worse.

I lost my job.

I lost my two sons in that terrible Iraqi War.

I lost my homes.

I lost my health insurance.

As a matter of fact I lost virtually everything and became homeless.

Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me living like an animal, instead of helping me, they arrested me.

I will do anything that Senator Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is back in the White House come next year.

Bush has to go.

Sincerely,

Saddam Hussein



****

A Good Explanation

The wife comes home early & finds her husband in their master bedroom making love to a beautiful, young lady!

"You unfaithful, disrespectful pig! What are you doing? How dare you do this to me the faithful wife, the mother of your children! I'm leaving this house, I want divorce!"

The husband, replies "Wait, Wait a minute! Before you leave, at least listen to what happened. You can't say I'm dishonest."

"Hmm, I don't know, well, it'll be the last thing I will hear from you. But make it fast, you unfaithful pig, you!"

The husband begins to tell his story . . . "While driving home this young lady asked for a ride. I saw her so defenseless that I went ahead and allowed her in my car. I noticed that she was very thin, not well dressed and very dirty. She mentioned that at she had not eaten for 3 days.

With great compassion I brought her home and warmed up the enchiladas that I made for you last night that you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll gain weight; the poor thing practically devoured them."

"Since she was very dirty I asked if she wanted to take a shower.

While she was showering, I noticed her clothes were dirty and full of holes so I threw her clothes away. Since she needed clothes, I gave her the pair of jeans that you have had for a few years, that you can no longer wear because they are too tight on you, I also gave her the blouse that I gave you on our anniversary and you don't wear because I don't have good taste."

"I gave her the pullover that my sister gave you for Christmas that you will not wear just to bother my sister and I also gave her the boots that you bought at the expensive boutique that you never wore again after you saw your co-worker wearing the same pair."

The husband continues his story . . . . .

"The young woman was very grateful to me and I walked her to the door. When we got to the door she turned around and with tears coming out of her eyes, she asks me:

"Sir, do you have anything else that your wife does not use?"

- Author Unknown



Amazing 3-D sidewalk art. See more HERE.

****

The Ted Kennedy Children's Book Cover of the week:


Hat tip to the Kennedy forum thread at FARK.COM.

****

INSPIRATION:

To Track Down My Dream

It was the district track meet - the one we had been training for all season. My foot still hadn't healed from an earlier injury. As a matter of fact, I had debated whether or not I should attend the meet. But there I was, preparing for the 3,200-meter run.

"Ready...set..." The gun popped and we were off. The other girls darted ahead of me. I realized I was limping and felt humiliated as I fell farther and farther behind.

The first-place runner was two laps ahead of me when she crossed the finish line. "Hooray!" shouted the crowd. It was the loudest cheer I had ever heard at a meet.

"Maybe I should quit," I thought as I limped on.

"Those people don't want to wait for me to finish this race." Somehow, though, I decided to keep going. During the last two laps, I ran in pain and decided not to compete in track next year. It wouldn't be worth it, even if my foot did heal. I could never beat the girl who lapped me twice.

When I finished, I heard a cheer - just as enthusiastic as the one I'd heard when the first girl passed the finish line. "What was that all about?" I asked myself. I turned around and sure enough, the boys were preparing for their race. "That must be it; they're cheering for the boys."

I went straight to the bathroom where a girl bumped into me. "Wow, you've got courage!" she told me.

I thought, "Courage? She must be mistaking me for someone else. I just lost a race!"

"I would have never been able to finish those two miles if I were you. I would have quit on the first lap. What happened to your foot? We were cheering for you. Did you hear us?"

I couldn't believe it. A complete stranger had been cheering for me - not because she wanted me to win, but because she wanted me to keep going and not give up. Suddenly I regained hope. I decided to stick with track next year. One girl saved my dream.

That day I learned two things:

First, a little kindness and confidence in people can make a great difference to them.

And second, strength and courage aren't always measured in medals and victories. They are measured in the struggles we overcome. The strongest people are not always the people who win, but the people who don't give up when they lose.

I only dream that someday - perhaps as a senior - I will be able to win the race with a cheer as big as the one I got when I lost the race as a freshman.

By Ashley Hodgeson

from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger



(H.T. to The Chatterbox Chronicles)

Arabs, Ports and Oscars

The Ports Deal
I didn't want to post about the Ports Deal initially; now it's dead, so I don't have to. But the killing of the deal and the ways it was handled, will have affects of it's own. And the backlash in public opinion is something the Arab world needs to hear.

I would have listened to Bush and considered his stance, if he had bothered to explain his position on the ports matter, but he often fails to realise he needs to explain. Sure, we have to trust him up to a point, but he can't ever assume we trust everything he does unconditionally.

The backlash of public opinion on the ports deal may have been influenced in part by the cartoon riots. People are sick of fanatical Mulsims demanding we change our culture to suit them; that we respect their religion on their terms, even though we don't believe in it. I'm sure many Americans are begining to wonder if Islam is even at all compatible with an open and free society; if it will ever demonstrate that it is civilized; that it's adherents can be trusted.

The Bushes have such strong business connections in the oil industry, and are actually good FRIENDS with many influential Arabs. I think it blinds them to the things many of us see. These wealthy Arabs aren't OUR personal friends; we see the sheiks saying one thing to us on our media in English, then they say something completely different in arabic on Al Jezeera to their own people.

The Sheiks enjoy all the benefits of our open and free society, while crushing their own people at home, giving money to religious extremists and causes, and encouraging their citizens to blame the West for all their economic and societal ills. They have been doing this for many, many decades, and as long as we tolerate it, we are the enablers in the situation.

I admire Bush for many things, but he is not above criticism. I think he needs to practice some "tough love" with his Arab friends. If they don't make some real changes, they should expect diminishing support from us as a consequence. I think many Americans realise this, and the ports deal objection is just one manifestation of it. If the Arab world wants more respect, if they want to be trusted, they have to demonstrate they are worthy of trust, and EARN it. For too long they have believed they can just buy anything they want. It's time they learn otherwise.

The Oscars
Ben Stein, Peggy Noonan and Ann Coulter all had great and pertinent things to say about the Oscars. Ann's cutting commentary on George Clooney's idiotic remarks was to the point and richly deserved. I'm tempted to reprint it here, but you can find links to all these and more at The Chatterbox Chronicles, as well as Miss Chatterbox's own commentary. Highly recommended!

Related Links:

Red, White and Blue Dawn:
How Hollywood needs to stop worrying and love the flag

Conservatives in Hollywood?!

BILLY ZANE AND GARY BUSEY
CO-STAR IN AN ANTI-AMERICAN
TURKISH PROPAGANDA MOVIE

War Films, Hollywood and Popular Culture by Michael Medved. It explains a lot about hollywood and their attitude towards the military these days.

"Copenhagen syndrome" and the Left

Remember the "Stockholm syndrome"? That phrase used to describe the psychological phenomenon where hostages begin to sympathise and work with their terrorist captors? It's a concept I've thought about a lot in the last two years since I moved away from San Francisco. Many of the leftists there would bend over backwards to support and defend Islamism, despite it's track record of crushing feminists, gays and free speech.

These same leftists would often embrace totalitarians of every description, with equally bad records of crushing the very things the left claims to embrace. Simultaneously, these leftist "liberals" also attacked vigorously the liberal western traditions that allow the Left to florish like they can do nowhere else. A city full of people, acting like a fool who frantically saws away at the branch he is sitting on. It's one thing to disagree or dissent about an issue, but quite another to actively attack and reject your own culture that supports your right to dissent, while rushing to embrace one that loathes it.

I recently read an article from the LA Times by Cathy Seipp called "The fascists of free speech". It describes perfectly the new "Copenhagen syndrome" afflicting a large portion of the left in this country and in Europe. It starts off with a visit to the famous City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, a store that prides itself on supporting banned authors and selling controversial books that other stores won't. Here is an excerpt:

... he asked a clerk if the new Fallaci book was in yet.

"No," snapped the clerk. "We don't carry books by fascists."

Now let's just savor the absurd details of this for a minute. City Lights has a long and proud history of supporting banned authors — owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti was indicted (and acquitted) for obscenity in 1957 for selling Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," and a photo at the bookstore showed Ferlinghetti proudly posing next to a sign reading "banned books."

Yet his store won't carry, of all people, Fallaci, who is not only being sued in Italy for insulting religion because of her latest book but continues to fight the good fight against those who think that the appropriate response to offensive books and cartoons is violent riots. It's particularly repugnant that someone who fought against actual fascism in World War II should be deemed a fascist by a snotty San Francisco clerk.

Strangest of all is the scenario of such a person disliking an author for defending Western civilization against radical Islam — when one of the first things those poor, persecuted Islamists would do, if they ever (Allah forbid) came to power in the United States, is crush suspected homosexuals like him beneath walls.

Yet those most oppressed by political Islam continue to defend it, even (perhaps especially) in the wake of the Danish cartoon furor. I've heard that in Europe this phenomenon is now called the Copenhagen syndrome, and some of its arguments really are amazing...

The article goes on to give us some disturbing examples of those arguments. It's well worth reading, you can read the entire piece HERE.

I used to work near City Lights Books when I lived in San Francisco. They have lots of communist and socialist books, and take great pride in publishing and selling books that nobody else will. I don't like most of what they have to offer. So be it.

I'm not criticizing their right to sell communist books. I'm criticizing them for labeling Oriana Fallaci a fascist. She, who at the tender age of 14, joined the Italian resistance against Mussolini, a genuine fascist. She, who is now being attacked and threatened by fascist Muslims, who have no respect for free speech at all. She, who is literally fighting against those who want to suppress books, who is facing death threats and calls for her head. For Fallaci to be called a fascist by a bookstore supposedly committed to selling suppressed books and supporting free speech, is ironic to say the least. What is wrong here?

The truth is, Fallaci is an anti-totalitarian, who has equal disdain for fascists AND communists, and I suspect that it's her anti-communism that bothers the folks at City Lights. They couldn't care less about HER rights to free speech, so they just label her a fascist so they don't have to deal with her. It's dishonest, but when you believe that the end justifies the means, that's no big deal.

Is that a sawing noise I hear...

Related Links:

City Lights redefines fascism

Why the Left doesn't blame Muslims for Muslim violence

The Left's Guiding Principle And Where It Goes Wrong

CATHERINE SEIPP writes a weekly column for National Review Online and blogs at www.cathyseipp.net.

"THE FORCE OF REASON" is here

The english language version of Oriana Fallaci's latest book, The Force of Reason, has recently been released. I haven't read it yet, so I can't say a lot about it, but the TigerHawk blog has an interesting post about it, including five pages of text from the book.

I remember being taught at school, being told that the crusades were an evil CHRISTIAN aggression against the poor Muslims, who were ever-so tolerant of Jews and Christians. Fallaci calmly disabuses us of those notions, with a politically incorrect but historically accurate accounting of the gory details of Muslim invasions, and the horrors of their occupations. I won't repeat them here, but will repeat this paragraph about how the Crusades were a RESPONSE to an ongoing invasion:

... Today it's fashionable to beat our breast over the Crusades. To blame the West for the Crusades. To see the Crusades as an injustice committed to the detriment of the poor-innocent-Muslims. But before being a series of expeditions to regain possession of the Holy Sepulchure that is of Jerusalem (which had been taken by the Muslims, remember, not by my aunt), the Crusades were the response to four centuries of invasions and occupations. They were a counter-offensive to stem Islamic expansionism in Europe. To deflect it, mors tua vita mea, towards the Orient (meaning India and Indonesia and China) then towards the whole African continent and towards Russia and Siberia where the Tartars converted to Islam were already crushing the followers of Christ. At the conclusion of the Crusades, in fact, the sons of Allah resumed their persecutions as before and more than before...

(bold emphasis mine) She goes on to describe how the Turks went on to build an army using methodes that even the Nazi's wouldn't use... in just the five pages that TigerHawk has printed, Fallaci packs a lot of information, it's worth visiting his site to read it, along with his comments.

Tammy Bruce has also written a post about the new book, and also endorses Fallaci's previous book, "The Rage and The Pride", which she read and found inspiring. Tammy says about Fallaci: "I have a special place for her because she, too, emerged from the Left and saw the light."

The Solid Surfer has a post where he talks about how City Lights bookstore in San Francisco refuses to sell Fallaci's book, because it is critical of Muslims. "We don't carry books by fascists." the store clerk says. That's incredibly ironic, considering that at the age of 14, Fallaci joined the Italian resistance to fight the fascist Mussolini regime. She has fought against fascism and totalitarianism her whole life.

I lived in San Francisco for 23 years, and the office I worked in was not far from City Lights Books. They had every kind of communist and leftist book you could imagine; they prided themselves on carrying books nobody else would sell.

They are just so, like, open-minded and liberal, like, you know? They are currently selling the books of the fake Indian - discredited professor Ward Churchill, famous for calling the 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns". No problem there, they LIKE his books, probably because they think just like him. But Fallaci is a "fascist" because she's criticising Muslims. Musn't allow that!

This suicidal aspect of liberals amazes me. Islamists in power would completely destroy everything the left suposedly values, like free speech, gay rights and feminism, but that doesn't concern San Francisco leftists like the ones at City Lights Books.

It sounds just like the San Francisco I knew and grew to hate. When I moved away, I not only didn't leave my heart there, I also took care to shake the dust from my feet as I left. My only regret was not leaving sooner.

The Solid Surfer has an excellent post about that self-destructive attitude of the far left, that is worth a read, too.

Psychologist Wafa Sultan tells it like it is on Al-Jazeera TV

I first read about this at Michelle Malkin's blog, about an interview with Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan on Al-Jazeera TV. During the interview, Dr.Ibrahim Al-Khouli accuses Sultan of being a "heretic" for criticising current aspects of Islamic society.


I had read the transcript before, but if you look at the video clip, in which they are speaking in Arabic (there is english subtitles), it's a wonder to behold. This smart and brave lady holds her own ground with this creep Dr. Al-Poisen Koolaid. The whole transcipt is packed full of good stuff, but here are just a few exerpts from this remarkable woman:

Wafa Sultan: "When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels...

"My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma; another time he calls them the 'People of the Book'; and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians 'those who incur Allah's wrath.' Who told you that they are 'People of the Book?' They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them 'those who incur Allah's wrath,' or 'those who have gone astray,' and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?" ...

"The Jews have come from the tragedy [of the Holocaust], and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. Fifteen million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. 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. The Muslims turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them." ...

(bold emphasis mine) There is lots more, you can read more of it here, but if you are able to, have a look at the video too; it captures the vibes in a way a mere transcript can't. If she is a Heretic and an Infidel for saying what she says, for speaking up and saying what NEEDS to be said, then what the heck does that make HIM? A small minded, backward, primative, superstitious little hitler in a nice suit?

THANK YOU, Wafa Sultan, for speaking up.

America's toughest sheriff

The following is from an email that has been going around the internet:

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO,
HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF
AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER.

THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the "tent city jail":

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.

When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."

He bought Newt Gingrich' lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.

When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

I checked it out at Snopes.com, to see if any of it was true. I was suprised to find out that except for some minor details (mostly explanations of WHY he did certain things), it seems most of it is true.

Related links:

BIOGRAPHY - Sheriff Joe Arpaio

From www.truthorfiction.com
... Arpaio has also instituted what he calls "Hard Knocks High", the only accredited high school in an American jail.

That, along with an anti-drug program, says Arpaio, has resulted in a high percentage of his inmates leaving jail without their addictions and few of them returning...

But not everyone is thrilled with him: urbanlegends.about.com

Sheriff Arpaio fights for bestiality law.
(H.T. to Nealz Nuze.)

THE CLASH THAT CAN'T BE

Islam is compatible with a free society if we support the genuine moderate Muslims

(Title from Jack Kelly's article) Is the MSM advancing it's own agenda by promoting the views of offended Mulsims over those of moderate ones? We continually hear the views of extremist groups like CAIR (which is funded by the fanatical Wahabbi sect) presented to us as moderate voices, while true moderates are ignored. Is this deception deliberate?


Could it be that the "Ports" controversy is partly fueled by Americans being fed up with offended, rioting Muslims; that Americans are starting to demand proof that Islam is, actually, compatible with a free society?

Jack Kelly examins these questions and more in his most recent article. An exerpt:

...Americans know instinctively that the "Islam is a religion of peace" mantra is bunk. Islam was spread by the sword. There are no Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist suicide bombers.

And Americans know it is idiotic to search grandmas at airports while young Muslim males stroll through checkpoints. We were not attacked on 9/11 by the Swedish bobsled team.

It is true that up to about 400 years ago, Christianity was no friend of democracy or religious pluralism. But that was 400 years ago. The key question, which political correctness obscures, is whether Islam can become (in, we hope, rather less than 400 years) as benign a faith as Christianity is today.

I think the answer is yes, because I know of many Muslims who are devoted to liberty, democracy and social equality. I wrote about "the trainer" (who infiltrated a terror cell in Toledo) in last week's column. Our ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is an example. So is businessman and terror fighter Mansoor Ijaz.

You don't hear much about genuine Muslim moderates because if you did, it would expose the cravenness of a news media that largely has capitulated to the demands of Islamic radicals. That capitulation can be portrayed as something other than cowardice only if the vast majority of Muslims are depicted as being offended by the exercise of free speech.

So journalists describe as "moderate" those -- like the smarmy creeps at the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- who largely share the goals of the Islamists, but who eschew their methods. Ordinary Americans see through this, and wonder if there are any moderate Muslims at all.

Fewer would think that way if they knew, for instance, that most Danish Muslims are shunning the four radical clerics who brought on the Cartoon War, or if they read the recent declaration of 12 mostly Muslim or Muslim apostate intellectuals who distinguish sharply between Islamism ("a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism") and the basic tenets of the Muslim faith.

It is easier to find moderate Muslims who are willing to speak out than to find journalists who will pay much attention to what they have to say. Afghans, Iraqis and Lebanese struggling for liberty and democracy are given short shrift because to give them proper credit would be to give indirect credit to George W. Bush...

(bold emphasis mine) Jack Kelly tells it like it is. You can read the whole article HERE.

Some related links:

The Left's Guiding Principle And Where It Goes Wrong

Many prominent leftist actions often seem puzzling to the rest of us. When leftwingers ally, for example, with Islamists against America, their position is so recklessly shortsighted that we wonder just how they can act so blatantly against themselves. Islamists in power would completely destroy everything the left holds dear, from freedom of speech to gay rights to feminism, but that doesn't stop groups like the employees of San Francisco's City Lights Books (as mentioned in my previous post) who have openly sided with the jihadists by refusing to sell Oriana Fallaci's pro-Western text The Force Of Reason. That this stance contradicts the leftists' own interests is quite obvious. But why can't they seem to see it? How blinded by ideology can one possibly be?...

you can read the rest HERE

No Sympathy For Offended Muslims

...I will learn about Islam only if I find it interesting, and I will not be behaving according to its tenets because I am not a Muslim. Muslim law has no jurisdiction in my life, that is a Western lesson for Muslims to learn. And if you don't like our approach to freedom of belief, then, don't go west Iman! If I decide to create or display an image of the Prophet, tough, get over it. Because, even if the Koran does forbid such depiction, a principle which may not be true, the prohibition does not apply to me; I am a non-believer. And in the same way that I am not concerned with avoiding consumption of meat on Friday, because I am not Catholic, do not expect me to adhere to the rules of YOUR religion either. Won't happen pal. Tell that to your people; don't try to tell the rest of us how to be Muslim. Who cares what motivates Muslims to be hateful, just stop it already. That act is tiring...

You can read the whole thing HERE. And H.T. to The Black Republican blog for the photo, too.


Some American-Muslims Learning Tolerance
An excerpt:

...But, then once again I am disappointed when he continues.

"All that we are expecting is that they don't insult a personality that's made such a historical contribution. This is more a responsibility of living in a pluralistic society than a question of legal restrictions."

The intolerable word is, "expecting", which connotes a demand. A single concept which belies that Dr. Syeed wants others to be responsible for obeying his religion. The antithesis of the autonomy of religious thought characteristic of a pluralistic society...

You can read the whole piece HERE.

What's New?Wild Blue, a Focus and Swanky too.

I've been busy trying to configure our router to work with our new satellite internet service from Wild Blue (Yonder!).

The physical installation of the dish itself went smoothly. Two technicians from a local company came out to install it on the side of the house. The Wild Blue dish is slightly larger than our DishTV dish.

The install and equipment cost about $400 (normaly it's $500, but they are offering a $100 discount right now). There is a 30 day trial period, in which we can decide if we want to keep it or return it (if we return it, we only have to pay the $79.00 for the install). The monthy fee is $49.95 per month, for speeds up to 512k bandwidth.

We have spent the past two years living with dialup that never goes higher that 28k. And there are three of us who like to use the internet a lot, so it was frustrating, having to wait and take turns using the phone line, and then live with such slow speeds. So the Wild Blue change has been really a wonderful contrast. No waiting to take turns. No tying up the phone line. Fast bandwidth.

It's was easy to network the connection for the three of us too share. I was, at first, concerned about the test results I was getting with the router. I was using the test site at Shields Up, by Gibson Research (makers of Zone Alarm Firewall). It was saying that nearly all the ports were open - a very unsecure situation.

I couldn't understand it. I use a similar router in town at our business, and it is 100% stealthed and secure. It is a DSL connection there.

Our newest router at home has even more security features, and I checked and rechecked; everything was configured correctly.

I did a lot of web-searching, and eventually found out that the "Shields up" test is not compatible for reliable testing with two-way satellite connections like Wild Blue and DircWay. I found some helpful forum threads here and here, and a good alternate test site at www.dslreports.com/tools (I found the link to the port scan tool on the main page helpful).

We are using both the router firewall software (to protect against unwanted intrusions) and Zone Alarm software (to keep anything sending out info without permission). We are now very much enjoying Wild Blue.

The other new thing in our lives is our car. We traded in our "banana rocket", a sporty two door screaming-yellow Ford Focus 2003, for a more staid and practical four door Ford Focus 2006 station wagon:

And then there is Swanky the cat, who isn't really new, but almost seems new again, at least to me:

He had disappeared for a week, and I had given him up for dead, thinking something in the woods must have eaten him. Then one night I had a dream that he came back. The next morning, Pat told me that he also had a similar dream. That afternoon, Swanky returned... much thinner, and whining a lot. I can only guess that he may have got trapped somewhere in a neighbors storage shed or something.

Anyhow, we are glad the little beast is back, and since it's unusual to get a picture of him that isn't blurred, I'm including it here too.

Sunday Funnies 03/05/06

That "Jimmah" Carter is a funny old fool, isn't he?


My Three Sons

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.

The first said, "I built a big house for our mother."

The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."

The third smiled and said, "I've got you, both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible, and you know she can't see very well. I sent her a brown parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took 20 monks in a monastery 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000.00 a year for 10 years, but it was worth it. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot will recite it."

Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks:

"Milton," she wrote the first son, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

"Marvin," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay home all the time, so I never use the Mercedes. And the driver is so rude!"

"Dearest Melvin," she wrote to her third son, "You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. That chicken was delicious!!!"


********


Subject: Smart Thinking

According to a news report, a certain private school recently was faced with a unique problem.

A number of year 12 girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers, and then there are educators...

********


(H.T. to Texas Fred at And THAT is MY Opinion)


********


The first day of school for the 4th grade class brought a new student,Suzuki, the son of a Japanese businessman.

The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American history. Who said "Give me Liberty, or give me death?"

She saw a sea of blank faces, except for that of Suzuki, who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, 1775", Suzuki said.

"Very good! ", said the teacher.

"Who said 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth'?:

Again, no response, except from Suzuki. "Abraham Lincoln, 1863."

"Very good!" The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Suzuki, who is new to our country, knows more about our history than you do."

She heard a loud whisper: "F-----g Japanese." "Who said that?" she demanded.

Suzuki put his hand up. "Lee Iacocca, 1982,"

At that point, a student in the back sighed, "I'm gonna puke!"

The teacher glares and asks "All right! Now who said that?"

Again, Suzuki has an answer: "George Bush to Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."

Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah! Suck this!"

Suzuki jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher,

"Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997."




********




Fresh New Perspectives

NUDITY

I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!


HONESTY

My son Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me he'd dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it in the garbage. Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said with a charming little smile, "We better throw this one out too then, 'cause it fell in the toilet a few days ago.


OPINIONS

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a Note from his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents."


KETCHUP

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. "It's the minister, Mommy," the child said to her mother. Then she added, "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now She's hitting the bottle."


MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"


ELDERLY

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. The various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"


DRESS-UP

A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit."

"And why not, darling?"

"You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."


SCHOOL

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk!"


BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out" What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear.


Author Unknown


********


Ted Kennedy Children's book cover of the the week:

And how about a Ted Movie:


Hat tip to the Kennedy forum thread at FARK.COM.



I don't know if this is more funny-humorous or funny-strange. Isn't the Ayatola giving the hand sign that Mr. Spock does in Star Trek? No wait, it's the wrong fingers for that. Maybe it's just funny-creepy, in a larger-than-life, personality cult, overdone fascist art kind of way.


Better Far to Risk a Fall

You can’t fell trees without some chips.
You can’t achieve without some slips.
Unless you try, you’ll wonder why
Good fortune seems to pass you by.
Success is not for those who quail
She gives her best to those who fail,
And then with courage twice as great
Take issue once again with fate.
‘Tis better far to risk a fall,
Than not to make attempt at all.


Whiners

When my grandmother was raising me in Stamps, Arkansas, she had a particular routine when people who were known to be whiners entered her store. My grandmother would ask the customer, "How are you doing today, Brother Thomas?"

And the person would reply, "Not so good today, Sister Henderson. You see, it's this summer heat. I just hate it. It just frazzles me up and frazzles me down. It's almost killing me." Then my grandmother would stand stoically, her arms folded, and mumble, "Uh-huh, uh-huh." And she would cut her eyes at me to make certain that I had heard the lamentation.

As soon as the complainer was out of the store, my grandmother would call me to stand in front of her. And then she would say the same thing she had said at least a thousand times, it seemed to me. "Sister, did you hear what Brother So-and-So or Sister Much-to-Do complained about?" And I would nod. Mamma would continue, "Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all for just five minutes of this weather that person was grumbling about. So you watch yourself about complaining, Sister. What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain."

It is said that persons have few teachable moments in their lives. Mamma seemed to have caught me at each one I had. Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.

- Maya Angelou

Is there such a thing as "Islamism"?

I used that word in a post recently, to describe the more militant, political aspect of what I have been calling "Radical Islam". But I've not been completely comfortable with the word.


Islam has no separation of church and state; politics and religion are very intertwined. So if we talk about "Radical Islam" or "Islamism", as being somehow more political or distinctly separate from the religion of Islam, are we just deceiving ourselves? I recently read a thread called ’Islamism’: A Concept invented by the infidel for the infidel! at the blog "A New Dark Age Is Dawning".

The consensus there seems to be that we are decieving ourselves, by talking about moderate Muslims. Are moderate Muslims really nothing more than Muslim slackers? I've known moderate Muslims who drink alcohol and such, and you might well call them slackers. But then what do you call the opposite of a Mulsim slacker? A Muslim Fanatic, I would say. Look at the Wahhabi's, who even Winston Churchill warned about:

A large number of [Saudi Arabia's King] Bin Saud's followers belong to the Wahabi sect, a form of Mohammedanism which bears, roughly speaking, the same relationship to orthodox Islam as the most militant form of Calvinism would have borne to Rome in the fiercest times of [Europe's] religious wars. The Wahabis profess a life of exceeding austerity, and what they practice themselves they rigorously enforce on others. They hold it as an article of duty, as well as of faith, to kill all who do not share their opinions and to make slaves of their wives and children. Women have been put to death in Wahabi villages for simply appearing in the streets.

It is a penal offence to wear a silk garment. Men have been killed for smoking a cigarette and, as for the crime of alcohol, the most energetic supporter of the temperance cause in this country falls far behind them. Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account, and they have been, and still are, very dangerous to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina..."

I have to admit, I really don't like the religion of Islam, and don't respect it. I might find it tolerable (for other people) if it reformed; there have been attempts to reform it many times, but the reformers were usually slaughtered by fanatics like the Wahhabis.

Writers like Stephen Schwartz maintain that there are moderate forms of Islam, and truely moderate Muslim groups in the USA like www.freemuslims.org, that are not associated with Wahhabi extremism. In Europe, you have Nasar Khader, member of Parliament in Denmark, and others.

I don't claim that truely moderate Mulsims are in the majority. But I don't doubt that they do exist, as well as muslims who are somewhere in the middle. So why not encourage them, instead of caving in to the demands of fanatics? Why not encourage reform, and condem extremism?

I do think there is a danger that we can fool ourselves about the danger of the threat we are facing. We do have to be realistic. I'm not sure wether words like "Islamism" are a misnomer or not. But I do think that there is some diversity even in Islam, in it's interpretation and application, that could be encouraged and supported, rather than the totalitarian vision that sects like the Wahhabis are trying to enforce as universal in the Muslim world.

In my own life, I'm as tolerant of other people, as they are of me. I don't see why that same attitude should not be applied to our dealings with Islam and it's adherents as well.

H.T. to The Autonomist blog, for the Churchill quote.

Oriana Fallaci: Rage and Pride

I didn't post anything yesterday. I was going to post about the Italian Author and Journalist, Oriana Fallaci. But as I read more and more about her, the task seemed too overwhelming. Such a life she has had! She has travelled the world as a war correspondent, and seen things, death and destruction, on a scale most of us could not imagine. She has conducted interviews with powerful and controversial people (including Gadaffi, Komeni, Arafat) written books... I could go on and on. What a facinating, interesting woman.

I had mentioned her in a post below, and how she had written a book, called "The Rage and The Pride". It created a controversy in Europe, and in her native Italy, she is now being sued by Muslims for defaming Islam.

I would like to write more about her when I have a chance, but for now, I thought I would print a link to an article she did, called "Rage and Pride", originally published September 29, 2001 on the web site of the Il Corriere della Sera. I think this article may be the begining of what she eventually developed into the book of the same title. The article is now availble in English translation, on www.borg.com. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

INTRODUCTION:
(by Ferruccio de Bortoli: Editor- Corriere Della Sera)

Oriana Fallaci, with this extraordinary piece, has broken a silence of a decade. Extremely long. Our most renown writer (she uses the masculine form of the word and no longer uses the word journalist), lives for the majority of the year in Manhattan. She does not answer her phone, rarely opens her door, and goes out very infrequently. She never gives interviews. Everyone has tried, no one has succeeded. She is isolated. However, history and destiny decreed that the center of our modern day apocalypse, like a chasm from Dante, would open at a short distance from her beautiful and literary residence. The wave of the blast of September 11, also disrupted her hermetic silence and the hermit herself. She opens her door, an unusual act which seems to surprise her… her demeanor is sweet and simultaneously fierce. She has been working for years on a book anticipated by the entire world, among piles of documents, in orderly disorder, at a feverish pitch. I had asked her to write what she had witnessed, felt, heard, after that Tuesday and Oriana has gathered on a few sheets, emotions, thoughts. “On every experience I leave shreds of my soul”, she had written a few years ago. It is still true, very true. Strong ideas, disruptive ones, on which to ponder and discuss. On America, Italy, the Islamic world. On her Mother land (surprising what she says of her Mother land). Invectives and texts that flow simultaneously from the brain and the heart, or rather from the brain through the heart. “Someone had to say these things. I have said them. Now leave me in peace". The door is closed again. "I do not want to re-open it.” She blusters. Her usual artillery. She is going to cause a stir. And how!

This lady is for real, she says what she means, and doesn't mince words. I don't think I've read anything quite like it, especially from a European. You can read Oriana's article Here.

Hitler, Islamism and Leftist Liberals...

Pakistani women protesters showing their admiration of Hitler, a great man that even Allah should bless. Should we be suprised?

Radical Islam (or Islamism) has two things in common with Nazi ideology; a hatred of jews, and a totalitarian view towards the world. The Nazi's believed that the jews were the enemy of the Aryan race. The adherents of Islamism believe the jews are the enemy of Islam. They both believe in imposing their worldview on the unwilling.

And why are so many leftist "liberals" in the west sympathetic to Islamism? Because they also share a totalitarian view of the world; they desire a totalitarian state, where they will not have to tolerate criticism from others.

You may think that is a drastic accusation. Even I would concede that not all leftists are totalitarians; but I have observed that many of them are.

When I was a waiter in San Francisco, I was horrified at some of the conversations I would overhear. People who call themselves liberals, saying how Hitler really wasn't such a bad man; he was just greatly misunderstood. He only became nasty because people oppossed him. He probably had bad toliet training as a baby, and just needed to get in touch with his inner child. They would also say things like:

"The Holocost was greatly exagerated; and anything that did happen to the jews, well they really just brought it on themselves by being so greedy, they had only themselves to blame. There really was no need for a war at all, Hitler was just used as a scapegoat by the American Military Industrial Complex, who would use ANY excuse to start a war to make money. America is the REAL force for evil in the world, and needs to be stopped."

The people saying these things were college educated. Many of them were even teachers. It gives you some idea of what is taught in schools these days.

Now the left is saying that we need to be respectful on Islam; cartoons critical of Islam are not to be tolerated. Yet it's ok to critisize Christianity or Judaism, because it's "Art". But many on the left have taken it even further. Oriana Fallaci, a controversial and outspoken Italian author and Journalist, has published a book that is critical of Islam. It doesn't acually say anything that isn't true, but some people are calling for her head... some Muslims, literally.

And the Italian Left are more than sympathetic. "Artist" Giuseppe Veneziano’s “American Beauty” exibit in Milan, is a series of paintings about what he calles the “weakness and perversity of the American way of life.” One of the paintings is of Ms. Fallaci's severed head:


In an article by Robert Spencer, titled "Fallaci Beheaded", Mr. Spencer comments on the affinity shared by the European Left and adherents of Islamism:

...Both the Left and the mujahedin envision a totalitarian state that cleanses the world of evil by force, establishing a just society at the price of an unspecified number of dead. Both are advocates of a supremacist ideology that is immune to self-criticism and unable to tolerate criticism from others. And now as the European Union contemplates new laws that will, in the words of Franco Frattini, who bears the Orwellian designation of EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, “give the Muslim world the message: We are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression,” the marriage of the European Left and Islamic jihad can proceed all the more speedily. Frattini has since denied that the EU has any such plans, but there can be no denying that voices all over the West have called for the media to exercise “responsible self-regulation” so as to avoid trampling upon Muslim sensibilities. But Muslim sensibilities only: those who depict Fallaci beheaded, or Jesus Christ with the face of Osama bin Laden, will continue to be subject to the same protections enunciated by Josh Wainwright, the producer of the art show that featured the Christ/Osama painting: “I don’t think it’s anyone’s job or vocation to limit the expression of artists.” Right. Except cartoon artists, of course. Or at least those who have the temerity to suggest that there might be some connection between violent actions done by Islamic jihadists and the Prophet who said that “Paradise is under the shades of swords.”

(bold emphasis mine) Nazi Germany also had a fondness for beheading. They even beheaded a 17 year old boy for distributing anti-Hitler pamphlets. The Nazis have been estimated to have guillotined some 40,000 people in Germany and Austria; possibly more than were beheaded during the French Revolution. That number might have been even higher, but they developed the gas chambers for the concentration camps instead of the guillotine, as a faster and more efficent methode of killing mass numbers of people quickly and economically.


And of course, we have people right here in the USA, non-muslims, who seem to think that beheading people is fine, as long as you get the right ones. Some of you may recall this picture of President Bushes decapitated head from an earler post from a protest in Washington, DC. Why do I suspect these protesters are also sympathetic to those who use totalitarian methods to enforce what they belive?

These folks should take a lesson from Iran. When the Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran, he did so with the help of a coalition of partners, including many letist groups like socialists, communists, feminists, gays and liberals. These groups trusted Khomeini to share power with them, once the Shah had been ousted.

They had a nasty suprise. Once the Ayatollah came to power, he began to liquidate his partners. Those who opposed his theocracy were simply eliminated. Liberal and progressive are dirty words in Iran now, synonyms for “apostate”, a charge that carries a death sentence.


Related Links:

Read about the 18 offending statments in Oriana Fallaci's book that she should lose her head for: Muslim Target.

A MANIFESTO AGAINST ISLAMISM

Why the Left doesn't blame Muslims for Muslim violence

Submission is all in your dhimmitude

The Zombie Hall of Shame
Some of the more extreme messages from American political protests, including many anti-semitic messages (warning: nudity in some photos).

Watch/("God Bless Hitler" photo)

Be sure and see Evan Maloney's video online:
Peace, Love & Anti-Semitism?

Update: I made an HTML mistake in the "Fallaci Beheaded" link. It's fixed now.