Wednesday, July 20. 2005
 An Unholy Alliance
Who is to blame for the London bombings? According to news reports, both London Mayor Ken Livingstone and radical Islamist Anjem Choudary agree: it's Britain's fault. The implied corollary in each case is that the bombings were a justified response to legitimate grievances (even if the method employed was a bit distasteful to the sensibilities of "Red Ken"). If both Britain's leaders and enemies are against her, who will stand for her?
Islam, Religion of Peace, Part 2 Continuing on the topic of yesterday's post, The View From 1776 has more analysis of Islam and the current geopolitical situation here. One particular point he makes that is worth repeating here is that of course there are many individual Muslims who are staunchly opposed to terrorism and mistreatment of non-Muslims, and I would add that it is not right to hold present-day Muslims accountable for the crimes of their forbears. That said, the bulk of the evidence from opinion surveys, muted and even positive reactions to terrorist attacks in many Muslim nations, and general attitudes toward non-Muslim minorities in these nations shows that these "moderate" Muslim voices, if they exist in significant numbers, have effectively no voice in making domestic or foreign policy. Those nations that are generally considered most "Westernized," such as Turkey, still conduct persecutions of minority groups (i.e., the Kurds), while the few nations that have legally-enforced tolerance, such as Iran, are happy to do so when over 98 percent of the country is already Muslim. If anyone knows of a Muslim-majority society with significant religious minorities where such groups exist in peace, harmony, and demographic stability, please let me know. View From The Right also tackles this issue here and elsewhere. The excerpted passage from Robert Klein Engler demands reading in full here - it's rare indeed to find someone able to write with this degree of honesty, openness and courage about the current "War on Terror." Here's one paragraph I might have cited the other day: "The West against Islam is nothing new. What’s new is that because of oil, the conflict has now expanded to the New World. There are no radical Muslims, nor Islamo-Fascists, there are just Muslims doing what they have always done--spreading Islam by force and terror. Compare the spread of Islam with that of Buddhism, and the truth of this history becomes obvious."
The truth hurts sometimes, but far better to confront it openly and with the courage of one's own convictions than to cover ones eyes and ears, as the English have done, and pretend that the problem simply doesn't exist.
Why Bird Dog keeps getting it wrong on Kelo Re yesterdays post on the Citgo story, Corzine, and the Kelo decision: - Kelo was decided the way it was because SCOTUS didn't want to decide a local issue - may their tribe increase.
- Citgo could offer it to Audubon or the Conservancy and accomplish the same result.
- Kelo is not new law. All railroads were build by condemning private property so railroad companies could provide a service for profit.
- IF New Jersey law permits a taking of the property AND New Jersey files an eminent domain suit to take the property, the only possible fight is the fair value of the property.
- Connecticut got the message from its citizens and the papers today report the Dems behind a new law to prevent future development takings. NJ could do the same.
A Visit to Roald Dahl's House In The New Yorker
In the wake of the London terrorism, we have CBS following in the footsteps of the BBC and counseling against the "T" word , from LGF. Dare I ask who is being protected here? Surely not the gentle, misunderstood "t-people" from the Religion of Peace. More on the limits of multiculturalism, by Bone, via Tim Blair More campaign finance encroachments on Free Speech, in Seattle now. This is scarey. At TCS Croatia - I have a friend who left for her summer family vacation in Croatia last week, and I thought it sounded odd. Not so - NYT Travel - it's the New Riviera Hillary panders to La Raza, offers free college for - illegals. Newsmax Brit Moslems to confront evil with Blair. Hope it works, but it won't. Jihad Watch "Fly the flag for Britain again" Johnson in the Telegraph: If these four young men were perfectly normal Yorkshiremen, then what the hell is happening to this country? Of all the shattering revelations of the past few days, the worst has been that these suicide bombers were British.
Simon quotes Gerecht on the effects of Western nations on Islam. Interesting, but I do not agree. The economic ignorance of the clergy. Where do they think the donations come from? Dollars are not manna - people work. In American Spectator
Roberts is a shoe-in - just my opinion DO NOT MISS Iowahawk's piece on the Roberts nomination - hilarious And the NYT - almost as funny as Iowakawk - worries that Roberts will cause dirty air, child labor, restrictions on abortion and - God Forbid! - federalism. At least they didn't put the re-institution of slavery on the list, but it sounds as if they wanted to. This quote from Roberts says it all (via Michelle via Town Hall): My own judicial philosophy begins with an appreciation of the limited role of a judge in our system of divided powers. Judges are not to legislate and are not to execute the laws. . . . My judicial philosophy accordingly insists upon some rigor in ensuring that judges properly confine themselves to the adjudication of the case before them, and seek neither to legislate broadly not to administer the law generally in deciding that case. Deciding the case . . . . requires an essential humility grounded in the properly limited role of an undemocratic judiciary in a democratic republic, a humility reflected in doctrines of deference to legislative policy judgments and embodied in the often misunderstood term “judicial restraint.” That restraint does not mean that judges should not act against the popular will. . . .[T]he framers expected them to be discerning the law, not shaping policy. That means the judges should not look to their own personal views or preferences in deciding the cases before them. Their commission is no license to impose those preferences from the bench."
Tuesday, July 19. 2005
Reading the reactions of Canadian Muslims to the London bombings as they attempt to paint themselves as victims of nonexistent crimes made me think back to some of the very real crimes that have been committed by Muslims against the Christian (and other non-Muslim) minorities in their midst throughout history. Most Westerners, familar only with the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Holocaust, may be surprised by this: The Armenians: Over 1,000,000 killed by the Turks in 1915 in a forgotten genocide. The Assyrian Christians: An ancient, non-Arab people of Northern Iraq, 500,000-750,000 - almost three-quarters of the entire Assyrian population - killed in 1915 by the Turks. The Serbians: The first true ethnic cleansing in the Balkans was committed by the Ottomans, who after a failed campaign against the Austrians in the 1680s killed thousands of Serbs and destroyed hundreds of churches and monasteries, notably in the Serbian homeland of Kosovo. The Egyptian Copts: The first major persecutions of Egyptian Christians began during the medieval Fatimid Caliphate, but they continue today in the form of abductions, forced conversions and harsh laws overlooked by the government of Hosni Mubarak. The Lebanese: Christians were a majority of the inhabitants of Lebanon from late Roman times until the 1980s civil war, when tens of thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands more driven to emigrate. In 1980, Lebanon was majority Christian nation: today, Christians are a shrinking minority. The Sudanese: 1.5 million Christians have been killed by Muslims in the north of the country, and many more have been tortured, enslaved or driven from their homes. The Nigerians: Muslims in the north of the country have launched a virtual civil war against the Christians of the south, killing thousands of innocent civilians in attacks over the past several years. The Iraqi Christians: One of the lamentable results of the Iraq war has been the persecution, killing and emigration of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians, who are suspected of being in league with the Western occupying forces. Christians made up as many as 15-20 percent of the Iraqi population 25 years ago: today the figure is three percent and falling. The Hindus: The Muslim conquest of northern India and Afghanistan resulted in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Buddhists and the destruction of entire cities. Even when nearly every last non-Muslim had been killed or converted, the Taliban still insisted on destroying the harmless and beautiful Buddhist reliefs carved into cliffsides to eradicate every trace of their memory. The Indonesians: Attacks against Christians in recent years have resulted in the deaths of dozens of Christians and the destruction of thousands of Christian-owned homes and businesses. This is only a very partial list, of course, but it is fairly representative of the atrocities that have been committed all over the world throughout history and up to the present day. All of this is in addition to continuing legal discrimination against Christians in Muslim-majority nations, including laws against interfaith marriage and Muslim-to-Christian conversions in Egypt, laws against public worship and the establishment of new churches in Saudi Arabia, and laws against proselytization of Muslims in Malaysia. Cont'd on continuation page below:
Continue reading "Islam, the Religion of Peace, Part 1"
A great way to keep blacks unemployed - Ebonics is back, and Michelle has the story. I will hire anyone of any color, shape, age, culture of origin, etc. but I won't hire anyone who speaks ebonics. Or who cannot speak or write appropriate English. Sue me! The only conceivable motive for this nonsense is to keep people ignorant, poor, and dependent. The only thing as stupid is bilingual education. Learn proper English - it will serve you very well in life. Lots of good books written in it, and blogs too. And it is easy to learn - babies do it. Cell phones on airplanes? I am in favor of it - it is damned inconvenient not to be able to talk during flight. The CSM. Canada's Moslims: More worried about themselves than terror. Classic manipulative victim maneuver that all can see through. Thanks, LGF. Story here. TWA Flight 800 - with every mystery, the conspiracy nuts come out of the woodwork. Here is a good summary of the tragic 1996 explosion/crash.
Your Inner Geek Dr. Bliss always says "Stop looking for your inner child. Look for your inner adult." What about your inner geek? Take the test.
 Citgo, Corzine, Conservation and Kelo: The Petty Island Story
This story was mentioned on a Rush trailer this morning. Citgo wants to donate its 360-acre Petty Island in the Delaware River to New Jersey as a nature preserve. New Jersey doesn't want it donated for a preserve: they seem to want to either force a sale or to take it - Kelo-ize it - for private development projects. Current Democratic Senator John Corzine, the fabulously wealthy ex-Wall Street mogul, now running for Governor, supports the latter plan, and thus alienated environmentalists. And Corzine's support of yet another massive development project in the Jersey Meadowlands has gotten him into further trouble. I guess birds don't pay taxes. Sierra Activist has a photo gallery of Petty Island. Eagles do winter on the island, but I think there are principles at stake here that are even more important than eagles - and we love eagles along with all living critters. We have posted, and quoted, various views on Kelo on this blog. To what extent does the Kelo decision make it easier for NJ to take the island via eminent domain rather than to accept it as a gifted nature preserve? Lawyers - please tell me the answer. It's about time this story makes the NYT - but will it? Or will they decide to protect Corzine? The NYT sure did love Kelo, which, they gushed, "strikes a blow at the property rights movement". And yes, as you have surely realized, Maggie's is a highly pro-conservation blog, but we are far from greenie-wackos. (And, by the way, the Republican candidate, Forester, is in favor of accepting the gift.) (Photo courtesy of P. LaTourette - his photo link to the left)
"The Constitution is not a suicide pact." A good post in Right Thinking: No matter who coined the phrase, the meaning is pretty obvious: freedom should not extend to the point where people have the right to destroy freedom itself. There was a brilliant story in The Onion a few years back that perfectly illustrated this principle, something to the effect of “ACLU Sues for Right of Neo-nazis to Blow Up ACLU Headquarters.”
Hillary's Campaign Website is up and it looks like the strategy is triagulation, again "The Framing Wars" - Matt Bai at the NYT has the Dems new language figured out From Northeast Intell: 18 July 2005: In a U.S. Treasury Department memo dated July 14, 2005 that seems to have received little press coverage, authorities allege for the first time that Abdurahman Alamoudi raised money for Al Qaeda in the U.S. For those unaware, Alamoudi, 53, portrayed himself as a “moderate Muslim” who served as a liaison between the U.S. government and American Muslims for two decades. A founder of the American Muslim Council (AMC), Alamoudi played a key role in developing the Pentagon's Muslim chaplain program, represented the State Department and attended meetings at the White House spanning two administrations. Accordingly, the significance of the allegations by the U.S. Treasury Department that Alamoudi raised money for al Qaeda cannot be understated.
Read entire. Diana West has had it with multiculturalism (who hasn't?) at Town Hall: Notice I didn't say "Islamists." Or "Islamofascists." Or "fundamentalist extremists." I've tried out such terms in the past, but I've come to find them artificial and confusing, and maybe purposefully so, because in their imprecision I think they allow us all to give a wide berth to a great problem: the gross incompatibility of Islam -- the religious force that shrinks freedom even as it "moderately" enables or "extremistly" advances jihad -- with the West. Am I right? Who's to say? The very topic of Islamization -- for that is what is at hand, and very soon in Europe -- is verboten.
Africa is poor because they are poorly governed I'd say that that is no longer debatable - it's a fact. More on this from Ammann at Reason.
The reformer is always right about what is wrong. He is generally wrong about what is right. G. K. Chesterton
Monday, July 18. 2005
 Does this sound familiar? "Please tread on me."
Max Boot in the LA Times compares appeasement and anti-war attitudes of the "intelligentsia," in 1940 and today: Savage naively wondered, "Who is to say that a British victory will be less disastrous than a German one?" Savage thought the real problem was that Britain had lost "her meaning, her soul," but "the unloading of a billion tons of bombs on Germany won't help this forward an inch." "Personally," he added, with hilarious understatement, "I do not care for Hitler." But he thought the way to resist Hitler was by not resisting him: "Whereas the rest of the nation is content with calling down obloquy on Hitler's head, we regard this as superficial. Hitler requires, not condemnation, but understanding."
Read the whole thing. OK, I get it: Hitler - and Germany - needed love maybe, or therapy? Remember "Better Red than Dead" ? The Pacifist Left had the same idea during the Cold War, too, and Vietnam. Boot's piece has got me thinking about pacifism and its necessary corrollaries - the ideas that nothing is worth defending, and that evil does not exist. I read that, in England, it is a crime to assault a burglar or an intruder. You are supposed to just call the cops...I mean the Bobbies. Is that like calling the UN? Not in my house - we are ARMED, thanks to the US Constitution. Don't tread on Maggie's Farm. We know about evil and were raised with firearms, and we shoot first and ask questions later. If you can still talk, which would be doubtful, with a face - and brain - full of #6 birdshot. It is called "lead poisoning."
Internet Regulation and our New England Politicians The Meehan-Shays decision requires political speech regulation on blogs. They do it in China, but this is America, right? And can I get around this if Maggie's calls itself an "online magazine" " or an "online newspaper" and our contributors "reporters"? CaptainsQuarters does a good job with this: So we have a lawsuit to regulate the internet brought by a Democratic representative who is as liberal as it's possible to be, and by a Republican representative who is the most liberal Republican in either body of the Congress, decided by a liberal Democratic judge, and now affirmed by two liberal Democratic appellate-court judges (with a conservative Republican dissenting). So now we know who is trying to screw us. But what about who is trying to save us?
The rest of the country can blame New England reps for this crime against free speech. Full report here.
Disarming Americans: The newest strategy "Its for the children" - natch, what else? When a leftist agenda fails, the last strategy is always to exploit kids - from Alphecca 2006 Election Patrick Hynes from Ankle-Biter has an impressive run-down on next year Al Timimi How many of these guys are in the US? And how do we get rid of them? Can only link the site, not the article. Here. Tell me - how widely was all this reported? A Lebanese looks at US Islamic Propaganda Brigitte Gabriel: Click here: Environments of Hate: Indoctrination in the Arab WEnvironments of Hate: Indoctrination in the Arab World and Propaganda Advocacy in America’s University Classroomsorld and Propaganda Advocacy in America’s University Classrooms
 How do you like those double rear tires? This is a 2001 Case MX 220. That is one beautiful hunk of machinery. You almost hate to get it muddy.
And, by the way, doesn't that snow look refreshing today?
A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish. G. K. Chesterton
Sunday, July 17. 2005
Dylan Performs For Amazon Click here to see the taped version of last night's performance at Amazon.com's 10th anniversary concert, which also featured Norah Jones. Dylan's part of the show begins at roughly 1:45, and I strongly encourage you to skip forward. The setlist is not very exciting, but make sure to catch "Blind Willie McTell" about halfway through. Also, no closeups of Dylan - a prearranged agreement I'm sure. This probably will not be available tomorrow...
 The Holy City
Frederick E. Weatherly, Lyrics; Michael Maybrick, Music (photo)
Last night I lay a sleeping,there came a dream so fair,
I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there.
I heard the children singing, and ever as they sang,
Methought the voice of angels from Heav’n in answer rang;
Methought the voice of angels from Heav’n in answer rang:—
“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your gates and sing,
Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your King!” And then methought my dream was chang’d,
The streets no longer rang, hush’d were the glad hosannas the little children sang.
The sun grew dark with mystery, the morn was cold and chill,
as the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill,
as the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill.
“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Hark! how the angels sing,
Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your King.”
Continue reading "Sunday Verse: The Holy City"
Saturday, July 16. 2005
Mammatus Clouds Holy Cow! Literally. Never seen these before. Thanks, Ballooon Juice.
Here, fishy fishy fishy fishy 600 pound marlin jumps into fishing boat, beats up the fisherman, and gets away! Here, with photos. This is true catch and release - the fish released the guy. We hunters are glad that pheasants aren't armed with swords, like marlin - but it makes for an unfair contest, if your gun shoots straight. Which many seem not to - or is it me? Naw...
A Splendid Rant From Ranting Right Wing Howler, with graphics too/ A funny smart guy.
Excerpt from Love Among the Ruins, by Robert Browning: Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop-
Was the site once of a city great and gay,
(So they say)
Of our country's very capital, its prince
Ages since
Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far
Peace or war. Now the country does not even boast a tree, As you see, To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills
From the hills Intersect and give a name to, (else they run Into one) Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires Up like fires O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall Bounding all Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest Twelve abreast.
Friday, July 15. 2005
 Those Oh-So-Rare Muslim Extremists
To counter the endless and pathetic apologizing of the likes of Tony Blair, who insist that only a "tiny minority" of Muslims support violence in the name of Islam, this Pew Poll, despite its headline, shows very high levels of support for bin Laden and his methods (though the numbers have fallen in the past three years). In Pakistan, over half the population - that's more than 80 million people! - maintain confidence in bin Laden, while in Jordan fully 57 percent support the use of suicide bombings to advance the cause of Islam. Support varies dramatically from nation to nation of course, but a casual glance at these figures shows that far from being the work of a tiny core of extremists, international Islamic terrorism has the full-fledged support of hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world. I don't know if similar polls have been done among European Muslims, but the results would likely be no better, and possibly a lot worse.
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