Thursday, September 28, 2006
This is the kind of story that almost makes me want a Western city to be nuked as the only way to end political correctness so we get on with the next phase of this war already....Police (UK) to brief Muslims before terror raids
POLICE have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.
One of the Clinton failures to get Bin Laden came from his administration letting Pakistan know our intentions beforehand. They didn't want to fire missiles over Pakistani airspace without letting them know beforehand, a normal pre-9/11 mentality. The problem was that Islamists in Pakistan's intel community tipped on Bin Laden & Co, and they abandoned the camps before the missiles hit.
The problem is, this is after 9/11, and even after the 7/11 bombings in London. It only takes one Islamist community leader to tip off the perps, and even running interference for them by questioning the evidence against them. Insane.
POLICE have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.
One of the Clinton failures to get Bin Laden came from his administration letting Pakistan know our intentions beforehand. They didn't want to fire missiles over Pakistani airspace without letting them know beforehand, a normal pre-9/11 mentality. The problem was that Islamists in Pakistan's intel community tipped on Bin Laden & Co, and they abandoned the camps before the missiles hit.
The problem is, this is after 9/11, and even after the 7/11 bombings in London. It only takes one Islamist community leader to tip off the perps, and even running interference for them by questioning the evidence against them. Insane.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Here's the text of the latest Al Qaeda video. Most of it features Adam Gadahn aka Azzam the American. Here are the key parts from my reading of it:
The fact is, the end of the world should be a secondary issue for you and me. What we should really be concerned about is our inevitable death and whether we meet God as a believer in him alone, or as one who worshipped others in addition to him or instead of him. Because while we may or may not be around when the end of the world eventually comes, death is something every soul must taste and it may be closer than you or I think. Maybe no more than a few heartbeats away. And when it comes, regret or repentance will be of no benefit. Now is the time for reflection and decision.
Again we see that it the promise of Heaven that is their main selling point. We need a philosophy of Life Extension in the public arena to offer people a real alternative.
Islam rejects the Judeo-Christian doctrines concerning Eve and Ham, which the West has used to justify all manner of abuse and ill treatment of women, and blacks.
You ever heard of Darfur, loser?
...if the Zionist Crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Schuur, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the Crusader-in-Chief, George W. Bush, were to abandon their unbelief, and repent, and enter into the light of Islam, and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam.
This is the most fascinating part to me, that he mentioned these American anti-terrorism intellectuals by name. Those names probably aren't known to many Americans, but they must be having some impact. Such is the importance of pronouncing moral judgment, especially today. Here is Robert Spencer's wonderful response.
As for those who have expressed their respect and admiration for Islam, and acknowledged that it is the truth, and demonstrated their support and sympathy for the Muslims and their causes, like George Galloway, Robert Fisk, and countless others, I say to them “Isn’t it time you stopped sitting on the fence and came over to the side of truth?”
And he knows who his friends are too. Does even this give Galloway or Fisk pause? In the same sense that I thought it important to read Mein Kampf that I'd say, read the whole thing.
The fact is, the end of the world should be a secondary issue for you and me. What we should really be concerned about is our inevitable death and whether we meet God as a believer in him alone, or as one who worshipped others in addition to him or instead of him. Because while we may or may not be around when the end of the world eventually comes, death is something every soul must taste and it may be closer than you or I think. Maybe no more than a few heartbeats away. And when it comes, regret or repentance will be of no benefit. Now is the time for reflection and decision.
Again we see that it the promise of Heaven that is their main selling point. We need a philosophy of Life Extension in the public arena to offer people a real alternative.
Islam rejects the Judeo-Christian doctrines concerning Eve and Ham, which the West has used to justify all manner of abuse and ill treatment of women, and blacks.
You ever heard of Darfur, loser?
...if the Zionist Crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Schuur, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the Crusader-in-Chief, George W. Bush, were to abandon their unbelief, and repent, and enter into the light of Islam, and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam.
This is the most fascinating part to me, that he mentioned these American anti-terrorism intellectuals by name. Those names probably aren't known to many Americans, but they must be having some impact. Such is the importance of pronouncing moral judgment, especially today. Here is Robert Spencer's wonderful response.
As for those who have expressed their respect and admiration for Islam, and acknowledged that it is the truth, and demonstrated their support and sympathy for the Muslims and their causes, like George Galloway, Robert Fisk, and countless others, I say to them “Isn’t it time you stopped sitting on the fence and came over to the side of truth?”
And he knows who his friends are too. Does even this give Galloway or Fisk pause? In the same sense that I thought it important to read Mein Kampf that I'd say, read the whole thing.
Friday, August 25, 2006
"Attila," says Ayn Rand, "turns men's life on earth into a living hell--the Witch Doctor tells them that it could not be otherwise." (For the New Intellectual, 1961) Rand's archetypes of evil represent the always bloody union between the "mystics of muscle" (men of force) and the "mystics of mind" (men of faith), which does seem to be a recurring theme for humankind...kings/priests...Attila the Hun/Pope Leo I...and now, Nasrallah and Ali Khamenei...described here in Amir Taheri's article on Hezbollah's Pyrrhic victory:
"Mr. Nasrallah was also criticized for his acknowledgement of Ali Khamenei as Marjaa al-Taqlid (Source of Emulation), the highest theological authority in Shiism. Highlighting his bay'aah (allegiance), Mr. Nasrallah kisses the man's hand each time they meet. Many Lebanese Shiites resent this because Mr. Khamenei, a powerful politician but a lightweight in theological terms, is not recognized as Marjaa al-Taqlid in Iran itself. The overwhelming majority of Lebanese Shiites regard Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, in Iraq, or Ayatollah Muhammad-Hussein Fadhlallah, in Beirut, as their "Source of Emulation."
Let's hope this is the last victory men like these see...oh, wait, here's another...Lest we forget Lenin, Stalin and Marx...
"Mr. Nasrallah was also criticized for his acknowledgement of Ali Khamenei as Marjaa al-Taqlid (Source of Emulation), the highest theological authority in Shiism. Highlighting his bay'aah (allegiance), Mr. Nasrallah kisses the man's hand each time they meet. Many Lebanese Shiites resent this because Mr. Khamenei, a powerful politician but a lightweight in theological terms, is not recognized as Marjaa al-Taqlid in Iran itself. The overwhelming majority of Lebanese Shiites regard Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, in Iraq, or Ayatollah Muhammad-Hussein Fadhlallah, in Beirut, as their "Source of Emulation."
Let's hope this is the last victory men like these see...oh, wait, here's another...Lest we forget Lenin, Stalin and Marx...
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
This article is a few months old, but worth posting anyway. Leniency for 'ignorant' woman who hurt baby
A BANGLADESHI woman who shook a baby boy so violently that he suffered brain damage walked free from court yesterday because a judge conceded that she did not know how to behave in the West.
Rahella Khanom, 24, caused the five-month-old boy in her care to suffer fractures to his breast bone and ribs as she tried to rid him of evil spirits
This is cultural relativism at its worst. Who are we to insist that she understand our Western biases on raising kids? It doesn't matter what culture you come from, our way is better because it takes a rational approach to helping kids heal. It's no wonder people from many third world countries seem to be slow. In many cases it may be from the 'treatment' they got from parents. I'm not saying the kid should be taken away from her forever, just long enough to make sure it's not going to be in further danger.
A BANGLADESHI woman who shook a baby boy so violently that he suffered brain damage walked free from court yesterday because a judge conceded that she did not know how to behave in the West.
Rahella Khanom, 24, caused the five-month-old boy in her care to suffer fractures to his breast bone and ribs as she tried to rid him of evil spirits
This is cultural relativism at its worst. Who are we to insist that she understand our Western biases on raising kids? It doesn't matter what culture you come from, our way is better because it takes a rational approach to helping kids heal. It's no wonder people from many third world countries seem to be slow. In many cases it may be from the 'treatment' they got from parents. I'm not saying the kid should be taken away from her forever, just long enough to make sure it's not going to be in further danger.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Another insightful, if also gloomy, piece by Mark Steyn
Money quote to me:
September 11th 2001 was not “the day everything changed”, but the day that revealed how much had already changed. On September 10th, how many journalists had the Council of American-Islamic Relations or the Canadian Islamic Congress or the Muslim Council of Britain in their rolodexes? If you’d said that whether something does or does not cause offence to Muslims would be the early 21st century’s principal political dynamic in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, most folks would have thought you were crazy. Yet on that Tuesday morning the top of the iceberg bobbed up and toppled the Twin Towers.
But it’s important to remember: radical Islam is only the top-eighth of that iceberg – it’s an opportunist enemy taking advantage of a demographically declining and spiritually decayed west. The real issue is the seven-eighths below the surface – the larger forces at play in the developed world that have left Europe too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia and call into question the future of much of the rest of the world. The key factors are:
i) Demographic decline;
ii) The unsustainability of the social democratic state;
iii) Civilizational exhaustion.
None of these is Islam’s fault. They’re self-inflicted.
It's a great point to remember. A lot of the problems we face aren't Islam's fault per se. It's a product of the West's own decadence (i.e. not being proud of our culture) that has created this vacuum that Islam is seeking to fill. A proud West that knew what it stood for wouldn't have let oilfields developed by western companies be nationalized for starters. Read the whole thing.
Money quote to me:
September 11th 2001 was not “the day everything changed”, but the day that revealed how much had already changed. On September 10th, how many journalists had the Council of American-Islamic Relations or the Canadian Islamic Congress or the Muslim Council of Britain in their rolodexes? If you’d said that whether something does or does not cause offence to Muslims would be the early 21st century’s principal political dynamic in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, most folks would have thought you were crazy. Yet on that Tuesday morning the top of the iceberg bobbed up and toppled the Twin Towers.
But it’s important to remember: radical Islam is only the top-eighth of that iceberg – it’s an opportunist enemy taking advantage of a demographically declining and spiritually decayed west. The real issue is the seven-eighths below the surface – the larger forces at play in the developed world that have left Europe too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia and call into question the future of much of the rest of the world. The key factors are:
i) Demographic decline;
ii) The unsustainability of the social democratic state;
iii) Civilizational exhaustion.
None of these is Islam’s fault. They’re self-inflicted.
It's a great point to remember. A lot of the problems we face aren't Islam's fault per se. It's a product of the West's own decadence (i.e. not being proud of our culture) that has created this vacuum that Islam is seeking to fill. A proud West that knew what it stood for wouldn't have let oilfields developed by western companies be nationalized for starters. Read the whole thing.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Saturday, January 01, 2005
"The germ of destruction of our nation is in the power of the judiciary, an irresponsible body — working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdication, until all shall render powerless the checks of one branch over the other and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." --Thomas Jefferson (1821)
PLEASE DON'T GIVE AID TO SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT BUT TO NGO.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layou...
Tamil Hindus working on tea plantations in Thambathamne and Thangamamy
Estates were stopped when they tried to bring rice, vegetables and tea
past a military checkpoint yesterday, and had to reclaim their goods
when the army tried to divert them to a Buddhist temple, according to
Sivam.
A team trying to deliver aid shipments to the hard-hit Ampara district
was blocked at an army checkpoint, despite promises by top local
government officials that clearance would be granted, said Sivam.
Three Tamil relief trucks heading to Kallar, southeast of Batticaloa,
were stopped at the Chettipalayam checkpoint by elite soldiers from the
Special Task Force who forcibly unloaded the relief supplies and took
over distribution, according to Kurukulasingam Thevarajah, Batticaloa
office director.
Another shipment was delayed at nearby Pillaiyarada checkpoint,
Thevarajah added.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layou...
Tamil Hindus working on tea plantations in Thambathamne and Thangamamy
Estates were stopped when they tried to bring rice, vegetables and tea
past a military checkpoint yesterday, and had to reclaim their goods
when the army tried to divert them to a Buddhist temple, according to
Sivam.
A team trying to deliver aid shipments to the hard-hit Ampara district
was blocked at an army checkpoint, despite promises by top local
government officials that clearance would be granted, said Sivam.
Three Tamil relief trucks heading to Kallar, southeast of Batticaloa,
were stopped at the Chettipalayam checkpoint by elite soldiers from the
Special Task Force who forcibly unloaded the relief supplies and took
over distribution, according to Kurukulasingam Thevarajah, Batticaloa
office director.
Another shipment was delayed at nearby Pillaiyarada checkpoint,
Thevarajah added.
