Tuesday, December 19, 2023

WE MOVED!

 







You can find us presently under the title, Amidst The Ruins

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Church & Theology: horizontal tyranny

Non discrimination law has been terribly abused since it's 'horizontal' approach. Vertical non discrimination pertains to the state, which is good and proper. But non discrimination laws between citizens not only violates their property rights, but also the freedom of conscience (religion, worship) as we shall see -

Red State: The Silver Lining 

There are many, many people denying that gay marriage and religious freedom are incompatible. Many of those who deny it are, in fact, hostile to religious freedom to begin with or, when the fight becomes more clear, will be against the church. (...) Gay rights advocates are using liberal city councils in liberal areas to pass anti-discrimination laws that would prohibit churches from being able to say no to sin without running afoul of the law. It is an organized strategy. (...) >>>

27 March 2013
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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Building the state of Europe: it's a criminal tyranny!

"Here is my Saturday Essay in the Irish Daily Mail. It is a lengthy piece, but then in the countries caught in the eurozone, interest in what is happening in Cyprus is intense. British readers can be happy they are not trapped in the single currency. But they are still trapped in the EU...which is why they may want to read on."
Mail Online: The New Soviet Union: Cyprus shows how the EU destroys democracy

24 March 2013
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Balkan Caliphate: the enemy within

SETimes: "Kosovo, Turkey boost military co-operation" 

Kosovo and Turkey continue to deepen their bilateral relations, particularly in the area of military co-operation.(...) Kosovo is performing a strategic review of its security sector, and during the next few years it is anticipated the process will result in the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into the country's army.

19 March, 2013
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Press from Hell: EuroParl Fêtes Journos

Geert Wilders' Freedom Party MP in the EuroParl has asked Capo Chairman Schulz to clear up a minor matter in which annually a fair number of journalists are being feted at the tax payers' dime. In 2011 some 866 journos, carefully selected by the Information Bureaus of the EP and the Ministery Directorate General of Communication were invited to visit the EP. Arrangements entailed 180 euro hotel expenses, air fares, first class train tickets, local public transport and other expenses, averaging 838 euros p.p., totalling in 2011 some 626,000 euros of tax payers' money -

Katholiek Nieuwsblad: "PVV legt EU-sponsoring journalisten bloot"

March 12, 2013
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Friday, February 1, 2013

The Unholy Alliance: destroy Dawkins!

Robert Spencer is describing a very common Islamic supremacist tactic: "to claim that any criticism of any jihadist action is a criticism of all Muslims, such criticism being not allowed under any circumstances in acceptable public discourse." This is not just a tactic. It's part of the morality of the collective mob. Individuals are only relevant in so far as they are part of the group. So to criticize any Muslim is as criticizing the entire Ummah. Their atheist sympathizers use the same postmodern logic to push their prohibition of induction: thou shalt not generalize!
You'd almost forget the actual reason for present entry: this is how The Guardian makes mince meat out of those critics, even if it is their pet religion basher -

JihadWatch: "Richard Dawkins enrages Muslims by referring to destroyers of Timbuktu library as "Islamic barbarians"

Feb 1, 2013
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"The Jihad Project": Mumbai in The Hague

The plot for a Mumbai style massacre in The Hague -

This week a Mumbai style plot for a terrorist attack in The Hague, Netherlands was uncovered. Read the latest on Al Qaeda activities in Pakistan, using Somali students for their heinous work. Report on Radio Netherlands World Service. Two Somali suspects have been apprehended, while two others are at large -

The Friday Times: "Al Qaeda in Somalia recruits some Somali students in Pakistan", by Ali K Chishti Follow him on Twitter @akchishti and @HaraldDoornbos for reports from Pakistan

Groups linked to Al Qaeda in Somalia are using the international terror network to recruit Somali students in Pakistan and train them to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe, security analysts fear. Al Qaeda chief, Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri announced the merger of Somali terrorist group Al Shabab with his organization on February 10 this year, to create Al Qaeda in East Africa, or AQEA. They plan to move from their conventional base in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region to more vulnerable African countries," said Carl Adams, a counterterrorism expert based in Dubai. (...)

In a recent plot, two Somali students were recruited from Karachi - being seen as the new financial and recruitment hub of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan - to carry out suicide attacks in Europe. The two men were to be trained in weapons and explosives in a remote area of Balochistan, according to intelligence sources, by sectarian outfit Jandullah, originally formed by Jamaat-e-Islami activist Atiqur Rehman on the instruction of Al Qaeda number three Khaled Sheikh Muhammad in Karachi in 2002. "They were to be sent to The Hague to carry out 26/11 type fidayeen attacks," the source said. (...) One of the two men intended to travel to Europe as Christians - one as David Azubuike, 21, with a Spanish passport, and the other as Jonathan Boipelo (no details) on stolen passports. (...) >>>

Sep. 1, 2012
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Irredentism in India - who caused the Assam riots -

Rediff News: "New outfit UNMA triggered Assam violence?"

Newly formed United Muslim National Army suspected to have played a key role in the recent ethnic violence in Assam is likely to be linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Vicky Nanjappa reports. While top officials in India [ Images ] blamed local issues for the violence in Assam, the focus has now shifted to the role played by a little known outfit called the United Muslim Nationalist Army in triggering the clashes. The UMNA has been accused of stirring up emotions and attacking the Bodos as a result of which the situation in the state went from bad to worse. (...) >>>

Aug 1, 2012
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LeT now number 1 top terror dog -

Daily Beast: "Mumbai Terror Attack Group Lashkar e Tayyiba Now More Dangerous Than Al Qaeda"

The arrest of Sayeed Zabiuddin Ansari, alias Abu Jindal, at New Delhi airport late last month is a major breakthrough in the investigation of the deadliest terror attack in the world since 9/11. Abu Jindal was one of the masterminds of the November 2008 attack on the city of Mumbai in which 166 people were killed, including six Americans. He is already confessing to his role and implicating Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate directly in controlling the attack as it went down. (...) >>>

July 1, 2012
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10 part course "Muslim Brotherhood in America"

With the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mursi assuming the Egyptian Presidency it's a good ttime to have a closer look. The international cosmopolitan elite has done its best in the last few years to polish the image of the Muslim Brothers. They have done so to the point of treason. Frank Gaffney has comprized a course in 10 parts (part 9 has just been published) -

The Course: "The Musloms Brotherhood in America"

June 25, 2012
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The hindu experience -

Atlas Shrugs: " THE RELENTLESS JIHAD AGAINST HINDUS"

Over eighty million Hindus have been slaughtered in Muslim wars against the non-believers.

"When British India was partitioned in 1947 Hindus and Sikhs constituted about twenty percent of the population in what is now Pakistan. Now it is barely one percent." Jihadwatch
"While India is constantly berated for having severe problems with an amorphous communalism, Pakistan is rarely brought to task over this same standard." "Cleansing Hindus From Pakistan," by Rabir Singh for Conservative Papers, February 12:
In his 1993 BBC television series Akbar S Ahmed, former ambassador from Pakistan to Britain and presently Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington DC, stated that Jinnah had created Pakistan so that India's Muslims could be "safe from Hindu reaction". But he has remained largely silent on the Hindus of Pakistan who have been the victims of Islamic 'reaction', aside from a few meaningless platitudes towards communal harmony. In this he is far from alone. 
When British India was partitioned in 1947 Hindus and Sikhs constituted about twenty percent of the population in what is now Pakistan. Now it is barely one percent. This is a demographic catastrophe which has hardly warranted attention in the media, or from human rights groups and other NGOs. While India is constantly berated for having severe problems with an amorphous communalism, Pakistan is rarely brought to task over this same standard. In one way however Pakistan can be said to have resolved the communal issue; by simply having negligible numbers of minorities to strive for equal rights. (...) >>>
Feb. 14, 2012
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The world under sharia, what it would look like -

Tulisan Murtad: "Islam is Fascism"

Islam is a religion with a very political agenda. The ultimate goal of Islam is to rule the world. But what kind of government an Islamic state would have?
It certainly won’t be democratic. Islam is not compatible with democracy. Amir Taheri, an Iranian born author/journalist in a debate on Islam and democracy argued that in fact the word democracy does not exist in any of the languages spoken by Muslims. “To understand a civilization,” Taheri said, “it is important to understand its vocabulary. If it was not on their tongues it is likely that it was not on their minds either.”
Democracy implies equality. (...) >>>

Sept. 21, 2011
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Shock! AQ supports the 'spring' -

JP: "Al-Qaida releases video supporting Arab Spring"

Al-Qaida has released a message in which Osama bin Laden's successor as the group's leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, said al-Qaida supported the Arab Spring. The hour-long video was released to mark the 10th anniversary of al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The SITE Monitoring Service, which tracks jihadist statements, quoted al-Zawahiri as saying he hoped the protest movements that have overthrown leaders in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya would establish what he called true Islam. The video was posted on jihadist websites on Monday and titled "The Dawn of Imminent Victory", SITE said. (...) >>>

Sept. 13, 2011
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The Islamo-socialist onslaught continues... under the cover of democracy and the lie of Jeffersonian revolutions -

Gateway Pundit: "MASSACRE: MUSLIM TROOPS SLAUGHTER 1,000 CHRISTIANS IN IVORY COAST"

(UPDATED & BUMPED)
At least 1,000 Christians were slaughtered this week in at the Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, Ivory Coast by Muslim troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. The state-run media has been slow to report the story. More below… (...) >>>

Apr 25, 2011
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Thousands of victory mosques -

Clearinghouse: "History of Islam and how they build victory mosques", by Pamela Kafir Liner

Basilica of Aya Sophia in Constantinople, now Istanbul
Orthodox heritage now defaced with Islamic shields
The HISTORY OF ISLAM may hold answers to WHY it is so important for Moslems to build that GROUND ZERO MOSQUE..

In 630, Muhammad led 10,000 Muslim soldiers into Mecca and turned the pagans' most prominent spot, the Ka'aba, into the Masjid al-Haram Mosque.

In 634, Rightly Guided Caliph Umar conquered Syria and turned the Christians' most prominent spot, the Church of Job, famous for being visited by Saint Silva in the fourth century, into the Mosque of Job. (...) >>>

Mar 9, 2011
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The future of the collective -

NRO: "The OIC and the Caliphate", by Andrew McCarthy

The Organization of the Islamic Conference is the closest thing in the modern world to a caliphate. It is composed of 57 members (56 sovereign states and the Palestinian Authority), joining voices and political heft to pursue the unitary interests of the ummah, the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims. Not surprisingly, the OIC works cooperatively with the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s most extensive and important Islamist organization, and one that sees itself as the vanguard of a vast, grass-roots movement — what the Brotherhood itself calls a “civilizational” movement.

Muslims are taught to think of themselves as a community, a single Muslim Nation. “I say let this land burn. I say let this land go up in smoke,” Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously said of his own country in 1980, even as he consolidated his power there, even as he made Iran the point of his revolutionary spear. “We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah.” Muslims were not interested in maintaining the Westphalian system of nation states. According to Khomeini, who was then regarded by East and West as Islam’s most consequential voice, any country, including his own, could be sacrificed in service of the doctrinal imperative that “Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world.”

Because of that doctrinal imperative, the caliphate retains its powerful allure for believers. Nevertheless, though Islamists are on the march, it has somehow become fashionable to denigrate the notion that the global Islamic caliphate endures as a mainstream Islamic goal. (...) “Individual Muslims,” Churchill wrote at the turn of the century, demonstrated many “splendid qualities.” That, however, did not mean Islam was splendid or that its principles were consonant with Western principles. To the contrary, Churchill opined, “No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” Boxed in by rigid sharia, Islam could only “paralyse the social development of those who follow it.” Reason had evolved the West, but Islam had revoked reason’s license in the tenth century, closing its “gates of ijtihad” — its short-lived tradition of introspection. Yet, sharia’s rigidity did not render Islam “moribund.” Churchill recognized the power of the caliphate, of the hegemonic vision. “Mohammedanism,” he concluded, remained “a militant and proselytising faith.” (...) >>>

Mar 1, 2011
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Infiltrated by the Muslim Brothers -

American Thinker: "Are We Facing 'The West's Last Chance'?", by Janet Levy

(...) Pandering to Islam has reached epidemic proportions and threatens our very existence as a free society. This dangerous trend began immediately after 9/11 when President George W. Bush reached out to Muslims, repeating the hollow-sounding mantra that Islam is a religion of peace. This occurred despite prima facie and doctrinal evidence to the contrary. Given that Muslims following the revered Koranic path of jihad had perpetrated (and continue now) the vast majority of worldwide terrorist attacks, the president's message was incongruous with reality. (...) >>>

Feb. 24, 2011
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The vision of the Muslim Brotherhood -

With the Egyptian protests and advancement of the Muslim Brotherhood looming the counter-jihad movement isn't sitting on its hands. A Jewish-Dutch author, Asher Ben Avraham recently posted a very good piece on his blog, related to a 1990 book written by the Brotherhood first man, Yusuf al-Qaradawi "Priorities of The Islamic Movement in The Coming Phase".

The Blaze has posted on a project of the Palestinian Media Watch, who have translated a 1995 book written by Mustafa Mashhur, the reported leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from 1996 until 2002. “Jihad is the Way” is the last of a five-volume work, “The Laws of Da’wa”. The book’s full text, translated by PMW, is posted on the organization’s website, Palwatch.org -

The Blaze: “Muslim Brotherhood’s Goals Uncovered: Global Islamic Conquest and Caliphate”

(…) excerpts of a 1995 book written by the Muslim Brotherhood‘s fifth leader and translated by Palestinian Media Watch are lending a disturbing look at the group’s views and stated mission. “Jihad is the Way” is the last of a five-volume work, “The Laws of Da’wa,” written by Mustafa Mashhur, the reported leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from 1996 until 2002. The Jerusalem Post reports that excerpts from the book detail the Brotherhood’s objectives, including the “global conquest of Islam” and “reestablishing the Islamic Caliphate, the “public and private duties of jihad” and the “struggles Muslims must wage against Israel.”. (...)

“The Islamic ummah,” it says, referring to the supranational community of Muslims, “can regain its power and be liberated and assume its rightful position which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the leaders of humanity.” Elsewhere, it exhorts Muslims, “Know your status, and believe firmly that you are the masters of the world, even if your enemies desire your degradation.”

Marcus spoke to the Post about what he views as the danger of downplaying the Brotherhood’s ideology, or expecting it to moderate its objectives after being allowed into the political process. The movement differs from international terror groups like Al-Qaida, he said, only in tactics, not in its goals. Marcus cited passages in the text that urge Muslims to wage jihad only when circumstances are ripe. (...) >>>

Feb. 9, 2011
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A decade later, a new man hunt is on for a previously unknown 9/11 terror suspect -

The Telegraph: "WikiLeaks: FBI hunts the 9/11 gang that got away"

The FBI has launched a manhunt for a previously unknown team of men suspected to be part of the 9/11 attacks, the Daily Telegraph can disclose. (...) >>>

Feb. 2, 2011
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The Greek connection -

IAN: "Radical Islamic subversion in Greece", by Ioannis Michaletos

A well known hypothesis in the European and American security circles is that the region of Southeastern Europe, including the Eurozone country Greece, is on the verge of a full-scale radical Islamic subversion process which is being facilitated by myriad Islamic-originating groups aiming to gain a strong foothold in Europe.

A recent revelation by the infamous Wiki leaks US Dept of State telegrams, showed that already since 2009, the ex-Ambassador of US in Athens, Mr. Daniel Speckhard, has noted the danger of the creation of extremist Islamic cells in Greece and the use of the country as a traverse point of terrorists from the Middle East to other European countries. (...) >>>

Jan. 30, 2011
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Ground Zero Mosque imam under the bus -

The Weekly Standard: Imam Rauf's Role in Ground Zero Mosque 'Reduced'"

The AP reports that one of the men behind the Ground Zero mosque, Feisal Abdul Rauf, will now have a "reduced" role in the project:
The organization planning to build an Islamic community center near the World Trade Center said the imam who has been the public face of the project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, will be playing a reduced role in the facility.The nonprofit group Park51 announced Friday that it had named a new imam to help lead religious programing so that Rauf could focus on other initiatives. (...) >>>
Jan. 14, 2011
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The 2010 figures are in -
















Jan. 3, 2011
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Hey, Hussein, submit!

The PoliJam Times: "Somali insurgents: Obama must 'embrace Islam' or attacks on U.S. will come", by Mohamed Shiekh Nor (AP)

A leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday. "We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," said Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf. Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia. (...) >>>

Dec. 27, 2010
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The 'moderates' -

Tea and Politics: "Wikileaks: Poll Shows 40 Percent On U.K. University Campuses Want Islamic Law To Rule"

A cable summarized statistics showing a rise in the British Muslim population and increased radicalization there. The cable referenced a poll that showed 32 percent of Muslims on U.K. campuses believe killing in the name of religion is justified, while 40 percent want Muslims in the U.K. to be under Islamic law, or Shariah. >>>

Dec. 21, 2010
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The civilian arm -

PJM: "Terrorists: Just the Tip of the Jihadi Iceberg - Al Qaeda's subversive base is full of noncombatants", by Brian Fairchild

Counter terrorism officials in the United States, and the West in general, have not yet understood that there is a political, non-combatant wing of the global Salafi-jihad movement. It acts as an international production line, routinely manufacturing thousands of Muslims with a Salafi religious orientation, a Salafi worldview, and the belief that they are part of an international movement designed to reform the world community of Muslims, bringing them back to what they consider “true” Islam, and bringing Islam back to global leadership.

While the majority of the members of this movement do not commit acts of violence, they totally support the combatant wing of the movement. They make their own contributions to its success by proselytizing, preaching, and fundraising; forming new front organizations; and creating centers of jihad support in schools, mosques, and Islamic centers. (...) >>>

Dec. 15, 2010
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Ground Zero Mosque outrage is back -

More background information on the people behind the Cordoba project on Atlas Shrugs. Abigail Esman has the goods on Daisy Khan -

The Daily Beast: "Mosque Money Shocker"

The so-called Ground Zero mosque recently applied for a $5 million federal grant from a fund designed to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11, reports The Daily Beast’s John Avlon.
Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from Ground Zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. (...) >>>

Nov. 22, 2010
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Reporting the threat - following comes with a Hat Tip at Peter Siebelt

Center for Security Policy: "Shariah: The Threat to America"

This study is the result of months of analysis, discussion and drafting by a group of top security policy experts concerned with the preeminent totalitarian threat of our time: the legal-political-military doctrine known within Islam as "shariah." It is designed to provide a comprehensive and articulate "second opinion" on the official characterizations and assessments of this threat as put forth by the United States government. (...) >>>

Sept. 15, 2010
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What's wrong with the Ground Zero Mosque imam? -

NRO: "The Two Faces of Feisal Rauf - What’s wrong with What’s Right With Islam", by Ibn Warraq

Part I - Part II

Sept. 14, 2010
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Ground Zero Mosque funded by usual suspects -

Canada Free Press: "Report of Investigation Park 51", by Doug Hagmann

What do “global warming,” “global governance” and “sustainable development” have to do with the proposed “Ground Zero mosque?” One would think absolutely nothing; however investigation into the money, organizations and people behind the project has uncovered some revealing and disturbing connections. An extensive analysis of these findings provides the missing insight into the larger agenda, motives and modus operandi associated with what is now known as the Park51project. It also reveals the reasons behind the persistence of the insipid and insulting project and why it remains viable in the face of such visceral opposition. (...) >>>

Aug. 21, 2010
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Cordoba's Shariah Index Project -

Big Peace: "Ground Zero Mosque’s Hidden Websites: Follow the Shariah", posted by Christine Brim

Do the math. The 15 floors planned for the Ground Zero Mosque just don’t add up. What’s the goal? Maybe the Imam’s goal is not simply to force a provocative “insensitivity” about 9-11 on the American public, with the help of America’s elites. Maybe the Imam’s long-term goal is to force Shariah law on the American public – of course, again, with the help of America’s elites. Why don’t the 15 floors add up? How many floors does Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf need for the mosque portion of this triumphal Islamic command center planned for the two building sites at 45-47 Park Place in New York City?

 Think about it: maybe 2 floors for the mosque itself and related offices. A 3rd floor for the swimming pool, a 4th for the 500 seat auditorium, a 5th for the halal restaurant and halal culinary school, a 6th for the art studios, the childcare center and library, a 7th for the gym and basketball court. Add an 8th floor for miscellaneous storage and offices. And then add a 9th floor for the September 11 memorial, an after-thought that was recently added to the Imam’s plan, although that may in fact be more of a room off to one side than a whole floor.

That leaves six mystery floors empty – or dedicated to other activities. Six floors – that’s a lot of offices, a lot of employees, maybe more than half of the 150 full-time and 500 part-time jobs the Imam says he’ll bring to Lower Manhattan. What are Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s plans for those six mystery floors? (...) >>>

Aug 10, 2010
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Political intricacies of the Ground Zero Mega Mosque -

Red State: "The Ground Zero Mosque and The Obama Administration - Your Taxpayer Dollars At Work", posted by Dan McLaughlin FEATURE

The debate over the “Ground Zero Mosque” presents two separate questions:

(1) Whether the mosque is wrong and should be stopped.
(2) Whether some arm of the government should be the ones to stop it.

Tellingly, liberal defenders of the project have talked almost exclusively about the second point, and avoided the first.

While I joined wholeheartedly in the RedState editorial last week condemning the project and calling for a halt to it, I’ve been a bit agnostic on the second point myself. There are constitutional and statutory restrictions on what the government can or should do to interfere with the building of houses of worship, and those restrictions exist for good reasons, even when in a particular case the house of worship represents a deliberate provocation. Even without the government’s involvement, the mosque project itself is indefensible on its merits, and can and should be subject to public criticism and shame and any other lawful private sanction that can be brought to bear against outrageous conduct (a point Ed Morrissey makes here).

(...) as Investors Business Daily notes, the mosque is being given consideration by the New York City government that a Christian church would not (...) Sensibilities, you see, are a one-way street here; only Cordoba’s matter. That’s far more consistent with the political ideology of Islamism than it is with any effort to combat that ideology. (...)

Claudia Rossett’s Forbes article that first revealed the State Department connection also notes that Rauf’s wife will “make[] a similar State-sponsored outreach trip later this month to Abu Dhabi and Dubai”; although both claim that they will not be doing fundraising for the mosque while traveling on State-sponsored business, the sources of funding, especially foreign funding, for the mosque remain murky. (More here). None of that sounds very local - or purely private - to me. And the State Department has confirmed Rossett’s reporting (...) This absolutely makes the mosque issue one that needs to be addressed by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. Rauf is galavanting about the globe on the taxpayer’s dime; the Administration can’t be neutral about his plans to aggravate tensions here at home. (...) >>>

Aug 15, 2010
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Faisal Shahzad explains Islamism -

MEF: "Faisal Shahzad, Jihadi, Explains Terrorism", by Daniel Pipes

Jaw-dropping court testimony by Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, singlehandedly undermines Obama administration efforts to ignore the dangers of Islamism and jihad. Shahzad's forthright statement of purpose stands out because jihadis, when facing legal charges, typically save their skin by pleading not guilty or plea bargaining. (...) Shahzad insisted on portraying himself as replying to American actions: "I am part of the answer to the U.S. terrorizing [of] the Muslim nations and the Muslim people, and on behalf of that, I'm avenging the attacks," adding that "We Muslims are one community." Nor was that all; he flatly asserted that his goal had been to damage buildings and "injure people or kill people" because "one has to understand where I'm coming from, because … I consider myself a mujahid, a Muslim soldier."

When Cedarbaum pointed out that pedestrians in Times Square during the early evening of May first were not attacking Muslims, Shahzad replied: "Well, the [American] people select the government. We consider them all the same." His comment reflects not just that American citizens are responsible for their democratically elected government but also the Islamist view that, by definition, infidels cannot be innocents. However abhorrent, this tirade does have the virtue of truthfulness. Shahzad's willingness to name his Islamic purposes and spend long years in jail for them flies in the face of Obama administration efforts not to name Islamism as the enemy, preferring such lame formulations as "overseas contingency operations" and "man-caused disasters."

Americans – as well as Westerners generally, all non-Muslims, and anti-Islamist Muslims – should listen to the bald declaration by Faisal Shahzad and accept the painful fact that Islamist anger and aspirations truly do motivate their terrorist enemies. Ignoring this fact will not make it disappear. (...) >>>

Jun 25, 2010
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Outlining the tactics -

American Thinker: "Non-violent actions of the Third Jihad", by Dr. Sam Holliday

The current focus of the Obama administration on violence by Al-Qaeda and its affiliates has caused the true threat to be overlooked. In the future there will be both violent and non-violent actions by the Third Jihad against Western Civilization. The goal of the Third Jihad, as clearly countenanced by the Koran, is to replace all secular governments from Morocco to Indonesia with a single Great Caliphate that would then be able to achieve the submission of the rest of the world to Islam. (...) >>>

June 3, 2010
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A book review -

These are the notes from two interviews with the Public Prosecutor and author of the book The Grand Jihad, Andrew McCarthy

Politeia Clearinghouse: ""The Grand Jihad", by Andrew McCarthy"

Many Westerners can't face the truth about the connection between Islamism and the Koran. Islam is not a moderate, but an extreme belief. Islam is not mainstream. It is not a religion as we understand it. It does not distinguish between spiritual and daily life, and that includes the law. Sharia law is making inroads. The Project is an incremental, but comprehensive campaign. (...) >>>

Jun 2, 2010
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Exegesis for counter jihadis - FEATURE

Politically Incorrect: "The Principle of Abrogation in the Quran", an essay by Michael Mannheimer, Germany, March 23, 2010 / Translation: Anders Denken

The trick behind the apparent inconsistency of the Quran and why the radical Muslims are always correct: Like no other holy book among the world religions, the Quran contains an abundance of contradictory expressions. What is forbidden in one place is expressly demanded in another, and vice versa. However, the contradictory quality of the Quran is only an apparent one.

It falls apart abruptly when one recognizes the very carefully protected secret hidden within the architecture of the Quran. For the Quranic Suras (chapters) are not arranged chronologically, but rather according to their length – and the newer Suras (from Muhammad’s violent later phase when he was in Medina) override the older ones from his era in Mecca that were comparatively more peaceful. However, this secret is guarded by Islamic scholars very closely as if it were a holy grail – and is aired only on particular occasions. (...) >>>

Apr 23, 2010
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The First Post: "Comedy Central censored South Park, say creators - Row as 201st edition of the cartoon bleeps out Mohammed references after ‘warnings’", by Jonothan Harwood

South Park's fearless creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone could be heading for a fall-out with the TV station Comedy Central as well as angry Muslims over the cartoon's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed. Last week the landmark 200th episode of the risque show drew criticism for featuring Mohammed and offending Muslims. But this week's edition, which continued the storyline involving Mohammed, was heavily censored - apparently by the station rather than the programme makers.

In the latest episode, shown on Wednesday night, Mohammed was replaced on screen by a black silhouette and the word 'censored' and all mentions of him were replaced by bleeps. At the end of every show one of the main characters, Kyle, delivers a speech explaining the moral of the episode, but his epilogue on Wednesday was entirely bleeped out. (...) >>>

Apr 22, 2010
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Fourteen-hundred years is a very long time for “Islamophobic” stereotypes to persist - perhaps there's a good reason?

PJM: "Was Marco Polo an ‘Islamophobe’?", by Raymond Ibrahim

If the same exact criticisms being made against Islam today were also made centuries ago, is it reasonable to automatically dismiss them all as “Islamophobic” — that is, as “unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam,” as the Council on American Islamic Relations would have it? (...) Yet, in a classic twist of irony, the opening assertion of the OIC’s first report — “Islamophobia has existed since the time of inception of Islam” — contradicts its entire argument, for it begs the following question: How can something, in this case “unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam” — to use CAIR’s definition of Islamophobia — be a constant aspect of Islam’s fourteen-hundred year history, and yet still be regarded as “unfounded”? Surely fourteen-hundred years is an unusually long time for “unfounded” stereotypes to persist. >>>

April 16, 2010
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Assigned reading

- Discover the Networks: "The Muslim Brotherhood's 'General Strategic Goal' for North America"
- Front Page Magazine: "The Muslim Brotherhood “Project”", by Patrick Poole
- Part II: Includes the entire English translation, dated: 11th May 2006
- Addendum: "The Origins of the Muslim Brotherhood “Project” ", updated: 24th July 2008
- "Why Arabs Lose Wars," by Norvell B. De Atkine
- "Al Qaeda's Fantasy Ideology," by Lee Harris (War without Clausewitz)
- "The Management of Savagery," by Abu Bakr Naji (translated by William McCant)

Related

- Politeia: "Progress Report: Summary"
- What Do You Believe: "Muslim “Debating” Techniques"
- "The Naimisha Journal"

Dossiers:

- "The Unholy Alliance"
- "In Defense of Liberty"
- "The Balkan Caliphate"
- "Stop Islamization of Europe"
- "Eurabia"
- "Islamization=Apartheid"
- "Apostating Islam"
- "Muslims versus Sharia"

To archive >>>

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Arab Spring: the mystery of the IDF attack on Syria

...or Arutz Sheva - Syrian: Site Made Chemical Weapons; Shipped to Lebanon


Infowars: ´Diplomat: Real Target of Israeli Attack Was Syrian Base` 

A western diplomat has told the Iraqi daily Azzaman that the real target of Israel’s attack on Syria was a facility housing 3,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and that reports about a weapons convoy on its way to Lebanon being hit were merely a diversion. (...) >>>

Feb 1, 2013
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Monday, January 28, 2013

Persian Power Play: major sabotage?

Former Revolutionary Guards member, Reza Kahlili tells JP that a blow to Fordow nuclear facility would harm Iran drastically; says Tehran "has decided to retaliate against Israel from Lebanon." Iran's Atomic Energy Organization has dismissed reports of an explosion as "Western propaganda," while The Sunday Times cited Israeli intelligence figures as confirming the claim -

JP: "Ex-CIA man: Iran blast largest sabotage case in decades"

(...) Although it has not yet been verified, a report by Kahlili, according to which a massive blast rocked Iran's key Fordow nuclear installation last week, continued to spread on Monday. (...) >>> 

January 28, 2013
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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Greenism: Fracknation!

HotAir: "Film review: Fracknation" 

 (...) I wanted to get the other side of the fracking dispute represented in the cinematic arena, especially after Gasland and now Promised Land. And make no mistake — this documentary succeeds in rebutting Josh Fox, the producer/director/writer of the documentary Gasland that touched off much of the anti-fracking activism. Phelim steps through a number of Fox’s claims inside and outside of the documentary, systematically undermining each of them. He includes a clip of his in-person challenge to Fox, which Fox tried to suppress, and another with a state official that cozied up to Fox — whose lawyer hilariously demands the film of the interview immediately afterward. (...) >>>
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Herald Sun: "Alarmist scientist admits: whoops, we exaggerated"

 A new study by warmist scientists admits the IPCC probably over-estimated predicted warming by nearly 100 per cent. But don’t you dare doubt the catastrophe is coming: GLOBAL warming is likely to be less extreme than claimed, researchers said yesterday. The most likely temperature rise will be 1.9C (3.4F) compared with the 3.5C predicted by the Intergovern­mental Panel on Climate Change. The Norwegian study says earlier predictions were based on rapid warming in the Nineties. But Oslo University’s department of geosciences included data since 2000 when temperature rises “levelled off nearly completely”. (...) >>>

January 27, 2013
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Due a technical (?) fluke all posts in the current file have disappeared. For earlier postings please refer to the historal archive >>>

Friday, January 25, 2013

The Pomo Presidency: the Marxist States of America

Now that the Obama has nothing left to lose in his second term, there's no need to maintain the masquerade. The gloves are coming off.  Of these new apppointments the Director of Communications and the Chief of Staff ex are "Think Progress", the agitation arm of the extreme Left -

Politico: "Obama to announce McDonough as chief of staff, Pfeiffer as senior adviser"

January 25, 2013
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To archive >>>

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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Socialist Causes Explained: freedom through the state

Net neutrality beautifully illustrates the difference between the Left and the Right. To the Right Liberty means free from government intervention. To the Left it means government regulation -

C|Net: "Why Net neutrality is incompatible with 'Internet freedom'"

The FCC's Net neutrality rules violate the First Amendment, argues a free-market proponent, and are thus antithetical to "Internet freedom." (...) >>>

5 sep.2012
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Life Ethics: the seat of consciousness

Research on severely brain damaged Patient R suggests the brain more than likely doesn't have a single region that is devoted to self awareness, but rather, the complex phenomenon likely emerges from much more distributed interactions between multiple brain regions -

Live Science: "Brain Damaged 'Patient R' Challenges Theories of Self Awareness"

Aug. 29, 2012
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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Black Heroism: a progressive form of slavery

CCCA: "Video: New Movie Shows How Big Government Is Enslaving Millions Of Americans"

In RUNAWAY SLAVE, an intriguing new documentary that opens in theaters this summer, Rev. C.L. Bryant journeys across America to find answers. A one-time NAACP local chapter president, Rev. Bryant discovers that by buying into the entitlement mindset of “progressives,” the black community has traded one form of tyranny for another.

Using leading black conservatives as “conductors,” Rev. Bryant believes it is time for a new Underground Railroad to help liberate all Americans from the Government plantation that has left the black community dealing with a new form of slavery: entitlements.

“Why are we still thinking we are not free at last? What ideas are keeping us down?” Rev. Bryant asks. “For too long, we have been depending on other people for our success. We have to pursue our happiness; our happiness is not provided to us. If we are relying on someone else for our wellbeing, that in itself is a form of slavery.” (...) >>>

Aug. 18, 2012
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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Serbia in the Dock: of Realpolitik and the unethics courts

The Slog: "WAR CRIMES: Milosevic intimate about to become Serbian Prime Minister"

Is the Hague’s War Crimes Court anything more than an irrelevant hypocrisy? The news that Ivica Dacic (a former close colleague of Slobodan Milosevic) is almost certainly going to be the next Serbian Prime Minister should give everyone connected to the real world where morality counts pause for thought. (...) >>>

Jul 29, 2012
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Friday, July 6, 2012

A Private File for Private Parts (but not for all): secular zealots

They are not that easy to define at first glance. Covert antisemitism would be one explanation, but there's more than meets the eye. The fundamental secularists are thorough Robespierrists: collectivist obviously, nanny statists who aren't too shy to abolish parental autonomy in the name of child abuse. They are exceedingly intolerant and dogmatic. Yet another grave danger to liberty -

Spiked: "The bigotry of the anti-circumcision zealots", Frank Furedi

The international campaign demonising the religious practice of circumcising young boys is fuelled by a new form of misanthropic bigotry. It represents a synthesis of twenty-first-century cultural correctness and old-fashioned prejudice. This moral crusade brings together many of the worst trends of our age: the paranoid dogma about the ‘vulnerable child’; the culturally sanctioned contempt for the exercise of parental authority; intolerance of freedom of religion; insensitivity to people’s traditional beliefs; and old-fashioned prejudice against circumcised people. (...) >>>

July 6, 2012
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Communist Crimes on Trial: state terror

The pillar of every totalitarian state: institutionalized terrorism and citizens snatching citizens. There is no safety, anywhere -

Suit101: "Stalin's Purges"

The history of the Soviet Union would not be complete without a discussion of Stalin's Purges. Stalin's Purges represented state-sponsored terror at its height. While Lenin set the precedent for terror, Stalin created a culture of terror that pervaded every aspect of a Soviet citizen's life.

Stalin's Purges were the systematic removal of individuals from society. Stalin's Purges embodied state-sponsored terror in the Soviet Union of the 1930s. The Great Purge, which lasted from 1934-1938 saw an escalation in purges and an increase in the violence that underscored the purges. (...) >>>

July 5, 2012


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Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Cold War: Middle East and the legacy of the USSR

Very interesting piece on the machinations of the Soviet Union in the Middle East and how we still live with the consequences today. A lengthy comment by tzur highlights the role of Richard Nixon, which was much more historical than people realize. Commie Ashton really is a piece of work! Assigned reading -

The Tablet: "The Cold War’s Arab Spring - Stolen Kremlin records show how the Soviets, including Gorbachev, created many of today’s Middle East conflicts", by Claire Berlinski

The dominant narrative of modern Middle East history emphasizes the depredations visited upon the region by European colonization and accepts as a truism that the former colonial powers prioritized the protection of their material interests—in oil, above all—above the dignity and self-determination of the region’s inhabitants. Thus did botched decolonization result in endless instability. The most intractable of the regional conflicts to which this gave rise, that between the Arabs and Israelis, is attributed in this narrative to Israel’s unwillingness to accede to Palestinian national aspirations. Thus did the region become a breeding ground for radicalism, intensified by Cold War rivalry between the superpowers, who replaced the European colonizers as the region’s meddling overlords. Then came Mikhail Gorbachev—a Westernizing reformer. At last, the Cold War was over. A new world order was at hand.

What if this conventional wisdom is nonsense? Russian exile Pavel Stroilov argues just this in his forthcoming book, Behind the Desert Storm. “Not a word of it is true,” he writes. “It was the Soviet Empire—not the British Empire—that was responsible for the instability in the Middle East.” (...) >>>

June 24, 2012
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Nuclear Proliferation: Do cyber attacks make Iran strike more likely?

Hotair: "Time for a new leak: U.S. and Israel developed “Flame” computer virus, say “western officials”"

Unlike the last few mega-leaks, this one’s not aimed at glorifying Obama’s James Bond-ian counterterrorist kung fu. In fact, Obama’s name doesn’t appear in the piece; it’s Bush who’s given credit for developing the Flame/Stuxnet program to sabotage Iranian nukes. Ace blames the leakers for revealing all the nifty things that Flame can do but I think we already knew all the details in WaPo’s piece from that Russian cybersecurity firm that went public about the virus a few weeks ago. The point here isn’t to spill the beans about Flame’s capabilities, it’s — as Ace says — to blame Israel for the virus’s discovery. And it’s not the first time that that’s happened. (...) >>>

June 20, 2012
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The Iran-Syria-Pakistan axis -

Update: "UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears - British officials consider contingency options to back up a possible US action as fears mount over Tehran's capability". More here. Too bad Cameroon and the Obama are like boys playing war games in a china shop -

In Israel rumor has it an attack on Iran is imminent. Even The Guardian is running the latest UN report: "Iran's nuclear activity under scrutiny as evidence of weapons threat emerges - Atomic agency report uncovers Iranian nuclear experiments experts claim could only be used for development of warhead" -

Breitbart: "AP Exclusive: New signs of Syria-Pakistan nuke tie"

U.N. investigators have identified a previously unknown complex in Syria that bolsters suspicions that the Syrian government worked with A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, to acquire technology that could make nuclear arms. The buildings in northwest Syria closely match the design of a uranium enrichment plant provided to Libya when Moammar Gadhafi was trying to build nuclear weapons under Khan's guidance, officials told The Associated Press. The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency also has obtained correspondence between Khan and a Syrian government official, Muhidin Issa, who proposed scientific cooperation and a visit to Khan's laboratories following Pakistan's successful nuclear test in 1998. (...) >>>

Nov. 2, 2011
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Stop the Obama Constitutional Crisis: pOmo or 'pseudologia fantastica'

Hard to say whether the Obama's  'composites' and flights of fantasy are a part of his pOmo constructed reality or pathological lies. In the first case he must have some awareness of his lying, in the second he has not -

Mail Online: "Obama's grandfather tortured by the British? A fantasy (like most of the President’s own memoir)"

A new biography of Barack Obama has established that his grandfather was not, as is related in the President’s own memoir, detained by the British in Kenya and found that claims that he was tortured were a fabrication.
'Barack Obama: The Story' by David Maraniss catalogues dozens of instances in which Obama deviated significantly from the truth in his book 'Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance'. The 641-page book punctures the carefully-crafted narrative of Obama’s life.
One of the enduring myths of Obama’s ancestry is that his paternal grandfather Hussein Onyango Obama, who served as a cook in the British Army, was imprisoned in 1949 by the British for helping the anti-colonial Mau Mau rebels and held for several months. (...) >>>

June 20, 2012
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Assault of the New Storm Troopers: styled to death

Celebrating and main-streaminng violence and disorder. This is how the culture is used to popularize, celebrate and mainstream negative values (nihilism), violence and disorder. But that's just Stock Photos. That's not how Will Potter, an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, DC, sees it. According to the author of "Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege" it's just the public's imagination that sees Anarchism as synonymous to chaos, destruction, kids with green hair playing smashy smashy.
That's all a construct of the government. They're actually about #caring, #love, general assemblies using non-hierarchical consensus models and helping each other out (without the government). Ya know, what ninetynine percent of us are doing.
Reality is more like Chris Bevacqua "Black Bloc", a video zine featuring his photos taken 2 years ago during the "Heart Attack" march during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games here in Vancouver

Green is the New Red: "17 “Anarchists” According to Stock Photos"

June 19, 2012
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Dossier Common Purpose: CP Netherlands (diseased)

Minutes of bankruptcy CP Netherlands on file by @ancetreIV
CP Exposed: "How will the Netherlands survive without Common Purpose?"

Julia Middleton CEO of Common Purpose has announced that CP is closing down operations in Holland due to a lack of interest....
"'It is with great sadness I report that Common Purpose in the Netherlands has closed down. In the current climate in the Netherlands, the open courses have struggled to cover costs. The Netherlands team have worked very hard over the years for Common Purpose and we are all very grateful for their work."
The team at Cpexposed.com wonder just how the Netherlands will survive without a network of future leaders trained by Common Purpose. How will the Dutch be able to communicate alternative agendas behind closed doors without their beloved CP? How will they now be able to influence poltical agendas by unknown people working to a common purpose, ouside and alongside the Dutch democratic system? How will they survive past 2012 if they have no CP 'future leaders'? I suspect that the Netherlands will continue to function very well indeed without common purpose. (...) >>>

June 12, 2012
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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Ruled by the Mob: under attack by the Left (call it new civility)

Having suffered a cyber attack this week by extreme Leftist trolls we know how pomo ad hominem tactics work. This is the postmodern version of the storm troopers. You can follow @ali <--- here and @DavidAFrench, Senior Counsel at American Center for Law and Justice <--- there

NRO: "Defending Bloggers from Attacks, Intimidation, and Frivolous Lawsuits"

Here in the Corner, Jonathan Adler has been ably covering a series of new and particularly pernicious attacks on bloggers’ free speech. For those who haven’t been following the story, roughly three weeks ago a number of conservative bloggers (both independent and affiliated with larger publications) began investigating the story of Brett Kimberlin, a radical domestic terrorist who’s been funded by several prominent leftist donors. As the investigation gained momentum, Red State’s Erick Erickson was subjected to a “SWAT” attack, where a fake call is made to local police reporting a shooting at the blogger’s home. Erick is not the first blogger to experience a SWAT-ing. (...) >>>

June 7, 2012
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Monday, June 4, 2012

Delete the Border!: Israel finds proof of the agenda

Israel in unearthing proof that leftist 'civil society' NGOs are actively seeking to change the demographics of the country. This is Israel, but they are pushing their ideas of 'universalistic citizenship‘ all across the Western world. They do this evidently not because their love for Western free societies, or they would not do it -

ISN: "African Infiltration Planned by Left?"

Mounting evidence that influx of Africans is part of a leftist plan to flood Israel with Muslims. (...) >>>

June 3, 2012
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Finer Points of Warfare: up in Flame

BareNakedIslam: "More sinister than Stuxnet, Flame computer virus strikes Iran and other enemies of Israel"

Stuxnet has an even more ominous successor. Iranian security experts report a virus far more dangerous than the Stuxnet worm has struck the country’s computer systems. Dubbed the “Flame,” the virus is one that has struck not only Iran, however, but a number of other enemies of Israel as well. The country with the largest number of machines infected by Flame is believed to be Iran, following by the West Bank, and Sudan and Syria after that. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have also been affected. (...) >>>

May 29, 2012
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Friday, May 25, 2012

"The Dystopia of Paradise": there's life after pomo

But it does take a country that is living with evil, on the edge of destruction, every day. So for now, don't hold your breath for the West to find out -

Caroline Glick: "Post-Zionism is so 1990s"

You can learn a lot about a nation's health by watching how it celebrates its national holidays. In Israel's case, compare how we celebrated our 50th Independence Day in 1998 to what celebrations involve today. During the 1990s, Israel's elite took a vacation from reality and history and they brought much of the public with them. Then-foreign minister Shimon Peres said that history was overrated. The so-called "New Historians," who rummaged through David Ben-Gurion's closet looking for skeletons, were the toast of the academic world. Radicals like Yossi Beilin, Shulamit Aloni and Avrum Burg were dictating government policy. The media, the entertainment establishment, and the Education Ministry embraced and massively promoted plays, movies, television shows, songs, dances, art and books that "slayed sacred cows." Everywhere you turned, post-Zionism was in. Post-Judaism was in. And Zionism and Judaism were both decidedly out. (...) >>>

May 25, 2012
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Friday, May 18, 2012

Obama's Radical Connections: the vetting continues

Update Apparently Dystel's partner, Miriam Goderich, says the whole Obama-born-in-Kenya thing was a fact-checking mistake by her. Not likely, says character witness -

Breitbart: "THE VETTING - EXCLUSIVE - OBAMA'S LITERARY AGENT IN 1991 BOOKLET: 'BORN IN KENYA AND RAISED IN INDONESIA AND HAWAII'

Note from Senior Management:

Andrew Breitbart was never a "Birther," and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of "Birtherism." In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961.
Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama's ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.
It is for that reason that we launched "The Vetting," an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)--not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.
It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below--one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review. It is evidence--not of the President's foreign origin, but that Barack Obama's public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
***
Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama's then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii."
The booklet, which was distributed to "business colleagues" in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel.
It also promotes Obama's anticipated first book, Journeys in Black and White--which Obama abandoned, later publishing Dreams from My Father instead. (...) >>>

May 18, 2012
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Freedom isn't Free!: meet the new Warsaw Pact

New Zeal: "Russia Builds Military Alliance Against NATO"

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is planning to create a large military contingent comprising units and formations of several Central Asian states, the head of the post-Soviet security group said Monday. CSTO members – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – use the organization as a platform to fight drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime, and have pledged to provide immediate military assistance to one another in the event of an attack. The bloc has a Collective Rapid Reaction Force deployed in Central Asia, and is continuing to build up its military forces. (...) >>>

May 16, 2012
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

In Defense of Liberty: Steyn's foreword to Wilders' book

- Artwork by Bosch Fawstein
NRO: "The Spirit of Geert Wilders - A foreword to Wilders’ Marked for Death", by Mark Steyn

When I was asked to write a foreword to Geert Wilders’ new book, my first reaction, to be honest, was to pass. Mr. Wilders lives under 24/7 armed guard because significant numbers of motivated people wish to kill him, and it seemed to me, as someone who’s attracted more than enough homicidal attention over the years, that sharing space in these pages was likely to lead to an uptick in my own death threats. Who needs it? Why not just plead too crowded a schedule and suggest the author try elsewhere? I would imagine Geert Wilders gets quite a lot of this. And then I took a stroll in the woods, and felt vaguely ashamed at the ease with which I was willing to hand a small victory to his enemies. (...) >>>

May 15, 2012
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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Money & Economy: it's the deteriorating asset base, stupid!

Zerohedge: "Everything You Know About Monetary Policy Is Wrong... And Why This Is Very Bad News For Europe"

For over a year we have been cautioning that even more than a "liquidity versus solvency" debate, the biggest unspoken factor (though slowly gaining prominence) not only for Europe, although manifesting itself there most prominently, but all across the developed world is the quality of the (deteriorating) asset base, thanks mostly due to the Fed's influence over corporate cash misallocation, and courtesy of the fact that the bulk of credit money creation in the past decade has come via the shadow banking system, broad asset collateral. Last year MF Global taught us that it is this shadow collateral which exists merely in ledger entries between fractional reserve entities (mostly broker dealers and hedge funds), that is now extremely scarce and has to be pledged and repledged in daisy chains of ultra rehypothecation, and which just like robosigning exists until it is actually called for delivery, when the entire collateral<->money linkage falls apart. It is this intersection of traditional monetary liabilities and new shadow aggregates that is completely undiscussed by conventional economic literature, and is why traditional monetary theory is completely helpless in coming up with credible and effective means of returning the world to a growth state. In other words, the Krugmans of the world are absolutely unable to explain how shadow banking should be accounted for when explaining something as simple as the leverage collapse, first in Europe, and then in the US (we have covered the collapse of shadow banking repeatedly, most recently here). (...) >>>

May 5, 2012
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