History Compiled: unlikely converts to Judeism

VJ: "Light in All the Dark Places"

(...) all day long on Thursday and erev Shabbat radio commercials continually blasted every 15 minutes: Hitler's nephew's grandson -- right here in Israel -- and a Jew! The repercussions left my family shaken." (...) "Now I understand why most of my counterparts hide their identities," says Brown. "Many Israelis are uneasy about our genealogy; they don't know how to react or what to do with us."

Perhaps that is why in a country still scarred by the Holocaust, a country whose very existence still trembles on the foundations of the ash and bone of the Six Million, very few people are aware of what I like to call "The Penance Movement": a subculture of hundreds of children of Nazis who have embraced their own dark past in the most extreme possible way. They have not only aligned themselves with the group of people their parents sought to annihilate, they have cast off their former identities and themselves become members of that very group. The majority of them have converted according to Jewish law, live as Orthodox Jews and reside in Israel. This, I believe, is one of the last great, untold chapters of the post-Holocaust era. (...) >>>

Jan. 19, 2011
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Dirty tricks of another nature -

TwinCities: "JFK's Own Dirty Trick on Nixon", by Mark Feldstein

s ago this week, Richard Nixon stood uncomfortably on the Capitol's inaugural platform and watched his rival John F. Kennedy being sworn in as president. "We won" the election, Nixon fumed, "but they stole it from us."

Indeed, the dirty tricks that helped defeat Nixon were more devious than merely the ballot-stuffing of political lore. In one of the least-known chapters of 20th-century political history, Kennedy operatives secretly paid off an informant and set in motion a Watergate-like burglary that sabotaged Nixon's campaign (...) >>>

Jan. 16, 2011
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Holocaust survivor nabs Nazi -

PJM: "Private Citizen Goes Undercover, Performs Sting on High-Ranking Nazi"

Holocaust scholar Mark Gould spent four years posing as a neo-Nazi to gather evidence against the notorious Bernhard Frank. This week, Gould filed a civil lawsuit against him. (...) >>>

Dec. 9, 2010
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Stalin's and Hitler's bloodlands -

The Economist: "History and its woes - How Stalin and Hitler enabled each other’s crimes"

IN THE middle of the 20th century Europe’s two totalitarian empires, Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, killed 14m non-combatants, in peacetime and in war. The who, why, when, where and how of these mass murders is the subject of a gripping and comprehensive new book by Timothy Snyder of Yale University. The term coined in the book’s title encapsulates the thesis. The “bloodlands” are the stretch of territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea where Europe’s most murderous regimes did their most murderous work. The bloodlands were caught between two fiendish projects: Adolf Hitler’s ideas of racial supremacy and eastern expansion, and the Soviet Union’s desire to remake society according to the communist template.

 That meant shooting, starving and gassing those who didn’t fit in. Just as Stalin blamed the peasants for the failure of collectivisation, Hitler blamed the Jews for his military failures in the east. As Mr Snyder argues, “Hitler and Stalin thus shared a certain politics of tyranny: they brought about catastrophes, blamed the enemy of their choice, and then used the death of millions to make the case that their policies were necessary or desirable. Each of them had a transformative Utopia, a group to be blamed when its realisation proved impossible, and then a policy of mass murder that could be proclaimed as a kind of ersatz victory.” (...)

“Bloodlands” has aroused fierce criticism from those who believe that the Soviet Union, for all its flaws, cannot be compared to the Third Reich, which pioneered ethnic genocide. Doing this, the critics argue, legitimises ultranationalists in eastern Europe who downplay the Holocaust, exaggerate their own suffering—and dodge guilt for their own collaboration with Hitler’s executioners. That argument is powerful but unfair. Many people say stupid things about history. Mr Snyder is not one. (...) >>>

Oct. 17, 2010
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History is relative -

I hesitate where to categorize this relativistic affront of including Stalin in a D-Day memorial. It resembles the Nazi appreciation crowd, but then it's also another postmodern ravage. On the other hand it could also serve as a reminder not to forget the communist crimes, that are here on trial. But History Compiled is probably the right choice. And why not include Corporal Hitler as well and be done with it? -

The Foundry: "Petition Seeks To Remove Stalin from D-Day Memorial"

Earlier this month, we told you about the decision to place a bust of the brutal dictator Joseph Stalin in an installation commemorating D-Day. Despite the controversy that this decision has caused, the National D-Day Memorial Foundation—the organization responsible the memorial—has steadfastly refused to remove the offending sculpture. A new website, StalinStatue.com, has been launched in an effort to force the removal of the statue from the memorial. (...) >>>

June 21, 2010
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The sad irony of the Polish patriots' plane disaster -

Update: mini Katyn flight manifest -

Telegraph: "President Kaczyński is killed in a plane crash: Poland's tragedies continue", by Daniel Hannan

Poland has suffered more than is any country’s right. Its story is one of repeated occupations, partitions and tyrannies. Sixty years ago, almost to the day, 21,768 Polish army officers, intellectuals and senior civil servants were murdered by the Soviet NKVD in the forest near Katyn: an attempt by Stalin to decapitate Poland by liquidating its elite. For years, the crime went unacknowledged: Western governments, reluctant to face up to the reality of the regime to which they had allied themselves, went along with the pretence that the massacre had been carried out by the Nazis.
This morning, a few miles from Katyn, another decapitation occurred. A Russian plane crashed near Smolensk, carrying the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria, and dozens of senior Polish officials. They had been returning from a ceremony at the site of the Katyn atrocity, for which Russia finally admitted responsibility in 1990.

The reports in Britain will no doubt describe President Kaczyński as “a controversial figure” (the BBC has already started). Leftists resented him for pursuing a policy of lustration: that is, of requiring public servants to declare whether they had played a role in the previous Communist regime. These critics applauded a similar policy when it was imposed on former fascist countries after 1945 and, indeed, generally support the Spanish government in its attempts to reopen what happened under Franco but, for whatever reason, consider it tasteless to apply the same standard to former Communists. Lech Kaczyński was a patriot: a man who never collaborated with the dictators or accepted the occupation of his country by the Red Army. (...) >>>

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• The Katyn massacre: A crime without punishment (cbc.ca)

Apr 10, 2010
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Turkey's revenge - Now one begins to understand how the Armenian genocide could have happened. And that, when so many Turks are living abroad, causing no end of problems to the host countries -

BBC: "Turkey threatens to expel 100,000 Armenians"


Turkey's prime minister has threatened to deport 100,000 Armenian migrants, amid renewed tensions over Turkish mass killings of Armenians in World War I. Recent resolutions in the US and Sweden have called the killings "genocide". Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the BBC that of 170,000 Armenians living in Turkey "70,000 are Turkish citizens".

"We are turning a blind eye to the remaining 100,000... Tomorrow, I may tell these 100,000 to go back to their country, if it becomes necessary." Thousands of Armenians, many of them women, work illegally in Turkey. Most do low-skilled jobs such as cleaning. (...) >>>

Mar 18, 2010
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Don't let Corporal Hitler off the hook!

While claiming underlying illness let's anyone's morally off the hook, the Left's cover-all bogey, Adolf Hitler is not allowed to get away with this. After all, morality does not exist, but Hitler was uniquely evil. It's also worth noting when looking for the cause of evil they look at either physical or mental illness that undercuts free will. It's never philosophy that leads to evil, certainly not subjective, relativist, pragmatic collectivism, which they share with Nazism:

Der Spiegel: "A Sober Look at Hitler's Health", by Christoph Gunkel

There are myriad theories out there about Hitler's health. Some say he was a drug addict, others say he was the victim of a hypnosis gone wrong. Then there are the strange hypotheses about his genitalia. A new book, however, debunks most such ideas. Drugs and illness, the authors conclude, had little effect on his actions. (...) >>>

Feb 4, 2010
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Life during the "Anschluss"

Image via Wikipedia

Dakota Voice: "Survivor of Socialism Has Warning for America"

The South Dakota Family Policy Council sponsored a speech tonight at First Assembly of God in Rapid City by Kitty Werthmann of Eagle Forum in South Dakota. The presentation was entitled “Socialism vs Freedom” and was a part of the SDFPC “Heritage Under Attack” series.

Werthmann is the head of the South Dakota chapter of Eagle Forum, and was born in Austria. Werthmann lived for seven years under the Nazi rule of Austria, eventually coming to the United States in 1950 to become a naturalized citizen in 1962. (...) >>>

Dec. 31, 2009
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The morals of war and peace: stand by your values, and fight to keep them; appease your enemies, you lose values as well as freedom. Sir Winston Churchill to the appeaser Chamberlain: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.”

PJTV: "Warmongers or Peacemakers: Who Will Be Responsible for Scorching the Earth?"

Oct. 21, 2009
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Mussolini moonlighting as MI5 spook?

The Guardian: "Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini"

History remembers Benito Mussolini as a founder member of the original Axis of Evil, the Italian dictator who ruled his country with fear and forged a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany. But a previously unknown area of Il Duce's CV has come to light: his brief career as a British agent.

Archived documents have revealed that Mussolini got his start in politics in 1917 with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5. For the British intelligence agency, it must have seemed like a good investment. Mussolini, then a 34-year-old journalist, was not just willing to ensure Italy continued to fight alongside the allies in the first world war by publishing propaganda in his paper. He was also willing to send in the boys to "persuade'' peace protesters to stay at home. (...) >>>

Oct. 14, 2009
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PJM: "The 1929 Arab Terror Attack: When Hebron Became Occupied Territory", by Sammy Benoit

(...) As early as 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, Arab crowds began to gather. They came in mobs, armed with clubs, knives, and axes. The Arab women and children threw stones, the men ransacked Jewish houses and destroyed Jewish property. With only that single police officer in Hebron (Mr. Cafferata), the Arabs entered Jewish courtyards with no opposition.
Rabbi Slonim, who had tried to shelter much of the Jewish population in his own home, was approached by the rioters and offered a deal. If all the Ashkenazi yeshiva students were given over to the Arabs, the rioters would spare the lives of the Sephardi community. Rabbi Slonim refused to turn over any of the students and was killed on the spot, along with his wife and young child. In the end, 12 Sephardi Jews and 55 Ashkenazi Jews were murdered. (...) >>>

Aug. 24, 2009
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Rianovosti: "“Politicians should act in the interest of their state and their people”

August 23 marked 70 years since the singing of the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, which is more commonly known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In all likelihood, no other international treaty has evoked as many disputes and contradictory assessments. Numerous publications have been issued since then. Some historians, politicians, and representatives of the public anathematized Stalin and his entourage, whereas others tried to prove that the pact was necessary. Should Russia be ashamed of the pact? Is Russia justifiably criticized for signing it? Why was the pact signed and in what conditions? First Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs Yuly Kvitsinsky answers these questions in an interview with Oksana Buryak. (...) >>>

Aug. 24, 2009
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They're Joking, Aren't They?: "What are we losing?"

# The Jews and their ancestors worshipped a single, honest, principled god who made a covenant with them: if they obeyed his laws, he would protect them and not destroy the world again as he had done in the flood.

So there’s the Judeo bit; the world is orderly and governed by laws.

Obedience to laws and faithfulness to promises made to God and respect for promises made to God also translated, patchily but ever more frequently, into moral conduct between people.
You get lawful, decent behaviour having sacred meaning and worth.

So far, so potentially Judeo-Hellenic.

# Then the Greeks spread the idea that the human intellect was a thing worthy of value in itself, irrespective of - to risk sounding Lefty-polytechnic diversity policy here – nationality, status, occupation and (implicitly, eventually and not yet completely) sex.

So it came to pass that individual people by dint of their reasoning ability could be of worth beyond whatever the local rulers, vicious local gods, and bullying relatives, held them to be and thus eventually they might be handed some degree of freedom. And responsibility.

Lawful behaviour based on natural laws of divine origins. Individuals matter.

Then one particular Jew comes along, says we don’t have to be vicious animals wallowing in our base lusts and mean-spiritedness, and here are a few simple principles we might want to apply when dealing with the lawful God and His children… (...) >>>

Mar 1, 2009
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Politeia: "The Turkish Genocides, the Endless Story"

From Facebook group "Turkish troops out of Cyprus" we received word that MSNBC is holding a live poll, if the US should formally recognize the World War I-era killing of Armenians as genocide?

The group: "As of a few minutes ago the numbers showed Yes 20%, No 80%! The Turks have mobilized a global campaign to shift results towards "No" but we can't let them.

The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact, along with many other crimes against humanity (...) and it should be recognized.

Please vote ' YES ' at the below link and send it to everyone you know. >>>

As long as Turkey is able to get away with their denial, all concerned - Turks, Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians - will never be able to close the book on this painful episode in the history of the Ottoman Empire. (...) This has now gone on long enough. Turkey wants to join the European Union. If they want to be a mature state, they should grow up and own up. An organized denial to vote No to a poll is hardly the answer towards resolving this serious question. >>>

Related:

- Politeia: "The Medina Precedent for Holocaust and Genocide"
- Jewcy: "Understanding the Islam in Islamic Antisemitism", by Andrew G. Bostom (in 3 parts)
- The Lighthouse: "Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey: day 1"
- The Lighthouse: "Transnational Progressivism: an Inexplicable Presumption"

Nov 21, 2008
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Politeia: "Armistice and Veteran's Day 2008"

(...) given the current upsurge of interest - primarily in the US - we've unearthed some intriguing, if highly emotionally charged footage on the Weimar Republic, and the German Revolution that followed the chaos of World War I. (...) (For more reading here's the Wiki on Christopher Isherwood.) (...) From the cultural angle, we proudly present a collection of World War I propaganda posters from all countries involved in the Great War. The entire site is rather a gem and worthy of further exploration. (...)

Following document was made by someone who remains anonymous, in commemoration of his great grandfather Aaron Kennett who fought in the Great War. He flourished from 1887 to 19187. The music accompanying the touching family document is the hymn "I Vow to Thee my Country", created in 1921 when a poem by Cecil Spring-Rice was set to music by Gustav Holst. It expresses the unconditional love, loyalty and self-sacrifice that was once unquestioningly devoted to one's nation. It is a victory of the Postmodern One Worlders that these words - while warm and patriotic only a few years back when played at my father's funeral - now sound strangely surreal. (...) whereas giving one's life for a state in Europe today seems unthinkable and alien, a renewed fight for individual freedom against neotot pocket potentates is certainly not. The same forces taunting national colours and hymns also whisper of collectives and the redundancy of democracy, suggesting that the value of 'enlightened dictators' is somewhat underrated. (...) >>>

11th Nov 2008
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... the Holocausts ... eh, isn't this evidence a bit superfluous? ... sadly not ...

YNet: "Report: Plans for Auschwitz found in Berlin apartment"

Head of Germany's federal archives calls copies of some of 28 plans for construction of Nazi extermination camp 'authentic proof of systematically planned genocide of Jews of Europe' --


Original plans for the construction of the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz, including a gas chamber and crematorium, have been found in a Berlin apartment, a newspaper reported Saturday. (...) The daily Bild published copies of some of the 28 plans, which the head of Germany's federal archives, Hans-Dieter Krekamp, called "authentic proof of the systematically planned genocide of the Jews of Europe." It said they were dated between 1941 and 1943 and stamped, "Waffen-SS and Police Construction Directorate." Some were signed by senior SS officials and one initialed by the head of the Nazi ideological corps, Heinrich Himmler. (...) One plan, drawn by a detainee as early as November 1941, when experiments in eliminating prisoners were already under way, had a gas chamber clearly labeled, Bild said. Another showed a crematorium with places for ovens marked, and storage space for bodies. The "final solution to the Jewish question"(...) was decided by officials of Adolf Hitler's regime in January 1942 at a conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. More than one million Jews, gypsies and others deemed "subhumans" by the Nazis were killed at Auschwitz, near the Polish city of Kracow, out of a total six million slaughtered up to the fall of the regime in 1945. Advancing Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz in January 1945, but camp authorities had blown up the gas chambers, and Holocaust deniers have claimed there was no proof of the camp's purpose. >>>

Atlas Shrugs has more, touching on a little theory of my own, namely that the historical M'dena massacre of the Jews stood model for the Armenian Holocaust, and that it also provided the blueprint and justification for the Jewish Shoa:

"I am doing some back ground checking with some contacts in Berlin. Interestingly, the apartment that these plans were found in may have been the very apartment/s' of the Grand Mufti and/or one frequented by Francois Genoud. Regular Atlas readers are familiar with Genoud here - Soros' collaboration with Nazi Francois Genoud (they were both ONE WORLDERS) after the war (more here.) If it is the apartment of the Grand Mufti it would further support the 'testimony' at the Nuremburg Trials of Eichman that stated 'the Grand Mufti orchestrated the concentration camps and the killing of the Jews for the muslims'. The Grand Mufti was a personal guest of Hitler during WWII and lived in an apartment in Berlin. (...)

It was in this Wannsee Berlin villa in that the Nazis conceived a plan that was eerily similar to the one the Mufti al-Husayni had witnessed being deployed by the Ottoman Muslims on the Armenian Christians when he had served that German ally in 1915. ..." >>>

9th Nov 2008
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To archive >>>

Keywords: CIA, George Soros, Haj Amin al Husseini, Hitler, pogroms, Postmodernism, Spartacists, terrorism, Turkey, W.S. Churchill, World War I, World War II, German Revolution, Katyn, Armenian genocide, Ottoman Empire, MI5, Mussolini, Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet Union, Hebron massacre, Anschluss, Katyn massacre, D-Day, Third Reich, Poland

Spook Book: a heroic story

NYDailyNews: "Author Brad Meltzer was recruited in government agency, 'horrified' at how easy it is to attack U.S."

I was a real-life secret agent. I didn't have the hand-grenade cuff links or the poison-dart pen, but in 2004 I was recruited by the Department of Homeland Security for its Red Cell program. As they described it - and as The Washington Post later reported - Red Cell was the government's way of trying to anticipate how terrorists would next attack the United States. To do that, the government brought together what they called "out-of-the-box thinkers." As a novelist who writes thrillers with scenes that take place in the underground tunnel below the White House, I was somehow identified as one of those thinkers. (...) >>>

Jan. 11, 2011
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US securing against hacktivists -

The Land of the Free: "Wikileaks retaliation perpetrated by “hacktivists”", by Jim Kouri, CPP

Domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, foreign intelligence actors, and criminal enterprises are increasingly using encryption technology to secure their communications and to exercise command and control over operations and people without fear of surveillance. This week, a new threat emerged in the world of cybersecurity: “hacktivists” (...) “We are witnessing a cyber war, the likes of which have not yet been seen,” said Randall Nichols, professor and director of the cybersecurity programs at Utica College. “But the reality is that this is the battlefield of the present and the future.”

The WikiLeaks’ posting of stolen classified information has highlighted the tension between the intelligence community’s strategy of “share to win” and the necessity to enforce “need to know.” Commanders in the field understand the advantage that comes from sharing intelligence and information and they do not want to give up that capability, according to Jim Garamone, an American Forces Press Service staffer.

Since the Wikileaks incidents, the Pentagon has put in place methods to minimize such thefts of classified materials. “It is now much more difficult for a determined actor to get access to and move information outside of authorized channels,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a written statement following publication of news articles on the documents Sunday. (...)

The cyber threat confronting the United States is rapidly increasing as the number of actors with the tools and abilities to use computers against the United States or its interests is rising. The country´s vulnerability is escalating as the US economy and critical infrastructures become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the World Wide Web. Large scale computer attacks on US critical infrastructure and economy would have potentially devastating results. Cyber threats fall into two distinct categories: threats affecting national security (...) >>>

Dec. 15, 2010
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Cablegate, wikileaks and a tin foil hat -

News has broken that Julian Assange was refused bail in court and is remanded in UK custody until Dec. 14, when he has his next court appearance. Early this morning he walked into a London police precinct.

In the US meanwhile investigators are trying to figure out how PFC Manning got his hands on both secret State Dept. and DoD documents. Jonathon M. Seidl on The Blaze blog may be on to something -

The Blaze blog: "WIKILEAKS MYSTERY CONTINUED (ADDITIONAL READING)"

We’ve covered a lot of ground today regarding Wikileaks. I’ve brought you more from X and introduced you to Y, and in the end we asked some important questions, mainly, how is it possible for PFC Bradley Manning to have downloaded and leaked State Department cables? According to two sources who have written to me (X and Y), it isn’t.  (...)

Could both pieces of information explain how the “impossible” was possible? Maybe. The access to another joint database might explain how Manning, an Army analyst, got access to State Department cables. And the “different rules” in Baghdad might explain the lapse in security that allowed Manning to smuggle out that data. I’ve presented the information to X and Y and am eagerly awaiting their thoughts. (...) >>>

Dec. 7, 2010
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Cablegate and conspiracy theory - Alex Jones in a tin foil hat, ranting about the Swedish rape allegations and the CIA connection -

PJM: "WikiLeaks and U.S. Computer Security: The ‘Second Spy’ Theory", by Charlie Martin

Either U.S. intelligence is massively incompetent, or PFC Manning had help — an insider with high-level access. (...) What should really disturb us is the implications — not for our diplomacy, but for the competence and effectiveness of our own counter-espionage. There are really two possibilities: we’ve either, in the name of “sharing,” completely forgotten all the lessons that have been learned, at great cost, over the “War Century”; or there is someone else, with much broader access that Pfc. Manning, who was really behind this leak. And either conclusion should scare us silly. >>>

Dec. 6, 2010
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Wikileaks, Humint and Hillary's spooks -

TWT: "Hillary Clinton's State Department Spooks"

As unaccustomed as I am to write this, commentators need to give Hillary Clinton a break. The secretary of state is under fire for ordering American diplomats to engage in detailed information collection against foreigners with whom they come into contact during the course of their duties. Among the documents released by WikiLeaks is the 8,300-word National Humint Collection Directive and similar orders that direct State Department employees to ferret out things like telephone numbers and directories ("in compact disc or electronic format if available"); e-mail addresses, Internet nicknames, personal websites, credit card and frequent-flier account numbers; health, biographic and even biometric information such a fingerprints, iris and facial-recognition factors; and signatures. In short, the government wanted to know anything that would be relevant to relations with the leaders of foreign countries, which, in practice, could be anything at all. (...) >>>

Dec. 3, 2010
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This just in, months after the event - master spook behind Russian spy ring outing -

Reuters: "Top Russian spy defects after betraying ring in U.S."

The head of Russia's deep cover U.S. spying operations has betrayed the network and defected, a Russian paper said on Thursday, potentially giving the West one of its biggest intelligence coups since the end of the Cold War.

The newspaper, Kommersant, identified the man as Colonel Shcherbakov and said he was responsible for unmasking a Russian spy ring in the United States in June whose arrests humiliated Moscow and clouded a "reset" in ties with Washington.

The betrayal would make Shcherbakov one of the most senior turncoats since the fall of the Soviet Union and could have consequences for Russia's proud Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and its chief, former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. (...) >>>

Nov. 11, 2010
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Tale of a unstable defector? - Curiouser and curiouser ... Christian Science Monitor has more -

NYT: "A Defector Goes Home, but to What End?"

When Shahram Amiri, the Iranian scientist, took his C.I.A. handlers by surprise last week by un-defecting back to Tehran, he was gambling with his life. Would he end up like Vitaly Yurchenko, the one-time K.G.B. officer who defected to Washington exactly a quarter-century ago, revealed some of the deepest secrets of a collapsing empire, and then bolted from his C.I.A. handlers at a French restaurant in Georgetown and ended up back in Moscow? The French restaurant is long gone; in one of those oddities of spy-vs.-spy history, it was just seven blocks south of the office block where Mr. Amiri took refuge Monday night in the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy. But, remarkably, Mr. Yurchenko is still around. And as his interrogation by Iranian intelligence began on Friday, Mr. Amiri could only hope for the same fate. (...) >>>

Jul 18, 2010
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Why spy? And a view from the other side -

Stratfor: "Russian Spies and Strategic Intelligence"

(...) It is said that the world is global and interdependent. This makes it vital for a given nation to know three things about all of the nations with which it interacts. First, it needs to know what other nations are capable of doing. Whether militarily, economically or politically, knowing what other nations are capable of narrows down those nations’ possible actions, eliminating fantasies and rhetoric from the spectrum of possible moves.

Second, the nation needs to know what other nations intend to do. This is important in the short run, especially when intentions and capabilities match up. And third, the nation needs to know what will happen in other nations that those nations’ governments didn’t anticipate. The more powerful a nation is, the more important it is to understand what it is doing. (...)

If we were to guess — and we are guessing — this was a team of talent scouts. They were not going to meetings at the think tanks because they were interested in listening to the papers; rather, they were searching for recruits. These were people between the ages of 22 and 30, doing internships or entry level jobs, with family and academic backgrounds that would make employment in classified areas of the U.S. government easy — and who in 20 to 30 years would provide intelligence and control to Moscow. (...) >>>

Jul 13, 2010
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Shock! the cold war isn't over! -

Update: The Cold War isn't over, says Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy, a former KGB agent who became one of the KGB’s harshest critics. He is the author of seven books about the KGB and Japan. His new book is KGB/FSB’s New Trojan Horse: Americans of Russian Descent. The '10' spooks caught may be related to money laundering ops. Also: brace for retaliation ... this is the mob and Putin used to say a proverb of the Russian criminal world: “The one who offends us will not survive a day.”

FrontPage: "Spies Like Putin"

(...) Americans are still in euphoria about the supposed end of the Cold War. But as I asked earlier, who signed a capitulation? And where were the Nuremberg-style trials of communists for their crimes against humanity? Make no mistake about it: The Russians know the war is still going on. And they do not share American values. Russia is mostly an Asian country. And the very fact that Americans do not understand, and do not want to understand, this is a result of the great Russian influence here. (...) >>>

Jul 8, 2010
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Frontpage Interview’s guest today is

Spy swap or exile? - In a recent interview with Robert Buchar on Front Page entitled "KGB Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" we read that spies, sleepers, moles and handlers are deeply infiltrated. The '10' just caught in the US (one at large on Cyprus) are just the tip of the iceberg, Panthergate may be the blueprint of their release. On the other hand, there's also the swap! Even if against an innocent who doesn't even want to be sent into exile -

Breitbart: "Russian spy claims swap in works for spies in US", by Khristina Narizhnaya, Associated Press Writer

Russia and the United States are working out a spy swap involving Russians recently arrested in the United States and an imprisoned nuclear researcher, his brother said Wednesday. Dmitry Sutyagin said his brother Igor was told by Russian officials that he would be released and sent to Britain in exchange for an unknown number of spies.

The officials met Igor Sutyagin on Monday at a prison in Arkhangelsk, in northwestern Russia, and U.S. officials were at the meeting, his brother said. Sutyagin, a Russian, said he was made to sign a confession, although he maintains his innocence and does not want to leave Russia, his brother said. After the meeting, Sutyagin was transferred to Moscow's Lefortovo prison, his brother said. (...) >>>

Jul 7, 2010
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The inside story -

TWT: "ROBBINS: My spy story - Washington Times writer meets Putin's agent", by Jim Robbins

I was targeted by the infamous Russian spy ring. Maybe that's too dramatic. How about - accused Russian spy Mikhail Semenko handed me his business card. Not exactly the basis for a novel. On June 9, I spoke on a panel on Iran at an event hosted by the D.C. World Affairs Council. At the reception afterward, I spoke to a number of people, including Mr. Semenko. He said he was interested in seeing if there were any opportunities working with the American Foreign Policy Council, the organization I was representing at the event. He said he was from the Russian Far East and spoke Chinese in addition to English and his native tongue. He had recently started writing a blog on China's economy. Because AFPC has a special interest in Russia and China policy, I said I would pass his card along to the higher-ups in the organization and if there were any positions, they would be in touch. From Mr. Semenko's point of view, it was mission accomplished - he had an in. (...) >>>

Jul 1, 2010
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Russia up to its old tricks - NewsMax has this: "Oleg Gordievsky, a former deputy head of the KGB in London who defected in 1985, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would know the number of illegal operatives in each target country ... as many as 50 deep-cover couples could be spying inside the US -

Telegraph: "Russian 'secret agent' scandal: 11th suspect arrested in Cyprus"

(...) The FBI arrested 10 other people on Sunday evening on suspicion of working for the Russian foreign secret service under false identities to penetrate US government policy-making circles. (...) The FBI accuses SVR of running a network of "illegals", described in court documents as Russians who received training in languages, codes and ciphers, invisible writing and counter-surveillance before living in the United States under false identities. They were alleged to have met US government officials given codenames such as "Farmer", "Parrot" and "Cat" as well as engaging such tried and tested espionage methods as dead drops and brush passes.

The nature of the group’s work was said to have been outlined in a secret message to two of those arrested: "You were sent to USA for long-term service trip. "Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc – all those serve one goal: fulfil your main mission, i.e. to search and develop ties in policy-making circles in US ..."
The other 10 defendants, each charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, were arrested in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Virginia. It is alleged that they were tasked with gleaning intelligence on nuclear weapons, foreign policy and Congressional politics. (...) >>>

Jun 29, 2010
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Who would've thunk it -

Image via Wikipedia

American Thinker: "A real 'outing' of a CIA Operative by Obama administration", by Clarice Feldman

In contrast to the bombast and demands for punishment which accompanied the news that White House officials "outed" CIA desk jockey Valerie Plame, there's been almost total silence respecting this Administration's outing of a real undercover CIA operative, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother, an outing sure to put him and his family and associates in mortal danger. (...) >>>

Apr 10, 2010
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The Enemy Within -

Elsevier: "Prominent Dutch Support Controversial Turkish Federation"


A federation of young Turkish entrepreneurs (Hogiaf) has a number of prominent Dutch sitting on the Board of Recommendation, among them Doekle Terpstra. According to TV program NOVA Hogiaf is one of the Turkish organizations that portend to support assimilation while in fact working towards segregation; their inspiration is said to be the controversial Islamic spiritual leader (prediker) Fethullah Gülen. Erik Jan Zürcher, lecturer Turkish languages at Leiden University confirmed that some organizations in Turkey and abroad secretly spread Gülen's ideas. They specifically target younger people. Because it is assumed the support assimilation these organization are often heavily subsidized. (...) Other members on the board are the former Government Minister Yvonne van Rooy (CDA), former chairman of the federation of labour unions Lodewijk de Waal and former mayor of Utrecht Annie Brouwer (PvdA). Chairman is Mohamed Sini, director of (...) >>>

Updated: 10th July 2008
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Politeia: "CIA in Dutch Espionage Gaffe"

Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" reported last week that the CIA has carried out covert operations in the country, resulting in a diplomatic tiff in which the CIA station chief has been sent packing. The conflict was kept carefully under-wraps. "Well informed sources" in The Hague say the discredited CIA station chief left the Netherlands in 2005. (...)

In August 2005 former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed that the Government at the time knew Pakistini nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan was stealing secret nuclear technology from the Physical Dynamics Research Laboratory (FDO) in Amsterdam where Khan worked from 1972 to 1976.

FDO was a URENCO subcontractor, the uranium enrichment facility which had been established by the U.K., West Germany and the Netherlands to produce enriched uranium for European reactors. (...) >>>

June 16, 2008
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NRO: " Questions for the Pentagon", by Claudia Rosett - Hat Tip 1389 Blog

In the sorry tradition of shooting the messenger, the Pentagon is cashiering its top expert on Islamist doctrine, Stephen Coughlin. Some members of Congress are now contemplating hearings to ask why. Along with drawing attention to Coughlin’s research, now circulating on the Internet, the growing controversy has thrown a spotlight on Coughlin’s alleged nemesis at the Pentagon, a top aide named Hesham Islam (...) >>>


4th Febr, 2008
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Politeia: "Reforming Islam: Beware of the Fifth Column", by Sam Holliday

The review ('The Limits of Liberal Islam' in Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2008 ) of "The Politics of God" by Lilla (NYT Magazine, 19 Aug 07) highlights several important issues. The analysis is right on target and the solution suggested should be our goal; but the Muslim "renovators" mentioned are part of a fifth column. (...)

Everyone should encourage and support Muslims within Islamic countries attempting to change their countries or Muslims in the West assisting in the fight against the Third Jihad. However, the "moderates" mentioned are neither. They are intellectuals living in the West that are attempting to get us to "understand Islam". They attack those that point out the true nature of Islam, or describe how Muslims treat those that do not submit to "the way of the Prophet".

Also these intellectuals attempt to undermine any actions against the aggressive actions of the Third Jihad. The "moderates" sited are Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss-born cleric, and El Fadl, a UCLA law professor. It is wise to consider both members of a fifth column in the West (...) >>>

17th Jan. 2008
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Muslims Against Sharia: "Pro-Islamist Pentagon officials pressuring one of the U.S. military's most important specialists on jihad", by Bill Gertz

Pro-Muslim officials at the Pentagon are putting political pressure on one of the U.S. military's most important specialists on Islamist extremism, according to defense officials.Stephen Coughlin, a specialist on Islamic law on the Joint Staff, met recently with Hasham Islam, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England's close aide. The officials said Mr. Islam, a Muslim who is leading efforts for the Defense Department's outreach to Muslim groups, sought to convince Mr. Coughlin to take a softer line on Islam and Islamic law elements that promote extremism.There is also evidence that a whispering campaign is under way to try and discredit Mr. Coughlin as a "Christian extremist with a pen" and force him out of the building, according to the officials. >>>

28th Dec. 2007
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The Loyal Opposition: strategy for the TeaParty Congress

PJM: "The Spaghetti Strategy: Advice to Republicans", by Chris Salcedo

How do you know when your pasta is cooked? A storied measure of how to determine if the pasta is right to eat is to throw a noodle or two against the wall. If the pasta sticks, it’s ready. This was the Obama administration’s plan when he took office on the first week in January of 2009. The only difference was that Mr. Obama wasn’t trying to determine the fitness of his policy for digestion in the body politic. Instead his noodles, varied and numerous as they were, represented every Marxist-Leninist idea ever thought up in a liberal think tank. The “policy pasta” was flying fast and furiously with executive orders, left-wing legislation, and appointments of anti-American hacks in key positions of authority within our government. Obama was following a blueprint laid out by Cloward and Piven. The two professors, at Obama’s Columbia University, created a plan to socialize America by overwhelming the system with government spending and entitlement demands. The strategy worked, to a large degree. (...)

The GOP ought to adopt the “Spaghetti Strategy.” Republicans now control the purse strings in the House of Representatives. They have increased power in the Senate. Though they do not have a majority, they do have a crop of so-called moderate Democrats. Experience tells us there is no such thing. These so-called moderates were all too willing to sell America into socialism when their socialist president was popular and they were not up for re-election. In 2012, that’s not the case. Many of these Democrats are up for re-election. And in typical Democrat fashion, they’ll be motivated in saving their own hides and distancing themselves from their leftist president.

Republicans ought to use the next two years to send cost-cutting, government-reducing, pro-American legislation to the president’s desk. They ought to do it weekly! The conservative pasta should fly now. If the pasta sticks, meaning if the president signs them into law, great! America wins and the 20% of Americans, Obama’s base, who identify themselves as liberals lose. If the pasta doesn’t stick, or Obama uses the veto pen, great! The 80% of Americans who do not identify themselves as liberal galvanize in further opposition to this president, making it likely he sees only one term. This is only one part of the strategy. We will need to have more cooks in the kitchen if America is to survive Mr. Obama’s first term. (...) >>>

Jan. 4, 2011
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The progressive game plan -

AiM: "Progressives Increase Their Power Over Obama"

While the Democratic Party suffered a bloodbath on November 2, the progressives who basically run the party and control President Obama came out of the elections stronger than ever. They will keep the political pressure on Obama to pursue a far-left agenda, with the implied threat that if he doesn’t comply, he will have a 2012 presidential primary election challenger. The progressives know Obama’s secrets, having backed him since he joined with them in the Chicago New Party, a means by which they moved the Democratic Party to the left.

Glenn Beck on Fox News says that a few progressives managed to survive somehow. In fact, Karen Dolan of the far-left Institute for Policy Studies proudly notes that “the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus in the House Democratic Caucus at over 80 members, emerged virtually unscathed, losing only three members”—Reps. Alan Grayson (Fla.), John Hall (N.Y.) and Phil Hare (Ill.). By contrast, as noted by Jim Dean of Democracy of America, only 47 percent of the so-called conservative Blue Dog Democrats won their races.

All of this means that the Democratic Party has moved further to the left, which is exactly where Obama wants it to go. The electoral “shellacking” he talks about came mostly at the expense of the moderate and conservative elements of the party. He never cared about them. (...)

So this may be the game plan: create the impression that the Republicans are really in charge and hold them responsible for whatever results from Washington policy-making. They seem to be assuming that budget cuts of some kind will be enacted, leading to the spectacle of the GOP being accused of putting “profits over people,” as union organizers and left-wing activists take to the streets in protest. And Obama in his news conference already set the Republicans up, blaming them in advance for proposing to alter a health care plan that he says provides real benefits to real people.

You can see it now: Republicans being blamed in the media for taking benefits away from people with real needs. The GOP will be depicted as the front men for greedy insurance companies.

The irony is that conservative sentiment is at record highs. Exit polls from the 2010 elections showed that 41 percent of voters identified themselves as conservatives, with only 20 percent calling themselves liberals and 39 percent identifying as moderates. That compares to only 32 percent calling themselves conservative in the exit polls from the 2006 midterm elections and 34 percent conservative in 2008.

While conservatives have always had to go up against a much smaller number of liberals, it is the influence of the progressives and their strategic location—in such power centers as the media and academia—that gives them the strategic advantage. Now, with their power in the Democratic Party more concentrated than ever, they are relishing a fight they think they can win. Obama is one of them, and they know it. (...) >>>
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The conservative groundswell -

Big Government: "Beyond the Liberal Spin: The Realignment Underway", by Paul A. Rahe

The election is now over and the results are in – except in Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and a congressional district here and there. And one by one the usual suspects are weighing in with their comments. Most of these are utterly predictable, and some are downright mendacious, as one would expect.

When President Obama denied that the biggest Republican victory since the 1920s was a referendum on the policies embraced by his party and his administration, he was either lying or deep in denial – and the same thing can be said about The New York Times, which opined yesterday in an utterly predictable manner that – while “Tuesday’s election was indeed a ’shellacking’ for the Democrats, as President Obama admitted after a long night of bad news” – it “was hardly an order from the American people to discard the progress of the last two years and start over again.” (...) >>>

Nov. 6, 2010
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The revolution is tomorrow -

Telegraph: "Midterm elections 2010: Prepare for a new American revolution", by Janet Daley

More than three centuries ago, the residents of America staged a rebellion against an oppressive ruler who taxed them unjustly, ignored their discontents and treated their longing for freedom with contempt. They are about to revisit that tradition this week, when their anger and exasperation sweep through Congress like avenging angels. This time the hated oppressor isn't a foreign colonial government, but their own professional political class.

In New York last week I was struck by the startling shift of mood since my last visit, during Barack Obama's first year in office. This phenomenon took varying forms, of course, depending on the political orientation of my interlocutor, but the underlying theme of despair and disgust was almost universal. Liberal Democrats (who hugely outnumber most other factions in that city) were despondent and disappointed with the collapse of Obama's popularity. A few of them (remarkably few, actually) were ready to blame this on a "Right-wing conspiracy" of vaguely racist motivation. But most of them were frankly critical of the strategic mistakes they believed the White House had made (...) >>>

Nov. 1, 2010
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The coming revolt against the czars -

Daily Caller: "Republicans plan January takedowns of Obama’s ‘czars’"

Republicans will have President Barack Obama’s czars and his use of regulatory powers to circumvent congressional inaction on issues such as cap and trade in GOP crosshairs if the party takes control in January.

Since taking office, Obama has named 33 czars without Senate confirmation and congressional oversight, and together they hold power over everything from the environment and bank bailouts to the auto industry. The president’s practice of naming czars has garnered criticism from members of his own party, such as the late West Virginia Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd, who called it unconstitutional.

“When the Republicans are in charge, you will see the oversight subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee active on a whole host of fronts,” said Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, who would chair the subcommittee if the Republicans take control of Congress. “How are these [czars] funded? So whether it be the authorizing committees and appropriations committees in terms of deleting the funds for those, I think you could go after it in one of two different ways. (...) >>>

Oct. 14, 2010
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Starting off with a bit of fun -

The Foundry: "Morning Bell: The Chicago Tea Party"

The nation’s outrage over the never ending Bush-Obama Bailout Parade is heating up fast. This week alone we’ve seen grassroots rallies in Seattle, Denver, Mesa, and Kansas. Then yesterday, CNBC editor Rick Santelli set off a virtual firestorm when his passionate critique of President Barack Obama’s mortgage bailout plan inspired traders on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange to stop their pre-trading preparations to voice their support. The video of Santelli’s call for a “Chicago Tea Party” to protest the government’s constant intervention in the free market has spread like wildfire across all media outlets. What caused Santelli’s outburst? National Review caught up with him (...) >>>

Feb 20, 2009
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The People's Cube: "The Order of Republican Moderation"

The recent election has left the GOP sharply divided. As caring and compassionate progressives, it is our duty to help their two fighting factions destroy each other as soon as possible. When the Republicans were in power we successfully manipulated their infighting with our planned long-term strategy. But now that the GOP is in shambles, we must quickly find a way to manipulate their rebuilding effort, making sure that the Moderate Republicans prevail over the Extreme Republicans. Once all conservatives are removed, the GOP will be nothing more than a puppet, kept only for the appearance of a two-party system. (...) >>>

12th Nov 2008
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... was just saying, where's OBS? ...

PJM: "The Rightosphere Copes With Defeat"

Reaction to the election is a far cry from the lefty blogosphere's response to 2000 and 2004. (...) the most common reaction across the right side of the blogosphere was either a congratulations to Obama, a recognition that having the first black president was a historic moment for America, or some combination thereof. Beyond that, there was a real sense of the need to get back to work rebuilding the conservative movement to get ready for 2010 and, naturally, a dread of what the Democrats may do to the country over the next four years. Here are some of the more intriguing reactions to the election results from around the right side of the blogosphere. (...) >>>

5th Nov 2008

Related:

- "The Pomo Presidency"
- "The Pomo White House" (the Obama Presidential campaign)
- "Americana"

Islamic Reciprocity: a 'war on Christianity'

Having started out with the title of this dossier, calling for Christian-Islamic reciprocity, the Pope has now seen necessary to ask for the protection of Christians. The perpetrators of this outrage may be Al Qaeda, which recently is supposed to have called for a 'war on Christians' in order to bring the clash of civilizations forward -

RFI: "Pope calls on world leaders to defend Christians after church bloodbath"

A car bomb killed 21 people and wounded 79 in Alexandria early on Saturday. The New Year’s Day attack hit the Al-Qiddissin (The Saints) church shortly after midnight. Pope Benedict XVI has urged world leader’s to protect Christians against “discrimination, abuse and religious intolerance”. The explosives-packed car blew up at 12:30am local time just as church-goers began leaving after an evening service. (...) >>>

Jan. 1, 2011
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Are we NUTS?! - On the day we learn the EU wants Greece to spend European tax payers' money (awkward auto translation) to build two mosques for illegals (Geert Wilders asking questions in Parliament), this news is breaking -

Therese Zrihen-Dvir: Turkish Cypriot ‘Grinches’ Steal Christmas, Stop Holiday Liturgy"

Turkish forces in the occupied area of Karpasia in Northern Cyprus have presented a new challenge regarding the celebration of Christmas by Christians living in the territory. For the first time in 36 years Christians trapped in the occupied area were forbidden from celebrating Christmas.

On Christmas morning, Saturday 25 December 2010, Father Zacharias and a large number of people went to the Church of Saint Sinesios in Rizokarpaso (photo) to begin Matins for Christmas. Meanwhile men of the occupied forces rushed to the church, interrupted the service, urged the priest to remove his vestments, and ordered everyone leave the church. When everyone had left, the doors were sealed. The same happened in (...) >>>

Dec. 29, 2010
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The killing of Christians continues -

TWT: "Crucifying Christians on Christmas - The faithful face persecution in many Muslim lands"

On Saturday, the world's Christians will join in prayer and celebration of the birth of Jesus. For too many of them, this worshipful act will take place under the threat of imprisonment, torture or execution. "Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith," Pope Benedict XVI wrote in the Vatican's annual Peace Day message. The pontiff chose not to single out the most notable perpetrators of this persecution, but previous Vatican statements and numerous human rights surveys point the finger at Muslim-majority countries. In most of them, Islam is the official state religion and source of law.

In those places, there is no appreciation for the Western practice of freedom of worship. Indeed, free exercise is the very thing that can lead to violence. (...) The case of Asia Bibi - a 45-year-old Pakistani Christian mother of five sentenced to death in November for allegedly blaspheming against Muhammad - has gained wide press attention. Less noticed is the case of the Rev. Wilson Augustine, a 25-year-old Pakistani Christian evangelist who was beaten with clubs and belts and set on fire for preaching the Gospel in villages near the town of Sargodha. In Egypt, there is rising violence against members of the ancient Coptic Christian community, which existed in the country centuries before Islam was founded (...) >>>

Dec. 26, 2010
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Saving Iraq's last Christians -

CNSNews: "Iraqi Christians Seek Western Help Amid Wave of ‘Religious Cleansing'", by Patrick Goodenough"

Iraqi Christian leaders are lobbying European lawmakers Tuesday as part of an international campaign aimed at getting Western governments to take the minority’s predicament seriously. Advocates argue that members of the U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in 2003 have a particular responsibility to put pressure on today’s Iraqi leaders to provide security for Christians directly targeted by terrorists. (...) >>>

Dec. 14, 2010
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Evidence from 'tolerant' Indonesia -

Jihad Watch: "Indonesia: Muslims oppose building of churches"

Why no hand-wringing about "tolerance" and "religious freedom"? Of course, in Indonesia few people are concerned about such things, and if anyone makes a comparison with the resistance to the construction of Islamic supremacist mosques in the U.S., someone will be quick to pipe up and say, "Are you saying that the U.S. should imitate Indonesia (or Saudi Arabia, etc.) in its intolerance?"

Of course not. The differences in the two situations need to pointed out and brought to public attention. Non-Muslims oppose the mosque at Ground Zero because it will be regarded in the Islamic world as a triumphal mosque, and because of the duplicity of its organizers. (...) >>>

Oct. 14, 2010
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'Ordinary' crime turns religious mania case after all - The Pope just before leaving on a trip to Cyprus played down the slaying of the Roman Catholic prelate in Turkey as an 'ordinary' crime committed by his psychotic driver. Turns out it was an act of Jihad after all. Why do we keep exculpating these religious maniacs?

News24: "Turkish Catholic leader beheaded"

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Turkey, killed last week by his driver, was decapitated in a "ritual Muslim sacrifice," the head of a missionary news agency said on Tuesday. After the murder of Luigi Padovese, the driver reportedly shouted from the roof of the victim's house that he had killed the "great Satan," adding Allah akbar ("God Is Great"), a Turkish journalist told AsiaNews.

The news agency for overseas missionaries said Padovese "was stabbed in his home, and managed to leave his home to ask for help," AsiaNews director Bernardo Cervellera told Italy's Sky TG24 all-news television channel. Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi, contacted by the religious news agency I-media, said he was awaiting clarification of the reports but would neither deny nor confirm them.

Turkish news reports said the 26-year-old alleged killer, Murat Altun, had been released from a psychiatric ward a few days before the murder. He told police he had had a "divine revelation," the reports said. (...) >>>

Jun 11, 2010
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Patriarch is pondering taking Turks to Human Rights Court -

ANA: "Alternatives for Halki Seminary"

The creation of a Theological Seminary in Alexandroupolis or another area in Greece close in proximity to Istanbul, and recourse to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, are a few of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's options in the Halki School of Theology is not reopened, as repeatedly promised by the Turkish government, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said on Saturday in reply to questions by Turkish reporters. (...) >>>

Apr 11, 2010
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Israeli democracy at work -

Image of the Knesset by hoyasmeg via Flickr

Arutz Sheva: "Islamic Movement Approved in Israel, Barred by Jordan", by Maayana Miskin

While Israel allowed the radical Islamic Movement to operate openly and even allows its members to sit in the Knesset, Jordan has apparently decided that the extremist group is a threat it is unwilling to tolerate. Jordan recently turned away a senior Islamic Movement official who attempted to visit the country, and has barred access to several others as well. Among those Islamic Movement leaders deemed too radical for Jordan are the head of the movement's northern branch, Sheikh Raed Salah, and his deputy, Khamel Hatib. Several other senior members of the group have been barred from the country as well. (...) >>>

Apr 10, 2010
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I's the season of peace pieces -

From Islam for Christmas this year, a Fatwa, a botched terror attack, and then there's this:

While Mosques are going up all over the Western world, Churches are also going up in the Muslim world, in smoke - that is:

Since Christmas, in Egypt where Copts are again the target. In Malaysia in the "Allah" Court decision. In Indonesia, where there more more reports last week, which since have mysteriously disappeared from the radar.

Jan. 10, 2010
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The Media Line: "‘Anti-Christmas’ Fatwa Troubles Egyptians", by Rachelle Kliger

Islamic ruling forbidding Muslims to participate in Christmas celebrations or mark the holiday is troubling Egypt’s Christians. The call, which is being described as a fatwa, or Islamic decree, came from Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, an influential firebrand cleric criticized in the West for his controversial rulings. (...) Christians contacted by The Media Line said they were unaware the fatwa had affected the celebrations or the Christmas revenues, but did express concern over the wider ramifications the fatwa may have on Christian minorities in Egypt and elsewhere. In a Friday sermon, Al-Qaradawi criticized public celebrations of Christmas in Qatar and elsewhere in the Muslim world, claiming they undermined Islamic identity. “Such appearances are prohibited by Islam,” he said. (...) >>>

Dec. 24, 2009
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A Liberal Defence of Israel: "The One-way Street" - Hat Tip: Tom Carew

(...) there's something else more relevant to Obama's grasp of what a two-state 'solution' would really mean for Israel. It is this. A distinguishing feature of Islam from the beginning has been a commitment to Muslim supremacy. And that keen sense of superiority (to Jews, to Christians, to pagans, to atheists, to secularists) creates a one-way street. Thus, Muslims demand the implementation of shari'a law in Western countries, and some (like the UK) allow them to act on rulings from shari'a tribunals, in matters like marriage and divorce or childcare. But if a Westerner were to demand a reciprocal arrangement in, say, Saudi Arabia, they would soon find themselves on a one-way flight home or doing time in the local chokey. In the West, Muslim women demand the right to wear veils, even all-enveloping ones, everywhere they go, and, naturally, we grant them that freedom. But should a Western woman turn up on the streets of Tehran dressed as she might at home, it will only be a matter of minutes before one of the Blood of God patrols turns up in a white Toyota, grabs her, and pushed her into the minibus that will come behind them. No reciprocity.

From all sides come cries for Israel to do this or that. Demolish the 'apartheid wall', grant every Palestinian on earth the right of 'return', pack up and go home. But when Israel pulled out of Gaza, things only got worse. When Israelis hand back hundreds of terrorist prisoners, they will be lucky to get a couple of corpses in return. When Israel says it will recognize a peaceful Palestinian state, Mahmoud Abbas gets uppity and says he will never recognize a Jewish state. So everybody gets uppity, not with Abbas, but with Israel. Obama hasn't even mentioned that particularly dirty little trick. So what's a girl to do? (...) >>>

June 16, 2009
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Terrorism Awareness Center: "The Muslim Persecution of Christians"

Read also:

Honest Reporting: "Ignoring the Real Causes of Christian Exodus"

Time reporter blames Israel and the West for Muslim intolerance

May 13, 2009
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Muslim clerics on the other hand are demanding more subordination (way to go!):

Yahoo!News: "Pope urges Middle East Christians to persevere"

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged Middle East Christians to persevere in their faith despite hardships threatening the existence of their ancient communities. An estimated 20,000 people filled a Jordanian sports stadium as Benedict celebrated the first open-air Mass of his Middle Eastpilgrimage." The Catholic community here is deeply touched by the difficulties and uncertainties which affect the people of the Middle East," Benedict said, speaking in English, at the Amman stadium." May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage, or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the church throughout the world," he said. Catholics from across the Middle East are attending the service. Many held up flags from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries. They applauded the pope's words and shouted out his name. The Mass was on the third day of Benedict's weeklong pilgrimage (...) >>>

May 10, 2009
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And so it goes since the event of Mohamed:

Yahoo!News: "Pope arriving at time when Christians are leaving"

When Pope Benedict XVI comes to the Holy Land next week, he will greet a community of believers whose numbers are gradually eroding. Dwarfed by Jewish and Muslim populations, young Christians are increasingly leaving to seek their futures elsewhere, especially those in the Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem. (...) >>>

May 6, 2009
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Yahoo!News: "EU parliament head presses Arabs to allow churches"

EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering called on Arab governments on Tuesday to allow Christian churches to be built in their countries in the same way that mosques can be built in Europe. In Saudi Arabia, at the end of a tour of Gulf countries to boost cooperation between the two regions, Poettering said Arab governments need to be more tolerant of other religions. (...) >>>
Dec 25, 2008
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Memri: "Sa'd Eddin Ibrahim: The Muslims Should Learn Openness from the Catholic Church in France"

(...) Catholic Church Schools in France Accept Muslim Girls, Teach Them Islam, and Let Them Wear Hijab - "While we watch and read about sectarian strife and hostilities against Christians - the Copts in Egypt and the Catholics and Mandaeans in Iraq - the French press is celebrating a unique phenomenon [that took place] during this school year - namely, hundreds of Muslim girls attired in hijab enrolling in Catholic convent schools after being rejected by public schools for insisting on wearing a head covering. (...) >>>
Dec 10, 2008
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Dhimmi Watch: "A Russian church for a Saudi mosque?"

(...) The Saudis have recently asked permission to build a mosque in Moscow, a city where there are only four mosques and 2 million Muslims. The Russians, however, are saying they want, in return, an Orthodox church in Saudi Arabia. (...) >>>

Dec 5, 2008
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Times Online: "The UK "the best place in the world" to live as a Muslim?"

The UK - is it heaven or the reverse for a Muslim? Shahid Malik, who is Britain's first Muslim minister (for international development) says the UK is "the best place in the world" to live as a Muslim. In an interview with The Jakarta Post, Malik says: "I have visited so many countries and comparing ourselves to those countries, the rights and freedoms we enjoy in the UK are second to none, including Muslim countries." (...) >>>

Updated: 16th July 2008
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Memri: " Egyptian Writer Ahmad Al-Aswani: It's "Open Season" On Egypt's Copts"

Ahmad Al-Aswani, an Egyptian writer, writes extensively on political topics from a critical and reformist perspective. In the following essay, posted June 7, 2008 on the liberal website Aafaq.org, he focuses on the escalating series of physical attacks on members of the Coptic minority in Egypt. (...) >>>

Updated: 12th June 2008
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