Monday, October 02, 2006
A GLOBAL KRISTALLNACHT IN OUR FUTURE?
My 17 year old son's current English assignment is an essay on the banning and burning of books. While this is a subject we mostly associate with frequent periods of religious, scientific, and cultural intolerance in the historical past, the backround material seems to focus on small, but sometimes influential, groups in the US who try to keep books objectional to their local mores out of school curriculums. The usual suspects are books on Evolution, Sex Education, those with sexual content, and anything protraying gays as anything but deviant. While still deplorable, the actions of these groups represent a community dynamic that has been going on forever (They burned Elvis records, for heavan's sake).
If they succeed in removing a book from a curriculum or reading list, the result is an infringement on freedom. But it is mitigated by the presence of public libraries in every town where students are free to read the so-called banned books. The real book-burners, the real purveyors of intolerence are, right now, mobilizing to rid our western culture of all they find offensive (which is just about everything). I'm, of course, speaking of the Islamo-fascists. They brook no dissent, no straying from the party line.
- The Pope has been apologizing for a week now, for an innocent, but accurate quote, made in a private setting.
- Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding for years when his novel The Satanic Verses (1988) led the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a Fatwa to demand his execution for defaming Islam.
- Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor and descendant of the famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, angered by van Gogh's work. He was a well-known critic of Islam, especially after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and his assassin was goaded on by fire-brand Imams at local mosques in "enlightened" Amsterdam.
- Also in Holland, Somali-born female Member of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali is in hiding, traveling only under heavy guard becuase she speaks out about women's issues in Somalia and in rest of the Muslim world.
- Untold numbers of Muslim exiles fear for their lives on a daily basis.
- Untold numbers of Muslims and non-Muslims also face execution at any time because a fatwa has been issued against them for something as trivial as criticizing Islamic policies in a political cartoon.
- So far we have not even been able to come up with a satisfactory label for our enemy in the battle for the hearts and souls of the world's billions. "Militant Islam", "Islamic Radicals", "Muslim Fundamentalists" have all been rejected by the Muslim community as perjorative, insensitive, and insulting to the Muslim community as a whole. Recently, Islamo-Fascism has been used by the President and others, also to poor reviews. How ironic, it is the Muslim community itself that should slap a moniker on these murderers in order to distinguish themselves from the terrorists. Instead of taking offense, they should be rushing to declare themselves patriotic Americans and root the assassins from their midst.
- In the absence of the above, I vote for Islamo-Fascism. Despite Fascism being a borrowed term and despite being unkind to the "Fasci", the symbol of power of the Roman Empire, popular usage has made it appropriate for describing the undemocratic, dictatorial system they would like to install world-wide.
- It may even be appropriate to apply it to Islamists beyond those engaged strictly in terror. Don't forget the images from around the world on Sept. 11th of crowds smiling and cheering in celebration of the death and destruction wrought by the destruction of the towers. The radical Imams and the Madrasas have already had their intended effect of creating a populace so anti-American and anti-Western that they will believe anything their leaders, their press, their terrorist web sites tell them. In addition, their 10% tithes (religious contributions required of all Muslims) mostly go to shady charities that end up funding terrorist activities.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
WHAT DO THE POPE AND GERMAN OPERA HAVE IN COMMON?
New York Times: German Opera Canceled Over a Depiction of Muhammad
Where is the moral equivalency between sawing off innocent people's heads on video for the world to see and the absolute outrage engendered in the Muslim world over centuries-old opera performances and quotes by the Pope of 7th century theologians (not even aimed at the Muslim world)? At least Al Qaeda is honest enough to come right out and say their goal is to over-throw our civilization and kill all who will not convert. Academics who would rave about the injustices of the Inquisition (& rightly so) wouldn't dare stick out their politically correct necks to point out we are in the midst of an Islamic Inquisition. There's just too many intelligent people who just can't comprehend that Western Civilization can fall. Over and over we fail to learn from history. These are people who would never modify their behavior in response to "our" sensitivities, but rampage in the streets at the slightest criticism (regardless of the century it comes from.) For anyone who has not done so yet, pick up the Koran. It is filled with calls to violence, calls to spread Islam by the sword , outrageous contradictions, ridiculous dictums, the oppression of women, and God (I mean Allah) knows what else. If there was ever a religion that demanded the end of Theism, this is it. Organized religions "must" be replaced by other social institutions over the next century or we may find ourselves in a new Medieval Dark Age, i.e., the end of Western, and other progressive, civilizations. The majority of people have such tunnel-vision, focused on the near-term trivia of their own lives, that they can't comprehend the fall of the US, much less the extinction of the Human Race. These all have prehistorical and historical precedent. I just hope it's not too late.
Check out this link for the original story on the opera.
Opera Canceled Over a Depiction of Muhammad
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Genocide & Slavery in Sudan? Who cares.
A few facts about the mess in Sudan and why African-American "Leaders" ignore it:
- The government of Sudan, the largest country in Africa, requires that all people practice the religion of Islam. The majority of people in the southern portion of Sudan are black Christians and animists. The Sudanese government has attempted to force these people into "peace camps" which offer the option of converting to Islam or forced starvation.
- The government of Sudan is working to control oil resources located in the south. People in the south have resisted and fought back. The government of Sudan has killed over 1 million civilians via murder and forced starvation. More people have been killed in Sudan than in Kosovo, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya, and Somalia combined.
- Government supported militias conduct raids on villages in the south where they kill the men and take women and children as slaves. Almost all of the girls that are taken as slaves are raped.
- The Sudanese government has denied that they condone or participate in slavery. They attribute reports of slavery to the results of wars between tribes in which hostages are taken. However, they refuse to allow international monitors in.
- A State Department human rights report on Sudan states: "All the reports and information received indicates the direct and general involvement" of the Sudanese army and government supported militias in "the abduction and deportation of civilians from the conflict zones to the north."
- Charles Jacobs, president of the American Anti-Slavery Group, sent photos and documents about slavery in Sudan to Jesse Jackson. Jackson’s office told him they did not want to get involved because the issue sounded “anti-Arab.”
- Louis Farrakhan, who has visited Sudan as an honored guest of the government, and the “Nation of Islam” deny that slavery exists in Sudan and challenged the press to find proof of it.
- Christian Solidarity International took CBS News on a covert flight into Sudan where they purchased 1,000 slaves, mostly women and children, for about $50 a person. The former slaves were returned to their villages.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Over the past weeks, I've received many copies of a so-called "Plan for World Peace" attributed to Robin Williams (see below for entire text). Given his history and many past statements, it didn't seem to pass the smell test. However, even though I don't agree with some points of the "plan" (especially regarding terminating the practice of giving asylum to victims of maniacs around the world), it was tongue-in-cheek enough to have seemed a refreshing change from the Hollywood elite. If it were only true. Nobody seems to know who authored the actual plan, but the only part that can be attributed to Robin Williams is the last line.
Apparantly, he was shown the plan, asked if he was the source, and as part of his denial, issued this statement:
Statement by Robin Williams:
Apparantly, he was shown the plan, asked if he was the source, and as part of his denial, issued this statement:
Statement by Robin Williams:
"Now, ain't that a winner of a plan. The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, "You want a piece of me!!!"
The Statue of Liberty line takes on a whole new meaning in this context.
*Original text of emails distributing "Plan for World Peace":You gotta love Robin Williams... Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan .. what we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
Robin William's plan. (Hard to argue with this logic!)
I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan.
1.) The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic and the rest of those 'good ole boys,' We will never "interfere" again.
2.) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one sneaking through holes in the fence.
3.) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.
4.) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers, or 7-11 cashiers.
5.) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6.) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7.) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8.) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9.) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10.) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The language we speak is ENGLISH . . . . . learn it. . . or LEAVE. . . Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
"The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'"
Monday, August 15, 2005
Anyone who thinks the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's new President will result in the same push and pull between the reformist majority and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his core of ultra-orthodox clerics (which resulted in a kind of Politico-Cultural stasis) should just examine Ahmadinejad's cabinet selections. All ultra-conservatives, especially those heading the important interior, cultural and intelligence ministries (a whole different sphere of reference in comparison to American conservatism). Iran's reformers can look forward to more newspaper closings, pullbacks on freedom of speech and the rights of women, more arrests in the middle of the night, and the carrying out of punishment using Qur’anic Law or Sharia. We can also expect an all-out effort to complete a nuclear weapon. Should we trust a regime that could justify the launching of a nuclear nightmare as "God's Will"? It may be time to follow the example Israel set by bombing Iraq's nuclear facility.
The choice should be easy given the consequences. Once the Irani's have the bomb, they will use it. It's time for the gutless European Union to support the dropping of a few "bunker-buster" bombs on Iran's nuke factories.
