Robert Spencer and Dean Esmay are having a bit of a debate. I only just found out about Esmay's site recently from Murdoc Online, but I've been a long time reader of Jihad Watch. There- that's my bias exposed up front.
Spencer fisked an article Esmay wrote- Esmay got a bit peeved and called Spencer a traitor (although his reasoning for such seems to be a little thin shall we say). Spencer then contacted Esmay and invited him to a public debate. One of the points he made is this-
"Please provide an Islamic refutation of them sufficient to convince violent jihadists today to lay down their arms."
This is, of course, perfectly reasonable- if there is no way to refute the jihadis then surely that means that they are right, and Islam does justify what they are doing? If there is no Islamic refutation of what the jiadis are doing then the reformers can never win- the jihadis will continue to use their Islamic justification for acts of terror and they will have the writings of the Koran, etc to back up their worldview. If, on the other hand, they really are "misunderstanders" of the religion of peace, then surely such a refutation will be easily provided? Sounds reasonable to me, or am I being unreasonable?
Esmay went to to snidely add- "I don't think you believe that anyone can provide this, any more than you can provide sufficient Christian or biblical scriptural references to persuade the Lord's Resistance Army or the Christian Identity movement to give up their hatreds or their radicalism."
Well, actually that's very simple to do. It's Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 13- Thou shalt not kill.
That refutes pretty much everything that the Lord's Resistance Army stands for. Not that the LRA is a Christian group- they are a cult based around a self-professed spirit medium who fasts during Ramadan and who won't eat pork. Oh, and he creates new commandments- number 11 is thou shalt not ride bicycles. I'm not quite clear what Joseph Kony has against bicycles but his punishment for riding one is to cut off your feet. If he quotes Bible verse to justify his horrendous activities, I'd sure like to hear it. The same quote by the way also applies to the Christian Identity Movement (of whom I was completely unaware until today). They believe that their violence is justified if it is aimed against sinners (abortionists, prostitutes, etc). Once more- Thou shalt not kill. There are no ifs or buts there. It's a simple and straightforward commandment.
Esmay goes on to prove that his knowledge of some areas is certainly limited-
"The Lord's Resistance Army, the IRA, the KKK, the Christian Identity movement, and so on and so forth all can quote scripture to their purposes, Robert. What of it?"
The IRA quote Bible verse to justify their actions? I'm astonished by the colossal, staggering ignorance of that statement. The IRA may come from the Roman Catholic community but they are not a religious terrorist group- they are a political one, with a very clear political aim; a united Ireland. Trust me, most of these people wouldn't know a Bible if you threw one in their face. For Esmay to claim that thay are some sort of Christian terrorist group is the most ridiculous thing that I've heard in a very long time indeed. He obviously has no clue whatsoever about this part of what he says.
I'll leave the rest of it up to Mr. Spencer- I'm certainly interested to see just what he has to say on the matter.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Transformers
There's a live action Transformers movie on the way next year but in the meantime there's this small video of Optimus Prime to whet your appetite. It apparently has nothing to do with the film-makers themselves but is just an example of the sterling work that fans can come up with.
If the movie effects are as good as this I'll be happy.
If the movie effects are as good as this I'll be happy.
Beslan Terrorist Guilty
It's important that the barbarity of what happened at School No. 1 in Beslan is not forgotten. While 9/11, with its staggering death toll and mind-numbing imagery, stands for some as the most shocking terrorist attack, I actually believe that what happened at Beslan is much more horrifying. Over thirty Islamist terrorists deliberately targeted a school filled with young children and after spending some days with them, brutally murdered nearly two hundred of them. I cannot fathom what sort of person could murder children, let alone children they had been surrounded by for days. What kind of monsters are they?
They took well over a thousand people hostage and almost immediately murdered twenty adult male hostages. The siege lasted for three days, with the hostages forced into the gymnasium which was rigged with explosives. Though the hostages had a little food and water on the first day, they had nothing to drink after that as the temperature soared.
AFTER more than 24 hours in the sweltering heat of the school gymnasium in Beslan, one of the boys trapped inside could not take it any longer.
Summoning up his courage, he approached a hostage taker with a bayonet fixed to his assault rifle and asked him for a drink. It was probably the worst error that he could have made.
“Instead of giving him water, he drove his bayonet through the boy’s body,” said Stanislav Tsarakhov, 10, another captive standing nearby. “I don’t know if he died.”
And then there's this-
Malik Kalchakeyev, 14, speaking slowly and in great detail, told of how the schoolchildren and their parents were herded into the school's gym, how the attackers stopped providing water and how they taunted the exhausted hostages, often forcing them to stand and sit quickly in the hot, crowded gym.
"On the second day, we were all very thirsty. Women told us, the boys, to pee into plastic bottles so that the children could then drink our pee," the boy said, bursting into tears. "I peed into a bottle, and small children -- even babies -- drank it."
And this-
There, on the floor, was Aza Tsakhilova, aged 60, using her shoe as a cup to give her granddaughter Lisa sips of urine to quench her thirst, just before the explosions that killed Aza's pregnant daughter, Anna, and Anna's husband, Yuri, and rendered Lisa an orphan. The first day of the siege had been Lisa's first day at school.
Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of one of the child hostages in Beslan, Russia, reports that “several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists.” Her daughter “heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away.”
And-
Other survivors told how screaming teenage girls were dragged into rooms adjoining the gymnasium where they were being held and raped by their Chechen captors who chillingly made a video film of their appalling exploits
As we all know, the siege ended in violence. Over three hundred and thirty people were killed- 186 of them children. And the violence was vicious and gruesome.
While despairing soldiers and rescue workers moved among the growing pile of body bags, it was revealed that an 18-month-old baby had been repeatedly stabbed by a black-clad terrorist who had run out of ammunition.
Like this-
"There was a sixth-grade girl who had diabetes. She died there. Her mother was screaming."
Like this-
"One of the gunmen was reading the Koran constantly, and I counted exactly 23 gunmen altogether. The leader was on the roof the whole time with a sniper's rifle. We realised that, because the others went to him for advice.
"The older pupils were forced to carry desks to barricade the windows. When the assault started one of the bandits shouted 'I'll save you'. Everybody ran towards him and then he blew himself up, killing many people."
In addition the gymnasium was rigged with explosives- and the terrorists set off these charges when the assault began.
The Interfax news agency quoted a defense official as saying that "the terrorists planted a lot of mines and booby-traps filled with metal bolts in the gym."
They also began to shoot at the women and children hostages as they tried to flee-
Of those who died from gunshot wounds, most were shot in the back as they fled the gymnasium.
Here's one account-
"They were running," she said tearfully after talking to her family by phone last week. "His father yelled, 'Vova, run, run!' Then, 10 bullets were put in his back. His father held his body and cried, 'Vova, why didn't you run faster!?'"
When the surviving terrorists fled, they were all killed; all but one. That man, found cowering under a truck, is Nurpashi Kulayev. His trial is finally complete and he was found guilty of terrorism, hostage-taking and murder.
"The court has established that Kulayev took part in an armed attack and a hostage-taking..., that he committed murder against defenceless people," said Tamerlan Aguzarov, chief justice of the high court in the province of North Ossetia Tuesday.
Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty. Though there is currently a moratorium on capital punishment, there is some belief that an exception will be made for Kulayev.
Beslan was one of the most terrible, horrific, brutal and simply despicable terrorist acts ever committed. And yet today it seems to be barely remembered; unlike the images of planes slamming into the Twin Towers, those of Beslan, naked children- some of them horribly burned or covered in blood- running and being carried from the school are rarely repeated today. In the immediate aftermath there were pundits claiming that terrorism would have to change after such incredible depravity. And yet nothing has changed. Where are the outcries of horror over the killing, and gloating over it, of the sixteen year old American boy by Palestinian terrorists? And Beslan wasn't a first either. Despite it's savagery it was not entirely a new low for Islamic terrorists- Hamas had already deliberately murdered children on an Israeli bus in 2002-
Nael Azmi Abu Hilail had more than enough time to see those he was about to kill after he boarded the number 20 bus at the bottom of Mexico Street.
Eight months pregnant Tali Hatuel and her four daughters were murdered. Their car was forced off the road and they were all shot at close range by terrorists belonging to Islamic Jihad or the Popular Resistance Committee (both groups claimed responsibility). Tali was 34- her daughter Hila was 11, Hadar was 9, Roni was 7, and Meirav was only 2. Two years old. One of the terrorists even made sure to shoot into Tali's pregnant belly. PA Radio dubbed these murderers as "heroic martyrs".
Since Beslan, more children have been deliberate victims of Islamic terrorism- A Hamas suicide bomber detonated his bomb on a packed bus on August 19th 2003. Twenty three people were killed. Among the dead were three month old and eleven month babies, a three year old, a 9 year old, a12 year old and a 15 year old. The suicide bomber obviously saw these children on board and yet he still went ahead with the attack.
We should never forget Beslan- but we should also bear in mind that Islamic terrorism has, before and since then, deliberately targeted children as part of its campaign of murder and terror. Never forget that.
They took well over a thousand people hostage and almost immediately murdered twenty adult male hostages. The siege lasted for three days, with the hostages forced into the gymnasium which was rigged with explosives. Though the hostages had a little food and water on the first day, they had nothing to drink after that as the temperature soared.
AFTER more than 24 hours in the sweltering heat of the school gymnasium in Beslan, one of the boys trapped inside could not take it any longer.
Summoning up his courage, he approached a hostage taker with a bayonet fixed to his assault rifle and asked him for a drink. It was probably the worst error that he could have made.
“Instead of giving him water, he drove his bayonet through the boy’s body,” said Stanislav Tsarakhov, 10, another captive standing nearby. “I don’t know if he died.”
And then there's this-
Malik Kalchakeyev, 14, speaking slowly and in great detail, told of how the schoolchildren and their parents were herded into the school's gym, how the attackers stopped providing water and how they taunted the exhausted hostages, often forcing them to stand and sit quickly in the hot, crowded gym.
"On the second day, we were all very thirsty. Women told us, the boys, to pee into plastic bottles so that the children could then drink our pee," the boy said, bursting into tears. "I peed into a bottle, and small children -- even babies -- drank it."
And this-
There, on the floor, was Aza Tsakhilova, aged 60, using her shoe as a cup to give her granddaughter Lisa sips of urine to quench her thirst, just before the explosions that killed Aza's pregnant daughter, Anna, and Anna's husband, Yuri, and rendered Lisa an orphan. The first day of the siege had been Lisa's first day at school.
Here was eight-year-old Mairbek Varziev, pleading with a terrorist to save his mother, Angela, offering the terrorist a five-rouble coin from his pocket (the equivalent of 10p), the terrorist saying: "I have plenty of money, I don't need yours." Mairbek's mother died there at the siege, while Mairbek was rescued by a soldier and is now receiving daily therapy.
Elsewhere in the sports hall was Larissa Sedakova, soothing her daughter Aida, watching another young girl, no more than 10, approach a terrorist and ask a question — perhaps she wanted a drink or to go to the loo, Larissa couldn't hear — and seeing the terrorist draw back and kick the girl so that she flew through the air across the room. When she closed her eyes afterwards, that was what Larissa saw, the girl in flight.
Those few days spent as captives produced worse horrors than that-Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of one of the child hostages in Beslan, Russia, reports that “several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists.” Her daughter “heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away.”
And-
Other survivors told how screaming teenage girls were dragged into rooms adjoining the gymnasium where they were being held and raped by their Chechen captors who chillingly made a video film of their appalling exploits
As we all know, the siege ended in violence. Over three hundred and thirty people were killed- 186 of them children. And the violence was vicious and gruesome.
While despairing soldiers and rescue workers moved among the growing pile of body bags, it was revealed that an 18-month-old baby had been repeatedly stabbed by a black-clad terrorist who had run out of ammunition.
Like this-
"There was a sixth-grade girl who had diabetes. She died there. Her mother was screaming."
Like this-
"One of the gunmen was reading the Koran constantly, and I counted exactly 23 gunmen altogether. The leader was on the roof the whole time with a sniper's rifle. We realised that, because the others went to him for advice.
"The older pupils were forced to carry desks to barricade the windows. When the assault started one of the bandits shouted 'I'll save you'. Everybody ran towards him and then he blew himself up, killing many people."
In addition the gymnasium was rigged with explosives- and the terrorists set off these charges when the assault began.
The Interfax news agency quoted a defense official as saying that "the terrorists planted a lot of mines and booby-traps filled with metal bolts in the gym."
They also began to shoot at the women and children hostages as they tried to flee-
Of those who died from gunshot wounds, most were shot in the back as they fled the gymnasium.
Here's one account-
"They were running," she said tearfully after talking to her family by phone last week. "His father yelled, 'Vova, run, run!' Then, 10 bullets were put in his back. His father held his body and cried, 'Vova, why didn't you run faster!?'"
When the surviving terrorists fled, they were all killed; all but one. That man, found cowering under a truck, is Nurpashi Kulayev. His trial is finally complete and he was found guilty of terrorism, hostage-taking and murder.
"The court has established that Kulayev took part in an armed attack and a hostage-taking..., that he committed murder against defenceless people," said Tamerlan Aguzarov, chief justice of the high court in the province of North Ossetia Tuesday.
Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty. Though there is currently a moratorium on capital punishment, there is some belief that an exception will be made for Kulayev.
Beslan was one of the most terrible, horrific, brutal and simply despicable terrorist acts ever committed. And yet today it seems to be barely remembered; unlike the images of planes slamming into the Twin Towers, those of Beslan, naked children- some of them horribly burned or covered in blood- running and being carried from the school are rarely repeated today. In the immediate aftermath there were pundits claiming that terrorism would have to change after such incredible depravity. And yet nothing has changed. Where are the outcries of horror over the killing, and gloating over it, of the sixteen year old American boy by Palestinian terrorists? And Beslan wasn't a first either. Despite it's savagery it was not entirely a new low for Islamic terrorists- Hamas had already deliberately murdered children on an Israeli bus in 2002-
Nael Azmi Abu Hilail had more than enough time to see those he was about to kill after he boarded the number 20 bus at the bottom of Mexico Street.
The young Palestinian man cannot have failed to notice the two dozen or more children clutching their school books as he squeezed his way to the centre of the packed bus winding through the rush-hour traffic to the centre of Jerusalem yesterday morning.
But that did not discourage him.
Two stops later he detonated the explosive packed around his body, the first suicide bombing in Jerusalem in more than three months and a stunning blow to the peace camp in Israel's general election campaign.
Eight passengers were killed instantly. By the end of the day the death toll had risen to 11. About half were children.
And in May 2004, months before Beslan, Islamic terrorists committed an atrocity so depraved that it chills my blood to imagine what twisted and sick people carried it out-Eight months pregnant Tali Hatuel and her four daughters were murdered. Their car was forced off the road and they were all shot at close range by terrorists belonging to Islamic Jihad or the Popular Resistance Committee (both groups claimed responsibility). Tali was 34- her daughter Hila was 11, Hadar was 9, Roni was 7, and Meirav was only 2. Two years old. One of the terrorists even made sure to shoot into Tali's pregnant belly. PA Radio dubbed these murderers as "heroic martyrs".
Since Beslan, more children have been deliberate victims of Islamic terrorism- A Hamas suicide bomber detonated his bomb on a packed bus on August 19th 2003. Twenty three people were killed. Among the dead were three month old and eleven month babies, a three year old, a 9 year old, a12 year old and a 15 year old. The suicide bomber obviously saw these children on board and yet he still went ahead with the attack.
We should never forget Beslan- but we should also bear in mind that Islamic terrorism has, before and since then, deliberately targeted children as part of its campaign of murder and terror. Never forget that.
Hope For AHA
The threat of Dutch Minister Rita Verdonk to revoke Ayaan Ali Hirsi's citizenship and passport isn't quite over yet. Dutch MPs are staging something of a revolt against her rapid decision. Zacht Ei has an interesting live blog of how the situation ran overnight-
Lousewies van der Laan, who leads the centrist D66 (Democrat 66) party, has announced she will file a motion which will, if it gets a majority, effectively force secretary Rita Verdonk to use her so-called 'discretionary powers' (i.e. a sort of executive privilege) to grant AHA a new Dutch passport, before the end of this week.
VVD chief whip Willibrord van Beek spoke some ambigous but subtly ominous words to a PBS journalist about Verdonk's political future. The Second Chamber is not pleased, to say the least. And although Verdonk may still survive this debate, she's dead in the water politically. Her main competitor in the VVD leadership tussle, Mark Rutte, is sitting back while he now soars in the polls.
Van Beek (VVD) files a motion asking Verdonk to reconsider her decision. It is supported by four other parties: CDA (right-centrist), PvdA (labour), D66 (centrist liberal) and GroenLinks (way too left).
Verdonk accepts the motion, meaning she will have to either revoke her earlier revocation of AHA's citizenship, or give her a new one pronto.
It looks like Verdonk may finally be realising what a huge mistake she made- one that a majority of Dutch MPs have forced her to back down from-
A majority of the political parties in parliament backed two motions on the issue. One calls on Verdonk to reconsider within six weeks whether Hirsi Ali is a Dutch citizen. The second instructs the Minister to grant Hirsi Ali accelerated naturalisation if she finds she is not a citizen of the Netherlands.
It looks like the only despicable, black-hearted dhimmi is the opportunistic Verdonk. My gratitude goes out to the Dutch MPs who have stood up to defend the heroic Ayaan Hirsi Ali. And it just may be that Verdonk is getting her just desserts-
"But it has done her more harm than good. Opinion polls conducted among VVD members shows support for former front-runner Verdonk has nosedived. And VVD MPs have made it clear they no longer see Verdonk as their future leader."
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Lousewies van der Laan, who leads the centrist D66 (Democrat 66) party, has announced she will file a motion which will, if it gets a majority, effectively force secretary Rita Verdonk to use her so-called 'discretionary powers' (i.e. a sort of executive privilege) to grant AHA a new Dutch passport, before the end of this week.
VVD chief whip Willibrord van Beek spoke some ambigous but subtly ominous words to a PBS journalist about Verdonk's political future. The Second Chamber is not pleased, to say the least. And although Verdonk may still survive this debate, she's dead in the water politically. Her main competitor in the VVD leadership tussle, Mark Rutte, is sitting back while he now soars in the polls.
Van Beek (VVD) files a motion asking Verdonk to reconsider her decision. It is supported by four other parties: CDA (right-centrist), PvdA (labour), D66 (centrist liberal) and GroenLinks (way too left).
Verdonk accepts the motion, meaning she will have to either revoke her earlier revocation of AHA's citizenship, or give her a new one pronto.
It looks like Verdonk may finally be realising what a huge mistake she made- one that a majority of Dutch MPs have forced her to back down from-
A majority of the political parties in parliament backed two motions on the issue. One calls on Verdonk to reconsider within six weeks whether Hirsi Ali is a Dutch citizen. The second instructs the Minister to grant Hirsi Ali accelerated naturalisation if she finds she is not a citizen of the Netherlands.
It looks like the only despicable, black-hearted dhimmi is the opportunistic Verdonk. My gratitude goes out to the Dutch MPs who have stood up to defend the heroic Ayaan Hirsi Ali. And it just may be that Verdonk is getting her just desserts-
"But it has done her more harm than good. Opinion polls conducted among VVD members shows support for former front-runner Verdonk has nosedived. And VVD MPs have made it clear they no longer see Verdonk as their future leader."
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Who'd have guessed it?
I think this belongs to the "I told you so" files.
In response to the EU's "incentives" to stop Iran enriching uranium, Ahmadinejad responded with this-
"Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?"
Remember John Kerry's solution to this- to recognise Iran's right to nuclear power and to give them uranium? As bad as Bush is proving to be on border control, immigration amnesty, etc, at least we can count ourselves thankful that Kerry isn't at the helm right now.
In response to the EU's "incentives" to stop Iran enriching uranium, Ahmadinejad responded with this-
"Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?"
Remember John Kerry's solution to this- to recognise Iran's right to nuclear power and to give them uranium? As bad as Bush is proving to be on border control, immigration amnesty, etc, at least we can count ourselves thankful that Kerry isn't at the helm right now.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Unrepentant
Sixteen year old Florida resident, Daniel Wultz, murdered in Israel in a suicide bomb attack has already been mentioned on my blog. After the attack the American boy was badly injured and Islamic Jihad leader Abu Ayman expressed his regret that he was still alive. Daniel Wultz later died of his injuries.
Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, one of the groups involved in the bombing, said this about the teenager's death- "This is a gift from Allah. We wish this young dog will go directly with no transit to hell."
Islamic Jihad leader Abu Amin (presumably the same person mentioned above, different spelling) said the boy's death was a -
"message from Allah to the unbelievers that he will always be at the side of those who believe and fight for him."
Comparing Wultz to the suicide bomber who killed the Florida teenager, Abu Amin said, "Our hero believed in Allah and died while fighting for Allah but your pig was killed in a restaurant in an area full of prostitution."
He said Wultz's death should demonstrate to Americans "that even if you live in the U.S. the hand of Allah and the sword of the Jihad fighters will reach you and you will find the same end [as Wultz]."
I don't even know how to respond- these monsters utterly disgust me.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, one of the groups involved in the bombing, said this about the teenager's death- "This is a gift from Allah. We wish this young dog will go directly with no transit to hell."
Islamic Jihad leader Abu Amin (presumably the same person mentioned above, different spelling) said the boy's death was a -
"message from Allah to the unbelievers that he will always be at the side of those who believe and fight for him."
Comparing Wultz to the suicide bomber who killed the Florida teenager, Abu Amin said, "Our hero believed in Allah and died while fighting for Allah but your pig was killed in a restaurant in an area full of prostitution."
He said Wultz's death should demonstrate to Americans "that even if you live in the U.S. the hand of Allah and the sword of the Jihad fighters will reach you and you will find the same end [as Wultz]."
I don't even know how to respond- these monsters utterly disgust me.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Islam Taught Incorrectly
I can hardly claim to be surprised by this- Tony Blair thinks that Islam is a progressive religion which is "way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women and governance." Surely he and the establishment he represents are going to be stunned when they learn that "students at some British universities are being exposed to radical teaching that explicitly condones terrorism".
Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell ordered an urgent review of university Islamic courses after claiming there was evidence that "narrow and unhelpful" interpretations of Islam were available to "many" young people.
He admitted there was worry at the highest levels of Government about the effect such teaching could have in the wake of last year's suicide bombings in London.
Perhaps British Muslims didn't realise that they were only supposed to teach government approved Islam, interpretations which would have be be very wide and helpful to get around verse in the Koran like this-
9:5 Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
This is, incidentally, one of the verses which Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar used to explain his SUV attack at the University of North Carolina. Perhaps he didn't have a helpful enough teacher to explain Islam to him? Perhaps Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Al-Baghdadi also needs one of these helpful British teachers to explain Islam to him. He appears to have gotten the Religion of Peace all mixed up too-
But as for defensive Jihad - it is not conditional upon turning to a Sunni or Shiite jurisprudent, to a source of authority, any Islamic school of thought, or Islamic party, because this type of Jihad is an individual duty. Everyone must fight - children, women, the elderly, the youth in order to liberate man, to liberate mankind, in order to liberate Palestine in its entirety, in order to liberate Iraq from the American-Zionist-British presence.
Rammell goes on to complain
"There are weaknesses in the way young Muslims are educated about what their faith really requires. There is a concern that the teachings which the great majority of Muslims would want to stress about living in peace, protecting the vulnerable, avoiding harm to others, are sometimes sidelined."
You know, I may have missed them amongst all the verses explaining that a great doom will befall the unbelievers, but I can't actually seem to find any reference in the Koran to living in peace or avoiding harm to others. Yeah, ti does say that one should pay the poor due, and that's great, but perhaps Mr. Rammell can explain where exactly in the Koran he finds these messages. And maybe while he's at it, he can explain to us how these passages should be taught by helpful teachers-
2:191 And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.
2:216 Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not.
4:76 Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. Lo! the devil's strategy is ever weak.
4:89 They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them,
4:91 Ye will find others who desire that they should have security from you, and security from their own folk. So often as they are returned to hostility they are plunged therein. If they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace nor hold their hands, then take them and kill them wherever ye find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant.
5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;
Not much living in peace or avoiding harm to others- perhaps I'm just taking too narrow an interpretation?
"There is reason to think that in some cases students are being exposed, more than any of us would like, to wrong-headed influences, under the name of religion. In particular, exposed to teachings that either explicitly condone terrorism, or foster a climate of opinion which is at least sympathetic to terrorists' motivation."
Really? You mean that there might be something in the teachings of Islam which might condone terrorism? Like this you mean?
9:123 O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you,, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).
9:111 Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph.
9:41 Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew.
9:29 Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
9:5 Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
8:39 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.
4:101 And when ye go forth in the land, it is no sin for you to curtail (your) worship if ye fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. In truth the disbelievers are an open enemy to you.
4:74 Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.
3:151 We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they ascribe unto Allah partners, for which no warrant hath been revealed. Their habitation is the Fire, and hapless the abode of the wrong-doers.
2:193 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell ordered an urgent review of university Islamic courses after claiming there was evidence that "narrow and unhelpful" interpretations of Islam were available to "many" young people.
He admitted there was worry at the highest levels of Government about the effect such teaching could have in the wake of last year's suicide bombings in London.
Perhaps British Muslims didn't realise that they were only supposed to teach government approved Islam, interpretations which would have be be very wide and helpful to get around verse in the Koran like this-
9:5 Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
This is, incidentally, one of the verses which Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar used to explain his SUV attack at the University of North Carolina. Perhaps he didn't have a helpful enough teacher to explain Islam to him? Perhaps Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Al-Baghdadi also needs one of these helpful British teachers to explain Islam to him. He appears to have gotten the Religion of Peace all mixed up too-
But as for defensive Jihad - it is not conditional upon turning to a Sunni or Shiite jurisprudent, to a source of authority, any Islamic school of thought, or Islamic party, because this type of Jihad is an individual duty. Everyone must fight - children, women, the elderly, the youth in order to liberate man, to liberate mankind, in order to liberate Palestine in its entirety, in order to liberate Iraq from the American-Zionist-British presence.
Rammell goes on to complain
"There are weaknesses in the way young Muslims are educated about what their faith really requires. There is a concern that the teachings which the great majority of Muslims would want to stress about living in peace, protecting the vulnerable, avoiding harm to others, are sometimes sidelined."
You know, I may have missed them amongst all the verses explaining that a great doom will befall the unbelievers, but I can't actually seem to find any reference in the Koran to living in peace or avoiding harm to others. Yeah, ti does say that one should pay the poor due, and that's great, but perhaps Mr. Rammell can explain where exactly in the Koran he finds these messages. And maybe while he's at it, he can explain to us how these passages should be taught by helpful teachers-
2:191 And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.
2:216 Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not.
4:76 Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. Lo! the devil's strategy is ever weak.
4:89 They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them,
4:91 Ye will find others who desire that they should have security from you, and security from their own folk. So often as they are returned to hostility they are plunged therein. If they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace nor hold their hands, then take them and kill them wherever ye find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant.
5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom;
Not much living in peace or avoiding harm to others- perhaps I'm just taking too narrow an interpretation?
"There is reason to think that in some cases students are being exposed, more than any of us would like, to wrong-headed influences, under the name of religion. In particular, exposed to teachings that either explicitly condone terrorism, or foster a climate of opinion which is at least sympathetic to terrorists' motivation."
Really? You mean that there might be something in the teachings of Islam which might condone terrorism? Like this you mean?
9:123 O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you,, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).
9:111 Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph.
9:41 Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew.
9:29 Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
9:5 Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
8:39 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.
4:101 And when ye go forth in the land, it is no sin for you to curtail (your) worship if ye fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. In truth the disbelievers are an open enemy to you.
4:74 Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.
3:151 We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they ascribe unto Allah partners, for which no warrant hath been revealed. Their habitation is the Fire, and hapless the abode of the wrong-doers.
2:193 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Citizenship Revoked
According to Jihad Watch Ayaan Hirsi Ali's move from the Netherlands to the United States may not go quite so smoothly as we had hoped. Not content with driving this courageous woman, who lives under 24 hour armed guard, from her home, Integration Minister Rita Verdonk is now claiming that Hirsi Ali's Dutch citizenship never existed. Which means that she doesn't have a Dutch passport, and her entry into the United States is now probalby on shaky ground to say the least.
As Robert Spencer says "These despicable, black-hearted Dutch dhimmis."
Hirsi Ali has a number of weeks to appeal the descision. Why Verdonk can't just let her go quietly to the US is beyond me- the facts of her untruths on her immigration have been known for some years now. Why now? Why this sudden attack on this incredibly courageous women when she is preparing to leave Holland anyway? It seems like sucha petty and vindictive course to take
I hope- though I'm not in any way confident- that the United States will still welcome her to their shores. She is, after all, living with death threats- a return to Somalia, now in the grip of Islamist violence, is surely not on the cards. Will liberal Hollywood champion her? Will they use their public voice to call for her entry into the US; the woman who wrote the film Submission, the woman who speaks out against the oppression of women the world over? Will they offer to bring her to LA to make the follow up to Submission? Can we expect Code Pink, or any of the other feminist groups out there, to rally to her side? Frankly, I'm not holding my breath for any of that to happen.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
As Robert Spencer says "These despicable, black-hearted Dutch dhimmis."
Hirsi Ali has a number of weeks to appeal the descision. Why Verdonk can't just let her go quietly to the US is beyond me- the facts of her untruths on her immigration have been known for some years now. Why now? Why this sudden attack on this incredibly courageous women when she is preparing to leave Holland anyway? It seems like sucha petty and vindictive course to take
I hope- though I'm not in any way confident- that the United States will still welcome her to their shores. She is, after all, living with death threats- a return to Somalia, now in the grip of Islamist violence, is surely not on the cards. Will liberal Hollywood champion her? Will they use their public voice to call for her entry into the US; the woman who wrote the film Submission, the woman who speaks out against the oppression of women the world over? Will they offer to bring her to LA to make the follow up to Submission? Can we expect Code Pink, or any of the other feminist groups out there, to rally to her side? Frankly, I'm not holding my breath for any of that to happen.
Cross posted at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Arguing Online
I haven't had much time to post this evening- and what internet time I did have I dedicated to a discussion going on over at a blog called Terrorism News, which I came across while reading Infidel Bloggers Alliance. It all started with a post about Israel's response to Iran's threat to wipe them off the map. The vice-premier responded "Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map." Perhaps it's just me but I find it quite reasonable that a country respond to the unprovoked threat of nuclear annihilation with a threat of "right back at you". Didn't they used to call that nuclear deterrence?
The IBA post was in reference to a comment made by Terrorism News' "_H_". Here is a sample-
"Hamas do not wish to push Israel into the sea. they just want the israelis out of their country who's borders are defined by the United Nations and Israel refuses to abide by."
And
"There is no democracy in Iraq of Afghanistan. people have tribal loyalties and simply wait to be told how to vote by the local leaders."
Well, I felt that I couldn't let that pass so I went on over. Jonz of IBA was already arguing, pointing out that the Hamas Charter contains a reference to the destruction of Israel. _H_ disputed this, claiming that that particular claim had been left off the Hamas election manifesto. _H_ also made references to two quotes-
"According to Hamas choice for Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh:
We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody.
and also
according to the chief of Hamas' political bureau, Khalid Meshaal:
Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and his messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to be respected and protected.Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us — our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people ."
_H_ also stated "please dont call Hamas islamofascists that is just ignorance. They believe in democracy they have tolerance of other faiths. they Hate Al-Qaeda (in fact if Al-Qaeda went to Palastine they would find Hamas shooting at them. They are happy for the Jews to stay in their country. just under the rule of palastine."
I pointed out that groups claiming allegiance to Al Qaeda were in fact operating in Gaza- _H_ dismissed that by referring to a "fake Al Qaeda" story. I replied linking to the two Al Qaeda groups- Palestinian Jundallah and Al Quds Islamic Army- and also with a number of quotes which counter his claim that Hamas aren't quite the bad guys we make them out to be.
_H_ responded with the same two quotes he had previously presented and then a number of questions which didn't have any bearing on the discussion at hand, namely Hamas. Here they are-
"why do you not condemn Israel for refusing to abide by International law and retreating to the boundaries as defined by the United Nations ?
Why do you not condemn Israel for building Nuclear weapons and refusing to sign the NPT ?
why do you not condemn Israel for attacks that kill Palestinian children ?
why do you not condem Israel for destroying homes and lives and building a wall on land the entire world has stated is not theirs ?"
I replied again, and I like to think that I engage in debates online in a very reasonable manner. However, my reply was deleted. Here's why-
"Jaymac you asked me some questions and i showed curtesy and replied , I asked you some questions and you have choosen to ingnore them , feel free to come back and answer the questions asked of you before you ask any more of me ."
As I said, I didn't make any mention of the activities of Israel because they weren't pertinent to the thread. Here's my deleted reply (I saved a copy just in case it was deleted, like several earlier comments had been)-
_H_
First quote - "We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody."
Hamas says it doesn't want to harm anyone? Then why did it murder so many Israeli civilians? Why does it still refuse to commit to peaceful means? If Hamas wants international aid to start flowing all they have to do is proclaim their commitment to peaceful means and to recognise Israel's right to exist- despite their financial problems they continue to do neither. What he's saying is that he wants the land back- he doesn't say what land; perhaps he means ALL of what is now modern day Israel. There's nothing here to suggest that he recognises the right of Israel to exist at all.
In fact, in the story you linked to at the Guardian it notes that the Hamas manifesto says "Our nation is at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights and end the occupation by using all means, including armed resistance."
A Hamas candidate said that the 1967 border reflected "an interim state". In other words, they want more land than that but that's their immediate goal.
Second quote - "Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and his messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to be respected and protected.Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us — our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people."
Again, this says nothing about recognising Israel's right to exist or any commitment not to destroy the state of Israel.
They say they have no problem with Jews who have not attacked them- why then did they carry out a bombing campaign which deliberately targeted Israeli civilians?
What about the Hamas suicide bomber who killed nearly thirty Israeli civilians sitting down to Passover dinner on March 27 2002? Which of the seventy, eighty or ninety year olds were responsible for attacking Hamas? Or the Hamas suicide bomber who murdered 11 civilians in a coffee shop on March 10 2002? What about the eleven women and six men killed by a Hamas suicide bomber on a bus on June 11 2003? Which of the children on a bus blown up by a Hamas suicide bomber on November 21 2002 had previously attacked them?
Hamas have yet to say that they are abandoning their terrorist program or that they do not want to destroy Israel. When they say that they do not want to harm anyone, why should we believe them? Why don't they give up their weapons and commit to the peaceful process?
Perhaps if I can get a little time tomorrow I'll answer his questions- and see if this post can survive their censorious attitude again.
The IBA post was in reference to a comment made by Terrorism News' "_H_". Here is a sample-
"Hamas do not wish to push Israel into the sea. they just want the israelis out of their country who's borders are defined by the United Nations and Israel refuses to abide by."
And
"There is no democracy in Iraq of Afghanistan. people have tribal loyalties and simply wait to be told how to vote by the local leaders."
Well, I felt that I couldn't let that pass so I went on over. Jonz of IBA was already arguing, pointing out that the Hamas Charter contains a reference to the destruction of Israel. _H_ disputed this, claiming that that particular claim had been left off the Hamas election manifesto. _H_ also made references to two quotes-
"According to Hamas choice for Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh:
We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody.
and also
according to the chief of Hamas' political bureau, Khalid Meshaal:
Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and his messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to be respected and protected.Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us — our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people ."
_H_ also stated "please dont call Hamas islamofascists that is just ignorance. They believe in democracy they have tolerance of other faiths. they Hate Al-Qaeda (in fact if Al-Qaeda went to Palastine they would find Hamas shooting at them. They are happy for the Jews to stay in their country. just under the rule of palastine."
I pointed out that groups claiming allegiance to Al Qaeda were in fact operating in Gaza- _H_ dismissed that by referring to a "fake Al Qaeda" story. I replied linking to the two Al Qaeda groups- Palestinian Jundallah and Al Quds Islamic Army- and also with a number of quotes which counter his claim that Hamas aren't quite the bad guys we make them out to be.
_H_ responded with the same two quotes he had previously presented and then a number of questions which didn't have any bearing on the discussion at hand, namely Hamas. Here they are-
"why do you not condemn Israel for refusing to abide by International law and retreating to the boundaries as defined by the United Nations ?
Why do you not condemn Israel for building Nuclear weapons and refusing to sign the NPT ?
why do you not condemn Israel for attacks that kill Palestinian children ?
why do you not condem Israel for destroying homes and lives and building a wall on land the entire world has stated is not theirs ?"
I replied again, and I like to think that I engage in debates online in a very reasonable manner. However, my reply was deleted. Here's why-
"Jaymac you asked me some questions and i showed curtesy and replied , I asked you some questions and you have choosen to ingnore them , feel free to come back and answer the questions asked of you before you ask any more of me ."
As I said, I didn't make any mention of the activities of Israel because they weren't pertinent to the thread. Here's my deleted reply (I saved a copy just in case it was deleted, like several earlier comments had been)-
_H_
First quote - "We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody."
Hamas says it doesn't want to harm anyone? Then why did it murder so many Israeli civilians? Why does it still refuse to commit to peaceful means? If Hamas wants international aid to start flowing all they have to do is proclaim their commitment to peaceful means and to recognise Israel's right to exist- despite their financial problems they continue to do neither. What he's saying is that he wants the land back- he doesn't say what land; perhaps he means ALL of what is now modern day Israel. There's nothing here to suggest that he recognises the right of Israel to exist at all.
In fact, in the story you linked to at the Guardian it notes that the Hamas manifesto says "Our nation is at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights and end the occupation by using all means, including armed resistance."
A Hamas candidate said that the 1967 border reflected "an interim state". In other words, they want more land than that but that's their immediate goal.
Second quote - "Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and his messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to be respected and protected.Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us — our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people."
Again, this says nothing about recognising Israel's right to exist or any commitment not to destroy the state of Israel.
They say they have no problem with Jews who have not attacked them- why then did they carry out a bombing campaign which deliberately targeted Israeli civilians?
What about the Hamas suicide bomber who killed nearly thirty Israeli civilians sitting down to Passover dinner on March 27 2002? Which of the seventy, eighty or ninety year olds were responsible for attacking Hamas? Or the Hamas suicide bomber who murdered 11 civilians in a coffee shop on March 10 2002? What about the eleven women and six men killed by a Hamas suicide bomber on a bus on June 11 2003? Which of the children on a bus blown up by a Hamas suicide bomber on November 21 2002 had previously attacked them?
Hamas have yet to say that they are abandoning their terrorist program or that they do not want to destroy Israel. When they say that they do not want to harm anyone, why should we believe them? Why don't they give up their weapons and commit to the peaceful process?
Perhaps if I can get a little time tomorrow I'll answer his questions- and see if this post can survive their censorious attitude again.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Daniel Wultz
Daniel Wultz, the Florida teen injured by an Islamic Jihad suicide bomb attack on a restaurant in Israel has died. He was only sixteen years old. A total of eleven people have now died as a result of the attack.
I mentioned this young man before on this blog-
Daniel Wultz, a Florida teenager lying in a coma after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant, is the "best target combination we can dream of – American and Zionist," Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the groups responsible for the deadly blast, told WorldNetDaily.
Abu Ayman, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, which also took responsibility for the April 17 bombing in which Wultz was injured, threatened all Americans and Jews worldwide and expressed regret Wultz is still alive.
Remember him next time you hear someone express sympathy for the Palestinian "cause" and the tactics they use.
I mentioned this young man before on this blog-
Daniel Wultz, a Florida teenager lying in a coma after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant, is the "best target combination we can dream of – American and Zionist," Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the groups responsible for the deadly blast, told WorldNetDaily.
Abu Ayman, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, which also took responsibility for the April 17 bombing in which Wultz was injured, threatened all Americans and Jews worldwide and expressed regret Wultz is still alive.
Remember him next time you hear someone express sympathy for the Palestinian "cause" and the tactics they use.
Bush Drops The Ball
Michelle Malkin is p*ssed- and I can't blame her. While the UK permits hijackers and "enemy combatants" (traitors I think they used to be called) to come to the UK or gain citizenship, the Bush administration is making possibly the biggest mistake of his presidency- failing to secure the borders.
Some Bush supporters are admonishing immigration enforcement activists to "tone it down" because the criticism will hurt Bush.
Some Bush supporters are admonishing immigration enforcement activists to "tone it down" because the criticism will hurt Bush.
Maybe he should of thought of that all the years when he could have been raiding worksites and strengthening border protection for their own sake. Instead, he has chosen to offer a too little, too late, and all-too-expedient gesture of immigration enforcement as a phony bargaining chip to bribe his base into supporting a historically doomed, dangerous, and utterly unmanageable amnesty proposal.
Tone it down? No, crank it up.
I continue to be astonished that the Republican leadership is so deaf to the desires of the majority of Americans- let alone Republican voters- on this issue. Don't they like to win elections any more?
9/11 Movie
The website for Oliver Stone's 9/11 movie World Trade Center is up. So far it only contains some stills from the film and a few short clips from the two survivors themselves. I have deep reservations about what Stone is going to do with this feature. Here's hoping that he leaves his politics out of it and simply tells the story.
Faith Communities
I just caught this on the BBC news website. A recent study has found that Muslims in England face some of the worst hardship in the country; they are more likely than any other religious group to have no job and to live in poor conditions. A staggering half of Muslims over the age of twenty five are said to be unemployed and one in three live in the most deprived areas in the country.
The study apparently did not examine any of the causes for this predicament. What percentage are first generation immigrants? What percentage speak English fluently? Are they living in deprived areas because the housing is cheaper or more available in those areas which were deprived to begin with? Or are they deprived because they are living in areas which are generally economically depressed- and the figures are so dramatic because their populations are in geographically confined areas?
A government spokeswoman has said that they "will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities". Does this mean that the study found that Muslims were not being treated equally? Or that efforts will be made to reverse discriminate towards them now, in order to improve their situation? The article is maddingly vague on some points.
Anyway, the thing that really caught my attention is that the study was generated "to review the prospects of faith communities in England".
Faith communities- again another oddly vague phrase. Does that simply mean they are examining a the prospects of members of a particular faith, or are they examining the prospects for establishing communities based around certain faiths. It has been said that some Muslim leaders in the West are intent on focusing the Muslim population in certain areas in order to call for Islam-centric rules for them. Steps towards Sharia law?
The study apparently did not examine any of the causes for this predicament. What percentage are first generation immigrants? What percentage speak English fluently? Are they living in deprived areas because the housing is cheaper or more available in those areas which were deprived to begin with? Or are they deprived because they are living in areas which are generally economically depressed- and the figures are so dramatic because their populations are in geographically confined areas?
A government spokeswoman has said that they "will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities". Does this mean that the study found that Muslims were not being treated equally? Or that efforts will be made to reverse discriminate towards them now, in order to improve their situation? The article is maddingly vague on some points.
Anyway, the thing that really caught my attention is that the study was generated "to review the prospects of faith communities in England".
Faith communities- again another oddly vague phrase. Does that simply mean they are examining a the prospects of members of a particular faith, or are they examining the prospects for establishing communities based around certain faiths. It has been said that some Muslim leaders in the West are intent on focusing the Muslim population in certain areas in order to call for Islam-centric rules for them. Steps towards Sharia law?
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Non-Story
I saw this on the ITV news last night- a quick search didn't turn up any hits for the story anywhere but their website. Here's the gist of it- a phone video has surfaced of Army recruits in a CS gas chamber. The instructors can be heard laughing at the discomfort of a recruit as he struggles to breathe and then throws up. ITV is crying "abuse".
I can't believe it- this is a standard part of of training. Recruits get their NBC gear on and enter the gas chamber to make sure that their equipment is functioning properly. The drill then involves taking off your respirator and being asked your number and/or a question or two. As you're in a room filled with CS gas, it's an uncomfortable few moments. My instructors had a good laugh as us too, as we struggled to talk and answer questions (some of them pretty amusing from what I recall) keeping us in the room long enough to get a good dose of the stuff. One by one we staggered out of the building coughing and spluttering with our eyes and noses running uncontrollably (all but one of us- a single guy in my troop was immune to the stuff, he walked out singing "Macho Man" at the top of his voice). None of us thought we'd just been "abused"- if fact, we all thought it was a great experience.
I am staggered that the Army is going to waste time and resources on such a trivial, non-incident.
I can't believe it- this is a standard part of of training. Recruits get their NBC gear on and enter the gas chamber to make sure that their equipment is functioning properly. The drill then involves taking off your respirator and being asked your number and/or a question or two. As you're in a room filled with CS gas, it's an uncomfortable few moments. My instructors had a good laugh as us too, as we struggled to talk and answer questions (some of them pretty amusing from what I recall) keeping us in the room long enough to get a good dose of the stuff. One by one we staggered out of the building coughing and spluttering with our eyes and noses running uncontrollably (all but one of us- a single guy in my troop was immune to the stuff, he walked out singing "Macho Man" at the top of his voice). None of us thought we'd just been "abused"- if fact, we all thought it was a great experience.
I am staggered that the Army is going to waste time and resources on such a trivial, non-incident.
Compare and Contrast
With Friends Like This
Isn't Pakistan supposed to be the ally of the United States?
Pakistan's former army chief says Iranian officials came to him for advice on heading off an attack on their nuclear facilities. He in effect advised them to take a hostage - Israel.
Pakistan's former army chief says Iranian officials came to him for advice on heading off an attack on their nuclear facilities. He in effect advised them to take a hostage - Israel.
Retired Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg said he suggested their government "make it clear that if anything happens to Iran, if anyone attacks it - it doesn't matter who it is or how it is attacked - that Iran's answer will be to hit Israel; the only target will be Israel."
Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, was quoted last week as saying that if "America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel."
Time for a rethink on that policy?Saturday, May 13, 2006
Hijacking Planes A-OK
A group of nine Afghan asylum seekers who hijacked a plane at gunpoint to get into the UK back in 2000 are to be allowed to remain here. Despite the fact that the government wanted to boot them out of the country, the courts disagreed- as this would infringe on the poor hijackers' human rights. Even though the Taliban regime they were fleeing has since been overthrown. The one upshot of this sorry tale is that David Cameron, the Tory leader, is now saying he intends to "scrap, reform or replace" the Human Rights Act.
He said that it's wrong to allow "the human rights of dangerous criminals to fly in the face of common sense".
"Being able to balance the danger they pose to the UK if they stay, with the danger to them if they are returned to their country of origin, is no longer possible."
Perhaps a little bit of common sense is returning to British politics at long last? Afterall, Britain has now indicated to the world that hijacking an airplane is now a legitimate way to enter the country.
UPDATE- Just thought I'd point this out - not only does Britain permit hijackers to stay in the UK, the courts are also okay with an enemy combatant from Gitmo getting his citizenship.
He said that it's wrong to allow "the human rights of dangerous criminals to fly in the face of common sense".
"Being able to balance the danger they pose to the UK if they stay, with the danger to them if they are returned to their country of origin, is no longer possible."
Perhaps a little bit of common sense is returning to British politics at long last? Afterall, Britain has now indicated to the world that hijacking an airplane is now a legitimate way to enter the country.
UPDATE- Just thought I'd point this out - not only does Britain permit hijackers to stay in the UK, the courts are also okay with an enemy combatant from Gitmo getting his citizenship.
UN Says Iran Has Enriched Uranium
I thought that this would be all over the news- it looks like Iran has been caught with weapons grade uranium by the UN no less- tonight on TV though it didn't get a mention and the BBC news website doesn't even list it anywhere on their front page; the top Middle East story is the Palestinian PM calling for more aid. In fact, the BBC doesn't even have the story on their Middle East page.
What's going on? Isn't this the sort of news that reporters are supposed to jump all over? I guess if it had been unconfirmed reports that George Bush personally tortured illegally detained foreign nationals, this would be shouted from the rooftops.
Isn't the news that we might have taken a big step forward towards war even noteworthy?
What's going on? Isn't this the sort of news that reporters are supposed to jump all over? I guess if it had been unconfirmed reports that George Bush personally tortured illegally detained foreign nationals, this would be shouted from the rooftops.
Isn't the news that we might have taken a big step forward towards war even noteworthy?
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Laetitia Casta
Corsican born supermodel Laetitia Casta gets some range time with what I assume is a French Manurhin MR-73 revolver. Miss Casta is the "godmother" of the 2eme REP (Regiment Etranger De Parachutistes) of the Foreign Legion- a unit which is based in Calvi on Corsica.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Al Qaeda In Britain
MI5 and police in the UK have identified at least "700 people suspected of being involved in al-Qa'ida terrorist plots".
Since the 2001 attacks in the United States, the number of identified al-Qa'ida supporters living in Britain who are considered a threat to national security has risen by 300 per cent, according to security sources.
So far there has been no mention of any arrests. I wonder if there's another terrorist attack in the UK will we eventually hear that some of those involved were known to MI5 but considered "no threat".
ONE of the four suicide terrorists behind the London bomb attacks was scrutinised by MI5 last year, but was judged not to be a threat to national security, a senior government official said yesterday.
Since the 2001 attacks in the United States, the number of identified al-Qa'ida supporters living in Britain who are considered a threat to national security has risen by 300 per cent, according to security sources.
So far there has been no mention of any arrests. I wonder if there's another terrorist attack in the UK will we eventually hear that some of those involved were known to MI5 but considered "no threat".
ONE of the four suicide terrorists behind the London bomb attacks was scrutinised by MI5 last year, but was judged not to be a threat to national security, a senior government official said yesterday.
As a result, MI5 failed to put him under surveillance and his plans to become a suicide bomber remained undetected.
Al Qaeda in Gaza Again
A group calling itself the al-Quds Islamic Army is claiming to be an off-shoot of Al Qaeda, and they're operating in Gaza. They state that they will attack
"the crusaders and every enemy of Islam and Muslims and their collaborators.'
Al Qaeda linked terrorists are moving into Gaza ahead of the Israeli pullout. This group- Jundallah- beleives that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are "too moderate".
"the crusaders and every enemy of Islam and Muslims and their collaborators.'
'We will blow up our bodies in their positions' and 'strike with an iron fist at all the crusader, American and Zionist campaigns,' said the statement, adding the group adhered to the principles of al-Qaeda leaders Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and Musab al-Zarqawi."
This is not the first time that a group has claimed allegiance to Al Qaeda in that area-Al Qaeda linked terrorists are moving into Gaza ahead of the Israeli pullout. This group- Jundallah- beleives that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are "too moderate".
Business As Usual
I'm sure that no one will be at all surprised by this, the UN is the place afterall where Iran gets to sit on the UN Disarmament Commission.
Five nations seen by rights groups as among the world’s worst abusers were elected along with 39 other countries to the United Nations’ new Human Rights Council in a first round of voting on Tuesday.
Amazingly enough, Human Rights Watch sees this "a step in the right direction."
Five nations seen by rights groups as among the world’s worst abusers were elected along with 39 other countries to the United Nations’ new Human Rights Council in a first round of voting on Tuesday.
Amazingly enough, Human Rights Watch sees this "a step in the right direction."
Jizya Keeps Flowing
The dastardly plan to ruin Hamas' street cred has been put into action. Rather than forcing the elected leaders of the PA to change their attitude towards Israel in order to continue receiving money from the taxpayers of the European Union, Russia, United States and UN, the quartet of "peace brokers" has agreed to keep sending the jizya to the PA.
The quartet of Middle East peace brokers agreed on Tuesday on a way to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease a financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas.
I guess that with employess still getting their cash, Hamas will be under incredible pressure to alter their position now. They're certainly getting a strong message that they can continue to advocate the destruction of Israel and the West will keep the cash flowing. How can this plan possibly fail?
The quartet of Middle East peace brokers agreed on Tuesday on a way to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease a financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas.
I guess that with employess still getting their cash, Hamas will be under incredible pressure to alter their position now. They're certainly getting a strong message that they can continue to advocate the destruction of Israel and the West will keep the cash flowing. How can this plan possibly fail?
Another Lib-Dem on Israel
I blogged some time ago about the Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge being forced to resign her position after saying that she would become a suicide bomber if she were Palestinian. Despite the public criticise that then leader Charles Kennedy made about her statements, Tonge went on to be honoured with a peerage- she is now Baroness Tonge. I wrote to Kennedy a few times about this and his argument was that her peerage was entirely deserved because of her long service. Despite his own assertion that "There can be no formal role for someone who has given voice to such a view".
Anyway, Tonge's anti-Israel comments are apparently not unique in the Liberal Democrat Party-
The leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European parliament resigned last night after telling a supporter of Israel to "enjoy wallowing in your own filth".
Chris Davies has stepped down from his position in the European Parliament but he will continue to serve as the Lib Dem environment spokesman in the parliament. The new Lib Dem leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, had only this to say on the matter-
"Chris Davies has rightly made a full apology for his remarks. What he said was unacceptable and he recognises that unreservedly."
And there the matter will no doubt come to an end.
Anyway, Tonge's anti-Israel comments are apparently not unique in the Liberal Democrat Party-
The leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European parliament resigned last night after telling a supporter of Israel to "enjoy wallowing in your own filth".
Chris Davies has stepped down from his position in the European Parliament but he will continue to serve as the Lib Dem environment spokesman in the parliament. The new Lib Dem leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, had only this to say on the matter-
"Chris Davies has rightly made a full apology for his remarks. What he said was unacceptable and he recognises that unreservedly."
And there the matter will no doubt come to an end.
Foxes In The Garden
It's been an absolute age since I've been to JonnyB's Private Secret Dairy. He's on holiday right now but his blog is continuing under the stewardship of Betty and she has an absolutely hilarious post up.
Definitely worth reading.
Definitely worth reading.
Conspiring to break the law
Michelle Malkin reports on a story that the US Border Patrol is informing the Mexican government of the whereabouts of the civilian Minutemen Project. There are even a couple more updates on this remarkable story- one on reports that information about the Minutemen as far removed from the Mexican border as Illinois is being passed on to the Mex Gov and another on the denial issued by the Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Is it time to question the patriotism of these people yet? Aren't they essentially conspiring with a foreign power to break the standing laws of the United States?
Is it time to question the patriotism of these people yet? Aren't they essentially conspiring with a foreign power to break the standing laws of the United States?
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Not Deaf Enough?
I keep coming across strange stories like this about the deaf community.
The newly chosen president of Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf, faced student protests and a possible faculty no-confidence vote Monday in a dispute that she said comes down to whether she is "deaf enough" for the job.
This president replaces the University's first deaf president- and he rose to power after demonstrations demanding "Deaf President Now".
Fernandes, 49, said she is caught in a cultural debate.
Deaf education has been roiled in recent years by the development of cochlear implants and other technology. Some say such developments threaten sign language and other aspects of what they call deaf culture; others welcome such advances.
Am I the only one who thinks it strange that some people would rather have a "deaf culture" than the ability to hear?
The newly chosen president of Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf, faced student protests and a possible faculty no-confidence vote Monday in a dispute that she said comes down to whether she is "deaf enough" for the job.
This president replaces the University's first deaf president- and he rose to power after demonstrations demanding "Deaf President Now".
Fernandes, 49, said she is caught in a cultural debate.
"There's a kind of perfect deaf person," said Fernandes, who described that as someone who is born deaf to deaf parents, learns ASL at home, attends deaf schools, marries a deaf person and has deaf children. "People like that will remain the core of the university."
And right at the end of the article there's a little reference to the type of stories I've been hearing.Deaf education has been roiled in recent years by the development of cochlear implants and other technology. Some say such developments threaten sign language and other aspects of what they call deaf culture; others welcome such advances.
Am I the only one who thinks it strange that some people would rather have a "deaf culture" than the ability to hear?
Let The Appeals Begin
Zacarias Moussaoui is now claiming that he lied under oath and wants to withdraw his guilty plea. He's basing ths on the statements made by the jurors, some of whom apparently bought that "poor upbringing" BS.
"I had thought I would be sentenced to death based on the emotions and anger toward me for the deaths on Sept. 11," he explained in an affidavit. "But after reviewing the jury verdict and reading how the jurors set aside their emotions and disgust for me and focused on the law and the evidence ... I now see that it is possible that I can receive a fair trial even with Americans as jurors."
Although the judge presiding has rejected the claim, Moussaoui is now claiming that he didn't trust his lawyers and that he didn't understand the legal system, etc, etc, etc.
I wonder how many millions this is going to cost the American taxpayer over the next few years?
"I had thought I would be sentenced to death based on the emotions and anger toward me for the deaths on Sept. 11," he explained in an affidavit. "But after reviewing the jury verdict and reading how the jurors set aside their emotions and disgust for me and focused on the law and the evidence ... I now see that it is possible that I can receive a fair trial even with Americans as jurors."
Although the judge presiding has rejected the claim, Moussaoui is now claiming that he didn't trust his lawyers and that he didn't understand the legal system, etc, etc, etc.
I wonder how many millions this is going to cost the American taxpayer over the next few years?
Bruce Willis
I've always liked Bruce Willis: Moonlighting, the Die Hard movies, Twelve Monkeys, Last Man Standing, The Fifth Element and Sin City to name but a few, then there was his support for Michael Yon's Dispatches and his attending the Punisher's Ball, and now there's this-
Movie star Bruce Willis supports Americans in their constitutional right to carry a gun, insisting everyone should be able to defend themselves with a weapon if need be.
Movie star Bruce Willis supports Americans in their constitutional right to carry a gun, insisting everyone should be able to defend themselves with a weapon if need be.
The Die Hard actor is keen to point out gun owners are not automatically violent.
He says, "If you take guns away from legal gun owners then the only people who would have guns would be the bad guys.
"Even a pacifist would get violent if someone were trying to kill him or her.
"You would fight for your life, whatever your beliefs. You'd use a rock or tear one of these chairs out of the floor.
Hat tip to War on Guns.Republicans vs Democrats
Kim du Toit sums up the situation with his usual straight-to-the-point succinctness-
"Remember, the difference between the Stupid Party and the Evil Party is simple: the Stupid Party screws things up because, well, they’re the Stupid Party. The Evil Party screws things up as a matter of policy."
"Remember, the difference between the Stupid Party and the Evil Party is simple: the Stupid Party screws things up because, well, they’re the Stupid Party. The Evil Party screws things up as a matter of policy."
Monday, May 08, 2006
Nazis and the Palestinians
This will come as no surprise to those who know of the numerous links between Islam and Nazism; the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a strong supporter of the Nazis and he even wanted to form a National Socialist Arab party, and there were several Muslim units of the German war machine.
A British Foreign Office report from 1939 reports of “news of a consignment of arms from Germany, sent via Turkey and addressed to Ibn Saud (king of Saudi Arabia), but really intended for the Palestine insurgents.” Britain’s chief military officer in Mandatory Palestine also noted reports “regarding import of German arms at intervals for some years now.”
A British Foreign Office report from 1939 reports of “news of a consignment of arms from Germany, sent via Turkey and addressed to Ibn Saud (king of Saudi Arabia), but really intended for the Palestine insurgents.” Britain’s chief military officer in Mandatory Palestine also noted reports “regarding import of German arms at intervals for some years now.”
British documents from the same period, and German records photographed by an American spy and sent to the British government, said that a number of Nazi agents were sent to Mandatory Palestine, in order to forge alliances with Palestinian leaders, and urge them to reject a partition of the land between the Jewish and Arab populations.
The reasoning behind this is that the Nazis knew that in the Palestinians they had strong support-
“Most important for the sympathies which Arabs now feel towards Germany is their admiration for our Fuhrer, especially during the unrests, I often had an opportunity to see how far these sympathies extend. When faced with a dangerous behaviour of an Arab mass, when one said that one was German, this was already generally a free pass.”
As we can see today, the link between Nazis and Islamists still exists.SUSAT Replacement
Happened across this quite by accident- according to Jane's the British Army is going to replace the SUSAT sight mounted on the L85A2 rifle. Before the costly upgrade from A1 to A2 version, the SUSAT was generally regarded as the best bit of the weapon, although a little heavy.
The UK armed forces' L85A2 (SA80A2) assault rifle is to undergo another transformation as the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) starts negotiations to replace the L9A1 weapon sight.
The UK MoD's Future Infantry Soldier Technology (FIST) programme office wants an "improved and lighter" system to replace the United Scientific Instruments L9A1 Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux (SUSAT), currently in use with the SA80A2.
At the moment the favourite for a replacement is the Trijicon ACOG TA31RCO 4 x 32 sight. The deal is apparently worth £200 million pounds. Which is a little odd because the program to upgrade the L85 was worth only £92million. And then there's the little problem of fixing the scope to the weapon.
Another thing that bothers me about this is that the L85A2 is due to be replaced sometime in the next five years or so. Why spend £200 million on a sight for a weapon which is obsolescent? If the MoD has £200 million to spend, why don't they just start buying a brand new rifle for the Army to use? If they aren't going to buy a new weapon now, why not wait for a few years and see what optics are available then? Won't all of that cash will be wasted if they opt for a weapon like the G36 which is designed with its own scope?
I really can't see the need for this. In my experience the SUSAT is an excellent piece of kit- I never had a problem with it and there seems to be no pressing need for a brand new optic right now. Sure, the Trijicon is a little lighter but if 100 or so grams makes that big a difference to the modern British Infantryman then we've got much bigger problems to deal with.
UPDATE - Apparently the problem lies with the tritium gas used to illuminate the sight; the sights are about half as bright as they should be. This does beg the question though- why not simply replace the tritium gas capsules in the sights?
The UK armed forces' L85A2 (SA80A2) assault rifle is to undergo another transformation as the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) starts negotiations to replace the L9A1 weapon sight.
The UK MoD's Future Infantry Soldier Technology (FIST) programme office wants an "improved and lighter" system to replace the United Scientific Instruments L9A1 Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux (SUSAT), currently in use with the SA80A2.
At the moment the favourite for a replacement is the Trijicon ACOG TA31RCO 4 x 32 sight. The deal is apparently worth £200 million pounds. Which is a little odd because the program to upgrade the L85 was worth only £92million. And then there's the little problem of fixing the scope to the weapon.
Another thing that bothers me about this is that the L85A2 is due to be replaced sometime in the next five years or so. Why spend £200 million on a sight for a weapon which is obsolescent? If the MoD has £200 million to spend, why don't they just start buying a brand new rifle for the Army to use? If they aren't going to buy a new weapon now, why not wait for a few years and see what optics are available then? Won't all of that cash will be wasted if they opt for a weapon like the G36 which is designed with its own scope?
I really can't see the need for this. In my experience the SUSAT is an excellent piece of kit- I never had a problem with it and there seems to be no pressing need for a brand new optic right now. Sure, the Trijicon is a little lighter but if 100 or so grams makes that big a difference to the modern British Infantryman then we've got much bigger problems to deal with.
UPDATE - Apparently the problem lies with the tritium gas used to illuminate the sight; the sights are about half as bright as they should be. This does beg the question though- why not simply replace the tritium gas capsules in the sights?
What's Going On?
I don't quite understand why the courts in Britain have decided that this guy deserves to be a citizen.
An Australian jihadi, being held in Guantanamo Bay, has applied for British citizenship. This may be because while the Australian government was happy enough with the military tribunal system to deal with these enemy combatants, the British government protested. Before this, Hicks seems to have displayed no interest in being anything like remotely loyal to the Crown.
[Hicks] also loved the fanatical Islamist notion that the religion would sweep the world, subduing all those who resisted.
He fought for the Kosovo Liberation Army and in Kashmir before going to Afghanistan in 2001.
Despite all of this though, the British courts have fought the Home Office's attempts to block his citizenship-
Lawyers were advised in London early yesterday that the British Court of Appeal had refused to allow any further appeals from the British Home Office in the long-running case.
Hopefully the Home Secretary will have the sense to not do a single thing to aid his release from Gitmo. And why should he? Though Dawood obtained his citizenship by an accident of birth, he has displayed no behaviour which indicates that he is anything but an enemy of America and Britain- even going so far as to take up arms against coalition forces.
An Australian jihadi, being held in Guantanamo Bay, has applied for British citizenship. This may be because while the Australian government was happy enough with the military tribunal system to deal with these enemy combatants, the British government protested. Before this, Hicks seems to have displayed no interest in being anything like remotely loyal to the Crown.
[Hicks] also loved the fanatical Islamist notion that the religion would sweep the world, subduing all those who resisted.
"Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan (will) join together in a true Islamic state. The Islamic state is nearly completed. Love, David," he wrote.
Hicks couldn't wait to fight the infidel, even considering the possibility of martyrdom through death. "As a Muslim, I believe in destiny. I will always fight for the truth, Islam," he wrote.
Although his supporters have tried to portray him as some sort of happy go luck adventurer it doesn't really gel with his statements or the facts-He fought for the Kosovo Liberation Army and in Kashmir before going to Afghanistan in 2001.
Despite all of this though, the British courts have fought the Home Office's attempts to block his citizenship-
Lawyers were advised in London early yesterday that the British Court of Appeal had refused to allow any further appeals from the British Home Office in the long-running case.
The news means the Home Office, which has twice lost to the Hicks legal team, must resume the process of making Hicks a citizen.
However, simply because he get's his citzenship it doesn't necessarily mean that the British government will have to press the US for Mohammed Dawood's release from Gitmo. Who's that, you ask? Why, that's the name that David Hick's goes by since his conversion to Islam. Strangely enough, the press never seem to refer to him by anything but his birth name.
Hopefully the Home Secretary will have the sense to not do a single thing to aid his release from Gitmo. And why should he? Though Dawood obtained his citizenship by an accident of birth, he has displayed no behaviour which indicates that he is anything but an enemy of America and Britain- even going so far as to take up arms against coalition forces.
"Moderate" Hamas?
Britain is set to back down in the face of Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel. The fools are backing a proposal to set up a trust fund to pay the salaries of PA employees with the rationale that this won't take the pressure off Hamas to actually do something about their murderous policies but will rather undercut their "street cred". I think I can actually hear Hamas quaking in their boots.
At the same time, Hamas is in the process of setting up a militia, in direct defiance of Mahmoud Abbas. Amongst the goals of this new militia are seizing back illegally taken public land and disarming segments of the population. So are not to cause any concern a spokesman pointed out they won't be disarming anyone fighting against Israel-
"We want to end the chaos of weapons," he said. "The only ones who will be allowed to carry weapons are the policemen who are in charge of law and order and members of the resistance groups who are confronting Israeli aggression."
And the PA Interior Minister also said that they would-
"turn the table over the heads of all those who are trying to foil the Hamas cabinet." Addressing supporters in Khan Yunis, he reiterated his Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist. "We can't accept the existence of the criminals, executioners and murderers on our blessed lands," he said. "We won't change our position."
Gee, not even if the UK bails you out of your financial difficulties and ruins your street cred?
Another Hamas official threatened that international sanctions would lead to a third intifada-
"This time it will be a regional intifada which will change the balance of power in the region."
And then there was this directed at George Bush-
"We will chop off the head of anyone who tries to bring down our cabinet. The US wants us to succumb and become its slaves, but we won't give in because we are free and sovereign."
At the same time, Hamas is in the process of setting up a militia, in direct defiance of Mahmoud Abbas. Amongst the goals of this new militia are seizing back illegally taken public land and disarming segments of the population. So are not to cause any concern a spokesman pointed out they won't be disarming anyone fighting against Israel-
"We want to end the chaos of weapons," he said. "The only ones who will be allowed to carry weapons are the policemen who are in charge of law and order and members of the resistance groups who are confronting Israeli aggression."
And the PA Interior Minister also said that they would-
"turn the table over the heads of all those who are trying to foil the Hamas cabinet." Addressing supporters in Khan Yunis, he reiterated his Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist. "We can't accept the existence of the criminals, executioners and murderers on our blessed lands," he said. "We won't change our position."
Gee, not even if the UK bails you out of your financial difficulties and ruins your street cred?
Another Hamas official threatened that international sanctions would lead to a third intifada-
"This time it will be a regional intifada which will change the balance of power in the region."
And then there was this directed at George Bush-
"We will chop off the head of anyone who tries to bring down our cabinet. The US wants us to succumb and become its slaves, but we won't give in because we are free and sovereign."
Martian Spacesuit
This is the sort of news I've been waiting for since I was a little kid and my brother and I sneaked out of bed late at night to watch the TV version of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.
A prototype spacesuit designed for Martian exploration is undergoing tests in the North Dakota badlands. Weighing in at 50-pounds, the team is trying to maximise the mobility of the suit- when these protective garments are pressurised it makes it difficult for the astronauts to move their fingers. While NASA suits are pressurised to 4.3psi, the Martian suit is working at 1psi. The suit also comes with a blue "dust cover" which the team hope will help keep out the fine, talcum powder-like Martian particles. That will be a major problem not just for Martian explorers but any machinery they take with them. The major difference between this and previous spacesuit designs is that this is purely aimed at planetary exploration, rather than the zero-g of space.
Closer and closer to Barsoom.
A prototype spacesuit designed for Martian exploration is undergoing tests in the North Dakota badlands. Weighing in at 50-pounds, the team is trying to maximise the mobility of the suit- when these protective garments are pressurised it makes it difficult for the astronauts to move their fingers. While NASA suits are pressurised to 4.3psi, the Martian suit is working at 1psi. The suit also comes with a blue "dust cover" which the team hope will help keep out the fine, talcum powder-like Martian particles. That will be a major problem not just for Martian explorers but any machinery they take with them. The major difference between this and previous spacesuit designs is that this is purely aimed at planetary exploration, rather than the zero-g of space.
Closer and closer to Barsoom.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Hamas
I wonder- if the situation had been reversed and Mahmoud Abbas or Fatah had discovered a plot to assassinate the Israeli leader, would they have done so?
A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.
Ulemas (scholars) as well as other Muslim and Palestinian leaders will “draw up a fatwa on the duty of the ummah (Muslims) and of governments” toward the Palestinians and the Hamas cabinet, Qardawi told a press conference Saturday.
I gues that while all these top Islamic scholars are there they'll also issue a fatwa condemning appalling acts of terrorism carried out in Islam's name by a "tiny minority of extremists" who don't understand that it's a religion of peace?
A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.
Hamas’s military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.
In other Hamas related news, noted moderate Al-Qardawi is to issue a fatwa which obliges Muslims everywhere to support Hamas and the Palestinians- morally and financially.Ulemas (scholars) as well as other Muslim and Palestinian leaders will “draw up a fatwa on the duty of the ummah (Muslims) and of governments” toward the Palestinians and the Hamas cabinet, Qardawi told a press conference Saturday.
I gues that while all these top Islamic scholars are there they'll also issue a fatwa condemning appalling acts of terrorism carried out in Islam's name by a "tiny minority of extremists" who don't understand that it's a religion of peace?
Chavez Seizing Power?
While the world's attention is focused in the Middle East, it's perhaps time that we paid a little more attention to Venezuela. It seems that Hugo Chavez wants to hold a referendum which will enable him to remain in power for the next twenty five years or perhaps "indefinitely". Under the Venezuelan constiturion he can only run for office for one more term.
And let's not forget the links between Chavez and Iran. Or the fact that Chavez is looking for a seat on the UN Security Council. At the moment there are five permanent members- and it only takes one to veto any proposal; the UN is considering expanding that to ten members. And then there's the little matter of the 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles and the MIG fighters. And the chemical and biological agents.
And let's not forget the links between Chavez and Iran. Or the fact that Chavez is looking for a seat on the UN Security Council. At the moment there are five permanent members- and it only takes one to veto any proposal; the UN is considering expanding that to ten members. And then there's the little matter of the 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles and the MIG fighters. And the chemical and biological agents.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Smog Recommended
I posted Smog's video for Rock Bottom Riser a little while ago. My copy of the album A River Ain't Too Much To Love has since arrived and I've been playing it constantly. It's a great album. I'm not quite sure how Smog's music is classed, Americana? Whatever it is, I strongly recommend that you check this out. Amazon has very usefully provided small samples of each track. My favourite track at the moment is the wonderful "I Feel Like The Mother Of The World".
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Return To Blogging
I haven't had much time to spare this past week but I finally seem to be getting on top of things now. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a little more regularly now.
One of the things holding me up was making a reply to a commentator on my post about a British neo-Nazi converting to Islam. I made the point that to call Nazis (or neo-Nazis) "right wing" is a misnomer. The original National Socialist German Worker's Party was, as the name suggests, socialist and left wing in nature. The modern neo-Nazi groups have similar left wing ideologies (redistribution of wealth and so on). We've been back and forth on the subject a few times and though it's pretty lengthy I'd appreciate feedback on the topic at hand from any readers who have the time to check it out.
One of the things holding me up was making a reply to a commentator on my post about a British neo-Nazi converting to Islam. I made the point that to call Nazis (or neo-Nazis) "right wing" is a misnomer. The original National Socialist German Worker's Party was, as the name suggests, socialist and left wing in nature. The modern neo-Nazi groups have similar left wing ideologies (redistribution of wealth and so on). We've been back and forth on the subject a few times and though it's pretty lengthy I'd appreciate feedback on the topic at hand from any readers who have the time to check it out.
Toy Story Anti-Gun?
My eldest daught loves the Toy Story films and she has a Woody doll. Today she came to me and asked where Woody's gun was- the doll has an empty holster on his hip. I told her that Woody doesn't have a gun in the film so the toy doesn't have one either. She wasn't pleased.
Anyway, it got me thinking; in Toy Story 2 we see Woody being restored to his former glory by an expert, re-made into mint condition and ready for inclusion in a toy musuem with other pristine examples of the set. The problem is, Woody never gets a replacement gun. Surely if the doll was made back in the fifties (yeah, I know it's only a cartoon not real life), this cowboy would have a gun?
The fact that he doesn't get a six shooter makes me think that the makers have an anti-gun bias; would it really have been all that bad to give a toy cowboy a toy gun for his holster?
Anyway, it got me thinking; in Toy Story 2 we see Woody being restored to his former glory by an expert, re-made into mint condition and ready for inclusion in a toy musuem with other pristine examples of the set. The problem is, Woody never gets a replacement gun. Surely if the doll was made back in the fifties (yeah, I know it's only a cartoon not real life), this cowboy would have a gun?
The fact that he doesn't get a six shooter makes me think that the makers have an anti-gun bias; would it really have been all that bad to give a toy cowboy a toy gun for his holster?
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Doctor Who Reviewed
I finally got around to watching the rest of Christopher Eccleston's run as Doctor Who about a year after I recorded it, beginning with The Long Game, featuring a great cameo by Simon Pegg. I've got mixed feelings about the series. There seems to be a focus on Rose and her family/friends which distracts from the Doctor himself- the whole series might have been called Rose. As it progressed and we kept coming back to Rose's cohorts, it began to feel more like a soap opera than a sci-fi show. The Doctor himself seems relegated to a supporting character at times.
Some spoilers ahead.
And then there's the quality of the writing- which is not always of a high quality. The problem seems to be that the show's creators aren't well versed in science fiction- or science for that matter (not to mention history, something of a requirement for a series about a time traveller- during the middle of a German bomber attack on London in World War 2, Captain Jack stands at an open window, lights blazing behind him. He also switches on lights to illuminate the faces of Big Ben's clock- no blackout for him).
Another problem is that the show doesn't always display consistent logic. In the episode Father's Day, we're told that because Rose intervened on the day her father was supposed to die, a group of terrible creatures called Reapers (original name, eh?) come and begin attacking everyone, wiping them out of existence. When Rose counters that the Doctor interferes in time all the time, he says, "But I know what I'm doing." (And don't even get me started on the fact that about three creatures have wiped out the rest of London, possibly the world- they could at least have had the skies swarming with masses of them.) That's a funny kind of argument- and one which is blown out of the water in the next episode when rogue time traveller Captain Jack crashes an alien vessel in London during the war and again a few episodes on in Bad Wolf- when the Doctor learns that he himself has rewritten about a century of Earth history by intervening in events. Surprisingly, none of the Reaper creatures turn up to "heal" time.
In Boom Town, we again get to have Rose meet up with her on-off beau Mickey- and we again encounter a Slitheen, although thankfully without all of the schoolboy farting jokes this time around. Here's the story in a nutshell- the Slitheen has taken on the persona of the local mayor and has pushed through the building of a nuclear power station right in the middle of a city! I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to Time Lords and a space/time vehicle bigger on the inside than the outside but please- are we really supposed to buy that? It gets worse- the power station has been deliberately designed to explode when it becomes fully operational. Only one person seems to have noticed and he's quickly dispatched. Good thing that local mayors are able to design nuclear reactors now. Anyway, Rose and co. turn up and the Slitheen is quickly captured. No one seems to think it's a good idea to notify the authorities that the nuclear power station they have slap bang in the middle of the city will blow up when it's turned on. Oops.
Another element that was introduced in Boom Town is the concept of the Tardis as an all powerful entity- when the Slitheen gets the upper hand the Tardis itself takes matters into its own hand and regresses her to an egg. The Slitheen, you see, was sentenced to death on her own planet- this way, the story is wrapped up quickly (without the Doctor having to display any brilliant or original thought) and we get to avoid the messy concept that the Slitheen will be executed for its crimes (when the Slitheen are first encountered they are trying to wipe all life off the face of the Earth). I'm not a fan of this Deus ex machina device at all. Yet again the Doctor is relegated to bit part in his own show. It's as if the writers don't quite know what to do with him, or if they aren't quite clever enough to outwit their own plot lines.
The idea of the Deus ex machina is used again in the climactic episode The Parting of the Ways. The Doctor and a handful of people are on a space station orbiting Earth in the year 200,100 approximately . An entire Dalek fleet is on the way, after spending generations infiltrating Earth to render the inhabitants powerless to resist them (and consequently eradicating a grand Earth 4th Empire- oddly enough, no Reapers turn up to set things right). Rose is tricked into returning to Earth, where she quickly attempts to access the "heart" of the Tardis and convince it to take her back to try and save the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor's companion Captain Jack is trying to muster a defence. Although we saw that the Dalek in the episode Dalek had an energy shield to defend itself with, these examples don't seem to be quite so well equipped- Jack quips that the gun's plastic bullets will be able to blind the Dalek eyestalks if his band of journalist heroes aims for the same spot. Incidentally, in the year 200,100 the Heckler and Koch G-36 assault rifle is apparently standard issue. This might seem like a trivial point to some viewers but imagine if you're watching a science fiction show set thousands and thousands of years in the future and the bold pilots set off to do battle in Spitfires, or they drive to their starfighters in a Ford Focus. Kind of spoils the effect, doesn't it? The same rifle was used in Doom- but they at least thought to dress the weapons a little to make them seem like something else. The FX people of Doctor Who could have done the same- to just not bother is more than a little lazy.
Anyway, the Dalek's proceed to exterminate everyone. I'm sure a cheer went up when Captain Jack, an annoying amalgam of Tom Cruise smarm and Han Solo cockiness, neither of which he manages to pull off, is killed. The Daleks then close in on the Doctor. Yet again, he's outwitted and it seems as if the Daleks have won; and then Rose shows up. It seems that she is "possessed" by the power of the Tardis- she proceeds to wipe out the entire Dalek fleet with the blink of an eye and then to resurrect Jack- again, no Reapers show up to fix time; fickle creatures that they are.
Once more, the Doctor completely fails to win the day- and we're left with a big build-up to Dalek invasion, only to have it sorted out by another Deus ex machina device. It's a massive let down, and a disappointing end to a series that was mediocre at best. It also leaves us with the question- why did the Time Lords get wiped out in the Time War with the Daleks? If a single Tardis, a device let's remember that was created by the Time Lords, can wipe out all of the Daleks, then why can't the combined technology of the Time Lords have won the Time War? And the Doctor's Tardis isn't even the most advanced model around?
Incidentally, Wikipedia has very detailed coverage of all the Doctor Who episodes.
Some spoilers ahead.
And then there's the quality of the writing- which is not always of a high quality. The problem seems to be that the show's creators aren't well versed in science fiction- or science for that matter (not to mention history, something of a requirement for a series about a time traveller- during the middle of a German bomber attack on London in World War 2, Captain Jack stands at an open window, lights blazing behind him. He also switches on lights to illuminate the faces of Big Ben's clock- no blackout for him).
Another problem is that the show doesn't always display consistent logic. In the episode Father's Day, we're told that because Rose intervened on the day her father was supposed to die, a group of terrible creatures called Reapers (original name, eh?) come and begin attacking everyone, wiping them out of existence. When Rose counters that the Doctor interferes in time all the time, he says, "But I know what I'm doing." (And don't even get me started on the fact that about three creatures have wiped out the rest of London, possibly the world- they could at least have had the skies swarming with masses of them.) That's a funny kind of argument- and one which is blown out of the water in the next episode when rogue time traveller Captain Jack crashes an alien vessel in London during the war and again a few episodes on in Bad Wolf- when the Doctor learns that he himself has rewritten about a century of Earth history by intervening in events. Surprisingly, none of the Reaper creatures turn up to "heal" time.
In Boom Town, we again get to have Rose meet up with her on-off beau Mickey- and we again encounter a Slitheen, although thankfully without all of the schoolboy farting jokes this time around. Here's the story in a nutshell- the Slitheen has taken on the persona of the local mayor and has pushed through the building of a nuclear power station right in the middle of a city! I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to Time Lords and a space/time vehicle bigger on the inside than the outside but please- are we really supposed to buy that? It gets worse- the power station has been deliberately designed to explode when it becomes fully operational. Only one person seems to have noticed and he's quickly dispatched. Good thing that local mayors are able to design nuclear reactors now. Anyway, Rose and co. turn up and the Slitheen is quickly captured. No one seems to think it's a good idea to notify the authorities that the nuclear power station they have slap bang in the middle of the city will blow up when it's turned on. Oops.
Another element that was introduced in Boom Town is the concept of the Tardis as an all powerful entity- when the Slitheen gets the upper hand the Tardis itself takes matters into its own hand and regresses her to an egg. The Slitheen, you see, was sentenced to death on her own planet- this way, the story is wrapped up quickly (without the Doctor having to display any brilliant or original thought) and we get to avoid the messy concept that the Slitheen will be executed for its crimes (when the Slitheen are first encountered they are trying to wipe all life off the face of the Earth). I'm not a fan of this Deus ex machina device at all. Yet again the Doctor is relegated to bit part in his own show. It's as if the writers don't quite know what to do with him, or if they aren't quite clever enough to outwit their own plot lines.
The idea of the Deus ex machina is used again in the climactic episode The Parting of the Ways. The Doctor and a handful of people are on a space station orbiting Earth in the year 200,100 approximately . An entire Dalek fleet is on the way, after spending generations infiltrating Earth to render the inhabitants powerless to resist them (and consequently eradicating a grand Earth 4th Empire- oddly enough, no Reapers turn up to set things right). Rose is tricked into returning to Earth, where she quickly attempts to access the "heart" of the Tardis and convince it to take her back to try and save the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor's companion Captain Jack is trying to muster a defence. Although we saw that the Dalek in the episode Dalek had an energy shield to defend itself with, these examples don't seem to be quite so well equipped- Jack quips that the gun's plastic bullets will be able to blind the Dalek eyestalks if his band of journalist heroes aims for the same spot. Incidentally, in the year 200,100 the Heckler and Koch G-36 assault rifle is apparently standard issue. This might seem like a trivial point to some viewers but imagine if you're watching a science fiction show set thousands and thousands of years in the future and the bold pilots set off to do battle in Spitfires, or they drive to their starfighters in a Ford Focus. Kind of spoils the effect, doesn't it? The same rifle was used in Doom- but they at least thought to dress the weapons a little to make them seem like something else. The FX people of Doctor Who could have done the same- to just not bother is more than a little lazy.
Anyway, the Dalek's proceed to exterminate everyone. I'm sure a cheer went up when Captain Jack, an annoying amalgam of Tom Cruise smarm and Han Solo cockiness, neither of which he manages to pull off, is killed. The Daleks then close in on the Doctor. Yet again, he's outwitted and it seems as if the Daleks have won; and then Rose shows up. It seems that she is "possessed" by the power of the Tardis- she proceeds to wipe out the entire Dalek fleet with the blink of an eye and then to resurrect Jack- again, no Reapers show up to fix time; fickle creatures that they are.
Once more, the Doctor completely fails to win the day- and we're left with a big build-up to Dalek invasion, only to have it sorted out by another Deus ex machina device. It's a massive let down, and a disappointing end to a series that was mediocre at best. It also leaves us with the question- why did the Time Lords get wiped out in the Time War with the Daleks? If a single Tardis, a device let's remember that was created by the Time Lords, can wipe out all of the Daleks, then why can't the combined technology of the Time Lords have won the Time War? And the Doctor's Tardis isn't even the most advanced model around?
Incidentally, Wikipedia has very detailed coverage of all the Doctor Who episodes.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Good News Monday
A trio of good news stories -
A fourteen year old girl was walking home at night when a man attacked her. The young lady is a brown belt in karate and she promptly turned on her attacker and hit him, knocking him out. She was able to flee and alert the authorities. The only downside to the story is that the goblin is still at large.
A man who chased after a bank robber on his bicycle and the man who later shot the robber when he entered his property have been awarded $500 by the bank in question.
Finally, a goblin who tried a home invasion with a crowbar ended being shot by the woman who lived there. He broke into the house, grabbed a samurai sword on display there and threatened the occupants, two men and a woman. The two men fled and when the intruder tried to rob the woman she shot him in the leg and escaped herself. The goblin- an ex-convict- was then arrested for "aggravated assault, terroristic threats, robbery and other charges".
Who said the media only covers bad news?
A fourteen year old girl was walking home at night when a man attacked her. The young lady is a brown belt in karate and she promptly turned on her attacker and hit him, knocking him out. She was able to flee and alert the authorities. The only downside to the story is that the goblin is still at large.
A man who chased after a bank robber on his bicycle and the man who later shot the robber when he entered his property have been awarded $500 by the bank in question.
Finally, a goblin who tried a home invasion with a crowbar ended being shot by the woman who lived there. He broke into the house, grabbed a samurai sword on display there and threatened the occupants, two men and a woman. The two men fled and when the intruder tried to rob the woman she shot him in the leg and escaped herself. The goblin- an ex-convict- was then arrested for "aggravated assault, terroristic threats, robbery and other charges".
Who said the media only covers bad news?
Morality
This is enough to cause a brain ache- a member of a black Muslim group who had previously been involved in smashing up liquor stores has now been arrested for running down the bouncer who threw him out of a strip club.
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