I was somewhat appalled to hear that the UN's Human Rights Commission was approved overwhelmingly, by a vote of 170-4. The four countries who voted "no" were the USA, Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau. To be perfectly honest I've never even heard of Palau before. I have now.
The "no" vote was raised over objections that the new resolution did not do enough to punish those who violate human rights. US Ambassador John Bolton has this to say,
It should not ever be said that the United Nations Member States were willing to “settle for good enough, for a compromise, for merely the best we could do”, rather than for [a Council] that ensured that Governments were doing all they could to promote human rights.
I was interested to hear why the United Kingdom had seen fit to not oppose the measure but there's no explanation. While the UK did vote "yes", we left it up to Austria to speak for us "on behalf of the European Union". Good to know that we've kept our independence?
Anyway, this is what Austria had to say,
"While not everything the Union had aimed for was reflected in the resolution, it represented an improvement over the Commission on Human Rights, and would further strengthen the United Nations human rights machinery."
Sounds to me that Bolton's stance is exactly right. And Austria- on behalf of the UK and others- seems to agree. This new resolution is just an "improvement", not what the member states had been aiming for.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
RoP
I think this is the most succinct definition of the "religion of peace" I've yet come across. From the Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros-
"While Islam has many different interpretations and no central arbiter of doctrine, such as the pope, most Muslims are taught to interpret the Quran literally. Following its precepts, they divide the world into Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb — the land of peace and the land of war, the land conquered by Muslims and the land yet to be conquered by Muslims.
"While Islam has many different interpretations and no central arbiter of doctrine, such as the pope, most Muslims are taught to interpret the Quran literally. Following its precepts, they divide the world into Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb — the land of peace and the land of war, the land conquered by Muslims and the land yet to be conquered by Muslims.
Like Christians, Muslims are obligated to "convert nonbelievers." Unlike Christianity, however, "the doctrines of Islam dictate war against unbelievers." Jihad, or holy war, is justified as self-defense whenever Islam is threatened — be it by a conquering power or an offensive cartoon.
Most Muslims do not take those interpretations of the Hadith, or Islamic teaching, as far as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, Archbishop Bustros said. But the fact is that "the concept of nonviolence is absent from Muslim doctrine and practice."
Although Islam calls itself a religion of peace, the peace it preaches is the literal interpretation of Islam, which means "surrender to the will of God."
"The peace in Islam is based on the surrender of all people to Islam and to God's power based on Islamic law," Archbishop Bustros said. "They have to defend this peace of God even by force."
Ryan vs Dorkman
Michelle Malkin (not the first person I'd peg as a fan of lightsabre duels) linked to this- an incredibly inventive work by two Star Wars fans. George Lucas needs to hire these guys, give them a few million dollars and then step back. This is fantastic- one of the best choreographed duels I've ever seen. Watch and be astounded.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
4 Bore Cartridge
Reeder Custom Guns has a pretty impressive cartridge comparison on its website- the line up includes (from left to right) a 4 Bore, 700 Nitro, 470 Nitro, 375 H&H and 500 Maximum.
Then we get a better idea of the sheer gargantuan size of the 4 bore- when it's placed next to Reeder's BMF, a tough gun built to be chambered in 475 Maximum, 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum or even 500 Maximum. The 4 bore really is huge.
Update- ACE has a great follow up post on the 4 bore, including details on the somewhat bloody pitched battles that ensued when this big bore was used on elephant. I wonder how the cartridge would perform today with modern powders and bullets (A-Square perhaps) and a gun that didn't threaten nerve damage if used too frequently?
Then we get a better idea of the sheer gargantuan size of the 4 bore- when it's placed next to Reeder's BMF, a tough gun built to be chambered in 475 Maximum, 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum or even 500 Maximum. The 4 bore really is huge.
Update- ACE has a great follow up post on the 4 bore, including details on the somewhat bloody pitched battles that ensued when this big bore was used on elephant. I wonder how the cartridge would perform today with modern powders and bullets (A-Square perhaps) and a gun that didn't threaten nerve damage if used too frequently?
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Islamic Invention?
The Independent has an article about the "Islamic inventions that changed the world". It's a highly misleading article- and science exhibit at the science museum in Manchester. In fact, the more I learned the more it began to appear that this is little more than an attempt to rewrite history- a piece of pure propaganda. I'm no expert of many of the subjects discussed but even cursory research turns up fairly obvious reference to supposed Islamic inventions long before the religion of Islam was even invented.
Please do read on.
1. First up is coffee, and the Independent quotes the mythical story of a Yemenite who saw some particularly perky goats. They do mention in passing that coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen- so that would make it an African invention, not an Islamic one. Ethiopian tribesmen used to chew the bean to help keep them alert on hunting trips. There's no clear evidence that it was Muslims who first thought to use the beans in a drink.
2. Next up we hear how an Arab invented photography. According to the Independent, the term "camera obscura" comes from the Arabic for dark room. Which is odd because the term originates from Latin. It's also misleading that they say the ancient Greeks thought that our eyes emitted light- Aristotle believed the opposite. Alhazan (as he is generally known) did invent the pinhole camera, a concept understood by the Ancient Greeks. Aristotle made the first reference to a camera obscura in 330BC.
3. The Independent goes on to tell us that chess is another Islamic invention- after noting that the game itself actually originated in India. The earliest reference to the game- originally known as chaturanga- comes from 500BC while the oldest discovered chess pieces dated from 3000BC. There is another school of thought which traces the development of chess from China. So, not an Islamic invention either.
4. Next up we have Islamic claims on flight. The first attempts resulted in crashes, loosely termed here as the invention of a parachute. They were working parachutes in China by the twelfth century. The paper then goes on to credit Abbas ibn Firnas with making a reasonably successful glider flight in 875AD. There are Chinese accounts of manned kites and gliders dating back as far as 500BC.
5. Soap developed, apparently, because of the Muslim requirements of washing and bathing. While the Independent does, again, mention that this was not an Islamic invention but a development, there are other accounts of soap making. The ancient Celts for example made soap, and soap was adopted by the Romans for washing by 2AD. It's also claimed that shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim in 1759. Funny that the Celts had used soap particularly for their hair long before this date.
6. Distillation- "invented" in 800AD by Jabir ibn Hayyan. Well, not quite. Aristotle mentioned the process (he died in 322BC) and Pliny the Elder (died 79AD) recorded an early still, the apparatus used to perform distillation. Furthermore by the 3rd century AD, Maria the Jewess, as she was known, had apparently developed a forerunner of the modern alcohol still. And Egyptians were using distillation in the 3rd century to produce alcohol. What Jabir did was to invent an alembic still - not discover the process of distillation.
7. While the invention of the crankshaft is claimed for al-Jazari by 1206AD there is no solid evidence that he did actually invent it, rather than just describe it. In fact such a device had been used by the Chinese and was first mentioned in 530AD, a water powered flour sifting device- the first machine capable of translating rotary into back and forth movement. Piston technology was, incidentally, used by Hero of Alexandria in the first century AD. Al-Jazari is also, rather bizarrely, credited as the "father of robotics"- most likely because he created some automatic machines- a feat that Hero had also been capable of. The latter did, in fact, create automated puppet theatres and water-powered mechanical birds which even chirped! Long before the 12th or 13th century. Water clocks were also not a new invention of al-Jazari- these can be traced back to the Egyptians and the Greeks. As for his invention of the combination lock, this is generally attributed to the Chinese.
8. Quilting - Again, no mention is made of it as an Arabian invention but it does say that "it certainly came west via the Crusades". So, we have Christian knights to thank, not Islam. And according to this site dedicated to the history of quilting, the skill actually developed from around 3400BC.
9. The pointed or gothic arch- a design which can be traced back to the Assyrians in 722BC. Then there's the rose window, also attributed to "Muslim genius"- but which is actually traced back to the Roman oculus. Also the dome design is attributed to Muslims, but the design is also of Roman origin, the most famous example being the Pantheon. Finally there's the ribbed vault- yet again one which began with the Romans and which was developed by Romanesque/Norman architecture, used for the first time in St. Etienne, France.
10. Surgical Instruments - While the 10th century doctor al-Zahrawi's contribution to medical knowledge cannot be overlooked, there are more impressive examples of early medicine- namely the Indian Sushruta from 500BC, known as the "father of surgery". The Indian schools of medicine passed their knowledge west to the Persians. The Independent asserts that it was al-Zahrawi who discovered that catgut dissolves internally but it took until Joseph Lister in the nineteenth century for the technique to be developed to perfection- and the Egyptians were using animal sinew to stitch wounds as far back as 4000BC. As for the Muslim invention of anaesthetics, these date back to prehistory.
11. The windmill became commonplace in Persia or perhaps Afghanistan, probably sometime around 600AD. As such they were in use before the beginning of Islam in 622AD. Yet again, not an Islamic or Muslim invention, but a Persian one. There is also some evidence of ancient Babylonians using windmills in 2000BC.
12. Inoculation - Inoculating against smallpox was first witnessed by an Englishwoman in the Ottoman Empire, but the origins of the technique go back much further- beginning in either India or China in 200BC. The importance of Jenner's work was that he used relatively safe cowpox to vaccinate against the much more lethal smallpox- hence vaccination was invented by Jenner. Contrary to the Independent's statement, it was smallpox which was used for these inoculations.
13. The fountain pen - While it true that there is a reference to a fountain pen dating from the tenth century, there is no actual evidence of its existence nor of the veracity of the claim. The earliest surviving examples of fountain pens date from the 17th century.
14. Numbers- There are quite a few claims laid down here. The first printed record of the Hindu-Arabic number system was not an original work at all, but a translation of an Indian book, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, written in 628AD. al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi are essentially responsible for popularising the Indian method. Algebra is named after a book by al-Khwarizmi but its roots go back to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, then to the Greeks and the Indians. Fibonacci did bring the Arabic system of numerals to Europe, but this system is itself based on an Indian, Hindu, system; a fact Fibonacci himself referred to. As for trigonometry, it was a branch of mathematics which goes back for 4000 years, though important work was done by Omar Khayyam, whose religious beliefs differed considerably from Islam- he was obliged to take the pilgrimage to Mecca to prove he was a follower of the religion.
I'm no mathematician so forgive any technical errors I may make here. The Independent- and the Science Museum, Manchester- assert that algorithms came from the Muslim world. An algorithm is simply a procedure for accomplishing a task. The first algorithms were used by the ancient Babylonians and were also used by Euclid and Eratosthenes. While the Muslim mathematician al-Kindi did record the first known instance of frequency analysis (the study of the frequency of letters in an encrypted message), cryptology itself can be traced back to the time of Julius Caesar and the early Christians.
15. Food, specifically the three course meal. While the Independent would have us believe that this was an Islamic innovation dating from the 9th century, it actually can be traced back to the Romans- the Roman cena was a three course meal that usually began with a starter of salad, a main meat dish and then a dessert of fruit, nuts, and perhaps some wine. This was a tradition which was enjoyed by the Romans in Britain too. I can find no reference whatsoever to an Islamic invention of crystal glass (perhaps the author is using the incorrect term). Lead crystal glass was invented by an Englishman, George Ravenscroft, in 1676.
16. Carpets- Again, NOT an Islamic invention. Carpets can be traced back to Mongolia or Turkestan between the 4th and 2nd millennium BC. The earliest surviving example of a pile carpet has been dated back to the 5th century BC. Carpet production in Spain also pre-dated the Moorish occupation.
17. Cheques - It's quite true that a Muslim businessman could use cheques in the 9th century, but the actual development of the cheque pre-dates Islam; they go as far back as the 1st century AD, originating in Persia.
18. A spherical earth. Apparently by the 9th century most Muslim scholars held that the earth was a sphere, a position that they were not the first to expound by far. The idea comes, of course, from the ancient Greek scholars. Aristotle provided evidence for the theory in 4BC. In calculating the size of the Earth, Eratosthenes managed to get within 800km of the actual figure- in 250BC. It is a myth that people widely believed the earth to be flat before the age of exploration- by the 1st century AD Pliny stated that just about everyone was in agreement that the earth was round. As for the assertion that it took another 500 years for Galileo to reach the same conclusion that too is a myth- Galileo's battle with the church concerned the movement of the earth, not whether or not it was flat.
19. Gunpowder. This is a strange one- the author admits that while the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, it was the Muslims who "worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use". What's odd about this is that saltpetre is potassium nitrate- they may perhaps have been able to produce a more purified form of saltpetre. Gunpowder was developed in China around the 7th century AD and it was brought west either along the Silk Road or by the Mongols. In any case, the Chinese were using militrary rockets in the 11th century-long before any other such recorded use. On the contrary it was only in the 15th century that Muslim forces seem to have used their own rockets, a development probably brought to them by the Mongols who used Chinese technological expertise. As for the notion of an Islamic torpedo- there is a reference to it, but there is no proof that it was ever actually developed.
20. Gardens - Apparently it was the Arabs who developed the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. Only if you ignore the evidence of ornamental gardens in ancient Egypt. And while the Persians did develop such gardens, it can be traced back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (long before Islam)- and the Greeks also had their own gardens, dating back as far as 350BC. There was also a strong Roman tradition of gardening- a tradition which was continued, but hardly invented, in Byzantium and by the Moors in Spain.
Please do read on.
1. First up is coffee, and the Independent quotes the mythical story of a Yemenite who saw some particularly perky goats. They do mention in passing that coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen- so that would make it an African invention, not an Islamic one. Ethiopian tribesmen used to chew the bean to help keep them alert on hunting trips. There's no clear evidence that it was Muslims who first thought to use the beans in a drink.
2. Next up we hear how an Arab invented photography. According to the Independent, the term "camera obscura" comes from the Arabic for dark room. Which is odd because the term originates from Latin. It's also misleading that they say the ancient Greeks thought that our eyes emitted light- Aristotle believed the opposite. Alhazan (as he is generally known) did invent the pinhole camera, a concept understood by the Ancient Greeks. Aristotle made the first reference to a camera obscura in 330BC.
3. The Independent goes on to tell us that chess is another Islamic invention- after noting that the game itself actually originated in India. The earliest reference to the game- originally known as chaturanga- comes from 500BC while the oldest discovered chess pieces dated from 3000BC. There is another school of thought which traces the development of chess from China. So, not an Islamic invention either.
4. Next up we have Islamic claims on flight. The first attempts resulted in crashes, loosely termed here as the invention of a parachute. They were working parachutes in China by the twelfth century. The paper then goes on to credit Abbas ibn Firnas with making a reasonably successful glider flight in 875AD. There are Chinese accounts of manned kites and gliders dating back as far as 500BC.
5. Soap developed, apparently, because of the Muslim requirements of washing and bathing. While the Independent does, again, mention that this was not an Islamic invention but a development, there are other accounts of soap making. The ancient Celts for example made soap, and soap was adopted by the Romans for washing by 2AD. It's also claimed that shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim in 1759. Funny that the Celts had used soap particularly for their hair long before this date.
6. Distillation- "invented" in 800AD by Jabir ibn Hayyan. Well, not quite. Aristotle mentioned the process (he died in 322BC) and Pliny the Elder (died 79AD) recorded an early still, the apparatus used to perform distillation. Furthermore by the 3rd century AD, Maria the Jewess, as she was known, had apparently developed a forerunner of the modern alcohol still. And Egyptians were using distillation in the 3rd century to produce alcohol. What Jabir did was to invent an alembic still - not discover the process of distillation.
7. While the invention of the crankshaft is claimed for al-Jazari by 1206AD there is no solid evidence that he did actually invent it, rather than just describe it. In fact such a device had been used by the Chinese and was first mentioned in 530AD, a water powered flour sifting device- the first machine capable of translating rotary into back and forth movement. Piston technology was, incidentally, used by Hero of Alexandria in the first century AD. Al-Jazari is also, rather bizarrely, credited as the "father of robotics"- most likely because he created some automatic machines- a feat that Hero had also been capable of. The latter did, in fact, create automated puppet theatres and water-powered mechanical birds which even chirped! Long before the 12th or 13th century. Water clocks were also not a new invention of al-Jazari- these can be traced back to the Egyptians and the Greeks. As for his invention of the combination lock, this is generally attributed to the Chinese.
8. Quilting - Again, no mention is made of it as an Arabian invention but it does say that "it certainly came west via the Crusades". So, we have Christian knights to thank, not Islam. And according to this site dedicated to the history of quilting, the skill actually developed from around 3400BC.
9. The pointed or gothic arch- a design which can be traced back to the Assyrians in 722BC. Then there's the rose window, also attributed to "Muslim genius"- but which is actually traced back to the Roman oculus. Also the dome design is attributed to Muslims, but the design is also of Roman origin, the most famous example being the Pantheon. Finally there's the ribbed vault- yet again one which began with the Romans and which was developed by Romanesque/Norman architecture, used for the first time in St. Etienne, France.
10. Surgical Instruments - While the 10th century doctor al-Zahrawi's contribution to medical knowledge cannot be overlooked, there are more impressive examples of early medicine- namely the Indian Sushruta from 500BC, known as the "father of surgery". The Indian schools of medicine passed their knowledge west to the Persians. The Independent asserts that it was al-Zahrawi who discovered that catgut dissolves internally but it took until Joseph Lister in the nineteenth century for the technique to be developed to perfection- and the Egyptians were using animal sinew to stitch wounds as far back as 4000BC. As for the Muslim invention of anaesthetics, these date back to prehistory.
11. The windmill became commonplace in Persia or perhaps Afghanistan, probably sometime around 600AD. As such they were in use before the beginning of Islam in 622AD. Yet again, not an Islamic or Muslim invention, but a Persian one. There is also some evidence of ancient Babylonians using windmills in 2000BC.
12. Inoculation - Inoculating against smallpox was first witnessed by an Englishwoman in the Ottoman Empire, but the origins of the technique go back much further- beginning in either India or China in 200BC. The importance of Jenner's work was that he used relatively safe cowpox to vaccinate against the much more lethal smallpox- hence vaccination was invented by Jenner. Contrary to the Independent's statement, it was smallpox which was used for these inoculations.
13. The fountain pen - While it true that there is a reference to a fountain pen dating from the tenth century, there is no actual evidence of its existence nor of the veracity of the claim. The earliest surviving examples of fountain pens date from the 17th century.
14. Numbers- There are quite a few claims laid down here. The first printed record of the Hindu-Arabic number system was not an original work at all, but a translation of an Indian book, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, written in 628AD. al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi are essentially responsible for popularising the Indian method. Algebra is named after a book by al-Khwarizmi but its roots go back to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, then to the Greeks and the Indians. Fibonacci did bring the Arabic system of numerals to Europe, but this system is itself based on an Indian, Hindu, system; a fact Fibonacci himself referred to. As for trigonometry, it was a branch of mathematics which goes back for 4000 years, though important work was done by Omar Khayyam, whose religious beliefs differed considerably from Islam- he was obliged to take the pilgrimage to Mecca to prove he was a follower of the religion.
I'm no mathematician so forgive any technical errors I may make here. The Independent- and the Science Museum, Manchester- assert that algorithms came from the Muslim world. An algorithm is simply a procedure for accomplishing a task. The first algorithms were used by the ancient Babylonians and were also used by Euclid and Eratosthenes. While the Muslim mathematician al-Kindi did record the first known instance of frequency analysis (the study of the frequency of letters in an encrypted message), cryptology itself can be traced back to the time of Julius Caesar and the early Christians.
15. Food, specifically the three course meal. While the Independent would have us believe that this was an Islamic innovation dating from the 9th century, it actually can be traced back to the Romans- the Roman cena was a three course meal that usually began with a starter of salad, a main meat dish and then a dessert of fruit, nuts, and perhaps some wine. This was a tradition which was enjoyed by the Romans in Britain too. I can find no reference whatsoever to an Islamic invention of crystal glass (perhaps the author is using the incorrect term). Lead crystal glass was invented by an Englishman, George Ravenscroft, in 1676.
16. Carpets- Again, NOT an Islamic invention. Carpets can be traced back to Mongolia or Turkestan between the 4th and 2nd millennium BC. The earliest surviving example of a pile carpet has been dated back to the 5th century BC. Carpet production in Spain also pre-dated the Moorish occupation.
17. Cheques - It's quite true that a Muslim businessman could use cheques in the 9th century, but the actual development of the cheque pre-dates Islam; they go as far back as the 1st century AD, originating in Persia.
18. A spherical earth. Apparently by the 9th century most Muslim scholars held that the earth was a sphere, a position that they were not the first to expound by far. The idea comes, of course, from the ancient Greek scholars. Aristotle provided evidence for the theory in 4BC. In calculating the size of the Earth, Eratosthenes managed to get within 800km of the actual figure- in 250BC. It is a myth that people widely believed the earth to be flat before the age of exploration- by the 1st century AD Pliny stated that just about everyone was in agreement that the earth was round. As for the assertion that it took another 500 years for Galileo to reach the same conclusion that too is a myth- Galileo's battle with the church concerned the movement of the earth, not whether or not it was flat.
19. Gunpowder. This is a strange one- the author admits that while the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, it was the Muslims who "worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use". What's odd about this is that saltpetre is potassium nitrate- they may perhaps have been able to produce a more purified form of saltpetre. Gunpowder was developed in China around the 7th century AD and it was brought west either along the Silk Road or by the Mongols. In any case, the Chinese were using militrary rockets in the 11th century-long before any other such recorded use. On the contrary it was only in the 15th century that Muslim forces seem to have used their own rockets, a development probably brought to them by the Mongols who used Chinese technological expertise. As for the notion of an Islamic torpedo- there is a reference to it, but there is no proof that it was ever actually developed.
20. Gardens - Apparently it was the Arabs who developed the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. Only if you ignore the evidence of ornamental gardens in ancient Egypt. And while the Persians did develop such gardens, it can be traced back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (long before Islam)- and the Greeks also had their own gardens, dating back as far as 350BC. There was also a strong Roman tradition of gardening- a tradition which was continued, but hardly invented, in Byzantium and by the Moors in Spain.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Bush Is On A Roll
George Bush has made a lot of mistakes lately- aming them the Dubai Ports Deal and the Immigration "Gold Card". But he's made another one which most likely won't get quite so much attention.
Despite his continued War on Terror Bush is allowing representatives of a still-armed and still-active terrorist organisation to be invited into the White House for this year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The delegation from Sinn Fein/IRA are unlikely to actually meet the President, but they will be there- along with members of the other main political players from Northern Ireland. They were not invited last year because of the failure of the devolved government (IRA spying, an activity the IMC has stated is still continuing) and the Northern Ireland Bank Robbery (and the IRA continues to be involved in organised crime here- again, as stated by the IMC).
Last year Bush seemed to get it- Sinn Fein/IRA were not invited but the sisters of a man murdered in a nationalist bar were. This year, it seems, Bush is okay with having terrorists in the White House.
So much for being against terrorism.
Despite his continued War on Terror Bush is allowing representatives of a still-armed and still-active terrorist organisation to be invited into the White House for this year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The delegation from Sinn Fein/IRA are unlikely to actually meet the President, but they will be there- along with members of the other main political players from Northern Ireland. They were not invited last year because of the failure of the devolved government (IRA spying, an activity the IMC has stated is still continuing) and the Northern Ireland Bank Robbery (and the IRA continues to be involved in organised crime here- again, as stated by the IMC).
Last year Bush seemed to get it- Sinn Fein/IRA were not invited but the sisters of a man murdered in a nationalist bar were. This year, it seems, Bush is okay with having terrorists in the White House.
So much for being against terrorism.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
IMC Turns A Blind Eye
It seems that the Independent Monitoring Commission in Northern Ireland is having some trouble in reading the reports that they themselves have compiled. Not so long ago we were informed, by the IMC, that the IRA had lied about is "historic" disarmament and they had in fact kept some of their weapons. We were also informed that they continued to be involved in organised crime and that their intelligence gathering apparatus was still intact and functioning- and that they continued to gather information about those in the security services.
Despite all of that however, the IMC has come to the conclusion that terrorists lying about giving up arms, being involved in criminal activity (including the multi-million pound Northern Ireland bank robbery) and continuing its spying operation is nothing to worry about. No, really, it's okay that terrorists are still armed, still active and still, according to another report, recruiting and training members in terrorist skills, because they have, don't you know, "committed to the politcal process".
Of course we can take their word on this- why on earth shouldn't we believe them about that? It's not like they lied about destroying all their weapons or anything...oops.
What's more unusual about the IMC's conclusions is that they also said this-
Referring to IRA intelligence gathering, the IMC said: "This is an activity which we believe is authorised by the leadership and which involves some very senior members.
"While some of it may be for defensive purposes, it is predominantly directed towards supporting the political strategy.
"It involves among other things the continuation of efforts to penetrate public and other institutions with the intention of illegally obtaining or handling sensitive information.
"This raises the question of whether the commitment to exclusively democratic means is full and thorough going, or whether there remain elements of a continuing going subversive intent beyond the boundaries of democratic politics."
In other words, the threat of a return to a violent, murderous terrorist campaign continues to hang over the political process in Northern Ireland. If they don't get their way...
And just so you know, the devolved government which was in power here, was suspended over claims of Sinn Fein/IRA spying. Seems to me that while nothing has changed, we are being asked, yet again, to allow them to continue to break the law, threaten our lives and still continue to be in positions of authority at the highest levels of our government.
Tony Blair's policy of appeasing armed and active terrorists continues.
Despite all of that however, the IMC has come to the conclusion that terrorists lying about giving up arms, being involved in criminal activity (including the multi-million pound Northern Ireland bank robbery) and continuing its spying operation is nothing to worry about. No, really, it's okay that terrorists are still armed, still active and still, according to another report, recruiting and training members in terrorist skills, because they have, don't you know, "committed to the politcal process".
Of course we can take their word on this- why on earth shouldn't we believe them about that? It's not like they lied about destroying all their weapons or anything...oops.
What's more unusual about the IMC's conclusions is that they also said this-
Referring to IRA intelligence gathering, the IMC said: "This is an activity which we believe is authorised by the leadership and which involves some very senior members.
"While some of it may be for defensive purposes, it is predominantly directed towards supporting the political strategy.
"It involves among other things the continuation of efforts to penetrate public and other institutions with the intention of illegally obtaining or handling sensitive information.
"This raises the question of whether the commitment to exclusively democratic means is full and thorough going, or whether there remain elements of a continuing going subversive intent beyond the boundaries of democratic politics."
In other words, the threat of a return to a violent, murderous terrorist campaign continues to hang over the political process in Northern Ireland. If they don't get their way...
And just so you know, the devolved government which was in power here, was suspended over claims of Sinn Fein/IRA spying. Seems to me that while nothing has changed, we are being asked, yet again, to allow them to continue to break the law, threaten our lives and still continue to be in positions of authority at the highest levels of our government.
Tony Blair's policy of appeasing armed and active terrorists continues.
No Motive But Fun?
Nine churches in Alabama, all of them Baptist, are burned down in arson attacks. It turns out to be the work of three college students, two of them "aspiring actors". They claim that there was no religious element to the attacks , that they were merely "pranks".
The fires broke out at five Baptist churches in Bibb County south of Birmingham on Feb. 3 and four Baptist churches in west Alabama on Feb. 7.
A federal source said the apparent motive was that the three students just liked to set and watch fires.
Well, that's what they say. If they just liked to set fires, why did they specifically attack nine churches. Why not shops, homes, shacks, barns, or anything else that wasn't a church? Why not set fire to a car?
There obviously was some reason they selected churches as the sole target of their arson campaign. If this had been a group of- for example- mosques burned down by three white kids, then surely they would be accused of a "hate crime" regardless of their "we just like to burn things" statement.
It seems to me- and perhaps I'm wrong- that if these weren't Baptist churches being burned down, people would be having a hard time accepting these college thugs' excuses.
The fires broke out at five Baptist churches in Bibb County south of Birmingham on Feb. 3 and four Baptist churches in west Alabama on Feb. 7.
A federal source said the apparent motive was that the three students just liked to set and watch fires.
Well, that's what they say. If they just liked to set fires, why did they specifically attack nine churches. Why not shops, homes, shacks, barns, or anything else that wasn't a church? Why not set fire to a car?
There obviously was some reason they selected churches as the sole target of their arson campaign. If this had been a group of- for example- mosques burned down by three white kids, then surely they would be accused of a "hate crime" regardless of their "we just like to burn things" statement.
It seems to me- and perhaps I'm wrong- that if these weren't Baptist churches being burned down, people would be having a hard time accepting these college thugs' excuses.
Belmarsh Holiday Camp
It looks like British authorities are following the dastardly example set by Americans at Guantanamo Bay and they are- brace yourselves- going to give Al Qaeda suspects and those being held for the July terrorist attacks at Britain's top security Belmarsh Prison laptop computers.
Argh, the unbelievable hardship being forced upon these poor, misguided terrorists! And it gets worse- while the prisoners will apperently be able to create their own CD-ROMs (and no doubt they will be protected by some solicitor-client privilege) they will NOT be given internet access. Those fiendish prison officials.
I think I can already hear Amnesty International preparing to challenge that desicison.
Argh, the unbelievable hardship being forced upon these poor, misguided terrorists! And it gets worse- while the prisoners will apperently be able to create their own CD-ROMs (and no doubt they will be protected by some solicitor-client privilege) they will NOT be given internet access. Those fiendish prison officials.
I think I can already hear Amnesty International preparing to challenge that desicison.
Cartoon Jihad Update
In Yemen a newspaper editior may face the death penalty for publishing the Mohammed cartoons.
"The paper’s website reported that the prosecution lawyers cited precedents from Muslim history when the prophet was insulted by a woman and then praised her killer."
That would be the case of Asma Bint Marwan.
At the same time, dhimmi British Home Secretary Charles Clarke is criticising Denmark's handling of the affair.
"I think that was a serious mistake which you could not imagine happening in other countries ... certainly not in this country. It is a question of respecting others, and that means do not provoke or challenge the deeply-held views of others."
I see he makes no mention of the, shall we say, inappropriate response to the cartoons. In other words, free speech be damned.
"The paper’s website reported that the prosecution lawyers cited precedents from Muslim history when the prophet was insulted by a woman and then praised her killer."
That would be the case of Asma Bint Marwan.
At the same time, dhimmi British Home Secretary Charles Clarke is criticising Denmark's handling of the affair.
"I think that was a serious mistake which you could not imagine happening in other countries ... certainly not in this country. It is a question of respecting others, and that means do not provoke or challenge the deeply-held views of others."
I see he makes no mention of the, shall we say, inappropriate response to the cartoons. In other words, free speech be damned.
Yale
I was going to comment on the story covered by Michelle Malkin of a former Taliban "ambassador" getting a position at Yale university.
"You can imagine my shock when I read in the Wall Street Journal that Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, is now studying at Yale on a U.S. student visa. He has a "fourth-grade education and a high-school equivalency degree," but Yale was impressed that he "pulled down a 3.33 grade-point average" in a special students program. Judging from all the students I've seen rejected by Yale, a perfect 4.0 average isn't impressive enough to guarantee admission or even a wait-list spot, yet Yale was convinced that a 3.33 (a B+) was an adequate demonstration of academic talent? Since when has a B+ been considered impressive according to Yale's admissions standards?"
However, Clayton Cramer sums it up much better (and without any harsh language) than I could-
This is why I hold the left, and their allies, the mainstream media, in such contempt. They sue to prevent the Ten Commandments from being a public park; they threaten suit for an historic cross on the County of Los Angeles's seal; they compare the Religious Right to the Taliban (when the American Religious Right is practically the ACLU, compared to the Taliban)--and then they admit to Yale a guy who was an apologist for a despicable theocratic totalitarian government, and by any objective standard, unqualified.
The left doesn't really object to theocracy or totalitarianism. They just object to Christianity. This is why I hold the ACLU and the rest of the left in such contempt. They are hypocrites and liars.
"You can imagine my shock when I read in the Wall Street Journal that Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, is now studying at Yale on a U.S. student visa. He has a "fourth-grade education and a high-school equivalency degree," but Yale was impressed that he "pulled down a 3.33 grade-point average" in a special students program. Judging from all the students I've seen rejected by Yale, a perfect 4.0 average isn't impressive enough to guarantee admission or even a wait-list spot, yet Yale was convinced that a 3.33 (a B+) was an adequate demonstration of academic talent? Since when has a B+ been considered impressive according to Yale's admissions standards?"
However, Clayton Cramer sums it up much better (and without any harsh language) than I could-
This is why I hold the left, and their allies, the mainstream media, in such contempt. They sue to prevent the Ten Commandments from being a public park; they threaten suit for an historic cross on the County of Los Angeles's seal; they compare the Religious Right to the Taliban (when the American Religious Right is practically the ACLU, compared to the Taliban)--and then they admit to Yale a guy who was an apologist for a despicable theocratic totalitarian government, and by any objective standard, unqualified.
The left doesn't really object to theocracy or totalitarianism. They just object to Christianity. This is why I hold the ACLU and the rest of the left in such contempt. They are hypocrites and liars.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Tom Waits
Thought it was about time that I tried adding some video to the blog. Joining the 21st century and all that.
So here's Tom Waits and "What's He Building In There?"
So here's Tom Waits and "What's He Building In There?"
How Tiny?
Thank goodness that we're only facing a tiny minority of Islamist extremists, imagine the difficulties if the larger Muslim community shared some of those same opinions.
"Anti-terrorism officials say the investigations of the bombings and failed follow-up attacks on July 21 have been slow and difficult. Not only are extremist networks murky and fragmented, but investigators also have run into resistance and radicalization on the street: In a recent poll of British Muslims, almost a quarter of respondents said they felt some sympathy with the motives of the subway bombers.
"Anti-terrorism officials say the investigations of the bombings and failed follow-up attacks on July 21 have been slow and difficult. Not only are extremist networks murky and fragmented, but investigators also have run into resistance and radicalization on the street: In a recent poll of British Muslims, almost a quarter of respondents said they felt some sympathy with the motives of the subway bombers.
“The absence of hard data on 7/7 is striking,” Shamit Saggar, a political science professor at the University of Sussex, said at the conference at the Royal United Services Institute think tank. “The only way we can explain that is as a significant circle of tacit support existing in that community.”
The Horrors of Guantanamo
Today's must read is over at the Daily Ablution, a discussion of the "abuses" doled out to inmates at Gitmo.
* subject to [unspecified] "mental stress and pressure"
* "willfully misdirected ... to pray north"
* deprived of "comfort items"
* subjected to an [apparently failed] "attempt to withdraw Qur'an"
* able to hear two guards having sex, while they "assumed he was asleep"
* distracted from his prayer by the "sharp intake of breath" of a female MP who'd been "sexually fondled".
* offered a plate of pork
* the object of a conspiracy "to keep detainee ignorant of detainee's allotted Tuesday recreation"
* subjected to a "partially successful" attempt to administer injections "under the guise of immunisation", designed to "unhinge detainee's mental and emotional stability"
* had his peanut butter eaten by a guard "right in front of him".
Good grief, the unspeakable horrors! How dreadfully this poor man has suffered! Life in Gitmo must be unbearable- imagine, the anguish of missing your Tuesday recreation period, of not getting to eat your own peanut butter, or being *gasp* deprived of comfort items! What do those American's think that place is, some sort of prison or something?
Thank goodness he was never subjected to the US Army's most dastardly torture technique- the "big American breasts".
He sure had a lucky escape.
* subject to [unspecified] "mental stress and pressure"
* "willfully misdirected ... to pray north"
* deprived of "comfort items"
* subjected to an [apparently failed] "attempt to withdraw Qur'an"
* able to hear two guards having sex, while they "assumed he was asleep"
* distracted from his prayer by the "sharp intake of breath" of a female MP who'd been "sexually fondled".
* offered a plate of pork
* the object of a conspiracy "to keep detainee ignorant of detainee's allotted Tuesday recreation"
* subjected to a "partially successful" attempt to administer injections "under the guise of immunisation", designed to "unhinge detainee's mental and emotional stability"
* had his peanut butter eaten by a guard "right in front of him".
Good grief, the unspeakable horrors! How dreadfully this poor man has suffered! Life in Gitmo must be unbearable- imagine, the anguish of missing your Tuesday recreation period, of not getting to eat your own peanut butter, or being *gasp* deprived of comfort items! What do those American's think that place is, some sort of prison or something?
Thank goodness he was never subjected to the US Army's most dastardly torture technique- the "big American breasts".
He sure had a lucky escape.
Is This Freedom of Religion?
MSNBC has an article about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a splinter group from the Mormon church, builing a temple in Eldorado, Texas. Fair enough? Churches and temples are built all the time, right? From the start though, we're told-
"They're a church whose presence in West Texas continues to create concern, and attract the interest of the nation's law enforcement community."
Why? Are the law now keeping tabs on all religious activities? Are they keeping a close eye on mosques too, or is this just a Christian thing? The article is quick to point out the potential of another Waco.
The local newspaper, the Eldorado Success "first exposed the compound, which was originally represented by the FLDS as a "hunting retreat" for church leaders."
My goodness, what an outrage! Wearing long dresses! What would he have to say about a Sikh group, where the men wear turbans, or a Muslim group where the women wear burquas? The interest is not only from the local paper, the Sheriff is also keeping "a very close watch on what's happening on the group's 1,700-acre ranch."
The leader of the group is a wanted man- in Arizona- for arranging for children to marry adult men- there's no indication that he has ever been to the new facility in Eldorado. However the Sheriff stresses that in Eldorado, no crime has been committed "at this point".
The Eldorado newspaper publisher, obviously keen to promote his "big break" story, insists, "It's like they're just one step ahead of the law all the time. And you just wonder, 'is this going to be where it happens? Is this going to be where they caught?' And, 'why did they come to Eldorado?' I still don't know."
Is this America? No crimes have been committed, no laws broken and yet this church is garnering the attention of the entire nation's law enforcement community, this church is being closely watched by the local Sheriff and is being kept under surveillance by the press. Has this church group ever threatened to break any laws? Has it ever sanctioned any violence, advocated the overthrow of the government? Done anything to deserve this attention?
"They're a church whose presence in West Texas continues to create concern, and attract the interest of the nation's law enforcement community."
Why? Are the law now keeping tabs on all religious activities? Are they keeping a close eye on mosques too, or is this just a Christian thing? The article is quick to point out the potential of another Waco.
The local newspaper, the Eldorado Success "first exposed the compound, which was originally represented by the FLDS as a "hunting retreat" for church leaders."
In the past two years, the publisher of the paper and his wife have taken thousands of aerial photographs of the compound. He is quoted as saying,
My goodness, what an outrage! Wearing long dresses! What would he have to say about a Sikh group, where the men wear turbans, or a Muslim group where the women wear burquas? The interest is not only from the local paper, the Sheriff is also keeping "a very close watch on what's happening on the group's 1,700-acre ranch."
The leader of the group is a wanted man- in Arizona- for arranging for children to marry adult men- there's no indication that he has ever been to the new facility in Eldorado. However the Sheriff stresses that in Eldorado, no crime has been committed "at this point".
The Eldorado newspaper publisher, obviously keen to promote his "big break" story, insists, "It's like they're just one step ahead of the law all the time. And you just wonder, 'is this going to be where it happens? Is this going to be where they caught?' And, 'why did they come to Eldorado?' I still don't know."
Is this America? No crimes have been committed, no laws broken and yet this church is garnering the attention of the entire nation's law enforcement community, this church is being closely watched by the local Sheriff and is being kept under surveillance by the press. Has this church group ever threatened to break any laws? Has it ever sanctioned any violence, advocated the overthrow of the government? Done anything to deserve this attention?
Good News
Irene Alice Goguen is 100 years old. As with every person of advanced age she was asked what the secret to her longevity was.
"Drink beer," she said. "I did, I'm still living."
"Drink beer," she said. "I did, I'm still living."
Hollywood Stars To Be Proud Of
Another article which comes under the "times really have changed" banner. Here's just a sample of some of my favourites-
Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.
Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.
Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F. pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.
David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy. (Incidentally, Peter Ustinov was his batman for a time.)
Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.
Ernest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunner’s Mate 1935-1945.
Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy, earning a Silver Star and awarded the Purple Heart.
Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps, more specifically on B-29s in the 20th Air Force out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.
Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart.
And, of course, no list like this would be complete without mention of the heroic Audie Murphy-
Audie Murphy, little 5’5“ tall 110-pound guy from Texas who played cowboy parts?
Most Decorated serviceman of WWII and earned: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with ”V", 2 Purple Hearts, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier, French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Medal of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm.
Flight of Fantasy
A little taste of the exceedingly talented Jim Lee with this image of my favourite detective, Batman.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Dept of Good Ideas
Now here's an example of what a good idea is-
Sticky foam is back, defending nuclear weapon stockpiles.
Some facilities storing uranium and plutonium now boast steel doors with containers of hydrocarbon solution built into them. Breach the door, and the liquid comes foaming out under high pressure, expanding in bulk by a factor of forty and sealing the breach with an impassable obstacle.
The idea is that sticky foam will delay any attackers for long enough for the defenders to call in reinforcements. Experiments with explosives found it was impossible to break through the doors without the foam barrier deploying. Another test showed how a defender could release the foam by shooting it with an M-16.
This I like- simple and effective.
Sticky foam is back, defending nuclear weapon stockpiles.
Some facilities storing uranium and plutonium now boast steel doors with containers of hydrocarbon solution built into them. Breach the door, and the liquid comes foaming out under high pressure, expanding in bulk by a factor of forty and sealing the breach with an impassable obstacle.
The idea is that sticky foam will delay any attackers for long enough for the defenders to call in reinforcements. Experiments with explosives found it was impossible to break through the doors without the foam barrier deploying. Another test showed how a defender could release the foam by shooting it with an M-16.
This I like- simple and effective.
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