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11:28 pm
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pointed quote from samizdata on belgium and google
What is it about Belgium? Why are they always in the news for something stupid?
The fact Belgian newspapers want it to be harder to find the content they put on the internet is weird (why bother having an on-line presence at all then?), the fact they went to court to force Google to stop driving traffic to their sites is bizarre, the fact a Belgian court found against Google is insane. --samizdata
This is just another way in which the fossil media are driving themselves out of business.
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09:09 am
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rumsfeld calls the fossil media out
here is a long and interesting transcript from a press conference by rumsfeld (and general pace)。 as ever rumsfeld words himself very carefully and with much humour。 i am very happy to see the us government increasingly openly talking about the fossil media's longstanding work for the enemy。
The number of attacks on mosques, as he pointed out, had been exaggerated. The number of Iraqi deaths had been exaggerated. The behavior of the Iraqi security forces had been mischaracterized in some instances. And I guess that is to say nothing of the apparently inaccurate and harmful reports of U.S. military conduct in connection with a bus filled with passengers in Iraq.
Interestingly, all of the exaggerations seem to be on one side. It isn't as though there simply have been a series of random errors on both sides of issues. On the contrary, the steady stream of errors all seem to be of a nature to inflame the situation and to give heart to the terrorists and to discourage those who hope for success in Iraq.
And then I notice today that there's been a public opinion poll reporting that the readers of these exaggerations believe Iraq is in a civil war -- a majority do, which I suppose is little wonder that the reports we've seen have had that effect on the American people. [...]
Q Mr. Secretary, I'd like to clear up exactly what you're saying here. Are you saying that this poll and that what you call the rush toward declaring civil war in Iraq, is that the result of intentional misreporting of the situation there?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Oh, I can't go into people's minds. All I'm doing is reporting on what we've seen. General Casey pointed out to this group here that he believes -- his data shows that the numbers of mosque attacks and the nature of the attacks and the severity of the attacks have been considerably exaggerated and that the number of civilian Iraqis that have been killed or wounded has been exaggerated.
And -- now, why someone or whoever did this, I have no way to judge. I'm not going to judge them. It's just a fact that he is saying that, and I believe he's correct.
Q But you said, Sir, that -- I believe that the reporting was virtually one-sided. Does that mean --
SEC. RUMSFELD: Yeah, the interesting thing about it is they all seem to be of a kind. All the things that have later been corrected or need to be corrected or that he believes were exaggerated all seem to be on one side of the equation. We don't see the similar thing on the other side, which you normally would get in some kind of a random spread, one would think.
Q Well, do you believe that the media's been duped by the situation or doesn't understand it or what?
SEC. RUMSFELD: All I'm doing is reporting. I'm just reporting the facts. (Laughter.) The facts are as I've stated them.
Q Mr. Secretary?
SEC. RUMSFELD: You'll have to draw your own conclusions about it. the change in the world even in the last twenty years， let alone since say world war two， is quite incredible。 nowadays when governments go to war， to an unprecedented degree they are expected to be honest - "bush lied about the reason for the war" (not true， but the idea's the thing！) - open - generals doing， and expected to do， daily press conferences to explain their actions - and humane - "guantanamo!!" (you know where the terrorists go to put on weight and pray seven times a day with their us-provided korans)。 meanwhile obvious fifth columnists are no longer summarily jailed， shut down or even shot。
the standards that the society comes to expect as 'normal' are rising all the time； which is yet another reason that the fossil media is taken less and less seriously with each passing day and each passing dishonesty。 all the while the live media continue to expand the range and depth serious reporting。 here publius looks at another "imminent civil war" [copied verbatim]：
Simultaneous bombs exploded in a crowded temple in one of the country’s holiest cities. One of the entire religion’s holiest cities, no less. In a country where rival ethnic and religious groups have frequently clashed for years, the bombing raises the prospect of reprisal sectarian violence. It is holding together for the most part, but nobody knows what could happen next.
Hey, wait a second, this isn’t Iraq? And it isn’t the al-Askariya shrine in Samarra? I’ll give you one guess, but only if you don’t look at the post’s category tags. That’s right. India.
Known as the largest democracy in the world, India may not be as liberal as its Western counterparts, but it flies in the face of all structural theories of democratization. GDP per capita is incredibly low, much lower than the threshold of about $6000 for maintaining a democracy under modernization theory. It is also composed of competing religious groups — Hindus and Muslims — with Hindus comprising the vast majority. There are also different ethnic groups, with the Sikh minority being the target of mob violence for years. Heck, there’s even an enormous conflict with Pakistan over that little disputed territory of Kashmir.
Judging by the past 60 years of independence, India has been on the constant brink of civil war. Hindus and Muslims killing each other, local officials sponsoring the mass killing of the Sikhs, the possibility of nuclear annihilation. The bombing of the Hindu temple in Varanasi is just the latest in a series of conflicts. Yet in reality, the country is a functioning democracy that has held together through it all and is now growing into a powerful and more stable nation.
One day, the same will happen for Iraq. It could be 60 years from now before the Shia and Sunnis draw back on their past experience of co-existence, and before the Kurds decide that living within some arbitrarily drawn country called “Iraq” isn’t so bad. But waiting for history to move in this direction is too long to wait. Men like Gandhi did not wait. They acted. What is happening in Iraq now is action toward building a peaceful and democratic country ahead of schedule so that one day the entire region can draw from its lessons.
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: The Temptations - I Wonder Who She's Seeing Now
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10:48 am
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pointed description of the arab/muslim world and our fifth column and appeasers
a description that rarely misses a beat - he seems to be somewhat naive vis the us state department - and has even been award four golden yaks：
Why do I put aside Israel and its own immediate neighborhood? Because Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endangered Saudi Arabia and butchered his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on.
The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel would have joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine would have existed for 100 years. The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion. They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe. These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone. Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers. The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago. Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission. According to a report prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the U.N., the number of books translated by the entire Arab world is much smaller than what little Greece alone translates. The total number of scientific publications of 300 million Arabs is less than that of 6 million Israelis. Birth rates in the region are very high, increasing the poverty, the social gaps and the cultural decline. And all of this is happening in a region, which only 30 years ago, was believed to be the next wealthy part of the world, and in a Moslem area, which developed, at some point in history, one of the most advanced cultures in the world. [...]
What is behind the suicide murders? Money, power and cold-blooded murderous incitement, nothing else. It has nothing to do with true fanatic religious beliefs. No Moslem preacher has ever blown himself up. No son of an Arab politician or religious leader has ever blown himself. No relative of anyone influential has done it. Wouldn't you expect some of the religious leaders to do it themselves, or to talk their sons into doing it, if this is truly a supreme act of religious fervor? Aren't they interested in the benefits of going to Heaven? Instead, they send outcast women, naive children, retarded people and young incited hotheads. They promise them the delights, mostly sexual, of the next world, and pay their families handsomely after the supreme act is performed and enough innocent people are dead.
Suicide murders also have nothing to do with poverty and despair. The poorest region in the world, by far, is Africa. It never happens there. There are numerous desperate people in the world, in different cultures, countries and continents. Desperation does not provide anyone with explosives, reconnaissance and transportation. There was certainly more despair in Saddam's Iraq then in Paul Bremmer's Iraq, and no one exploded himself. A suicide murder is simply a horrible, vicious weapon of cruel, inhuman, cynical, well-funded terrorists, with no regard to human life, including the life of their fellow countrymen, but with very high regard to their own affluent well-being and their hunger for power. [...]
The second ingredient is words, more precisely lies. Words can be lethal. They kill people. It is often said that politicians, diplomats and perhaps also lawyers and business people must sometimes lie, as part of their professional life. But the norms of politics and diplomacy are childish, in comparison with the level of incitement and total absolute deliberate fabrications, which have reached new heights in the region we are talking about. An incredible number of people in the Arab world believe that September 11 never happened, or was an American provocation or, even better, a Jewish plot. [...]
But words also work in other ways, more subtle. A demonstration in Berlin, carrying banners supporting Saddam's regime and featuring three-year old babies dressed as suicide murderers, is defined by the press and by political leaders as a "peace demonstration". You may support or oppose the Iraq war, but to refer to fans of Saddam, Arafat or Bin Laden as peace activists is a bit too much. A woman walks into an Israeli restaurant in mid-day, eats, observes families with old people and children eating their lunch in the adjacent tables and pays the bill. She then blows herself up, killing 20 people, including many children, with heads and arms rolling around in the restaurant. She is called "martyr" by several Arab leaders and "activist" by the European press. Dignitaries condemn the act but visit her bereaved family and the money flows.
There is a new game in town: The actual murderer is called "the military wing", the one who pays him, equips him and sends him is now called "the political wing" and the head of the operation is called the "spiritual leader". There are numerous other examples of such Orwellian nomenclature, used every day not only by terror chiefs but also by Western media. These words are much more dangerous than many people realize. They provide an emotional infrastructure for atrocities. It was Joseph Goebbels who said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He is now being outperformed by his successors. [...]
Do you raid a mosque, which serves as a terrorist ammunition storage? Do you return fire, if you are attacked from a hospital? Do you storm a church taken over by terrorists who took the priests hostages? Do you search every ambulance after a few suicide murderers use ambulances to reach their targets? Do you strip every woman because one pretended to be pregnant and carried a suicide bomb on her belly? Do you shoot back at someone trying to kill you, standing deliberately behind a group of children? Do you raid terrorist headquarters, hidden in a mental hospital? Do you shoot an arch-murderer who deliberately moves from one location to another, always surrounded by children? All of these happen daily in Iraq and in the Palestinian areas. What do you do? Well, you do not want to face the dilemma. But it cannot be avoided.
Suppose, for the sake of discussion, that someone would openly stay in a well-known address in Teheran, hosted by the Iranian Government and financed by it, executing one atrocity after another in Spain or in France, killing hundreds of innocent people, accepting responsibility for the crimes, promising in public TV interviews to do more of the same, while the Government of Iran issues public condemnations of his acts but continues to host him, invite him to official functions and treat him as a great dignitary. I leave it to you as homework to figure out what Spain or France would have done, in such a situation.
The problem is that the civilized world is still having illusions about the rule of law in a totally lawless environment. It is trying to play ice hockey by sending a ballerina ice-skater into the rink or to knock out a heavyweight boxer by a chess player. In the same way that no country has a law against cannibals eating its prime minister, because such an act is unthinkable, international law does not address killers shooting from hospitals, mosques and ambulances, while being protected by their Government or society. International law does not know how to handle someone who sends children to throw stones, stands behind them and shoots with immunity and cannot be arrested because he is sheltered by a Government. lead from abelard。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: The Animals - Boom Boom Boom
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12:28 pm
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danish fossil media continues to show the rest up
the danish fossil media continue to display surprising moral fibre：
Denmark's largest daily was honoured with the Victor Prize for "having opened everyone's eyes by showing how easy it is to introduce cracks in freedom of expression and how so-called political correctness is infiltrating what we believe to be inalienable rights," Hans Engell, the editor of tabloid Ekstra Bladet which awards the prize, said during a prize ceremony in Copenhagen late on Thursday.
The Victor Prize, named for the late editor-in-chief of Ekstra Bladet Victor Andreasen, was handed to Jyllands-Posten's editor Carsten Juste. in the land of the free the fossil media have more important things to worry about：
NBC's David Gregory, the George Clooney of the press corps, was yelling truth to power about why the Elmer-Fudd-in-gun-rampage story was released to "a local Corpus Christi newspaper, not the White House press corps at large.'' I know how he feels. I remember, like, four or five years ago -- early September, maybe second week -- there was this building collapse in New York and I had to learn about it from the TV because this notoriously secretive paranoid administration couldn't even e-mail me a timely press release. [...]
Fortunately, the Washington Post had that wise old bird David Ignatius to put it in the proper historical context: "This incident," he mused, "reminds me a bit of Sen. Edward Kennedy's delay in informing Massachusetts authorities about his role in the fatal automobile accident at Chappaquiddick in 1969."
Hmm. Let's see. On the one hand, the guy leaves the gal at the bottom of the river struggling for breath pressed up against the window in some small air pocket while he pulls himself out of the briny, staggers home, sleeps it off and saunters in to inform the cops the following day that, oh yeah, there was some broad down there. And, on the other hand, the guy calls 911, has the other fellow taken to the hospital, lets the sheriff know promptly but neglects to fax David Gregory's make-up girl!
One can only hope others agree with Ignatius' insightful analogy, and that the reprehensible Cheney will be hounded from public life the way Kennedy was all those years ago. One would hate to think folks would just let it slide and three decades from now this Cheney guy will be sitting on some committee picking Supreme Court justices and whatnot. the cartoons remain unpublished by any british fossil media outlet and unpublished by most of the major american fossil media outlets。 fossil media outlets in continental europe have generally been less inclined to abnegate their responsibilities， despite efforts by governments and jihadis to stop them。 their efforts to cover up one of the biggest stories of the day has so far been failing for about three weeks。 what are they going to do， attempt to shut down the internet？ you can see the cartoons by clicking on the banner at the top of this article。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Eminem - Hailie's Song
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| 11:05 am
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conspiracy of silence: what muslims killing jews?
i have previously mentioned the rising number of anti-jewish attacks in france， mostly perpetrated by muslim youths， and the culpable 'ignorance' of the french police and leadership。 this weekend， a particularly bad example was made public， although the fossil media and french government are as usual eliding the more damning details。
a muslim gang， apparently associated with hamas， used a blonde female to lure a poor immigrant jew into their clutches。 they kidnapped him， took him to their council estate and proceeded to torture him for three weeks。 during their torture sessions they also phoned the family in an attempt to extort money。 during these phone calls they continued their torture， at times recited the koran over the screams。 his jewishness has been cited by members of the gang as the reason for his torture and for his kidnap - afterall as the police put it "jew equals money"。 the gang finally dumped ilan halimi in a field near a train station。 he was found by chance sometime later and died on the way to hospital。
given the nature of the council estate where the gang held ilan， it is beyond the limits of plausibility that any of the immediate neighbours did not know of the torture going on nearby。 it in fact seems probable that neighbours and relatives participated in the torture。 despite the screams that nobody living in the building or walking by could have failed to hear going on for three weeks， the police apparently1 received not a single tip-off， anonymous or otherwise。
during those three weeks， the police refused to acknowledge the anti-semitic nature of the kidnapping， treating the case as vanilla extortion。 this incredibly obtuse behaviour by the police puts blood on their hands： in simple extortion cases there is no expectation of mortal danger to the kidnapped， thus the urgency and nature of the police response is tamer。 the french government also tried to cover up the anti-semitic nature of the attack for at least a week after the stabbed， bruised and burnt ilan was found。
even now， mention of most of the above details relating to the "ethnicity" or motivation of the gang is carefully avoided by most of the fossil media and the french government。 here is a typical example from the bbc。 as steyn points out， the cover-up by the fossil media is nothing new：
Two years ago, a 23-year-old Paris disc jockey called Sebastien Selam was heading off to work from his parents' apartment when he was jumped in the parking garage by his Muslim neighbor Adel. Selam's throat was slit twice, to the point of near-decapitation; his face was ripped off with a fork; and his eyes were gouged out. Adel climbed the stairs of the apartment house dripping blood and yelling, "I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven."
Is that an gripping story? You'd think so. Particularly when, in the same city, on the same night, a Jewish woman was brutally murdered in the presence of her daughter by another Muslim. You've got the making of a mini-trend there, and the media love trends.
Yet no major French newspaper carried the story. the claimed excuse for the complicit silence from government officials and fossil media alike is a wish to avoid inflaming muslims to violence。 quite apart from the absurdity of lying about muslim violence in order to avoid muslim violence， this form of appeasement is likely to achieve the opposite effect。
the very nature of appeasement means letting the criminals get away with their behaviour， increasing the likelihood that they will continue in that behaviour。 further， the use of lies to cover up the islamic nature of the violence means that the muslim community is not confronted over the behaviour that is haboured in its midst。 the failure to confront unacceptable behaviour gives those engaging in that behaviour the believe that they can continue without consequences。 as i have written previously， sanely there can be no doubt of the consequences to muslims - jihadi or sane - should muslim communities continue to escalate their barbaric behaviour。 the failure to confront the nature of this violence also means that sane muslims wishing to condemn the jihadis - an action that is far from safe - lack the cover and support that is our moral duty to provide。
in other words， the appeasement and lies engaged in by the french government and fossil media increase the likelihood of further violence from muslims and increase the likelihood that the west will be forced deal with muslims en-masse and with extreme violence， something nobody sane could welcome。
on sunday there was a funeral attended by president chirac， wife2 and villepin。 despite this show of support for the jewish community， chirac and company are so far continuing their dishonest denials of the anti-semitic nature of present day france。 the parallels between these denials and the un's denials that genocide is taking place in the sudan are striking：
after months of expressing deep concern, grave concern, deep concern over the graves and deep grave concern over whether the graves were deep enough, Kofi Annan managed to persuade the UN to set up a committee to look into what's going on in Darfur. They've just reported back that it's not genocide.
That's great news, isn't it? For as yet another Annan-appointed UN committee boldly declared in December: "Genocide anywhere is a threat to the security of all and should never be tolerated." So thank goodness this isn't genocide. Instead, it's just 70,000 corpses who all happen to be from the same ethnic group – which means the UN can go on tolerating it until everyone's dead "do something about what？ there's nothing happening。"
there was also a peaceful anti-jihadi protest march3 attended by sarkozy。 sarkozy is one of the few government officials openly referring to the reality。 during the riots last year， he was the only senior official to refer to the jihadi criminals honestly， while his colleagues were busy extending the riots by their appeasement。 once more sarkozy is looking like a good candidate to replace the mad old fools。
the behaviour of the police and government in this case of course relates to my earlier items on the illegimacy of a police force that refuses to defend its parish。 under present circumstances， i can see no *legimate* way the french police can enforce disarmament laws on french jews， nor even legimately arrest a jew for taking 'justice' into their own hands。 this of course won't stop the police doing so anyway。 i regard any jew that is not making efforts to leave france as highly foolish。。
obviously some jews may wish to make some sort of stand， though the march on sunday was the first sign that such people exist， despite this problem being obvious and growing for a number of years。。 some - like those in 1920s and 1930s germany - may hope they can keep their heads down and weather the storm， after all it can't last。。 some may believe they cannot afford to move， although with the open and cheap borders in the eu， this excuse seems a little lame to me。。 some may regard the default choice of israel as even worse - after all they would be sitting right in ahminastraightjacket's nuclear sights。 if i were a jew in france， my first choice would be america， closely followed by israel。 assuming i was too poor， i would move to another eu country， none of which have the level of anti-semitic attacks france has。 i would probably try to get to denmark if i could， but italy or spain would probably be cheaper and easier and not significantly worse options。
1. with the police lying to the media and public and even incredibly claiming that they didn't realise the anti-semitic nature of the gang， i can't help being suspicious of this claim also。 i'm finding it increasely hard to see the behaviour of the police and the french government as innocent， despite my default expectation that stupid behaviour is down to the usual incompetence and laziness of government employees。
2. chirac's wife received a degree of notoriety last year for cowardice in the face of blatant anti-semitic behaviour：
At a charity event on behalf of children, some 20 Muslim youths tried to prevent the Jewish singer, Shirel, from appearing on stage, shouting curses such as "We'll exterminate all of you soon". The incident lasted for about 20 minutes, after which Shirel appeared despite everything. Mme. Bernadette Chirac, wife of the President of France, was present at the event, and beyond telling the singer backstage that "This is most unfortunate", did nothing to denounce the incident.
3. attendance for the two events are variously being claimed at "tens of thousands" and "hundreds of thousands"。 it's also not clear whether they were one event or two。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: The Kinks - The World Keeps Going Round
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10:30 am
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brave reporters, peaceful muslims & anti-semitic cartoons
it makes one proud to be british：
The Pub Philosopher notes that on Tuesday (yes, St Valentine's day), the British Embassy in Iran was petrol bombed and that the attack was reported in Germany, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates, but not the British media! I've been able to find this report from Reuters on the Yahoo UK website however. The original Reuters report is here. There was also a report mentioning this on an Australian news site. However nothing about it on the BBC, and no mention in any of the British papers as far as I can tell. the british fossil media continues their cowardly refusal to publish the cartoons， despite the 56% of britons who say they would support such an act。
newspapers are being shut down and reporters arrested， but the fossil media and politicians know the real coverup is cheney's hunting accident：
Most media organisations have taken a stand by boldly running away. Which is odd, considering how hot for tales of repression the media has been during these blighted years of the Illegal Smirkler Regime (dissidents jailed! Mao-reading students probed!). Actually, the media is still hot for repression sagas, of a particular type. The latest involves a hideous 18-hour delay for information on Dick Cheney’s Texas-wide murder spree. as instapundit puts it， part of the fossil media's ongoing "instinct for the capillary"。 he also comments elsewhere：
Note that MSNBC is kinda-sorta publishing the cartoons -- you have to click on a "warning -- offensive" box to see them. oh the courage！ oh the journalistic integrity！
for another example of newspapers being closed down， following an even more innocuous cartoon：
The municipal government in Volgograd has decided to close down a local newspaper for printing a cartoon showing Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Moses watching a crowd of clashing people while saying, “We never taught them to do that…” The mayor of the city is quoted as saying that the paper was shut down in order to prevent inter-religious strife; meanwhile, the prosecutor-general is looking to file charges. 
meanwhile， peaceful muslims in nigeria kill fifteen， peaceful pakistani clerics put million dollar bounties on cartoonist's heads， peaceful taleban remnants offer 100kg of gold to prospective killers， peaceful state ministers in india offers eleven million dollars for dead cartoonists， peaceful muslims across the world bully five danish embassies into closing， peaceful muslims in america stone newspaper offices， peaceful muslims provoked by the sight of female hair stone a reporter in turkey and much more。 see james hammerton's "cartoon wars roundup"s for details。
i am still fairly confident that islam will be able to adjust to tolerant society。 i would be considerably more confident if the politicians and fossil media stopped giving the loons false hope that they will be able to take the west on。 just as with saddam， the appeasers' behaviour can only result in greater hardship and bloodshed on both sides。 appeasement is not an innocent act。 the sooner the loons are made to realise that they are going to lose - whether they do so quietly or whether they start civil wars and get wiped out - the less painful things will be。 the fight against the jihadi loons has so far been a picnic； the continuance of that picnic is far from guarenteed - the continuance largely depends on the reaction of the real peaceful muslims， which in turn somewhat depends on the message given by the west。
i am pleased to see my planted phrase "innocuous cartoons" is now spreading to the big boys， even if people do tend to qualify it with "rather"。 for some less innocuous but quite hilarious cartoons， see this competition：
A Danish paper publishes a cartoon that mocks Muslims.
An Iranian paper responds with a Holocaust cartoons contest -
- Now a group of Israelis announce their own anti-Semitic cartoons contest!
Eyal Zusman (30, back from anonymity) and Amitai Sandy (29), graphic artist and publisher of Dimona Comix Publishing, from Tel-Aviv, Israel, have followed the unfolding of the “Muhammad cartoon-gate” events in amazement, until finally they came up with the right answer to all this insanity - and so they announced today the launch of a new anti-Semitic cartoons contest - this time drawn by Jews themselves!
“We’ll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!” said Sandy “No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!” 
there's also an ugly， but funny animated anti-jihadi cartoon over here。 the dutch word "gevoelig" apparently means "sensitive"。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Jennifer Lopez - Ain't It Funny
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11:11 pm
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bravery begets bravery, cowardice begets cowardice
another cartoonist sees fit to do his duty for freedom：
Miller proudly announced the title of his next Batman book, which he will write, draw and ink. Holy Terror, Batman! is no joke. And Miller doesn't hold back on the true purpose of the book, calling it "a piece of propaganda," where 'Batman kicks al Qaeda's ass."
The reason for this work, Miller said, was "an explosion from my gut reaction of what's happening now." He can't stand entertainers who lack the moxy of their '40s counterparts who stood up to Hitler. Holy Terror is "a reminder to people who seem to have forgotten who we're up against."
It's been a long time since heroes were used in comics as pure propaganda. As Miller reminded, "Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for." where are the chaplins mocking the imams， ayatollahs and walking time-bombs？ [there is a fair stab at it in "team america"，but the mockery is nowhere near as directed as in "the great dictator"]。
back in demark， the courage of the twelve cartoonists is giving inspiration to others：
Dozens of Danish Muslims are joining the network of moderate Muslims, the Demokratiske Muslimer (Democratic Muslims). About 700 Muslims have already become DM members and 2,500 Danes have expressed their will to support the network. The initiative has caused anger among the Danish imams and their leader, Ahmad Abu Laban, who have referred to the moderates as “rats.” The imams feel that they are beginning to lose their control over part of the Muslim population.
Moderates such as Kamran Tahmasebi say they have had enough of fanatic Islamism and its intimidation of the Muslim immigrants in Denmark. “It is an irony that I am today living in a European democratic state and have to fight the same religious fanatics that I fled from in Iran many years ago,” Mr Tahmasebi says. He came to Denmark as a refugee in 1989. Today he works as a social consultant and is very grateful for the life Denmark has made it possible for him to have. He says he no longer wants to keep a low profile to avoid attracting the attention of the imams. The cartoon affair was an incentive for him to stand up and warn against the Islamist imams in Denmark, whom he says are damaging the integration process with their misleading criticism of Danish values and norms.
Mr Tahmasebi is one of the people involved in the newly established network of moderate Muslims in Denmark led by Naser Khader, a member of the Danish Parliament. He says he is well aware of the risk he is taking by siding with Mr Khader, who has for a long time been living under police protection. But Mr Tahmasebi feels it is his duty to take part in this debate. “Naser Khader has carried this responsibility for too long. I share his beliefs and now I want to stand up and say so. Apart from that, as a parent I feel a responsibility to fight, so that my children will not have to live under Islamist dogmas. They shall be able to live free in this country.” Mr Tahmasebi adds that he believes the imams are one of the biggest problems Denmark is facing today. 700 is yet a small number， but the tendency is that the larger the crowd becomes， the 'braver' the rest become。 mr tahmasebi's behaviour is but an example of that phenomenon。
abelard has been keeping up with the topic while i've been resting。 as ever there are lots of interesting things to be read。 hammerton has also been doing sterling work - just keep scrolling。
my favourite developments have to be：- the revelation that one of the fake cartoons， taken round the middle east by the danish imams in their successful mission to stir up rioting， was in fact a muddy photocopy of a photograph of a competitor at the annual pig-squealing competition held somewhere in france。 i know of a little village in france that every year hold the world bird whistling competition； unfortunately i've never been there at the right time to see it。
- the egyptian newspaper that reprinted the cartoon back in october， with nary a peep from the usual suspects。
- the british newspaper reporter admitting and celebrating the cowardice of her newspaper， along with the rest of the british fossil media：
This paper’s belief in freedom of speech is paramount. The decision not to reprint the cartoons, not to declare ourselves another Spartacus in support of our European colleagues, was taken, at least partly, out of consideration for the safety of the staff, and the safety of Scottish people here and abroad, and I fully support it. such cowardice is hardly unusual。 that she feels able to flaunt it makes me further worry at the state of british society。 it amazes me that someone with such a craven attitude to life could ever become a reporter。
- apparently of the people arrested in lebanon for destroying the embassies，76 were syrians， 35 were palestinians and 38 were lebanese。 don't forget that the syrians are still assassinating politicians and reporters in lebanon， despite having been forced to end the occupation。
have the british police arrested any of those they protected while inciting violence on the streets of london， as promised？ or is this just another case of the british police unwilling to do their job and their political masters unwilling to lead？ what of the british and american administrations？ are they standing by their first idiotic statements？
i leave it to abelard to explain the importance of the cartoons and the necessity of their reprinting：
The real story concerning the innocuous moh cartoons is the rioting and over-reaction by jihadis, not the innocuous cartoons themselves. [...]
Hitler also believed his dishonesty and attempts at conquest would go well. He likewise judged the west as ‘decadent’. I suggest the jihadis take dire warning from the fate of that historic lunatic. Perhaps they might even take dire warning from the fate of the lunatic of Baghdad, or take warning from the fate of the taliban destroyers of culture in Afghan? A warning that it is not safe to rile the most advanced cultures on earth.
In the 1920s and 30s, Hitler may not have managed to install millions of his followers in foreign countries (as has now occured widely with jihadis), but in both the USA and Britain of that era there were large numbers of people of German extraction who were considered a threat to the nations concerned. In the United States, Henry Ford had a nest of nazi sympathisers in his organisation, while German-American pro-nazi organisations (bunds) and the likes worked to keep the USA out of Adolf’s intended path. The influence of people like Ford and Joseph Kennedy in the US, and Northcliffe and Chamberlain in the UK were hardly beneficial to the freedom aspirations of Western interests.
In the UK, there was a very considerable constituency for appeasement and many who would not hear a word against that nice Mister Hitler. The Northcliffe newspapers (primarily the Daily Wail) were very pro-Hitler until it became ill-advised.[...]
I am uncertain just what the proportion of fellow travellers the jihadis have within the general Islamic population in Western countries. It is essential that this is probed; it is vital home security data. Without that data, rational planning is near to impossible.
Hence, the incredible irresponsibility of the fossil press in not doing their duty of publication, while politicians desperately attempt to sweep these serious and genuine questions under the carpet. note that there were also such organisations and individuals working for the soviet socialists， chinese socialists， cambodian socialists， cuban socialists， as well as for the nazi socialists， just as more recently large numbers worked for saddam's socialists； neither does this include the ever present useful idiots and cowards。
unsurprisingly， all three groups continue to be well represented in the fossil media： cf ted turner's [owner of cnn] decision to not report the real situation in iraq for fear of losing saddam's 'good will' - now does that make him "fifth column"，a "useful idiot" or a "coward"？ just as with "mad bad sad"， you essentially can't tell。
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10:44 am
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the poor hard-done-by masai
this month's national geographic has an interesting， if very silly and badly written， article about the serengeti area。 of particularly amusement value are the pc attempts to editorialise the masai as hard-done-by， always with facts nearby that the 'reporter' doesn't appear to realise are contradictory。 here are two examples：
1. the relocation of the masai to create the serengeti national park：
Sitting on a low stool by his hut, Ole Serupe recalled how the British had promised him new land in exchange for the move. "They said we would get a better place to live - one with good water and grass."
The Maasai got nothing of the sort. [...]
Almost 50 years into that experiment, it would appear that wildlife and tourists are thriving in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, but that the Maasai are struggling. [...] The Maasai population has grown fivefold in the conservation area, from around 10,000 in 1954 to more than 50,000 today. that's right， the british screwed the masai， breaking their promise to give them better land， which is how the masai managed to support a fivefold increase in their population。
2. those poor women：
Sick or healthy, married Maasai women, with their shaved heads and luxuriant necklaces, do most of the work in this strongly patriarchal society. They gather wood, make camp, milk cows, and tend babies, while the men lead cattle on the never ending search for grass and water. [...]
"What would you do if a lion attacked your cows?" someone asked. "I would put this spear right in him!" Moma declared, banging his weapon on the ground to emphasize the heartfelt sentiment. got that： the men walk around all day everyday keeping the herds all their lives depend upon together， fed and protected， while the women "do most of the work"。
also， what is it with these soft lefties and their overuse/misuse of twee adjectives and heavily emotive verbs？ the whole article reads as an attempt to show how bad everything is， probably because of those nasty people using money， yet the included facts consistently show a positive picture， somewhat hampered by the overbreeding that's come about as a result of the wealth influx。
the major complaint levelled appears to amount to "the philanthropists， businesses and governments don't hand out sufficient subsidies for these tribes to continue in the primitive lifestyles" [not entirely surprising given fivefold population increases]。 or that those imperialist swine demand cooperation in the protection of the ecosystem in return for their subsidies， when they should just pay whatever these primitives want for whatever purpose they choose (eg running a village on the edge of the park trafficking in bush meat)。 the complaints alternate between "how dare they offer us money" and "how dare they not build a school here (but offer us lands elsewhere if we wish to upgrade from our nomadic lifestyle to a settled agricultural one)， so we don't settle， overbreed and further disrupt the ecosystem of the protected area"。 the socialist chant： "we want our free lunch and we want it now。 how dare you try and bribe us！"。
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10:18 am
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jihadi update: denmark, iran, syria, sane muslims, british police
the dissident frogman appears to be back blogging， after a very long absence。 he has created some pretty banners， of which this is an example：
continuing the good news， it seems that the europeans have finally decided they have had enough of iran：
The United Nations' atomic energy watchdog voted in Vienna yesterday to report Iran to the UN Security Council, [...] 27-to-3 decision [...] Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela voted against the resolution. Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya, and South Africa abstained. merkel is showing herself to be significantly less soft-headed than schroeder：
An Iranian leader ''who questions Israel's right to exist, a president who denies the Holocaust, cannot be expected to receive any tolerance," said Merkel while mccain continues to understatedly get the message across：
''Every option must be on the table," he said. ''There's only one thing worse than military action -- that is a nuclear-armed Iran." in response， the iranians are threatening to impose sanctions on themselves：
Following the insults of some western countries' media to Holy Prophet of Islam, Iran's President, Dr. Ahmadi Nejad ordered Commerce Minister to set up a council on "reviewing and cancellation of economic contracts and commercial exchanges with these countries". meanwhile， the us government is rightly holding the syrian government responsible for the invasion and razing of parts denmark and norway by syrian citizens：
"We will hold Syria responsible for such violent demonstrations since they do not take place in that country without government knowledge and support," said presidential press secretary Scott McClellan. [...] "The government of Syria's failure to provide protection to diplomatic premises, in the face of warnings that violence was planned, is inexcusable," McClellan said. embassies are the sovereign territory of the country who staffs them， thus the danish embassy is under law just as much danish soil as is copenhagen。this is just one more in a long line of legitimate causi belli：
Now, depending on the level of (passive) involvement by the Syrian regime, one could make the case this is an act of war. And since Norway and Denmark are both NATO members, Bush can invoke article V of the NATO charter that says an attack on one member state is an attack against all of them...
Presto! Legal casus belli... and no need to find further justifications in hidden WMD's, terror sponsoring or the need for 'regime change'. Just point the tanks in Baghdad to Damascus and start driving... i can't see this happening yet， though。 so far still no apology for the state department's calling freedom of speech "not acceptable"。
given the fossil media's propensity for trying to excuse the inexcusable behaviour of the jihadis， it is very hard to get an idea of how widespread the repudiations from sane muslims are。 here is another example of a large international group of muslims who categorically condemn the violent and threatening behaviour of their so-called brethren：
In Pakistan, hundreds demonstrated on Thursday, chanting "Death to Denmark" and burning Danish and French flags. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak warned that the decision by some European papers to publish the cartoons could encourage terrorists. Consequently, government ministers from 17 Arab nations have asked the Danish government to punish the newspaper for what they called an "offense to Islam" and some countries have even pulled their ambassadors from Denmark. [...]
The response by Muslims to the cartoons is absolutely pathetic and depressing but revealing. The reason Muslims are responding with anger and threats of violence is because most Muslims live in countries where democracy and freedom of speech are alien concepts.
Moreover, the Muslim world suffers from a lack of visionary leadership. In this particular case, when Muslim leaders, including American Muslim leaders, realized that Muslims are furious they joined the chorus of fury rather than explain to their people that they must be reasonable and that freedom of speech is healthy even if it is insulting. What is even more disgusting is that most American Muslim organizations, who should know better, have joined the chorus of instigators rather than taking this opportunity to teach their members about the importance of freedom of speech and tolerance. meanwhile a court in south africa， one of the countries supporting iran's attempts to develop nuclear weapons， has preemptively banned the publication of the danish cartoons：
The Sunday Times newspaper, one of those covered by the ruling, said it had not decided whether to publish the cartoons but had refused a request by the Council of Muslim Theologians to promise not to use the images.
The Council then approached the court for the temporary restraining order, which was granted late on Friday. the obvious answer to this sort of 'law' is civil disobedience：
meanwhile the reprehensible behaviour of the british police comes further to light。 here is a photo rich comparison of the response by the british police to a peaceful protest by anti-fox-hunting-ban protesters and their response to jihadi marchers complete with masks and blatant incitement to violence：
Instantly, the police responded with a flail of truncheons. For a moment, they resembled beaters driving birds towards guns. They were scenes more associated with the clash of police and shaven-headed football hooligans or dreadlocked anti-capitalist demonstrators rather than men in flat caps and women in quilted waistcoats. [...]
n Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said that the protests did not yet represent a serious threat to public order. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Arrests, if necessary, will be made at the most appropriate time. This should not be taken as a sign of lack of action."
Scotland Yard says a decision not to arrest protesters was taken because of public order fears. It confirmed that police had received more than 100 complaints from the public about the protesters' behaviour.
there were two arrests yesterday， however：
The only arrests made were of two men found carrying cartoons of Mohammed. Police said they had been detained "to prevent a breach of the peace". A man dressed as a suicide bomber, however, was left unhindered, while the police sought to prevent photographers taking pictures. free speech results in arrest。 incitement to violence results in police protection。 still the british fossil media follow the craven example of their benevolent rulers。
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07:00 pm
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fisk writes a book
the review is amusing：
It is difficult to turn a page of The Great War for Civilisation without encountering some basic error. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not, as Fisk has it, in Jerusalem. The Caliph Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, was murdered in the year 661, not in the 8th century. Emir Abdallah became king of Transjordan in 1946, not 1921, and both he and his younger brother, King Faisal I of Iraq, hailed not from a “Gulf tribe” but rather from the Hashemites on the other side of the Arabian peninsula. The Iraqi monarchy was overthrown in 1958, not 1962; Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, was appointed by the British authorities, not elected; Ayatollah Khomeini transferred his exile from Turkey to the holy Shiite city of Najaf not during Saddam Hussein’s rule but fourteen years before Saddam seized power. Security Council resolution 242 was passed in November 1967, not 1968; Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, not 1977, and was assassinated in October 1981, not 1979. Yitzhak Rabin was minister of defense, not prime minister, during the first Palestinian intifada, and al Qaeda was established not in 1998 but a decade earlier. And so on and so forth.
The deeper problem with Fisk’s work is not the sort of thing that can be fixed by acquiring a better research assistant or fact-checking apparatus. Facts must be placed in their proper context, after all, and this demands a degree of good faith that Fisk utterly lacks. Indeed, so blatant and thoroughgoing are his ideological prejudices that his very name has entered the lexicon of the Internet as a synonym for systematic bias. Among the online commentators known as bloggers, the verb “to fisk” has come to mean a point-by-point rebuttal of an egregiously slanted piece of writing—like, classically, a Fisk dispatch from the Middle East.
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12:50 pm
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pictures of mohammed, some europeans regaining a backbone
back in september， a danish newspaper decided to find out how far the jihadis had managed to bully europe into silence， to see to what degree freedom of speech remained a reality。 to that purpose they published a series of fairly innoculous cartoons featuring mohammed：
not very surprisingly， a lot of unsavoury types across the muslim world have been attempting to bully anyone they think they can into withdrawing publication and/or apology：
The reaction of Muslims has ranged from street protests and boycotts of Danish products, through to death threats, threats of terrorist attacks in Denmark, warnings to Scandinavians not to enter Palestine, withdrawal of diplomatic relations from Denmark by Arab states, and Islamic countries lobbying the UN to pass a resolution banning attacks on religious beliefs. hammerton gives more specific details here。
in the last few days， a number of news organisations across europe have started to grow balls， while others remain noticeably craven。 first france soir published this cartoon on the front page along with a message that "No religious dogma can impose itself on a democratic and a secular society"：
the next day the editor was fired by france soir's owner。 now his replacement has apparently resigned in protest and the editorial staff are using the front page to further expose the craven behaviour of their owner as well as the attack on free speech by the jihadis。 meanwhile various newspapers and television stations across europe (and elsewhere) are joining in：
The German Die Welt and Berliner Zeitung also now claimed to have reprinted some of the cartoons. Are the giants starting to stir?
Also apparently joining the move, La Stampa of Italy, an un-named Norwegian outlet, also El Periodico from Spain.
Meanwhile
Danish ‘youth’ are reported to be planning a public koran burn-up.
A German source ‘regrets’ the partial Danish apology. [...]
“Jordanian independent tabloid al-Shihan reprinted three of the cartoons on Thursday, saying people should know what they were protesting about [...] ”
The papers were rapidly withdrawn from circulation. many others are grandstanding while lacking the courage to print the cartoons themselves， notably the whole of the british fossil media who at last check down to the last paper have failed to stand up and be counted。 apparently the bbc and channel 4 have now briefly shown at least one image on television。 in the land of the free， cnn has apparently explicitly refused to show the images。
hammerton's comments on the subject are as usual to the point：
Freedom of speech, including the freedom to ridicule beliefs we disagree with, is crucial to both scientific inquiry, open debate and a functioning democracy. If I cannot express my political beliefs without fear of reprisal, then democracy is thereby diminished as one view of how society should be run has thereby been cut off from the debate. of course the whole point of the jihadis bully tactics is to *stop* debate。 as abelard somewhat more bluntly puts it：
these cartoons do not 'insult islam'...there is no such person....
they do not 'insult mohammet.....he is long ded....
they do insult jihadis who fully merit insult....
they insult no peaceful civilised muslim....
to claim that they do is indeed a straightforward attack on free speech...
it is a subversive attempt to stop criticism of jihadis....not to stop
criticism of 'islam' or 'mohammed' of peaceful civilised people who
wish to call themselves muslims....
the campaign against this criticism of jihadis is merely political
posturing for advantage by islamofascists...
it would be well for every free person to understand these things
and stop giving comfort to the gang leaders and tyrants of the
middle east.... the obvious response to the jihadis is a great swelling of mockery going up around the world。 the obvious response to attempts to stop the publication of these cartoons is to republish them in as many places as possible： feel free to copy the images and publish them on your own blog/diary。 you can find the original 12 cartoons here。 that place also has much more in the way of depictions of mohammed：
Anyway those of my visitors who haven't yet seen them ought to see the Mohammed Image Archive which depicts images of the prophet going back centuries as well as modern versions from decadent western nations like Iran.
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02:47 pm
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"The impact may have looked something like this"
hilarious artist's rendition and caption over at the bbc。
apparently nasa saw a meteoroid hitting the moon， sorry "slamming into it"。 the fossil media at its surreal best。
lead from frank j， who is claiming responsibility as part of his plans to nuke the moon。
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01:08 pm
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why the fossil media leans left & the suburbs right
an interesting speculative article attempting to explain the current state of the american political landscape in terms of demographics， with particular reference to population density：
Historically, there has been a higher perceived and practical need for government in big cities. Sewer systems, for example, are a matter of life and death in cities where diseases spread rapidly through densely packed populations. In the country, outhouses worked fine for most people until septic tanks with indoor plumbing came along, and neither needed government involvement or assistance to install and use -- except in so far as they might require permission from local regulators, who were therefore resented.
Clean and healthful running water in cities likewise entailed major public works programs as well as taxation in some form. Water in the country was usually a matter of drilling a well and was therefore untaxed. Garbage disposal in cities, required to prevent all sort of unpleasantness including vermin infestation and disease, has almost always involved government. In the country, you could burn or bury.
Crime rates, despite Hollywood's slander of the American West, have also traditionally been a more serious problem in big cities. When you can see people coming from far away and tend to know all those around you, those already accustomed to handling weapons and hunting have a different take on crime prevention than those who live among high-density strangers. and how the fossil media got that way：
The economics of the newspaper business is far more favorable to cities than to the countryside. The cost of news content production in cities, where populations are easily accessible, is much lower than it is in the countryside -- especially before the era of cheap and reliable telephones. Moreover, the cost of product distribution was dramatically less expensive in urban areas where paper boys often travel only yards, as opposed to miles in rural areas, to deliver a single, incremental newspaper.
As a result, big city newspapers thrived and the biggest city's newspaper, the New York Times, thrived most. That the journalists and editors who worked in the big city news business reflected the local political culture is not surprising. The sentiment that city folk are just a little bit smarter than country folk, or some equivalent chauvinism related to locational and team psychology, is not a conspiracy and probably couldn't have been prevented any more than you could get the majority of Green Bay Packers fans to root for New York, or vice versa. and much more。 in case you've forgotten what i mean by "that way" in reference to the fossil media：
“[...] for every journalist who contributed to George W. Bush’s campaign, another 93 contributed to Kerry’s campaign.” for recent pictorial examples of fossil media propagandising for both the declared (muslim fundies) and undeclared (socialists) enemies， see here。
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06:36 pm
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french muslims rioting. why?
poor muslims in paris， and now other surrounding cities， are rioting， including shooting at cops。 some on the right seem tempted to see this as a sign that france's foreign policy， of appeasement of dictators mixed with opposition to and freeloading from america， is not working even to appease their large arab muslim population。 a tempting assessment that is probably wrong， as pointed out in this interesting analysis from an instapundit reader， joel shepherd：
The problem in France is not the same as in the UK or the Netherlands. There, there's been an overdose of PC multi culturalism... but American critics are wrong to assign that to France. France HAS insisted on integration, as seen by the controversial ban on headscarves in French schools. And most French muslims do consider themselves French, to varying degrees, and Islamic extremism is pretty small thing here (there was far more protest against the headscarf ban outside of France than inside). So it's not an intefada.
There's just no damn jobs. White college grads can't get jobs, what hope do immigrants from regions with bad schools have? I think this is more like the LA Rodney King riots -- there's people there who want the French dream, just as in LA people wanted the American dream, but they just don't see it when they look around, and they resent the fact enormously. They can't change schools to get a better education because the government says you have to go to the school where you live, and they live where they do because of the zoning laws... which I'm no expert about, but I do know that the government owns 30 percent of all housing in France, and poor immigrants basically live where they're told. The government tries to give them everything and does it extremely badly, there's no upward mobility, and it doesn't breed a happy community. Religion exacerbates the feeling of exclusion, I'm sure, but the rioting seems mostly driven by economics and bad social policy.
So yeah, it's a stupid French government problem, but not the one some American critics are ascribing... however attractive it might be to do so. there are also the usual swipes at the willful incompetence of the fossil media： why did the largely made up 'rioting' in new orleans require round the clock coverage， whereas real large riots in france require minimal coverage？ one makes america/bush look bad， one makes muslims/france look bad。 not a very hard question really。
i thought the french were supposed to be clearing their "cites"。。
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09:56 pm
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thomas paine on the fossil media; book review
the fossil media's lack of contact with reality or honesty is nothing new。 this was written in 1806：
The writer of this remembers a remark made to him by Mr. Jefferson concerning the English Newspapers which at that time, 1787, while Mr. Jefferson was Minister at Paris, were most vulgarly abusive. The remark applies with equal force to the Federal papers of America. The remark was, that "the licentiousness of the press produces the same effect as the restraint of the press was intended to do. The restraint, said he, was to prevent things being told, and the licentiousness of the press prevents things being believed when they are told." We have in this state an evidence of the truth of this remark. The number of federal papers in the city and state of New-York are more than five to one to the number of republican papers, yet the majority of the elections go always against the federal papers, which is demonstrative evidence that the licentiousness of those papers are destitute of credit. -- thomas paine, 1883011035, p.429。
i originally bought this collection of paine's writing from my interest in america politics and the spread of freedom。 however， i could just as easily recommend the book for those who simply want to read beautifully written prose。 he sometimes goes over the top on the rhetoric of his cases， but even then he invariably manages to do it prettily。
。。 as for the content， this is a man who sized up the great problem of his day and decided that the most effective way to improve the world was to start writing。 having decided， he then set about pretty much singlehandedly persuading america， first to declare independence [in "common sense"]， and then to stick to their guns [in "the crisis" series of public letters]， until britain was defeated and america was free to become the beacon of hope it is today。
his methods were truly modern： step by logical step he took the arguments of his opponents to pieces， leaving them with nowhere left to stand。 he regularly dissected the illogics in the statements of america's enemies。 he also carried out highly competent 'fisks' more than two centuries before fisk began making a fool of himself。
as with any 'ancient'， it is possible for those who stand on his shoulders to pick holes and mock the ignorance of his age， as seen through his writings。 however， without these same writings， our freedom， wealth and knowledge would likely not afford us the latitude to mock。 paine is one of the giants on whose shoulders we all stand。
amongst his other achievements are inventing a new way of constructing iron bridges so as to span much larger rivers with much greater ease。 with surprising naivety， he was also centrally involved in the early french revolution， prior to the bloodbaths - he almost got himself killed opposing said bloodbaths。 he also in effect invented a 'rationalist' religion whose ideas are still influential today。 he campaigned against slavery and capital punishment。 he wrote of a citizen's wage in "agrarian justice"：
The life of an [Red] Indian is a continual holiday, compared with the poor of Europe; and, on the other hand, it appears to be abject when compared to the rich. Civilization, therefore, or that which is so called, has operated, two ways, to make one part of society more affluent, and the other part more wretched, than would have been the lot of either in a natural state.
It is always possible to go from the natural to the civilized state, but it is never possible to go from the civilized to the natural state. The reason is, that man, in a natural state, subsisting by hunting, requires ten times the quantity of land to range over, to procure himself sustenance, than would support him in a civilized state, where the earth is cultivated. When therefore a country becomes populous by the additional aids of cultivation, arts, and science, there is a necessity of preserving things in that state; because, without it, there cannot be sustenance for more, perhaps, than a tenth part of its inhabitants. The thing therefore now to be done, is, to remedy the evils, and preserve the benefits, that have arisen to society, by passing from the natural to that which is called the civilized state. note that this is precisely the same mechanism which makes it not an option to ignore our fossil fuel problems。
not bad for a perpetually broke corset-maker cum customs inspector cum drifter from thetford in norfolk， england。
the book above has 830 pages of his writing and a fairly full chronology of his life。 it is a properly bound hardback with nice thin pages： the way a book should be。 i haven't finished reading it yet， but this one definitely goes on my recommendations list。 when i make the list， that is。
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12:35 pm
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know thy enemy: steyn on fossil media inability to say "islamic"
steyn on more fossil media dishonesty：
From Thursday's New York Times: ''Nalchik, Russia -- Insurgents launched a series of raids today in this southern Russian city, striking the area's main airport and several police and security buildings in large-scale, daytime attacks that left at least 85 people dead.''
"Insurgents," eh?
From Agence France Presse:
"Nalchik, Russia: More than 60 people were killed as scores of militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."
"Militants," you say?
From the Scotsman:
"Rebel forces battled Russian troops for control of a provincial capital in the Caucasus yesterday . . ."
"Rebel forces,'' huh?
From Toronto's Globe & Mail:
"Nalchik, Russia -- Scores of rebels launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."
"Rebels," by the score. But why were they rebelling? What were they insurging over? You had to pick up the Globe & Mail's rival, the Toronto Star, to read exactly the same Associated Press dispatch but with one subtle difference:
''Nalchik, Russia -- Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."
Ah, "Islamic militants." So that's what the rebels were insurging over. In the geopolitical Hogwart's, Islamic "militants" are the new Voldemort, the enemy whose name it's best never to utter. In fairness to the New York Times, they did use the I-word in paragraph seven. And Agence France Presse got around to mentioning Islam in paragraph 22. And NPR's "All Things Considered" had one of those bland interviews between one of its unperturbable anchorettes and some Russian geopolitical academic type in which they chitchatted through every conceivable aspect of the situation and finally got around to kinda sorta revealing the identity of the perpetrators in the very last word of the geopolitical expert's very last sentence.
When the NPR report started, I was driving on the vast open plains of I-91 in Vermont and reckoned, just to make things interesting, I'll add another five miles to the speed for every minute that goes by without mentioning Islam. But I couldn't get the needle to go above 130, and the vibrations caused the passenger-side wing-mirror to drop off. And then, right at the end, having conducted a perfect interview that managed to go into great depth about everything except who these guys were and what they were fighting over, the Russian academic dude had to go and spoil it all by saying somethin' stupid like "republics which are mostly . . . Muslim." He mumbled the last word, but nevertheless the NPR gal leapt in to thank him and move smoothly on to some poll showing that the Dems are going to sweep the 2006 midterms because Bush has the worst numbers since numbers were invented. [...]
I'm aware the very concept of "the enemy" is alien to the non-judgment multicultural mind: There are no enemies, just friends whose grievances we haven't yet accommodated. But the media's sensitivity police apparently want this to be the first war we lose without even knowing who it is we've lost to. C'mon, guys, next time something happens in the Caucasus, why not blame the "Caucasians"? At least that way, we'll figure it must have been right-wing buddies of Timothy McVeigh.
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Talking Heads - Girlfriend
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| 10:27 am
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iraq referendum: another failure for america, especially the bush administration
under saddam， there was 101% turnout at the elections and 115% of them voted the right way。 the americans only managed to force about 60% of the people to vote in their misguided referendum on the heavy-handedly imposed constitution - less than the already low 69% figure for january's general election - and many of those voters are feared to have voted the wrong way。
further， when saddam was in charge， he managed to kill thousands of innocent civilians， but the americans managed less than ten military deaths on election day。 this will be a big disappointment for american foreign policy， and the bush administration in particular， as bush's crusade against islam and innocent kittens enters its fiftieth year of vietnam-like quagmire：
The government is getting better at running national elections under the threat of terrorist attacks. The legislative elections last January had fewer than ten million people voting (69 percent of those registered), and over 40 people killed by terrorists opposed to the elections. This vote, on the new constitution, brought out over ten million, and left fewer than ten dead.
note carefully that the turnout *percentage* for this referendum is almost ten percent less than for the january elections！ obviously the situation is just going from bad to worse for the american occupation force stuck in a mire of rising body counts from this unpopular and unjust war。
meanwhile， there was high sunni turnout， another obvious blow to the bushitler administration which has tried to crush all dissent and has utter distain for the will of the people。 every single sunni voted against the referendum because all sunnis are wogs and insurgent minutemen and so obviously don't want freedom， security or peace， but are just waiting for a return to those peaceful safe days under the benevolent rule of saddam， when iraq was one big park with children laughing and playing everywhere and there was no crime or fear of american imperialists raping their grandmothers。
the bush administration were therefore caught totally by surprise by the overwhelming positive votes in heavy sunni areas：
Opponents needed to get a two-thirds “no” vote in three of those provinces. They may have reached the threshold in Anbar and Salahuddin, but Diyala and Ninevah provinces appeared to have supported the document by a wide margin.
The latter three have Sunni majorities but also powerful Shiite and Kurdish communities, which made them focal points for the political battle.
In Diyala, 70 percent supported the referendum, 20 percent opposed it and 10 percent of ballots were rejected as irregular, said Adil Abdel-Latif, the head of the election commission in Diyala. The result came from a first count of the approximately 400,000 votes cast. [...]
According to a vote count from 260 of Ninevah’s 300 polling stations, about 300,000 people supported the constitution and 80,000 opposed it, said Samira Mohammed, spokeswoman for the election commission in the province’s capital, Mosul.
in other bad news for the americans， especially the bush administration， marines lost all control of the health and safety situation and were left to cower in their bunkers without proper armour or enough troops who should all be withdrawn as soon as possible：
Just as I finished typing that sentence all hell broke loose! Heavy machine gun fire, nonstop AK fire, all of it from less than 200 yards north of us. I raced up to the roof with my M-5 along with one of my colleagues who has been here twice as long as I have. All I could hear him say was: "This is much worse than right after the last election." [...]
"Happy fire" is a frequent symptom of a celebration in the Middle East. We have all seen it on TV every night. Men shooting wildly in the air. From the roof all we could do was to hear the fire. We couldn't see any of the guys firing to judge where it was being aimed. I finally did spy one of our Kurdish guards close to the noise looking in the direction of the sound, but he had his weapon dangling by his side. I concluded this was "happy fire." I still don't know if I was right, but after 20 minutes the firing stopped and has not resumed.
in a further blow to the troubled bush administration， the un has uncovered more evidence that bush and haliburton are deliberately starving the iraqis and eating their babies：
Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has accused the United States of intentionally starving Iraqi civilians [...] This is the same Jean Ziegler, by the way, who claimed back in March that twice as many children were "starving" in the new Iraq as under Saddam. According to the BBC, Ziegler alleged that "[w]hen Saddam Hussein was overthrown, about 4% of Iraqi children under five were going hungry; now that figure has almost doubled to 8%."
Interestingly, Ziegler's March 2005 claim that 7.7% of Iraqi children suffer from "acute malnutrition" is also at odds with other contemporaneous United Nations data. In April 2005, the United Nations published a huge survey of living conditions in Iraq in 2004, one year after the invasion. The United Nations "living conditions" report contains a lot of data about childhood nutrition, including a 7.7% number which I assume is the basis for Ziegler's factoid. Apparently, in 2004, 7.7% of Iraqi children under 5 suffered from "severe undernutrition" (not Ziegler's "accute malnutrition") measured by comparing the actual height of the children to the expected height for their age (p. 57). However, the same report shows that only 2.6% of children were severely undernourished by comparing their actual weight with the expected weight for their age (p. 56), and only 1% suffered from "acute malnutrition" measured by weight compared to the expected weight for the height of the child (p. 58). Ziegler, therefore, took the worst measure of "severe undernutrition" (height to expected height for age), called it "acute malnutrition" and compared it to the pre-war data estimated by the Lancet paper. On this basis he claimed that "acute malnutrition" had "doubled" since the invasion.
the report from the only legitimate world body lends further strength to the growing opposition at home and abroad to bush's regimes：
The bottom line is that all the money raised by the sale of this oil was supposed to go to feed and clothe the needy, the starving, the thirsty, the hungry, and the illegal aliens in Iraq, and, what? Ten, 12% went to those groups of people. The rest of it went to Saddam and whatever everybody else he had bribed. There truly was a coalition of the bribed, but it was nothing to do with the United States. Everybody's name is on this list except Halliburton, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush and Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice. But get this. This is the end of the story: "Today's report notes that Annan's chief of staff, Iqbal Riza authorized an aide to shred three years' worth of files related to the oil-for-food program. Iqbal Riza gave his authorization April 22nd." Authorization to shred three years' worth of files on April 22, the day after the security counsel passed a resolution welcoming Volcker's investigation! So the Security Council authorizes the investigation, Annan's chief of staff, Iqbal Riza then proceeds to start shredding three years worth of documents. [...]
limbaugh fails to mention that much of that 10/12 percent that was actually used to 'help' the iraqis - rather than for bribing the french and oppressing the iraqi people - actually went to buy things like rotten fruit and spoilt medical supplies that then sat undistributed thanks to the most beneficent saddam
how long will bush and his cronies continue this ill-judged and failed war？ how many more of our baaaaaybeeees must die because bush feels (rightfully) inadequate？ when will we be free from the this nazi tyranny - actually bush is much worse than the nazis because hitler was a vegetarian and liked dogs - and when will the brave iraqi freedom fighters be able to sleep peacefully in their beds knowing that the imperialist blood-for-oil invaders have gone？ how many more little eichmanns must the poor peaceful muslims be forced to kill before america sees sense？
-- a patriot， fossil media news inc， 2005/10/17。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: D:REAM - Things Can Only Get Better
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11:43 am
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unscam: french ambassador and annan's "special adviser" arrested
the noose is ever tightening：
France's former U.N. ambassador has been taken into custody as part of an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in the Iraq oil-for-food program, judicial officials said Tuesday.
Jean-Bernard Merimee, 68, who also was ambassador to Italy from 1995-98 and to Australia in the 1980s, is suspected of having received kickbacks in the form of oil allocations from the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He was also a special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1999 to 2002.
it is but a matter of time before annan is taken for his complicity in rampant criminality。
given the current french government's work on behalf of saddam， i have to wonder whether the french justice system will take this case seriously。
notice that even the heavily left-wing guardian is now treating unscam as a matter obvious fact：
Saddam manipulated the program under a scheme by which he essentially sold oil at a reduced rate to favored buyers, who could then turn around and sell the oil at a hefty profit.
although they still fail to make the obvious connection between the coalition of the bribed and those that opposed the removal of saddam。 afaiui， the guardian still opposes the removal of saddam and freedom for iraqis。 fortunately for us and the iraqis， what the guardian editors/owners think matters very little。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Aha - Living Daylights
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09:24 pm
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iraq: fossil media and thugists are only fooling themselves
belmont club writes about an apparent captured letter from ayman zawahiri to abu musab zarqawi， two of the top thugists in iraq。 assuming the letter is genuine， it seems that now even the thugists are starting to realise/acknowledge what a mess they've got themselves into by their policies of brutalising the shia population - of course they brutalise their 'own' sunnis too - and cooperating with the fossil media to spread their dishonesty。
as belmont points out， the thugists are up shit-creek without a paddle：
Implicit within Zawarhiri's message is an admission that the insurgency is headed for defeat unless it changes it's policies and thereby its fortunes. Al Qaeda must have viewed with mounting alarm the increasing numbers of Iraqi troops that the US can field against them. The campaigns against the Euphrates and Tigris lines and the seize and hold operations now in progress must be hurting them. Therefore, despite their theological antipathy for the Shi'ites it must have occurred to them that their car bombs, beheadings, outrages and gratuitous murders -- all dutifully reported by a media thinking it might chill American resolve -- were working against them; this brutality was driving the Shia and the Kurds into American arms. And now Zawahiri admits this policy may be leading to their defeat.
not only is the thugists' joint campaign of dishonesty in cooperation with the fossil media not working to destroy american will and cause the re-enslavement of the iraqis， it appear to be leading to age-old problem for the terminally mendacious： they start to act on the basis of their own lies：
It is tempting to thank all those who have made this possible, beginning with those who believed that playing up the insurgency's gruesome work on the front pages would project the 'helplessness' of America and contrast it's impotence with the puissance of Abu Musab Zarqawis 'freedom fighters'. Mention should go to everyone who argued that 'insurgent losses did not matter'; that body counts were irrelevant when following the development of an insurgency. Finally, a special award should be given to everyone who ignored the buildup of Iraqi forces and the establishment of an Iraqi State as being futile and beyond the wit and capability of the US; who believed even recently that only 1 of 3 Iraqi battalions in existence were fighting the insurgency, when in fact there were 100. Perhaps the downside of the insurgency's 'media-combined arms' campaign was that it not only fooled some of the public, but it misled themselves as well.
meanwhile the iraqi representatives seem to have come to an amazingly positive agreement on their constitution-to-be：
The Iraqis have worked out a very good deal amongst themselves. So good, in fact, that one key Sunni group is dropping its opposition to the constitution. The deal would allow the December parliament to make amendments to the constitution, in which Sunnis and liberal secularists will have a much higher representation and voice than the currently Kurdish and religious Shiite dominated parliament.
this and the likely heavy electoral defeat for the religious parties in elections coming this december are just further progress towards the thugists' inevitable annihilation。 as are the growing cadre of usable iraqi army battalions， mentioned by belmont above and explained in more detail by same here。
powerline has done a longer and more detailed analysis of the inter-thugist letter。
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: nippy tv
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08:18 pm
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fossil media photo in context
a blogger， who went to an "on-the-other-side" rally and took photos， analyses a heavily cropped image used by the fossil media。 six photos are worth a thousand words， or something like that。
what amazes me is that the fossil media appear to think that they can still get away with sort of behaviour。 while the fossil media dishonestly represent a vietcong-led terrorist-wannabe pro-war rally for the other side， the serious read | |
